From Atheism to Gospel Preacher

My Testimony

               How does somebody go from atheism to gospel preacher? How does somebody go from a belief in evolution to a belief in a literal creation? This is what happened to me and this is my story. 

Evolution Introduced…

How does somebody become atheist? I do not believe anybody is born atheist. I know this because I was not born atheist. There was however, a time that I became atheist. For me it was the teaching of evolution. The teaching of evolution taught me to reject the idea of God. I remember being exposed to evolution in elementary school. I knew as a child evolution does not agree with The God of the Bible.

Evolution takes hold…

                Once I understood evolution and what it meant, I believed it. Here is what I understood. If we have come from monkeys then there is no need for God. If we have come from monkeys then God did not create us. Creation then seemed to me to be very foolish. So, Christianity could NOT be true. I saw Christianity as a crutch for simple minded people. BUT, the Bible says in Psalm 14:1 “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.” This idea of evolution atheism began to grow in my life. In my junior high years I began to rebel. I was running around with the wrong crowd. In high school years, I began to argue FOR atheism. I knew a lot of kids with some belief in God. Every now and then religion would come up and I would be able to ask young people questions that they could not answer. In doing this I could place a seed of doubt into their hearts as to whether they were being taught or believing truth as pertaining to God.  The Bible says in John 3: 19-20 “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.” I loved darkness. That was my testimony in my school years and into my early adulthood.

Young adulthood…

                Before marriage, I had experimented with some drugs and alcohol. I began to mature out of that type of life. I then got married and became a father. The guys I ran with continued in the drugs and alcohol. I married my expectant wife. We were going to give marriage a try and just hope for the best. We had our first child, then bought a home, then a second child. This is what I thought life was about, having a home, having a good job, having a family and children and this and that … but these things left me empty. Mark 8:36, the Bible says, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” I had set some very specific goals in my life, goals that I was hoping to attain by the age of 25. I attained those goals. I was on the road I wanted to be on. I was on the path that I had thought to be the path of the great American dream, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It was at this time, I was miserable and empty. This did not make sense. I thought happiness was found in these things, I WAS WRONG!!!

Evolution to atheism or Creation to salvation…

                I did not know it then, but I know it now, God had given me distaste for home, family and everything in my life. I had grown bitter toward anything that was supposedly good. At this same time, somebody who I knew, who had gotten saved, was telling me about salvation. The Bible says in John 6:44 “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him…” Actually a few young men had gotten saved that I used to party with. When they had gotten saved, they immediately said, “We need to go talk to Jason, he is an atheist”.  When we were drinking together, they would give an argument for God, I would give an argument for atheism. So they knew that I was an atheist. After they had gotten saved, they had changed their lives. They were very anxious to speak to me. They had visited my home with great zeal and excitement. They were ready for me to be converted, when I was not. I had said to them, they needed religion when I did not. I had changed my life without religion. I had gotten away from that type of life. I had settled down, when they did not. They needed religion, I did not. That is how I viewed it. It was a year later, when they came back around. The was at the same time I was empty and miserable.

Evolution answered…

                The Bible says in Acts 1:8 “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me…” These men came back with answers. I remember a couple of them had showed up at a family reunion and we got to talking. I invited them over to my house. Over a period of three to four weeks, I had them over to my house every night. While playing billiards we would go back and forth discussing evolution… creation … evolution … creation. They were using the tools from a creation ministry, so they had some real answers to my questions. It got to the point three of them were standing around me just giving me one answer right after another. I ran out of answers and I could only conclude that there is GOD!!! I finally said, “I believe there is God.” The Holy Spirit of God, the Word of God, the testimony of changed lives and the real answers, WHO COULD RESIST such a powerful witness of the truth?

A changed life…

                I decided to give church a try. I had been going to church with these same guys. It got to the point I believed that God existed and further understood that I NEEDED SAVED. All the sins I have commited against a HOLY and RIGHTEOUS GOD, damned my soul to the eternal fires of HELL. Before I had made a decision for Christ, I thought IF there is God, surely I would be OK. An honest look at God's law damns any soul to Hell without JESUS CHRIST. The bible teaches my only hope of eternity in Heaven and the escape of the eternal fires of HELL was to believe on Jesus Christ. I learned Jesus Christ died in my place and took the penalty for my sin.  I decided I was going to go forward at church and get saved! October, 1996, the preacher preached, I have no idea what he preached. I was sitting in the pew, waiting for the altar call, so I could go down to the altar and give my life to Jesus Christ. I do not know what I prayed, I may have just prayed, “Save me!” God saved me and changed my life that day. My wife got saved a couple of months after me. God gave me a REAL marriage. God gave me a love for my children. God gave me life. I WAS BORN-AGAIN!!! HE CHANGED MY LIFE that day. God is still changing it today.

Called to preach…

                Immediately I wanted to know what the Bible said. I wanted to be in church every service. I wanted to tell everybody I knew what happened to me. I GOT SAVED!!! I also immediately fell in love with preachers. I wanted to know all about preachers, what they studied, how they spent their time, how they counseled people and how they became a preacher. I would listen to hours of preaching, my knowledge of bible doctrine grew very fast. God’s gift in me began to be seen in my ability to explain Bible doctrine. With all these things working in me, I began to have people ask me: "if I was a preacher", "if I am called to preach", "have I considered being a preacher". I began to wonder if God would call ME to be a preacher. After sorting out all the different doctrines in all the different kinds of churches, I became convinced that I was Baptist. Bible doctrine is Baptist doctrine and Baptist doctrine is Bible doctrine. I know this because I have tested this conclusion many times over.  In October of 2001, I professed in a Baptist church that God had called me to preach. Since that time I have preached at a church camp, prison, nursing home, teen meeting, children’s church and church services. In May of 2008, I was ordained an Independent Fundamental Baptist Preacher and sent out to plant an Independent Baptist Church by Bible Baptist Church in Grove City, Ohio. God’s grace has been good.

If you do not know if you are saved PLEASE WATCH this video.
http://pastorlapat.blogspot.com/2011/03/who-goes-to-heaven.html

Here is my wife's story.
http://pastorlapat.blogspot.com/search/label/Testimonys


The Testimony of Pastor Jason LaPat
By Jason LaPat
jasonlapat@yahoo.com