By Gary Fisher

I was born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee until my family moved to Franklin, Tennessee when I was nine years old. I grew up in church and was, by most standards, depending upon who you asked of course, a normal boy. I had a couple of careers that really attracted me as a boy. One was to be a doctor, the other, to be a lawyer.

In high school, most of my attention was directed toward members of the opposite sex and basketball. I didn't think much about my career. I tell most who ask that I majored in high school in "campusology". Considerations for a career didn't return until I started college at David Lipscomb College in Nashville in the fall of 1970. I had to get serious about thinking what I would do with my life. The desire to be a doctor had left me and that left only the desire to be a lawyer. In keeping with this desire, I studied political science as a major in college. My problem was that my heart was not 100% sold on the idea. Tuition was expensive and not to be wasted and until I was 100% devoted to the cause, I felt like I was wasting my time and money.

At the end of my second year, I needed a breather, so I dropped out intending only to stay out for a short while. The Viet Nam war was still going on at that time and consequently, the draft. Out of curiosity, I called the Draft Board one day to inquire of my status as a draftee. A nice lady at the Draft Board looked up my file and informed me that my lottery number was 63 and my classification was 1-A. She informed that meant that I would probably be drafted in 90 days or less. I knew I was going into military service one way or the other. I was always attracted to airplanes so, I joined the Air Force in January 1972.

After Basic Training and technical school, I was stationed at Charleston Air Force Base as an aircraft radio repairman at Charleston, South Carolina. On one of my days off, I was visiting a local shopping mall. Walking past a bookstore, I noticed a new book that had been advertised at that time heavily. The name of the book was "Late Great Planet Earth" by Hal Lindsey. The book was one that explained how current events in the world at that time were fulfilling Bible prophecy and indicating that the return of Jesus Christ was close at hand. I had never read a book like it before. It was the first book I ever read on Bible prophecy. One of the reasons for this was because, in the church of my heritage, we were taught that the only prophecy that had not been fulfilled was the return of Jesus and the establishment of eternity. In keeping with that heritage, to read a book like Lindsey's was to not only waste time, but would be to entertain the words of a "false teacher".

I read the book three times until I became convinced of the basic message of the book, that Jesus was coming soon. I also realized something else while reading the book, that even though I grew up in church, I had never really committed my life to the person, Jesus Christ. Since I was convinced that He was coming soon, I wanted to do this as quickly as possible. So, in January 1974, I responded to the message at Canaan Baptist Church, a small church near my house, and committed my life to Jesus Christ. I asked Him to come into my heart and give me new life. He did! Little did I know, but I had just started an incredible adventure in fulfilling the purpose for which I was born.

I could not define it then, but there was unsettling in my spirit in those days just after committing my life to Christ. The unsettling I speak of was like I was being called to do something but not able to connect with it. I cried out to the Lord and He answered. I got orders, courtesy of the US Air Force, but ordained of the Lord, to Udorn, Thailand. I was confused! How could going to a religiously Buddhist country benefit a young man who had just committed his life to the Lord?

I found when I arrived in Udorn that I was very mistaken for questioning the Lord! I found one of the most vibrant Christian fellowships of which I have ever been a part on the Air Force Base at the Base Chapel! It was unique in that it was made up of Christians from all walks of life and from many different denominations. The Lord knew this was necessary medicine for me, because in the church of my heritage, we didn't recognize other Christians because we felt there were no other Christians outside of our church (denomination) to recognize. The Lord also knew I needed to learn this because later on He was going to call on me to go and speak to these different groups of Christians. The Lord taught me through that experience that He had people representing Him in all kinds of different churches and walks of life. What an experience it was! And what a great training ground for a young Christian!

My work center supervisor at Udorn wasn't as excited about "this God thing" as I was and he invited me to take a job in another section of the Base. The job was called "debriefing". It was where representatives from the maintenance shops would wait each day for the pilots to return from their flights to report problems with their planes, if any. My work day usually lasted about six hours and lasted almost the duration of my stay in Thailand. For six hours each day of mostly waiting, I took advantage of the idle time and studied my Bible and everything I could get my hands on concerning Bible prophecy. In this atmosphere, the Lord revealed to me what I was supposed to do with the rest of my life. I was to come back to the U.S. and start a newsletter that would track current events and how they relate to the soon return of Jesus Christ and to make myself available for speaking engagements about the same.

Once I realized that this was God's purpose for my life, it frightened me. After all, who was I that the Lord would want me in His service? Who was I with no formal religious training or seminary degree, that the Lord would want me to sound out the message of Jesus' soon return? Didn't He already have some well qualified men on the job? Confident the Lord had made some mistake wanting me, I started running. I ran from the Lord for twenty years. I ran hard too! Thank God for His mercy and grace! The Lord would have been justified to have taken my life a thousand times while I was running and rebelling, but He didn't.

While running, I took a job at the Radio Shack division of Tandy Corporation and stayed there making a comfortable living for my family for fifteen years. After fifteen years, I realized that you cannot run from God. Every time you run from the Lord, you run into Him. I never could, no matter what I did, make that voice inside me go away that would peacefully say, "I love you and want you to serve Me and announce My soon return to My people".

Tired of running, I surrendered to the Lord's plan for my life in January of 1994, exactly twenty years after I first committed my life to Him. I discovered that the "gifts and calling of God are irrevocable" (Romans 11: 29). The Lord never stopped calling me. When I was ready to answer His call, He was ready to forgive and press on. This was nothing unique about me and my situation. The Lord stands ready to do this with anyone, maybe even you.

It took me almost eight months of rearranging my life and getting the ministry set up. On August 1, 1994 I stepped out in faith and began leading Lion of Judah Ministry on a full time basis. Confident of the Lord's call, I was also confident that the Lord would provide for a new salary and for the expenses of this new ministry that He had raised up. Accepting a cut in salary, it was hard not to think about how we would be sustained financially, but the Lord gave me grace to stay focused on the task at hand, namely, start writing the newsletters, make myself available to speak, and leave the rest to Him. As far as being concerned for our finances, it is a long story in and of itself, but it is sufficient to say that the Lord has orchestrated some interesting circumstances in seeing that our financial needs have been met! I've heard it said, "where God guides, He provides". I have learned that this is true!

Equally as interesting is how the Lord has orchestrated the invitations extended to me to come and speak. I have been in many small churches and I have been in some very large churches. I have spoken to groups of less than twenty people. And I have spoken to groups with more than one thousand. I have been in radio and television interviews. I have been a speaker in conferences alongside well known speakers and teachers, men whose writings I have studied from, never dreaming that one day I would be raising up the message along with them that Jesus is coming soon. In all of these situations, it has been an incredible privilege to go and represent the Lord to say the least!

Every person that is alive today has been created by their Creator for a purpose. I am no exception. I never experienced fulfillment until I found that purpose and starting serving that for which I was created. My purpose is to sound out the message that Jesus Christ is coming soon through the printed page and speaking engagements. I don't know what your purpose is, but I do know this; Just as I, you will never feel fulfilled in what you are doing until you find your purpose and serve it. You will find that purpose only as you serve Him, Jesus Christ.

Now you know my story. I wonder what yours is. Is the Lord calling you to do something? Now is a good time to rise up and do it! It may be that the Lord is calling you to be a faithful husband and father. It may be to witness to that next door neighbor or family member about your faith in Christ. Maybe the Lord is calling you out of the fast lane to home school your children. Maybe the Lord has made you successful in business for the purpose of supporting His work in the time remaining. Is the Lord calling you to serve Him in ministry? Is the Lord calling you to commit to Him for the first time in your life? There is only a short time remaining before we see Jesus Christ face-to-face. Whatever it is, do it now while there is time!