My Testimony

By the providene of God, I was raised in a Disciples of Christ Church.  My mother's mother was raised as a Lutheran.  Her grandmother was born in Germany and immigrated to the USA as life was hard for her family there.  Her mother was born in the USA.  When she married my grandfather, she moved to Southwestern Michigan from Wausau, Wisconsin and decided to join the Disciples of Christ Church in Bangor, Michigan.

I was raised in Bangor Christian Church until it decided to leave the Disciples of Christ to become part of the Independent Branch of the American Restoration Movement.  Upon leaving the Disciples of Christ, the name of the church was changed to Bangor Church of Christ.
Because it was expected and I had reached an age of accountability, I walked the aisle and and gave the good confession that I was a sinner and Jesus is the Son of God.  After giving the good confession, I was baptized for the remission of my sins per the tradition of the ARM (Amnerican Restoration Movement). 

Althrough there was an effort to educate me per the tradition of the ARM, I found the teachings of the church to not be compatible with  the KJV Bible given me as a gift by my mother's mother.  I believed that God existed and He had a Son.  In addition, I believed that I was a sinner.  I found it difficult to love a God that I feared too much.  I had no peace with a God that terrified me as I found my imperfect obedience to God's requirements for holiness.  I was not convienced that I was saved from God's wrath for my imperfect obedience.

Walter Martin got me questioning the teaching of the ARM as I discovered through his book "Kingdom of the Cults" the connection between the ARM and the Church of Christ of Latter Day Saints.  Too much of the doctrines of Mormons that he critiqued was taught by the ARM.  I researched the history and found out about Sidney Rigdom and other members of the ARM that played a key role in establishing the Mormon church called the "Church of Christ of Latter Day Saints".  I became strongly influenced by Walter Martin on what is a Christian Orthodox Faith.

Althrough the God of the New Testament appeared to be OK, the God of the Old Testament terrified me.  I could not but believe that God suffered from either multiple personally disorder or He had suddenly changed for unexplainable reasons from a God of wrath to a God of love.

Upon reaching the true age of accountability where I was a college student at MSU (Michigan State University), I started socializing with other Christians inside IVCF (Intervarsity Christian Fellowship).  This IVCF group had mostly Baptist and Dutch Reformed Church members.  I started attending IVCF Bible Studies and attended their Cedar Campus facility for training in how to do inductive Bible study. 
Before MSU I had started reading popular Christian books mostly from a Easy Believe-ism Baptist perspective.  I really found this perspective of understanding the gospel message in the Bible not much of an improvement over the Gospel Plan of Salvation of the ARM. The same troublesome Bible verses that I read in my Bible didn't support either gospel message as my solution to get saved from God's wrath.

The Dutch Reformed Christians I hung out with at MSU got me reading books by John Stott, R. C. Sproul, J. I. Packer, and other Reformed Christian authors.  I was very much influenced by these writers and what they understood to be sound Biblical teaching.  The Philosophy of C. S. Lewis tended to be hard for me to understand due to my lack of philosophical knowledge l.  Stott and Sproul became my favorite Christian writers and caused me to view the Bible in a different way which appeared to be a systematic way of understanding Bible doctrine and theology.

Too much in the ARM (American Restoration Movement) and Baptist tradition, Bible verses are taken out of context as proof verses for a teaching.  In addition, there is too much belief that one's salvation depends upon the meaning of a single word in a out of context Bible verse or an Bible proof verse.  Much argumentation exists between the Baptist and the ARM over the proper understanding of out of context Bible verses.  One becomes distracted in endless and rather meaningless arguments producting much heat but little light on how one gets saved from God's wrath. Since the Baptist had written the most critiques of the beliefs of the ARM, I became very confused as to how out of context Bible verses should be understood.  However, increasingly my Lutheran and Presbyterian influences convienced me that reading Bible verses in context and doing a systematic approach to understanding the Bible was the only approach that makes the Bible understandable.  Arguing over the meaning of out of context Bible verses was really a total waste of time.  In addition, arguing over the meaning of a word in a out of context Bible verse was just as much a waste of time in understanding the Bible.

In time my favorite Christian writers would include Greg Bahnsen, James White, Timothy Keller, John MacArthur, D. A. Carson, and other reformed writers.  Timothy Keller aided my understanding of C. S. Lewis and aided me in my skeptism of what is true as I struggled with God's word.  John MacArthur very much aided my understanding of those difficult Bible verses that troubled me as to the question was I saved or not.  John Piper aided my lack of joy by giving me reasons to find joy in the gospel message and a love of the writings of Jonathan Edwards.  Greg Bahnsen and James White educated me in a superior apologetic method that that I learned from Walter Martin. 

To better understand the original faith of my mother's mother, I started reading the writings of Martin Luther.  I strongly identified with him as my conversion to true Christianity appeared similar to his experience. 

I have read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation much, but it took me a long time to see how it all fit together.  R. C. Sproul aided me much in viewing it in a systematic way.  The Bible no longer had a God with multiple personality disorder.  J. I. Packer's book "Knowing God" was a strong influence in improving my understanding of the Godhead.

Bob Ross aided my understanding of errors in the ARM gospel plan of salvation.  However, critical authors of the mainline churches of Christ aided my understanding of the true history of the ARM.   Other Baptist critics of the ARM aided my understanding of the issues of the ARM gospel message too.  R. C. Sproul even assisted by his critique of Alexander Campbell's viewpoint on some issues. 

My independent research of the ARM and Alexander Campbell discovered the fact that it is not only primative Christianity but strongly influenced by the Age of Reason philosophy of John Locke.  Alexander Campbell developed a philosphical system for understanding the Bible.  This system was first developed in articles in the "Christian Baptist" and modified in later articles in "Millenial Harbinger" and the book "Christian System".  In the early "Christian Baptist" drafts of this philosopical system it is clear it is a system more based upon John Locke than the Bible.  Over time out of context Bible verses were used to justify the philosopical system as being sound Bible teaching.  However, it is more trying to force the Bible to support a philosophical system developed by Alexander Campbell based upon the philosophy of John Locke by creative use of out of context Bible verses.  This fact explains why as a kid being raised in Bangor Church of Christ I was confused by the creative use of out of context Bible verses as no one educated me on the philosophical system developed that connected the out of context Bible verses.  The creative use of out of context Bible verses appeared like black magic that I was simply to believe by a great leap of faith as being God's truth rather than the creative philosophy of Alexander Campbell. 

I am now by the grace of God a Reformed Christian that studies the Bible in a systematic way rather than a philosophical way in the tradition of the age of enlightenment.

God's word is truth and the only water of salvation.  God does answer prayers for aid in understanding His word by the gift of the Holy Spirit.  Those that call upon the name of the Lord Jesus are saved as God the Father does grant the gift of the Holy Spirit to those that ask Him. 
Jesus is the perfect shepard as He takes care of the sheep given Him by the Father.

I am saved by Jesus's Atonement on the cross and His imputed righteousness, and not by imperfective work of obedience or a water baptism for the repentance of sins.  The work of God is to believe in the Messiah's finished work and the grace of God to those that call upon the name of the Lord for salvation.  Martin Luther is correct about Law and Gospel being the true gospel message.  Alexander Campell's "Sermon on the Law" is a false gospel. 

I have peace now with God by His grace.