I was 4 years old when my family began attending a denominational church. No one talked about being born again, so I never gave my life to Christ—I didn’t know you were supposed to! We thought if we were in church, we were Christians.

During junior high and high school, I went to a basketball camp every year for seven years at the University of Kansas in Lawrence. When I was in college, Ted Owens, the KU coach at the time, asked me to coach the camp, so I did.

When I was away, I called and talked to my dad. He sounded different. He had gotten “saved” when I was gone! “When you get back,” he said, “I have a book I want you to read.” After returning from coaching, Dad handed me The New Birth by Kenneth E. Hagin.

I read the small book with interest. There was nothing in it that was against what I had been taught, but neither did it contain anything I had been taught! At my church, we learned about the Passion Week, the Crucifixion, and the Resurrection. But that was about it.

The following Monday night, my parents and I attended a charismatic Bible study in someone’s home. People were there from every kind of church in our town. After we sang some songs, someone asked, “Does anyone have anything to say?”

I don’t know what possessed me to share, but I said, “I just read the book, The New Birth, by Kenneth E. Hagin. I want everyone to know that I believe God raised Jesus from the dead and that He is my Lord and Savior.” At that moment, I knew something happened.