Escaping Death & Discovering Life

The True-Life Story of Don Smith

We were driving home from a Sunday dinner when it happened. Dad lost control of our car, and we were spinning widly into the median. My family and I were riding on Hwy 169 just south of Nashwauk, Minnesota, when we hit black ice! The car, a 1941 Chevrolet, went into an uncontrollable tailspin, hit a guard rail post, and broke it off even with the ground. I was just a boy when it happened. My family and I were all staring eternity in the face. Suddenly Dad was back in control of the car, and were driving straight from the Lord and his angels. Had we died, the rest of what you are about to read could never have happened, and we would be in an eternal hell.

Growing up on the Iron Range in Northern MN, I spent many days fishing and swimming in the beautiful Swan Lake next to our house. Ours was a pleasant home filled with laughter, work, love, and a good upbringing. I was born on November 28, 1933, in Nashwalk, MN and was raised in a faithful church-going family. I could count on the fingers of one hand the times we missed attending the Methodist church in Pengilly, Minnesota, where my Dad was the treasurer. The Church, however, had been infected by unbelief and liberalism. The gospel was never preached, and the Scriptures were never clearly taught. No one ever personally talked to me about the Lord, how to have forgiveness, and how to get to Heaven. They themselves did not know.

One night, in the summer of July 1950, my father came home and said we were going to the gospel tent meetings at the south end of Swan Lake. We went the first night and arrived late, but, as we did, my attention was drawn to the good music and the friendly atmosphere. The next night we arrived early, and we began to hear the gospel preached clearly and with conviction.

On the second night of the meeting, I was deeply troubled about my sin. I left the meeting not knowing how to be saved, but completely certain I was wrong in my heart toward God. My dad took us back each  night to the gospel services, and as we went, the conviction only grew.

That same summer my brother, David, went to Bible Camp and received the Lord Jesus as his Savior. When he did, his life completely changed! He quit going to the dances and the movies and began acting in kindness toward others. The new life he received began to shine through. I turned completely against him, much like Cain turned against Abel! Any affection I had fro him turned to hatred, because I knew I was wrong in my heart with the Lord! The more I hated my brother, the more the conviction grew. Still, I began to read my Bible and seek answers.

The American Sunday School Union workers began holding Saturday Bible club meetings in our church. The schedule included a morning Bible school. I was sixteen, and it was only the grace of God I was even there. One day, during the invitation, the preacher asked for those who were Christians to raise their hands. I could not honestly do so. He then asked for those who were not Christians to raise their hands. I did, knowing full well I was not born again.

Those services continued the first Saturday of each month into the fall and even the next year. For the next several months, I tried to escape the Spirit’s conviction and drown it out by any means possible! Then the date for the final service was set.

That last meeting came, and a man from Minneapolis, Minnesota, preached on II Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new.” He said, “Receiving Christ is not turning over a new leaf but receiving a new life.” I went home that night and began reading my Bible in my bed.

As I read Romans 10:9-10, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” I didn’t understand the word confess. I was shy around people and didn’t want to go public with any decision I made for Christ. Yet I knew I needed to accept His free gift!

Willard Nelson, one of the Sunday school workers staying in our home, came into my room, and I asked, “Is it necessary to confess Christ to be saved?” I meant, “Must I tell people about Him?” He replied, “No. But if you are saved you will want to confess Christ and tell people about Him.” The truth rang home, and I understood my need. I turned out the light, bowed my head, and trusted Jesus as my Savior. It was February 17, 1951.

This was the beginning of a great life! Before I was saved, my cussing was embarrassment to my unsaved friends. The next morning all of my profanity was gone. I was a new creature! After salvation, I was thoroughly excited about my new life. I began to teach a boys’ Sunday school class, and wherever I could hear the gospel preached, I would go hear it.

A while later, my Father trusted Christ, and then my Mother was saved! Now our entire family  was set free from sin nad assured of Heaven! The Lord led me to attend a Bible Institute in Bemidji, MN where I met my life’s love, Doris. We married, and the Lord has immeasurably blessed our lives! He has been true to His Word, “…I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). God has given us five children, twenty-three grandchildren, and forty great-grandchildren. All of these blessings would have been missed if we had died when our car hit black ice! And all these blessings are possible only through salvation in Jesus Christ!

What religion could not do for me, Jesus did. What a stable family could not do for me, Jesus did. What a good community could not do for me, Jesus did. Only Jesus can save you from sin’s bondage and consequence, and only Jesus cna give you eternal life in Heaven!

If you are lost in sin, you can be saved today! Your sin and the empty promises of the world will only plunge you further into darkness. “…the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not” (II Corinthians 4:5). Turn from it all and come to the Savior. “Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37). There has never been a sinner who has come to Jesus and been turned away, and you won’t be the first! Won’t you come to Him right now? Bow your heart this very moment, believe on Christ, and accept His payment alone to cleanse your heart and take you to Heaven. In your own words, admit your sin and acknowledge its consequence. Then accept His gift by faith, believing Jesus died and rose again to save you!

If you trusted the Lord Jesus to save you, please write and tell me about it. I would love to pray for you and encourage you!

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Evangelist Dwight Smith
532 Forest Ridge Drive
Shelby, NC 28152