by William Lauer
Co-Founder, BWGI Ministries
San Mateo, CA
 Many people consider their testimony
to be the one that describes the day they gave their life over to
Jesus Christ -- a great conversion experience and beginning of a new
life in Christ! I have personally wished to be able to tell my
own dramatic tale of conversion and send even the most hardened soul
to their knees. However, mine was a gradual path to God.
Some early seeds were planted at a Jesuit high school, but the soil
was not quite ready for growing. It wasn't until I was a young
man working down in Hollywood that I began a new-found evangelical
faith in Christ--the soil had become ready for the seeds to grow.
After living in the deception of the movie industry, I was quite
thankful to receive deliverance from all I once held in esteem.
With new eyes to see, I quickly viewed the true brokenness of that
world and I wanted to leave it far behind. However, along with
being a part of that brokenness for so long had come a distorted
view of God--even though I was quite unaware of it at the time.
The picture I had created was one of a heavenly Father that kept
a scorecard of my every move, with very little patience for my
continual sin, and often holding back His love and blessings because
of that. Go minister to prisoners on Sunday after church -- up
three points. Swear at the guy who is tailgating me down the
hill afterwards -- down two points. The "performance" thinking
was at work in my life without me realizing it nor being able to
relieve the guilt I often felt. I was always asking God the
same question: Am I still worthy?
It wasn't until the founding of BWGI Ministries [Editor's
Note: the original name for BWGI Ministries] over three years
ago that I began my second conversion. This conversion is the one in
which my distorted view of God was transformed to a new picture
based on understanding how God truly sees me. Just as my first
conversion to Christ was a gradual one, so was this second
transformation. During many of the many seminars we have
conducted, David [Eckman] presents the picture of
God's view of us: "When He sees you He Sees His Son ... and He
is greatly pleased!"
Hearing this gets me every time--for God so loves His Son! But
oftentimes I need reminding of this as the remnants of a broken past
can still get in the way, as well as living in a world that
practices conditional love. But to share the phrase we use
a lot here at BWGI: "You have a New Identity in Christ!"
To work alongside a visionary like David and all of the awesome men
and women God has raised up through BWGI Ministries has truly been a
great conversion experience!
As our ministry moves forward, we have the privilege of helping open
the hearts and minds of so many others to a true picture of the
living God who specializes in mending the past and bringing healthy
new life to the future!
William Lauer
Co-Founder, BWGI Ministries
(formerly Kesed Seminars)
San Mateo, CA
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