How I Met the Lord: My Testimony I was raised in a terrific Christian home by wonderful, wise parents, and had a childhood conversion. My home church, though, was a small, passionless church where I observed little relevance to the complex world around me, and experienced little of the "fullness of life" Jesus had promised. Christianity wasn't primarily a connection with God, but a "belief system." That's why we called ourselves "Believers." As a teen, I dismissed that belief system and lived rebelliously. When I turned 21, I began to wonder if maybe Jesus had been misrepresented.  I opened the Bible for myself, with new eyes, and began to read the New Testament. I was struck by Jesus' wisdom and power, and found myself drawn to Him. When I read of how He was betrayed, beaten and crucified, I cried. When I read that He rose from the dead and commissioned His Disciples, I cheered in my heart! The Truth I found had depth and passion; I could only fall on my knees and confess Jesus as Lord. On the floor by my kitchen table, I asked Him to be my Savior.  This was around Christmastime, 1978, and my wife, Mitzi received Him shortly thereafter. The two of us immediately began to attend the Chapel of the Hills - the same little church in which I'd grown up. I served there first as a musician, then a Sunday School teacher, and eventually as an elder and pastor. (Our tenure there was over twenty years; we served until November of 2001, when God called us to Cedar Hills EFC in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.) In those early days, I went to Bible school, did plenty of ministry and served God obediently, but found my Christian life repeating the same dry, passionless role models I'd seen growing up. I was not a happy Christian, and was troubled that my peers and teachers were as dry and weary as I was. We were virtually prayerless people, and our worship was pathetic and shallow. We had the best of intentions, but our church failed to reach either the community or the heart of God. All the while, we commended ourselves for our understanding of Scripture. We had a fine "belief system," but were not connecting with the God we said we loved. I had been "song leading" for years, but in the late 1980's, I started leading worship. I did so with heaviness, because in my heart I knew how bankrupt I was spiritually, how little I understood of praise and worship. I cried out to God for a deeper relationship with Him and for an understanding of what it was to worship Him. On December 21, 1994, the Lord answered those prayers by touching me in a very personal way. He revealed just a glimpse of Himself, and in that brief moment, I comprehended just a fraction of His Majesty, His beauty and His deep, deep love for His Children. That was all I really needed to know about worship: He was incomparably marvelous, and He loved me. I could do nothing but respond to that authority, that beauty and love. I understood that there is no higher, no nobler cause than to adore the Everliving One. The Chapel (soon to be renamed the Church on the Mountain) soon also entered into a time of renewal, revival and growth. It was beautiful to learn that groups - like individuals - can change and grow close to the Lord. Just as David wrote, God placed a new song in our hearts and many heard that song and responded to the Lord, too.  Both the personal and corporate encounter with Christ changed my life forever. Since those days, I have worshiped Him, led worship, written worship songs, studied worship, taught worship and sought to be at His feet, like Mary of Bethany. I've read scores of books, combed Scripture and interviewed more worship leaders and teachers than I can count; all these have constantly confirmed what God showed me on that day in December. I know what it is to live a dry, dutiful life, and I know what it is to splash in the Living Water - and I know which I like best! My heart, my passion, is to draw those around me, including leaders and teachers, to drink deeply from the Living Water that He is. I do so imperfectly and humbly, until the Day when we'll all worship perfectly. Blessings, Pastor Phil (Updated 10/04)