Today, Monday, April
29, 2019, I am celebrating the 44th year of when I came to know
Christ, in a personal way, as my Lord and Savior. The way it happened is quite
remarkable to me. I was not looking for a religious experience. I was sure I
was a Christian. I grew up going to church. I had good feelings about religion,
especially at Christmas and Easter. I was moved by those particular services. I
even once taught Sunday school at my church. My work in the restaurant
business, however, kept me from attending church on a regular basis as I kept
late hours. I would not feel like getting up that early on Sunday mornings to
attend church, but, of course, I was a Christian.
One Sunday evening,
Peggy and I got into an argument about what happens to good people or someone
who had never heard about Christ. Peggy, you see, had become religious and
wanted me to become religious also. Well, she could not give me a good answer
to my questions. She suggested that I come to a covered dish dinner that
Tuesday night in our apartment complex. She and her other religious friends had
invited their husbands to come. The cost of attendance was to hear this
religious guy, Dan, speak. Given my love for food, I relented. I planned to
nail this religious guy with my questions.
After dinner, we
gathered in the living room to listen to Dan. I knew he was going to talk
about Jesus. Earlier that year he had
invited me to a 6:00 a.m. Friday morning Bible study. I laughed in his face!
There were times I was just coming home at that hour! Anyway, that night I
listened to him tell his story. As he spoke, I saw him in a new light. He had a
sense of humor. He had a similar background to mine. Dan spoke naturally and
with real enthusiasm about his coming to faith in Christ in college. He shared
some verses from the Bible that resonated with me. There was one in particular,
John 14:6. “Jesus said, “I am the Way,
the Truth, and the Life, no man comes to the Father, but by Me”. Those
words struck me like a lightning bolt. I
knew that this was Truth to me! He then quoted Revelation 3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If
anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and have fellowship
with him.”
Well, it was as if a
light went on in my brain. When Dan gave an invitation to receive Christ’s love
and forgiveness, I knew this was what I wanted. I immediately said to everyone
in the room that I wanted to give my heart to Christ. That Tuesday night at
8:30 on April 29, my life changed forever.
Now,
lest you think my life became a trouble-free bed of roses, on Saturday of that
week, I was fired from my job as general manager of a very popular restaurant
in Atlanta. You see, a fight between the two major partners of the restaurant
had been brewing for some time. I was friends with one of them. He had hired
me. The other major partner and a minor partner had bought out my friend’s
interest in the business. I was gone. I
went home in the middle of the day. Peggy asked why I was home so early. I told
her what had happened. Interestingly, I had a very real peace about the
situation. In the 44 years since, my life has been filled with great times and
hard times, times of joy and times of sorrow and struggle. Here is the thing: I
would not trade a minute of this life for the times of my life before Christ
came into my life.
It is interesting to note that little did I know
that Peggy and some of her
“religious”
friends had been praying for me for several months. Peggy had talked to me
about her newfound faith in Christ but I told her I was not interested. She
told me later that, as she was washing dishes one day in March, she had a
strong sense that she should release me to the Lord. She followed that message
and within a month, I came to Christ. I had the chance to speak to her
“religious” friends and thank them for praying for me! I thank God for my sweet bride’s faithfulness
to pray, pursue and give me over to the Lord. She has been my faithful
companion on this great adventure. She has maintained an attitude like the
biblical Ruth. “Where you go, I will go.” She has been my greatest cheerleader
in my 40 plus years of ministry as well
Ministry Needs
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don’t forget!
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Each one of you is a dear blessing and
encouragement to me. I am so very grateful for your prayers, encouragement and
financial support of Net Work Ministries.
Buck