Hello, my name is Nicholas Tackett, and I am taking free Bible classes online at the Christian Leaders Institute (Learn more about online Bible classes, Click Here). I am from the mountains of Eastern Kentucky in the United States of America. My story has been a peculiar yet spectacular one, to say the least. I grew up in the south, where most people believe in God. However, many do not have a relationship with Him and lack repentance. I was one of many such people until about a year ago, it all began to change!
My Spiritual Journey: Saved and Changed
I met a girl who was a Christian and was drawn to her kindness. She told me how she was a former atheist but now was a Christian. I felt drawn to her and who she was. What I didn’t know was that it was the light that is Christ within her that drew me to her.
One day soon after meeting her, I confessed my sins and Christ as my Savior. The same night, I had a dream that I was in an elementary school cafeteria. Satan appeared as a shadow-like figure. He sat across from me, and I asked him about what God was like, etc. He answered and proceeded to reach his hand out towards me, asking, “Would you like to be my friend?” I declined and immediately awoke from my slumber! As it is written, “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7b). Amen!
Eventually, I dated the girl mentioned earlier, but we broke up. Devastated and alone, I turned to the scriptures and decided to read the whole Bible. So I read it, and John 1 changed everything. Jesus was and is God, and the very thought of God dying for me was a game-changer! God revealed himself to me through his Word, the Logos. I eventually got baptized shortly after during the early stages of the pandemic. I am crucified with Christ and at peace with the Lord.
Free Bible Classes at CLI
Sensing God’s call in a passion for evangelism, I learned how to share my faith with others and grew in it. I felt a deep burden for the lost that still carries onward to this day. Eventually, my knowledge and hunger grew, and I started sharing the need for Bible knowledge with others. Many don’t read the Bible. It surprised me how many lacked a proper understanding of the Scriptures.
My family and friends have acknowledged my gift in teaching. To me, teaching and evangelism go hand in hand in fulfilling the great commission. What a blessing!
My goal at the Christian Leaders Institute is to become ordained and ultimately receive a Bachelor’s degree in Divinity. I want to further my studies and prepare to serve our Lord Jesus Christ and feed His sheep. Already, I am soaking up so much like a sponge as I take these Bible classes. I am excited about my future in ministry, thanks to this great opportunity, and the people behind it here at CLI make it available to me and countless others. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.
Learn more about ordination at the Christian Leaders Alliance. Interested in a low-cost degree? Check out the CLI’s Leadership Excellence School.
Hello, everyone! My name is Evelyn Jacks, and I am taking educational Christian classes at the Christian Leaders Institute for free (Learn more about online Bible classes, Click Here).! I am a fifteen-year-old girl, born and raised in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. I live in a log cabin on 85 acres with my parents and seven siblings. As one can imagine, my siblings and I made many wonderful memories on our property. We enjoy our tree forts, rope swings, airsoft battles, volleyball, hunting, hiking, tent camping, and ice skating on our pond! All eight of us kids have been homeschooled since the beginning, which allows us to spend quite a bit of time together!
When not with siblings, I work hard on our family business and school. My family and I run a small business. We provide fully registered English Labrador Retrievers for families, sports enthusiasts, and therapy trainers. Currently, we have a puppy serving as the first onsite therapy dog for our firefighters in California. I am a high school student pursuing a college degree from Liberty University through dual enrollment in terms of school.
My Walk with God and Finding CLI
When I was eight years old, I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. Since then, I have assisted at our small local country church. I volunteer at our AWANA program, help my mom teach her Women’s Bible Study, and lead a monthly Bible study for girls. I enjoy learning and memorizing the Bible. This past month I finished memorizing the book of James with my eleven-year-old sister.
I found out about the Christian Leaders Institute through Teenpact, a government program for high schoolers. I was excited to hear I could take educational Christian classes for free! So, I am thrilled to see what I will learn from these courses at CLI!
Learn more about ordination at the Christian Leaders Alliance. Interested in a low-cost degree? Check out the CLI’s Leadership Excellence School.
Hi, my name is Stewart Kitchen. I’m 47 and from Sheffield, England. I was saved on April the 5th, 2020, at the beginning of the UK lockdown. I came to Christ through finding an online church service run by Soul Church of Norwich, England. Then, on August 9th, 2020, I found a local church, Hope City Church of Sheffield, that was also doing online services. They asked me if I wanted to do an Alpha course. I didn’t know what it was, but out of curiosity, I said yes. Now I am 8 weeks into the course. After a couple of weeks of the course, I realized I wanted to know more. That is when I searched for free online Bible classes. I found the Christian Leaders Institute and took the Getting Started course (Learn more about online Bible classes, Click Here).
My Journey: From a Child of Satan to a Child of God
About myself, I wasn’t born into a religious family. In fact, my dad hated anything at all to do with religion. My parents divorced before my third birthday due to alcohol and violence on both parts. So my dad moved into my grandparent’s house with my younger brother and me. My dad still struggled with alcohol while holding three jobs down and suffering from depression. Therefore, care of me and my brother Chris fell to my grandparents, Edna and Bill. I was a very rebellious child and even worse when I became a teenager. My dad once called me Satan’s second. I was not too fond of school, and arguments between my dad and me got more and more regular.
At the age of 15, I moved out and was taken into a hostel for homeless teens. While there, I got into drugs. Amphetamines and cocaine were my choices of party drugs. What I used every day were cannabis and alcohol. Soon, I was heavily addicted to cannabis. I dropped out of school, so I never received any GCSE grades and couldn’t get a job. I took to burglary or muggings to feed my habit.
Struggles
While in the hostel, I got into more and more fights. Therefore, at the age of about 19, they asked me to leave. Then, I was back on the streets. I went to the benefits office to see if they could help. They said they could, but there was a catch. I had to do a training course on care for the elderly. It was ironic since, first, I didn’t care about anybody but myself, and second, these were the type of people I robbed not a week earlier.
However, I started the course run by two church leaders, Ken and Christine Tooze. While there, I met a young woman, who gave me a place to stay. After a while, we started a relationship. She got pregnant, but sadly, he was stillborn. This event started me on a downward spiral into heavier drinking and daily use of cannabis. I wasn’t eating and was on a self-destructive path. On May 5, 1993, I attempted to take my own life. I woke up in a psychiatric hospital and stayed there for a while.
More Struggles
After my release, I married the young woman I lived with. However, we could not get over losing our son. Later, we had two daughters. Sadly, it was too late as the rot had set in. After five years, we divorced. Later, I married another woman, and we had three more children. However, my selfish attitudes, drug and alcohol addictions, and the fact that she liked using her fists to solve problems soon led to a second divorce.
At this point, I was deeply into witchcraft and the occult. It would take me down a path of pagan worship, sexual deviancy, and more. But I didn’t care. The further I got in, the harder it was to get out.
In 2006, I moved to Norwich, where I found Lorna a regular churchgoer. The second I met her, I fell in love. However, she believed in everything I was against. So, I threw questions at her: “If God cares so much, why did my son die?” and “If God is really the creator, why did he create us with so much evil in our hearts?” The big question was, “Why doesn’t God do something about the suffering in the world?” I slowly introduced her to my beliefs. Eventually, I convinced her to quit church.
God Stepped In
Not long after that, we married. For the next ten years, we lived in a kind of haze. I got Lorna addicted to cannabis, and nothing seemed to go right. In 2014, we moved back to my hometown of Sheffield and carried on our fogged existence. Then the Covid 19 pandemic hit the world. We locked down, and the only thing to do was troll the internet.
While looking online, I came across an online church service that ironically was being broadcast from Norwich and was the church that Lorna’s family attended. A pastor by the name of Jon Norman was preaching the gospel. In particular, he talked about it never being too late to be saved. So I carried on watching, and halfway through for the first time in my life, I started crying. Even when my son died, I didn’t cry. But this skinny preacher man caused me to sob uncontrollably. He ended the service with the salvation prayer, which I repeated over and over again.
A New Direction and Free Online Bible Classes at CLI
At the time, I didn’t know why I cried or why I felt about ten stone lighter. Drugs were still an issue, but I felt somehow different. I carried on watching every service every week. While looking in my own community, I came across Hope City Church Sheffield. They invited me to do the Alpha course with them. They taught me about prayer and the Holy Spirit. In fact, they prayed recently that I would be filled with the Holy Spirit and cleansed of all addictions. It was as if someone had plugged me into the national grid. I couldn’t stop shaking and had to hold my seat in fear of floating off. I talked in a sort of babble that made no sense and thought I was losing my mind.
The next morning, my craving for drugs was gone! God had truly done as he had promised! Through Jesus Christ, God saved me. Three weeks later, after a crazy dream, I woke up and told my wife that I think God is calling me to the ministry. She said, “You know, so do I.” That is when I found the Christian Leaders Institute for free online Bible classes.
Learn more about ordination at the Christian Leaders Alliance. Interested in a low-cost degree? Check out the CLI’s Leadership Excellence School.