Lewis’ Salvation Experience

When I was 22 years old my brother, Charles, asked if I wanted to move to Nevada and learn the newspaper trade.  I accepted the job and moved.  The little town was a wicked place with casinos and others places of ill repute.  We didn’t patronize them so the only social life for people like Maxine and me was in attending a little Baptist Church.  There we made friends with several military families from the South who were stationed at a military base near town.

 A Sunday school class came up with the idea of reading through the Bible.  It meant that I had to go down to the drug store to buy one.  It was one of those black ones with a zipper cover and I started reading from one side of that zipper to the other. 

A few weeks into the reading I found myself going forward during the invitation on Sunday evening.  I was as surprised as anyone else and tried to figure out what I was doing.  The preacher asked me if I believed in Jesus Christ and I said, Of course I do.  I mean we had been studying about Him in Sunday school.  They baptized me and put my name on the roll.  I knew that I was supposed to change and the Lord knows, I tried to change but inside me was still black with sin. 

In the mean time my brother had gone back to Oklahoma due to illness.  I hated the desert, and the town, and the people were strange and hard to get along with.  I had begun to run the newspaper printing press and felt that I should have a raise but the company wouldn’t give me one.  My boss said that he would let me work in the print shop as many overtime hours as I wanted.  I worked and saved my money until I had enough to get back to Oklahoma.  I gave my notice, trained a couple of guys who could take my place, and moved. 

I took a job at the University of Oklahoma, and moved next to the campus.  I loved it … the work was great … I could walk to work … the people around us were nice.  I don’t know how we knew to, but we began to pray about a Church home.  We decided to visit a Church in all the services for one week and decide if that was where God wanted us.  We visited one the first Sunday morning and I asked Maxine on the way home if there was any need to go back.  She answered, Not as for as I am concerned. 

That evening we went to Immanuel Baptist Church.  As we entered the auditorium the music was playing one of the classic hymns, which was upbeat and beautiful.  My heart was stirred as we talked with one of the ushers at the entrance.  I remember thinking, God is in this place.  I really don’t know how I would have known since I didn’t know God nor did I know what His presence was like. 

We later joined the Church on the promise of a letter of recommendation from our former Church.  We started going out on their soul winning program as well as other opportunities that became available.  Later, I became the Department Superintendent for the Young Married Sunday School Department and Maxine became one of the teachers.  Since Maxine and I were both in the choir, a group of men [fanatics] who preached at various places asked if we would go to a rest home to help with the music.  We were glad to go and enjoyed meeting the patients there.  We probably had been going with them several months when one of them asked if I would bring the message the following Sunday afternoon.  Before I could say no, he told me all I had to do was make the commitment, ask God to give me the message, and give it like He gave it to me.  I was too proud to say no when it was presented in such simplicity.  I prayed all week but never got anything from God.  On Saturday night Maxine told me something that the preacher’s wife told her that she had heard a preacher say that Spurgeon had said about the 23rd Psalm.  The next day I gave that and it was a miserable failure.  On my way out that day an old deacon put his arm around me and said, That is as good a message as could have been given.  Well, Spurgeon had done some pretty good things.  Right there I decided that I would never again try to bring another message, no matter how easy it was to get it from God. 

They gave me time to get my nerve up and asked me to preach again, but before I could say no they said, All you have to do is ask the Lord and He will give you the message.  Again, I was too proud to say no when it is so easy to get a message from the Lord.  I went home and took my zipper covered Bible and said, Now, Lord you know what happened last time.  They said all I had to do was ask You and You would give me a message but I prayed all week and didn’t get one.  I am going to hold my Bible up like this and let it fall open and I am going to believe that is where you want me to study for the message.  It fell open to John chapter three and that Sunday afternoon I preached on Ye Must Be Born Again.  I told those old people that some of them were trusting in their Church membership to get them to heaven but Jesus said, Ye must be born again.  Some of you are trusting in your baptism to get you to heaven but Jesus said, Ye must be born again.  Men were hollering, AMEN!  I remember walking out that day thinking, The key to this whole thing is to be born again … I wonder what it means to be born again. 

That week was a nightmare!  I was so much under conviction but I didn’t know what was going on.  An old red neck told me one time that the Holy Ghost had brought my soul under arrest.  Now I know!  I was miserable!  I couldn’t get along with anyone and the job I loved so much was a drag.  This went on until Wednesday evening.  After the weekly Bible study at Church, when we bowed our heads to be dismissed in prayer, I couldn’t handle it anymore.  I said, Lord, I know I have sinned and am not worthy to be saved but your Word says that Jesus loved me and died for my sins, so, Lord, please forgive me and save me from my sins.  An awesome peace flooded my soul … I had never experienced anything like it before.  Sunday morning I made my newfound faith public by going forward in the invitation and giving a testimony to the saving grace of God.  A week later I followed my Savior in believer’s baptism.  Thank God for salvation full and free.  Thank God for the opportunity to serve Him! 

If you have read this testimony and realize that you have never had such a life changing experience, you can.  Christ died for your sins, was buried and rose again that you too, might be reconciled to the Father.  Receive Him today and the peace of God will reign in your heart and life.

Lewis Bridges

Maxine’s Salvation Experience 

Attending church each week was a part of my growing up experience as a child in central Oklahoma.  When I was about ten years old one Sunday morning after the pastor preached and the invitation was given down the aisle I went along with my twelve-year-old sister.  Both us were baptized shortly thereafter.  There was never a time when I was asked if I wanted to be saved, so I became a church member of a Baptist church without ever asking Jesus Christ to forgive my sins and save me. 

Many years later after I grew up, got married, and began raising a family in church, our church held a revival meeting and the evangelist was Brother Manley Beasley.  He preached to lost church members and explained the gospel story very plainly.  The Holy Spirit convicted me that I was just that, a lost church member, but pride kept me from going forward and getting my heart right. 

Not long after the Lord began dealing with me that I was lost and needed to be saved, my husband and I moved from Oklahoma to Nevada to begin working in home missions.  The Lord had saved my husband, Lewis, called him to preach and he surrendered to follow the Lord’s leading.  We left Oklahoma in the spring of the year, and I knew I was a lost sinner, but was not willing to surrender and be saved.  After all, I thought, what will people think of me.  I was already in the ministry along with my husband, teaching in Sunday School, singing in the choir, going visiting to encourage others to come to the Lord.  Pride kept me in my seat every time the invitation was given at the close of the preaching service. 

A few months later at Christmas time we drove back to Oklahoma to visit our families.  I planned to ask my Mother if I got saved when I joined the church as a ten-year-old girl.  That is some way to find out if one is saved!  Well, pride kept my mouth shut and all during the visit with our families I was a miserable lost sinner under deep conviction.  I was ashamed to talk to my Mother about my salvation. 

On the way back to Nevada after the holidays, I was driving the car late at night so Lewis could get some rest.  It was pitch black outside and there was not a lot of traffic.  I was under such conviction the pressure was great.  Up ahead I could a great fire burning alongside the highway.  As we came closer I could see it was an oil refinery and a pit of waste oil was on fire, it lit up the whole nighttime sky.  When I saw that great fire, the Holy Spirit spoke to me, it wasn’t an audible voice, but an impression upon my soul.  It seemed the Holy Spirit said, “Hell will be a lot worse than that fire for you if you don’t get saved!”  I was so scared I was shaking as I drove along. 

Because of the intensity of my conviction, I drove on into the night, not noticing the gasoline gage on the car was nearing empty.  And before long the car ran out of gas out in the middle of nowhere.  I awakened Lewis and said, “I think we’re out of gas.”  A very perturbed husband thumbed a ride to the next gas station to get some gas, leaving a very frightened wife and two children to wait in the darkened car beside the road.  Oh, how the fears climbed all over me as we waited what seemed like an eternity for him to return.  Fortunately Lewis was able to hitch a ride and return with help and we were on our way. 

Three for four days later, still under deep conviction, on a Saturday morning I was outside in the frosty, snowy weather, hanging clothes on the line when life became so unbearable that I hurried inside to find Lewis at the kitchen table studying for his Sunday message.  I blurted out to him, “I don’t think I’m saved!”  That was the first he knew of my dilemma, and he said, “Well, if you aren’t sure, let’s pray and get it settled right now.”  We hurried into the bedroom, knelt beside our bed and I surrendered my heart and life asking the Lord Jesus to forgive me and come into my heart and save me.  From that moment to this I have never had a doubt about my salvation.  I am sure Jesus is my Savior, and I have a home in heaven. 

Pride was swallowed and the next step was to be baptized.  The church where we were ministering was shook up that the pastor’s wife would get saved.  We were renting a VFW Hall for the church meeting place, and there was no baptistery.  When the weather warmed up enough we borrowed the City Swimming Pool and my husband baptized me along with another lady from our church. 

Peace, joy, and blessings are mine in Christ, and I can never thank the Lord enough for what He did for me over forty years ago.  Walking with the Lord is such a blessing and the treasures He reveals to me in his Word are richer as time goes by.  The Word of God reveals the wonders of heaven, the reality of hell, and the riches of God’s grace. 

Maxine Bridges

Barry Bridges 

[Trusted Christ as a small child]

To understand where I began my spiritual journey, you have to know a little about the context.  My parents were home missionaries to Nevada, by dad pastoring a small Baptist church in a small town.  I was around the age of four. 

In Nevada, every town has al least one casino.  Folks would be passing through town, stop for gas or a meal, and gamble away their money.  Needing a place to stay, they would call on the good graces of the local First Baptist Church.  My parents would welcome them with a meal and a bed for the night.  My dad would offer something like, Around here we have family devotions before we go to bed, you won’t mind if we do that tonight before we go to bed, would you?  After a good meal and the promise of a bed for the night, how could anyone turn down the offer? 

We would line up on the couch and dad would proceed to preach the plan of salvation.  Our guests would often repent, best I could remember, but I was hearing about my sin and the need for a Savior on a consistent basis. 

The morning after, our guests gone, I remember airing out the mattresses in the desert sun, purging our house of the stench of some of those upstanding citizen gamblers.  In addition, two things were sticking in my head.  One was my need for a Savior; the other was a closet of prayer.  I kept hearing that phrase “prayer closet.”  The only closet I knew was the one with my toys, clothes, and shoes. 

One morning I woke up early and felt the call of the Holy Spirit, knowing it was time to repent of my sin and find the Savior.  I knew what to do, having heard the “how” many times.  I went into my closet, knelt there among my toys. asked God to forgive my sins, pronounced my trust in Jesus as payment for the wages I deserved, which was death, and asked Jesus to come into my heart.  Then, I knew you had to make a decision public and confess Christ before others, so I went and told my mom, who was cooking breakfast.  She said I should tell dad, so I went and found him shaving and made my confession.  

People often asked about the early age, about understanding, and about doubts.  As I write this, I can picture the scenes like they were yesterday.  I have grown in understanding the vastness of the simple faith decision I made that day.  I have doubted me, but never doubted God.  

I waited until I was nine to be baptized.  There were two reasons for this wait, one being afraid of water deeper than a bathtub; the other a bit of embarrassment about procedure.  You see, I knew when people got saved, they got baptized right off.  In my simple pride, I could not figure out how to convince people I was saved much earlier and “just now following the Lord in baptism.”  My encouragement for others is to take your time!  It is not about guilt, it is all about grace.  Make that decision to begin the faith journey quickly, for this life is a journey of faith.  Then, as you grow in understanding, take another step that requires a leap of faith.  

                                                          Barry Bridges