My Spiritual Journey - Part 2 (by Norm Hammond)

(from wikipedia)

Today, Norm Hammond concludes his two-part post, My Spiritual Journey.  If you have not already done so, start by reading part 1.

 
Immanuel Baptist Church
Immanuel became more than a fiber in the rope. I heard a salvation message every Sunday. I still didn't believe the gospel message he preached. I had learned from others that if I was good and performed good deeds, it would make me acceptable to God. I could do it myself. When I compared myself with others I perceived that I would be acceptable.

The people at Immanuel seemed happy in spite of their circumstances. They all carried Bibles to church and used them for personal study. This was different from most churches I had attended. Up to the time we were attending Immanuel I didn't know that the Bible was the Word of God. I had to admit that it's contents had changed lives from hearing their testimonies. Tom Younger, who was the preacher, emphasized it was not what he said, it was what the Bible said. For instance he pointed out II Corinthians 10:12:

"For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise."

The people of Immanuel invited us into their homes after church services. Another fiber. I began to go to Sunday School as well as church. Oz Morley was the Sunday School teacher. He taught the Bible. I perceived that Oz and his wife Jinny were very moral and religious.

The friendly people at Immanuel were in stark contrast to my boss, Ron Smenner and President of Hoosier Solvents and Chemicals corp., Robert C. Nicholls. They were both living immoral life styles and bragged about being "two fisted drinkers".
 
What Made the church people different?
Another fiber of the rope. After attending church and Sunday School for about a year, hearing the Word of God preached and taught, I began to see a huge difference between the church people and most of my business contacts. What made the church people different? It had to be the church and the Bible they read and studied.
 
I began to realize what I needed to do to become a Christian. I needed to understand that I was a sinner. That I was born that way and I needed by faith to accept Jesus Christ as my personal savior. By this Faith I could claim Christ's righteousness and I would be acceptable to God.
 
Pride Kicks In

It was much easier to believe all this than it was to publicly acknowledge my sin and be baptized in obedience. Now my ego and considerable pride kicked in. I wasn't a small child fresh out of Vacation Bible School or even a junior age child who had attended a Christian camp. I was 42 years old and had had some success in the business world.
 
One night I decided to read the Bible for myself. I read the entire book of John. I began to see God as a loving living person instead of a punishing tyrant for wrong deeds.
 
I heard in a sermon that it is God who calls people to him. I didn't know that! I took my Bible and searched for every place where the word "call" was used. It was true. In fact the word "call" was used so many times I got tired looking them up. If it is God who calls, then I don't do anything but answer.
 
I was still smoking cigarettes at this time. I wanted to quit, then I would answer the call to be saved. I really didn't understand my adversary. Neither did I understand how difficult it would be to quit. A Christian friend shared with me how God had taken care of his desire to smoke after he was saved. I couldn't believe that. But that is another story.
 
Saved at a Revival Meeting
Immanuel had scheduled a revival meeting for a week in late October. Lehman Strauss, a distinguished preacher, teacher and author, was the speaker. Our family attended most of the special meetings that week and on Thursday night the message compared salvation to a sailboat. God was the anchor. Even though life could be rough and uncertain in the sailboat on the surface, with God as the anchor of your life he would produce peace instead of fear. Lehman Strauss did a lot better job in his preaching that my recollection of what he said.
 
After the meeting as we left the church I asked Tom Younger at the door if he would stay at the church, I would take the family home and return. When I returned Lehman Strauss and Tom Younger presented the gospel message of salvation. At the end of the presentation I was asked to accept Christ as my personal savior and became a born again Christian. I was 42 years old in October of 1966.
 
The title of my story is "My Spiritual Journey". Journey's have a beginning and an end. I had a new beginning when I was born again. My new life in Christ had just begun. So you see it wasn't a journey at all. It is a new beginning with no end. Eternal life! The rope is finished.

"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: All things are passed away, behold all thing are become new." -  II Corinthians 5:17

My life verse is Hebrews 11:6. "But without faith it is impossible to please him, for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." Is he a rewarder? You bet he is. Ephesians 3:20, "Now unto him that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us."



Other Posts by Norm Hammond:

• The Big Mistake
• A Rolex or a Diamond Ring?

My Spiritual Journey - part 1 (by Norm Hammond)

(image from wikipedia)

Here is another story from Norm Hammond.  In this two-part post, Norm writes of coming to Christ as a 42 year old married family man.

The Many Fibers of a Rope
A rope is made of many strands of material for strength. It all begins with the smallest fiber fashioned into a thread, then string which is twisted and woven until it becomes a strong and useful tool. A rope.

The analogy of the beginning of my spiritual journey with the smallest fiber of the rope begins with my early childhood. Our church experience at that time consisted of going to churches on special occasions only where my grandparents had a social presence. These special occasions were Easter, Christmas and Homecoming Sundays. This was the first fiber of the rope.

Even when I joined the Boy Scouts, it was sponsored by a Methodist church in Terre Haute, there was no continuing relationship with any church, I drifted through grade school and high school spiritually. In college, science classes taught me evolution as a scientific proof of origins in spite of all the missing links.
  

Another fiber of the rope was added when I met and married Doris. She had had a much more consistent and positive experience with church than I. She had been saved in Vacation Bible School as a young girl. We attended Babour Ave. Evangelical United Brethren Church in Terre Haute. The people were friendly and we attended some social gatherings.

Another fiber in the rope was added when I left teaching and accepted a position as salesman with the Crowell-Collier Publishing Company. The territory would be worked from home in Ft. Wayne, In. We attended a Methodist church near our North Side home (rental). When we purchased a home on the South Side we began to attend Christ Methodist Church one block from our home. We didn't have a good experience there so we stopped attending, except for Carol who was active in the youth group.

God Supplied the Fibers of My Rope
As I look back with the perspective of time, I can only explain my spiritual journey by accepting the fact that God was at work directing my path and the paths of others, and guiding my journey to him through them. He was supplying fibers to the rope.

A larger fiber in the rope happened when Dwight was attending Abbett School just two lots from our house. He met a friend, Lex Oren.

Another fiber, Doris became acquainted with Lex's mother, Barbara. She fixed women's hair in her home and Doris went to her regularly for hair car. Barbara and her husband, Larry, asked us to go camping and other activities with them. Our friendship grew.

Aunt Esther & Uncle Tom
Meantime another fiber was created. Doris's Aunt Esther Buck who lived in the country south of Brazil, came to our house with her husband, Tom. She came to attend a statewide meeting of some kind at Immanuel Baptist Church. She and Uncle Tom stayed at our house a few days for the duration of the meeting. Uncle Tom wasn't too keen on attending the conference, he rode with me while I worked making calls in my territory. He said he really enjoyed riding with me.

Meantime Aunt Esther was attending Immanuel Baptist Church for the statewide meeting. This was a church that I drove by each morning when I went to the office. Architecturally it was different to say the least. I used the think when I passed by, "What a bunch of nuts would build a church building like that!" It looked like a Mexican hat more that it did a church building. Aunt Esther's and Uncle Tom's trip to Ft. Wayne was no accident. It was the only time they ever came to visit. It was timed perfectly for me to add a fiber to the rope which was growing.

Our friendship was also growing with the Orens. Doris and the children, except Carol, began attending Immanuel. Carol continued to attend Christ Methodist. I stayed home and used the time to plan my coming week's work, calls and itinerary. After some time in this mode it became more embarrassing and uncomfortable for me to stay home alone. When the rest of the family was leaving for church, Dwight looked me directly in the eyes and said, "Why don't you go to church with us, Dad?" That did it. I couldn't stay home anymore. I knew I should go for their sake. I didn't realize it was for my sake too.

Continue reading part 2 of Norm's Spiritual Journey

Other Posts by Norm Hammond:

• The Big Mistake
• A Rolex or a Diamond Ring?

Happy 49th Birthday! (by Lee Dusing)

 

Today, March 20th, 2009, is my 49th Birthday! Not my original birth birthday, but my spiritual birthday. On March 20th of 1960, which was a Sunday, I attended Crossroads Baptist Church in Indianapolis, Indiana at the invite of my sister and her husband. I decided to go that day, to break a record of attending church more than once a year, usually on Easter Sunday. That day became one that would totally change my life and its direction.

My sister, Sharry, and Joe, her husband, had recently received the Lord Jesus as their personal Savior and had been witnessing to me. We were not raised in a home that went to church regularly, but only taken occasionally. I really had no idea about being a sinner nor about John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." I knew that at 16, I did things that were not right and that there was something lacking in my life.

So, there I was, listening to the sermon by Rev. Charlie Kittrell. As he gave his message I realized that I was a sinner, ("As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:" Romans 3:10), there was a penalty for sin and also a gift of salvation (For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 6:23), and that I needed to ask forgiveness for my sins and accept the Lord as my Savior. ("That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation," Romans 10:9-10). When the invitation was given, I went forward and a lady showed me how to accept the Lord, and I did.

For the rest of this: Happy 49th Birthday!

Dale & Anne Simpson - "Wonder if we'll get saved?"

A couple of weeks ago, Camp Gilead was at our church for the evening service. My father happens to be the Executive Director of the camp. As Pastor Osborne was introducing my father he mentioned a story about my grandparents and how they were saved. Since then, I've been wanting to share their full testimony here on the blog. Let me share it with you in the words of my grandmother, Anne Simpson. While they were at Southland Bible Institute, she wrote the following article for the school newsletter. The picture below was taken shortly after my grandparents were saved. My father, Gary Simpson, is the little boy on the front right side of the picture.




"New Year's Day (1950) we sat in our living room watching television. too lazy to change the station, we watched as Dr. Ockenga of the Park Street Church in Boston introduced Billy Graham. Mr. Graham spoke only a few minutes but there was something in his message that made us want to hear more.

The following Thursday was our tenth wedding anniversary. Dale and I had always celebrated with a theatre date. Even then he had in his pocket tickets to a play in Boston, but after talking it over, we decided to go to Mechanics Hall to hear Billy Graham instead.

'After all' we said, 'Everybody's talking about him, and it'll be something different. Besides, if it looks too crowded, we have the tickets and we can go on to the play anyway.'

Knowing that our going would please her, we wrote Dale's Mother who had been praying for us all through the years and told her we were going to hear Billy Graham. Later we learned that when she read the letter, she knelt and thanked God for saving us; so complete was the assurance she felt.

Driving to Boston Thursday night, we jokingly made remarks like 'Wonder if we'll get saved?' ... 'It would be funny if it did happen but of course it won't!' ... 'After all, you know the kind of people that go in for that.'

Having smoked the last cigarette in his pack just as we entered the hall, Dale said, 'Remind me to buy a pack when we come out.'

He has yet to buy that pack. Neither one of us can remember much of Billy Graham's message that night, but for the first time in our lives, we knew that Hell and separation from God were realities, and we were deeply convicted of sin in our lives. We knew for a certainty that we were in no way prepared to meet our Maker. Still we sat through the call and made no effort to do anything until Billy Graham said he wanted another chorus sung for he felt there was someone there who was chained to the seat by the Devil, who was saying, 'Oh sure, we know it's all true, but...' I knew that I was being spoken to, and I was finally aroused to do something.

'Take the first step,' he said, 'and God will do the rest.' I turned to Dale and asked him if he wanted to go forward, and he said he did. He had been fearful of going because of my ridicule. We knew, just as soon as we began the long walk down the stairs and to the front, that we were saved because there was a definite assurance that God was already taking the steps for us."

Four months after they were saved, my grandparents dedicated their lives to the Lord's service. They went to Southland Bible Institute for further training and ultimately were called to Rifle Range Baptist Church in Winter Haven, FL. They served the Lord faithfully at that church for over 30 years. My grandfather preached right until the end. His last sermon was on Easter Sunday, 1996. God called him home one week later. My grandmother went to be with the Lord in 2003.