Our entire family attended church from my earliest remembrance. My father was a trustee, and I was even the teacher of a Sunday school class, and preached from the pulpit on youth Sunday. Now I realize that we were part of one of the most liberal denominations in the U.S. My "confirmation" book contains blatant heresy! I don't recall ever hearing that we must repent and trust Christ as Lord and Savior. Of course, it is possible that I was so spiritually blind and deaf that I couldn't receive the Gospel; however, I suspect that we heard the gospel of "be nice" and "social reform." Nothing I heard on Sunday morning in that denomination or the next one I joined caused my conscience to be troubled by my lifestyle. I was a rock-and-roll musician in high school and during my college years. My entry into corporate America led me further into a fast-lane lifestyle with all the indulgences that would be implied.

In the summer of 1976, I was experiencing a growing disenchantment with life in general. For a number of years, I had been pursuing success in my career with a vengeance, hoping that this would be the answer. As I managed to attain the goals I had set (I was promoted four times in five years), an emptiness continued to grow in me. After the initial thrill wore off of each new attainment, the void returned. I began to wonder, what was I missing in my life? (Money, prestige, and hedonism proved to be poor substitutes to the true God.) About this time, a friend invited me to a home Bible study. I was amused; I hadn't known that anyone did that kind of thing! I wasn't interested, but out of respect for my friend, I agreed to go "just once." However, God's Word burned in my heart that night, and from then on, nothing could keep me away from the Bible study on Tuesday evening! I also was experiencing some cervical problems at that time, and my doctor prescribed that I sit in traction for forty minutes a day. Since I've always been a voracious reader, I decided to spend that time reading the four Gospels. After all, I'd seen the movie, but never read the book!

In the middle of one night that summer, my soul was deeply and inexplicably troubled, and I sensed somehow that it was time to do business with God. I got down on my knees (an all-time first) and asked Christ to come into my life and begin making me the person He wanted me to be. I knew that my life grieved Him, so I prayed, "I want you to take control, Lord; I really mean it!" He took me at my word. That night, it was as though an enormous burden had been removed--no doubt the great weight of my sin. And, I was acutely aware of the presence of a Person, the Living Lord. I didn't just embrace a formula of intellectual propositions that night. I didn't go over to "The Force." I didn't merely begin thinking differently, nor did I turn over a new leaf. I met a Living Person, and his name is Jesus Christ. It has been the supreme joy of my life to get to know Him well since then.

That there was an immediate change in my life was unmistakable; everyone told me so. All my life I'd wanted to know the truth. From the day that I discovered that the Bible is God's own Word, the consuming passion of my life has been to learn His Word and to share this Good News with others. When I finally realized that I had been lost before that night, I began to wonder, "How many others are lost and don't even know it?" Simply put, that is the vision that compelled me to volunteer over ten thousand hours of work to share the Gospel as a layman and to make the declaration of the Gospel my vocation.

To know Him and to make Him known, that is my ardent desire!

I can not say that the years since have been easy; the consequences of some of my sinful choices while a new believer have been troublesome. I've had some severe health problems, including several life-threatening illnesses and long periods of total disability and occasionally business difficulties. None of these situations have been lonely and desolate, however, because I'll know forever a Person who will never leave me or forsake me. To Him be the praise, and the glory, and the honor forever!