Testimonies

Caldwyn Abbott

My story is very different, no VBS or camps run. Many of the experiences others had I've not been through. To start, I grew up in church, but nondenominational (charismatic) church. Christ wasn't the object of pursuit, He was the means to an end. Achieving worldly success was the main focal point of my life because it was the main focal point of my god I was taught of.

     The doctrine of our church was largely centered around a form of spirituality and or prophecy, including speaking in tongues, laying of hands-falling out, ushering in the presence of God through music, decreeing & declaring blessings & wealth & success. This was our gospel. This was our Jesus. I didn't understand a lick of scripture, but in 2016, our apostle (there are no apostles today, according to Acts 1) challenged the church to read the whole bible that year. So I did. Cover to cover. But I was lost. Don't ever underestimate the power of false doctrine & rewording to make The Word of God of none effect in a man's life.
     False doctrine surrounded my life, but it also deeply affected my decision making, my morality. If Christ wouldn't address the little white lies, He surely wouldn't address blatant idolatry. I had nowhere to turn February of 2021… so many heartbreaks, so much sadness, so many failed relationships… so little hope. I sat in a bathroom for close to an hour. Pitch black. Staring at a wall. I was ready to die, contemplated ending my own life, hadn't thought of a way to, but I considered life without me. But I was sure I was going to hell if I killed myself, so I didn't.

     When I got saved, it was March of 2022, I was done with the relationships, the pursuit of professional wrestling (I was deeply committed, obsessed & delusional regarding my future career). I was done with religious practices that did nothing. A friend of mine sent a YouTube page of Missionary Spencer Smith. Doctrine Matters! He and his friend were having a good time on a livestream just enjoying being Christian, going through 1 John 2. Verse 15-17 hit me like a ton of bricks. “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.” 1 John 2:15-17 KJV
     It made perfect sense. There was a direct contradiction between my christian life and my actions. I was separated by my sin. But that also meant the Holy Spirit I had for years was not God’s Holy Spirit. I got saved in my living room on March 22. From the time I got saved I knew I had to leave what I knew behind me, I didn't know what I was getting into, but I knew it was better than what I had. I learned what professional wrestlers really are experiencing through a new lense now, and The Lord saved me from putting my entire future into a valueless factory of worldliness.

Now I've decided to follow Jesus. To preach His Word, to live His Word, no matter what the rest of Christian culture has to say about it. I've been begotten again unto a lively hope!