I grew up attending a major denominational church. With evolution being taught in school, and noticing the hypocrisy in the church, I became an agnostic about the age of twelve. But I was converted when I was about 29 after praying a simple and sincere prayer, “Dear God, if you exist, please help me. Should I start going to the church my wife is going to in order to save our marriage?” My wife had started going to a local church and become extremely self righteous and judgemental. So I was under a lot of stress.
Then The Lord opened the windows of Heaven and showed me a glimpse of His Glory and welcomed me into the assembly of His Elect. I had my mother’s old Bible on the kitchen table, and just watched as my hands reach over, picked up the Bible, and opened it to a certain passage in Proverbs that read, “Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee: … To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words; Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God. For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead. None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life.”
I had never read Proverbs, so I was shocked that my hands had somehow opened the Bible right to the verses that answered my question, and somehow immediately realized that these verses were warning God’s children to stay away from false churches. Thus the answer I was given was a resounding, “NO! DON’T GO!”
That experience changed my life permanently. Now I knew that God does exist and answers sincere and honest prayer. He answered mine, even when asked in unbelief. I certainly did not deserve His kind attention, but I was at least sincere and honest about seeking Him and His Wise Council.
I began reading the Bible on my own, not understanding much at first, I admit. Starting on page one of Genesis, over the next year I read all the way to the last page of Revelation. During that year, a friend sold me a Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, which I frequently used to look up the Hebrew or Greek words that were in the original manuscripts. Then verses that seemed difficult to understand became much clearer, because some words have multiple meanings.
After reading the entire Bible one time, I read it from cover to cover again, and again, and again. Then I would focus on one book at a time, and go through it line by line, verse by verse, chapter by chapter analyzing the deeper meaning of the text. After twelve years of self study I had a fair memory of key words in the Bible and using the Concordance could find related verses to any verses I was studying at the moment. So I felt much disappointment after years of attempting to find anyone at a local church or on TV that even came close to actually teaching what the Bible teaches, or even what Jesus taught.
Then I discovered a true teacher of God’s Word early one morning, which was the answer to a prayer I had prayed often over the years. A teacher who taught chapter by chapter, verse by verse, and explained the original Hebrew and Greek of the manuscripts, and I was amazed at how he not only understood all I had already learned but had mastered the entire Bible! I studied under him daily for about seven years, and then my life changed, and I also had begun to feel that it was time for me to teach. So I teach.
As an aside, I named my website, Javelin Thrower, after myself, because my name Gary means: Mighty with a Spear; Spear Carrier; Strong Man of God