To say something about myself would be such a waste of time. But to talk about the one who changed everything for me, now that is a story worth telling. In 1996 my life was a complete wreck. Well to be more accurate, I guess it had really started a few years before that. It was 1991 when my daughter was born. My daughter immediately had problems at 11 days old. She would wind up with spinal meningitis, and was in the hospital for more than a month. During this time they told my wife and I she was going to die or be extremely mentally handicapped.
Now if you had asked me if I was a Christian I would’ve told you yes. That was just not the truth at all, not one little bit. When they told my wife, and I about my daughter’s illness I couldn’t even find words to pray. So I called my grandmother who I knew loved the Lord. My grandmother had always been a prayer warrior. She began to pray over the phone. At the end of her prayer she declared that our daughter would live, and God would receive glory through her life. To be perfectly honest with you I really thought grandma had lost it. I came back into the waiting room sitting in with my wife, and we fell asleep.
Very early the next morning the doctor came in and declared she had made a huge mistake that my daughter's fever had broken and she was going to be fine. This was the true beginning of God breaking me so he could remake me.You would think after this that Kim and I would have turned completely to the Lord, but that was not the case. Life went back to normal, well not really. Our daughter was not really getting better. She was having a lot of trouble eating, and she was not gaining weight. We did multiple trips to the doctor. Finally my wife was so frustrated she told the doctor something the baby was doing that she had not mentioned before. The doctor immediately decided to send us to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. When we arrived they tested our daughter for cystic fibrosis, and yes to our sadness her test was positive. Now we’re back to 1996 several years later. Our daughter’s sickness had resulted in so many problems. Our marriage was almost over with. There’s more to the story but it’s really not worth telling. At this point we decided that the only way to solve our problems was to go back to church. Truth is church is not the answer. Jesus is the actual answer. The church is part of what makes a Christian whole.
But no one can become whole without first having Jesus, but we didn’t understand that yet. So we went to Fletcher First Baptist two weeks in a row. We chose Fletcher First Baptist because of a friend of mine who kept pursuing me to come to church with him. I will always have a special spot in my heart for Darren Waldrop. That said, I could not wait to get out of that place both Sundays that we had attended. The Holy Spirit was getting a hold of my life, and my flesh hated it. The following week we left for the Outer Banks for vacation with some friends. I truly thought I would be able to get away from God, and the pursuit of His spirit. When we got there my friend Randy asked me if I would lead a morning devotion. This made me crazy mad at him. I went to the dresser in our room looking for a Gideon Bible. There was not one to be found. So I just quoted from memory John 3:16. I remember this much of what I said isn’t it great that we can choose Jesus. At that moment I was under so much conviction because I had never chosen Jesus.
The truth is I had played church my entire life. I was a Christian because everybody I knew was. It really had nothing to do with Jesus at all for me. As soon as I had finished. I got up, went into the bedroom, put on my swimming trunks, and went to the pool. My friend Randy came and found me. He asked me why I had left so abruptly. Before I could stop my mouth I was telling him how frustrated I was with life. How I had considered ending my life completely. Then with tears in my eyes I told him I was going to Hell!! I’ll never forget his response. He just simply looked at me and said you don’t have to. I began to weep at that moment I made a decision. The decision was that I would love Jesus, and would do anything he wanted me to for the rest of my life. But my friend Randy being old-school decided we should go back into the hotel room and pray that prayer. I didn’t care who knew that I had come from death to life. We came in and our wives were sitting there on the couch. I got down on my knees and Randy and I began to pray.
I have never gotten over this time in my life, and I never will. Two days later on this very same trip got the privilege of sharing the gospel with someone. This person was a very special person; it was my wife. Our relationship had been so bad, and now God had changed us forever. There is so much more to the story, a story of God’s glory.
But we will go straight to the results. One month later I was called into His service as a Pastor.
My wife and I have pastored in seven different churches since then. I have served in many rolls in these churches, student pastor, associate pastor, Lead Pastor, and even church planter. The interesting part is I’ve never even put in a resume at a church.
I have been on multiple mission trips including places like the Ukraine, Turkey, Iraq. I have even been blessed to get to lead some of these trips.
Oh and let me tell you about my daughter, she is still alive, and she is on a new drug for her cystic fibrosis. She is doing awesome . Everything I told her she would not do she has. Doctors told us she would never be a teenager, and she was. Doctors told us she would never graduate high school, and she did. Doctors said she would never graduate college, guess what she did. They said she would never get married, well they were wrong. They said she would never have children, well that was wrong. My daughter and son-in-law have adopted two wonderful children Jacob and Kynzie. My God is an awesome God. He is capable of anything that His will determines.
My wife and I are completely blown away by the goodness of God! So in reality this is not my story or bio at all. It really is a story of His glory. The best bio, I could ever give you is one about my Savior, Jesus.
- Chris Pace
Romans 8:28
28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
Now if you had asked me if I was a Christian I would’ve told you yes. That was just not the truth at all, not one little bit. When they told my wife, and I about my daughter’s illness I couldn’t even find words to pray. So I called my grandmother who I knew loved the Lord. My grandmother had always been a prayer warrior. She began to pray over the phone. At the end of her prayer she declared that our daughter would live, and God would receive glory through her life. To be perfectly honest with you I really thought grandma had lost it. I came back into the waiting room sitting in with my wife, and we fell asleep.
Very early the next morning the doctor came in and declared she had made a huge mistake that my daughter's fever had broken and she was going to be fine. This was the true beginning of God breaking me so he could remake me.You would think after this that Kim and I would have turned completely to the Lord, but that was not the case. Life went back to normal, well not really. Our daughter was not really getting better. She was having a lot of trouble eating, and she was not gaining weight. We did multiple trips to the doctor. Finally my wife was so frustrated she told the doctor something the baby was doing that she had not mentioned before. The doctor immediately decided to send us to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. When we arrived they tested our daughter for cystic fibrosis, and yes to our sadness her test was positive. Now we’re back to 1996 several years later. Our daughter’s sickness had resulted in so many problems. Our marriage was almost over with. There’s more to the story but it’s really not worth telling. At this point we decided that the only way to solve our problems was to go back to church. Truth is church is not the answer. Jesus is the actual answer. The church is part of what makes a Christian whole.
But no one can become whole without first having Jesus, but we didn’t understand that yet. So we went to Fletcher First Baptist two weeks in a row. We chose Fletcher First Baptist because of a friend of mine who kept pursuing me to come to church with him. I will always have a special spot in my heart for Darren Waldrop. That said, I could not wait to get out of that place both Sundays that we had attended. The Holy Spirit was getting a hold of my life, and my flesh hated it. The following week we left for the Outer Banks for vacation with some friends. I truly thought I would be able to get away from God, and the pursuit of His spirit. When we got there my friend Randy asked me if I would lead a morning devotion. This made me crazy mad at him. I went to the dresser in our room looking for a Gideon Bible. There was not one to be found. So I just quoted from memory John 3:16. I remember this much of what I said isn’t it great that we can choose Jesus. At that moment I was under so much conviction because I had never chosen Jesus.
The truth is I had played church my entire life. I was a Christian because everybody I knew was. It really had nothing to do with Jesus at all for me. As soon as I had finished. I got up, went into the bedroom, put on my swimming trunks, and went to the pool. My friend Randy came and found me. He asked me why I had left so abruptly. Before I could stop my mouth I was telling him how frustrated I was with life. How I had considered ending my life completely. Then with tears in my eyes I told him I was going to Hell!! I’ll never forget his response. He just simply looked at me and said you don’t have to. I began to weep at that moment I made a decision. The decision was that I would love Jesus, and would do anything he wanted me to for the rest of my life. But my friend Randy being old-school decided we should go back into the hotel room and pray that prayer. I didn’t care who knew that I had come from death to life. We came in and our wives were sitting there on the couch. I got down on my knees and Randy and I began to pray.
I have never gotten over this time in my life, and I never will. Two days later on this very same trip got the privilege of sharing the gospel with someone. This person was a very special person; it was my wife. Our relationship had been so bad, and now God had changed us forever. There is so much more to the story, a story of God’s glory.
But we will go straight to the results. One month later I was called into His service as a Pastor.
My wife and I have pastored in seven different churches since then. I have served in many rolls in these churches, student pastor, associate pastor, Lead Pastor, and even church planter. The interesting part is I’ve never even put in a resume at a church.
I have been on multiple mission trips including places like the Ukraine, Turkey, Iraq. I have even been blessed to get to lead some of these trips.
Oh and let me tell you about my daughter, she is still alive, and she is on a new drug for her cystic fibrosis. She is doing awesome . Everything I told her she would not do she has. Doctors told us she would never be a teenager, and she was. Doctors told us she would never graduate high school, and she did. Doctors said she would never graduate college, guess what she did. They said she would never get married, well they were wrong. They said she would never have children, well that was wrong. My daughter and son-in-law have adopted two wonderful children Jacob and Kynzie. My God is an awesome God. He is capable of anything that His will determines.
My wife and I are completely blown away by the goodness of God! So in reality this is not my story or bio at all. It really is a story of His glory. The best bio, I could ever give you is one about my Savior, Jesus.
- Chris Pace
Romans 8:28
28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.