Hi! My name is Martin.  I was born in 1945, a 12th generation American of Scottish-Irish-English heritage, I was raised in a Navy family in San Diego.  Both of my parents were Christians.  My Dad was a WWII, 20-year submarine hero and my mother was an English teacher.  Both parents were from Tennessee.  We were required to attend Presbyterian Church but neither parent promoted Bible study or prayer in the home.  I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior when I was seven.  Compared to my Dad’s life as a deep-sea diver, motorcycle rider, boxer, mechanic and pilot I thought church was boring and weak.  The pastors messages seemed to have no bearing on my life and he seemed weak as a person to me.  He was not, but that was my perception.  

As a child I was caught up in sports, being popular and trying to fill my inward emptiness through a relationship with the perfect girl.  When I was 12, my Dad was killed in a small airplane accident and we lost everything, including his 20-year Navy pension.  I was the oldest of 3 children and my mother had to go to work immediately in order for the family to survive.  I mowed lawns, pulled weeds, and became a full-time bicycle paperboy at age 13, helping bring in money to the family.  I never stopped working for the rest of my life, even during long periods of unemployment when my only job was looking for a job.  My longest period of unemployment was 4 years.  

I started smoking cigars, drinking whisky, surfing and chasing girls at age 13.  Because of my lack of personal relationship with Jesus and the untimely death of my Dad, I had deep insecurities, fears, loneliness, anger, emptiness, and frustration over my life and a very uncertain future.  I was told the night my Dad died, by close friends, that I was now the man of the house and would need to raise my brother and sister.  These instructions, from well-meaning family friends, killed my childhood and forced me to “grow-up” immediately…and do what I thought adults did.  This was during the cold war (1960’s) and it looked like World War three was about to break out with Russia.  My moto was: “One More Wave Before The Bomb.”  

At a very young age, I was told by my mother, who was a teacher, that I didn’t have what it took to become a really good student; so I hated school.  When I was in the 10th grade I took an aptitude test, which said that I would be best suited to become a minister.  This infuriated me because I hated public speaking and had little regard for ministers and the church, with the exception of fiery preachers like Dr. Billy Graham and Dr. Peter Marshall.  I hid my Christianity and didn’t want to let any of my non-Christian friends know that I went to church.  At age 17 my mother let me off the hook and said from this day forward it is your decision whether you ever go to church or not.  With the exception of Christmas and Easter, I substituted surfing as my Sunday spiritual activity and vanished from church for years.  

I was definitely not seeking God nor thinking about God.  My Bible had cobwebs and I was a Scriptural illiterate.  The only time I would monolog with God or call on Him was when I had gotten myself into a horrible mess and had tried every other possible solution to get out, and that with no success.  Then I would promise God that if He bailed me out of that mess I would never do it again.  He kept His promise and I never did keep mine.  When Billy Graham came to San Diego around 1963, the place where I worked said they would pay us to go to his crusade.  So I went, but spent all my time flirting with the girl next to me from work.  If I heard anything, it was by pure supernatural osmosis.  

Jacques Cousteau, the oceanographer, was my hero; and I got hired at Scripps Institute of Oceanography and eventually became a crewmember on the research ship FLIP.  I thought that oceanography would fulfill the spiritual vacuum in my life but it didn’t.  The year was 1966 and I was about to be drafted by the Army into the Vietnam War, so I joined the Air Force for 4 years.  I was trained as a Morse code intercept operator and was supposed to go to Europe.  I could see myself listening to secret Russian messages, buying a Porsche, learning to ski, and racing around on the Autobahn Highway at 200 MPH.  

But my noisy Christian grandmother, interfered in my life and began praying for me to rededicate my life to Jesus (Later I discovered that I was actually supposed to go to Vietnam where I would have died).  Thanks to grandma and God I failed my final exam by 1 point and eventually was sent to Hawaii where we supplied fighter pilots, in Vietnam, with aeronautical charts.  While in Hawaii, I resumed my adulterous relationship with my mistress “SURFING,” almost died while surfing 15 foot waves at Sunset Beach and started experimenting with drugs, the occult, white and gray magic, astrology, clairvoyance, yoga, and Buddhism.  

I was, deep down inside, honesty looking for the truth.  I believed God existed but I didn’t know how to get to Him.  I wasn’t even sure there was only one path to God?  I believed Jesus was the Messiah, but I didn’t know how the other religious leaders fit into the picture.  So I went on this big search.  Since I had almost died 5 times in my life, I knew that I was not prepared for death.  The more I studied the occult, the metaphysical and the lives of the gurus, the more lies and inconsistencies I could see.  God began to open my eyes to the fact that Jesus was the only way to Him.  

In 1970 I finished the Air Force and enrolled at Monterey Peninsula College to study oceanography and chemistry.  The more I studied, the more I realized how little I knew. I was still exploring clairvoyance and was about to make a decision about whether I would go with the Bible or gray magic and start seeking guidance from a spirit guide from the unseen realm.  I didn’t know these spirits were actually satanic spirits and were in reality fallen angels.  

One night, while in a house that was originally used as Doc Rickets Lab from John Steinbeck fame and the book Cannery Row, Jesus personally visited me.  He didn’t allow me to see Him; but He did allow me to hear His voice clearly.  He quoted a Scripture from Genesis Chapter 1, verse 1: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”  Peace and joy like I had never felt in my life swept over me and I laid on the bed alone enjoying in His wonderful presence.  

Within seconds I heard a sneering, unbelieving, doubting, sarcastic ugly voice masquerading with the voice of a close family member say: “In the beginning God…?”  Fear paralyzed me and the outline of a man’s pants and shoes appeared in the empty high back chair next to my bed.  The person stood up walked across the room and disappeared into the wall.  Two to three minutes passed before the paralyzing fear left.  I know now that the person I saw was actually an evil spirit masquerading as my dad.  If my dad had appeared and offered advice I would have taken it without reservation.  But I could never see the face, only the legs and shoes.  

At that moment I realized that I was at a crossroads of decision and that I must choose between the Bible or spiritualism.  The choice was between blissful and majestic peace and cringing, evil, and fear, so it was a no-brainer.  

Within days Pastor Mel Westbrook appeared with a small group of young men from the Youth Aflame group at Monterey Peninsula College.  I attended their open-air amphitheater college meeting and knew that I needed Jesus as my Lord and Savior.  

On my way home, while riding on my bicycle, I saw a young girl reading a Bible on the beach at Monterey warf.  I walked over, introduced myself and asked her many questions about the Bible, Jesus, and got directions to the men’s dorm at Holy Word Bible School and Monterey Church where Mel and Christy Westbrook were pastors.  I raced over there with one statement in mind: “I want to go all the way with Jesus!!”  

I knocked at the door; and when a young red haired man, Dan McDonald, answered, I said: “I want to go all the way with Jesus!!” Dan was stunned and didn’t know what to say.  He yelled out to his friend, Ernie Gibson, a young African-American fireball Christian to come quick.  I told Ernie the same thing I told Dan: “I want to go all the way with Jesus!!”  Ernie invited me into the house.  He asked me if I knew I was a sinner?  

That was like asking the Pope if he knew he was Catholic.  I told Ernie: “Listen man, I am studying science at Monterey Peninsula College and the more I study the more I realize how little I really know.  But I know one thing for sure.  I KNOW THAT I AM A SINNER!”  Ernie led me in a prayer (which was really a rededication of my life to Jesus).  

That was September 13,1971.  The past 50+ years have been fabulous and at the same time difficult and challenging.  It has required commitment, sacrifice, vision, faith and determination.  However, I can honestly say that they have literally been the best years of my life.  I would not go back to the old life for anything, not for love or money.  Jesus has never once let me down.  God, the Father, has never once let me down.  God, the Holy Spirit has never once let me down.   If you want to see what Jesus can do with someone who was totally lost, undone, undeserving, totally deceived and blind to the existence of the love of God, then go to my website at: http://www.docoliver.biz It represents who I am now, fifty some years later.  

Best of life to you and yours,
Dr. Martin Woodrow Oliver

The truth about God, how to get to Him, and how to get His help, is made available to you through the Scriptures presented in HELP eMagazine. We have all been confused at times about how to find Him and get His help. Be willing to let Jesus change your life through these Biblical concepts. You will find the kind of help you need to not only quit doing things you don’t want to do, you will start doing things you have always wanted and needed to do. God will give you a great life in Him.