My Salvation Testimony

Whenever the subject of salvation came up, Mama always said, “I first met Jesus when I was 7 years old, in Mrs. Dennis’ Sunday School class at First Baptist Church in Grenada, Mississippi.” My Dad was a teenager when he made a profession of faith at the Methodist church, also in Grenada. He was 20 and she was 15 when they got married and moved to Memphis where he had found a job that would support them. That’s where I grew up. My Dad wasn’t really big on going to church, but Mama was so we went to a Baptist church.

My best childhood friend was Wanda. She lived across the street from us and her family went to the same Church my family went to. So, we were in all of the same classes. I think we were about ten when she went forward during the invitation one Sunday morning and made a profession of faith. The next Sunday she was baptized into the Church.

Not long after that I began to think about it. I thought, “I’ve sat through every class and every sermon that she has. I know as much about it as she does, and I believe, too. So, if she’s saved, then I must be saved.” So, I went forward and made a profession of faith, and was baptized into the Church.

A few years later we moved to Pine Bluff, Arkansas and I joined Immanuel Baptist Church by letter, along with the rest of my family. Dad evidently had been baptized into a Baptist church at some point because he joined by letter, too. When I was 14 the Church decided to have a 5 day “Revival Week” with services every evening, Monday through Friday. My family attended every service. I don’t remember a single word of any service any day that week, except Wednesday. And, I remember very little about that one.

I remember that the title of the Sermon was Is Your Relationship with God All That It Should be? I remember that the preacher punctuated his points throughout the sermon with that question. I don’t remember any of his points – just the question. I don’t remember the name of the hymn we sang for the invitation, but I remember that it had 5 verses and we sang all 5 verses and then started over, and over. That’s all I remember about that entire service.

Immanuel Baptist was a huge church. During the invitation lots of people were going forward to re-dedicate their life to Christ, and a lot of people went down to kneel and pray. We sang, and sang, and sang. Finally, we sang a verse, and no one went forward, and most of the people who were kneeling to pray returned to their seats. Then the preacher said, “We’re going to sing 1 last verse and I’m going to ask you 1 last time, is your relationship with God all that it should be?” I thought, “How could it be? I don’t have a relationship with God.”

Then I thought, “In every relationship each person brings, or contributes something the other person values. It could be love, or friendship. It could be that one contributes a product or service, and the other contributes compensation. But, each one always contributes something of some value to the other person. I have nothing to contribute that would be of any value to God.”

Then something told me, “Ask anyway.” So, I prayed, “God, I don’t know why you would want to have a relationship with me, but I want to have one with you.” In that instant I knew that I was in the presence of the Lord, and His Spirit has never left me since. I went forward that night and made a true profession of faith.

There were actually a number of other people that made professions of faith that night. My Dad was one of them. It seems that when he joined the Methodist church, more than 20 years earlier, he just wanted to get better acquainted with a young lady that went there that he was attracted to before he met Mother.

Because the invitation lasted so long it was really late when we got home. We had school and work the next day and we were all so tired; we just put our things down and headed for bed. I laid there, and laid there, but as tired as I was I just could not go to sleep. Finally, I got up and went into the living room, and turned on a small lamp at the end of the couch and started reading my Bible. Then here came Dad; he couldn’t sleep either. So, we sat there and read together. The next Sunday we were both baptized into the Church – for real.

Belief unto salvation is more than intellectually accepting the truth that Jesus is the Son of God, born of a virgin; that he died on the cross to pay the sin debt for all of mankind, and overcame the power of death when he arose, bodily, on the third day. It is such a profound belief that one is willing to put one’s life in His hands and follow Him come what may.

Mine was a simple prayer unlike the standard model designed to ensure that the person is both sincere and fully aware of the significance of what they are doing. I clearly understood that I was not worthy of what I was asking, and I was ready to give my life to Christ.

I first met Jesus on May 17, 1967, when I was 14 years old, in a revival service at Immanuel Baptist Church in Pine Bluff, Arkansas.