Baptized in Jesus' Name

Mother's Day, May 9th 1993. This was the day I was baptized in Jesus' name. Here's my testimony. I was baptized Catholic when I was a baby, sprinkled on in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. I was not enthused with the Catholic church when I was a child when I would go with my mother. My mom used to tell me about God and I thought he was the typical picture of Jesus with the long hair and beard. One day when I was about seven I went the kids I was being baby-sat with to a vacation bible school class and the teacher was teaching us how to "pray Jesus into our hearts." Well, I didn't know much but I somehow knew that I wanted Jesus in my heart. So while the other two boys I was with were goofing off and playing while the teacher was telling us what to say, I was sitting under a table and repeating the words and praying to Jesus. I was sincerely wanting Jesus to come into my heart. During and after my prayer I felt like Jesus was telling me that everything will be alright and he was going to take care of me. The unexplainable peace the Jesus gives is what I was receiving. After that day I did not really think about God that much.

It was sometime when I was fourteen years old that I started to seek God again. I started to go to a baptist church in my neighborhood and for about four years God really blessed me and taught me things about him while I was going there. I never felt like I fitted in with the teen ministry there. I felt like an odd-ball because I did not live in any of the rich neighborhoods and hang out with the rich kids. I didn't have the money to go on any of their skiing trips or out of town trips. I just didn't fit into their cliques. I was really lonely there but the only reason I was motivated to go to every worship service or bible study was to learn more about God. Well, after I graduated from High School I went to live with my father in Maryland for a few months and go to college. While I was in Maryland my dad dropped me off every week at a local baptist church where I received a lot of encouragement. There I hung out with the adults. Winter came and I ended up moving back to my mom's house. 

Well God had a plan for my life and my best friend at the time was making plans to go into the Navy. I thought that sounded like a good idea too because I was not really crazy about college and I needed a job. It was about May 1991 that I left home again and went to San Diego boot camp to join the Navy. By this time I had a good prayer life with God and I had some decent faith to help me out when times were rough. I ended up on a ship in Long Beach met a girl who got "saved" and I started going to church with her. I got stationed in San Diego and on weekends I took the bus up to Long Beach to go to that church. The girl that I liked in Long Beach wrote me a "Dear John" letter so to speak when I was on a six month deployment but in this letter she was stating that she was in love with her girlfriend and that they started attending a church that believed homosexuality was supported by scriptures in the bible. I was disappointed but I soon forgot about her. 

On my ship, an aircraft carrier at the time, I sought God and went to bible studies that a church group was giving throughout the week. They saw that I was faithful to their studies and decided one day they were going to lay the truth on me so I could "get saved." They started telling me about discipleship and how I had to do so many works in order to be saved. I was getting really confused and told them how I just have to believe in Jesus and be saved because that was what I was taught back home. They said that everyone that believed that was lost and I found it hard to believe that those thousands of people were wrong. I stopped going to their bible studies and found myself earnestly seeking God to clear up my confusion and I asked for him to show me the truth so that I can be saved. I remember praying in the shower because I seemed to let everything off of my heart at that time.

When I got back to San Diego I had a lot of free times on my hands on the weekends and I soon got bored with going to the mall and the movies with my two friends from the ship. I used to wander around by myself on Sundays and pray to God "I don't have a church to go to here so what do I do about giving tithes? I know you're not going to let me get away with this..." I wanted to find a church bad. I used to look in the phone book for churches but they were all far away and I didn't have a ride to get there. I didn't give up.

One day came and I received orders to go to my Radioman "A" School which was in San Diego. Before I went to my school I went home on leave to Memphis and that was the last time I was there. (All my family and friends have moved away from their is why.) In May 1993 I started my twelve week school. It must have been my second weekend there and on a Saturday I was at the galley on the Naval Training Center and I was just about finished eating when Tom Hiers invited my out to a church for the following Sunday. I thought that sounded cool so the next morning I showed up at the mini-mart to be picked up and I met the people who were going to take some others and myself to church. I was excited to go to church. Tyler Durham was sitting with me in the back and he shared with me Matthew 6:33 "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."

That scripture was the answer to my prayers. I had been seeking God and wanted to get closer to him but the things of the world seemed to kept him distant. I just couldn't figure out how to make God number one in my life. This was the day that changed my life forever. I went to the church, met Pastor Daniel, ate at the fellowship dinner and went to a bible study afterwards. Curt L. was giving a bible study called "The Gospel." I was learning and absorbing so much because for the first time someone opened up the bible and spoke spiritual things that actually made sense. It was real food for my soul, not the bologna sandwiches I had been receiving most of my life at that point. By the end of the bible study I was convinced that I needed to be baptized in Jesus' name. See I was baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost at my church back home when I was about eighteen on the idea that it was a good thing to do. But now I had seen the scriptures for myself with true clarity and at 3:50pm I was baptized in Jesus' name at the Travel Time hotel pool across the street from the church.