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Why did I become a Christian?
If you've looked at My Christian Testimony you know how I became a Christian. This page shows why I became a Christian. As an engineer, I needed evidence. Below are just a few examples of the evidence that I found that helped convince me and accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.
- In the months after the two churches came knocking on my door years 28 years ago in the summer of 1995, I realized that the Lord's Hand was involved. What are the odds of two unrelated churches knocking at the same door two days apart. In my entire lifetime I've only had a total of four churches knock at my door, the last two within two days of each other. In retrospect I realize that the Lord was really 'chasing' after me for Him to send two churches to me two days apart.
- Before becoming a Christian I had many questions. Do I believe in God and His Son Jesus Christ or not? The assistant pastor I spoke with from Woodmen Valley Chapel loaned me the book by Josh McDowell titled, "_Evidence that Demands a Verdict_." After reading this book, the evidence presented was overwhelming. Not only did I believe in my mind, but I believed in my heart.
- A few months after I became a Christian, Woodmen Valley Chapel held a service on tithing. At the end of the service, the Pastor said that if you tithe 10% for the next three months and did not see the Lord's Hand in your life during this period, the church would give your money back.
Although I had been giving a little money to the church during this time, I was not even close to giving 10%. I decided to give this a try. Well at the end of this three months, an unexpected check for $1,500 arrived in the mail from the mortgage company refunding 1.5 years worth of PMI (private mortgage insurance). A few months before this I had paid $300 for an appraisal of my house so that I had proof for my mortgage company that I had the required equity for them to terminate the PMI. I expected the mortgage company to just stop charging me the PMI. I did not expect a refund for the past 1.5 years amount paid in.
I viewed this as proof that the Lord blesses tithing and was a confirmation that the Lord was real and that I had made the right decision accepting the Lord a few months earlier.
- In the fall of 1997 my job with Sun Microsystem ended (they closed the local Colorado Springs office and I elected to not follow my job to expensive California). At this time I said that I would not work at MCI since MCI had a reputation as being a 'sweat shop' working people very hard. After 6.5 months of being unemployed and there not being any good job prospects (this was surprising in itself since statistically there were 2 open jobs for every engineer) in a prayer to the Lord I said that if flipping burgers was what the Lord wanted for me, I would do that. If He wanted me to work at MCI, I would do that too.
The following week, I received a call from one of the many head hunters I had been working with. They called with a job at MCI. I interviewed and a week later started working at MCI, after 7 months of unemployment.
I viewed this as a door the Lord had opened which I initially didn't want to go through. Only after saying I would work at MCI did the Lord show me the open door. It gets better so keep reading.
- I worked at MCI for 3 months before I became very bored. This was the first job I every had that I did not like. The job just wasn't challenging enough. I thought of looking for another job, but I had given my word that I would work the 6 months of the contract. 5.5 months into the contract, I felt the Lord telling me to give my 2 weeks notice. This didn't make any sense to me because I didn't have any job prospects lined up. You normally don't quit a job unless you have another one lined up (especially after what I had gone through 5.5 months earlier).
I gave my 2 week notice and felt absolutely great. A huge weight having been lifted off of my shoulders. A few days later I received a call from one of the head hunters I had spoken with 6 months earlier (before getting the MCI job) asking if they could submit my resume at a local company. I said of course since I was going to be unemployed in less than 2 weeks.
The company, DMW (now Mindport), called me almost immediately for an interview. I interviewed and found the job to be a perfect match for my background. Years earlier while working at the University of New Mexico I had worked on UNIX and network security issues and here was a job that was the same thing; an area that I really enjoyed working on years earlier. Here was the perfect job. I accepted and started a couple of days after my last day at MCI.
In retrospect, I realize that if he hadn't worked at MCI for those 6 months I wouldn't have been ready for a new job; ready for the DMW job. I realize that I needed to walk through the MCI door to get to the DMW door and that the Lord had opened both. Of course the Lord knew about the DMW job long before He impressed upon me to give my 2 weeks notice at MCI. Ahh, keep reading since it gets even better.
- Why is it that at the time something happens you are unsure if it is from the Lord, but afterwards it is so obviously from the Lord?
I was a bit unsure as to if the DMW job was what the Lord had in mind, but that was soon to change. A week after I started, I went to a Promise Keepers conference in Colorado Springs. The following Tuesday I was in a meeting with a coworker and my boss. I was wearing a Promise Keepers shirt I had purchased and my boss said some men from his church had gone to PK and had enjoyed it. WOW! I thought to myself that my boss must be a Christian to know about Promise Keepers. Then the coworker said that he had actually gone to PK. A SECOND WOW!! Two people at DMW were Christians. At this point, I knew this was confirmation that this job was from the Lord. Subsequently I found that there were MANY other Christians at DMW, including the owner of DMW, yet more confirmation.
- If you knew me you would know that before I spend any money, I research, I shop around, I do more research, I do more shopping around etc. making sure I get the best deal for my money. In other words, for me to spend a large sum of money usually requires a lot of time to go by before I do anything. For example before I purchased my first car, I researched for an entire month. Even my second car required 3-4 months before I actually purchased it. Anyway, one evening in early May 1998 I felt led to investigate an Israel trip my church, Woodmen Valley Chapel, was going on. Another local church, New Life Church, was also going on an Israel trip so I compared the two trips. In the matter of a couple of hours I not only decided to go to Israel, but to go on the Woodmen Valley trip. So contrary to my normal behavior, in the matter of a couple of hours I decided to go on this trip and spend a significant amount of money. But there was a peace about the decision. It just felt right. This had to be from the Lord because it couldn't have been me (since I don't spend that kind of money after only 2 hours of research). So 4 weeks later in June 1998 I went to Israel with Woodmen Valley Chapel.
This was very scary for me since I didn't know anyone on the trip. The trip turned out to be a high spot for many reasons. I got to know 48 other people and now I have many new friends. You know how when you are away from home for 1+ weeks that feeling you have when you get home. That 'ahh, I'm home' feeling. Well when I stepped off of the plane in Tel-Aviv, Israel I had that feeling. Israel was 'home'. I could "feel" God's presence in Israel. Others on the trip made the same comment. You don't get a feeling like this being in a strange country with 48 strangers unless God is really real. So how is this evidence of God being real?
- Spending all that money couldn't have been me and could have only been God.
- Meeting all of these people, many becoming very close friends, is a blessing from the Lord.
- Feeling 'at home' in Israel could only come from God.
- Having my life turned upside down (in a VERY good way) since coming back from Israel can only be God's Hand.
There are many other examples of the Lord doing things in my life that continue to confirm to me that He exists and He loves me so much that not only did He send His son Jesus Christ to die on the Cross for me but He continues to be present in my life.
If you don't know who Jesus Christ is or you have not accepted His loving grace and mercy into your life, please please please consider asking Jesus into your life to be your Lord and Savior. I know it doesn't sound like much, but He so changed my life (for the better) and I know that He cares about you too and wants you to know Him. Please consider asking Jesus into your life right now. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask me or someone else questions. You can send me email at tait.cyrus@usa_NOSPAM_.net |
