Fred Uhl

This is (with some editing) my “Conversion and Call” I had to submit to New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary in order to be accepted back in August of 2002. It is the story of my conversion to faith in Jesus Christ, and my call to full-time Christian ministry. I hope it informs and encourages you!!!

I was born and raised in a small southern New Jersey town by the name of Glassboro until I was 11 years old. There I attended Central Baptist Church, an Independent Baptist Church.

Through my parents, Sunday school teachers and pastor, I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior at Central Baptist. It was a life changing experience. However, because of my age, I did not understand all that I was doing. Because I was raised in a Christian home, was taught right from wrong and what was good and bad, and had Christian influences in my life, my receiving Christ as Savior just seemed like the next logical step for me to take.

When I was 11 years old, my family decided to move to Coral Springs, Florida. Little did I know, things were about to change. Soon after arriving in Florida, my Dad found a musical position at a local church by the name of Coral Baptist Church, a Southern Baptist church. It was at Coral Baptist that I began to understand the importance of really maintaining and nurturing my relationship with Christ.

I attended Coral Baptist throughout my middle and high school years. There I was able to grow spiritually and become involved in an array of ministries. I sang in the youth choir, in a vocal ensemble and was considered a leader of the youth group. I was challenged as a Christian and encouraged to grow deeper in the Word and closer to Christ. However, I still never gave Christ the 100e requires of us. I held some things back from Him.

As a Christian attending public schools, I was a pretty good kid. I hung out with my Christian friends yet invested time in some non-Christians. No one saw me as a threat or loser. However, I was never a bold witness for Christ like I fell I should have been. I did not drink or do drugs or involve myself in any sexual activity. I was just on cruise control.

Then my life took a turn for the worst. During my junior year of high school my Dad found out he was going to be transferred to Atlanta, GA. I was not happy about this. I was not the least bit interested in starting over socially my senior year of high school in a new place. With some reluctance, I left with my family. I would now have to put into practice what I learned about faith and putting my trust in Jesus over the last seven years. I failed miserably.

Atlanta was tough. First, I did not want to be there. I thought, I am only going to be here for a year, so why waste time getting connected somewhere (church). So I went day to day just coasting (sounds familiar, huh). I was not seeking out relationships of any kind. As for church, it took a while to find one we liked. When we did, I went to youth gatherings waiting for kids to grab me by the hand and take me underneath there wings. It never happened, and I did not care. I did not understand the importance of surrounding myself with Christian people to build me up and keep me accountable at that time. So I hung out with people who wanted to hang out with me.

At my new school, I was on the football team and found some people who wanted to hang out with me. The captain of the team took me under his wing and we became friends. He was a good friend, not a Christian, but a really good friend at the time. We hung out and never got into any real trouble. However, he introduced me to alcohol.

We finished high school together and decide to go to the same college. There I was introduced to more alcohol, drugs, women and other religious views. I had never completely doubted my faith until I got to college and talked with other people about their views. Suddenly, my faith did not make sense. The main reason was that I did not know my faith well enough to back it up. I stopped attending church, praying and reading my Bible. I went through five years of Fraternity life and everything that went along with it. In the end, it all lead to emptiness. I remember waking up after a night of partying and thinking, there has got to be more to life than this.

At the end of my senior year of college, I like to think that I decided to return home to my family and close Christian friends from high school, but the truth is God would not leave me alone about it. My heart was heavy. I knew I needed to change my life. I knew the story of Jesus was right. I knew I needed a fresh start. This was my way of getting it.

When I got home, I spent countless nights picking the brains of my best friends (Kenny & Double D), who had just graduated from Christian colleges themselves (Liberty U), trying to get answers to the questions I had. These guys were a great source of encouragement, and an excellent example of faith and faithfulness to me.

After a few months of getting back on my feet, spiritually, I decided to recommit my life to Christ. That meant actually developing my relationship with God (Philippians 2:12). This is something some people don’t understand spiritual maturity just doesn’t happen. I stopped waiting for things to just come to me, but taking a proactive role in seeking this relationship with God out. I got back into the Word and began to commune with God daily. I also began to seriously witness to people at work, started teaching Sunday school and helping our youth group as an adult leader. Serving God was one way I really started experiencing His power and ability to change peoples lives.

I soon decided to give into Gods call to full-time Christian ministry on my life. I have always felt the call to ministry throughout my life. I can remember attending VBS back in New Jersey as a 10 y/o and the leaders having an invitation for those who felt called into the ministry and responding. I have no explanation as to why (most kids that age want to be fire fighters or police officers…I want to be a pastor?!?!?!?!), except God. I always felt the tug the throughout my life (middle & high school). However, when I began to slip away from God in high school, I thought that He would never use someone like me. I thought I was not good enough. What I didn’t know was none of us are (Romans 3:23). Now I know and understand that with God on my side, I can and will accomplish anything (Romans 8:28).

In the summer of 2002, I took on a full-time position at the church I grew up in (Coral Baptist) as their Summer Youth Intern. One of the first events I helped plan was an overwhelming success. We put on an event we called Friday Nite Live. It was a youth-led night of worship & evangelism for our Christian students to bring their lost friends to. We attempted to create a non-threatening environment for the lost students of Coral Springs. As a staff, we tried everything in our power to make this event as exciting and as cutting-edge as possible. We created first class fliers and had a praise band playing music that these students listen to on the local Christian radio station. We were praying for 400 students. God provided 420. We had 30 students come forward, 24 of them made decisions, 11 of which were for first-time salvation. Plans for its sequel are in the works.

Soon after my summer stint as the Youth Intern (a title I still am called by some for some unknown reason), Coral asked me to stay on and work with the single adults. This new position and ministry has been a roller coaster ride with all sorts of ups and downs and, most importantly, learning experiences. I am excited to see where God is going to lead this group of people I currently work with and have a passion for.

I know that was a lot to read, but there are a couple of last things I must mention. First, I am consistently reminded of how far I have to go. Paul talks about this in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, where he likens the Christian life to a race.  A marathon that is long, hard and exhausting, but worth the reward [heaven] when you have finished!!! I am running that race.

Second, God has a funny way of DAILY reminding me that I can’t rely on myself or anyone from this world for anything. I tend to be a people pleaser, but, instead, I need to learn to be more of a God pleaser. The Bible says that I have to seek first His (God’s) kingdom and everything else will be taken care (Matthew 6:33). I usually get that one backwards!!!