That line is out of a movie The Jerk. Steve Martin plays a guy who was adopted by a black family. So how does that tie into today's post? Well much like Steve Martin's character in that movie being adopted by the African-American family (don't want to offend anyone), I was adopted into God’s family about 23 years ago. I've never really shared my testimony here on my blog and with recent events in my life I thought that this would be a great time to do it.
I grew up in a Catholic home. We went to church every Sunday, observed all the holy days of obligation and attended all the church carnivals. In elementary school I attended a parochial school that was at the church my family attended. Life was good and it wasn't like I had a bad childhood that scarred me for life, but it was without a knowledge of my Savior. When I was in 5th grade we moved to Santa Clarita, California. Back then Santa Clarita looked more like a farming community then the city it is now. This was right around the time that I started to rebel against my parents. I don't really know what triggered it. Age? Maybe....but I don't really remember. This rebellion only grew over the years, but through it all I still attended mass on Sundays and went to confession on Saturdays. I though this would keep me in God’s good graces.
As time went by and I started attending catechism class (CCD) I started asking questions about church and God and Catholic traditions. The teachers could not answer many of my questions and this created an even greater curiosity in me. As I continued to ask more questions many of my teachers grew impatient and were angered that I would question my faith in such ways. I can remember one time in 7th grade questioning a priest about some of the Catholic church traditions and why they could not be found in the Bible. He angrily shrugged me off and sent me back to class. This was the beginning of the deterioration of any faith I may have had in the Catholic church. How could I follow a religion in which the leaders could not answer my questions? So for the next 6 years I attended church, but out of the demands of my parents and not because I wanted to.
It wasn't until high school that the true outward rebellion came. In my sophomore year in high school I started hanging out with some guys that were into punk rock. I liked it. On the weekends I would go clubbing with them or head out to Hollywood to hang out. As I progressed through this I began to get caught up in the darker side of punk music, more of the goth sound. I began to wear a lot of black and wear eyeliner and other forms of make up. I really got into the music and the lifestyle. Even though my parents did not approve of this I did it anyways. I would go to a party or a club every weekend and was really just trying to figure out who I was and what I supposed to do with my life. This continued through to my freshman year in college. During this time I dated many girls out of a desire to find someone to fill a void I had.
In my senior year in high school the dating game ended when I met Suzi, my wife. She was different from the other girls I had known, for one thing she looked more like Debbie Gibson than Siouxsie Sioux. Her family attended a solid church in Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California. Suzi’s father said that if I was going to date her, I had to attend church with them. Seemed like a small price to pay to be with her. Over the next two years I listened to John MacArthur preach. It was through his teaching and my reading of scripture that I started to understand that I was a sinner in need of a Savior. I started to realize that the life I had led up to this point was about me and not about anyone else. It was under his preaching and conversations with Suzi’s parents that I came to know my Lord and Savior. I came to understand that when Jesus was put on the cross that my sins were nailed along with his hands and feet. It was my transgressions that he was dying for and that with his resurrection he was conquering eternal death so that I could have eternal life.
Over the next few years in my zeal for the Lord I offended many people. Due to my new found enthusiasm for the Lord I really lacked compassion in the Gospel message I presented. This does not make what I did right and for this I probably turned many people off to the Gospel message. I will have to hope and pray that our Sovereign God would have and will bring along better equipped people than myself. At this time I grew fond of Titus 2:11-14. I loved that the grace of God appeared for all through Jesus Christ. I loved that through the sanctifying process I would learn to be self-controlled and to live uprightly. I also could, and still can not wait, for Christ’s second coming. Oh what joy!
After Suzi and I got married the Lord used my job to draw me closer to Him. We moved about 32 times in 20 years. He also used job changes and moves to humble me and to show me that I had no right to be proud of my knowledge of Him or scripture. I needed this so that I could learn that I wasn’t God’s gift to evangelicalism. This process also strengthened my marriage, not the way I would have desired, but definitely the way God planned. He taught me how to be selfless in my marriage and how to serve my family first and foremost, after all they are my primary ministry. I realized that, as Galatians 1:10 says, that I am not serving to seek the approval of men. It was this growth that helped me to understand the meaning of serving and ministry.
As the Lord grew me I felt a growing desire to more and more in ministry. He has been gracious enough to provide men in my life who have helped to shape who I am and to challenge my theological beliefs. Even though I know my early zeal may have offended some, I now feel the sting of being a believer that stands for what he believes. I have come to expect this and know that my Lord and Savior endured worse. I try to react in compassion these days knowing that all need to know the Lord, but that my actions speak louder than my words. I try to live a life that shows what I believe and speaks to my beliefs. My joy comes from knowing that an almighty God chose me but my joy does not come from my family or the things that I have. Don’t get me wrong, I find joy in my family, but not a pure joy. The joy I have in my Lord comes in knowing that He will never disappoint me even though I know that people, including my family can and will. This joy takes me off of the rollercoaster of human emotions and puts my focus on heaven and all that comes with a heavenly focus. I would hope and pray that I would continue to listen to my God as He makes me into the man He desires me to be. Philippians 3:8-11 is where I rest these days. I do count all that I have as loss in light of what I have in Christ.
I hope and pray that as you read this you would either be encouraged as a believer or that you would realize, if you are an unbeliever, that God has a plan for you and desires you to come to Him. God loves all of us sinners and desire all to be saved, no matter your background or your sins.
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