MY PERSONAL TESTIMONY

  Hello again friend.  I wish I could say that I came from a fundamental Christian home,  and came to know Christ at an early age,  but I cannot.  I was born into a traditional, Polish Catholic family.

  My mother died,  relatively suddenly,  when I was only 2 years old.  I then went to live with my grandmother for a few years,  while my father,  a career Navy man,  tried to find answers to his shattered life.

  My grandmother was a devout Catholic, and I should probably say,  that it was from her that I became interested in spiritual things.  Notice,  I said spiritual things,  but not necessarily Christly things.   You see,  for the Catholic,  strength and security is having unity with the church,  through its authority & traditions,  its liturgy & sacraments.  It preaches,  like MANY other churches AND religions,  a WORKS-based salvation & a FEEL-GOOD sermon.  I don't EVER remember hearing a sermon on repentance of the sinner there!  But I'm getting ahead of myself.

  To make a long story short,  my father eventually remarried,  raising 3 other children from this marriage which is STILL intact.  My father was a good financial provider,  but was not necessarily strong spiritually.  I guess this was typical of this generation,  as in many generations before and since!

  Now before you get all upset,  go and read Deuteronomy 6:5-9 and see what God says parents are to do regarding their children.  Are YOU anywhere close to doing what God sez?  If so,  Alleluia,  Praise God!  If not,  you need to get YOUR act together.  I myself am trying my hardest,  but it's not easy fighting the influences of this sinful world!  And don't fool yourself,  that is what we NEED to do!  For our children's sake,  much less for our own.  Go to Proverbs 13:24, 19:18, 22:6,15, and 23:13+,   and see what else God says about this important topic.  Didn't realize that,  eh?!  But I digress.

  Ok,  so there I was,  a confused young teenager with minimal guidance.  Sure,  I went to church on Sunday,  confession from time to time,  and was a good kid in general.  Hey,  I "believed" in "God".  And,  of course,  Jesus "WAS" the Son of God,  right?!

  But,  I DID NOT REALLY UNDERSTAND ANYTHING ABOUT GOD,  and furthermore, I didn't CARE to,  or see the NEED to!  You may feel this way yourself right now!  But YOU do need to realize,  that if YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND the God of the Bible,  then YOU DO NOT KNOW what it takes to be righteous with Him,  and are spiritually DEAD in His eyes!  (Ephesians2:1-2)  Now go read 1 Corinthians 1:18 and 2 Corinthians 4:3.

  I'm serious about this!  If you DON'T KNOW where you will go when you die,  or what it takes to be right with God,  then you're in REAL DEEP TROUBLE.  AS I WAS.  Hey,  listen,  the first step is just ADMITTING IT to yourself.  Don't be arrogantly proud (Proverbs16:5),  but as Jesus said and did, "be ye humble"  (Philippians2:7+, 1Peter5:5+).  If you are already ready to humbly come to God,  go to my salvation page NOW;  otherwise please continue reading.

  I thank God that He protected & guided me through this early period of my life.  Looking back at it,  I'd have to say the Holy Spirit was there trying to convict me,  but I was too immature,  or too busy (better word, SELFISH) having the time of my life, indulging in sin, to notice.  I didn't NEED God.

  You see,  people put God in a cart,  and drive Him around,  only pulling Him out when they really NEED something from him.  Then they put Him away again.  But my friend,  that's NOT how God works.  He DEMANDS that we give HIM the reins of the cart, and LET HIM LEAD OUR LIVES.

  But I wasn't ready for that, so I graduated high school as lost and confused as ever.  Then I joined the military,  the Navy...  the submarine force.  Wow, that oughta shape up a person!  Right?

  WRONG.  Sure, the Navy made me physically, and mentally, sharp and disciplined.  I learned how to take, and give orders.  I qualified, and went through, what was then called the advanced electronics (AE) program.  Within 2 years I found myself on a submarine in the North Atlantic maintaining its Posiedon Missle system.

  When on liberty or vacation, I'd party with reckless abandon.  The good Lord REALLY protected me through this period of time.  I even had a fluke motorcycle accident, where I could easily have been killed, but walked away from it.  I really WAS blessed.  But I STILL did not appreciate God, and had no clue what He had ALREADY done for me. 

  But this was not necessarily true, for I did have a nagging yearning to know more about God.  Was there REALLY a God? Was the Bible God's word, or just a bunch of stories?  OK, stories with an uncanny flair for conveying "Godly" principles?!  Bah! They were just man's invention to keep the masses in order.  A form of "spiritual brainwashing" so to speak.

  Now, being on a submarine, a person does have some time to reflect on things.  I eventually did slog through the Old and New Testaments, completely once, and a large portion of it twice.  Do you know what happened?  NOTHING.  I didn't seem to get it.  There was no special revelation, no funny feeling inside, no apparent changes.  Why?  Well, either the Holy Spirit wasn't ready to REVEAL God's truth to me... or I WASN'T READY TO ACCEPT IT!  Do YOU have a similar problem?!

To be continued...