I stop to picture this moment in my mind: a young marine on a massive ocean vessel, carefully thumbing through the first few pages of the Bible he’d brought with him onto the ship. I can hear RJ’s smile break through in his rising tone, as he recounts this turning point in his life. “It was then,” he exclaimed, “that I found God’s love. As I read through Genesis and beyond, I kept realizing how God is for people. I realized God is real, and He wants a relationship with us.” He recalls hurriedly skipping ahead in his Bible, eager to discover where Jesus fits into all this. “I realized Jesus not only died for my sins and rose from the grave, but He has also prepared a life for me – a life that is only available in Him. I remember that moment of turning my sins over to God, saying ‘You can have all of it.’”
RJ in 2013
RJ during his service in the Marines
This is when RJ shares something incredible: It was at this moment of personal revival, in the middle of the ocean on an aircraft carrier, that God brought other new followers of Christ into his life! “For the first time, I had other believers I was walking with. It was like someone had just turned on a bunch of
light bulbs in a dark room.” He describes this community of fellow believers on the ship as his first encounter with biblical discipleship, the springboard that helped him begin actively growing in his faith.
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The Word of Life Experience
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