LET THE REDEEMED OF THE LORD SAY SO!
My name is Paul. I am a little uncertain as to the reason I was named Paul, but I suspect that my mother, who was named Pauline, may have had some influence in the matter. She of course, I am sure, was named after the Apostle Paul, as her father was a Presbyterian elder. It is odd though, because from the moment I was born, my father loved me so much, that being in the Navy, he called me his "Little Skipper!" You see, I was born nine months after Pearl Harbor. I am now seventy-five, and I am still called Skip by my wife and a few fellow church members. Hence, my blog is called "skipslighthouse."
Jumping ahead, by the time I was twenty-eight, I had broken every commandment, either literally, or in my heart of stone. We were stationed in Pensacola and I was a member of the Blue Angels enlisted staff. I had become an atheist and loved arguing religion with those "foolish" enough to approach me with theirs. But in 1970, Tim Coffman, a former neighbor of mine in San Diego, sent me a letter containing a leather-bound pocket New Testament. I remember throwing it across my living room, and using language not appropriate for civilians to hear! I wrote him a nasty "cease and desist" letter, and did not hear from him again.
On January 30th, 1971, I had the night watch at the hanger. Usually, the watch office was filled with reading materials, but someone had "sanitized it," and there was none. Fortunately, I had brought my History and Science textbooks to study for night classes at Pensacola Junior College. But, after hours of study, I decided to "switch subjects." When I opened my briefcase, I saw someone had put that pocket New Testament in it. After mumbling some "Navy jargon," I decided to get a few laughs reading its "superstitious garbage." I opened it at random to Matthew 25, and discovered something I had never been told; the writing was better than that of Shakespeare, whom I held in high esteem!
I called my friend on duty in the medical clinic upstairs in the hanger, and discussed the beauty of the writing. Little did I know that he had, at one time, been studying for the Catholic priesthood. He shared my opinion of the author's brilliance. The following morning, while eating breakfast with my wife, I told her of my "discovery." She was stunned that I was talking positively about the Bible. While we were talking, our three precious (at that time, at least) daughters came down and as always, they turned the TV on to watch cartoons. But when they were getting their cereal, there was a church program on from Dolphin Way Baptist Church, in Mobile, Alabama. I told Judy, "Wouldn't it be something, if the preacher talked about the same passage I read the night before. Well, HE DID!!!
Having my full attention, I sat and watch his sermon, the sermon of the preacher from the "next church" program, and then, I watched Rex Humbard preach from The Cathedral of Tomorrow in Akron, Ohio. When he finished, he turned and pointed to the camera, and said, "You there in your living room; get down on your knees and accept Jesus Christ today! That is the last I remember from the TV, but as I was sliding forward on the couch to kneel, I saw Judy moving in the kitchen. I froze! Surely she would die from laughing at me after all the years of giving her a hard time about church. Immediately, I kid you not, she turned, walked past me and out the back door! It was January, and Judy is cold in July! Still, when she closed the door, I hit the floor! When I had finished praying, I stood up, and had somehow come to know three things: my sins were forgiven; the Bible is the Word of God (the Author); and that I was to study for a lifetime of ministry! Ironically, it would take exactly twenty years before I was called to pastor a little country church in Sturgis, Kentucky.
Perhaps, Lord willing, I will continue sharing what God did with the next forty-seven years of my life in my future blog posts. Before I close, let me say to you who have been led to read this; God is no respecter of persons! What He has done, and is still doing in me, He wants to do for everyone who will acknowledge their need for Jesus as their Savior and Lord! Trust in Him today!
No comments:
Post a Comment