What I Believe and Why
Written by:  Joshua Keatts a.k.a. sm00th1

     My life, yes, it is true that I have had it easy.  While growing up my parents provided me every advantage necessary for an adolescent to succeed.  I was born in Kansas City, Kansas and I am a citizen of the United States.  I was educated in private Christian schools throughout my elementary career.  The private schools were a wonderful foundation for the beginning of education.  I made a change from private schools half way through my education and attended public schools during junior high and high school.  Through most this time I believed that I was a Christian because I had grown up in a family that went to church every Sunday and was very well educated about God and the Bible.  I did not at this time know that I deserved hell.  I did not understand that all the things that I was doing was amounting to ultimately nothing.  I was lost without a clue to life.

      Life, I did not really get it.  Sure I went to church every Sunday.  SO WHAT!?!?!?  People go to church every Sunday without a clue and that was me (A PERSON WITHOUT A CLUE).  I would sit through service after service zoned out and, as far as I could tell, there because mom and dad made me go.  Pretty sad huh?  I, like any other teenager, was searching for meaning in my life.  I had done a multitude of stupid things and I was searching myself completely.  One day I was sitting in church and I was, for the first time in my life, paying attention.  It all became very clear what it was that I had been searching for.  I did not have it and I knew it by the time that Shane Crawford was done with his message.  Life had no meaning for me.  It was easy for me to understand but hard for me to believe.  God was searching for me; why do I need to search for something when God's looking for me?  Romans 3:10-12 "There is none righteous, NO, NOT ONE: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh God.  They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is NONE that doeth good, NO, NOT ONE...."  This passage was compelling to me.  It was SO right!!!  All my life I had been searching for all the things in the world that built my ego.  At one point I may have been searching for 'religion' but I was lost.  I had to wrestle with myself about it (salvation), it all made sense and it disturbed me God had found me and was knocking on the door of my heart.  "What do I do?"  What could I do?  I went and spoke to Shane and he helped me to understand.  Later I sat down with my father and I prayed and gave my life to God.  I wonder, sometimes, how many people have met God? How many people are searching in vain?  I learned that there are only two really significant points in my life.  The first significant time in my life was my physical birth.  At the moment I gave my life over to God was the second significant point in my life HE changed me.  It was a rebirth and I gained meaning in my life a reason for living.  The day was Sunday June 23, 1995.

     My life has never been the same.  It has nott always been easy, I will not lie,  but I am a happy person now.  I, first, started by changing my habits.  This was not easy and it has taken me time to change some things.  Secondly, I began reading my Bible and praying daily; this action alone has helped me to change my habits tremendously.  Finally, I entered a program called discipleship I which I completed October of 1997.  This program helped me learn and understand the Bible and what it is that I was believing and why.  I now have goals for my life.  I want to pastor a church someday and perhaps it will be a church in Colombia.  It is almost like I have a calling to it.  I Timothy 3:1-6 which says "This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop (pastor), he desireth a good work.  A bishop (pastor) then must be BLAMELESS (notice it doesn't say sinless), the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good, behavior, given to hospitality, apt to teach; Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous; One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity;  (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?)  Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride of he fall into the condemnation of the devil."  Right now, my life is moving along well.  I am in college working on a degree in computer information science and am mastering the Spanish language. 

     My beginnings in the "church bit" was not simple.  No, my problems did NOT all magically disappear and NO I did not become a millionaire and NO my habits did not disappear.  I do, however, have peace in my life and I know without a shadow of a doubt where I will be when I die.  Even though I have many of the problems that I was saved with I do have something in which I can put my trust.  That is God.  When things are going bad and I am not having such a wonderful day He is there.  The Bible says in 1 Peter 5:7 "Casting all your cares upon Him (God) for He careth for you."  And another verse that often offers me much peace is Phillipians 4:13 which says "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."  All in all I found out that without the salvation and eternal assurance of God I am nothing in this world and my meaning in life all lies within the hands of God and His will for my life and not my own will.  God now takes care of the problems in my life.