My Personal Testimony
(or: How I Became a Christian)

First, Some Background Information

   I learned to walk in the suburbs of Chicago (Berwyn and Cicero), but after starting 3rd grade, we moved to Hoffman Estates, IL; a rural farming area with new housing tracts, and I'll never forget growing up in our house there on Bode Road. My Dad's relatives were all Slovak Evangelical or Missouri Synod Lutherans, and I spent a lot of time in parochial schools. I remember thinking how difficult it was trying to memorize doctrinal statements without being sure I could ever believe they were true. (I also remember how upset my father was when he heard I was voicing that opinion at school one day.)
    After some years serving as an altar boy many Sundays in an historic church (St. Peter Lutheran Church; originally St. Peter German Evangelical Lutheran, in Schaumburg, IL), I was also "confirmed" there. But I still had no idea what it meant to have a personal relationship with God.

     During my later teen years (high school), I became convinced that most people who attended church were hypocrites (their worship in church seemed to have little effect on their lives outside it; I recall an incident when I just happened to hear someone swearing at a driver in front of him before he'd even left the church parking lot!). Whatever beliefs I might have in the future, I decided that my life would truly reflect my convictions! When I started college, my parents could no longer force me to attend their church, yet I felt there wasn't much point in looking into any alternative views while still living at home.
     Although I considered the Bible to have almost no relevance to our daily lives, I still believed in the existence of God. That kind of philosophy is what actually keeps many from ever coming to "the knowledge of the truth" as revealed in Scripture! For example, I and another chemistry major at the college could spend hours sharing our thoughts about God, even though neither of us really knew much about Him. Somehow we always avoided ever looking into the only book that claims to have also been written by Him!

     That same year, a group of Christians set up a book table right in the student lounge, and put up posters to attract attention. They reminded me of a guy I'd seen in high school whom I considered very weird because he actually carried a Bible around school and into his classes (are students even allowed to do that today?). I had always thought that one's "religious beliefs" were so personal, they weren't meant to be proclaimed in public. One day I decided to learn some more about these people, and told them I too was a Christian; after all, I had been baptized as a baby and did go to a church for many years. Of course they wanted me to visit one of their meetings, but I said I was just too busy with my studies (for the most part, I honestly meant that too).

God At Work in My Life

    Not long after that, my birth-date was assigned a very low number in "the draft," and without knowing if the war would end soon, I decided to join the Navy. I'd expected to leave for boot camp that week, but they didn't want me there until three months later. After finishing out that semester, I then had a whole lot of free time without much to do. (Note: If God wants you to spend some time thinking about Him, you will!)
    Although I'd already found some teachers who allowed me attend their classes without being registered (another act of God?), I felt those Christians at the book table deserved some further investigation. A short time into a conversation with them, I had to admit (to myself) they weren't really some kind of "freaks" as I'd previously judged them to be. I went to a Bible study with them on campus, and started attending other activities with them as well. For some reason [only God knows for sure], I was never questioned about how I'd become a Believer.

    I want you to know this though: That was a very dangerous time in my spiritual life! Why? Because I thought my desire to participate in all their events was proof that I had to be a Christian. They often talked about how they'd become Christians by "accepting the Lord," but I was sure I could be saved in a somewhat different method which I'd worked out with God on my own! [The 'old man' within me still wanted to remain in control.]

A Decision To Make

A few weeks before I had to leave for Navy boot camp, someone asked me to a weekend away called a "Midwest Navigator's* Conference" (to listen to some Christian speakers and learn more about God). While there, a new brother in Christ wanted to know when I'd committed my life to the Lord. Suddenly, it was as if my whole life was frozen in time. Only moments passed, but as I reflected upon all I'd learned (not just at that conference, but many meetings back home), I realized that answering this question was the most important decision I would ever make in my lifetime: I had never asked Jesus to be my Savior, and until I did, I knew I would remain apart from Him.

[See below: Revelation 3:20 and John 1:12-13.]

Marty's mouth probably fell open when I told him that I'd never done so before, but wanted to have Jesus in my life now.

       Believing in Christ is not simply a matter of "intellectual assent," but a deep trust in Him to guide your life no matter where He leads you!
       This simple act of praying to Christ for your salvation is sometimes called “easy believism” by those who don't really understand what it means. If you're only saying the words to please someone else, or to gain friends, then it would be an easy thing to do... and many have done so; but it'd also be a lie! Do you think anyone living in the old Soviet Union (at least 30 years ago) or in a predominantly Muslim country would call this an easy decision to make? Of course not! Ask anyone living in a country which still allows or even promotes the persecution of Christians how easy their life is today.

    A Jewish student once told me he thought my concept of salvation was too easy to believe in. I asked him to consider just the immediate consequences in his own life  if he actually accepted Jesus as his Messiah that day. In a matter of seconds, he too realized that he could no longer call it an easy decision for everyone!

There were some noticeable changes in my life: I now loved to read the Word of God! The Bible still held many mysteries for me, but it was far from being the boring old book it had been in the past!  My two brothers, who are also saved now, immediately noticed my lack of anger towards them.

Revelation 3:20; Jesus speaking: Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any one hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with Me.

John 1:12-13: But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

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*The Navigators — History began as a ministry to California sailors in 1933; some of the sailors on the USS Arizona were Navigators when it was sunk by the Japanese on December 7, 1941 at Perl Harbor. Later on, the ministry expanded to college and university students across the world.

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