Over the years since I accepted Christ, I have shared my testimony of how I came to make the decision to follow Jesus. After telling the account, I have been told on numerous occasions by individuals that they do not have the dramatic conversion to Christ that I have experienced. To this I want to say, “Wow! What a privilege.” My life can be broken into three main categories. “BC Days,” “BJ Days” and “AATC Days.”
My “BC Days” were filled with wrong paths, internal conflicts and many times that God was working in me and I wasn’t paying any attention. The “BC Days,” stands for, “Before Christ Days.” Those were the days and years that I wandered away, made foolish mistakes, thought I knew best and allowed my personal desires to dictate my actions far more than I do now. Oh Yes, that part of me still needs work and probably always will. But these were the days that I found myself without the structure of Biblical Teaching that I needed to make better decisions. Whether I ignored the teaching or simply didn’t learn it, these gaps in understanding led me to some wrong conclusions with God and many others. But then the end of the “BC days” happened. I made the decision to follow Christ and give my life to him. That day was March 17, 1990. That was the actual day that my life changed. Yes, Jesus started that day to change my life.
The next section of my life are known as the “BJ Days.” Yes, that is correct! Before Jodi! See Jodi had been praying for a Godly man (I know – she got me- careful what you pray for). In all seriousness though, Jodi was exactly what I needed. Jodi, was stronger and deeper in her faith when we met than I was. I had a story of my testimony, but Jodi had stories of her experience with God and seeing God move in her life and more. Together we started the journey. In fact it was the weekend that we met, that I heard the call to ministry. It was Jodi that new the custodial person at the University of Toledo that had a little country church without a minister. Six months in the faith from deciding to follow Jesus, and God already had me connected with a Church leading Bible Study and preaching messages. But I was not sure that I was minister material. Go to seminary? Me? I couldn’t pass all my College classes, how could I pass a Masters of Divinity three year degree?
Well that part of the story takes place as we enter the third phase of my life. Or shall I say, our lives? The AATC Days brought the most changes to our lives. After Answering The Call, (AATC) Days, provided Jodi and I with some of the most dramatic changes. Moving, starting a family, adopting, moving, starting over and the list goes on.
But here is the real issue. The Testimony of our lives is not simply how we came to Christ, but what God has done since coming into our lives and making so many changes. It matters not whether your conversion to Jesus is dramatic or not. What matters is that you allow God to continue to change your life. God is actively working on us and in our lives, to help us become more like Christ. That is the change that matters. For some the change will be gradual and minor, for others the change is dramatic and quick, in either scenario, God produced the change. We need to understand a key element though about the work of God. God sent the Holy Spirit to work inside of us to change our hearts, to write His Word upon our hearts and to make us different than the person in our “BC Days.” God is not done with us! We are not finished products! We are still in the process of being made into the likeness of Christ. God is still writing in our lives. Don’t stop looking for God changes in your life! Look towards the AATC of your life and look forward to the powerful and dramatic changes that God will do in you and then be ready to tell others of your journey with God.
