“…Much like yourself I decided in the year 2000, that for all my labors since seeking and searching for the lord since the age of 25, (I am now 41) that I was still spiritually malnourished. However at the time I did not know I was not fed spiritually...I only knew that something was not right either with me or the teaching I was under. I made a decision that I would do one of two things with all the vigor and might that I could possibly muster (I did not realized that the lord had brought me to this point and was already working in me). One decision I had considered in my mind was to forsake all that was called god and seek a life of hedonism, or diligently and unswervingly seek the lord with all my being, turning neither to the right hand or the left - even though I realized as I look at the history of my life that the lord was pleased not to give me a mind gifted or interested in the ways of learning and comprehension.

     But this has not stopped me from searching the scriptures and gleaning understanding that I know only the Holy Spirit, I am convinced, gives to the body of Christ (for the which I do praise god greatly when I read the verse you posted in 1 Cor 1: 26-28 and have read numerous times). I stand amazed at the Lord’s power to reveal the truth of his word to some, and not others. So after a period of church hopping again, I decided that I would find the Lord on my own outside of the church even before I heard the church age had come to an end. Even though I never was one to gain much through book study I did not let this stop me from going to bookstores and spending my days reading anything I could that would help me understand anything that would help me know the "true gospel" (which I didn't know I was looking for at the time). I was under the impression that I had to study church history in order to understand where it was that the church went wrong. When I say the church going wrong I mean divisions in the churches, and different denominations, which were causing so much confusion.

     It was at this time in 2000 that I rediscovered Family Radio and "Open Forum," and when I heard brother Camping teach that the church age was over, I immediately could hear that truth, even though I did not know how to justify my position by scripture. But I as I began to read it seemed like my spiritual understanding began to grow by leaps and bounds. And at the time and the present I can truly say that I know I am "circumcised in heart", there is no other explanation for my newfound desires that I have. In June of 2004 I will be finished with Family Radio’s School of the Bible. My years of sitting at the feet of the churches that I have grown up in and attended as an adult have profited me very little. But now I spend my days reading and studying God’s word for hours a day using the principles that I am being taught by faithful brethren…. Sometimes I get frustrated because I would like to harmonize the scriptures better than I do at the present time. But I know I am getting better everyday waiting on the Lord….”

                                                       The lord is near

                                                        Curtis Hughes