So many people spend their lives searching for spiritual truth. Some never find it because they look in the wrong place or only seek half-heartedly. Others wake up one day and hear something that sounds like truth knocking at their door, but are too afraid to answer. Still others see it staring them in the face, but clench their eyelids tight to the cheek to shut out any chance of an unwelcomed invasion. I count myself among yet a fourth group, one so truly blessed we would not consider ourselves worthy of such membership if not granted to us by the Lord himself. That group is the one that wakes up one day and hears the voice - the voice in both your head and your heart - that recognizes the one and only spiritual Truth: "Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, my Lord and my Savior."

I was born and raised in a Jewish household, although I would classify my family as "seasonally religious". You know what I mean. You pay very little attention to your religion except when the holidays roll around. Each year (sometimes two or three times depending on your upbringing), you wrap yourself in your heritage and proclaim the glory of your beliefs, even though it has been months since you've proclaimed anything remotely related to faith or God. It feels like a ritual rather than worship and that's when you realize you really don't care about the motions you're going through. They're motions, not emotions.

I have been going through the motions of Judiasm for 32 years, and the only remaining connection to my Jewish heritage has been through a dear lifelong friend, Howard. He invites my family each year for Passover and to services for the High Holy days. We always used to accept the invitation, but less and less for the reasons behind the get together. In the last few years the desire has not been there to attend at all. Not because we didn't want to see Howard and his family; we love them dearly, but stopped going because the religious motivation for the dinner didn't feel genuine anymore.

My sister, Shaleen, accepted Christ 5 years ago and immediately set out to save my soul. I tell you there are very few things that can drive a person away from Christ more than a zealous, overbearing, verse spouting, damnation threatening, Bible thumping "I'm going to save you if it kills you" sister that just became a Christian herself. My wife and I almost stopped going to Thanksgiving with my family because of the heated debates that bordered on "You're going to hell" "No, you're going to hell!" Thankfully, she realized that you can only lead the horse to water. Shaleen quieted her zealousness to more enjoyable, lively debates and kept the lines of communications open.

An unusual twist of scheduling brought Shaleen and her family to Maryland this Easter (2003). She asked if I could find a contemporary church for them to attend Sunday morning before heading home. Well I didn't know what the local churches preached, but I did remember a beautiful cobblestone church on the way to the interstate. So Mountain Christian Church became our Easter destination. Ironically, this was one of the few times Shaleen did not ask my wife, Jill, and I to go with her. However, we decided to go just to see what it was like. That Easter visit to Mountain was the beginning of my walk towards Jesus.

The church was huge - much bigger than it looked from the outside, yet very comfortable. My wife and sister located the nursery upstairs for our 16 month-old daughter. It should have felt weird to leave her with total strangers in a completely new environment, but it wasn't. Our 3 year-old son wanted to stay downstairs with his older cousins. He did not regret his decision when he saw Barney come strolling in during the sermon. The "Easter Barney" was, of course, being held out as an example of what Easter is not, but it gave my wife and I a pretty good idea of what this church would do to communicate to a modern world. We were intrigued and impressed.

Jill and I went back the following week and again enjoyed the message. The Pastor was young (30 something) with a wife and three young children. He spoke our language. He knew about potty training, and waking up in the middle of the night to comfort unseen fears. He understood the challenges of raising little ones in today's world. And his sermon series was the "Home Team Advantage". It was all about giving our families what they need to blossom and grow and it really spoke to us.

We attended the "Welcome to Mountain" class the church offers each month, and that's where we met Pastor Ben. He was quite amiable and the class was digestible, practical information about what Mountain Christian Church members believed and what they had to offer. I remember telling my wife, "I could really see us at this church if it wasn't for that Jesus thing."

At the end of the class, more than a few people chose to be baptized and I wanted to watch. My wife took the kids (who were being watched by volunteers at the church) home and I went to the sanctuary. I think 8 folks were baptized, and I was in awe of their apparently instant commitment to this Christ character with no data, no prior thought, no anything. They just did it. It didn't make sense so I chalked it up to the herd mentality leading weak people down a silly path that would make them feel better. Yet when the evening was done, I didn't leave. I meandered around in the lobby for no particular reason, yet I think I was doing it intentionally. I suddenly felt foolish and headed for the door, but right then Pastor Ben came up behind me and asked if there was anything I had questions about from the evening. This poor man had no idea what he was getting into!

I usually respond with the typical "I'm fine, thank you", but not that night. I told him that I was open to exploring the Christian faith, but that I wanted both a Preacher and a Rabbi to answer one big question for me. Why don't Jews believe in Jesus? Instead of preaching or defending, Ben gave me a few things to listen to on tape. One was The Mountain Walk, the other a Foundation Series, another was called Christianity: Fact or Fiction. The first two were about what the Church stood for and detailed the basic beliefs of Christianity. The Fact or Fiction sermon was an analytical approach to Christianity (perfect for a skeptic like me). He also gave me a copy of a Good Friday service when they had a guest from Jews for Jesus perform a Passover Seder. Ben suggested I listen to the materials and read the book of Matthew. "It was written specifically for Jews," Ben told me, "and may answer some of your questions." I know Ben was tired after teaching the four hour class, but he willingly stood there with me for another 45 minutes just talking, listening, guiding. I left with an odd sense in me that I can not put into words, but I knew I couldn't wait to listen to the tapes.

My wife and I had not missed a Sunday since Easter, and I was consuming tapes of Ben's sermons as fast as they would play. In just weeks I had listened to almost a year of this man preaching the word of God and Jesus in a way I understood, enjoyed, and eventually began to accept. It made sense. Pastor Ben made it make sense. I spoke constantly to my wife about Jesus but finished every sentence with "boy that sounds weird coming from a Jew." She finally asked, "Are you really still a Jew?" Good question.

I was waiting. I wanted a lightening bolt. I wanted something to inexplicably pull me out of my seat in church and beg for Jesus, beg to be baptized. I was waiting and waiting and started to get impatient. Maybe this whole thing was just a passing faze I got caught up in. Oh well, it was interesting. Then on Sunday night, June 20th, hours after church, Jill and I were relaxing on the couch. I said, "I want a drink". Jill responded, "I want some popcorn." I countered, "I want to be baptized." Whoooooah. Stop the truck. Where did that come from? She looked at me. "Huh?" I repeated, "I want to be baptized." I looked at her and made my first confession of faith a few minutes later. "I believe that Jesus is the Christ, Son of The Living God, and I accept him as my Lord and Savior." We must have talked for another few hours until we couldn't stay awake any longer, and I slept with a peace that night I can not describe.

Next Sunday seemed awfully far away. I wanted this now, but I thought a week might be a good cooling off period in case I changed my mind. But Wednesday was the first night of the men's group I signed up for and I had told the leader, Craig, I was a Jew. Now what? Do I tell him? Do I not tell him in case I back out? To make things worse, family plans were taking us out of town on Sunday. This was not good. These were obvious signs I had made a mistake, God's way of telling me this Jesus thing was not the way to go. But as I'm learning every day, God's plan is way ahead of anything I can throw at it. My loving wife rearranged our plans for us to come back Saturday night and helped me decide to tell Craig and the group that Wednesday. Jill has the incredible ability to help me see things clearly and I'm so grateful for her.

Sunday. Father's Day. The music begins and the beautiful voices sing "Reign in Me" and "Praise the Lord". I'm on cruise control, no doubt, no reservation. Jill and I hold hands. Pastor Ben begins his sermon on Imitating the Father. Powerful. Applicable. Full of Love. His sermon complete, Ben makes his weekly invitation to come forward and accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. Jill looks at me, "Are you sure?" I smile "Let's go."

As we make our way to the front, Pastor Ben meets us with open arms and wide eyes, his joy as obvious as his surprise. He smiles. Several other families come forward, and we all confess together, "Jesus is the Christ, the Son of The Living God, and I accept him as my Lord and Savior." Pastor Ben baptized me, and then I had the privilege of baptizing my wife. While raised as a seasonal Baptist, she was never baptized. And so we had the joy of beginning our life in Christ together.

There were a lot of little things that came together over the years to bring me to this point in my life. Many people find Jesus when they are at their lowest point looking for help. I accepted Christ at a great time in my life when I already felt on top of the world. Maybe I was looking for someone to thank for all I had been blessed with. Maybe it was all the seeds my sister had planted bearing fruit. Maybe God had simply decided it was time for us to get reacquainted and for me to meet his Son. Who knows? It doesn't matter, I am His and I am whole.

In addition to sharing my experience, I want you to know the reason I created this website. Mountain Christian Church and the Pastors who lead the congregation are, without a doubt, instruments of God. I am forever grateful to them for opening my heart to the Truth. Making Deciples of Jesus Christ is the core of everything that happens at Mountain. You can see it, feel it, hear it in everything that happens there. I have no doubt that the beautiful sermons and tremendous passion with which the Pastors at Mountain offer them are what finally got throught to me. I want everyone, whether in Maryland or on the other side of the world, to be able to experience the love and servitude the leaders and memebrs of Mountain Christian Church have for Jesus so that they might help you strengthen your faith as a Christian or discover the Truth for yourself.

Yours in Christ, Ken Moss