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I am a married father of 2 children. I was born in 1964 and got saved in 2000. Check out my page at www.myspace.com/nicgenn. My AOL screenname is also Nicgenn. Please check out my Blog postings and tell me what you think. Peace!

July 3rd, 2002---Baptism Testimony
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of Knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction. Proverbs 1:7
I can' t tell you that i was an alcoholic or a drug addict but if that what it takes for certain people to find Christ then I say Amen. No, the bottom I hit was even lower than those people even though i wasn't aware of it. 2 years ago I considered my myself to be an atheist. I had reached the point were I didn't agree with everything my former church believed and was teaching. I wanted to make a clean break so to speak. I felt since I didn't need my church and their beliefs I didn't need God either. I thought since I had been rejecting my church for years it was necessary to reject God. Looking back now it seems I realized even then that it had to be "all or nothing". So since i didn't believe "all" I chose nothing. I was under a terrible misconception, somehow i had gotten the idea that a certain church was "the way, the truth and the life". Of course now I know better.
I was so convinced that I had chosen the right path that I began to fellowship with other atheists on my computer. I would go into chat rooms with names like "atheists vs Christians" or something like that. I kept thinking that I'll get confirmation that i have made the right choice. Certainly it was better to be free of religious bondage than to believe in an unknowable God.
Then I met a man who began to share the gospel with me. I told him that i had heard it all before. He had asked me if I had ever read the bible and i said "well not really". For some reason I seemed to like this man he didn't seem to be "preaching" at me. He told me that our discussions would be more indepth if I started reading the bible. Of course I agreed, thinking that I would be able to point out all the "errors and contradictions " I had been told the bible contained. So I started with the gospel of John. I found it slow and uninteresting. I told this to my friend and he asked a question " are you reading it as if it is just a story book" and i said well yes what else is it? He then told me that the bible was the word of God and I said yea yea I know all that. He said no.. I mean you must read it as if you truly believe that the words are those of God. So I agreed. When I began to read again the words did take on new meaning suddenly they seemed to make sense. They really did have a message. When I came to the verse of John 14:6 where Jesus says" I am the way the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me" I wanted to know more. My friend and I continued to talk for several weeks and then one night he asked me if I was ready to accept Jesus as my Lord and savoir. I told him I was afraid. He then told me about proverbs 1:7 again. I realized all these verses and phrases could have real meaning,like putting together a jigsaw puzzle. You see a few pieces and it doesn't look like much but then you start to put it all together and suddenly it makes sense it suddenly looks like its going to be a wonderful picture. That's what the bible did for me. It helped me to start piecing the puzzle together and I am happy to say wow what a picture I am starting to see. So my friend asked me again if I was ready to accept Christ into my heart and life and I said yes. We prayed right then and I felt the Holy Spirit come upon me, I truly felt like a new person..He then told me that I was now "Born Again".
He told me I now needed to find a church nearby that taught the bible so the next day I looked in the phone book and saw the ad for Gateway Cathedral. My first service was 09/17/2000. I have since enrolled in first principles classes and when asked why am I being baptized I say because Jesus commanded it. People usually say something like "weren't already baptized as a baby and I say yes. So then why are you doing it now? The answer.. because I want to do it now according to the bible. Let me just say this... if you think you know God or know Jesus and don't think you can know him any better or get any closer I ask you to think again about that very carefully and if you've never read the bible I ask you to give it a try. It's not just a bunch of stories. The principles that the bible teaches can benefit you in ways you cant even began to imagine. I want to thank Pastor Steve Galagher and my entire first principles classmates for putting up with me. I want to say thanks to Steve Hagis for his help and support when I first came to Gateway we lost Steve on 9/11 I just wish we had more time but let me say this..part of the reason I am in the water tonight is because I know I will see him again. I want to thank all my family and friends for being here tonight. I hope this is a good experience for you. I must also thank Kevin my computer friend and brother in the faith who lead me to Christ and convinced me to give God another try and that I was worthy of his love and redemption. Its true what they say "a little faith goes a long way" thanks friend. I want to thank my children I know they don't always understand me but I hope they understand that all I do is out of love . I especially want to thank my wife for being here...we will celebrate 15 years of marriage next month and I was gonna say that ...that in and of itself is a miracle but seriously they have all been wonderful years.. I wouldn't trade my life for anyone's. I love you honey. And of course I Thank God for choosing me as one of his children. I think I am finally realizing what that truly means.
The bible teaches according to Matthew 7: 13-14
"Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it."
I urge you all please find out what that can mean for your life. I promise you won't be sorry. Thank you.