The picture above was taken a few weeks ago in front of Coral Ridge Church, in Ft. Lauderdale. FL. I had Lisa snap it to commemorate my 20th spiritual birthday, which is today.
In 1962 the pastor of this church began a program that helped his congregation share their faith with others. It quickly caught on an spread to other churches throughout the world. On July 27, 1993, two men (Keith Skidmore and Marvin Bower) who were involved in this program at their local church in Maryland showed up on my doorstep on a hot summer night.
For the first time in my life, someone explained to me what Jesus, Christianity and the Bible were really all about in a way that made sense. Up until then I thought it was about following a bunch of rules but they explained how I could never be good enough to keep all those rules and that what Jesus really wanted was a relationship with me. So right there on the front porch I asked for His forgiveness and leadership and prayed that we could have the kind of friendship that these two men said we could have.
Here we are 20 years later and Jesus has never let me down. He not only became my friend, but my best friend. He’s helped me to become more than I could ever possibly hope or imagine. He’s constantly challenging me to grow in my relationship with Him and others. Most importantly He continues to forgive even when I do stupid sinful stuff that isn’t in my or His best interests.
Having just physically turned 40 last month, I’m now basically at the point where I’ve lived half my life following the devil’s plan for happiness and success and half my life following God’s plans and purposes. Let me say unequivocally that this half has been far better. Yes sin has pleasure for a short time, if it didn’t we wouldn’t do it ;) But if we can take a long term approach and be disciplined to following God’s plan, the joy and the peace of mind that comes with it far surpasses and pleasures that Satan or the world may offer us.
So what about you? If God could take a sinner like me and give me a new life, He can do it for you as well! Want to talk about it? Let me know and I can share what was shared with me 20 years ago today…trust me…you want to here it…it’s both life and eternity changing!