“And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” – II Timothy 3:15

Growing up in Phoenix, Arizona, I had no idea that God was working in my life from a young age. On my father’s side, I am the first generation to be born in the United States. He came to this country to better his life, and, hopefully the lives of his children. Due to some prompting from my mother, my parents chose to put me in a private school, located at what was then the “extreme” north side of Phoenix, about 15 miles from our inner-city home. As a child, I enjoyed learning, and excelled in all of my classes, particularly in Bible, a class that was not offered in my older sister’s public school, located just a few blocks from our home. I found the Bible stories amazing, yet I never heard about these stories on Saturday morning cartoons, nor on Sunday mornings like the other kids in my school. This was because my family didn’t attend church, any church. To the Mendoza household, life was all about “getting ahead” by working hard on Monday through Friday and then enjoying some type of recreation on the weekends, only to begin the cycle again. To me, Bible classes were a part of my life just as much as Math, English, and Science classes, but then the weekend was mine for cartoons and playing. Little did I know that even in these young, formative years, God was working mightily in my life through his Word.

Because my parent’s lives were not founded on truth, it would only be a matter of time before their arguments would lead to a divorce. My life was shattered. I missed my dad. My mother and my older sister fought all of the time. My mom worked two jobs, wanting to keep me in a private school, but the logistics of driving me everyday to north Phoenix was implausible. However, God, in His sovereignty, provided a Christian school that was much closer to our inner-city home (even closer than my sister’s school), and it was more economical than the previous Christian school. At this new school I began to understand more of those “Bible stories” that I learned as a kid, but here, I was also exposed to the powerful preaching during our daily chapel service. The preacher was typically the man who was also the pastor of the church, Dr. Dick Mercado Sr. I remember him speaking with such unmoved conviction that “Christ is LORD”, “Jesus Saves”, and “Repent of your sins”. As I slowly began to see the connection between the Bible stories and this chapel preaching, troubles worsened at home. My mom was doing her best to keep what remained of our family together, and she was working more hours than ever to get us out of our drug and gang riddled neighborhood. Nevertheless, my sister moved out to live with my dad, and I cared less and less about school. I decided to attend public high school, hoping to pursue some kind of future in athletics. For the moment, I was done with Math, English, History, and “Bible stories”.

Psalm 124:2-3, 6-8 “If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, when men rose up against us: Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us” 6-8 “Blessed be the LORD, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth. Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped. Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.”

I didn’t have to study much in high school. Everything I was being taught, I had pretty much learned in Christian school. I had plenty of free time, and I used it learn the so called “ways of the world”. Much of my time was spent partying and drinking during my high school years. Because this was unsatisfying, I sought something that I thought would be more fulfilling. My world would soon revolve around cars and money. I began to get involved with a very dangerous crowd, simply for the sake of fulfilling that empty dream. My mom had managed to get us out of the inner-city, but my wickedness was enjoying the prosperity and notoriety there. When some detectives showed up to our house looking for me regarding some information on numerous illegal activities, my mom said “enough is enough”, and she kicked me out of the house. This would launch me further into sin. I was now spending much of my time in other states or in Mexico, continuing to follow my foolish dream of stockpiling money, guns, and cars. Several years went by, and through those years I saw several friends buried, survived several shootouts and kidnapping attempts, and I only became more resolved in my wickedness, thinking foolishly, “I can’t be stopped”.

Unbeknownst to me, at this time the LORD was working in my mother’s life, and she was systematically praying for me. She then did the most important thing…

Romans 1:16 “…the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation….”

My mom and I agreed to have lunch one day. At that meeting, she said that she had something for me, and she pulled out a Bible. I chuckled inside of myself, because I knew what it was. Out of respect for my mom I said “Thanks”, and we finished our lunch. I can still remember to this day how I would often look at my bookshelf and, as I would contemplate which book I was going to read, I would think to myself “Read that Bible”. The thought hit me one day, “The Bible is an old book…a lot of people know about it…I should read a little bit of it”. I then decided to open to the book of Proverbs, simply so I could learn cool little sayings. What a shock as I came upon Proverbs 15:3

“The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good”

I immediately realized that God knew ALL of my sin. Everything that I had hidden from my mom and dad, everything that I had hidden from the police, it was showing me that God knew it. I enjoyed reading Proverbs so much that I kept going right into the book of Ecclesiastes. In Ecclesiastes 2:1-10, I saw the wealth and fame of King Solomon, yet of all of that he says in 2:11…

Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun (ESV)

I was angered, yet I knew it was true. Living for “things” was empty. It was chasing the wind. As I tried to continue to live in my lifestyle, I kept hearing that verse “The eyes of the LORD are in every place”. I could not shake the fact that God knew everything I was doing, and that everything I was doing was purely in vain. I tried to continue in my wickedness, but the Word of God was convicting wherever I was. I didn’t want to read the Bible, yet, at the same time, I wanted to know more. I remember as I started reading the New Testament, seeing the life of Jesus Christ, reading his parables, revisiting his death on the cross, I was remembering those “Bible stories” from my youth. I remembered the phrases from Dr. Dick Mercado’s preaching from years earlier, “Repent of your sin”, “Jesus Saves”. How could this be?

Isaiah 55:11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

God’s Word had shown me that my sin was known before the LORD. Because of my sin, I knew that I would deserve to be judged (Hebrews 9:27) and that I would “fall short” of meeting His righteousness (Romans 3:23). The result would be a Godless eternity (Romans 6:23). But there was hope for me:

Ephesians 4:32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

To be forgiven is wonderful. To be forgiven of all my sin seemed impossible, but the Bible says that God forgives people through Jesus Christ. All those “Bible stories”, the chapel messages, they pointed me to the only hope, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, the one who died for me. Jesus Christ, “the lamb of God, which takes away the sins of the world”. I knelt by my bedside that night and poured out my heart before God, asking him to forgive me of my sins, and asking him to receive Jesus Christ as the one who could save me from my sins.

I called my mom and told her that I wanted to go to church, that old church in our old neighborhood, because they “teach the Bible”, that important book that changed my life. She dropped the phone. We went together that Sunday to church, and what a joy it was to see Pastor Mercado preaching…the same old message that rings true today, “Jesus saves”.

I knew that I wanted to learn more about this fabulous book that transformed my life completely. Upon the advice from several people at the church in Phoenix, I attended Bob Jones University to study for pastor ministry. By God’s grace I finished several ministry degrees there, and I met my lovely wife, Mary. At Trinity Bible Church, I want to continue to proclaim that great message, “Jesus saves” in English as well as to the growing Hispanic community in Greenville.

My dear friend, regardless of your age, your background, your economic status, whatever, the Bible still changes lives! I’d love to meet and speak with you!