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My Creed is Jesus Christ

My Creed is Jesus Christ

Here’s a picture of me and my 5th grade Sunday School class sometime around 1964 or 1965. I’m on the second row, second from the left.

And, here is a 1966 newspaper clipping of my 6th grade confirmation class. This was at Southport Methodist Church in Southport, Indiana, which was the church our family attended and of which we were members while I was growing up in Indianapolis. I have a lot of fond memories from when I attended this church, especially when I was young. It was here that I first trusted in Christ around the age of 12, although I don’t believe it was a saving faith.

Two or three years after this photo was taken, our church changed its name to “Southport United Methodist Church.” I continued my membership there into my young adult years, with increasing periods of inactivity off-and-on during my late teens and early twenties, and then a resurgence in my mid-twenties. God got my attention one night after listening to Billy Graham speak on TV a few nights earlier. I woke up in the middle of the night thinking about all the sin in my life, and I cried out to Him in repentance and faith. I believe it was at this time that I was born again, as it was from this point forward that my life began to change. I began reading my Bible and started going back to church. However, after a while, a couple of things began to bother me. My Sunday School class studied books that seemed more philosophical than biblical, and many of the pastor’s sermons were light on Bible verses and heavy on modern-day stories.

Around this same time, I was listening regularly to Charles Stanley from First Baptist Atlanta, on the radio. His sermons were jam-packed with Bible verses and Bible stories. This style of preaching was new to me and I found myself very drawn to it. While I liked my old church and the people, but God had different plans for me.

In 1988, I was convicted to be baptized by full water immersion at age 33, and become a member of Providence Baptist Church in Riverview, Florida. It was a series of events that led up to both my change in church membership and in my relationship with God. I wrote about this experience in a previous chapter titled “Another Gospel.” In short, God was calling me to draw closer in my relationship with Him.

Nowadays I do lean more toward Reformed (aka Calvinism) theology. I respect the heroes of the Reformation such as Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Jonathan Edwards. I like John Bunyan, a Puritan who wrote Pilgrim’s Progress, and Charles Spurgeon, a renowned 19th-century Baptist preacher. I agree with and appreciate his position on water baptism, or credobaptism—also known as believer’s baptism.

Spurgeon wrote, “Conscience has convinced me that it is a duty to be buried with Christ in baptism, although I am sure it constitutes no part of salvation.” In his testimony, he says, “I had no superstitious idea that baptism would save me, for I was saved, even prior to being baptized.” Thus, baptism was an act of obedience for Spurgeon. He answers his own question: “Why was I thus baptized?” “Because I believed it to be an ordinance of Christ, very specially joined by Him with faith in His name.” So, even though he didn’t believe baptism was essential for salvation, he did consider it an important step of obedience.

The Bible contains many verses about baptism, some of which may seem to imply that baptism is required; however, based on the whole of the gospel, I, too, do not believe that baptism is required in order to be saved.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.” Ephesians 2:8

In my own personal experience for example; I was a 33-year-old adult when I was convicted that I should be baptized by full water immersion. I understood that baptism is a step of obedience, and an outward sign of an inward change. In my case, I had repented of my sin and turned to Christ just a few years earlier but was not convicted about full-water baptism until age 33.

Whereas, at age 12, I was corralled into a Methodist Confirmation Class along with a group of other 6th graders simply because of our age. Once the class was deemed concluded, I was “sprinkled” along with a group of my classmates in a Sunday morning church service. I was later convinced that neither the sprinkling nor my salvation at age 12 were valid.

Comparing my voluntary and obedient baptism as an adult to my own personal experience as a 12-year-old reinforces my belief that baptism is not a requirement of salvation. I believe people who get baptized because they’re told they “have to be baptized in order to be saved,” are under a false assumption.

I also agree with Charles Spurgeon’s viewpoint on baptismal regeneration, the unbiblical practice of baptizing unbelievers and infants. Charles Spurgeon stated, “We will confront this dogma with the assertion that “baptism without faith saves no one.”

Over the years, I’ve read many wonderful quotes and biblical teachings from Charles Spurgeon’s writings. In fact, I’ve been using The Spurgeon Study Bible since 2019 for my personal Bible study. He’s one of my favorite Reformed preachers. The late Dr. John MacArthur, the late Voddie Baucham, Alistair Begg, Paul Washer, and Sinclair Ferguson top my list of favorite present-day preachers.

At the same time, I also like Arminian preachers and evangelists such as the late Dr. Charles Stanley from First Baptist Atlanta, Ray Comfort from Living Waters, Greg Laurie from A New Beginning, the late Dr. Adrian Rogers from Love Worth Finding, and of course, the late Dr. Billy Graham, who is probably the most well-known evangelist of the 20th century. I believe God uses both Arminians and Calvinists to preach the gospel message and to teach us about the Bible. I really like this quote from Arminian pastor Leonard Ravenhill:

“Think like a Calvinist, live like an Arminian.” #LeonardRavenhill

I also like this quote from Martyn Lloyd Jones: “I am a Calvinist: I believe in election and predestination; but I would not dream of putting it under the heading of essential. I put it under the heading of non-essential… You are not saved by your precise understanding of how this great salvation comes to you.”

So, whether you lean toward Arminianism or Calvinism, it’s really a non-essential issue, as far as I’m concerned.

I find debates between Arminianism and Calvinism interesting to a point, but don’t like it when soteriology discussions become argumentative. Those who find themselves in frequent debates on this subject would make much better use of their time by sharing the gospel with a lost and dying world. Our job is telling, God’s job is saving.

I like the response that Charles Spurgeon once gave to someone who asked him about his theology. Though he preferred to think of himself as a “mere Christian,” he also said, “I am never ashamed to avow myself a Calvinist,” and, “I do not hesitate to take the name of Baptist, but if I am asked what is my creed, I reply, ‘It is Jesus Christ.’”

Game Set Match

They say that friendship is a little like tennis. The ball represents the back and forth interaction in friendships: it takes at least two people, it’s fun, and you take turns.

I have fond memories of my first friends in life.

Annette:

Annette was cute and bubbly, the same age as me, and full of energy. We were born just a few days apart in the same hospital. I remember one day when we were playing over at her house, and she said, “Let’s put apples in our shirts,” and then we went over to show her mom. I remember thinking that probably wasn’t a good idea, and I was right. Her mom frowned at us and I was so embarrassed and, to make it even worse, Annette told her mom that it was my idea! Our moms were friends and we were also neighbors, until Annette and her family moved away when we were in first or second grade. I was sad when she moved. Our neighborhood was full of boys, and there weren’t many girls my age to play with.

Lynn:

Lynn was also a neighbor; she lived two doors down from our house, and although Lynn was a couple of years younger than me, we got along very well. Her house was warm and inviting, filled with antiques and the tick-tock sound of an old clock. We always played indoors so I guess that’s why I remember her house so well.

Lynn was quiet and small for her age, and she was super sweet. I remember her mom telling me one day that Lynn’s health was very fragile and that was why she couldn’t play outdoors, and also why she couldn’t play as often as I wanted to. I didn’t quite understand at the time and as life would have it, our friendship eventually faded. Years later, I was so sorry to hear that she had passed away in her thirties. I never learned what caused her early death, but finally understood the implications of what her mom meant when she told me that she couldn’t play outside or very often.

Carla:

Carla and I met in 3rd grade at our elementary school. I remember she had the prettiest smile and a beautiful complexion. Most of my memories of our friendship consisted of playing with Barbie dolls, spending the night with each other, and playing at school. Our friendship was short-lived though as she also moved away. Several years later I was surprised to see her at high school, but so many years had passed, we really didn’t know each other anymore.

Judi:

Judi lived next door to our elementary school and I remember thinking how cool it was that she could walk to and from school every day. We were friends from the 4th through 6th grade. She was creative, fun to be around, and we had something in common: The Beatles! We, like almost every other young girl in 1964, were crazy about John, Paul, George, and Ringo. Besides listening and singing along to Beatles songs, we liked to dance, practice cheers, play foursquare, and tetherball. She was so athletic and was usually always better than me in whatever activity we did.

I remember her mom would drop us off in downtown Indianapolis to go shopping all by ourselves. I felt so grown up doing this, and I think we were only 10 or 11 years old at the time. I also remember going on a trip with her family to the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. I had never been to a museum like this and was excited to go to Chicago with them.

Photo booth fun in 1964 or 1965 with Judi and me on the left, Marty (Vicki’s friend) and Vicki (Judi’s sister) on the right, and me in an old car in the middle photo at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry.

We lost touch after 6th grade when we went to different junior high schools for 7th through 9th grade. We ended up going to the same high school but it wasn’t until the end of our sophomore year that I realized who she was. She had grown at least five or six inches taller than me and I hadn’t even recognized her. It was sad though, because we didn’t really know each other anymore.  In just a few short years we literally grew apart.

Donita:

I met Donita in junior high school and we immediately became kindred spirits! Our common interests were boys, music, and fashion. We’d talk on the phone for hours. I remember my dad getting so annoyed because we’d be on the phone almost every night talking with each other. This was back when we used home phones, and of course, the phone was attached to the wall. I’d lay on the floor in the living room and stretch the cord across the room. My dad would complain that I stretched the cord out of shape, that I was always on the phone, and that nobody else could get through. Back then, home phones would just give a busy signal if you were already on the phone and someone else tried to call. Eventually, I did get a phone installed in my room but we still had only one telephone line.

My favorite memories with Donita were spending the night at each other’s houses, hanging out with our junior high friends, and when she came with my family and me on a vacation to Indiana Beach in 1968. It was here that I got to fly in an old open-cockpit Fairchild PT-19 warbird. The pilot’s name was Mike and I only know that because that’s what I wrote on the back of the photo. I was thinking it was my sister, Joyce, who set up the flight for me as she had started working for Sky Harbor at Eagle Creek Airpark in Indianapolis, in 1968, but she doesn’t recall doing this. So I’m not exactly sure how this came to be, but I think it was my first flight in an airplane, and it was fun! Joyce did take me flying two or three times while she worked at Sky Harbor from 1968 to 1973 (and I worked there from 1977 to 1986) but I don’t have photos so I’m not exactly sure when and in what aircraft we were in, although I suspect they were mostly Cessnas. I do remember coming dangerously close to the active propeller on one occasion. I exited the aircraft for some reason, which I don’t recall now, and was unaware of how close I had come to the propeller until I got back into the aircraft. Joyce told me she nearly fainted when she saw me walk so near it. I was not a Christian at this time in my life but I believe that God, knowing that one day I would be,  protected me that day.

During our freshman year of school, Donita told me that due to her dad’s job she had to move to Georgia. We cried for hours. We kept in touch by writing letters to each other for the first few years.  Then, when I graduated from high school, I arranged to meet her at the Atlanta airport one day on a stopover on my way to Florida.

As the years went by, we lost touch. I thought of her often, and then in 2009, I remembered a picture that she had sent me of her baby girl, and it had her name written on the back of it. I did a Facebook search and found her daughter, Gina, who gave me Donita’s email address.  We connected again, and I got to visit her, but this time we met for lunch in Lawrenceville, a suburb of Atlanta, while Harold and I were on a road trip. It was so good to see her again and to be back in contact, after so many years.

Donita passed away April 11, 2024. I mourned the passing of my old friend; I missed the Donita I knew when we were young and the person she had become. I regret not taking time to visit her more in my adult years. I re-read the letters I had saved and with tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat, I decided to send them to her daughter, Gina. I shipped them in a lavender flowered box with some photos and a book of Bible promises.

Penny:

Penny and I also met in junior high. Our common interests were shopping, Janis Joplin, rock bands, and boys. I don’t know how, but somehow we managed to not get into too much trouble during our junior high years. One night we took her brother’s car out for a drive (she drove, not me) and we were probably only 14 years old. We loved going to parties, singing Janis Joplin songs, hanging out with friends, and dancing at Sherwood Country Club. We also went to some rock concerts together: Three Dog Night, Chicago, and Iron Butterfly.

Me, Ron and Penny 1969

Penny and me in 1969 in Chicago with my brother Ron, who had just graduated from Naval training.

At Indiana Beach, summer 1969.

In a crowded photo booth sometime in junior high school.

Here we are at my cousin’s wedding in 1969. I brought Penny with me and we sat in the second row. My grandma and grandpa, my little cousin Todd, and my Uncle Bill are in the first row. My cousin, Connie, told me years later that Penny was her official “wedding crasher.” LOL

DSC04649

In a crowded photo booth in 1968 or 1969, and at our 40th high school reunion in 2012.

Here we are at our 50th high school reunion in October 2022: Penny, Annette, and me.

“…There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” Proverbs 18:24

I remember the first time I read this verse, I assumed that it referred to friends and wondered if I ever really had a friend like that. Later I learned that the “friend” in this verse actually refers to Jesus. This makes perfect sense, as friends do come and go, but Jesus has long been my closest friend.

It’s also interesting how you can hear or read a Bible verse several times and then it’s as if you’re hearing it for the first time. In the late 1980s, I remember hearing this next verse in a sermon and it really caught my attention. Interestingly, it’s the first half of Proverbs 18:24.

“A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly…”Proverbs 18:24

I’ve often thought about that verse over the years, as throughout most of my life, friendships have been difficult for me. First of all, as an adult, I think it’s easy to get out of the practice of friendship. It’s easy with the busyness of life, kids, work, etc., and also for as long as I can remember, I’ve always felt a little uncomfortable around people.  I enjoy people but I’m really more comfortable by myself. In retrospect, I think that God has used that to help me draw closer to Him, which, of course, is wonderful, but at the same time, I realize that having friends is good too.

“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.” Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

So, I need to be continually reminded to stay in the game; to serve and to return the ball whenever it lands in my court; to seek common interests with others and to take time to invest in friendships. This goes for anyone who finds themselves with similar feelings. I’ll close with this quote from C. S. Lewis:

Friendship is born at the moment when one man says to another, “What! You too? I thought that I was the only one!”

Dancing With The Scars

Dancing with the Scars

No one is immune from life’s difficulties. So, while I’d rather write about all the good times in my life, I know that my story would not be complete without including the not-so-good times. I believe it was in my search for answers to those dark times that I learned to trust in God and in His goodness. I also believe He allowed my struggles and difficulties to mold and make me into the person He wanted me to be. He has an eternal perspective and long-term plans in mind when He allows various circumstances in our lives. He knows the big picture.

“Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass…It’s about learning to dance in the rain.” Vivian Green

What an encouraging old quote! If I could update and simplify it a bit, it’d be, “Dancing with the Scars.” While dancing (living) we’ll likely develop scars (hurts) and while scaring is a natural part of the healing process, dancing and scaring are inevitable, but healing is optional. I found my healing in Christ.

So when I was around age 6 to 8 years old I was sexually abused. To those who have not gone through this sort of thing, I understand where you might think, “Get over it.” But to those who have, I say, “You’re not alone. Abuse is traumatic. It affects how you think and feel about yourself and how you relate to people. It also affects how you relate to God.”

I never told anyone about the abuse back then; I was afraid and I was a child. My mind blocked the memories of it until I was an adult. When the memories of it returned in adulthood, I went through a series of faith growing periods in my life, which also included forgiving those who had abused me. While I choose not to go into details of the sexual abuse, I will share about another traumatic experience that I went through when I was around 11 years old:

While babysitting a toddler and a baby, I was held at knife point over a large bloody bowl of water that contained a dead rabbit. I was forcibly held and forced to watch him cut apart the rabbit. I was basically scared out of my mind and was afraid to tell anyone about it. That experience alone was traumatic enough but it was made even more frightening when I learned that within a few months of what he did to me, a woman’s cut-up remains were found under the floor board of the very kitchen where he had traumatized me. He had fled the state and within a few months was caught and convicted of attempted murder of a woman in another state. I was told that he was suspected of murdering several other women while he was on his 18 month run from the police. He went to prison, where he later died, while on a work-release program.

In retrospect, even though it was a traumatic experience for me, I believe that God placed His hand of protection over me that day and protected me from being murdered. This event and the sexual abuse was all prior to me coming to faith in Jesus Christ. I believe God, in His sovereignty and providence, had plans for me and my life even before I was born.

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you.” Jeremiah 1:5

“And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”
Romans 5:3-5

I believe the hardships in life have a purpose; they can develop our endurance, strengthen our character, give us hope, and shape our thoughts about God.

In Genesis 50:20, Joseph told his brothers, As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.”

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28

God uses the troubles and traumas in our lives to get our attention, shape our perspective, and ultimately to make us more like Him. While we may not understand why He allows some things in our lives, we are to trust Him nonetheless.

I have long ago forgiven my abusers, and it was because I asked God to help me forgive them. When I asked him to help me forgive, He gave me the gift of forgiveness in my life. It changed my perspective radically. God’s word tells us to forgive:

“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32

Regardless of what sins were committed against me, there came a time in my own life where I realized that I too was guilty of sin. It was at that point, that my life began to change; and when I came to understand that:

We’re all born with a sin nature.

We’re all hopeless without Christ.

We’re all sinners in need of a Savior.

Jesus took the penalty that we deserve and offers us a new and eternal life in Him, when we come to Him in repentance and faith.

I also believe it’s wrong to see yourself as a victim. While it’s true you may have been a victim, I’m saying it’s wrong to see yourself in that way. See yourself in the light of God’s word:

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” Romans 3:23-24

“All” includes the most vile person you have ever known, up, and including the sweetest person you have ever known.

“None is righteous, no, not one.”
Romans 3:10

And when you receive God’s free gift of salvation through faith and trust in Christ alone, God sees you and receives you, clothed in the righteousness of Christ. That offer includes you and me, and it includes my abusers.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

So dance, because life is a gift, regardless of our difficulties and scars. God has made a way for all who come to Him in repentance and faith to live here and now, and into eternity. Don’t focus on the difficulties and the scars. Focus on Him who,

“…was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5