TES:Testimony of Mark Mulvey

   As far back as I can remember, I would (at least periodically) look
for some purpose, some meaning for life. Besides making mud pies and
hunting frogs, snakes, mice, and crayfish, a friend and I had some
interest in searching for artifacts of past ages. There was an older
boy in the neighborhood who had a rich collection of Indian arrow
heads. My Grandfather had also given my dad some Indian artifacts.
These objects would bring out much curiosity in me. I would search in
the fields of my village for ancient relics and fossils. I once found a
perfectly preserved fossil of a Trilobite; an extinct marine creature.
This one was oval shaped and about two inches long. Of course I was no
scientist; I was a curious boy. Where did such things as this Trilobite
come from?

   School was interesting to me as a young boy, but as I grew older, my
interest began to wane, as did much of my interest that had been
growing in what could be called, a crude form of archaeological
research. My greater interest clearly became following the Green Bay
Packers, and later included the Milwaukee Brewers. Grades in school
fell steadily after the seventh grade. I graduated in the class of
Seventy five after finishing in summer school. Now the question came.
What was I going to do with my life? It was as though I was thinking
that things would begin to happen when the time came. As though things
would just sort of evolve. My life continued to degenerate further. I
soon became involved with people who spent most of their time either
partying, or preparing for one.

   At the age of nineteen I was bar-hopping and began to smoke pot.

   One afternoon I was over at the house of a party friend; and as we
were listening to the latest on the rock music scene, there was a knock
at the door. There was a young man at the door accompanied by his
mother. My party friends mother answered the door and let them into the
house. He kindly greeted us. I was soon to find that he had something
to say about God. I was interested in hearing him at the time to be
sure. Jeff had a Bible with him and the best I can remember, he was
fielding questions from Mark W. and I. I was interested in finding out
more of what he had to say. He befriended me and would often make
arrangements to meet with me and talk with me about God.

   At his church he presented me with a box of various Bibles and New
Testaments. He told me to choose one that I would like to read from. I
remember choosing the Amplified New Testament. The only other Bible
that I had any awareness of before this was the Catholic Bible that my
parents kept in their bedroom.

   Nowadays I read the King James version (kjv). After getting that New
Testament, I read through it in a few days. I was intensely interested
in the person of Jesus Christ. In his earthly ministry he was pure,
undefiled, humble, innocent,and loving. I know that there are many
other gracious words that could be used to point to his character. And
it was obvious that he was more than a man. Yes, what a man he was! A
man's man. A perfect man. And he was God! (1 Tim. 3:16) One evening,
about the month of April in 1977, Jeff took me to an evangelistic
meeting in Zion Illinois. At the close of this meeting the question was
asked the people at the meeting. "If you were to die today, or
tomorrow, do you know that you would go to heaven?" !you are not sure,
Please raise your hand so that someone can help you." I realized that I
simply was not sure that I would go to heaven in the event I died. I
raised my hand. Soon afterwards, a man was explaining to me that I
needed to call upon the name of the Lord to be saved from my sin. Jesus
had suffered and died in my place and he was buried, and he rose again
for my justification. I asked Jesus to come into my heart and save me
and I know that he did. "Therefore if any man be in Christ, his a new
creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become
new."

   Now that I had received Jesus Christ as my Savior, I had a whole new
life to live and a purpose to live for. But the change in my life did
not appear to be a radical one. I was not drinking nearly as much and
was staying at home more often. I don't remember if staying home was
due to wanting to stay home or if it was because of my drivers license
being suspended for six months, starting around the month of April in
'77. I had my stereo in my room and I hadn't given up rock music; Not
yet. I continued reading the Bible but not consistently. As far as
church attendance- I wasn't attending a church any where. Jeff had been
coming around with less frequency. He attended an Assembly of God
church at that time. I had been raised Catholic. My Dad no longer
required me to attend the mass by the time I had reached about 16 years
of age, and I took full advantage of the privilege to abstain from
attending. Even so, my emotional attachment was still with the system
of religion that I was raised under. There was something revolving in
my mind that was notable for that time. It was a sense of need to be
busy doing something, and to be responsible for providing for the basic
material needs that I had.

   What was I going to do now? I had lost my last job and I had no
drivers license. I had sold my car. Television was a big attraction for
me. Sometimes I didn't know what else to do with my time. Back then
there was always a commercial sponsored by the U.S. Navy with the
slogan, " The Navy, It's Not Just a Job, It's an Adventure." That may
have given impetus to the idea of going to the armed forces for work.
When I walked into the recruiting station, the first person that I met
was the man that I bumped into in the hallway. The navy recruiter.
Shortly after this time I enlisted.

   The day before I left for bootcamp in Orlando Florida, I attended
mass. It was the first time that I had been there for probably a year
or more. Once in bootcamp, I found that chapel services were held every
Sunday; Catholic and Protestant. I'm not sure that I knew what
Protestant was. I continued to attend the mass. After being in the Navy
about half a year, it came to my attention that the Protestant chaplain
was holding a Bible study and all were welcome to attend. I was
persuaded to go since I didn't think that I could go wrong by attending
a study of the Bible (Gods Holy Word). Through these meetings I met
some former enlisted men who were involved in a ministry to sailors and
marines called the Navigators ministry. This was in Long Beach
California, where I was stationed for about a year while the ship that
I was assigned to was in dry-dock. These men operated a service-men's
center in town. I had the freedom to spend much of my free time with
them and was helped tremendously. It was as if I had found a pool of
cool water after wandering in the middle of a desert. They encouraged
scripture memorization (the right thing to meditate on) and helped me
to see the evils of such things as rock music more clearly. I also had
the privilege to attend, along with these men, the Bill Gothard seminar
(Institute of Basic Youth Conflicts).

   About December of "78, the USS Bagley was restationed in San Diego;
About 100 miles south of Long Beach. On the weekends I would take the
bus back to Long Beach to have fellowship with my new found friends.
They encouraged me to take root in San Diego after a couple of months
or so. I I looked through the phone book for a church to attend in San
Diego. I found a Baptist that I attended the last 3 years of my
enlistment.

   The church of my choice did not have high standards that a Bible
believing, Christ honoring church ought to have. I never did think that
the Christian rock bands (so-called) were edifying for a blood bought,
will-of-God-seeking, sin hating child of God. One group of musicians
began with the "Praise" type songs and subtly progressed to "hard"
rock. It was troubling to me. There didn't seem to be anyone in the
church who thought it should be stopped, although there probably was.I
don"t know that there weren't people leaving because of a lack of
standards, but it was a very big church and it wasn't noticeable to me.

   Today I am happy to say that I am serving God in a God-fearing,
Christ-honoring church, with real standards. I believe that my love for
God and my understanding of his dealings with me is due in a large part
to the ministry of Henry Stiller whom I've known for about 4 years now,
and a preacher that pastor Stiller has joined in the Lords work with,
Pastor Williams. And there are others that have been a real blessing to
me. I don't want to mention more names because I wouldn't want to leave
one out. I'm thankful for all the help I've gotten. There is another
person though that I ought to acknowledge and express a debt of
gratitude. That is The Holy Spirit, whose operation is always
consistent with the revealed word of God. I also believe that I I
realize now more than I ever have before that no man is an island. No
man is a self-made man. If a man is going to amount to any thing for
God, it is the result of godly men that have fought and have gone
before him, and for godly men that have with him and beside him.
