I believe the greatest witness of Jesus Christ is our testimony. Today at age 48 I woke up early to spend some time in the Word and God flooded my heart with great joy. It seems the older we get the less important material things matter (fame, wealth,
etc.). This year has been quite eventful and emotional. In February the Lord blessed us with a new granddaughter Marlee Ann Newton. We were in Texas at the time of her arrival ministering in the Fort Worth area. We were able to fly Mimi Glenda and Aunt Anna to Utah for the birth of our beautiful new angel that God gave us. I had to hear it all by the phone and view the photos as I had to stay back in Fort Worth. In May, Glenda's father, Glen went home to be with Jesus after 10 years of battling Alzheimer's. Glen was one of the greatest men I have ever known. He will be greatly missed until we all see him again one day. In June Richie, Michelle and our two grandchildren moved to Harker Heights, Texas to take their new assignment as worship pastors at New Beginnings church. We hated to lose them from our ministry with Blastoff Music but knew God was in control. In July Rachael and Jarred married here in Layton and are now the Worship Pastors at a seed plant church, Adventure North Church here in Layton, Utah. Glenda and I are very proud of our children and that they are letting the Lord shape them in this journey we are all on. Anna is 14 and singing full time with Glenda and me. She is so beautiful inside and out and we just love having her minister with us.
It all started for me back in 1981. I grew up in the LDS faith and as a boy living in Roy, Utah I though that everyone in the world was either Mormon or Catholic. That's what all my friends, my family and everyone in my little circle were. My parents divorced in 1976 and I left Utah with my dad along with my brother and sister to live in Buhl, Idaho. Still involved in the LDS church even with new friends, I never knew anything else. Sports, music and girls were the main focus of my life. I started playing guitar around 16 years of age, and I loved playing football, basketball and baseball. I believe that sports and music kept me out of trouble. Playing my guitar was like reading a good book; at times I just couldn't put it down. It was a place I could escape to when life was just not what I thought it should be.
My senior year of high school came so quickly and before I knew it I was 18 and on my own. I worked for my dad as a millwright. We installed feed mills around the Idaho and Utah areas. My dad wanted me to learn his trade, and I wanted to be just like him. He was my greatest hero. He taught me the trade and I would say I learned it pretty well, but inside of me was a song waiting to burst out. I knew there was something greater for me to do in this life, but I just couldn't put my finger on it. In the summer of 1981 I was hanging out with some buddies of mine. We were cruising up and down Broadway of the big town of Buhl, Idaho, population 3500. It would take us about 5 minutes to complete the cruise but we were having fun. One Friday night on the cruise, a group of teens (about 15) came over to the car we were in and started sharing Jesus Christ with us. This was strange. I never heard people talk about the Lord like that. They said that Jesus Christ had a plan for our lives and that He died on a cross for you and me. Wow! At that very moment I felt something grab my heart and then I felt shame for having a beer in my hand. The youth pastor's name was Matt that was leading the witnessing. I never met him before or saw him around town. They left us and the rest of the night I couldn't get it off my mind. Jesus has a plan for you Greg, Wow! Really, Lord You care about me? The very next day I was in a store checking out and there right behind me was, yes you guessed it, Matt. He remembered me from the night before and spoke a few more kind words and said good to see you and the Lord bless you Greg. Wow! That was strange! A few months later we heard of a tragic car accident and one man was killed. I went with a friend of mine and to see the car after it was brought in from the scene. It was a mangled mess. I looked inside the car and there were Bible tracks and a Bible on the seat. Later that day I was told the man that died in the accident was Matt, the young man that shared Jesus with me and my friends. I was shaken up by the whole thing even though I never really knew Matt. But to think that just in the recent past, he had planted seeds in me that would change my near future.
In April of that year I was asked to write a song for the graduating class of 1981. I heard of four girls that sang very well and asked them to join me in the song. We practiced together many times before the event. Their voices were like angels. I could listen to them sing for hours. There was something different about them that I just couldn't figure, but I was gonna find out. I mustered up the courage to ask one of the girls out on a date. Now I was a very shy guy (some of you are laughing right, but it was so true). She had the most beautiful spirit about her and I wanted to know what It was. It was amazing and breath- taking. So I asked Glenda Clark to go out on a date and she said yes. We had the greatest night and I didn't want it to ever end. That night I found out what was different about her. She loved the Lord with all her soul and it flowed off of her like a river. She told me about Jesus, not her church, and that It was by grace that we were saved not by anything we could do. How could it be so simple? The light went on in my heart and I knew than that I needed the Savior, but I was so afraid because of the way I was raised so I pushed the feeling back down inside. We were raised so different from each other and I just couldn't go home and tell my dad, "Hey I just accepted Jesus as my Savior!" It just wasn't that easy. I told Glenda how she was the one I wanted to marry, but I just couldn't leave the LDS beliefs because of the pressure at home. We broke up that night and we both cried. I walked away hearing a voice say, "This is Me and it will be the greatest decision you will ever make." That night I went back to her church and when the Pastor gave the invitation for anyone that would like to receive Christ, I jumped to my feet and ran to the altar. I asked Jesus to be Lord of my life and He came in and filled me more joy and peace than I could ever imagine. In a later conversation with Glenda, we discovered that the youth pastor Matt that had planted seeds of faith in me was Glenda's boyfriend at that time. God had used her boyfriend to plant seeds in her future husband.
Now I had to face my greatest fears; telling my family about accepting Christ as my Lord and Savior. I was written off like a bad check, not just by my parents, but my entire family. JESUS said in His word in Matthew 10:37-39, "Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."
It has now been 28 years since that time in my life and through much pain and much joy I have seen the hand of God work in my life. Glenda and I will be celebrating 28 years of an awesome marriage in March. My dad passed away in 2001 but before he left us his last words to me were, "Greg, I am so proud of you and Glenda for the choice you made to follow Jesus and I'm so sorry for the things I put you through. Our family must come together and knock down the religious walls. Jesus is the answer and it is Him who saves. I'm proud of your children in the way they are serving the Lord Jesus with all their hearts and I want you to know that I Love You!" Wow! How long I had waited to hear those words and will always cherish them. Some of you reading this and knowing that my dad was strong in his Mormon faith would have much doubt. But my dad was a man of great faith. He truly loved the Lord Jesus, he just got caught up in the ways of man like all of us can. In His last days he let his heart speak and not his head. My prayer for all my family reading this blog is to know that I don't judge you. I love you. There is no way any of us can be good enough to make Heaven. That is why we need a Savior. Jesus came to this earth and lived in the real world. He took on our sins at the cross so that we could have life eternal. He paid it all at Calvary. We just need to believe and give our lives to him and in return He will give us LIFE and that more abundantly.
I love you all,
Greg
