From the time I was an adolescent until my early 20s, what I knew of the Bible came primarily from Sunday School lessons during childhood. In Sunday School we read sections of scripture (mainly the same stories each year), and we were taught the morals of the stories.

From the time that I stopped going to Sunday School (’cause I was old enough to decide for myself), what I learned about and from the Bible came from the sermons I heard. Usually the preacher would read one to five sentences of scripture (not explaining the context) and then preach on something outside the context of the scripture, providing a contemporary message of encouragement.

At some churches, the sermons would always end with a telling of the “Easter story.” One pastor was fond of saying, “You haven’t finished preaching until you’ve hung him on the cross, and raised him from the dead!”

In my tradition, it was a common understanding that if the church wasn’t emotionally charged by the end of the sermon, then “the preacher didn’t preach” or “you didn’t have church.” Now and then the music was emotionally compelling enough, to qualify for having “had church,” even without preaching.

Throughout, my late teens, I had many occasions to reflect on the surreal experience of being called to follow God and to be baptized at such an early age. The memory compelled me to believe I was special to God. So, my earnest prayer every night became,

“God: Thank you for everything you’ve done for me in the past; everything you’re doing for me right now; and, everything you have in store for my future. As soon as you let me know what you want me to do, I’ll do it. Until then, I’m going to do what I want to do. Amen.”

I prayed that prayer every night for years before going to sleep. Then one night I sensed God saying, “how about doing what I’ve asked everybody to do, then I’ll give you assignments.”

I knew that meant to read “the book”, but when I tried to read it, it seemed odd with thee’s, and thou’s and wert’s, etc. So I didn’t get far until a Jehovah’s Witness (coworker) bet me that some of the things I thought were in there (Christmas, Easter, etc.) were not in there. I bet my paycheck!

I had to borrow a Bible from a neighbor because I didn’t own one. They gave me a New Testament – their only spare. After searching that Bible for the holidays, then going to my Pastor and finding out they weren’t in there, I knew I had been wrong. Thank God my coworker didn’t want my check ‘cause I would have given it to him.

After that, I started reading, then studying the New Testament; primarily through word studies and subject studies. As I read, I realized there was much I didn’t know, though I thought I knew. I also started listening to televangelist including Jimmy Swaggart’s “A Study in The Word” show, Fred Price’s “Ever Increasing Faith” show, and Herbert Armstrong’s “The World Tomorrow.” They were teaching from the Bible, which was a new concept for me.

I “rededicated my life to God” (several times) and promised God that as He taught me I would obey. I asked God not to let me die and be wrong.  I also asked God for wisdom beyond that which He gave to Solomon.

Despite all of these resources, I was confused. What I read was different from what I saw in my church. Jimmy Swaggart, Fred Price, and the other preachers all agreed on some things, but disagreed on a host of other topics. I began to visit other denominations as I studied. As I visited, I found that each denomination, and even some churches within denominations, agreed on many things and disagreed on many others. What was most confusing was that all of them had some teachings that agreed with what I was reading, but none completely matched. All were using the same Bible.  How was that possible?

I remember riding in a car with my family, my dad was driving, and I was in the back seat studying as usual. Studying the Bible, had consumed me. My father asked me what I was studying so hard for.  I told him that I was trying to figure out which church was right. My dad said, “Didn’t Jesus say that HE is the way?” I closed my Bible and said, “you’re right.”

I realized then that the only perfect pattern to follow was Jesus, and that it didn’t matter what denominations, churches, and preachers said. The only thing that really mattered was that I followed Jesus. The only way to follow Jesus was to read the Bible to know how.

end part two