Our Stories Archives

Rick Trivett

Posted on May 7, 2020 by admin in Our Stories | 0

I am blessed to have my personal relationship with Christ. I was 44 years old when I asked Jesus into my life. I finally understood it was about more than me. I was a “good guy,” successful, had friends but was empty inside. Material things, successful business, and having a wife that loved me IN-SPITE of knowing me were not enough. I knew about Jesus but figured, “Who really needs it!” On the outside I was good. On the inside I was miserable.

My wife and a friend in the neighborhood suggested I go to church (I had heard the “Jesus story” before) and I decided to go. From the 1st message from Pastor Henry Loggins (Center Baptist Church, Robertstown, GA) he was throwing fastballs and I felt they were thrown directly at me. After six weeks of sitting under Pastor Henry’s preaching and realizing Jesus died and rose again for my sins, I almost jumped over a pew and went down to an altar and asked Jesus to come into my life and save me.

Before having Christ in my life, I was all business. After asking Jesus into my life I wanted and NEEDED to tell others about my salvation. God even gave me a song about my personal experience. The song is “Christmas Came September.”

Charles Peterson

Posted on May 6, 2020 by admin in Our Stories | 0

I accepted Jesus Christ as my savior when I was an eight-year-old boy. As best I knew how at that age I repented of my sins and asked Him into my life as my Lord and Savior. From there I regularly went to church with my family and grew in knowledge as a Christian.

As a young teen I took part in a Saturday bus ministry where I learned the importance of sharing Christ with others. When I was 17 years old I attended a Summer church camp and recommitted myself to Christ. After graduating from high school I decided to go to work rather than go to college.

At that job I got mixed up with a crowd that took me to places that a Christian should never go. I tried to find happiness through self-gratification and wrongful living. As to be expected, that lifestyle did not lead to anything but dissatisfaction, loneliness and emptiness.

During this time a couple of my close high school friends were killed in an automobile accident. But by the grace of God, I would have been with them that evening. Through that, God revealed to me that I was not where I needed to be in my relationship to Him. I never forget that had I been a faithful witness to those two young men, they could possibly be in heaven today but I don’t believe they were saved when they were killed. It wasn’t long after this that Jesus became real to me again in my life. This single event was a wake up call to me that I needed to get right with God and stay there.

From there I went to college where I met the mother of my two children. My relationship with Jesus in the years that followed was up and down. While I never slipped back into deep sin, I sometimes didn’t depend on God like I knew I should.

During this period of my life I started looking at worldly things to satisfy my spiritual needs to a point that it didn’t matter what the consequences were. I was still going to church and still had a daily prayer time and read my Bible even though I didn’t have a close relationship with Christ.

In the fall of 2007 during my daily quiet time I recommitted my life to Jesus yet again. This time it was different than any other time in my life. I promised God that no matter what events took place in my life I was going to be 100% His from then on.

In March of 2008 I lost my job of 20 years. In June 2008, my daughter graduated from high school. By the end of that year all my savings was gone due to the loss of work. In late summer of the next year, my wife of 27 years said she wanted a divorce. As a Christian I wouldn’t accept it but her reasons left me no doubt that divorce was the only option.

In January 2010 I moved out of my home to live on my own. So, within about two years of my complete submission to Jesus, I had lost my job, my marriage and had filed for bankruptcy. The amazing thing was that through all these events I had a peace knowing that God was in control of all these events and that I was right where He wanted me to be. In looking back at it I believe He, in effect, took away all the things that meant so much to me so I could truly look to only Him for my needs. What a blessing that was. Without hesitation I can absolutely say that I would trade those “things” for Him any time. The peace He has given me from that day in 2007 has been unexplainable. There’s a deep satisfaction that comes from knowing that you are in God’s will that cannot be found in anything else.

My testimony is to the carnal Christian who has walked away from Christ. Yes, I knew my salvation was secure from a boy of eight years. He promises that once you are His you are His forever. He is always faithful to give yet another chance even when we are not faithful to Him. What I can never get back though are the years of service to God that were squandered away for my own selfishness and self-satisfaction. The funny part of it is that my desire to get satisfaction from things, praises and position led me to near destruction. I can say for sure that the only thing that leads to real peace and joy is from doing what God’s Word tells us we should do as His child. When you sin you break the relationship. This sin can come in many forms, greed, selfishness, desires, anything that comes before God. Love God, act like Him. He will give you peace that passes all understanding. Life’s ups and downs will still come but God gives you a vision of Him that only being close to Him can reveal.

Pat Irvin

Posted on May 3, 2020 by admin in Our Stories | 0

I was 12 in 1968 visiting my Grandparents in Hiawassee. They loved watching Billy Graham crusades. My parents took me to Sunday School and VBS at our home church in Gastonia. But I knew there was more. I had watched several nights of Billy Graham’s crusade and hearing God’s word preached. But the verse which spoke to me was John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” After the crusade that night I went to our bedroom and begged Jesus for His forgiveness and to come into my heart and life.

I couldn’t wait to go share with my mom and dad and grandparents what God had just done for me. I wrote to the Billy Graham address to share my salvation and did several months of Bible study with the Graham association as a new child of God. I thank God every day for what He did for me that summer night at my Grandparents’ house. That was almost 52 years ago. Praise His Holy Name!

There were several years in high school we were not in church. And I wasn’t where I should be as a Christian. But when I was 19 our family visited Victory Baptist Church. I rededicated my life to Christ and was baptized. I thank my Jesus for giving His life for me, and He has been in my life on the mountaintops and in the valleys. He has never left me. Praise His Name!

Peri Simmons

Posted on May 1, 2020 by admin in Our Stories | 0

There was a time in my life when I was unsure of who I was and what my purpose in life was. I thought, “Do I just grow up to work and rest so I can work some more? What will happen at the end of my life?” I had heard Bible stories growing up, and many times had prayed to be saved. But there was one problem. I didn’t see how I was a sinner.

One night, after reading another Bible story, called The Parable of the Sower, I asked God to make my heart good soil and to plant His seed in my heart one last time. As I prayed, I realized two things. First, I could never be good enough, and even little white lies and rebelling against my parents counted as sin. I also realized that I needed to make Jesus the Lord of my life. I needed to depend on Him to show me how to live my life.

Since that night, I have had a growing relationship with Jesus. He has shown me who I am in Him and has given me purpose for my life. My career as a nurse is not just a job but a calling and a mission field which I found by depending on Jesus to be my Lord. Has life always been easy with Jesus in charge? No! There have been tough times I created for myself and tough times that have come due to others’ behaviors. But through it all, I have known strength and peace beyond all understanding. I know who I am, and I have hope for my future. I no longer wonder, “What happens at the end of this life.”