Broadcasting the Blessings of God’s Grace to a World in Turmoil

I met my wife in 1980 at church, and we were married two years later. Pam and I have three grown children, and one granddaughter. Since 1996 we have lived in the San Francisco Bay Area, where we are active members of our church.

My life as a follower of Christ began when I was a young man living in Van Nuys, California. My life was completely preoccupied with work. I was focused on ambition, success, and prosperity and was thoroughly enjoying my life and work.

My younger brother, John, had just graduated from Syracuse University. Due to his language skills, he had been hired by Pan American World Airways as a flight attendant. His training for the new job was in Hawaii, so on his way there he stopped in Los Angeles to visit me. I was expecting to see the good old John whom I had known for years. As it turns out, I met a different John; one who had changed into an honorable, godly young man. He caught me off guard, and I wasn’t sure how to handle myself around him.

For the previous five years, I had been working every day in town, and my entire social network included a few people and colleagues. Within three days of arriving in Los Angeles, my brother had found a church, was attending a Bible study, had made dozens of friends, and his new Bible study group was already praying for me. I was impressed with everything I saw in his life, but the draw of my bi-weekly trips to Las Vegas was still far more interesting.

Then Pan American called to tell John that his training class in Hawaii had been canceled and that there was no new date scheduled. His heart sank. Unbeknownst to either one of us, the hand of God had just moved.

Rather than sit around my apartment and be depressed over this news, he decided to put pen to paper and document an incredible trip he took overland to India, resulting in his coming to know Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior. Even though his life was not going the way he had planned, the Lord was providing for his every need. I saw joy in his heart, a smile on his face, and total peace about everything.

The Holy Spirit Moves in my Heart.

Soon my brother invited me to attend his church, which I did. Conviction began to set in that very first Sunday. While giving the sermon, the pastor pointed to the crowd and quoted 1 Timothy 6:10, “For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.” I knew in my heart that the riches of this world were something that I had been focused on pursuing.

My brother continued to witness to me by showing me his life. Every morning, before he began writing, he would read his Bible, then kneel and pray. I knew my brother, and he had changed. I knew he was not faking it. This was genuine.

One Verse from the Bible.

A few weeks later, he asked me to read one verse from the Bible with him. It was John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

He didn’t stop there. He then asked me to personalize that same verse from the Bible, and he asked me to read it again: “For God so loved Jeff, that He gave His only begotten Son, that if Jeff believes in Him, then Jeff shall not perish, but Jeff shall have everlasting life.” Reading John 3:16 the second time while personalizing it was the first time in my life that I realized God was real, that He knew me, that He loved me, that He cared for me, and that He was willing to die for me—a total stranger who couldn’t care less about Him or His love for me. Guilt began to fill my heart.

Without knowing any theology, and without knowing anything about the Bible, I knew that if God were considering my qualifications for entrance into heaven, I was in big trouble. My conscience told me, in no uncertain terms, that my eternity in God’s heaven was extremely doubtful.

Heaven…what must I do?

John explained to me that before God could deal with my sin, I had to believe that I was a sinner. Well, I had always been a nice, upstanding citizen with only two, or maybe three traffic violations on my entire record. I thought that was pretty good!

Then John explained to me that God’s standard for entrance into His heaven is absolute perfection and obedience to His whole law. John asked me if I had ever lied before–not at some point this week, but at any time in my entire life. Well, I had to say yes. He told me that is a violation of God’s ninth commandment, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” Then he asked me if I have ever stolen anything in my entire life. Again, going all the way back to my childhood, I would have to say yes again. So, he explained that was a violation of the seventh commandment, “You shall not steal.” I was a thief, too! John then asked me a third, and final question, “Have you ever looked upon a woman with a lustful thought in your mind?” I would have to say yes to that, as well, making me a violator of God’s tenth commandment. I was a fornicator! In about 90 seconds, he established that in the Lord’s eyes I was a liar, a thief, and a fornicator.

My thoughts now began to turn to a simple question, “What do I do now to get myself out of this mess?”

My brother continued to explain to me that the penalty for sin is death—physical death, which we are all suffering from, and spiritual death, which is eternal separation from God in hell.

My heart was now racing with the correlation between sin, death, and Jesus Christ. God demands perfection in thought, word, and deed. I had failed miserably on all counts and was deserving of death, both physical and spiritual.

But my brother explained to me that God is full and grace and mercy. Although we turn from Him, He is still there, loving us, waiting for us, and willing to send Jesus Christ to die on the cross as payment in full for our sin. He offers this free gift of salvation to all people who are willing to repent of their sins, and believe in who Jesus is, and what He has done for us on the cross, “That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation” (Romans 10:9-10).

At this point my brother stopped, knowing that he had presented the entire Gospel message, the good news of Jesus Christ.

The Holy Spirit at Work.

A few days later, Pan Am called and told John to report to Hawaii to resume training classes. He was ecstatic! On his day of departure, I dropped him off at the airport. During my drive home I couldn’t stop thinking about everything he had told me and all the verses of scripture I had read. When I opened the door to my apartment, I saw his cot made, everything cleaned up perfectly, and a small gift left on his cot for me. I looked at that small gift, and in that moment, I understood the love of Christ for a sinful and rebellious man. Despite my sin, my brother had the love and compassion to keep praying for me, wait for an opportune time, then share the free gift of salvation in Jesus Christ with me. And to leave his own gift for me.

The next morning, March 14, 1980, the Lord opened my heart to the love and mercy of the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ, and I have been walking with Him ever since.

This is my personal testimony of how the Lord Jesus Christ opened my heart, and transformed my heart to seek Him, rather than to flee Him. You may have read my testimony today and feel the Lord pulling on your heart. My prayer for you is that you would not resist his calling, but simply realize your sin, repent of your sin, and trust the Lord Jesus Christ as your Lord, as your Savior, and as your Messiah.