Neah Bay, WA
I Am a Different Man Now
By David Sternbeck, Ministry Staff
We are doing a Thursday night Bible study at the Makah Lutheran church, studying the books of 1st and 2nd Samuel.
As I was studying in 1 Samuel 10, I came across a Scripture that had meant a great deal to me early in my conversion. Have you ever had that happen to you? I mean it was like God had written a passage of Scripture four thousand years ago that was meant for you in just that moment of time in your life.
I was forty years old at the time and possessed of a terrified conscience when the comfort of the Gospel was shared with me. I would never be the same again. I remember looking at the wreckage of the landscape of my life and thinking, “Oh Lord if I’m too sinful to be saved, I’ll still live my life for you, if 
you’ll just save my children!” Of course, He was able to save even someone like me. And my children too!
Reading the story of Moses reminded me of something I had experienced. God had spoken to Moses and said, “I’m not giving you this promised land because of your righteousness, but for the wickedness of the world am I doing this great thing!” And I knew immediately that this work God was doing in my life wasn’t about me, but it was that He desired that none should perish. I felt He was calling me to be a witness of the wondrous work of God in Christ, the forgiveness of our sins and the transforming life of Christ in us.
I remember how these words jumped off the pages of Scripture, 1 Samuel 10:6-7, “The Spirit of the Lord will come upon you in power, and you will prophecy with them, and you will be changed into a different person. Once these signs are fulfilled, do whatever your hand finds to do, for God is with you.” I thought to myself, how can I become a different person? How can You use someone like me? Oh Lord, I cried, if only that were true!
Within the first year of my conversion, God did do a work. I remember my daughter calling me, in tears, saying, “Dad, there has to be a God because you have become a different person, and I want a relationship with Him also.” All of my children in that first year were swept into the Kingdom of God through my testimony and the blood of the Lamb. It was like He was able to save to the uttermost ends of the earth and I was living proof! I knew that I would spend the rest of my life sharing the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ with anyone and everyone. You see He answered my prayer to save my children; and if He could save me He could save anyone.
And now, here I was in Samuel again. Here I was looking over the landscape of my life again, and what a different life it is. It’s been eleven years since God intervened in my life. I continue to witness to His power and the Lord continues to change lives. You see, this year by God’s grace I have baptized nine people, seven adults and two infants. I have witnessed our Lord at work in the lives of three Native people that are preparing to enter the seminary, and I have one year left to complete seminary myself. God has truly taken the broken parts of my life and brought healing.
I am so excited to share with you what the Lord is doing. But also to encourage you to share your lives with others and in the midst of your life, share the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and the forgiveness of sins, and the transformed life of living in the Spirit. For God is with you!