Naturally, as soon as I had a say in this matter, I stopped going to church...

Does this sound like you or someone you know?

It was also at the age of fourteen that I met a guy named Russell Harper, who was my best friend for the next four years. Basketball was my god of which I was a devoted worshiper. I was born and bred in North Carolina, where we have basketball, tobacco, and Baptist, pretty much in this order.

Russell went to an integrated school and I went to an all black school. Some of Russell's white friends invited him to their church. Their church had just built a gym. Russell didn't want to be the only black in the gym, so he asked me to go with him. I didn't care who was going to be there if we were going to play basketball! The people were very nice. I was shocked because these were white people in North Carolina in 1968 and racial tension was high.

We played basketball for a while, and then everyone sat down. We had a discussion on Christians and dating. It was pretty good. The next week, it was about the Christian and sex. Each week, it was something relevant. The discussion would usually last one hour; then you could play for another hour. Dr. Gary Chapman, who led the discussion, would then tell us each week how we could accept Jesus Christ into our hearts as our personal Savior and Lord. I kept going for the next two years. I don't remember missing a single Saturday night.

I was popular at school, my family was well off financially (or at least I thought we were), and I had a nice girl-friend. However, I began to see that the people in this church had something in their lives that I was missing. For two years, I watched Dr. Gary Chapman's lifestyle. He was the most Christ-like person that I had ever met. He still is!

There were a lot of things with which I was struggling, such as my lack of height, racial prejudice, insecurity, and my parents, who always seemed to be on my case. On a youth retreat in Virginia in May of 1970, Gary preached a sermon which basically asked this question: "Is your life complete, or is something missing?" I realized something was missing in my life. I had thought that if I made the high school basketball team, all of my needs would be met. They were not! The glory of basketball would always fade away. I needed Jesus Christ in my life.

On May 8th, I asked Jesus Christ to forgive me for my sins and to come into my life as my Lord and Savior and to make my life what He wanted it to be. Gary had shared John 3:16 with me, that "God so loved Clarence, that He gave His only Begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him will not perish, but will have everlasting life."

My life changed dramatically! God gave me an inner peace that stays with me no matter what the situation. He also taught me to accept myself the way I am. I learned the freedom of being an individual, which began transforming into a leader. Most of all, I began to live the wonderful life God had already planned for me before I was even born (Psalm 139:14-16).