We are thankful to know Luke Langley. He is a young man who has already had a hard life, but, as he says, “Jesus is gentle, steadfast, & pure.”
We marvel at his faith & were encouraged to hear his testimony last week.
Hello, if you don’t already know me, my name is Luke Langley. I was born and raised here in Athens. My testimony is nothing but a testament of God’s covenant faithfulness to save me and to keep me. Unlike a lot of people who grow up here, I was not raised in church. Despite my lack of exposure to church, my mother taught me that God was real and active in our lives. I was extremely close to my mother. I was an only child and she was the parent I had the most interaction with. During my childhood, my father was sent on two tours to Iraq, so it was often up to my mother to deal with her own struggles and the challenges of parenthood by herself.
I did not truly know the gospel until about Spring of 2011, in 8th grade, in this same school. I had a very good friend who had been saved a year prior and he was burdened for my soul. I claimed I was a Christian because that’s what I was told growing up. I thought being a Christian simply meant believing in God. That was a façade that my friend could easily see through and he boldly shared with me about how Jesus saves sinners, and that I was in desperate need of Jesus just like he was. For the first time I understood that I was born a sinner who desperately needed the salvation that was achieved through Jesus’ work on the cross. I believe that was when God began to work in my heart. For about a year I still did not have a church since I was still dependent on my parents to take me. Eventually, one of my scout masters invited me to his church and I was baptized on January 1st, 2012.
It is a very good thing that God rescued me when he did. God knew exactly what he was doing, because if my heart of stone had not been converted then, I think my heart would have hardened even further towards God. Within the first year of my salvation, my mother died. Despite this difficulty, God has sheltered me in an impenetrable Ark that provides me dry ground to walk on through these dark depths. Jesus is the Rock of Ages of whom the hymn writer writes, “Rock of Ages, cleft for me! Let me hide myself in thee.”
Also, there was a time in high school after I had started to grow a bit in my faith that I had desperately prayed for a reformation of sorts to come to the church scene in Athens. In my experience, we had a lot of politics being spoken from pulpits that were built to preach the Bible. Sometimes I would leave church knowing more about what the Democrats were up to than what God is trying to say through his Word. I prayed that a church would be planted in Athens that was centered on the gospel, both theologically and practically. I am happy to say that the existence of Trinity Grace is part of God’s answer to this prayer. I have been praying for this church long before it was even an idea, and it fills me with so much joy to see what God is doing here.
I am still young, the years have been harsh and ever changing, but Jesus is gentle, steadfast and pure. I cannot stand here and boast of much holiness. If you had a God-eyed view into my life it would be quite shameful. But I can confidently boast in a holy Savior who has rescued me and will carry me through to the other side where there will be no sin, no suffering, and no darkness.