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My name is Ken and I was born in Hanover Pa. at a very early age. I was so amazed at what I saw that I didn’t speak for nearly two years afterward. Like a lot of people my age whose parents were teenagers in the 60’s, I was born short, naked, and illiterate. It must have been something with that generation!

I grew up in a split family and was a typical teenager. I didn’t really have a church background. We went hit and miss, sometimes we would go for a few weeks in a row, then we wouldn’t go for a few years, then we would go for a while again. I had gone to Bible school a few times as a kid, but was too young to really understand what it was all about.

As I got into my late teens, I started to run with friends and break out of my shell. We got into the typical drinking, smoking, and drugs things that people of that age group do. I didn’t figure I was such a bad guy, and my TV and public education prepared me well for thinking that the world owed me something. In my mid to late twenties I spent a lot of time drinking and doing drugs, trying to figure life out. For a long time I pretty much became a hermit, I went to work, went home and drank beer, then went to work and on and on. I got to the point where I really couldn’t stand going out in public, and was nervous when I did.

At this point I could go on and on with some pretty wild stories about what my friends and I got into. I could tell you wildly embellished stories about improper relationships, underground military organizations, and parties that lasted for weeks on end. I’m sure I could gain entrance into that elite group that goes from church to church and gets all sorts of “Christian” fame and notoriety about all the things they did before they were “saved”. However, the point of a testimony is to share what God has done in a person’s life, and not what the devil did.

Then like a lot of people, I knew there was something more out there. I knew that life was meant to be lived, not endured. So I started to look into different religions. I explored some of the more popular alternative religions for a while but nothing really made sense. And although I knew that a lot of people in my family were Christians and believed the Bible. I just thought it was an old book written 2000 years ago about a guy that did some good things. I didn’t think it really applied to me.

After attending a church with my cousin and being surrounded and questioned by the men of the church about my faith I went up front and prayed with one of them. Then I started to think seriously about Christianity. I could remember Bible School when I was little. I said that prayer, and really, really meant it (at the time), but we only went to church hit and miss, so I didn’t really understand it. However, for some reason I grew up with a strong sense of right and wrong, and when I did something wrong I knew it. I now know that is from my conscience, given to us by God for that very purpose. I knew it was wrong to lie, steal, and blaspheme, and to do other things I did regularly. I was also coming to the realization of judgment day. I knew that I would have to give an account of all the things I ever did wrong to God personally. That scared me, and still does, because now I know it’s not just the things I did wrong, but all my thoughts, words, and deeds that I will give an account for. I also knew that I would go to hell because I was a bad guy and spent so much time without going to church and not really caring about God.

I was wrong though, I wouldn’t go to hell for those things, I would’ve gone to hell because I didn’t accept God’s substitute. I slowly started to understand why Jesus died on the cross. It wasn’t that I had to be a good person, or go to church to go to heaven; it was that I had to understand and accept the Good News that Jesus died in my place. That it was His work, and not mine, that would get me into heaven. I broke God’s law, but Jesus paid my fine! About a month later, after getting beat up pretty bad by life several more times, I sat alone on my couch and surrendered my life to Christ.

I spent the first two or three years learning and growing in my new faith, and then I settled down comfortably in the lukewarm bracket and enjoyed the easy modern “American Christian walk”. However I was bothered by the behavior of Christians, including myself. I didn’t understand how we could think it is ok to spend hours and hours watching movies or TV and entertaining ourselves, but not doing the types of things the people in the Bible did. Was that kind of Christianity only for those guys that lived so long ago, or was it for us too?

Then I started to get upset that I grew up with an extended family in which many of them knew Jesus, but not one of them showed me how to be saved. I knew what would have happened to me if I had died when I was a wild and crazy teenager. Didn’t anyone care? Or were they so worked up in their own version of Christianity that they just figured it would all be ok? I also realized I was doing the same things that I was upset with others for doing. I knew what happened to people if they died without trusting Christ as their Savior.

This was when I was starting being convicted to learn how to tell others about Jesus. I tried to learn several modern unscriptural ways to share the Gospel, and most had very little effect. Then one day I clicked a link at a website I visited frequently and found what I had been looking for. I was taken to the Way of the Master website. There, I learned how to share the Gospel biblically, the way Jesus and Paul did. I was stunned by this new revelation. I studied the message for months; listening to sermons over and over trying to make sure I wasn’t being led down the wrong path. I compared the messages to the Bible and then shared what I had learned with my Pastor. He studied the material then assured me that I was on the right path. After learning the biblical way to share the Gospel I began to break out of my shell and started to reach out to people. I started sharing the message with family members, friends, and then even strangers.

This is when the Christian walk really started to happen. Now life has meaning, and I have goals. Living a biblical lifestyle is not only possible, but awesome, fun and fulfilling. I am now married and have three kids, one of each! You will rarely find me without one of them in tow. We like to work hard and learn. Our goals are to raise Godly children and live a life that truly brings glory and honor to the Lord Jesus Christ. To have a home that is filled with love and joy that will draw folks toward the Savior instead of away from Him.

I know some folks will be upset with us, for the lifestyle we live and the things we do, even Christians? But, we want to live the best possible life we can and live every minute to the fullest. And we don’t want anyone to go to hell, so that is why we run this ministry.
We encourage all of you to do the same. If you are living some mundane boring life, trapped by sin, debts, and TV, stop it. Just stop it. It’s both the hardest and easiest thing you will ever do. Then live the best life you possibly can. Join with us in reaching a lost and hurting world with the message of Jesus Christ. Set your family in line and join with us in saying “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord”

Until the nets are full,

Kenneth Loughry Jr