Micheal Sims’ Testimony
29 Aug
SALVATION EXPERIENCE: My parents were not Christians. I
graduated from high school at the age of 17 from a small oil
community in Douglas, Wyoming. Shortly following my graduation I
accepted an offer from my uncle to move to Springfield, Missouri.
Soon after taking a job at a local poultry factory, I was
approached by a student attending Baptist Bible College. His name
was Mark. Mark initially gave me a gospel tract which I read. Over
a three-week period he reasoned with me of God’s righteousness and
judgment to come as well as offering to buy my membership at a
local fitness center if I would go to church with him. At first I
thought he was crazy; but after the three weeks he said, “So what’s
it going to be?” I accepted his offer. I recall saying, “I guess it
wouldn’t hurt. I would be working on my body, and going to church
doing whatever they do.” I was 19 and had never been exposed to
church before. Mark and I arrived for the morning service on a
motorcycle. He was in a suit and I was dressed in a black t-shirt,
black jeans and had hair down passed my shoulders. The church was a
conservative congregation and upon entering the sanctuary, I felt
every head turn toward me. Later I thought that they all probably
knew I was lost and said, “We better pray for this guy.” The
message was classic “Hell, Fire, and Brimstone.” When the time came
for us to stand for the invitation, I was in tears and trembling. I
said to Mark, “What’s happening?” He responded by saying, “That’s
sometimes how the Holy Spirit will deal with a person when He wants
them to make a decision.” After he said that he asked if I would
like to go forward and pray? I said “Yes.” We went to the altar and
after he finished praying, I prayed. Consumed with sorrow, all I
could say was “I’m sorry. Jesus please save me.” That was it. I
stood and as I turned and looked out across the congregation. I
thought, “What in the world just happened to me?” I was not the
same person I was two minutes prior. Later I would understand more
of what transpired that glorious day. Hallelujah!! CALL TO
MINISTRY: That leads me to the call I received to the ministry.
Following that first Sunday, Mark and I went down and signed the
contract at the fitness center. He instructed me that whenever I
had a problem that week to turn to the book of Romans and read
chapter 12:1,2. It wasn’t long before the first incident prompted
me to do so. I remember opening my Bible to the specific passage
and leaving it there. I set it on the night stand beside my bed and
returned to it at-least twenty times that week rereading it each
time. I think I was looking for some supernatural intervention like
I had experienced the Sunday before. Although that never happened,
I was little prepared for what did. The next Sunday, there was an
evangelist by the name of Victor Sears preaching for the morning
service. I don’t recall the text being preached but the voice
resounding from the pulpit was very deep and powerful. As we stood
for the invitation, I began to weep and to shake uncontrollably.
Grasping the back of the pew, I turned my head and asked Mark
again, “What’s happening to me?’ He responded with “Sometimes
that’s the way the Holy Spirit will deal with a person when He
wants them to make a decision.” The only decision being presented
to me was the one the preacher was asking for, “Will you give your
life to God?” Mark and I went down to the altar and I prayed and
gave my life to God. The very next Sunday, my third ever in church,
I was baptized. As I came up out of the water, I knew in my soul
there were some things in my life that were going to have to
change. So the journey began.
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