Why “Treasuring God, Experiencing Life?” – 01

How God Found and Saved Me

A Personal Testimony of Treasuring God, Experiencing Life

In this—the initial episode of a 7-part biographical series—Rick Carmichael shares how God sovereignly brought him into an eternal, spiritual relationship with Him through saving faith in Jesus as Savior. From early childhood memories, through years of conviction and disillusionment, to a life-changing faith in Jesus as the Savior of the world. This episode lays the foundation for the entire 7-part series.

This isn’t just a testimony—it’s an invitation to discern: Is this a voice I can trust to help me grow in my faith in Jesus?

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Transcript

How I Became a Christian

My intention is that this Preface section helps you know enough about who I am that you can then decide if I’m credible and truthful. And, the first thing I want to share is how it is that I came to be a Christian.

Memories of my Mother

My mom died when I was just five years old. Even though I was that young, I do have numerous—and I think, reliable—memories of her.

Probably my strongest memories are of her holding me in a wooden rocking chair and reading Bible stories to me. Because of a number of other things I’ve been told about her, I’m convinced that she was a Christian, and I believe the main impact she had on my life was because of her faithfulness in reading of those Bible stories to me.

This verse from Paul to Timothy has always reminded me of her.

2 Timothy 3:15

15 and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

Now—as a Christian—I understand that it was the Holy Spirit Who was speaking to me through my mom’s voice as she was reading those Bible stories to soften my heart towards God and His Word.

A Godly Disillusionment

My dad remarried about two years after my mom died and our family moved from a very small community about 30 minutes outside Houston. We lived in one of the main Houston suburbs where there was an excellent school district for me and my sisters to attend. I suspect that to others, we appeared to be a happy, middle-class, American family. (Though at that time, none of us were true Christians.)

But, even though from external appearances things seemed to be good in my family, there were times as a young boy that I remember my mom and dad having some pretty intense verbal arguments. However, as I entered high school, their fights became more frequent, more intense, and actually scary. So much so that my sisters and I would often hide out in our rooms upstairs during their fights.

During those high school years, I began to develop a sense of disillusionment. There was a growing awareness that things just weren’t right, and that there should be something more to life. Certainly, one of the reasons for those feelings was my parent’s fighting. But, another reason was that I was becoming more conscious of the ugly ways I’d often treat other people—especially those who were different in their race, or appearance, or abilities.

In hindsight, it was the Holy Spirit, working to convict me that the ways I sometimes treated others weren’t just ugly, they were sinful. Which led to me feeling guilty—and fearful—about what my eternal destiny was going to be.

One day, when my mom and I were alone in our kitchen, I remember asking her, “Mom, do you think I’m good enough to go to heaven?” As most non-Christian mom’s would do, she immediately responded, “Of course!” 

While at that moment her answer sounded encouraging, it didn’t really work to take away my fears about my sin. And, the Bible is clear in identifying the basis for my entirely appropriate fears.

Roman 3:10-12, 23

10 as it is written, “There is none righteous, not even one; 11There is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God; 12All have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one.”

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Romans 6:23

23 The wages of sin is death....

Looking back now on this time in my life, I realize that the sense of disillusionment and the anguish I was feeling was—again—a part of God’s work in my life. The Holy Spirit was developing a strong sense of conviction of sin to prepare me for what He intended to do next, which was to bring me to Jesus and into His family by faith.

A Strange and Wonderful Date

In the summer of 1970, at a neighborhood swimming pool where I was the manager and swim coach, I met Lesley. It was (juvenile) love at first sight—based entirely on physical attraction—and I quickly developed the hope that someday she would be my girlfriend.

At that time—even though I was going to be a high school senior when school started in the fall—I’d only been out on a couple of dates. To say that I lacked confidence relating to girls would have been an enormous understatement. Actually, I was so terrified of rejection that I just couldn’t bring myself to ask Lesley out.

Seven months later, at the end of January 1971, I finally got up the courage to get her phone number from a mutual friend, and to call her to ask if she’d be willing to go out on a date.

Honestly, I was amazed when she said yes. But, then she also asked if it was OK for us to go to a Baptist revival that she’d gone to a few nights before.

While that date option wasn’t something I would have ever considered on my own, I was so relieved that she said yes that I wasn’t going to take any chances. So I said something to the effect of, “Sure, why not?”

Then, after we hung up, for some reason, I called one of my surfing friends, David, and asked if he wanted to come with us. He said yes as well.

(When you think about it, that was a crazy thing for me to do. I mean, this was my first date with a girl I was seriously infatuated with. Why in the world would I invite another guy to come with us—who might become competition for Lesley’s attention and affection? What I only later understood was that having David come along was also a integral part of God’s plan for me.)

So, on February 1, 1971, the three of us got into my 2-seater, sports car and drove to the main auditorium in downtown Houston for my first date with Lesley. Once we arrived and entered the building, we were able to find seats towards the back of the main floor. Looking around, we could see that there were thousands of other people in attendance—many of them high schoolers like us.

The speaker for the revival series was an evangelist named Richard Hogue, who wasn’t much older than many who came to listen to him. Though young, he spoke with a sense of power and authority, frequently quoting the Bible. He had my complete attention.

The more he spoke, the more clearly I understood that I was a sinner deserving of an eternal punishment in hell, away from the presence of God. I also clearly understood his explanation of the Gospel message of the Bible: that God—in His mercy and grace—sent Jesus to die for my sin, to suffer death and hell in my place. That Jesus rose from the dead to be my eternal Savior. And that the Bible presented the Gospel as God’s promise, that if I repented of my sin and truly believed in Jesus as my Savior, I would immediately be forgiven of my sin, receive eternal life and spend my eternity in an intimate personal relationship with Him.

A “Light-Bulb” Moment

It was truly a “light bulb” event for me. There’s no better way to express it.

Up till that moment, I had no clue who Jesus really was. 

I mean, I knew He was a religious figure associated with Christianity. But I knew nothing of Who Jesus was (and still is), nor of what He had done on my behalf.

It was as though God—through His Holy Spirit—turned on the lights inside what had before that evening been a complete darkness in my heart and mind. I could finally see and understand spiritual truth. There was no way I could deny my sinful, hopeless, fearful condition before God. And yet, I could just as clearly see the amazing, gracious love of God. He was the one desiring and pursuing me, offering eternal life and relationship with Him—even while I was hopelessly lost in my sin.

I just knew that the words of the Bible that the evangelist had shared were true... and that I needed to believe in Jesus as my Savior.

That is, until he started giving what’s called an “altar call.”

He asked, “If tonight you’d like the assurance that your sin will be forgiven and that you’ll spend an eternity in heaven in the presence of God, come up to the front and we’ll guide you in prayer to receive Jesus as your Savior.”

When presented with an opportunity to act on what I was sure was true, for some reason I hesitated. I thought, “I know I need to do this… but, not tonight.” The more he repeated the altar call, the more I repeated my objection: not tonight.

All of a sudden, my friend David stood up and started walking towards the front where the speaker was.

As soon as I saw him get up, I thought, “Well, if David’s going to do this, then so am I!” And I immediately got up and followed him down to the front and gave my life to Jesus as my Savior—along with maybe a hundred others.

A Second “Light-Bulb” Moment

While my decision to trust Jesus as my Savior was the most important decision I could have ever made, there was another significant “light bulb” event which was still to come that night.

After we finished praying to receive Jesus as our Savior, the evangelist and some other leaders escorted us to an area of bleachers where we were instructed to sit. At that point, the evangelist asked us all, “So, what just happened to you?”

Then, in response to someone answering, “I’ve been saved,” he asked what I now believe to be the best, first question to ask a new believer: “How do you know you’re saved?” After asking that question, he walked back and forth along the front row of the bleachers repeating it in the silence, and waiting for an answer.

After asking his question maybe half a dozen times, he stopped right in front of my friend, David and asked him directly, “So, how do you know you’re saved?” David blurted out an answer he’d apparently been holding in, “Because it feels so good!”

I immediately knew David’s answer was wrong.

But, rather than correcting and probably embarrassing him, looking around to everyone else, the evangelist simply repeated the question, “So, how do you know you’re saved?”

Finally someone offered the answer which I knew was right one, “Because the Bible says so! It says that God promises forgiveness of sin and salvation to those believe in Jesus as their Savior.”

Though only a few minutes old as a Christian, this second light bulb event indelibly inscribed this truth in my mind and on my heart—the Bible is the ultimate authority for all Christian beliefs. As Christians, we find rest and peace when we trust the Word of God as the foundation of truth for our lives.

I love how appropriate this passage in Galatians is in describing what happened to me that night.

Galatians 1:15-16

15 But when God, who had set me apart even from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, was pleased  16 to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles...

The emphasized words provide a basic summary of a very significant truth. When it’s the proper time, God will reveal Jesus to us. And, like Paul, when it was the right time for me, I also believed in Jesus as my Savior.

On the night of February 1, 1971, God not only gave me the unbelievable gift of eternal life, He also implanted in me the clear recognition of the life-giving and life-changing power of His Word.

A God-Directed Decision

At first—after becoming a Christian—I continued to attend the same Methodist church that I’d been going to for around 10 years. Maybe three or four months later, I learned about an upcoming evening seminar that was being organized for the church’s high school group. 

A guest pastor, Dean Heatley, came and spoke to us, and at the end, there was a question and answer time.

To be honest, at this point I don’t remember many details about the meeting—except for one. Dean responded to every question by referring to an appropriate passage in the Bible. He offered gentle—but authoritative—answers, and it was clearly obvious that he knew God’s Word and that He held it in high regard. I was honestly amazed—and inspired—by His knowledge of the Bible.

The evening seminar and Dean’s way of teaching—and addressing questions—provided a stark contrast to what typically happened at the Methodist church.

The pastors at that church rarely taught directly from the Bible, they rarely spoke of Jesus, and they never told the wonderful news of the Gospel. 

Rather than leading me further down the path of life, that evening seminar caused me to finally understand that the teaching at the Methodist church was only going to inhibit my growth as a Christian. (One of the Sunday school teachers even had the audacity to say to me—after I’d asked a question about the return of Jesus—”Oh, you must have been reading from Revelations. You need to stay away from that book because it’s so controversial.” Seriously!)

So, faced with this initial, spiritual “fork in the road,” I decided that the following Sunday I’d visit the non-denominational Bible church where Dean was Associate Pastor.

From my first Sunday at Spring Branch Community Church (SBCC), I knew it would be a place where I could really grow as a Christian. Contrary to what always happened at the Methodist church, the sermon at SBCC that Sunday—and every service I attended afterwards—focused not on the opinions of the speaker, but on the very words of God from the Bible.

The longer I attended, the more I realized that going to SBCC was like being enrolled in a Bible Institute. They not only had the normal teaching and worship services in the morning and again in the evening on Sundays, but they also offered a variety of mid-week classes for adults, all of which focused on systematically teaching the truth of the Bible. Some of the classes offered were basic, which was perfect for me as a new believer. And then some of them were more advanced, which I started attending after a few months of basic instruction.

SBCC was blessed in that their members included many gifted men who were both knowledgeable about the Bible and also effective teachers. The instruction I received at SBCC provided a solid foundation for my Christian life that has sustained me in the faith for what has now been 50 years.

The teaching I received at SBCC allowed me to appreciate the beginning-to-end cohesiveness of the Bible. From Genesis through Revelation, the Bible consistently puts the spotlight on the message of the gospel and on the unchanging nature and character of a God of great glory, power and goodness. The God of the Bible is clearly revealed as Someone who cannot be deterred from establishing His eternal plans and purposes, moving towards the reconciliation of all the elect, and the summation of all things in Christ.

God’s Sovereign Direction

I want to be careful in sharing this content.

I don’t want to sound like I’m taking credit for making a wise decision. This wasn’t so much a fork in the road involving a conscious decision on my part, as it was an optional way I could have gone, but it was really God sovereignly directing me into one path over the other.

I also want to careful because I don’t want to intentionally offend any Christians who’ve gone down the other path.

This incident happened soon after I decided to start attending Spring Branch Community Church, and it relates to my friend, David, who I mentioned in the section about my Christian testimony.

As I described before, I ended up attending SBCC, which was a Bible-teaching, evangelical church. Now, a common tendency of Bible churches is that they often focus more on fact, than on emotion. While they’re generally more accurate in their doctrine, they can also seem to be somewhat “lifeless.”

David—on the other hand—got connected with a Charismatic church. And, a common tendency of Charismatic churches is that they often focus more on emotions, than on fact. While they’re generally more “lively,” they can also be less accurate in their doctrine.

After only a couple of months of us being saved, my friend David started asking, “Isn’t there anything more?” 

It was as though he was wanting an even greater level of emotional stimulation than what he was getting from his church. He seemed bored.

Being so new to the faith, I didn’t know how to effectively encourage him. Sadly, I lost touch with David, and don’t actually know what’s happened to him since that time.

Even though this “fork” didn’t involve a conscious decision on my part, I’m deeply thankful for God directing me into the “path” of doctrinally-accurate, Bible churches. He also helped me form a firm perspective about the relationship between doctrinal truth and human emotions.

“Anytime emotion is given primary emphasis over doctrinal accuracy, spiritual truth ends up being compromised and spiritual health suffers. As a 'leader,' human emotions leads to errors in spiritual truth. However, when doctrinal accuracy is given primary emphasis, people gain increasingly accurate perceptions of God, leading to emotions that are founded upon the truth of God’s Word. And, spiritual health flourishes."

As Jesus said to the Samaritan woman,

John 4:23–24

23 But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.

What Jesus is saying is that worship—which is an emotional spiritual activity—must be driven by spiritual truth. Accurate beliefs must precede and produce valid emotion. 

The Main Point

The main point of my spiritual testimony is that on February 1, 1971, God sovereignly reached into my life, guided me to Jesus, revealed the truth of the Gospel message, and “gifted” me with faith to believe in Him as my Savior.

He then directed me to a doctrinally sound, Bible church that accurately taught the truth of His Word. 

He graciously worked in me—through the teaching at SBCC—to establish a solid Biblical foundation of faith in Him.

He also clearly revealed that the spiritual gift He imparted to me at the moment I was saved was the gift of exhortation and encouragement. And, He’s consistently used that gift in me to bless other believers—much to my great joy. 

He’s also developed in me a passionate love for Him and for His Word, and a corresponding passion for helping others develop their own love for Him and for the Bible as the words of Life.