Personal testimonies of the grace of God at Grace Bible Church. Winston Salem, North Carolina

Frank Ludwig
With firm belief in my own goodness and strength I increasingly saw my role of husband and father as a sacrifice and a weight which held me back professionally but a burden made necessary by the Christian morality to which I subscribed. When my family was forced to face a true test of faith my view of this role shifted from burden to total mistake and I grew bitter. I maintained a belief that there was a God but lost all desire to have anything to do with Him or His morality. I felt He was responsible for placing me in a no win situation and purposely tormenting me with difficulties outside my control. I only participated in family and religious life to the point I deemed necessary to give my children a better shot than I had at a happy existence and I was even so arrogant as to consider this noble. The strain of keeping up appearances increased as my public and private lives grew further apart. I was very bitter, angry and depressed and knew it was only a matter of when and how I would be forced in one way or another to abandon the pretenses.

In August of 2000, at the peak of my defiance, we began to attend Grace Bible Church. I heard the Word of God with a regularity and force I had not previously encountered at a time when I was in desperate need of it. I awoke to the realization that there was no way out of the mess I had made of my life but through God.

On December 27, of 2000 I became a Christian. In humility and obedience to God I acknowledged my sinful condition and accepted the offer of salvation and strength that only Jesus Christ, Son of the living and true God, can provide. Up to that time, with all my intellectual interest and exposure to theology, I had never truly placed trust in anything but my own physical, intellectual and emotional strength which of course failed me miserably. I was the man in the parable, who refusing to wear proper garments, sat at the king's table expecting to partake of the feast. The difference between an intellectual acknowledgment born of human reason and a true and living faith cannot be more clearly demonstrated than in my life before and after my acceptance of Christ. I now understand that God is the source of all truth and it is in seeking Him through His revelation that we grow in our knowledge of what is true. I am now compelled to place this understanding at the heart of every aspect of my life.

Jon Wright
As one who has been raised here I am thankful that this church delights in and is focused on God and His Word. The teaching at this church is meant to give me that same focus. Here, I am nurtured into a mature walk with Christ so that I am set on sure, steady ground – the Truth.

Being raised at Grace has helped to bring about many outcomes. First and foremost, I have developed a delight in Christ and His Word. From this delight flow other results, some of which are: an appropriate, eternal perspective; an understanding of my position in Christ; an understanding of my condition in this life; a mindfulness of life – its potential pitfalls, or pleasures. This is not to say that I have perfected these outcomes – just ask my family. My point is that I have been clearly shown the goal to strive for, the measure to achieve, and the means to achieve it.

The teachings I have received at GBC are invaluable, especially during college. I am currently a junior at Wake Forest University. There are many claims to truth and many philosophies in college. However, at GBC the Truth has been shown to me in Scripture. Here, I have been challenged as Paul says in Colossians: “Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.”

As Paul exhorted, the teaching at GBC is structured so that I might “attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” This focus has shown me that I should not be afraid of searching for the truth, for it is in Christ! This is extremely liberating in college to know that I don't need to fear a man with a Ph.D. because regardless of what he teaches, God has given me his Word and I have the Truth. “All truth is God’s truth” and if I seek the truth, I will acknowledge God in every discipline of life. At GBC I am encouraged to seek the Truth and constantly driven back to Scripture. GBC knows that the way for “a young man [to] cleanse his way” is “by taking heed according to [God’s] Word” (Psalms 119:9).