It was on November of 1996 when I pulled my car off to the side of the road and asked Jesus to come into my life. For the first time in memory, I wept uncontrollably as I prayed to Him, I asked Him over and over…could He ever accept and forgive someone like me? The answer, of course, was yes! I had been listening to a pastor on the radio as I headed home from Sacramento which was about a ten hour drive. I don’t know who the Pastor was, but he, through the power of the Holy Spirit, was piercing my heart with the word of God. When he asked those who were listening to pray the sinners prayer with him if they needed Jesus, I eagerly accompanied him.
I was going through a very tumultuous time in my life. My marriage was in shambles. We separated for a time, but it was at this point that we were trying to pull our marriage and our lives back together. The strain of that combined with the potential loss of my family was almost more than I could bear. I had, for years, tried to escape from my troubles by using the vices of the world. It was because of this lifestyle that my wife Jen had almost had enough. I was lost, depressed and about as broken as I could be. As I desperately asked Jesus to come into my life and to be my Lord and my Savior, I had no idea that my life would get turned upside down.
When I returned home from this trip, my brother Steve called me and invited me to attend a Christian men’s conference. To his utter shock, I eagerly accepted the invitation. I knew when I heard those men speak, one of which was Greg Laurie, that what they spoke was the Truth. I decided then and there that I was going to give the rest of my life to the Lord. Whatever it was that they had in their life, I wanted for mine.
I struggled to find a church for the next couple of years until my family and I moved to Chino Hills, CA in June of 1997. Through the grace of God we found out about a church in Chino, so we decided to give it a try. As my wife and I sat in the pew and listened to Pastor David, I knew deep down that this was my home, the only place I wanted to be. My wife Jen, who had yet to receive Christ, wasn’t so sure.
We started attending the New Believers Class at Chino Valley; I just couldn’t seem to get enough of God’s word. It was in that class that the Lord began to minister to Jen. He was helping her sort through the difficulties that she was having. As a child, Jen had been brought up as a Mormon, so she was having trouble understanding what it was all about. She was asking the question, “How do I know this is the truth?” While she was asking that question, she was learning in the class and seeing tremendous changes occur within my life. I know it was the Holy Spirit that helped her finally put it all together with understanding. It was December 24th, 1998 at our Christmas Eve service that my wife stepped forward and publicly gave her life to Jesus Christ.
From that day on, we have never looked back! The Lord is faithful, holy and good. That was, for us, the beginning of a wonderful journey. We continued to serve God and to be fed at Chino Valley until the Lord called our family to step-out and plant a church in Iowa City, Iowa. We now have the blessed opportunity to share God’s word and His love with these wonderful people. Iowa is a dry and barren land that desperately needs the word of God. We have come here in response to God’s call and are inexpressibly excited to see what God is going to do!
To think that God is using someone like me, someone that was wayward and lost for so long, is beyond my comprehension. But we know that God uses the “foolish things of this world to confound the wise.” (1 Corinthians 1:27) We also know that he who is forgiven much, loves much.
Perhaps you are reading this and you have decided that you want Jesus to enter your life. Why wait one more day before you ask Him into your life. Pray this prayer and ask Jesus to come into your life.
“Father, I know that I am a sinner, Jesus died on the cross to save sinners, Jesus died to save me. Forgive me, cleanse me of my sins. Give me a new life. I will follow you from this day forward. In Jesus Name, Amen.”
If you have just prayed this prayer to receive Jesus and have meant it, then you are now a member of God’s family. Please call us or write to us, so that we might be able to help you begin your new walk with the Lord.
- Pastor Jeff
