My Testimony
On 08-24-98 at 0052, I was posted in a staging area by myself. (I am a security officer by trade) I was reading the bible and had been reading it for some time. I had started at Genesis and made it all of the way to Samuel. There were alot of things in the world that were troubling to me. I felt out of control. My brother was getting divorced and in pain, kids were killing each other in schools and I couldn't do anything about it. After reading the bible, I found that I could control those things through prayer. Prayer would remove this burden of worry and put the work of fixing these problems on someone that actually had the power to correct them. The LORD. After about an hour of thinking about this I finally made the commitment to change my life. I called my friend Michael Stahl on the radio. There was no answer. I almost gave up right then, but I had made a decision that I was going to make a change and I was going to make it tonight. I called him again. Still no answer. I called him a total of four times before I finally found out that the battery on his radio had gone dead. He called me on the phone and asked me what I wanted. I told him that I was wanting to make a change in my life and that I didn't know what to do. You see, I couldn't remember going to church but maybe a half a dozen times in my whole life. I didn't know how to get saved. He was very patient and explained to me the A B Cs of salvation. I remember after he had helped me through a prayer, I felt so relieved. I knew that if I died at that very moment I would go to heaven. That is a wonderful feeling to know that even though you are a person that has never really gone to church and really not lived a very good life, you have the same opportunity at salvation as someone that has been going to church all of their life.(I'm 37 years old now) Back then I didn't know about the parable of the workers of the field getting the same wage even though they started later in the day, but I know of it now and I thank the LORD for it. That feeling of peace followed me for several hours that night, until I was attacked by temptation. Then I knew that this was the fight that I would be fighting every day, for the rest of my life. The good thing is I don't have to fight it alone. :)
I had published this testimony before and I believe I got the dates wrong. I got out the bible that I had been reading at the time of my salvation (in it Michael had suggested that I put the date and time so I could remember it) and the above is the correct date and time. Another interesting element is that the bible I was reading was one given to me by Sgt. Dale Sheldon while I was stationed in the Air Force in Elkhorn Nebraska. It was an NIV and I was suprised at how easy it was to read. He said "You can have this if you promise you will read it." I gladly accepted the bible not knowing what effect it would have on my life. Haven't talked to Dale since I left Nebraska but I think he would be glad to know that I am finally making good on my promise.
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