About

My name is Rev. Jack Selcher. I created Christian Growth Resources in 2019. My vision is to provide free internet resources to equip church leaders, small groups, and individuals to:

Besides this website, this platform has social media sites, including Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. I post two blogs on Facebook weekly with more than 32,000 followers.

Growing my faith personally, witnessing to others, and as a church leader is a lifelong process. These resources can help you grow your faith and help others become more spiritually mature.

ABC of Evangelism explains a simple way to reach people for Christ.
ABC of Christian Growth shares eight principles for growing up spiritually.
Discipleship Books Free Download provides four free digital books to further spiritual growth.
Spiritual Health Assessment looks at how you live as a Christian.
Church Assimilation Strategy helps to meet the needs of newcomers and church members.

About Me

Home and Family

I live near Middletown, Pennsylvania, USA. I am married to the former Diane McAdams. I have two children, Krista and Kelly, and twin grandchildren -- Liam and Aria Carlen.

Education and Experience

I graduated from Millersville State College. The University of Michigan. And Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. I worked for the Pennsylvania Fish Commission and Campus Crusade for Christ.

I pastored churches in the Churches of God General Conference. I oversaw discipleship for the Eastern Regional Conference.

Hobbies

I enjoy coaching track and field throwers, reading, fishing, gardening, and writing Christian blogs.

My Story

I was born a twin in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. I emerged second and shocked my mother and father, who expected only one child! Because I was bigger and stronger than my twin, I spent my first 15 years bullying him.

I didn’t value spiritual things much during my first 19 years, even though I spent at least 1,000 hours riding church pews. Although my body was present, my mind was elsewhere—usually thinking about sports.

Outside the church, I rarely thought about God, never prayed voluntarily, and never read the Bible. My purpose was to excel in sports and my studies to win the love and acceptance of others. I graduated fifth in high school and broke Middletown’s javelin throw record as a junior. Still, achieving these goals and many others brought only fleeting happiness.

The thought of dying scared me, and guilt hung over me. I believed in heaven but was unsure I’d go there when I died.

In my church, I often heard that Jesus had died on the cross to pay the penalty for my moral and spiritual failures. I knew I wasn’t perfect but didn’t understand how Jesus’ death solved the problem. I pictured it as a down payment on my passage to heaven, and I thought I had to make regular payments with the good things I did.

During the fall of 1968, I understood 1 John 5:11-12 for the first time. My standing with God was not based on faith plus on my good deeds.

Jesus had paid the penalty for my spiritual imperfections in full. “And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life” (NLT).

That evening in my dorm room, I trusted in Jesus’ sacrifice alone to give me the right standing with God and invited Him into my life. That evening was a turning point. Because God loved and accepted me as I was, I wanted to do what pleased Him. Little by little, love replaced fear as a dominant motivator in my spiritual life.

My fear of death significantly diminished. God lifted the weight of guilt for my moral failures from my shoulders when I trusted Jesus’ death as payment in full. I had assurance that I’d go to heaven because Jesus had paid my admission fee, and I knew I could trust Him to keep his promise to take me there.

When Jesus came into my life, He wouldn’t allow me to relate to God or others in the same old ways. I remember feeling a twinge of conscience after talking negatively about people who weren’t present—something I’d done repeatedly for years without thinking twice about it.

He convinced me that my language needed some attention. My words were a symptom of the anger and desire for control that swirled within me. Gradually I saw improvement. Little by little, God’s love for and acceptance of me freed me to love and accept others.

I slowly developed a strong desire to serve others that I didn’t have before the fall of 1968. My goal was to know Jesus better and help others understand Him. Working toward that goal has brought a measure of fulfillment I’d never known when doing my own thing.

God dramatically changed the direction of my life. I majored in biology and earned a master’s degree in fishery biology. I landed my “perfect” job as an aquatic biologist with the Pennsylvania Fish Commission, which I thought would bring me happiness.

It did not do that. I enjoyed “playing in the water,” but it lacked fulfillment or significance.

I sensed a persistent pressure toward full-time Christian service. That is not God’s will for everybody, but it was for me. I resisted it for several years but finally gave in.

My life hasn’t always been easy, but it’s far more fulfilling than when I was in the driver’s seat of my life. New pages of my spiritual story are being written every day.