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Mike's Testimony
I have always loved God during my life. I remember as a very small boy, saying my prayers and Rosaries very faithfully, although I was never a "Baptized" Catholic. Had I died I probably would have gone to "Limbo" or "Purgatory" depending upon your theological persuasion. I was born between 2-3 months premature on May 14, 1957. Because of this, the doctors had to administer mammoth amounts of oxygen in order to keep me alive. The major drawback to this was that the oxygen dilated the vessel in the eyes, and caused severe retinal damage. My left eye was to be totally blind for life, and my right would have severely limited vision. This disability would serve, I feel, a great purpose later on. Because of my limited eyesight, the ophthalmologist recommended a sight saving class in a local Catholic school. I was thus enrolled in Kindergarten and began my school career. It was there that I learned about the Catholic faith and all that it had to offer me. My parents made a very modest income but we as children never went without food or necessities of life. As a matter of fact, I think I had it pretty good as a kid. I can never remember desiring something and not being able to have it. I have an older sister by 6 years named Chris and her and I still talk quite frequently to this day. I also had 2 sets of good grandparents. Grandma Saxton was deaf since she was young and my grandfather worked in a coal mine all his life. Grandma Saxton did lip read and I knew, at that time, very elementary sign language-just the alphabet, but enough to spell out words to her. My Grandfather and Grandmother both passed away respectively in May of 1971 and January of 1977. We as a family spent many summer vacations at Grandma’s house. On my Father’s side of the family, his parents lived about 15 miles away from the Saxtons, so we used to shuttle back and forth for visits whenever we visited Ohio I am originally from Troy, NY, a suburb of Albany. My grandparents on Dad’s side spoiled me rotten. I had a steady diet of vanilla ice cream with butterscotch topping every day at Grandma Hammonds. Grandpap worked in a pottery factory and retired from there. I feel that both sets of grandparents were Christians when they died and I got to spend a couple of my summers in East Liverpool as well as spending time with my Aunt Evelyn, Uncle Walt, and Karen and Marcia in Ford City, PA. How did all this relate to my coming to the Lord? Well, because of my going to the Catholic school, I was transported every day by taxi back and forth (sometimes very unwillingly - just ask my sister). I remember a couple of times Sister Gabriel coming to the house to get me. During these taxi rides I met a young man with cerebral palsy named Joe. He and I became good friends during the year. The taxi would pick me up first and then we would go to Joe’s house. I never exactly knew where he lived-I still don’t know the actual house number to this day. Well the school year ended and we went our separate ways for the summer. During the winter of 1968 I was involved in the Boy Scouts and took first aid. And did not do very well in that course. Summer was upon us, and all of a sudden had an urge to go find Joe. I didn’t know his house number, but remembered how to get to his street. I rode my bike over and found his house and we renewed our friendship. At the same time I trying to get baptized into the Catholic Church, but for some reason, either the priest was not available or schedules just didn’t seem to work out.
Joe and I stayed friends throughout the winter of 68 and into the spring of 1969. One week, his Mother invited me to go to Church and Sunday school with them. I decided to go, as I did not really have any friends at school with whom I could go to Mass with. Well, we went to Sunday school that Mothers Day in May of 1969. Our teachers were Mary and Martha Film and we were learning about Solomon’s Temple. At the end of Sunday school one of the Deacons walked into the classroom, and, it was a face that I recognized. It was Alex Parker-the same person who had taught the Boy Scout First Aid Class a year ago. At that time he told me the story of the "Wordless Book." And I then received Jesus as my Savior that day. I remember going to the sanctuary and singing my first song as a newborn babe, "His Name is Wonderful", and how wonderful that day was. Marie Esposito, Joe’s Mom was thrilled to learn of my decision. My Christian life would be tested many times in the many years ahead. The following year, my parents thought that for my high school years that it would be in my best interest for me to have specialized education in a setting that dealt specifically with children who were blind and visually impaired. At the recommendation of the local Association for the Blind my parents were encouraged to start me right at 7th grade at this facility. So, in September of 1969, I was admitted to the New York Institute in the Bronx to begin my journey through 7th grade and through high school. I was a boarding student and traveled home every Friday from New York City to Albany-2 ½ hours each way-twice a week. I did not do well at that facility, and in September of the following year I returned to my local Catholic School and repeated 7th grade. In April of 1972, I made another commitment to the Lord and was baptized by immersion at the same church where I accepted Him-Sixth Avenue Baptist Church in Troy. My Aunt Evelyn had heard of my accepting the Lord and that opened up a very long and close relationship throughout my life with her and her family as they were Bible-believing Christians as well. The summer after my baptism, I served as a Summer Missionary with Child Evangelism Fellowship, teaching 5-Day Clubs in various backyards. Then spent the month of August with my grandparents in Ohio and my Aunt and her family in Ford City. I continued my life with the Lord throughout the remainder of my grade school and high school years. In my junior year of high school, I started attending the local Christian and Missionary Alliance Church and felt the call to full time service. My grades in high school were horrible-I did not like doing homework. I did apply, and was accepted to Nyack College for my freshman year in September of 1976. Unfortunately, my grades did not improve and I was girl crazy. I was looking for chicks from the moment I stepped on campus, and my focus was on having a good time and socializing and doing lots of Christian service work. I rode the "spiritual wave"-went to Chapel went to Church-had no relationship with God at all. I was saved, but felt that because I was always around Christians that I was getting what I needed. While at Nyack, I met a young shy girl from Western Pennsylvania. She only lasted until about Thanksgiving (due to homesickness) but I had the biggest crush on her, and during the time she was there, she was not interested. When she left, I gave her a hug and told her to keep in touch. Well, I never thought I would hear from her again, but in February of 1978, I received a letter from her asking me to write. We wrote, I saw her during the summer and we fell in love. During the next year-my Junior year, I was flying to Pittsburgh once a month to see her. During my college years, my grades did not improve and I was eventually dismissed from Nyack due to "academic" reasons. I then enrolled in Toccoa Falls College in Georgia. Terri had gone with me-without my parent’s knowledge or approval-they would have killed me. My grades actually improved significantly, as Terri was a studier-kind of exactly like my stepdaughter, Debbie-had to get the top grade. After a year at Toccoa, both Terri and I had enough. There were too many rules on our personal lives-could not kiss-could go off campus unless you had housemother permission. I was 23 and in that rebellious stage. I did not want to be told what to do. I quit college and went to Travel School and got a job in Clarksburg, WV. Terri and I were then married in August of 1981. Due to my irresponsibility and lack of growing up, our marriage ended in divorce about 5 years later. I still lived the freewheeling jet-set lifestyle even after our divorce and the Lord was kind of in the background-there but really didn’t matter. In 1989 I met Lynn on the way home from work one night. We went out the following night, and our lives were forever changed. We married in 1990 and we dedicated ourselves to the Lord, although we were going to a very non-evangelical church. We are both very happy to be serving the Lord at the Cleveland Baptist Church and I wish that I had listened to Him earlier in my life. I think that I would have saved myself a lot of heartache, but sometimes God has to hit us over the head once in awhile to get our attention. Yes, as you can see, I have failed many times, however God is always giving us a new start with him.
Do you know the Lord? If you were do die tonight, do you know for sure that you would go to Heaven? The Bible says that "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." God does not demand perfection. Because of Adam’s sin, that imperfection is passed down to us The Bible also says "by faith are you saved through Grace, it is a gift of God…" Jesus died on the Cross and gave his blood for our sins. He also rose from the dead and is going to come back. If you do not know Him and you die without accepting Him as your savior, you will go to the Lake of Fire and spend Eternity without God. Don’t take that chance. There is a very simple prayer that you can pray right now in the privacy of your computer, and it goes something like this: Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I know that I need you. Thank you for dying for my sins. I ask you now to come into my life and change me for your sake. I ask you these things in your precious name-Amen If you have sincerely prayed that prayer-right now-and meant it with all your heart, you are now saved and belong to God. The Bible says that "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." Go tell others what God has done for you tonight and find a Bible-believing Church that preaches the Word of God so that you may grow in your faith. If there is anything that either Lynn or myself can do to help you in your spiritual journey, please e-mail us and we will try to help. We can also suggest new Christian Bible study type stuff that may help you get started with God.
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