Richard is 81 years old.
He was saved from a false profession 9 years ago when he was 72.
I am Richard Cortez, I am 81 years old
By God's wonderful and amazing grace. And the amazing this is
that He has not only given me 81 years of life
but has sustained me in good health, physical, mental and hopefully growing in
spirit and in truth and in knowledge and in the love of Christ.
And I have to say at this point with all sincerity and reverence
that I have been crucified with Christ it is no longer I who live
but Christ lives in me and the life which I now live in the flesh
I live by faith in the Son of God
who loved me And gave himself up for me.
I have to say and admit that I am a sinner saved by grace.
I lived a long time many years in the church.
In fact I remember from the very beginning, as a young child
sleeping on the floor, in front of my parents.
In a large Assemblies of God church Where there was stomping and yelling
and praising and my aunt Lolita pounding on the piano.
Foreign languages being spoken and I put myself to sleep.
On Sunday nights and it seemed like an endless thing
people would not go home it was just continuous.
And this the way I would put myself to sleep.
And this where my parents were married and this was my roots.
But after a while we moved around.
I was born in 1927, during the depression years.
Possibly because of the finances we moved around quite a bit through out the city.
But my dad was always insistent
that we go to church no matter where we moved.
We attended several churches and sometimes they were close to the home
and sometimes not but my dad was very conscience
that it was important to attend church. So I grew up
being an attendant of church, and as we grew up
it was part of my life, going to church.
And I considered it very important it was a habit
and a tradition that my dad started us out with.
And I appreciated that very much. Later on after I got out the Navy
I went to college and got an education.
It was during these years that we belonged
to a Methodist church.
I grew up in this Methodist Church and attended all the activities,
sang in the choir and even led the youth choir.
I felt good about myself, I told myself that I was "serving the Lord."
I was conscience of what my father had
taught me and I was involved in all the activities.
Canvassing from house to house and going on missionary trips
and going to summer camps.
It was fun and the fellowship was good
and I knew I was doing something worth while.
Church was something that was valuable to me.
A couple of years later a young evangelist came into town
and had a revival.
My wife and I both walked down the aisle
we responded to the call, we signed the sheet
and we were both baptized.
This happened back in the early 60's.
As I look back there wasn't much change in my life.
The only difference that I noticed was that I had gone in dry
and came out wet. But that was the only difference in my life.
And so I kept going on to church it was my custom
and it was my habit and I did not consider sin or salvation
or repentance. I was too busy in my school work,
and church work, and leading the band.
And I didn't even think of sin or salvation
or repentance or anything like that.
I felt I was too busy for these things and
I went ahead and did my thing in church.
6 years later I found myself on an airplane to Hawaii
and and to me it was paradise the air, the breezes
the palm trees, the ocean
it was truly a life of joy and I was thoroughly happy there.
In fact I had decided I would stay there forever.
But this idolatrous attitude was not part of God's will
because after a short while, well after several years,
my marriage started taking a tumble. We started having problems
struggles and arguments for any little thing.
And I was getting desperate and I was miserable
and here I was on the island of paradise but yet I was miserable.
I could not understand why so one thing led to another
In the early 1970's and about 1972
we ended up back in San Antonio, this was very regrettable to my plans.
My wife was sick I was without a job
And I had an anxiety attack and I thought I was going to die
and and I was just miserable
I didn't have a job in California, Hawaii or anywhere.
But I have to admit that even when I was young,
before I got married, in fact I didn't get married until the age
of 32. And I have to admit
that during during those years I lived to satisfy the flesh.
I have to admit it now.
I had a god job, had a good education
and I felt that I had accomplished much and I thought
much about myself and no one was complaining.
I wasn't thinking about sin or or repentance or anything like that
Where I went to church
I wasn't any different from any of my friends or relatives,
so I felt comfortable. But when I look back now
I realize that I was self righteous,
I was self centered, and self sufficient
not depending on God and just seeking to satisfy my flesh.
My children had already grown
They were young adults and by God's amazing grace
they had been saved, all 3
Rick, Mayra and Ruby and they used to come and preach to me
and tell me "Dad you're not learning the truth."
"You need to learn the truth." And in fact Rick
he came down on me and my wife real hard he had a lot of zeal
and he pounded it "Mom, dad you're living in sin
you need to repent."
"Or you're going to go to Hell." And I thought to myself
"Who does this kid think he is telling me what to do."
"I been in church all my life and I'm a deacon in this church,
I'm part of the Southern Baptist Convention a large organization
world wide and well known."
"And how could so many people be wrong?"
I said to myself. In fact it occurred to me
that Rick joined a cult that was meeting out in the country
in Elmendorf some where and
and that's what occurred to me.
In fact I started inquiring about this church.
But I didn't know at the time that he knew the truth
and I was proud and I wasn't about to admit that I was wrong.
I would argue that "How could so many people be wrong?"
And aruge that "God had given us a brain, He's given us a mind to use as we please."
And my biggest error,
when I look back, is that I had been to church for so many years
and my concentration was on the church and of course
now I know that the church does not save you.
I had been living
with secret sins and and then I
think how could I be so naive?
So ignorant to think that a Supreme Sovereign God
who knows all and who's is
omnipotent and omnipresent. That I could hide any secrets from Him
And I wonder how many people live like this with secret sins
that no one sees and no one knows about.
And you feel that you're OK because no one sees you.
But this is dangerous because we're not accountable to any one,
we're depending on our own selves on our own will
and and our our own desires and this was a large error on my part.
And I have to admit that I was living in "secret sin."
Sins that no one could see.
Sins that were invisible. And I thought that
probably the greatest sin that I committed was
in Shang Hi China, when I was in the Navy
years back. But I came to realize
that there's no great sin or small sin, a sin is a sin
whether you steal 100 dollars or a paper clip,
it's a sin and it's an abomination to the Lord.
And I had to realize this and here I'd been to church for years and years.
For many years. Not 60. Not 70.
Not 75. But 80 years.
Gradually and slowly I began to grow In knowledge and in truth
and the lord started working in my life and it was during these years
that I was exposed to much preaching on the truth
and reading and studying Romans. And I came to the point where
the Apostle Paul says "for all have sinned and fallen short of the
glory of god." And I said to myself
"Well that's me." And I had never thought of it this way
And He also says
"There is none righteous no not one
No one seeks after God." There is not one that's righteous.
And I thought about the verses and I was convicted.
And the lord was revealing himself to me and I felt that the Lord had saved me
from condemnation, from the evil world
from my bad thoughts, and cleansed me completely.
Inward and outward I felt clean
and I had a relationship with Christ which I had never had before.
For so many years I had heard of Christ
I read of Christ, I sang "Jesus loves me this I know."
And all these things about Jesus Christ.
But I did not identify with him as my Savior
who had died an agonizing death on the cross and felt the crushing blow
of the wrath of God on Him for my sake.
He took my place, He was a substitute for my sins.
And I did not have this relationship until now.
So I felt free and I felt clean.
I'd been cleansed by the blood of the lamb and I felt a new life.
A new attitude, a new heart
and I was so thankful because for so many years
I did not really know Christ, I only knew of Him
but I did not have this close relationship with Him.
So as I think back, for so many years
going to church, and I felt good about myself
I felt proud and yet I was living in sin.
(In March of 2000 Richard was converted and saved by God's grace, at Free Grace Baptist Church.)
But I thank God that he has forgiven me.
It is by God's grace that I have been cleansed and I have the assurance
that there is there for now no condemnation to those that are in Christ
who walk not according to the flesh but according to the spirit.
Sins do not have dominion over me anymore.(Romans 6:14)
This is a great assurance, I am so thankful,
I praise the Lord.
I just pray for those that are going to church, those that are reaching they're older years
and are continuing to go to church because they feel obligated
because of friends and other reasons.
But there's never been a change, the only change
has maybe been the carpet or the church or the asphalt on the parking lot
but there's no change in the heart, no change in their lives.
And they don't want to move
because they're comfortable in their comfort zone.
I was there for a long time
and my suggestion is to encourage you to think and pray
"Is the Lord God the creator of heaven and earth
that sent His Son to die for our sins, is he being preached here?"
Or are you hearing nothing but health ,wealth and prosperity.
That you're good, that you're number 1
and you deserve this, and you deserve that.
This is not Christ
and my encouragement is that those that are in this position,
believing that church is enough, it's not enough.
The church does not save, the pastor does not save
the priest does not save, it is only those with an intimate and personal relationship with the Lord.
I want to praise the Lord and thank Him.
I know that I am near the end of my race
And I am prepared, I have peace in my heart
and if the Lord were to take me I can say like the apostle Paul
"For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain."(Philippians 1:21)
I would rejoice and I would go happily.
I've lived a life for Christ and my children are serving him
and I have joy in my heart, and to be face to face with Christ in glory.
Where I can live for eternity.
What a joy. What an expectation.
I would go rejoicing victoriously
to meet my savior in eternal life.