| My name is Tim Johnson. I was born in 1963
and then born again, spiritually, in October, 1977. This is my
story. My folks had attended a Baptist church in Hannibal
Missouri and were good friends with the Pastor, Dale Hammond. We
eventually moved away from Hannibal and fell out of communication
with Pastor Hammond. We attended church irregularly until we found a
small Baptist church in Unionville Missouri. Unfortunately, they had
no pastor at the time and had only visiting pastors from neighboring
towns.
One Sunday, we were surprised to see that the visiting
preacher was Dale Hammond, our long lost friend. We attended the
morning service, had Brother
Hammond over for lunch and then went back for evening service. I
don’t
remember the message that day, but I do remember knowing that I
needed Jesus and I needed Him NOW!
I wanted to talk to Brother Hammond privately, but
couldn’t figure out how to get it done, so the last thing I did
before getting saved was lie! Mom, Dad and I got in the car to go
home and then I told them I had forgotten something in the church. I
went back inside, talked to Brother Hammond for a few minutes (he
could tell I was ripe for the pickin’) and then got down on my knees
and gave my heart to Jesus. I was crying so hard (a 14 year old boy)
that I couldn’t even finish praying; Brother Hammond had to finish.
He later told my Mom and Dad that, if he had ever seen anyone get
saved, it was me.
A week later, I was baptized as a public demonstration of
my faith in Jesus Christ and my own new birth as a Christian. I
never saw Brother Hammond again, but I thank God for sending him, a
pastor of a big city church, to little Unionville Missouri just to
get one kid saved. Ain’t God’s wisdom so much better than ours?
My family was in the horse business and we lived on
ranches throughout the midwest and west, finally ending up in
Montana. Horse business requires you to work on Sundays and after I
graduated High School I ended up working jobs that required me to
work on Sunday. So for many years, I didn’t attend church. I ended
up living in Moses Lake, Washington, working at a french fry
factory. I was making excellent money, but as the years went by,
something was increasingly missing from my life.
In 2001, I took a huge leap of faith – I quit my high
paying job to take a lower paying job that would give me weekends
off. This would allow me to begin attending church.
Although I had been in a Baptist church in my younger years and had
gotten saved in one, I had no denominational loyalties. Being a
methodical individual, I made a list of every church within driving
range and began visiting them. I didn’t care what they called
themselves, I just wanted to find a place that would preach and
teach the truth without adding anything to it or taking anything
from it. Sadly, out of the many dozens of churches in the Moses Lake
area, no one was 100% in line with the Bible.
In 2002, I had pretty much given up on finding a 100%
doctrinally sound church and had begun attending an area church that
was “close”. Then, one Sunday morning, for some unknown reason
(thanks, Lord!) I decided to try a little place out of town called
Bible Baptist Church. I wasn’t two steps inside the door before I
knew God had put me where He wanted me. This place preached and
taught the truth straight from God’s word, unashamedly and
enthusiasticly!
Having put myself where God wanted me and having given
myself completely over to His will, I began learning and growing,
spiritually, at an incredible rate! Since then, I have begun serving
God in a number of ways, preaching, teaching, witnessing, whatever
He calls me to do. In his service, I have had the honor of leading
souls to Jesus Christ, helping folks with spiritual problems and
watching our small church grow.
In 2005, I was named Associate Pastor of Bible Baptist
Church. In August of 2006, our much loved Pastor Bill Dunleavy was
called by God to other ministries where his special talents were
needed for the Lord’s work. In Pastor Dunleavy’s absence, I assumed
the position of Pastor of Bible Baptist Church. While I feel
unworthy of any title, I have accepted the position God put me in
and have done my best to bring Him glory through it. I even had the
honor recently of baptizing my wife and my son. Not many folks get
to do that and I thank God for His infinite patience with me and His
rich blessings in my life.
Now, I live daily, serving my Lord and Saviour, Jesus
Christ and eagerly awaiting His return. Come quickly, Lord Jesus!
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