I was born into a Christian home on June 1,
1978.   This is one of the greatest blessings that
has ever been given to me.   I had the privilege of
being raised on Godly principles taught in the
Bible.   Many children grow up today in broken
homes, having little real relationship with their
parents, and are very confused and unprepared
for the future.   I am so glad that from a very early
age my parents taught me the Bible, and always
had me in Sunday School and Church to hear
the Word of God.

However, as wonderful as this great blessing
was, I actually took it very much for granted.   I
gradually became familiar with church and
religion, because that was all that I had ever
known.   As I grew up in church, I heard the truth
that when a person dies without Jesus Christ as
their Saviour, they go to a place called Hell.   This
obviously scared me very much as a young child,
so I naturally wanted to ‘get saved’ so I could
go to Heaven.   (Note: salvation, saved and
born again are Biblical terms referring to
the forgiveness of sins by God and the
rescue of a person from the power and
penalty of that sin.   This is God's
requirement for everlasting life.)

I continued to go to church, because that was
required of me by my parents.   I experienced no
assurance that I was truly on my way to Heaven,
and remember several times that I prayed
another sinner's prayer, just in case I hadn't
been saved when I was five.   I continued in this
state of hypocritical, empty religion for several
years.

When I was ten years old, my dad accepted
the call to pastor a church in Pennsylvania.   We
were living in Illinois at the time, and began
making plans to move halfway across America.
As a child, this was a time of significant change,
as I was leaving all my friends and familiar
surroundings for a place that I had never been.
However, this also became a critical turning point
in my life.   It was at this juncture in my life that I
was jarred into reality, and an understanding of
some of life's lessons began to dawn on my soul.

Along with this forced maturity, came a better
understanding of what God was trying to show
me about my horrible sin nature, and my need
for a Saviour!   I had always thought that I was a
pretty good kid.  After all, I went to church,

After we moved to Pennsylvania, I continued
to hear the preaching of the Word of God every
week in church.   But it was different now than it
had ever been before.   The preaching about sin
began to bother me, because I knew that I was
a wicked sinner on the inside.   I began to get
scared because I was beginning to realize that I
was not saved, and was going to go to Hell the
moment that I died!   The Lord was showing me
my true condition before Him, with verses like
Isaiah 64:6, which says, "But we are all as
an unclean thing, and all our
righteousnesses are as filthy rags[.]"   I tried
to dismiss these thoughts, but they continued to
trouble my soul.

Finally, one night as I slipped into bed, everything
began to come together.   As I was thinking about
my awful sinful heart, and my eternal destiny of
Hell, I began to pray to the Lord.   I remember
feeling so burdened with the weight of my sin.
But, I didn't want to just pray another sinner's
prayer.   I wanted to be at peace with God.

As I began to confess my sinfulness to the Lord,
I began to cry, as for the very first time I sensed
in an overpowering way that it was my sin that
had put Jesus Christ on the cross.   The more
that I thought about it, the more I began to weep.
I told the Lord that I knew that I did not deserve
to go to Heaven, but begged Him to have mercy

Lest you think that what I just described was
merely some emotional childhood experience, I
can attest to the fact today that God's grace
and working in my life has only gotten stronger
as the years have passed!   I have experienced
the wonderful peace that God says a person
can have, of knowing that Heaven is my eternal
home.   God has given me an appetite for true
spiritual things, such as reading the Word of
God, praying, and telling others about my Saviour

I certainly have many more areas that have yet
to be changed, but I am glad to see God slowly
changing me and making me into a new creature
from the inside out.   Going to church is no longer
some religious duty that I must do because of
my parents, or even because that is how I was
raised.   It is rather done now out of a heart of
true devotion to God for saving me and giving
me a reason to live!

Friend, you may think that religion is only a bunch
of hypocrisy, and that you don't have time for
it, but I ask you to think again.   There certainly
are plenty of religious hypocrites; I was one
myself!   You may think that your religion is good
enough already, but God is not interested in just
any kind of religion.   God is interested in pure
religion that starts with a life changing relationship
with Jesus Christ!