Childhood:

I remember from a small child, my Mother reading bible stories to me and seeing all the pictures of the Bible in colorful paintings and images. We always had a Masonic Bible on the coffee table, and as children we were free to carefully look at all the pages, many of which had beautiful colorful prints of Biblical paintings about the Creation, Noah's Ark, the Prodigal Son, Jesus Stills the Storm, and Jesus on the Cross among many others, along with an illustrated Bible Dictionary. Many times as a child I would look through all the entire Bible.

Youth:

As a young person growing up, I attended Sunday School, Training Union, Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting, and on Thursday RA's or Royal Ambassadors.

In Sunday School we divided up into small classes according to age, studied the Bible lessons from a guided book, and then all met together for group Christian instruction.

Sunday night worship service consisted of Training Union before regular night meetings in the Sanctuary. We would break into groups, according to age and meet in classrooms, study the Bible lessons, and then attend night worship service.

On Wednesday nights everyone who wanted to attend would come to the main Sanctuary. The prayer was led by the Pastor and anyone could pray aloud in front of the congregation who wanted to by standing up.

The RA's is a church group for young boys from 1-6 grades. Many times we would have competitions for Bible memory work and receive prizes, or we would go over to a group leader's house and have hamburgers.

ABOUT ROYAL AMBASSADORS

http://www.wmu.com/?q=article/children-royal-ambassadors/about-royal-ambassadors

It was during this time that I joined the First Baptist Church of Philadelphia, Mississippi and later received Baptism. The Church Minister was Rev. Roy Collum. His sermons seemed to enlighten my mind and bring me closer to God, through Jesus Christ. He was a Pastor Teacher type of Preacher, who made very good examples of the need to become saved, how to receive the forgiveness of sins, and follow Jesus. Brother Collum always seemed to me a benevolent human being, who stressed staying on the right path to receive the benefits of a good Christian life. Sometimes, his sermons contained a note of sadness for those who were disillusioned with the sins of this world, often reaching a crescendo of exasperation for those who would not give up their sins, but also a great encouragement for lost sinners to follow Christ, receive forgiveness, and the salvation of eternal life.

Rev. John H. Cook, my uncle and a Methodist Minister, was another of my Christian Mentors. We often went to attend one of his sermons at the First United Methodist Church. Uncle Johnny was a Navy Chaplain, a Christian Missionary, and always provided good guidance for young adults and especially family members. When I was much older, he passed away, but I was able to receive as a gift from my Aunt some of his minister's books: The Way of Light - by Howard Chandler Robbins and printed in 1932, also Life And Letters Of Paul - by Thomas Carter, B.D., D.D. and printed in 1921. These are extremely old books but have brilliant Christian messages.

Young Adult:

Being a young adult in Junior High and High School, found me still going to Sunday School, and I had a great Sunday School Teacher in Mr. Lewis for many years. He explained the lessons to a small group of about 5-7 young boys in a way that was in general terms relaxed and not stressful. It made us all want to continue being a part of the class, even though as young boys, we were beginning to stray away from the teachings of the Bible, due to outside temptations, and the wild life of a small community that contained elements, which for years had specialized in wrecking the lives of the youth. Not all of my friends were content to follow the teachings of the Bible, but we tended to do what the group wanted, which often ended in drinking and traveling to larger towns together in one car or several.

I remember some who criticized various members of the church, because they were being sinful, yet continued coming to church, even singing in the choir. That is not exactly the way Christ views forgiveness, not just seven times, but seventy times seven must we forgive, until the lost is found and brought back.

Matthew 18:21 - 18:22

21 Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?

22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.

https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Matthew-18-21_18-22/

Eventually I left the town I grew up in and attended College, where my sinful ways began to grow even darker. I quit going to church, any church at all, until I began to explore the depths of an obscure life without Christ or being around those great and noble Christian people in a small town, who had encouraged me and taught me the lessons of the Bible and Christianity. If I was not a lost person, I became almost as one who does not know Christ. The imagination can fill in the blanks, because I don't care to go into the details of being without the guidance of a Spiritual being. My life began to resemble more of a hell on Earth than anything heavenly or filled with the radiance of good thoughts and good actions.

Adult:

Being older than eighteen brings responsibility and also more temptations. A child or youth does not have the immense accumulation of outside interference that an adult has. Even with all the good teachings of a Christian upbringing that I had, it is still a miracle to me that I survived the onslaught of Satan that I experienced as an adult. It is just hard to comprehend all the confusion that evil throws at a young person these days, even more so now than when I was younger. Somehow I managed to turn my life around and seek God. First, I changed by being away from the group of friends, who had me following what the group demanded. I became a loner and somehow found my original programming that the experiences as a youth in the church had taught me. I began to read the Bible again and stopped going to bars in strange towns.

I found better employment and began to watch television evangelists preach their own form of Christianity across the whole world that sat in front of a TV and listened. I know that doesn't sound like much of a great influence to leave a sinful life, but actually the things they talked about brought me back to the reality of living a meaningful Christian life.

Jimmy Swaggart, Jim Bakker, Robert Tilton, and Benny Hinn were just a few of the ones I watched on TV, when I worked at a hotel or even at home. They were to me giving a steady stream of medicine that I thought I needed, and it actually proved valuable to listen to some of the things they said. Jimmy Swaggart was caught cheating on his wife with a prostitute in New Orleans. Jim Bakker went to jail for selling more lots than he owned in a real estate scam. Robert Tilton was found throwing away prayer requests after first taking all the money out of the envelopes. I watched Benny Hinn throw his jacket over so many people in church, that I felt surely they did not faint because of the Holy Ghost but from some prearranged agreement before the start of the broadcast. Yet, even these less than perfect and even criminal televangelists were doing some good and spreading the word of God, though not in perfect harmony with Jesus Christ. I still became a better Christian because of their teachings.

In later years I began to do my own research and found better more honest televangelists to listen to like Billy Graham and Dr. Charles F. Stanley, who always were believable and encouraging, lifting up Christ and preaching from the Bible.

Moving to the city of Jackson brought a more stressful life to me, but I also managed to attend First Baptist Church. We had regular Bible study groups that increased my spirituality and yearning to draw closer to God. There were many friends I made in the Church and I had many good teachers, but one of the most remarkable people I ever remember was Bruns Myers, a total paraplegic who conducted the Bible Study at his house. He had injured his spinal cord in a diving accident, but was one of the most interesting and inspired Bible scholars I have ever heard speak. He could barely turn the pages of the Bible but knew the words perfectly and explained the meanings with exquisite technique.

Later I moved into an old country house near the border of Lauderdale County close to the town of Meridian, Ms. I read the Bible as a regular habit, sometimes walking around alone out in my country house and reading each word aloud to get the pronunciation perfect, as if that actually made my mind concentrate on the message better and it surely did. Eventually I read the whole Bible to myself from cover to cover, saying each word aloud very clearly and distinctly. I also attended a country church regularly and listened to preachers who advocated memorizing whole books of the Bible. Writing down scripture between the spaces in small letters on 3 X 5 index cards, was a great help and I carried them with me everywhere I went. Still today, I have many index cards that help to refresh chapters of the Bible and to learn new ones. I managed to learn by memory several chapters of my favorite books, so that I always had God's word with me any place and any time. I became solidified in knowing what God wanted me to be, a faithful and sanctified Christian with his words always in my heart.

I also went along for the ride with my local pastor at the time, Rev. Jack Giles, who went to visit various church members to help them in their Christian life and also a few others to try and minister spiritually to them.

Older Adult: