IT’S GREAT TO BE SAVED!

Wesley Clark thought life was grand. His father was a storekeeper, and the family store was loaded with candy and fruit, as well as less interesting things. This little boy, however, couldn’t figure out why he had to sneak most of the candy he wanted to eat. With a whole store full, why didn’t his daddy just let Wesley eat all the candy he wanted?

This was one of the many mysteries for which he would find answers in coming years. While Wesley was not trained by a father’s example to have a close relationship with God, his mother did pray for him, and together his parents paid to send him to a Christian school.

When he was twelve years old, he began to wonder about another of life’s mysteries. He became convicted of the weight of his sins, and wondered how he could find forgiveness and peace with God? He found forgiveness and peace one day by praying, asking the Lord to forgive him, and trusting the blood of Jesus Christ to pay for his sin.

He had read in the Bible and heard through preaching that "the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord," and that day he trusted God for His gift. From the moment that he turned his life over to God, he had assurance that he was saved.

When he shared with the pastor at the Christian school that he had been saved, the pastor tried to talk him out of it! The minister insisted that no one could be saved without being baptized, and that Wesley must be baptized before he could know for sure that he was going to heaven.

Although he was only twelve, the child knew through his Bible reading and through the witness of the Holy Spirit in his heart that he had received full salvation. Although he did get baptized, it was in obedience to his Lord, and as a witness that he had already trusted Christ for salvation.

During World War II, Wesley joined the navy. While others were having "fun" by getting drunk and being immoral, Wesley was seeing the sights, studying his Bible and witnessing to others of the joy there is in Christ. He never had a day marred by a hangover, or regrets about the activities of the past. Wesley had a sense of humor that never left him.

A drill instructor who was particularly tough on the men, constantly needled Wesley for being from Kentucky. Although Wesley had been raised in the city, the man insisted on calling him a "hillbilly." On the rifle range, Wesley purposely missed the target on his first few tries.

When the drill instructor asked why a "hillbilly" didn’t know how to shoot, Wesley replied loudly that it was because he had always shot barefoot before. When the instructor allowed him to take off his boots, every shot hit the center!

After graduating from college and seminary, Wesley began to pastor small churches in Kentucky and Tennessee. He combined a keen sense of humor with a bold witness and fearless preaching of the Word of God. Each church he pastored led the county in baptisms and growth. After some years, he felt God leading him to come to California to pastor.

He moved out on faith, and soon became pastor of a church in Oceanside. He not only was successful in his pastorate, but was also elected head of his denominational group for Southern California. Disgusted with the liberal drift in the denominational schools and camps, he eventually left the denomination, giving up the retirement plan that he had contributed to for years.

Pastor Clark began a church by meeting in a restaurant in Carlsbad, California. He sold his house, and used the proceeds to pay the down payment on a nine-acre citrus orchard with a house, at the end of a winding road. Some years later, Dr. Elmer Towns described it as "the hardest church in America to find."

During the next sixteen years, Dr. Clark saw over twelve thousand people profess faith in Christ in the main services of the church. Thousands of marines based at Camp Pendleton were saved as a result of the aggressive outreach program of the church.

Over one hundred people are in full-time Christian service as a result of the West Coast Baptist Church, and the ministry of Dr. Wesley Clark, a man who found the secret to one of life’s mysteries.