Here is the Life Story of Scott Aniol. It is a story of an honorable son growing up in an orderly home and a good church. However, when he was fourteen, he realized that he was lost. The Lord changed his heart. His behavior did not change dramatically, but his heart was transformed.

Welcome to the Church and Family Life podcast. Church and Family Life exists to proclaim the sufficiency of Scripture, and today, Jason, we've got Scott Anial with us today. I love it. Hi Scott. Hey.

Hey. Good to be with you. Thanks. Yeah, so Scott is the Executive Vice President Editor-in-Chief at G3 Ministries and a friend for a long time. And hey, somebody who's really been a blessing to me and other people that I know over the years, just very like-minded and helpful along the way.

So thank you for joining us. Absolutely. Yeah, you've been a blessing to me too, and I so appreciate your ministry. And I'm always thrilled to get to spend time with you and be at conferences, and it's a joy to be with you today. Good deal.

Well, this podcast is really dedicated to the life story of Scott Anial, how the Lord brought him up, saved his soul, brought him to where he is today. We like to do this because of the speakers that we have at our conferences, we think it's really helpful for people to be able to get to know them a little better rather than just hearing a message. And so this is one of the joyful times for us. We just get to soak in the goodness of God, don't we, Jason? It's wonderful.

So, can't wait to hear. Okay, so Scott, tell us the story of your life. Sure. So, I was privileged to grow up with godly Christian parents and in good churches. My parents used to joke, I think I was born on a Sunday and the next Sunday I was already in church and I can probably count on maybe one, maybe two hands the amount of Sundays I've missed church the entire day of my life.

So it's a great blessing. Was in strong churches, strong influences, good good parents, was in a Christian school, all K through 12, so just had a lot of positive influences in my life. And you know, I think sometimes people with a testimony like mine, they think, man, I wish I would have had some sort of dramatic, you know, life of sin and then Jesus turned me around. And those testimonies, they're wonderful and God absolutely does that. But I'm so thankful that the Lord protected me from, you know, from deep sin problems or negative influences or so many things.

So I'm grateful for those influences in my life. But also, I think this is probably similar to a lot of people who have a similar testimony. You know, growing up in a godly Christian home, good churches, good Christian schools, those are wonderful blessings from the Lord. But one of the potential dangers, and this is true even for our children as they grow up in our households, is to assume a sort of cultural Christianity or to assume that the children in our homes are believers because they are just sort of going with the flow. And that was certainly true of me.

At a very young age, I made a profession of faith, but looking back, it was very much, A, a fear of hell, and B, just a desire to please my parents. This is what they wanted me to do. I knew this is what, you know, kids in my church were doing. And so, and so I prayed a prayer, made a profession of faith. And the thing about that was, you know, I lived a fairly clean life.

I mean, I was a good kid. I followed the rules. I, you know, went to church, was in Christian school, was even a leader among the youth and a leader in my Christian school. So externally, I conformed. I did what I knew would get me positive accolades and would make life easy for me.

But certainly inwardly there was no true love for the Lord. I was not obeying the rules or following my parents' instructions out of a desire to please God. It was a mere conformity. It was the easy thing to do. And so when I reached sort of my teenage years and the rebellion began to manifest itself, which again, there's a lesson for those of us who are parents.

I've got teenagers and it can be frustrating to see that, but in a way that's a blessing too, because it forces them to come to the reality of whether or not they are truly conforming because they truly love the Lord, or whether they're just doing it, you know, because it's the easy way, easy thing to do. So for me during those years, you know, that rebellion began to manifest itself again, not in, you know, super overt running away from home, getting into drugs sort of ways, but definitely in attitude toward my parents. And they began to recognize that and began to confront me and began to ask penetrating questions about the state of my soul. You know, was I, had I conformed in my life because I was simply, it was simply a sort of external thing or was I truly a believer? And there came a point at which the Holy Spirit used my parents in that way to convict me that I hadn't truly repented of my sins, that I hadn't put my faith and trust in Christ.

And so when I was 13, after another one of those kind of times of rebellion and resistance to my parents and them confronting me, I remember going back to my room and just feeling this deep conviction of the Holy Spirit and recognizing, no, I had never truly repented of my sins. I never truly trusted in Christ alone for my salvation. And so at that point, I did that. I repented and told the Lord I wanted him to change my heart, I wanted to follow him because of what he had done for me. And again, externally, not a lot changed, but internally the change was radical.

The reasons that I was doing things changed. It was no longer an external conformity. It was the Lord has saved me from my sins. He has redeemed me, has changed my life, and so I want to please Him and I want to serve Him not because those things earn me any merit with him, but because I'm so thankful for what he has done on my behalf and because I want to obey his law. I want to conform.

I want to be conformed through his word, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit. I want to be conformed to the image of Christ. And so my motivation changed. And really from that, go ahead. Yeah, always, no, go ahead.

I was going to ask you, where did all this happen? But go ahead and say what you're going to say. Yeah, no, I mean, it happened at home, you know, when I was, it was just another one of those times of rebellion and then coming under conviction. I mean, Texas, Utah. Yeah, so I grew up in Michigan.

Michigan, okay, got it. Grew up in Michigan, yeah, Detroit area, suburb of Detroit, and so, yeah. But from that point on, one of the biggest changes that occurred is I immediately began to see a desire for ministry from that point. A love for the study of Scripture, a love for the study of theology, and a desire to serve the Lord in whatever, you know, avenue that he would call me. Our family was a very musical family.

Our church was a very musical church, and in school, we had, you know, large choir, orchestra, a lot of things going on musically, a very musical culture, and so that was part of our family. And so I knew, you know, even in those high school years that I wanted to be involved in ministry, and it probably would have some, you know, some connection with musical ministry. But also, you know, I loved studying scripture. I loved preaching. I began preaching in high school already.

And so there's always been this desire on the one hand to preach and to study the word and theology. And on the other hand, this love of music and particularly music within the church and as well a deep burden for helping people understand why God has given us music and the nature of worship and all those sorts of things. So God began to plant those things in my heart even in those high school years as I began to grow in my faith. Scott, how and where did you meet your wife? Yeah, so in college.

So after graduated from high school, went to college in South Carolina, Bob Jones University, and met my wife there. We were in choir together and had mutual friends as well. So, yeah, I met her there and then we were married a year after graduation. So Bob Jones University to working for G3 might not be the normal path or standing in somewhat different streams of theology. What's the story there?

Yeah. So, I grew up in sort of an independent Baptist world, but more Calvinistic, not the sort of King James only, you know, corner of that world. That was my rearing, which again, I'm so thankful for. So I grew up, you know, sort of being taught reform theology. And so there was a mixture of all different sorts of perspectives at Bob Jones.

So they've even changed even more to this day. After graduation began serving in a church west of Chicago in Rockford, Illinois as an associate pastor at again, independent Baptist church, but reformed. And so those are the kind of the circles that I was in. Served churches, served for a time full-time preaching in churches on worship, And then ended up going to Southwestern Seminary where I did a Masters in Theology and a PhD and ended up spending 10 years there on faculty. So I taught for 10 years on faculty at Southwestern Seminary.

And then about two years ago, got a call from Josh Weiss, began conversations about coming to G3 as G3 Conference was expanding the G3 ministries. And he knew of my involvement in research and writing and publications. And that's really what they needed to help to expand the publication side of G3. And so last fall moved my family here. We have four children, Caleb, Kate, Christopher, and Caroline, 15, 13, six, and four.

And so moved the family here to Douglasville and been here ever since and very thankful for the opportunity to serve the Lord and to help to equip and encourage and edify churches through G3 Ministries. Hey, that's great. I'm so glad to have you on the East Coast too. How about that? Yes, a little closer to you now.

I like it. Hey, so let's go back to this matter of the child who grows up in a Christian home, orderly home, where God is honored, Scripture is taught. I've had so many conversations with young people who really struggle with whether they're converted because they haven't had this massive crushing experience where they fall on the ground and weep for a day, right? Because they didn't plunge themselves into all kinds of debauchery. And I've, for the last few years, have had many, many, many conversations, and I've been preaching about it too, because I have these people in my church where I'm a pastor.

So, how do you walk a young person through that problem of assurance? Yeah, absolutely. It's a good question. And I've had conversations with my own kids about this. I believe the Lord converts us in a moment of time, right?

There is a point of conversion. But sometimes, especially in these situations, we don't always necessarily know when that point was, and that's not a problem. The problem is not some date, you know, penciled into the, you know, to the cover of the Bible. The question I think any young person who's wrestling with this needs to ask him or herself is not, what is that particular date? What was that particular crisis moment?

But what is going on in my heart right now? Do I feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit when I sin? Am I growing in my faith? Do I love the Lord? Do I love the brethren?

Do I love to study the Word of God?" If that is true of you right now, then that can assure you that you are a believer, whether or not you particularly know what the exact point of time was that that conversion happened in your life. So, I think, you know, sometimes in our revivalist evangelical culture, we've developed this mindset that we have to have this particular date and time that we had this crisis experience. And again, for some people that does happen, But not for all people. For many of us who grew up in Christian homes, the process was gradual. There was a point in time in which we came to faith, but that is not always necessarily something that stands out.

What's important is, are you walking with the Lord right now? And that's the most important question that I would stress for any young person to ask him or herself. Absolutely. So what would you say to the person that says, well, I really do believe everything the Bible says, but I don't know if I have adequate passion for the Bible. I don't know if I have repented deeply enough.

I just wonder if my heart has really been changed because my desires don't seem massive. Yeah, again, part of that I think has developed as a result of our revivalist evangelical culture. Some people are wired that way. Some people are more extroverted. They feel things more deeply and that's not a bad thing.

That's just how God has created the personality of some people. But other people are not necessarily that way. The question is not the intensity of conviction or a certain emotion for the Lord. The question is the sustained nature of it, and does it have an effect on your life? You know, God can convict us deeply and because of personality we might not have goosebumps and tingles, but nevertheless it changes us.

And I look back over the course of my life and I see progressive growth, I see forsaking of sin and growth in my knowledge of Christ. If that's true, then it's not about the intensity of the conviction or the intensity of the emotion. It's about whether or not the Holy Spirit of God is working His word progressively into my heart and life. Yeah, you know, and I say things like, the true Christian never feels like he's passionate enough. The true Christian never feels like he has enough faith.

Right. You know, the true Christian wants more. The true Christian says, Oh, Lord, I want to desire you more. I don't desire you enough. That's right.

So, yeah, that's good. Yeah. So Scott, if we threw you into solitary confinement and we let you have the Bible and one book, What would you choose? Oh boy, one book. Probably, probably The Religious Affections by Jonathan Edwards.

It's a book I've gone back to over and over again, both devotionally and just stimulating my understanding of the nature of biblical Christianity, which is very helpful and I think very needed in our day, ties in with directly the question you just asked. What is the true nature of biblical Christianity? And Edwards argues very strongly it is the religious affections. It's not just an intellectual ascent, although that's important, but it is a heart of love toward the Lord. So that's important.

That is the center of biblical Christianity. Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. But on the other hand, Edwards cautions against defining our affections by some sort of physical feeling. He defends physical feelings. He says they're not bad, but we can't define true religious affection by the intensity of adrenaline or goosebumps or that sort of thing.

So it's a really helpful book, but also devotional, because it has always, every time I've read it, increased, like you said, my desire to love the Lord more deeply, my desire to be walking with him in the Word and to see my heart shaped and my love for him grow even more. So yeah, it's one of my favorite books I've read, you know, many, many times and keep going back to. Thank you. Love it. Love it.

So looking back, who are some of the people that affected you the best? Yeah. Well, in my formative sort of high school years, my pastor Mike Harding there in Troy, Michigan was a big influence, expositional preacher, so just gave me a love for doctrine, for theology, for preaching. But also even in some of the tougher questions of life just always came back to scripture, whether it be standards of holiness or even something that's near and dear to my heart, worship and music and questions related to that. You hear so many different answers and explanations regarding what we ought to think about those things, and he always went to the Word.

And that deeply impressed me. Later, there's a man named Kevin Bouter, who's a theology professor at Central Seminary in Minneapolis, sort of developed a friendship with him shortly after college. And just, you know, time with him and his preaching and recommended reading and those sorts of things has definitely impacted my growth and the way that I think and the way that I've come to conclusions in my life in a number of areas as well. And two, just dear friends of mine, Michael Riley, he's a pastor now in Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We were in high school together, college, and have been friends ever since.

And then Ryan Martin, another good friend who pastors in Michigan, have just always had an impact on me. Men that I can count on for accountability, who are not afraid to challenge me when they see something in my life that needs to be corrected, who I can bounce ideas off of and get counsel from. So those are some of the men that have deeply impacted me through my life. So I've, you know, I've met your wife and your family and I've gone to some of the places where your wife has things to write. So she comes off to me like an education machine at home for the kids.

Tell us about that. Yeah, so she has a master's and a PhD in education that she's just kind of gotten along the way, not because she has any aspirations for career, she doesn't, but A, just because she loves to learn and for her own self enrichment, B, because it helps her in educating our children, But then third, C, she's found a real ministry in trying to help other mothers who are homeschooling their children. And whether it be through blog posts or online, and occasional speaking opportunities with women, She just loves to help other women think about how to best educate their children at home. So she's a great blessing there to a lot of women. Now that's great.

That is great. So anything else you want to tell us about your life? You started out in Michigan, you went, then you ended up in Texas after a stop and then now here in Georgia. Yeah, no, very, very thankful for the Lord's leading. I would just say, just by way of testimony, there have been several points in my life where I thought I was supposed to go one direction and the Lord shift the directions, and those are usually painful.

You wonder why doors are closed, but man, I look at this opportunity I have now and I look at the way that the Lord directed my path over these years would not have been the way that I had chosen, but I see Him clearly at work. And so that can be a great encouragement, I think, to people when God shuts a door. That can be painful and you can wonder why, but we can know with certainty that God does all things for the good of those who love Him, for the sanctifying good of those who love Him. And so we simply need to trust Him. And The Lord has taught me that over the years.

And I'm so thankful now looking back to see the way the Lord has done those marvelous things in ways that I wouldn't have planned. Amen. Good deal. Hey, well, thank you, brother. I really, really appreciate the time.

And I pray that you'll bump into, and we will bump into more 14 year olds who wonder about their salvation and hear what you just said to them earlier. Yeah, absolutely. Praise the Lord. Okay, hey, thanks for joining us. Thanks.

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