Happy Belated Birthday

Have you ever been slapped in the face with this thought, “Oh no! I missed his birthday!”, then, you make a mad rush to the store to quickly browse the “belated birthday cards? C’mon you know it’s happened to you! Well, yesterday I failed to write, mostly because I was recovering from some minute viral bacteria crawling around in my intestinal track. Today, I feel much better! So I write today, to tell you that yesterday was a very special day for me. It was my birthday! I didn’t get a card, a phone call, or anything. That’s because most of you think my birthday is in December. It is, December 23rd to be exact (you might wanna write that down). Confused yet? Twelve years ago, yesterday, I nailed down my eternal destination! Yesterday was my 12th spiritual birthday. Let me tell you about it.

During an invitation at our home church in Texas, as an eight year old, I tugged on my mom’s dress and told her I wanted to go down. I remember talking to the preacher, then getting baptized that night. I was handed a copy of “The survival kit”, and was told that I was a Christian. Fast forward 10 years… I was asked to play the drums for a camp called Power Charge. Ironically, it was here in Jacksonville. After one of the messages Calvin Carr preached I went up to him and talked to him. Talking to him one on one, I told him, “Something’s missing in my life, and I don’t know what it is.” His next statement, in the words of Jon Bon Jovi, was like a “Shot to the heart”. He looked me straight in the eye and asked, “ARE YOU SAVED?”. My immediate response was, yeah. Then in my head I thought, “Dude, I’m a leader in our youth group. I’m on staff at a Christian camp playing the drums in the worship band. Hello, of course I’m saved!” I don’t remember any of the conversation after that. I was still rocked by his question.

Two months later I was headed to the Word of Life Bible Institute. You got it, to study the Bible for a year. I was at Bible college and didn’t even know If I was saved. I remember praying for what seamed like an eternity for God to either take the doubts away or keep convicting me. After wrestling with God for three weeks, I finally decided to nail it down. After class one day, I rode my bike to spot under a bridge where I would go to think from time to time, knelt down and gave my life to Christ. After I did that, I took this picture to remind me of this sacred spot. I immediately went back and told my friends what had happened, they rejoiced with me. At the fall break I shared with my home church, where my youth pastor re-baptized me.

I share this with you partly to celebrate, and partly because some of you may still be wondering. I can tell you this, if you seek Him with all you have, you will find Him. Jeremiah 29:13 says this:

"You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart."

If you don't know for sure, seek God on the issue. Don't fear what others may think. It's only your eternal destination! I had to tell my friends at a bible college (where you're supposed to have this stuff figured out already), then I had to go back to my home church where I was a leader. I didn't get stoned, everyone was excited to hear it. If you know Jesus as your savior, thank Him for it. If you're not sure, seek Him out. He promises to let you find Him! I know this, I have NEVER regretted making the decision to give my life to Jesus on October 11, 1995!