Shannon Swearingin
When you put two passions together, you better watch out. In our cover photo Shannon Swearingin is sitting on his 2002 Factory Custom Road King. You can easily guess one passion is for Harley Davidson motorcycles, but more important than that is his passion for Jesus. In humbleness, Shannon shares how God is using the preaching of Pastor Rogers in his life.
I run an automotive shop in Springfield, Missouri and my hobby, my love, my passion since about the age of 13 has been Harley Davidson motorcycles. Growing up, my dad had us listen to men like J. Vernon McGee and other radio personalities. But when I moved out of the house, I didn’t want anything to do with that. However after starting a painting business, I chose to listen to two preachers: D. James Kennedy and Pastor Adrian Rogers. The reason I listened to them was not to get any type of a religious preaching, but because both of them covered topical issues. They had some pretty cool angles in their preaching and I shared the same thought processes. Pastor Rogers quite frequently would talk about the unborn, the value of life, and other sensitive issues, but another thing about him was the way he was very kind. He was never condemning and as an unsaved man I liked that about him. So even though I didn’t want anything whatsoever to do with church, I would listen to those two preachers.
Over time, I realized God was constantly pursuing me and one night at about 1 o’clock in the morning, God presented Himself and I knew if I didn’t make a decision for Him―that would be it! I just knew in my heart. I repented and gave my life over to Him and everything changed. Through my passion for Harley Davidson motorcycles along with Freeway Ministries, I am able to minister to the homeless, to those in drug-addiction recovery, to prostitutes, to hard-core bikers, to all manner of the least of these. The Lord is allowing me to disciple men who are new converts coming out of prison or maybe even before they go back. God has placed a love in my heart for those types of individuals.
On Wednesdays, my wife and I teach a fourth-grade class at our church and we have been using LWF’s Digging Deeper Bible studies with them. I pull it off the website and then adapt it for the kids. They will write down the Scripture verses and one of those will become their memory verse.
Almost every day, I pull up Love Worth Finding on YouTube and listen to a few sermons. To me, it is all about his presentation and how he presents the Gospel…the way he presents all his topics. Pastor Rogers is very delicate and allows the Word to do its work. He applies the truth that he preaches.
There are preachers who preach for occupation. I believe with all my heart that when you listen to Dr. Rogers this was part of the fabric of his life…godliness. He didn’t do it because he was a preacher. He did it because he was called to that and you could tell. That makes an impact on people’s lives.
You never know how God will use the timeless truth preached by Dr. Rogers. It may be a young man who listened only for the current issues, but had the seeds of the Gospel planted. With God’s continued provision and your support, these messages will continue to go out through radio, TV, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, booklets, CD albums, and on and on. We are thankful to Shannon for sharing his passions with us. To God be the glory. Perhaps you have a testimony about how God is using the LWF program in your life. If so, let us hear from you.
