Being sent to church as kid I was fully aware that Jesus was the savior and new quite a bit about the Bible and Christian life but did not have the personal relationship with God nor a full understanding of being saved.  As a teen I did occassionally read my Bible but did not get much out of it, since I mostly was doing what was right and did not know the depth of what was available.

My home life as a child was from most points of view very moral, though my parents did not go to church they were very faithful to each other and did not do the noticable sins like smoking and drinking.  I mostly moved in this path as well until my late teens then I got around a crowd with drinking and some drugs.

Looking back I have always had a call and desire to serve the Lord but was never in the environment for the vision to take root and grow.

I ended up married with a child, working, and struggling, not being a good husband or parent.  The hunger to do right and do it with purpose was in me but no real outlet.  Through my let teens I attended church once in while and after marriage a time or two as well with the same emptiness.  Finally after attending church one time and filling out the contact card, which previously I avoided, we had a home visit and I accepted Jesus as my personal savior finally with a more complete understanding.  I was changed forever!

My purpose in life was activated and my hunger for more of God and to accel in the things of God was lit.  I was so zealous for the Lord that I may have been one of the best Pharisees in the city of Stockton for a season.  I was saved in more Baptist environment and was heavily influenced by Jimmy Swaggart's ministry at that time and soon drifted toward Pentecostal churches.