MY SPIRITUAL JOURNEY

By Pastor William Robison

 

My spiritual journey is one that began with being a regular churchgoing

 

child. My parents weren’t Christians but I am thankful they made me go to

 

church. As far back as I can remember I desired to know God.

 

During my teenage years I turned away from Western Christianity and

 

began investigating Eastern Religions and Mysticism. I became a vegetarian

 

and practiced yoga daily. I read the Hindu Vedas, the writings of Buddha, and

 

any writer I could get my hands upon. I was also experimenting with drugs in

 

order to assist me in somehow achieving spiritual enlightenment. Along with

 

my spiritual search was also a complete antithetical pursuit of hedonism. After

 

a seven-year search I renounced Eastern religions as well as drugs. I found

 

them all to be totally empty and unfulfilling in my quest to know God.

 

            In the summer of 1974, at the age of twenty three, I began reading the

 

Bible every day. After six months of reading I came to the conclusion that

 

Christianity was the true religion and that I desperately needed a Savior in

 

Jesus Christ. So in December of 1974 I surrendered my life to my Savior. The

 

next day I went down to Mexico for six months in order to surf and draw close to

 

God. I read my Bible continuously and while down there I had a visitation from

 

the Lord where He called me to be a Pastor. I wept as He spoke to me and I

 

asked Him how it would happen. He told me that it would be His work and in His

 

timing and all that I needed to do was be faithful and available.

 

            Two years later I was a missionary to Mexico for six months and the next

 

year entered the ministry as a youth pastor. I ended up serving as an assistant

 

Pastor in three churches for eleven years and planted my own church called the

 

Lighthouse Christian Fellowship in 1987. I have been pastoring this Church for

 

Fourteen years. All that my Lord said would happen to me has happened and I

 

know there is more to come!

 

            I have had several influences in my life. I am thankful to Dr. Walter

 

Martin who gave me a love for Theology and a desire to pursue education.

 

Charles Swindoll has shaped me as a teacher and preacher. John Piper has

 

shaped my theology and stirred my love for God like no other. He has taught me

 

to be a romantic rationalist. I’ve learned through him to gain a mind for

 

doctrine and a heart for people. He has also stirred my heart for missions and

 

evangelism like no other. John Maxwell truly mentored me indirectly in

 

growing as a leader. I have been deeply influenced by the biographies of

 

so many form John Wesley, David Brainerd, Charles Simeon, Hudson Taylor,

 

William Carey, John Paton, Smith Wigglesworth, John Hyde, Jonathan Edwards,

 

Adorniam Judson, Amy Carmichael, Mary Slessor, John Calvin, Martin Luther,

 

Saint Augustine, John Bunyan, Charles Spurgeon, D.L. Moody, and so many

 

others that I would fill this page and more.

 

            I have been blessed with the wisdom of so many books and writings of

 

great Christians, especially C.S. Lewis and Jonathan Edwards. I consider

 

myself a secondary teacher, owing a great debt of gratitude to the many whose

 

insight, depth, breadth, and clarity of thought have so eclectically influenced

 

my own thought.

 

            My church background has been very diverse. As a child I regularly

 

attended the Episcopal Church. After I was born again I first attended

 

Pentecostal churches. Then I served as assistant pastor in two Calvary Chapel

 

Churches. I went to Pentecostal Bible School and University. I have traveled and

 

ministered with the Vineyard churches. My own church you would call a

 

Reformed Charismatic church. These have all given me a great diversity both

 

in my background and in my understanding of the Christian faith.

 

            I have gone through much in my journey with God. I am thankful for my

 

exposure and emphasis upon the ministry of the Holy Spirit as a young

 

Christian. I am grateful for my exposure to “reformed theology” when I had

 

been immersed in legalism and works. I’m grateful for having such a diverse

 

Pastoral background. I’m most of all grateful to my Lord Jesus Christ for

 

fulfilling His promise to conform me to His image and never leave me nor

 

forsake me.