Kipp Keller
Anchorage, Alaska, U.S.A.
"I Had Been Reborn"
By Kipp Keller
“I CAME FROM a typical military family and I spent a good portion of my life moving around the world. During my early years of schooling, I attended religious services of the local Protestant Church. I was the only member of the family who attended church services on a regular basis because, in our family, we were never forced to attend church services. But for me, there had been something missing.
In 1974, I joined the United States Army and I continued to be active in attending worship services. But still, I felt there had been something missing as far as my spiritual growth was concerned.
In 1982, I became a Catholic but this did not fill the void like I hoped it would. Although I studied hard and even became a lay minister, I still had many questions that were unanswered. Each time I asked, I was told that I must have faith and just believe that it was that way…”
While I was stationed at Fort Ricardson, Alaska in 1988, a member of the Church of Christ named Sister Ludy invited me to a Bible study. I accepted because there is nothing to lose by going. The minister who preached was Brother Mariano Nucup. I listened and I started to see things significantly different. I felt very moved by the way each question was answered through the Bible, the answer as supported by the Bible. I was not asked to just accept what was said. I was encouraged to ask questions. I was told to feel free to bring up anything that I had doubts about. This was something that was so new to me—to be allowed to ask anything that I was unsure of.
The teaching that had the biggest impact on me was on the true nature of our Lord Jesus, being a man, and on the falsity of the Trinity doctrine. I asked questions and I listened to the answers. I was getting answers that I had never gotten before. The more I listened, the more I saw that the Church of Christ was telling me the truth that I never heard before. I found out that this is the true Church. As I questioned the doctrines of the Church, Brother Mar showed me through the Bible that all that the Church did was in accordance with God’s law. I found out that indeed that the Church did not do anything that was against the will of God. The Church is here to show everyone the way to attain salvation and to have peace with with our Lord Jesus Christ and His Father. It was then that I realized that this was the Church that I had been looking for.
I was baptized in the Church on July 16, 1988 and indeed, I had been reborn. When I emerged from the water I new I was a new man and that God was now watching over me and He would always protect me as long as I continue to serve Him. The Church showed me how to enhance my spiritual life by serving God.
I then became a teacher of the Children worship service. I saw the youth in our locale grow and become the active members of the Church that they are today. I’d like to feel that I had something to do with that.
God has blessed my life since I became a member of the Church. I am married to a wonderful woman, Desiree, a minister’s daughter. I have a wonderful family including my in-laws.
During the Gulf War, I felt God was with me. I never felt alone. In 1997, I was sent to Bosnia for eleven month. I strongly felt that God was with me, protecting not only me but also my wife who is alone in Germany.
I am now a deacon in the Locale of Anchorage, Alaska while my wife is a finance officer. There isn’t a day that goes by that we do not thank our Lord Jesus and the Father for all that they continue to give. I have found peace in this world which is full of confusion and hate. I have the love of a wonderful woman, a great family of in-laws, and above all, I have our Lord Jesus Christ and our Lord God in my life.
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“Do not let unwholesome [foul, profane, worthless, vulgar] words ever come out of your mouth, but only such speech as is good for building up others, according to the need and the occasion, so that it will be a blessing to those who hear [you speak].”
(Eph. 4:29, Amplified Bible)
“Love endures with patience and serenity, love is kind and thoughtful, and is not jealous or envious; love does not brag and is not proud or arrogant. It is not rude; it is not self-seeking, it is not provoked [nor overly sensitive and easily angered]; it does not take into account a wrong endured.”
(1 Corinthians 13:4-5, Amplified Bible)