Post by Les Brewer on Feb 21, 2012 13:26:19 GMT
John Wolf
Hi and God bless you.God is so good to me,I love Him so.He saved me when I wasn't worth saving.He sanctified me in His Son and seperated me from that which was destroying me.I didn't deserve it and I certainly couldn't earn it,it is absolutely free,life eternal in His Only begotten Son,Hallelujah!
Continuing from yesturday's post.
As stated,the pastor of the Lutheran church that our family was attending,had led me further down the road to destuction with his unscriptural advise,rather than helping me find the answer that all people are looking for.I would like to say,here and now,that the problem was not so much with the denomination I belonged to,as it was with the pastor,who was supposed to know how to point a hungry soul to Christ.I'm certain that there are people within the Lutheran denomination who are truly saved and love the Lord supremely.
Anyway,I continued on my rebellious way for approximately another 5 yrs.,until the death of my father.I can't answer for any of my other siblings,but his death had an earth shattering and profound effect on my soul.I began almost immediately to search for the meaning to life and what my purpose was here on the earth.It may seem a little vain to some,and I believe it was the hand of God directing it,but I began to read the Bible,and the book that I was drawn to was the gospel of John.You may think it strange,but I always for some reason would go to the passage of Scripture in chapter three,where it speaks of being born again.I didn't understand it,even as many today do not understand it.
Through a series of events soon to follow,I began a renewed interest in attending church.My father passed away in August of 1980,and by Febuary of 1981 I was married and felt it my duty as a husband and father myself to start attending services at a little country Baptist church not far from where we lived.It was the church that my new in-laws attended.I don't recall if it was the very first service or if it was a little later on in our attendence there,but one Sunday morning the Holy Spirit knew exactly what needed to be said,and thank God the preacher was used to convey the message to me.It pricked my heart and brought me under the convicting power of the Holy Spirit.I don't even remember the topic of the sermon,but when the alter call was given,it was as if I was shot out of a cannon.I went forward for prayer and received Jesus Christ as my Saviour.My life changed immediately for the better.The guilt and the burden of my sins against my family and most especially against God,had been forgiven and cleansed by the precious blood of Jesus.
The feeling of joy unspeakable and full of glory as the Bible declares flooded my soul.I could not put into words the feelings that I had.The hunger in my heart for more of the same and an extreme hunger for God and His Word took over my life.I studied His word with so much zeal that It often angered family and friends,and on occasion got me in trouble on my job for reading my Bible when I should have been working.I couldn't understand why more people who claimed they love God,were not as interested in His word the way I was,and were not telling others of this Jesus who is so real.
The day I received Christ into my heart I was delivered from the sins of alchohol and drugs.The one sin that lingered and had a grip on me was cigarettes.I could not break the bondage.I did everything I knew to do to try and "kick" the habit.You know,it's really amazing how the human mind can work at times in trying to rationalize sin.As I continued attending services at this Baptist church,I noticed that alot of the leaders in this church and it's members would constantly slip out back to have a smoke between Sunday school and morning service.Now,at this time,I knew very little about the Word and how to live in victory,but it became very clear to me as a new christian that this behavior was not acceptable to God,nor was He pleased with the hypocrisy of those who were telling me that it doesn't matter what you do from now on,your saved and you will always be saved,no matter what!Oddly enough it was the same senario that I encountered with the Lutheran pastor,however,this time I had the Lord living in my heart and He was leading me in the direction that leads to life.Which brings me to the topic of my Scripture reference from yesturday in Acts 2:1-4,39.Please stay tuned for more of my testimony on the Baptism in The Holy Spirit......God bless you all....JW
Hi and God bless you.God is so good to me,I love Him so.He saved me when I wasn't worth saving.He sanctified me in His Son and seperated me from that which was destroying me.I didn't deserve it and I certainly couldn't earn it,it is absolutely free,life eternal in His Only begotten Son,Hallelujah!
Continuing from yesturday's post.
As stated,the pastor of the Lutheran church that our family was attending,had led me further down the road to destuction with his unscriptural advise,rather than helping me find the answer that all people are looking for.I would like to say,here and now,that the problem was not so much with the denomination I belonged to,as it was with the pastor,who was supposed to know how to point a hungry soul to Christ.I'm certain that there are people within the Lutheran denomination who are truly saved and love the Lord supremely.
Anyway,I continued on my rebellious way for approximately another 5 yrs.,until the death of my father.I can't answer for any of my other siblings,but his death had an earth shattering and profound effect on my soul.I began almost immediately to search for the meaning to life and what my purpose was here on the earth.It may seem a little vain to some,and I believe it was the hand of God directing it,but I began to read the Bible,and the book that I was drawn to was the gospel of John.You may think it strange,but I always for some reason would go to the passage of Scripture in chapter three,where it speaks of being born again.I didn't understand it,even as many today do not understand it.
Through a series of events soon to follow,I began a renewed interest in attending church.My father passed away in August of 1980,and by Febuary of 1981 I was married and felt it my duty as a husband and father myself to start attending services at a little country Baptist church not far from where we lived.It was the church that my new in-laws attended.I don't recall if it was the very first service or if it was a little later on in our attendence there,but one Sunday morning the Holy Spirit knew exactly what needed to be said,and thank God the preacher was used to convey the message to me.It pricked my heart and brought me under the convicting power of the Holy Spirit.I don't even remember the topic of the sermon,but when the alter call was given,it was as if I was shot out of a cannon.I went forward for prayer and received Jesus Christ as my Saviour.My life changed immediately for the better.The guilt and the burden of my sins against my family and most especially against God,had been forgiven and cleansed by the precious blood of Jesus.
The feeling of joy unspeakable and full of glory as the Bible declares flooded my soul.I could not put into words the feelings that I had.The hunger in my heart for more of the same and an extreme hunger for God and His Word took over my life.I studied His word with so much zeal that It often angered family and friends,and on occasion got me in trouble on my job for reading my Bible when I should have been working.I couldn't understand why more people who claimed they love God,were not as interested in His word the way I was,and were not telling others of this Jesus who is so real.
The day I received Christ into my heart I was delivered from the sins of alchohol and drugs.The one sin that lingered and had a grip on me was cigarettes.I could not break the bondage.I did everything I knew to do to try and "kick" the habit.You know,it's really amazing how the human mind can work at times in trying to rationalize sin.As I continued attending services at this Baptist church,I noticed that alot of the leaders in this church and it's members would constantly slip out back to have a smoke between Sunday school and morning service.Now,at this time,I knew very little about the Word and how to live in victory,but it became very clear to me as a new christian that this behavior was not acceptable to God,nor was He pleased with the hypocrisy of those who were telling me that it doesn't matter what you do from now on,your saved and you will always be saved,no matter what!Oddly enough it was the same senario that I encountered with the Lutheran pastor,however,this time I had the Lord living in my heart and He was leading me in the direction that leads to life.Which brings me to the topic of my Scripture reference from yesturday in Acts 2:1-4,39.Please stay tuned for more of my testimony on the Baptism in The Holy Spirit......God bless you all....JW
