Testimony of Clarence Eugene Sheldon

My name is Mike Schroeder. The above individual was my father-in-law. I am married to his daughter and namesake, Jean.

I got saved by the grace of god in June of 1985, and answered the call to preach in March of 2002. My father-in-law, Gene Sheldon, got saved by that same grace on January 11, 2003, three days before he died. The only request he made of me was that I tell you about it–whoever you may be. I think it would be well worth a few minutes of your time to listen to his story.

Gene Sheldon was born and raised in Minnesota. He was the eldest of four sons. He grew up in Illinois and served in the U.S. Coast Guard during World War 2. He was married to his wife, Kartherine (Kay) for 58 years. They had five daughters together.

Gene was a devoutly religious man most of his life, being a life long member of the Presbyterian Church. His daughter, and my wife, Jean, says he had at one time even aspired to the ministry. That, however, gave way to what turned out to be a very successful career in the steel fabrication business. While all this was going on he managed to obtain a BS from the University of Chicago and an MBA from the University of Michigan. He was a member of numerous civic boards as well as an elder in his church. Gene and his wife had spent the latter years of his life living in south Florida and traveling around the world.

There is no doubt my father-in-law was a man of vision, dedication, drive and energy, who did and achieved things in life most men only dream of. But there is one thing he hadn’t achieved before that fateful day in January; the assurance that when he died he would go to heaven. Here is the testimony of how he came to know the Lord Jesus Christ as his Savior.

Gene fell ill in early 2002 with an upper respiratory ailment that he just couldn’t seem to kick. By the summer of that year he was on oxygen, and by November he had contracted pneumonia. He was hospitalized, and following tests it was determined that he had a condition called “pulmonary fibrosis”, or scar tissue growing in his lungs. He was moved to a special hospital for lung diseases in St. Petersburg, Florida just before Christmas. Jean and I spent Christmas at their home in Naples, Florida with the rest of the family. I returned after New Years to New Braunfels, Texas, where we were living at the time, but she stayed behind to attend to her father. It was during this time that he began to intimate to her his fear of what lie for him beyond this life–a subject he had refused to discuss theretofore. She shared her own testimony of salvation–explaining to him that all one must do to be saved was to trust Jesus Christ and the fact that he had died for their sins, but his response was, “it just can’t be that simple.” Being a new believer, she was at a loss to answer his numerous questions.

As his condition worsened, she–fearing that he might die anytime in his unsaved condition–called me and requested that I fly to Florida. I was on a plane that afternoon, and walked into his hospital room at 11:00 pm that evening.

When I entered the room I beheld a man with a look of desperation on his face. He summoned me to his side, extending his hand, and whispered, “please pray for me.” I told him I would, but would he first answer a question: “If you die tonight, do you know, beyond the shadow of a doubt that you will go to heaven.?” He looked straight at me, and without saying a word, moved his head from side to side, indicating that, no, he didn’t know this. I responded with, “let me tell you how you can know,” and proceeded to preach the gospel of Christ to him. But he still resisted, responding with, “but you don’t know what I’ve done.” You could have heard a pin drop in that room as his wife and daughters heard the perfect husband and father admit that, after all, he wasn’t so perfect. I told him that God knew what he had done, but He had charged it (his sin) to His Son, Jesus Christ, and therefore wasn’t counting it against him, and all he had to do now was accept the fact that he was forgiven, and God would save him.

We departed the room that night not knowing whether or not he was saved, or if he would be alive the next day. When we walked into the room the next morning, a different man was laying on that bed. He was sitting up with a smile on his face. He summoned us to him, and exclaimed that he had trusted the Lord as his Savior that night, and knew that he was bound for heaven.

I know, because of his testimony, that I will spend eternity in heaven with my father-in -law. I hope you’ll be there as well. If , like Gene Sheldon was, you aren’t sure of this, be sure now by trusting Jesus Christ for your salvation today. Jesus Christ—“who knew no sin”—and his sacrificial death on the Cross, has made the way for “everyone that believeth…to be reconciled to God. History has shown that whatever peace man has achieved in the world can only be temporary. The Bible says that individual men and women can know, beyond a doubt, that they are saved and bound for heaven, and therefore have absolute and permanent peace, regardless of what is going on in the world, by trusting Jesus Christ and his death on the cross for their eternal salvation. “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved…Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.”¹ Have you done this? If not, why not now?