Thank you for your interest in the ministry that God has given unto us. My name is Bro. Spencer Smith. I would like to take just a page and tell you about the day that the Lord saved me.
I grew up in a small town in Georgia called Dacula. I never knew anything about the Bible or God. I went 18 years of my life without having one person witness to me about my soul. I knew many people who claimed to be a Christian but they did not live any different than anyone else, so I thought that there was no need for me to become a Christian.
As I went through high school, I lived a life of terrible sin. I used to have spiked hair, earrings in both ears, and white colored contacts. I listened to Heavy Metal music that was terribly violent and satanic. I used to wear clothes that had flaming skulls and Satanic symbols on them. I was also very sinful in the way that I talked and conducted my life. I thought the only way that I could have fun was to go out and cause as much trouble that I possibly could. This was the life that I lived.
When I was a senior in high school, I went half a day to one high school and half a day to another high school. One day, as the bus driver was driving two other students and I from one school to another, she turned around and asked us if we were saved. The two other students replied: “Yes, of course we are saved!” I replied: “I don’t know if I am saved.” At that very moment I came under conviction of my sinful nature and knew that I had never been saved. I had heard other people talking about being saved and I had always wondered what being saved was like. I wonder if this woman had taken the Bible and showed me how to be saved, would I have gotten saved right there on the bus?
The thought of being saved or lost haunted me and I went months of my life under deep conviction of my sinfulness. I remember one time I was in my room with a close friend of mine, and I asked him if he was a Christian. He lied and said: “Of course I am!” I immediately broke down in tears and said: “I wish that I could stop living this wicked life and become a Christian.” My friend was stone quiet as I wept for at least half an hour.
I tried many things to make me feel better about my sinful life. I tried to stop cussing, but I never could. I tried to stop listening to sinful music, but I never could. I tried to quit smoking and drinking, but I never could. No matter what I tried to do to live better, I never could quit sinning. It was like I the only thing that I could do right was sin against God. I needed something to happen to me so that I could quit my sinful living. I knew that if I kept up my sinful life that I would go to Hell when I died and I did not want that at all.
I was under such conviction that I went to the local grocery store and bought a book called The Bible Promise Book. It was a book full of King James Bible verses that was sorted by topic. I bought the book, went home, and opened it to the Salvation chapter. The verse that stuck out to me the most was John 3:3
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
This verse convicted me because I knew that whatever being born again was, I was not born again. The book also gave the verse Romans 3:23
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
As I read that verse I knew that I had sinned and come short of the Glory of God. I knew that I was a sinner and that all I was doing was sinning against God every day. This book also gave the verse Romans 6:23:
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
As I read this verse I understood that there was a payment for my sin and that payment was death. The last thing in the world that I wanted to do was to die in my sin. I noticed the end of the verse where it said that the Gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. I wondered what having eternal life was? Was that the same thing as being saved?
As I read farther into this book, it gave this verse in 2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
As I read that, I knew that I did not want to perish (go to Hell). I understood that in order not to perish I had to come to repentance of my sin. I wanted to be saved, but I did like most people do, I waited to be saved.
I went many more months of my life under conviction of my sinful life. In the fall of 2001, I had the opportunity to coach my brother’s little league football team. One of the men that coached also was named Tim Prosen. Tim Prosen was a member of the Peachtree Road Baptist Church in Suwanee, Georgia. One day Brother Prosen invited me to come to Church on a Monday night and play a game of flag football. I was glad to be invited and so I showed up that Monday night.
It was November 5th, 2001, when I showed up at the football game. As we played the game, I noticed that these people were not the same way that I was. I could see peace and joy in their faces. It was like these people were not carrying the same burden that everyone else that I knew was. I did not know what these people had but I thought that I would like to have what they had.
After the game was over, one of the men came up to me and asked me a strange question. He asked me: “Spencer, if you died today would you go to Heaven?” It seemed like, as those words came out of his mouth, a ton of bricks hit me right in the chest. I learned later that the feeling I had was called Holy Ghost Conviction. I was so overcome that I just stood there speechless. The man knew that I was under conviction and walked away from me.
It was then that I started to walk back to my car to leave, but the funny thing is that I had parked on the other side of the church graveyard. So as I started walking through that graveyard another man approached me. He said: “Spencer, I noticed that you did not aswer that question a minute ago. If you were to die tonight would you go to Heaven?” I looked at the ground and said: “No…no I would not.” He looked me in the face and said: “Spencer, the most important thing that you could know in this world is that when you die you are going to Heaven.” He said a few other kind words to me and encouraged me to come to church on Sunday before he drove off in his car and left me alone in that graveyard.
I felt God dealing with me about getting saved. It was then that I walked about 5 steps in that graveyard and fell on my face before God and asked God to save me from my sin and take me to Heaven when I die. I got up off the ground with peace in my heart! I felt like a giant load had been lifted off of me! I was SAVED!!!
That Sunday I attended church and have not missed a Sunday service since that day, November 5th, 2001.
A few months later, I noticed that when I heard preachers preach, I would burn in my soul. I would desire to preach and the next Easter Sunday night God called me to preach and I gave my life to God.
The next fall I attended Crown College in Powell, TN. It was during my time there that God led me to be a missionary to Kenya. I graduated from Crown in Spring of 07’ and have been on deputation since April of 07’.
Please pray for us as we try to attempt by faith what God has put in our hearts. Once again, thank you for your interest in what God is using us to do.
My friend, let me ask you a question. Have you ever been born again? There are many names for salvation in the Bible: Saved, Born again, having everlasting life, ect. Whatever you choose to call it is fine, but if you have never been saved, then you will not go to Heaven when you die, you will be in the Lake of Fire. The Bible says in Revelation 21:8:
But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
The Bible also say in Revelation 20:11-15:
And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
If you have never been born again, then you will be in the lake of fire when you die. Please, don’t die in your sin and go to the lake of fire.
Romans 10:13 says, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Simply put, if you will personally ask Jesus Christ to save you and give you His gift of eternal life, He will!
Why don’t you make this simple decision right now? Call on the Lord now…
“Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and that I deserve eternal punishment in Hell. I ask you to forgive me of my sin and to save me. I accept your gift of eternal life. Thank you for saving me from Hell. Thank you for the gift of eternal life, Amen.”