An age-old question in many cultures is when does a boy start to become a man? I noticed at age 12 that my parents started treating me a little differently. For one thing, I was the only child in the church my age that had not “gone forward” — that is, walk down the aisle at the end of a church service during the invitation to “accept Christ.” Most of the kids my age had “accepted Christ” when the Church Pastor Bob Rowe had taken the whole youth group at First Baptist Church up to Ft. Pierce for a retreat. Intensive Bible study for a week was followed by emotional preaching, ending with invitations for all of us to come forward to accept and commit our lives to Christ. I was the only young person from our church who did not go forward to “accept Christ” at the retreat and agree to get baptized. Since my parents had always said that it was important that I made that decision on my own, I decided to wait.

Pastor, Rev. Rowe was concerned. He sat with me on a park bench later and asked me why I didn’t want to “accept Christ?” I told him that I wanted to find out about other religions in the world and what they believed, before making such an important decision. He seemed to understand and suggested that I might want to use the new Compton’s encyclopedia that he knew my parents had just bought, and go to the religious section and see what I could learn about other religions. He further offered to loan me any of the books in his personal library, which might help.

Furthermore he suggested that I might want to read the entire Bible,

starting with Genesis of the Old Testament and ending with Malachi. Then I should read the New

Testament starting with Mathew and read all 27 books ending with Revelation. And most importantly, he said I should pray each time before reading and ask God to help me understand the truths that He has revealed to us through His Holy Scriptures. Rev. Rowe then said that he would be available anytime if I wanted to consult with him or ask any questions.

Thus began my quest at age 12 in the year 1954 to do a lot of reading on faith and religion. I wanted to learn more about who I was, where I came from and where I was going. Fortunately, I was supported in this endeavor by both of my parents, my Sunday School teacher, Joel Horne, and, of course Rev. Rowe. It was a great year.