| Abraham Lincoln, in the Gettysburg Address, said, " the world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here". That is somewhat how my life is, and has been, up to this point. The world won`t miss me when I'm gone, and won`t remember me long, if at all. But there are a few events that will stand forever in the Halls of Eternity, and no one can erase them, nor belittle their importance. On August 11, 1964, I was taken to church. Revival was going on, and we were there because my parents took us to church everytime the doors were open. They loved us kids, and wanted to see us saved. That was a priority, and though they couldn`t save us, they knew the One who could. So when church time came, we weren`t asked if we were going, or did we want to. If death was not an immediate concern, we were going. So I found myself at church that night, seated beside Mother, about 3 benches back from the amen corner. I would rather to have been home watching "Combat", a TV show that was on on Tuesday nights. After the song service was over, the evangelist took the stand, and I remember him reading from Exodus 3. God was telling Moses to go to Egypt and bring the children of Israel out of bondage. Moses was a Baptist, and didn`t want to go. And he told God, I can go, and tell them the God of your fathers has sent me, but they`ll say,"what`s His name?" Then God said something profound, that literally tore my little world down. He said,"I AM THAT I AM: Thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you." For the first time in my life, I recognized God for who, and what He is. I didn`t hear the sermon that night. God had already spoken to me, and the preacher didn`t matter anymore. This was between God and me, and He had me outnumbered, one to one. Read Isaiah 6. I don`t think anyone can see God, without seeing their own unworthiness before Him. My little mind couldn`t comprehend the magnitude and power of God, but I knew I was unworthy. I was not His. I was lost, undone, and doomed. I got up and ran. Not to the alter at the front of the church, I ran outside. The feeling of conviction was more than I thought I could bear and I had to get away from it. I didn`t know it was the Holy Spirit tugging at my heart, and I couldn`t get away, but I was trying. Outside on the front steps, I sat down. I couldn`t forget those words, "I AM THAT I AM!" They kept on. I went out in the darkness, to the edge of the cemetery. I looked up at the Heavens and said God, what`s wrong with me? In the country, there`s no smog or bright lights to hinder the view. I could see the stars and planets and things. And as I realized God had spoken them all into existence, I felt that much worse. I`d heard about being "lost" and "unsaved", but I was only 10. I`d never committed any crimes, like murder, or those bad things. So why did I feel so rotten and unclean? A person is not lost because of the things he/she has done. They are lost because they are the children of Adam. And when Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden, sinned was passed on to all of mankind. We are born in sin. The Holy Spirit was telling me this, and I knew I was out of fellowship with God because of sin. My Daddy had a 1956 Pontiac. I went to the car and got inside. I was miserable. I knew now what the problem was. I`d heard all my life about being saved, but this time was different because God was talking to me, telling me I was lost, and I needed salvation. I tried to pray. I repeated every prayer I`d ever heard, I remembered everything I`d ever been told about how to get saved. But nothing was working. I prayed and prayed until I finally decided it was useless. I was just going to die in my sins and spend eternity in Hell. There was nothing I could do. I gave up. That`s when it happened!!! In a split second, my tears stopped, the prayer was over, and there was peace. Peace like I`d never known before. Peace that passes all understanding. Peace that made the world look different. I felt clean. I got out of the floorboard of the car. I`d wound up on my knees in the floorboard! I got out of the car, and without a word, I went back inside and took my seat next to Mother. She didn`t say anything, which was unusual, cause you didn`t get up and leave church during service. It just wasn`t done in our family. I`d returned just in time for the invitational hymn. So we stood and sang, but it was different for me. For the first time, I really knew what I was singing about. Mother did finally turn and ask if I felt I needed to go to the alter. I said, "No, Mother. I`m alright". And I was! I told her and Daddy about my experience when we got home. It`s a memory I treasure. Of all the gifts I ever gave them, I think hearing of my salvation was more precious to them. I`ve made my mistakes since then, and wandered away, but God has always been there when I came back. Right where I`d left Him. I was the only one who had moved. He called me to preach in Sept. of 1972. I`ve been privileged to preach and sing in a multitude of churches, all denominations, over an 8 state area,and saw souls saved. I pastored a little country church for 5 years, and saw several saved there. I`ve had people come to my home and made an alter out of the coffee table in the living room. God has blessed me more than anyone I know. And His greatest blessing is salvation. After all, it was purchased with the best Heaven had to offer -- Jesus. Church is a good place to be saved, but God will save anywhere that a sinner calls on Him for forgiveness, and salvation. I pray before it`s too late, you will come to know Jesus, as your personal Savior. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3: 16 |
| What matters most, to me,...... |
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| The song playing is called, "I Know He Lives", written by Wendell Owen, and sung by the Owen Family. |