MY EXPERIENCE
I had a pretty happy and colourful childhood, living in 2 country towns, 1st, Merimbula, NSW, till I was 10, then, Streaky Bay, SA, till I turned 16, then shifting to Adelaide SA to get a job.
I have always loved beauty and enjoyed the sights and sounds of the beach, the country, traveling around in trucks, cars and boats. I was probably spoilt to a large degree with material possessions, toys etc. and lots of TV watching during my pre-teen years. This was balanced, though, by a country Christian church life, meeting with relatives in a hired hall on Sabbaths, and spending a lot of time roaming the countryside after the meetings.
Shifting to Streaky Bay there was very poor TV reception, therefore we, as a family, decided it better for all not to have TV, but bought an electronic organ instead. I spent more time reading, and especially loved ‘The Bible Story’ by Arthur Maxwell. After nearing the finish of the 10 volumes, when ‘Uncle Arthur’ was talking about the Fruits of the Spirit and the bad fruits of the sin lover, I felt convicted to give my heart to the Lord; maybe not conscientiously, but the Right was so appealing over the wrong that I felt very strongly to follow ‘God / Jesus’ from that time on; much more so than before.
I then read more books such as ‘Conflict of the Ages’ Series, (written by a well known author, Ellen White) when I was about 14, which I found incredibly inspiring. Also, I found very encouraging meeting many people from different parts of the world, such as my church organization’s ministers, Bro’s Sas, Devai, Balbach & Jaksic. I was a ‘Hero’ worshipper, admiring super hero’s such as TARZAN, Phantom etc. and prayed that I would turn this to JESUS, although this has taken me a long time. At 15 I was asked by Bro. Sas whether I would like to be baptized and decided Yes, I was ready, it was the only sensible thing to do, who, want’s to miss out on Eternal Life?
It was a cold, but sunny day on Sunday, June 6, 1975 when Bro. Sas baptized me in the Sturt Creek opposite the Jaksic family residence in Adelaide. An Aboriginal sister was fellowshipped at the same time with me, Sr Doreen Strzelecki, and my sincerity at that time was pure and true.
Since that time I shifted to Adelaide to find work and started Lay preaching occasionally. The book, ‘Bible Readings for the Home’, has greatly helped me build up my knowledge of the Truth’s for this time, although I had my doubts, even during the latter part of my school life, that if Evolution was True, then Eternal Life was only a dream and this scared me terribly. It was through Prayer and comparing the evidence of history, Nature etc. and the Bible, plus my convictions of Justice, Punishment, Right and Wrong, that I reinforced my Faith in God. Over the years I have not been content to think, ‘I know the Truth’, and ‘other religions are all wrong’, but have been willing to compare my beliefs with others to prove from the Bible whether I was right or whether they were. I spent hours with Christadelphian and also Jehovah’s Witness friends and, although we could agree on many points, I was convicted they were wrong on the most basic points – the 10 Commandments, so important that God wrote them with His own FINGER.
I spent much time alone going for long ‘running’ stretches into the bush around Clarendon, and felt very close to God, spending time in prayer, and looking forward to the time when God’s people would become more excited about ‘Spiritual Things’ and less concerned with ‘Education, Work, Motor-bike riding, Cars, Computers etc.’., many of the subjects which, I must confess, have been a problem with me for years, the love of cars, motorbikes, their brand-names, styling, performance etc.
I realized after watching many demoralizing kinds of video’s (not so much as R rated, but also M and even some G) that, trying to be a witness to my friends who loved the action, romance and fast life of modern movies, the overall effects of these was imperceptibly corrupting my mind.
I prayed to the Lord to guide my “WHOLE” thoughts and “DESIRES” from that time on, and experienced a great “”PEACE”, knowing that, even though I was not fully in line with Him, I could tell him everything, even the things I weren’t really sure were ‘sinful?’!
I thank the Lord for His patience and long-suffering with us who are brought up in a church atmosphere, that He puts us through internal experiences to help us ‘wake-up’; and that, even though un-churched people from the World may make a more dramatic change in their lives becoming a Christian, yet the same things go on without so much notice in the lives of those brought up in a Church.
I pray that the Lord gives me victory over sins in my life and thank Him for the joyful experiences he gives us and his many blessings as we put Him First and Best in our lives, which, in turn, will keep us going through trials and troubles, especially the great ‘Time of Trouble’ (Revelation’s 7 last plagues) before us.
I ask the Lord daily to help me share His truth to save other souls and use me as He sees fit.
May all share their testimony is my wish and prayer – AMEN
Gary
