Changed by
His Love
by Bob Chopin
Before
Christ
Being raised in a
Catholic household we attend Mass almost every Sunday.
Like most Catholics I was christened as an infant, made my first
communion, and received the sacrament of confirmation.
As a child I prayed and talked to God whenever the need arose.
Mostly, emergency prayers like “God, if you get me out of this trouble
I promise to go to church every Sunday.”
Other than that, my relationship with God was based on the Catholic
catechisms and a Sunday Mass.
By my teen years I
put religion on the back burner and limited church attendance to Christmas and
Easter. Who needed religion anyway?
There was a social and Cultural Revolution changing the landscape of society, and
like most teens seeking self-expression, individuality, and independence I bowed
to peer pressure and conformed to whatever was in.
I had no interest in conquering the world or making a name for myself,
just live and let live. If it feels
good, do it— as long as you’re not hurting anyone.
Yes, I was enjoying life and living everyday to the fullest.
Before my 20th birthday I would experience what was to change
my life forever.
It wasn’t until I went to get a haircut that I heard about a friend who supposedly found Jesus and was attending a Holy Roller church. He and his cousin (my barber) were invited to visit the church by one of my barber’s regular customers, and while at the church service they went to the altar and asked Jesus to forgive their sins and be Lord and Savior. I can remember shaking my head from side to side in unbelief. These guys always seemed to hookup with the latest fad, but this seemed a bit much.
A few weeks later I heard the story firsthand from my friend the Jesus fanatic. By now his wife and cousin’s wife had also become Jesus fanatics. After hearing their experience I bought a Bible and began reading it to see if what they were saying about God and this “born again” experience was really in the Bible. Surprisingly, I found the Bible fairly easy reading. The words of Jesus were not difficult to understand, especially when I read the part that said:
“I
tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”
(John 3:3)
That
was certainly clear, but what did all this mean to a Catholic anyway?
Some time later my
brother and another friend decided to checkout the Holy Roller church and
attended one of the Sunday evening services.
After hearing his report on the strange and bazaar worship practices
(speaking in tongues, interpretation of tongues, prophesy, and people shouting
“praise God, hallelujah, thank you Jesus”) I decided to check it out for
myself. It sounded like a scene
right out of that Elmer Gantry movie.
How
God Changed Me
Arriving at the
church a few minutes late, my brother and I slipped in the rear door and sat
behind an older couple. The
congregation were on their feet singing. Suddenly,
the older man in front of us began shaking his right arm and raised it in the
air while babbling loudly in an incoherent language (speaking in other tongues).
When he stopped speaking some other man started shouting in English,
“Thus saith the Lord…” Talk about frightening!
My defenses went to red alert and my force field was engaged.
I wasn’t going to let any of these crazies grab me. Finally, things settled down and the offering basket made its
customary journey through the pews. What
a relief!
The Pastor welcomed
everyone and asked us to open our Bibles to some passage of scripture and began
to read. He spoke about Jesus as if
they were close friends. At the
close of the Pastor’s sermon he issued a general invitation to all present.
It went something like this:
“Perhaps there might be some present that have never truly been born again and received Jesus as their Lord and Savoir... If that’s you, please raise your hand.”
I refused to
participate in this exercise and began thinking about my Catholic teaching and
beliefs, trying to convince myself that none of this applied to me— I’m a
Catholic. Nevertheless, I could
sense that God seemed very real to me at that moment, more real than at any
other time in my life.
Afterwards, I went
home and read the Bible everyday. I
was trying to justify who I was and what I believed. I wasn’t a murderer, rapist, or a criminal.
I wasn’t doing anything wrong to anybody.
I wasn’t a bad person! I
wasn’t mean, hateful, or full of revenge.
Just live and let live, and that’s not a sin.
I was desperately trying to rationalize why I didn’t need to pray and
be born again.
On the following
Sunday I returned to that church and listened again as the Pastor preached about
Jesus. When he reached the close of
his message, once again he invited anyone who had not been born again and
received Jesus as their Lord to raise their hand.
I wrestled with the idea of raising my hand and finally slipped it into
the air. Then everyone that raised
their hand was asked to come to the altar area for prayer, “but only if you
are serious,” said the Pastor. A
battle ensued in my mind, and an emotional tug-a-war was raging in my heart.
Something was saying don’t go, and another voice was saying go.
At the time I didn’t realize it was the Holy Spirit speaking to my
heart urging me to turn my life over to Christ.
When I stepped into
the aisle and headed for the altar the struggle ended. I could sense the presence of God in a very real way.
It was like when you close your eyes and someone walks up to you, you can
feel their presence. I was not walking alone.
The Holy Spirit was leading me.
Reaching the altar
area the Pastor led us in a prayer where we asked Jesus to forgive our sins and
confess Him as our Lord and Savior. As
I repeated the prayer I could sense God’s presence, and it was awesome.
Tears of sorrow turned into tears of Joy.
As we knelt at the altar I remember telling God that “I know I’m not
much, but whatever I am, I’m yours from this day forward.”
When we said “amen” the power of God had changed me into a born again
Christian just like the Bible says in the third chapter of John’s Gospel.
After
Receiving New Life
In the following
weeks and months I attended church services, Bible studies, prayer meetings, and
read and studied the Bible daily. I
learned the importance of listening to Christian music, especial some of the old
hymns, and what a blessing it was to gather with my brothers and sisters in
Christ. When a person is born again
their new spiritual nature develops an appetite.
The scripture says:
“Man
does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of
God.”
As I grew in the
grace and knowledge of God I began to understand the true satisfaction and
fulfillment that is mine through Christ. His
strength and power began supplying exactly what I needed to live the Christian
Life. It is difficult even today to
express just exactly how absolutely amazing it is to be born again and
experience the love of God our Father. It’s
not so much that when I die I go to heaven, which will be great, but a
relationship with the Lord enriches my life now, daily.
Reading the Bible was
like discovering the road map to life. His
words seemed to come alive in my heart. My
eyes were opened wide to the false values, philosophy, and so called happiness
constantly being promoted by one generation after another.
People are constantly searching for truth, purpose, meaning, and
satisfaction in all the wrong places and things.
Now that God had removed the blinders from my eyes, I felt responsible to
do whatever I could to help others discover the real truth.
I started telling
everyone about Jesus and how I had received a new life in Christ.
Some listened to my testimony and turned to Christ for new life, and a
few thought I was nuts. Eventually my 2 brothers and mother were born again, several
friends, and many others have come to me over the years after being born again
to say thanks for telling them about Christ.
And who knows, perhaps God will use these words to change your life too?
"It is no secret what God can do, what He's done for others He will do for you. With arms wide open He will care for you. It is no secret what God can do.
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