PASTOR DAVE'S SPIRITUAL AWAKING
I grew up with a variety of different religious influences. My mom raised me and my bothers in the Roman Catholic Church. My dad was baptized in a Baptist church but was not an active member of any church. He would come to mass even though it was not his faith because he wanted us kids to be in church. Honestly, I do not really remember talking about God at home when I was growing up. My parents believed in the Christian faith and assumed us kids did as well.
This lack of an influence led to faith not being important to me as I was growing up. I was more concerned about getting what I wanted out of this life then if Jesus was real or not. I was 19 years old before anyone really pressed me about my faith and spiritual questions. A close friend from high school had a spiritual awaking off at college and at the time I thought he had become weirdly excited about Jesus. The fire he had was impossible to ignore. It seemed to spill over on to me. At first, I did not like the feeling. It caused me to question my whole life and read the Bible. I was amazed by what I read. It forced me to realize that if the claims about Jesus in the Bible were true then I was a selfish, godless, and immoral person. I came to the point where I could no longer deny the truth of the Christian message. I was convinced that all, including myself, were sinners and that Jesus' death and resurrection actually happened. On October 19 of 1999 my friend took me to the Billy Graham Crusade in St. Louis. It was there that the Holy Spirit fell on me. I was overwhelmed by my sinfulness and by the love Jesus showed me through His sacrifice on the cross. I said to the Lord in my heart, "God I really believe that Jesus is real, He did what the Bible says He did and He died on the cross for me. I owe you my life Lord! I am yours." I was truly "born again" that night. That was only the beginning of my story. The deeper I dive into the Bible and in relationship with Jesus, the more I experience His love and the more I am changed by it.
This lack of an influence led to faith not being important to me as I was growing up. I was more concerned about getting what I wanted out of this life then if Jesus was real or not. I was 19 years old before anyone really pressed me about my faith and spiritual questions. A close friend from high school had a spiritual awaking off at college and at the time I thought he had become weirdly excited about Jesus. The fire he had was impossible to ignore. It seemed to spill over on to me. At first, I did not like the feeling. It caused me to question my whole life and read the Bible. I was amazed by what I read. It forced me to realize that if the claims about Jesus in the Bible were true then I was a selfish, godless, and immoral person. I came to the point where I could no longer deny the truth of the Christian message. I was convinced that all, including myself, were sinners and that Jesus' death and resurrection actually happened. On October 19 of 1999 my friend took me to the Billy Graham Crusade in St. Louis. It was there that the Holy Spirit fell on me. I was overwhelmed by my sinfulness and by the love Jesus showed me through His sacrifice on the cross. I said to the Lord in my heart, "God I really believe that Jesus is real, He did what the Bible says He did and He died on the cross for me. I owe you my life Lord! I am yours." I was truly "born again" that night. That was only the beginning of my story. The deeper I dive into the Bible and in relationship with Jesus, the more I experience His love and the more I am changed by it.