Hello.  My name is Matthew Foster, and I am a born-again Christian.  I became a born-again Christian on March 9, 1999.  This is my story.

I grew up in a Christian home in Little Rock, Arkansas.  When Sundays and Wednesdays rolled around, I would go to Church, but I never really understood that being a Christian meant more than simply going to Church.

At about the time I was 13 years old, I went with my mother to a revival.  The preacher spoke of the need to ask Jesus Christ to save you in order to spend eternity in heaven.  That was something that I wanted, and I responded to the preacher's alter call by going forward to ask Jesus Christ to save me.

My routine of going to Church every Sunday and Wednesday did not change after that experience, but my life did.  This was about the same time that I began to get very interested in computers.  My family had just bought a new computer.  Whenever I was not eating, sleeping, or at school, I was on that computer.  I was obsessed with learning everything that I could about computers, and I began to withdraw from all social interactions, including Church.

During my senior year of high school, I got a job as a busboy in a restaurant.  I would spend my days in school, my nights at work, and the wee morning hours drinking with my work buddies.  The latter only increased when I learned that my parents, married for almost twenty years, were getting a divorce.  In my mind, God had much of the blame to bear, and my desire to have anything to do with Church or religion grew into a bitter hatred.

Going away to college only intensified this hatred.  College provided me with the lifestyle conducive to my mindset with frequent parties, next to no parental restraint, and applause and encouragement for my new-found, quickly-growing agnostic beliefs.

After three years of the college scene, the pace began to slow, and I began to really seek answers to tough questions that had been yet unanswered.  I constantly pondered: 'What is the meaning of life?,' 'Is there a God?,' and 'Is there a spiritual world, and, if so, what is its relation to the physical world?'  It was at this time that God reached out and showed me that He was not through with me just yet.  He did so by introducing me to a classmate who invited me to her Church with the promise of answers to my tough questions.  I went once and thought 'This is neat.  I'll give it one more try next Sunday.'  Each Sunday kept getting better, and I was getting my questions answered.  The answers were not simply 'You just have to believe!,' but they were backed up with verifiable, scientific evidence that pointed to God in all directions.

I began to get involved in as many Bible studies at her Church as I could.  Soon, I was involved in some sort of Church-related activities (e.g., Bible study, services, fellowship, etc.) every day of the week.  And, after almost two months, I felt that this Church was where God wanted me to be.  So, I joined the Church the following Wednesday night.  My interest, learning, and participation increased dramatically.

After about a year of going to Bible studies and Church services, I came to the realization that I had never truly trusted in Jesus Christ and His promised gift of eternal life.  I felt the burden of the Holy Spirit as a tugging sense of unease; it was such a real sense that I could physically feel it.  I kept thinking, though, 'No, I asked Jesus Christ to save me at that revival when I was 13,' and I ignored the feeling of uneasiness.

One night before one of our Bible studies, I was talking to a fellow Church member, and he began to share his testimony of salvation and the burden he had for his own children's salvation.  My burden increased with every word, and I shockingly came to the realization that even though I thought that I had been saved at the age of 13, I had never truly trusted in Jesus Christ for salvation.  I went home that night and told God that I had resisted Him too long, and that I wanted Him to forgive me of my sins, that I believed and trusted in Jesus Christ, and that I wanted Him to save me.  BAAAMMM!  The change was immediate and immediately noticeable.  I was overwhelmed with a sense of peace and understanding of who God was and that He did save me.  I knew right then and there that if I were to die in five minutes that I would spend eternity in heaven with my Saviour, Jesus Christ.

I was baptized and added to the Church the following Sunday night.  My life has not been the same since Jesus Christ saved me.  One of the most dramatic changes that I have noticed in my life has been my love for others.  Before I was saved, I openly admitted and struggled with the fact that I did not know what love was.  Now, I know.  I can tell a dramatic change in how I think about and interact with others.  None of this is because of what I have done, but because of what Christ did.

You too can experience what I have experienced, and you can do it without having to go through all the heartache and pain that I had to go through.  Romans 10:9,10,13 tells what one must do to be saved: 'That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.  For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.'  I pray that you too will come to experience the peace and joy I have through the grace of my Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Matthew Foster