GOT A GOOD IDEA.. LET'S CHALLENGE THE CHURCH OF TODAY TO BE THE WORLD CHANGERS OF TOMORROW!

Was Asked More Than Once This Week About My Testimony.. Kurt's Story.

Where do I start with that? My siblings (Kevin, Kyle, Kathy) and I grew up at Tom Sawyer Camp -- my Grandfather Bill started it and my dad with my mom (Kim and Betty) ran this Camp. It was and is great -- lots of adventures!

We went to church weekly like many of our friends did, but really, we were some lost souls. Religion says be moral, but it saves no one.

We grew up playing football for the Glendale Bears, and doing yearly desert camping trips, Sierra Mountain trips, and Colorado river trips down to Mexico.

Lots of camping out under the stars at night.

We grew up playing football, and volleyball on the beach in Southern California too. Yes, I was a full-tilt-lost-surfer but was rescued by Jesus Christ in the Spring of 77. 

Have you ever tried dead religion? I was raised in a family that was a part of a traditional Roman church. I was an altar boy that tried hard to be good but often messed up. I mean with a bad attitude, bad words, lots of fights at school and at home. I was totally lost. 

It wasn’t at all uplifting at church--I’m sure they all meant well but I had never heard the Gospel Message and was told that my pastor, Father Night (that was his real name) was not yet saved. My parents often fought on the way home each Sunday. I did that with my brothers too sometimes. 

Their message at the church was basically: Do better, do good. Be better, be good (but they never gave us the power to pull it off). We all at my home were completely lost, not proud that I was, but was too proud just the same.. while trusting in some good works at the time. Some good works, not so many. 

My grandfather was an alcoholic and both of my parents were alcoholics during my upbringing (according to them. It’s true). I sure love them — they’ve all given so much to me in spite of their drinking and they worked hard to provide. I felt far from God, afraid of eternity, and knew I wasn’t so good at all cuz I couldn’t keep God’s Top Ten. My brothers couldn’t either, and my older brother went MIA on chemicals for over 12 years. We didn’t know most of that time where he even was. 

During my teen years I grew up on the beach in Southern California as a wild surfer. Yes, I lived wild, and I did wild sinful things -- my life got out of control.. ie, I remember having a car accident on the Coast Highway with a curb after drinking one night. 

Man, I seemed to have inherited my parent’s same problem with the bottle. I should have gone to jail. Deserved to be there. And how did my car crash with a big curb happen? Easy. It happened by my own bad choices and by my impaired judgement. That’s how. 

I was often invited to, and I often went to parties every week or weekend. The buzz or feeling people get there is so temporary. 

For me, I felt miserable inside, guilty, empty, disoriented and hopeless with such a hard heart inside. The surfer partiers / drinkers I chose as my close friends sure didn’t help me at all, but my Dana Hills coach Randy Ziglar did help me. He is a 4A rated surfer who would take me surfing and he witnessed to me of Christ’s love and saving grace. I put deciding off, and opted not to come to Jesus for a while. I wanted to be careful with spiritual choices and the relationship with God that he described. What would my Catholic family think? It all seemed true, but so foreign to me. But how could it be real, or from God if it wasn’t blessed by a bonafide Catholic priest in his “holy” vestments?    

One evening I was invited to a home Bible study up the coast in the Newport Beach area of California. The difference was they were born again spiritually (according to the Bible). This righteous “born again standing” was totally a new concept to me, but they explained it from the Bible.

When I said a sinner's prayer, I knew I really was a sinner and so meant it. I now love home Bible studies -- I felt such a love for the Lord that we read about in the Book and tried to join in with their worship.. so at the end of the study time when I was once again presented with the Gospel Message, I firmly decided this is the Savior and God I really needed inside. I turned and trusted Jesus Christ.

"And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. That You May Know I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life." 1 John 5:11-13 esv

The home was near Newport Beach where I received the Lord and they were some BOLD gray-headed Christian ladies. The fellowship was sweet, kind of hard to explain. I've never once regretted my decision there...to believe on Christ at that time. Best BEST decision I ever made.

Got ocean-water-baptized while a senior at Dana Hills High School in the Dana Point Harbor in Dana Point, California.  This was a season where I really grew fast spiritually (there is zero spiritual growth apart from the Word of God). It was while I was attending Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa with Pastor Chuck Smith, Jimmy Kempner, Randy Ziglar and Greg Laurie. Bible teachers who kept it simple for surf-rats like me.

The out-growth of receiving so much sound Bible teaching was that God gave me a real love for the lost and started using me to verbally witness to and to win my surfing and volleyball buddies to Christ. Not to self, but to Jesus who can forgive any of us. After high school I sold real estate in the beach communities for some years, but I would often find myself questioned by potential buyers and sellers. I would find myself addressing the greatest needs of my clientele – their spiritual needs  It's SoCal, lots of broken dreams, broken hearts and broken people were everywhere.

I enjoyed living for, surfing for, and talking about Jesus more than anything else (didn't care if anyone called me a Jesus freak, cuz he makes people out of freaks not visa versa) ..and I was eventually called to prepare for Gospel ministry in 1980.

I tried to attend Life Bible College first, but got redirected to a school in the East by the Life School secretaries. So I drove a long way over to Texas in my VW bus with the flowered curtains, coco mats, and Aloha surf racks. 

Went through some culture shock, had do adjust a bit. This is where I studied the Word at a couple different Bible colleges in the Dallas area during the 80’s. And it was during this time that I met my beautiful wife, Liney Renea, who was also a Bible school student at my same school. 

As singles, we separately were involved in different Dallas ministries and in summer missions trips.  After our marriage on August 14th in ’82 I continued to make some short term missions trips into Eastern and Western Europe. 

This was such an exciting time before the Wall fell in Berlin.  I remember making friends and passing out German tracts I created in East Berlin.

I also served for the decade of the eighties as a Pastor over East Dallas home groups at an eleven-thousand-member non-denominational church in Rockwall, Texas.

In 1990 Stephan, Nathan, Christian (our boys), Liney and I (Kurt) were properly sent out to Germany from that local church. We then pastored and served as independent missionaries in Bavaria, and were involved in helping to establish five new local German churches (basing from a church that was started as a Christian book store in Augsburg near Munich). Lots of fun, lots of new friends, lots of JOY in Jesus!

Liney always taught the women excellently. As a missionary, I taught for four years in their Harvest Bible School in Schwaben. My wife and I were busy with that and overseeing ...what some of the Lutheran Pastors there called “a thriving youth ministry” and we traveled extensively doing itinerant evangelism throughout what is now called the European Union. There were many kids showing up pretty hungry for contemporary worship and Bible teaching. God knows for sure about any growth that was happening -- we give him the glory. I sure couldn't save anyone. I couldn't bring any growth for self or others at all apart from the Word.

When we (the von Schleichers) finally returned to America I worked full time with a Rockwall missions organization called Global Advance. And from there I was privileged to traveled into South American countries to hold some pastor-training conferences.

I also became an assistant pastor at another ten-thousand-plus-member Church in Carrollton Texas where we weekly ministered and enjoyed leading the youth out on some mission trips. It's been quite an adventure.

In our travels, we have learned a lot about different cultures, about healthy churches, not-so healthy churches and about the unique distinctions in the many different streams of Christendom. Of course we never lost a desire to remain non-sectarian in attitude and even open to learn from all types of these believers. Wonderful people -- we feel so grateful for our time with them! God continues to use Liney and I with some gifts of the Spirit for His glory. I am now serving daily as a Community Leader with Global Media Outreach, and I teach in a class at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano Texas.  

We’ve SO enjoyed all the fellowship with Christ and His people -- yes, we still do! Daily I feel like a reheated, refilled believer -- want to stay red-hot in my passion for Christ. The people at Prestonwood and GMO are family to Liney and I! Close! Been far more blessed than I deserve really. 

Christ loves you and has an excellent plan for your life. Yes, you too can know Him well, and make him well known. Start where you are. Please come as you are (willing to be changed from the inside out. He'll accept with open arms).. or just come back to him. Here and now is good. Don't put it off as so many do. No excuses, Buckeroo. Remember, not to decide is to decide. Christ taught us you are either for him or against him, no in between. You are either gathering people with him to the Father, or scattering away.

It’s been said by a few fellow pastors.. "From radio ministry in Nicaragua to youth retreats high up in the mountains of Romania, God has blessed Kurt to minister in twenty eight nations for His glory. Kurt owes the Lord, and his wonderful wife Liney many thanks for being with him through all the traveling." I really do -- thank you! Daily Liney and I pray, trust and hope that God continues to use us.  We're willing to go where he leads. 

Dare ya if I may.. Refire, why retire? Keep goin' in the will of God. Where’s the only place in the Bible where I can see retirement? Here in Num 8:24-26.

“This is what applies to the Levites: from twenty-five years old and upward they shall enter to perform service in the work of the Tent of Meeting, but at the age of fifty years, they shall retire from the service of the tabernacle work and serve no longer. they may assist their brothers in the Tent of Meeting to keep an obligation, but they shall do no heavy or difficult work. Thus you shall deal with the Levites concerning their obligations.” amp

Did ya know that the average person dies between two and seven years after their retirement. Don’t stop livin the life. Why stop your earnest prayin’ or ministering the word for decisions? That’d be crazy, it’s so overrated.