Last Sunday I challenged the parents, grandparents and future parents of Highpoint Church to write their personal testimonies as a special gift to their children.  I think this may be one of the coolest things you can give your kids.  This was inspired by my own Grandfather’s testimony that he drafted about three years before his death.  His testimony was listed on the back of his funeral program and now stands as his lasting legacy for our family and beyond.  I hope you will take a moment to read my grandfather’s testimony below and be inspired to write your own for those you love. 

I hope it makes sense!  

My Personal Testimony: Cliff Savage February 3, 2006  

My Life Before Christ:

God touched my heart when I was about 14 years old at a revival in a country church near my home. I wasn’t sure just what was happening, so I didn’t accept Him at the time, but I realized that God was real and I was sorry that I didn’t give my life to Him then. As the years went by, I could feel His presence and knew that I needed to do something. I kept putting Him off.   I went off to the army and when I got in a real battle, I prayed to Him seriously and could feel His presence very near. I know now without my faith in God, I would never have returned home. When I came home, I forgot about my faith and decided to live it up having a good time (or I thought I was having a good time). THAT WAS A BAD DECISION. God kept tugging at my heart and I kept trying to do it my way, but that didn’t work very well. I finally had to surrender my life to Him; I am so thankful that I did.  

How I Received Christ:
I finally decided that I needed to slow down and change the way I was living. I found the love of my life, Doris Renfrow, and we were married December 31, 1948. After about two years we began to have children—and before it stopped we had six children. Our first child died soon after birth, and that was a wake-up call for the both of us.   In 1954 we began to attend Oakville Baptist Church. Doris was saved before I was. Then we attended a children’s program with a visiting evangelist. When he asked the children to accept Jesus, I was one of the first to go down; for Jesus filled my heart so full of His Spirit that day I couldn’t resist Him if I had tried. I had no control whatsoever over myself. I have thanked Jesus thousands of times for that day at Oakville Church.  

My New Life in Christ:
Our family was growing, our responsibility was growing, our business was growing, our problems were growing and best of all, our faith in God was growing. My wife made sure that our children went to church and were taught right from wrong. My brother and I had started a business, and we had to work out of town a lot. That meant I had to be away from my family more than I wanted (I had to make a living for them). God gave us such a wonderful family (one of the best, I think). I believe that all of our children and grandchildren who are old enough have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior. I am thankful for my faith in Jesus and for the family that He has given me. I also thank Him for my health, my church family and so much more it would be impossible to name it all here. Thank you, God.

My Granddaddy...

4 generations of Savage men	Granddaddy and 2 of his great-grand children