A Missing Piece In My Life
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Thomas Ring: All of a sudden, I’m looking at life, I’m reflecting back on everything that was taught in the Lutheran church. And I just had doubts. There were a lot of contradictions that they were trying to explain to us. It just didn’t make sense. Like a plus B did not equal C, for example.
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Thomas Ring: My name is Tom Ring. I was born and raised here in the city of Calgary, Alberta. I’m the eldest of four. We were born and raised Lutherans. In my childhood, our family relations were quite good. My dad worked a lot with the bridge and building crew through the Canadian Pacific Railway. So he was away most of the week, and then he just came home on the weekends.
I Had Doubts
Even at a young age, even before I got baptized, within the church itself, the Lutheran church, I had doubts. It didn’t make sense to me. I was about 15 years of age, we moved out to Vancouver Island to a small place called Sydney, BC. And at that point, my parents fell away from the church, and of course, my siblings and I we fell away from the church at that point, too. Everything that was taught in the Lutheran church, I just had doubts. There were a lot of contradictions that they were trying to explain to us. And when you start reflecting back on that, it just didn’t make sense. Like a plus B did not equal C, for example.
A Missing Piece In My Life
I had started my program to become an accountant. And at that time, basically, you worked during the day in the accounting field and went to school at night. And during that, I met my first wife. We had two children shortly after that. It’s like I had a missing piece in my life. I felt that I wasn’t where I needed to be in my life at that point. My first marriage had failed.
Directly From The Bible
It was about September, October of 1994. I was invited to come and attend a worship service, actually, right here in the Calgary Chapel. There were a few things that were different from my previous church. First of all, the males and females sat on separate sides of the place of worship. But also the question and answer process that was and is still used in the Church was quite intriguing to me. Especially when a lot of the answers came directly from the Bible. That you had a source.
It wasn’t something that was put together by the ministers, like what was [done] in our previous religion. Whereas here the lessons are uniform. They’re taught around the world. They’re taught in the same manner anywhere you go in the world. I’ve travelled a lot in this world, and I have noticed that and I quite enjoy that.
It Was Quite Logical
It was something that helped fill in my life. Help to fill in that void that was missing. It answered a lot of questions that I had before. Now, all of a sudden, A plus B did equal C. And it answered some of those questions, and it took away from that missing piece of the puzzle, you could say. A question was raised, the question was answered from the Bible, where it didn’t matter which version of the Bible that it came from, but it wasn’t anything that was made up by the minister or the worker. It came directly from the Bible.
The way that they were explained, the way we did the Bible studies, it was quite logical. And it made sense to me because I’m a logical person. You are listening to a lesson, in the teachings, in the Bible that was written many centuries ago, already forecasting what is going to happen in the world. And when it does come true and you reflect back on that, because a lot of this has happened, even before I was born myself, and it’s happened, and the Bible predicted that.
So right away, it really piques your interest. And at that point, you want to continue on. You want to understand more about that. As to how that can really happen, and right away, it increases your faith. As the lessons went on, they continued to build on each other. And so even if you did have a question in the back of your mind, later on, as you progressed through it, your questions are answered.
Direction In My Life
He’s got a plan for each one of us. And I felt that this was the time that my piece in His plan was coming together. By listening to the words of God as taught in the Church Of Christ, it gave me more direction in my life. It gave me a purpose in life as to where I needed to go. I felt in my heart that I needed to develop that and continue on, on that path. That helped me make the decision to become a member of the Church [Of Christ] and to be baptized. And I’m still here within the Church. The one life lesson that I continually tell my fellow brethren whenever they talk to me about this is that I have felt that my life has prospered, it has grown, even though I put the Church first in my life.
Everything that is going on in the world, for myself my own personal opinion, I see a lot of evil in this world. I see a lot of events that are going on in the world. Especially right now, with the various wars that are going on between the various nations. The world is falling apart. And I see all this evil, and it makes me so disheartened at this point. And I’m glad that we’re within the Church because we do have a path that we can go down to make sure that we’re not absorbed into the evil in this world.
Worthy Of Serving Our Lord God
A lot of times, when I’m talking to prospective visitors and even after they’ve come to a Bible study, to a worship service, or an Evangelical Mission. I impart on them the knowledge that I learned. I can give myself an example of how I overcame some of those obstacles. How being in the Church has helped me to be grounded and to develop my life in a way that is worthy of serving our Lord God.
I am still within this Church. I have my office within this Church. I’m able to help a lot of the members within this Church. Whether it’s through events like our Care For Humanity, our Evangelical Missions, Bible studies, worship services—just interacting with other people and trying to have them come, listen to the words of God.
My story of faith is that God has a path for me. That it took me many years, different situations before I realized that. Becoming a member of the Church Of Christ has given me that opportunity, has given me that faith that I need. That direction in my life to continue on in this world. I have a love for God. A deep love for Him. That’s why I’ve always made Him number one in my life. Being in the Church, He is my focus.
God has given me the blessings for being a member of the Church. For following the teachings, putting God first in my life, becoming an officer within the Church. His blessings have helped me in more ways than I can—as I can put in numbers—it’s life-changing.
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