1950 Custom Mercury

I hope you have enough space... (lol). I didn't have a real "faith" growing
up. My dad is Catholic, my mom is Ipiscapalian, They were married in a
Methodist church, I have a Jewish godfather, and I was baptized a Lutheran.
All to say that I knew there was a God, but I really didn't know who he
was. In Cub Scouts, part of our oath is (...Duty to God...), so at campouts
and other outings, there was usually a non-denominational service of some
kind. In Boy Scouts, the 12th point of the scout law is (... a scout is
reverent...), and again, participation at outings with a service was
standard fare. The scout leaders I remember were all of high character, and
good morals and ethical values, and as such, I just kind of associated
those traits with what your faith should be. Since I never went to Sunday
school, let alone church, (except for Christmas and Easter and Scout
Sunday), my faith in God and Jesus was taught to me through the scouting
program. I never opened a Bible, though I heard about it a lot, and could
name a couple of books, like "John, Peter, and Paul", but I couldn't tell
you what they wrote. I knew the "traditional" stories from the old
testament, like Adam and Eve, Moses, and Noah, but that's where it ended.
When I married my best friend, who was of Jewish faith, we talked a lot
about our differing views of Jesus, the Bible, and how our children would
be brought up. For some reason, I decided that it would be a good idea to
start going to church. It was obviously a seed planted by God, because I
have no other reason to explain it. We went to a Methodist Church where the
pastor was of the style of talking to you, not at you, and my wife attended
occasionally. I was enjoying learning about faith, and hearing it's
application, but still never opened up the Bible. When my wifes mother
passed away, I had an opportunity to share our grief with the church body
during a time of prayers and concerns. Before I got home, my wife had
received phone calls from people in church, strangers to us, offering
condolences, meals, babysitting, and just about anything else. A
true outpouring of love that I have never witnessed before. My wife was
shocked too, as she never received a single call from anyone at her
synagogue. Time passed, children were getting older, and I would watch, ,my
daughter "dance" in the aisles of the church during our time of worship.
The Lord was truely moving within her. The pastor moved on, we couldn't
connect with the new pastor, so we changed churches, though we stayed with
a Methodist church. Connected with the pastor, who moved on, and again we
were left unable to connect, and certainly not growing in our faith. Our
daughter had some friends in school who had been told that we were
searching for a church home. To make a long story short, we started to
attend Harvest, and finally realized that it was the teaching, not the
pastor who made the difference. I hope you've heard of The Power Team,
http://www.thepowerteam.com/ , they came to another local church, and we
were amazed by their testimony, let alone their feats of strength. A time
came in their program where we were praying, a very similar pray to the one
you have on your web page regarding salvation. As we were bowed in prayer,
we were asked that if we said that prayer, and felt in our hearts a calling
to come to the front of the stage to accept Jesus into our life. I raised
my hand, but did not go up. My daughter however didn't have her head bowed,
and noted my inaction, and when we got home, I was called on it. I had no
explaination, other than I just didn't feel moved to do so, but I told her
I loved God, and Jesus. That night, my Jewish faithed wife and I talked til
the early morning about faith, and that she felt that something was missing
in her life. After all my explaining, the best I could, I drew her a
picture of a canyon. I drew a person on one side, and God on the other, and
told her that the only way to get to God, and be filled was through Jesus,
and I drew a line across the canyon. The next day, our kids wanted to see
the Power Team again, so I reluctantly agreed. The people who gave their
testimony were different, and I was really listening to what God had to say
that night. They set up 2 bricks on end, and basically told the same story
I had told my wife the night before, about how to "get it". And when he
placed the 3rd brick on top of the two standing end on end, it was the same
picture I had drawn for Amy the night before. She looked at me, I looked at
her, and was amazed. That time of the program came again, I raised my hand,
and when called to the stage, I got up, and so did my wife, and together we
both accepted Jesus. We finally understood. Since then, my wife has been
baptized, we joined a home group, and have taken seriously prayer, the
Bible, and our walk in faith. I'm mentoring both our children in their Duty
to God religious awards, and have such a comfort in knowing the Lord. I
share my faith with my employee's, and friends, and am letting the Lord
guide me in the work he wants me to do. I have never been more calm about
my eternal salvation, or in my relationship with the Lord.