My Testimony

A Testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ:

I grew up in church my whole life. My parents were Presbyterians and rarely did we miss a Sunday morning service growing up. I was always musical and by the age of 7 I began taking piano lessons. This talent grew into a State level of competition where I won several State piano competitions. At age 12 my father died of brain cancer, and that event that had significant impact on my life and the life of my family. We moved to Atlanta, GA in 1993 and began a new life there. I grew in my musical talents, teaching myself how to play the guitar and developing skills in singing and songwriting. By age 16, I was leading worship music at several church youth groups and became actively involved in ministries in and around Atlanta. I started a Christian rock band and even toured in Europe for an evangelical outreach in Slovakia. By the time of my senior year I was leading youth conferences of 1,000+ students and growing in my desire for ministry. I came on staff at a local church home of 5,000 members and helped train high school students in worship music. Throughout college I worked in this youth ministry dealing with hundreds of students. In 2001, I began ministry in the Worship and Arts department of the same church as one of their Worship Leaders. I lead three services a week for 2 years and developed skills in worship planning and leadership. It was then that I embraced something called Reformed Theology/Calvinism and became an advocate of the "Doctrines of Grace". Believing that I was one of the "elect" I continued to grow in this belief system and would challenge many that opposed this view of Scripture. Essentially, this is a belief that Jesus only died for a few that God chose before the creation of the world allowing only these few to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior and condemning the rest to hell without a chance of believing in Jesus. In 2003, I resigned from that church and began searching for answers that I couldn't find there. I went through a brief time of rebellion began searching in the world for answers to questions I had about God and Christianity. I claimed to be a Christian, but living the Christian life was miserable to me. Something was wrong. In the summer of 2003 I met my wife Jeanna, the daughter of a Baptist minister at a local church in Cartersville, GA. I took a youth pastor/worship leader position at a small Reformed Baptist church in Atlanta, and began both my marriage and new ministry. Things were just beginning for me and my life.
Early on into my relationship with Jeanna, I noticed that she was always talking about Jesus. I mean, not like a religious person talks about Jesus, but as if she truly knew Him as a friend. Both Jeanna and her parents were always talking about Jesus, what God was teaching them, and how loving He is towards all He has made. Jeanna also loved talking about Scripture whenever and whereever we met people. I thought her ability to quote the Bible was just some unique gift. After a while I became angry at Jeanna and her parents because I couldn't stand their belief that God is love and that He died for the sins of every person in the world. I tried convincing my wife that she had a wrong view of God because He elected only a few to believe in Jesus Christ and that Jesus only died for a few elect people. The more we opened the Bible, the more I became angry and mean. I couldn't stand these "religious fanatics" that believed that Jesus died for every single person. After a year and a half, Jeanna and I stopped discussing spiritual matters altogether. I was just too confrontational. Well, God began to work on my heart. The first supernatural intervention of God began when I started writing songs that reflected His love through Jesus for every man. I mean, there were several times that I would wake up out of my sleep and run to my keyboard or guitar because the music and lyrics were coming so quickly. This continued for about a year. All of the songs were about God's love and the sacrifice of Jesus for the sins of the whole world. Even though I didn't believe it, I knew that the songs were coming from God. Well, through a connection in Greenville, SC, I ended up walking into a recording studio on January 19th, 2006 to meet with a well-known and successful producer. I didn't know anything about this company or this producer, but I had 20 minutes to share my songs. I played the first song for the producer, and he stood up out of his chair and said, "I don't know much about Christian music, but we've got to make a record." I played one more song and knew that there was something supernatural that the God of the universe was putting together. A few weeks later I was offered a record deal by a new record company and began my relationship with them.
This is where the story really begins! One night I was visiting at the house of one of the founders and CEO's of my first record company in Greenville, SC. It was getting late and Jeanna and I needed to head back to Atlanta. Before we left, the CEO asked me a simple question, "Thomas, why do you want to make this record?" All my life I've been able to give an answer, and this time I was speechless. I knew what I was supposed to say, something like "I'm making this record for God's glory and for the gospel" but I knew that in my heart I had no idea why. My wife looked at me like, "Are you going to say something?", but nothing came out. Jeanna and I get in my SUV to drive the two hour trip back to Atlanta and a few minutes down the highway I begin to talk aloud. "Why couldn't I answer the question?" I asked myself. Over and over again I asked this question until finally I yelled "LORD, why couldn't I answer the question?" Immediately, I was overwhelmed by a sense of complete darkness and isolation. I felt completely separated from God as if I was in some timeless void. It scared me to death and I had a sense that this must be what hell is like; total isolation from God. The very next thing that came to me was a mental flash of myself and one of my students in the youth group who I had been teaching Reformed theology to. Immediately I called out to God and said, "Lord, have I been against you?" "Yes" I heard from the LORD. I was undone. For the first time I realized that what I believed about God and what I was teaching others about God was truly and utterly wrong! The very next thought in my mind was a passage of Scripture out of the Gospel of John chapter 3 where Jesus says to Nicodemus, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." I knew at that moment that I was lost and needed a Savior. Even though I had been in church services my whole life and had been a full-time minister for 9 years, I knew that I was not saved; I had never been born again. Right there in the car with tears of repentance for my sins, I asked God to forgive me of my sins and asked Him to come inside of me and change me. I was BORN AGAIN!!!!! I knew in that instant that I had met the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I heard two things following my confession, "Thomas, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, now Go, and declare my NAME to the nations!" I looked at my wife and said, "Jesus is not a religion or a doctrine, He's alive and He told me to go and declare His name to the nations!" I asked Jeanna, "Did you know that I wasn't a Christian? She said, "Yes I did, and I've been praying for you for 2 1/2 years that you would meet the true Jesus Christ." I asked, "Jeanna, is this the good news that God loves every single person in the world through Jesus Christ?" She said, "Yes." I made a commitment from that moment that I would tell as many people as possible for the rest of my life what God had done for me and that He wants to do the same for them.

I have been born again. I know and believe that Jesus took the sins of every single person in this world upon himself and that "whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life." (John 3:16). I believe in 1 Timothy 2:4, and II Peter 3:9 that God wants all men to be saved and that He is patient with us not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance. I am committed to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the lost world, especially those who know a lot about Jesus Christ but have never truly met Him. This is the Good News! You know, as I've shared this testimony for the past few months, I've found many who reject it, but also many who have literally accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior right there on the spot. My desire is not to argue Scripture or doctrine, but to demonstrate by the way I live, that I really do know Jesus and that my life has been changed ever since that first hour I believed. The thing is, going to church doesn't make you a Christian anymore than standing in a garage makes you an automobile. I learned that through this experience. It's about a relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ. And I love my new relationship with Jesus. I had no idea that you could actually KNOW Jesus. Look, I've done religion, I've done the things the world has to offer, and I'm here to testify that knowing Jesus personally is the answer to the longing we all have in our hearts. In case your wondering, "Is this guy part of some weird cult or something?" No, I attend an evangelical church here in Atlanta, and I share my songs and minister to people all over the world of different denominations and religions. No matter where I go, the message stays the same: Jesus loves you and gave His life on a cross so that you could be reconciled to God. This is my story, my testimony. I pray that if you don't know Jesus personally or have any doubt that you are saved, that you place your faith in Him today. This gift is free, given to us by an incredible loving Father.


IN JESUS,



Thomas Dickerson