Testimony, Part 1

Well, after the excitement of last night, where at 12Stone's The Point we saw another sizable addition to Christ's kingdom (I counted at least 7) I figured it is a good time to put my testimony out there. Never know how God may use it. Anyway, here goes:

I grew up in a Lutheran household - for those of you not aware, the Lutheran denomination is the second-oldest Protestant group only to the Anglican/Church of England. Started with Martin Luther posting the 95 theses on the door of his church, and ended with him breaking from the Holy Roman Catholic Church and bringing the Word of God to the people, translating the first non-Latin version of the Bible. Back to my upbringing, though - I can't remember ever not believing in Jesus, His mission, and His victory. Never really doubted it - but I never made much of a personal connection either. I felt that I was doing good by going to church most Sundays, and praying at night. Not that there was anything wrong with those, but there is so much more to it, as I see now. I had friends in school who were more fired-up about the Kingdom than I, but I just didn't get it. We did not go to an evangelical church (but yes there are indeed evangelical Lutheran churches! My parents go to one now...)

Then came college, and like most college-age kids I questioned everything I had ever been taught. I pretty much stuck to my roots though, and went to my grandparents' church throughout my college years. But again, no deeper in relationship with God, and if anything got further away through other interests. Once I graduated, I got married to Heather 6 months later, and we moved away to Maryland for my first professional job almost immediately. I knew enough to know that God had worked the timing out just right with the marriage and job, and both Heather and I were determined to find a church in our new home. However, we came from vastly different backgrounds - her family was Southern Baptist but rarely attended church. We looked around for a while and settled on a compromise - a church that seemed somewhat foreign to both of us. While it was a wonderful church and a close-knit group, it still did not stimulate me enough to get a closer walk with Jesus, and as a result we eventually drifted away. However, I did sense the loss that came with not being a churchgoer.

Things began to change when my sister got me the book "Left Behind". Now I am not trying to endorse that book or say that I believe it to be prophetic as some would - but it does a good job of bringing to light the need for an authentic relationship with God. So there's that. Then on one visit home to Georgia, my mom mentioned concern about us not attending church anymore, and so of course I felt bad. But not really because she said, but because she had to. So I returned home and began looking, but this time out of my sphere of comfort. Baptist churches are rare up in Maryland, and at the time that would have been numero uno for making me uncomfortable!

I had always dismissed non-denominational churches as insincere or cultish, but truthfully I never had given them much thought. So I decided "what the heck, why not?" and attended Frederick Christian Fellowship in late 2000. The first message so messed with me that I brought Heather with me the next week (she had been unable to go with me first time, don't remember why). Well, it had a major impact on both of us, and God used that church, and the messages of Pastor Randy, to strip away the misconceptions I had about a Christian walk and recognize the importance of evangelism. So in February 2001 I rededicated my life to Christ and was baptized as a believer. Now God has done much with me since then, but I will save that part of my testimony for later, since for now at least I have told how I joined His side!