My Testimony Is Not My Testimony

Like most stories about people submitting to Jesus, mine starts with someone other than myself. You could probably look at my grandparents who doubtlessly prayed for the salvation of all their grandchildren after the adventure of raising a combined six boys and one girl between the two sets, the tales of which I still hear about and stand amazed that they made it into adulthood! My God-fearing grandparents left a legacy of faith that cannot be questioned, but that's not where I want to start. My parents individually embraced salvation before I was born, but they wern't connected to the body of Christ at the beginning of my story and thus, I would not like to start with them either. I want to start with my older sister Melanee.

One summer Melanee wanted to go to Vacation Bible School at First Baptist Church in Little Elm, TX(since renamed CrossRidge.) If you know anything of the program it's a week filled with games, crafts, snacks, and stories focused on Jesus. Friday was the last night of VBS and all the parents were invited to come and view the crafts their children had made and hear the last night's production. My parents filled out a visiter's card and soon afterward a pastor of the church came to vistit our home. He challenged my parents to re-connect to the body of Christ and raise their children in a God-honoring way. Sure enough we became members.

My dad involved himself in the student ministry of the church and for an event we went to see The Power Team at FBC Carrolton. These Hulk-like men would roll frying pan's up into burritos, bend rebar into bows, tear phone books in half and break concrete blocks with their faces. In between they would share their testimonies just like I'm sharing mine with you. Obviously the six year old me was completely captivated by this Christian Circus.

I was by no means a theologian. I didn't understand one percent of what I've learned since in bible college. I had some understanding of God and from all previous indications we were on good terms. What I had failed to realize before that night is that I had rebelled against God and pursued my own desires instead of His. How much rebellion can a six year old get into? You tell me, but the bible says in Romans 3:23&24 that all have sinned(rebelled) and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified(made right with God) by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. So there it was: My rebellion had seperated me from God and it was only through Jesus that I am made right with him. My little six year old self said "give me some Jesus" and I went to the front at the invitation time so that I could tell Jesus I was turning from my rebellion and submitting to him as my king and trusting what he did in his death on a cross and ressurection from the dead so that I can be made right with God. I was very thankful for Jesus. Soon after that I was baptised by Pastor Mike Neuse.

I never attained any sainthood after that, but I was raised in the church and sat under some very caring teachers who poured love into me. I was able to serve the Church through missions to Panama several times and it changed me and gave me a more global look at the kingdom of God. I started dating my future wife during these early teenage years. I never could escape the depressingly typical complacency of believers saved at an early age though. This carried me into a rebellion-rich young adulthood until it rocked my relationship with Valorie. Our resulting break-up made me realize that I needed to be with her for the rest of my life and I decided to start saving for a ring.

My marriage to Valorie and my marraige to the Army happened about the same time. When I came back from deployment I took college classes, but on January 30th, 2012 my friend and youth pastor that I worked with took me out to lunch for my birthday. I shared a little about the confusion I was facing with wanting to either further my career in the Army or get a degree for a good civilian job, but before long we were just talking about how much we love the students we served. We talked about the vision we had for our ministry, the potential in each one of our kids, and we prayed for them. When I left I had the most profound impression given to me by God. It was like he branded me with a hot iron on my brain that told me I needed to go into ministry and preach his kingdom. There was nothing left to do but tell my wife, re-orient my life, and start researching bible colleges. I landed at Criswell College and havent turned back. My church licensed me as a minister of the gospel on January 12th, 2014 and I can't wait for the future he has set before me.

My testimony is not my testimony. I desperatly want to impress that into you as you read this story. It belongs to Melanee. It belongs to my parents(Billy and Dena). It belongs to my grandparents(Bill, Doris, Betty, and Jimmie.) It belongs to my amazing wife Valorie. It belongs to Pastors Mike Neuse, Scott Jackson, and Marc Farnell. It belongs to Wilber Butler. It belongs to a bunch of circus-freak strong men. It belongs to George Bewley, Chad Howard, George Jones, and every other youth and children's minister along the way. It belongs to Moises and Talsidia Vega in the mountains of Panama. Ultimatly it belongs to King Jesus, who bought the citizens of his kingdom with his own blood(Revelation 5:9&10.) Those citizens lovingly serve him and will be rewarded with a resurrection into eternal life where we will be with him on a new earth.

Unless you grow up by yourself on a desolate island and Jesus reveals himself to you in a vision and slaps a MacAurther study bible in your lap, your testimony doesn't belong to you alone(and still not, as I explain in the next paragraph.) There is a legacy of faith and submission that has lead to your own faith and submission. It has been a holy hierloom that can be traced back to Jesus himself as he showed perfect faith and submission to the Father. He passed it to the twelve and the apostles, and then to the church. The church has changed a lot since those early times, but the seed has remained the same.

What does this tell us about God? We often share our testimonies to relate our salvation experience in a way that makes us the main character and advertises that others do the same so that they can recieve similar benefits. What we fail to realize in this aproach is that our testimony is really more about God than it is about us. He has orcestrated your salvation all the way back to Genesis 3:15 when he promised the seed of Eve would crush the head of the serpent. Jesus won victory over Satan by dying on a cross and won victory over death itself by raising from the dead three days later. The effects from that all point to and give praise to God. This is what we testify to.

What does this tell us about ourselves? We do not live in bubbles. You affect everyone around you and they affect you as well. Every act of love and defense of the oppressed matters. Every word of encouragment and truth matters. Every moment teaching God's Word and sharing Jesus matters. This holy heirloom has been passed to you through someone and you have been commissioned to pass it on to others. We underestimate our Holy Spirit-empowered impact at a staggering level.

Your homework is to think about the spiritual legacy that has lead to your salvation. Don't just think about the immediate event, but the story God wrote through other people's lives before you. Think about how every simple act of faith you have displayed has the potential for them to be part of God's story. I challenge you to write it down in some way. It could be in digital format or even a letter for your current or future children. I promise you that they would want to know. I even wish I knew my own parents stories better. I want to have this preserved as a record for my soon-arriving daughter Lucy. Also there are a few movies that deal with this "everything is connected" concept that came to mind while writing this: Crash, Babel, and Cloud Atlas. They all have various content that you should consider before viewing, but I suggest them none the less.

If God has used this story of the amazing richness of his grace to draw you into a relationship with him and you're not sure how, feel free to contact me through any social channel or connect to your local Jesus-centered church.

 

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