I have wanted to share with you my personal testimony and what your creation ministry has done to change my life for a very long time, but I figured that you get a ton of letters just like this all the time and one more was not going to matter. I hope this personal testimony will convey to you how important what you are doing is.
I got saved at the age of fourteen, and I tried to serve the Lord the best I could with not much spiritual guidance from family or friends, which quickly led me into many years of a wicked, backslidden life by the time I was in my late teens. I give a lot of the credit for my damaged faith to the teachings of evolution in high school, but for some reason God thought I was important enough to love, and now has taken me back and given me another chance. The Lord used the subject of creation to witness to me and reveal himself and the truths in his word. The teachings of evolution is what caused me to doubt God’s word over twenty years ago. I used to be able to talk about a lot of subjects in God’s word and I studied regularly, but when the subject of creation came up, or dinosaurs, or the earth being millions of years old, or cave men, I didn’t know the answer, neither did anyone else. I blew it all off as some hoax that the devil has used to trick humanity.
When I sought for the answers from pastors they told me of the gap theory, or that those were some of the mysteries God would reveal in heaven. None of it made sense! I read the Bible from a literal point of view. There was no gap! How do you get a gap from…”evening and morning were The first day” and in John 11:9, Jesus was very specific…”are there not twelve hours in the day?” Needless to say, it wreaked havoc on my faith. I had evolution in my reasoning process because of what I was taught, and the word of God in my heart showing me something different. Bro. Hovind, it was so confusing I did not know whether to believe the evolutionists or the Bible, but I knew they were directly opposed to one another; I put the whole thing behind me, and walked away from God completely.
For years God attempted to draw me to him, but I pulled away. Then one morning, in November 2002, I had been “drinking and thinking” and I began to cry and beg God to help me see the truth about what seemed to be lies in his word. I had become an alcoholic and wrecked my life because I was on the run from God. For some reason that morning, God had cornered me and would not let me out. I felt like the child who is angry and the parent who wants only to comfort and care of the child, and the child resists and pulls away, in my head I was saying, “leave me alone” and my heart said, “tell me the truth”. There was a presence there and I felt it. I was in tears and did not know why. I literally questioned God, “if the dinosaurs and the cave me are real, why didn’t you tell us about them, and how can the earth e millions of years old if the date of Adam is barely 6000 yeas ago and he was the first man?” I actually said this out loud. Then I picked up the phone and said to myself “I will prove that no one knows or underst ands the Bible”, I began calling churches. I had several no answers, and one pastor said “Those things were mysteries and would be explained when we got to heaven.” NOT GOOD ENOUGH, I wanted answers! I agreed with myself that I w ould call one last church and that would end it all. If I did not get a definite answer, I would quit for good. No more Bible, no more God, nothing! I knew I believed in Jesus and that would have to be good enough.
The phone rang, as I said to myself “I figured no one would answer”, a mans voice came on the line. The first thing I said in a rude tone was “can you explain the dinosaurs, the cave men, and why God left them out of the Bible. How can the world be millions of years old if Adam was created only 5000 years ago?” I was rude and demanding, (I had been drinking all morning too). I took a big gulp of my beer and waited for the answer I assumed was coming so that I could prove my point to myself and to God, and get on with my, “Life”. About the time I prepared to scoff at his replay “I didn’t think so” he said, “Why yes I can”, I froze! The man said “I do have a busy schedule this morning, but I will give you the phone number to some people who would gladly take the time to talk to you. They visited our church a few months ago they are experts on this subject.” I took the information and called the number. It was a ministry called “Answers in Genesis” in Florence, KY. I spoke with a man that to this day I will don ’t remember his name, after all, I had been drinking and his name was the farthest thing from my mind.
I pumped him for answers for forty-five minutes on a variety of topics. He offered to send me some information and made me agree that I would take the time to read everything he sent before I quit on God or spoke to anyone else about these subjects. Hesitantly, I agreed. Four days later, I received a BIG yellow envelope stuffed with pamphlets, tracks, and a book. It was the book “Answers in Genesis.” I did as I promised; I began reading all the material he sent. Once I started, I couldn’t quit. I was overwhelmed with emotions, I wept, and I rejoiced, as one by one the lights came on. I felt like a child who had special secret that no one else knew and I couldn’t wait to spread the news. I took he book to work and showed it to everyone I ran into. I read the book again and again. I felt something I had never felt before.
I rededicated my life to Christ in December 02. (About a month later I received two more copies of the book free, I never requested them and was never charged one dime.) I haven’t looked back since. I was re-baptized in January 03, I became very ill in February and was not able to work for two months. While lying around the house I began studying my Bible and reading everything I could get my hand on about creation. I was studying for periods of 10-12 hours a day. During this time a friend loaned me his Kent Hovind seminar tapes to watch, to kill time. I was glued to my television. I watched every tape by noon the next day and started over again. I asked God if it would be o.k. to surrender my life to him to teach creation. Since then the Lord has used me to lead 17 people to the Lord. Some have even completed discipleship programs and go soul winning themselves.
Well, I’m hooked. It’s my passion. It’s what I want to do to serve the Lord if it is his will. Christ gave me a second chance and he used creation to reveal the truth in his word. Thank you Bro. Hovind for taking a stand regardless of the criticism. I have ordered your CSE 101 college course and hopefully I will be able to complete the entire college series, and begin to teach others the truth about creation.
Bro. Hovind, let me present you with a challenge sir, please do not compromise with Gods word nor his will for your life in order to please others, this has happened to some of the greatest evangelists the world has known, it can happen to anyone. They become popular, their ministry presents and powerful message, they become powerful men of God used in a powerful way, then, for the love of money and prestige, they begin to compromise either with Gods word or their way of life, sometimes both. Please stay close to Christ and stay surrendered to his will and do not succumb to your own.
