When did you first hear the Gospel?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Carla on October 3, 2011 at 9:58am

Hi Amanda,

Thanks so much for opening up your heart.  I love how you are always so willing to share your heart and story with us.  I posted the discussion because i see time and time again that people are being hurt because we (as a church) have strayed away from the simplicity of the gospel.  It's my hope and prayer that the Lord will bring people back to it...  This beautiful message is the truth of what brings people to the foot of the cross and keeps them there.  Thanks so much for posting.

 

It's wonderful having people like you in a group....because the conversation is always rolling with good thoughts and a convicting challenging message.

 

Blessings and Love to you in Christ, Carla

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Permalink Reply by Carla on October 3, 2011 at 11:22am

Every time we open our mouths in fact we are sharing our hearts.  Indeed.. Amen and Amen

 

I think that's a concept within the church only...as true as this statement is, non-believers don't know it or understand it. :-D   ..but you are absolutely right.

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Permalink Reply by Rita Cullimore on October 3, 2011 at 12:53pm

I think because we love the Lord we want to live as He would have us live. I think that His will becomes our will because we know that is what pleases Him.

Unbelievers can't understand this but in truth, they are following the will of their father just as we try to follow the will of our Father.

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Permalink Reply by Carla on October 3, 2011 at 1:54pm

I think it's a bit of both, it's relational, but often we are pulled in two different directions.  We now have the Holy Spirit and we can hear God's leading us to the left or the right, but we also are still here in the flesh and trying to subdue the flesh...but we now have God's Power and strength to call upon.  It's still a battle.  When we are not in alignment with God we are miserable....absolutely true.  We also have the desire to live as our Lord would have us live because we have been reborn.  We still fall short at times....those are the times we are miserable.   However, we have to remember that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ, we are forgiven and free, and we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength.  Bad consequences teach us...but I think that God's Mercy and Grace teaches us even more..  It's His Love and Grace and embrace that keeps us yoked to Him rather than the alternative.  Blessings, Carla

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Permalink Reply by ScribeD on October 3, 2011 at 6:02pm

I'm smiling as I read your comments. After years of struggling when i would reach difficult points in life, I have come to this conclusion: God has given us apparent paradoxes - He has done so deliberately. Since I am convinced by scripture and life that God does not make mistakes, I must as "why?" Why is it that there are often two seemingly contradictory points that I have to understand? Why not one way, one simple direction? Why contradictory (or apparently contradictory) points of reference?

 

For instance, Jesus said: "Go and make disciples..." (an act of determination on the part of the disciples). Yes, and he also said "without me, you can do nothing..."  Wait a minute, Jesus! You are leaving earth and we will not have you. You just told us a few days ago we can't do anything without YOU, yet you are saying we have the responsibility of building YOUR kingdom!? What is up with that?!! It surely seemed impossible to them, at that moment.

 

Here are some conclusions I have made: navigation, as in the old sailing ships, required having two planes of references and two points of reference. It took both the stars and the land/horizon to find out two things, where you ARE and where you are GOING. It also took at least two stars. So, you needed a compass and a map for the horizontal axis and a sextant for the vertical axis to find two stars. The horizontal and vertical planes are in opposition, in a way. Yet this is how we navigate. Even today, a GPS requires a set of at least two satellites (vertical axis) and a compass reading (horizontal axis).

 

Or... consider an airplane: it requires wings on a horizontal axis and it requires a tail rudder on a vertical axis, in order to control and fly the plane.

 

In order for something to exist in 3 dimensions, it must have two horizontal dimensions (length and width) and it must have a vertical dimension (height).

 

Or... consider vision: in order to understand the world around us, we must have binocular vision (two eyes), without that, we cannot judge distance, speed or size of any object.

 

So, I believe that it's in those paradoxes, in those apparent contradictions that we find truth. It takes work and consideration, but those are guiding points, references to guide us on our journey.

 

Hence: it is both in the call of God and in our response that we find and experience grace. When we are only discussing it theoretically, without acting upon it, then it is an abstract concept. We only truly "receive" grace when we take hold of it by action. Isn't that what the book of James teaches?

 

So, could Lazarus have stayed in the grave? I don't know. It doesn't seem so, but perhaps he could have been slower in responding? Could Jonah have not rejected God and gone straight to Nineveh and still had the same impact as a man being belched out of the belly of a fish? Perhaps?

 

What I know is this: I find grace to learn to walk and trust God, and i experience that grace when I trust and obey His Word. Experiencing that grace is far superior to just theorizing it. I know that I have tasted and seen that the Lord is good and that his mercies endure forever. I know that, not just be hearing it, but by experiencing the power of His divine grace at work in me.

 

I know that there are two extremes: one says it's all up to God, the other says that it's all up to me. Both of them are wrong, in my experience. God calls, and I need to answer. God guides and I need to follow. God commands and I need to obey. In doing so, I find grace, a fountain of his blessing and an empowerment to see Him at work.

 

Consider this: look at Matthew 8. You will see that there are people coming to Jesus. Multitudes. Two of them claim to want to follow Him. With simple statements of the challenges they will face, they seem to give up. What do they miss? They miss seeing Jesus calm the storm, they miss seeing the miracle of the demon possessed man healed and they miss seeing the suicidal pigs driven by demons to jump off a cliff. They were on the verge of something phenomenal, they were in a place and time where the Son of God was doing something amazing, but because their response was not to attempt to grasp at faith and trust in Him, they missed it entirely. Not everyone missed it, but they did.

 

I think life is like that: i think there are miracles and adventures happening all the time, but we miss them when we don't respond to Jesus with faith. It's a response that He is calling us to give.

 

To me, the entire scripture is begging me to step out in more faith today than I did yesterday. God is calling out to me saying "trust me and take this next step".

 

Here's the ultimate paradoxical statement: "many are called, but few are chosen". God is calling us. What does it take for me to have the faith to respond to that call? Jesus says it's the tiniest amount of faith, a tiny seed of faith.

 

Don't get mixed up about that "seed faith" jargon that some folks use to make it sound like we can manipulate God. That's not what that's about. It's about trusting Him that He will do a miraculous work, if we just trust Him.

 

You see God has already given us the faith, we just have to exercise that faith - in obedience to Him.

Permalink Reply by ScribeD on October 2, 2011 at 9:44pm

Carla, it seems like just yesterday, but it was long ago for me. I had three ways that God reached out to me, basically about the same time: a Gospel tract, a Gospel radio program and the witness of a book by a Christian author. After a while, all three hit me and the Spirit won may attention. However, when I received Christ I had no Christian community and no pastor. I was totally alone and did not know a living soul that was a born again Bible-believing Christian.

 

Shortly afterwards, people from every cult you have heard of came to me. Everyone of them wanted to persuade me to join their group or follow their teachings. This included folks from Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, B'hai, Bhuddism, New Age and even some encounters with some extreme Christian groups. It was like I had some new magnetic religious attractant sprayed on me. They were like bugs flocking to a light in the woods.

 

The Spirit led me to read my Bible and carefully consider everything against scripture - as much as I could. I began having apologetic discussions with people before I had any significant training. The one thing I found, in all of this, that distinguished actual Christ followers from all the rest are two things:

1. all cultists will deny the bodily resurrection of Jesus, and/or that he is the Son of God. (e.g. God, the Son).

2. all cultists will try to add or take away from Scripture, or simply deny it is the word of God.

  a) JWs have a Bible version that significantly takes away the deity of Christ, which is clearly revealed in hundreds of scripture verses.

  b) Mormons only want you to read the King James version of the Bible and they want you to read the Book of Mormon as more important than the Bible itself. (their current TV ads are misleading about this, but that's my experience).

  c) B'hai (B'Jai) will deny both, as fast as you can ask. If they talk about the Bible, they will tell you that almost every divine claim is either exaggerated or is actually something that is misunderstood.

  d) Bhuddists will find creative ways to make you think you are talking about the same things, but in fact, if you press deeply enough, they will deny Jesus and the Word of God.

  e) The New Agers are the most pernicious, in my opinion. They find ways to try to use the same language, but deny everything about the true divinity of Jesus and the power of the Word of God. They try to make you believe that Jesus was a mere man, but that you are actually a god.

 

When I first heard the Gospel (as in the story of Jesus), I can't really say. I was raised around religion. But, I never heard the "good news" Gospel until I was a young man. Thank God that I did. It was in finding Christ that I found life. Before then, I can't really say I was alive - i was just existing.

 

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Permalink Reply by Carla on October 3, 2011 at 10:03am

Scribe,  Thank you for sharing your story and testimony.  It's amazing how the enemy will throw things in our paths to distract and/or distort us from God's truth.  Your testimony is also further evidence of how God holds on to us as His children... He protected you and educated you in ways that you were not lead astray.  Thanks again Scribe, I hope that people will read your post, and that it will serve as a warning for people as to how satan works, and also as an encouragement as to how Almighty God works...

 

Blessings and Love in Christ,

Carla

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Permalink Reply by Bible-Talk on October 3, 2011 at 9:56am

Hi Carla,

I was baptized when I was a baby and was raised as a Catholic. I used to read/hear parts of the gospel during my childhood. When I was 21 I became depressed and things deteriorated drastically; I became severely depressed during the following 13 years. I stopped going to church. I used to talk aloud to God but with hatred in my heart towards Him -  I questioned Him about all the injustices in my life and swore at Him - I was disgraceful. Then one day I just kept saying out aloud " I wish I could live my life like how they (Christians) lived in the Bible". The next thing I knew my friend invited me to a church service - I declined his offer. A couple of weeks later he asked me if I wanted to study the Bible - I said yes. That is when I truly started to hear the gospel in a spiritually valuable/appreciative way. 

To me the order of the Bible studies that we engaged in was quite significant;

We started off by studying about Jesus - being the Son of God and the saviour, as well as his miracles, teachings etc

Next was a study on what it is to be a believer/follower of christ - ie what it is to be a (Biblical) Christian

Then we did a couple of studies on sin - ie what it was in Gods eyes, as well as its consequences (wages) ..... this study helped me to acknowledge, admit and confess to sins in my life , and was important in anticipation of and preparation for the next study ......

which was on repentance - a study that helped me to clear & prepare my heart and mind to turn to God and away from my sinful life

Next was a study on baptism - the opportunity of re-birth as a new (saved) creation

Then came a study on church - the (spiritual) body of Christ in which all saved humans live

We did do other studies eg "seeking God", "the Word of God" and others but the above studies for me stood out.

Then came the time to make a decision about being saved and becoming a Christian. I made that decision on 22/03/1994 and before I got baptized I was asked two questions along the lines:

"Do you believe that Jesus is the son of God who died for your sins and that God raised him from the dead?" I said "yes I do"

"What is your good confession?" My reply was "Jesus is Lord"

Then my friend said " because of your confession I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit so that your sins will be forgiven and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" - and I got baptized in a swimming pool.

 

Acts 2:14-39:

¹⁴ Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. ¹⁵ These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! ¹⁶ No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

 ¹⁷ “‘In the last days, God says, 
   I will pour out my Spirit on all people. 
Your sons and daughters will prophesy, 
   your young men will see visions, 
   your old men will dream dreams. 
¹⁸ Even on my servants, both men and women, 
   I will pour out my Spirit in those days, 
   and they will prophesy. 
¹⁹ I will show wonders in the heavens above 
   and signs on the earth below, 
   blood and fire and billows of smoke. 
²⁰ The sun will be turned to darkness 
   and the moon to blood 
   before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. 
²¹ And everyone who calls 
   on the name of the Lord will be saved.’^[c]

 ²² “Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. ²³This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men,^[d] put him to death by nailing him to the cross. ²⁴ But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. ²⁵ David said about him:

   “‘I saw the Lord always before me. 
   Because he is at my right hand, 
   I will not be shaken. 
²⁶ Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; 
   my body also will rest in hope, 
²⁷ because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, 
   you will not let your holy one see decay. 
²⁸ You have made known to me the paths of life; 
   you will fill me with joy in your presence.’^[e]

 ²⁹ “Fellow Israelites, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. ³⁰But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne.³¹ Seeing what was to come, he spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did his body see decay. ³² God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. ³³ Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. ³⁴ For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said,

   “‘The Lord said to my Lord: 
   “Sit at my right hand 
³⁵ until I make your enemies 
   a footstool for your feet.”’^[f]

 ³⁶ “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”

 ³⁷ When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

 ³⁸ Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹ The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

 

I no longer consider myself to be a Catholic but I call myself a Christian (which is what I believe I am in Gods eyes). That is my conversion story!

In Christ,

Desmond

 

 

 

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Permalink Reply by Carla on October 3, 2011 at 10:10am

Hi Desmond,

 

Wonderful. Thank you so much for sharing this.  The order of bible study that you did definately has the imprint of God all over it.  God knows what will reach each one of us...and clearly He got your attention.  PTL!  :-D

 

Blessings and Love in Christ to you Desmond.. Thanks so much for your post.

~Carla

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Permalink Reply by Bible-Talk on October 3, 2011 at 11:17am

Thanks Carla - it's a blessing to be amongst wonderful people like you here at AAG.

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