Mark Kuenzi’s Testimony!

Mark Kuenzi’s Testimony!

All I wanted was happiness, All I wanted was peaceof mind, Just to be freed from my loneliness, But Jesus gave me newlife, Divine!

My name is Mark Kuenzi, and this is my story

Even though I experimented in many of the vices that kidsgrowing up in my era were into, most people probably thought of me asa good boy from a good family. My parents took me and my twoolder brothers to a Lutheran church every Sunday morning. But, likemany kids that grew up in the church, I became turned off to it forvarious reasons. Mainly, I did not like the hypocrisy I saw. Besidesthat, I thought the Bible, with its “creation account,” wasproven untrustworthy by evolution. Religion, frankly, justfailed to meet my needs.

I was growing up in unsettled and changing times. The threat ofCommunism, the assassination of President Kennedy, the Viet Nam War,draft dodgers and campus unrest, civil unrest, riots, the burning ofour cities, along with immorality and a general breakdown of ourtraditional values were just some of the unsettling events of thatperiod.

As a teen, what I wanted out of life was happiness and peace ofmind. Where could I find it? I really didn’t know. A lot of kids Iwas growing up with were seeking it through materialism, popularity,or the pleasures of youthful vices. Would this be my answer? Strongties with family, traditional moral teaching, and especially thegrace of God, told me. “No, sin will not satisfy.” Where wasmy answer?

My dad grew up on a dairy farm, with lots of memories of “the goodold days,” and farm living. Also, among some of those following thehippie movement of my teen years, there was a back-to-the-landmovement. Maybe “back to the land” is where I ‘d find my peace, Ithought.

So, between my junior and senior years of high school, I contactedsome friends of the family who ran a dairy farm. I asked if I couldwork on their farm for the summer, in exchange for room and board.They agreed, and I went.

I found I really did enjoy their way of life on the farm. But,there was something else that intrigued me even more. This farmer wasthe first adult man I knew, on a day-to-day basis, that I never heardcurse or swear. As this family marveled at how other folks coulddrink alcohol, get drunk and feel sick, and say they enjoyed it, Imarveled at their “different” way of thinking. Another “different”thought that challenged me was the call to moral purity that I readabout in the Sunday School paper I had received at their church. Theyouth at this church were also different. They talked as if they hada personal relationship with God that lasted through the whole weekand applied everyday situations.

Something was different here. These people could have fun andenjoy life in a way I would never have imagined. I started tohunger after the word of God, and attended a Bible study with folksfrom their church. Too soon, though, summer came to a close.

I went back to suburban Pittsburgh, 100 miles from where my heartand mind had been challenged. I began my senior year of high school -still groping, searching and dissatisfied.

Switching from rock station to rock station on my radio, andoccasionally tuning into a country station, I passed by a broadcastthat caught my attention. I turned back to listen. I heard a gospelsong that particularly gripped me. Its lyrics said, “I don’t needto understand, I just need to hold His hand.”

Though I had discounted the Bible as a reliable source of God’srevelation of Himself to man, I could not discount thereality of Christ in the lives of the people I had met thatsummer. Their faith and doctrine centered around the veryBible I rejected. While I didn’t understand everything, I began tounderstand my emptiness and how God could fill the void in my life.

It took about a month or two of tuning daily to this program ofGospel messages and music before I fully realized my need tosurrender my life to Christ as Lord, and to call upon Him as mySavior. The book of Romans, chapter 10, verses 9 and 13 say,“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, andshalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead,thou shalt be saved…For whosoever shall call upon the name of theLord shall be saved.” Finally, at the end of the broadcast oneday, I got on my knees by the kitchen table in my home, andwith tears in my eyes, I confessed my sin, yielded my stubborn willto Christ, and called upon him as my personal Savior. What aload was lifted from me!

The next morning, I awoke with the words of a popular recordingrunning through my mind. “Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,that saved a wretch like me.” I now understood those words thatI had never really thought about before. “I once was lost, butnow am found, was blind but now I see.” That was exactly whathad happened to me.

That was only the beginning.. I’ve been a Christian for more than20 years now. A favorite scripture verse of mine, Second Corinthians5:17, describes what transpired in my life. “Therefore if any manbe in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away;behold, all things are become new.”

Since that time, God has given me joy and peace, direction,purpose, and fulfillment in serving Him. He has also given me awonderful Christian wife, and four children to train for Him. I’m sothankful that, in this troubled world, I can give my children thesame hope, joy, peace, and purpose that I have found in Him.

I closing, let me share with you the words of a song I wrote whileI was attending Bible college a number of years ago.

New Life, Divine

All I wanted was happiness,
All I wanted was peace of mind,
Just to be freed from my loneliness,
But Jesus gave me new life, Divine!

New life, Divine, Salvation’s mine!
Hallelujah! I have new life, Divine!

Lost in sin and misery,
Through life’s dark way I could not see,
Then I heard, God loved me so,
He gave His son that I might know,

New life Divine, Salvation’s mine!
Hallelujah! I have new life Divine!

Sinner, won’t you hear His plea,
Obey His voice on bended knee,
Before His presence humbly bow,
Ask Christ to save you, save you now.

New life, Divine, salvation’s thine!
Hallelujah! You’ll have new life, Divine!

If you would like to know more about the Savior that changedMark’s life, you are welcome to attend the

Or call us at (610) 965 4700 or 1-800-893-9586.