My Testimony And The plan Of Salvation

When we begin in life, we have a goal. Survive.  Live life to the fullest because when it ends it ends and there is nothing left. That is what most believe in. A life without purpose, meaning, or true happiness because you are just a randomly made creature no different than the dog you feed every day. This is the outlook of the world that you live in. Here is my outlook. When I begin my life, I am lost. No hope for tomorrow and no happiness today. Then I found a light in this world that brought me life that I had never hoped to find. My life now has purpose and meaning and true happiness. My life is special in God's eyes and I am loved by the CREATER GOD! He sent his only Son to die the most painful death imaginable to man and He did it just for me. Now tell me, which do you believe?
When I was 4 years old I had made a proffesion of faith, but I did not truly understand what God had done for me. Then when I was about 12 I realized I was not saved, but my pride kept me from admitting it. For about a year I would go to bed at night wodering if I would wake up in Hell. I thank God He didn't just kill me then. After a year or so of this I was old enough to go to teen camp for the first time. I was excited. That had been my dream since I ws little. All I wanted to do was go and have fun. But what happened when I got there was unexpected. That Tuesday morning we had chapel services. Bro. Jerry Ross preached about the five essential steps in getting saved, and I realized right there that there was no point n letting my pride keep me from going to heaven. I went forward and got saved in a camp chapel in Iowa. Praise God! I am not perfect. I am a sinner. But I am saved and on my way to heaven. No longer to stay up at nights worrying about death. Through the 2 or so years since pride has continued to get in my way as I try to serve God. Through God I shall overcome for God is greater than my sin. He is greater than your sin to. If you are not saved and you want to be saved, than here is what to do. First, you must admit you are a sinner. The Bible says in Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God."I don't know about you but I've stolen pieces of candy before. God calls even  the little white lie you told a sin that will send you to Hell. Also, you must realized there is a wage to pay for your sin. In Romans 6:23a the Bible says "For the wages of sin is death...". Sin comes with a price to pay. Yes, physical death is a side effect of sin, the death spoken of in his verse is indicating spiritual death. Eternal seperation from God on earth and when we die, in Hell. God is holy and therefore cannot allow you or your sin into heaven. God wants to fellowship with you but he cannot. So God came up with a plan to save mankind from their sin. In Romans 5:8 the Bible says "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Also back to Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." So God, to reconcile man to himself, made the ultimate sacrifice in sending Jesus Christ, his only begotten son, to take our place and die on a cross so you and I can be forgiven. of our sins and go to heaven. Throughout time itself man has yet to fully comrehend the love God has for them. Jesus died, took our sins and laid them on himself, died a horrible death, was buried. That i not the end though. For salvation's plan to be complete, one more miracle would take place and change the course of man's destiny. Jesus, buried in a tomb for three days, all God, all human, conquered death and hell, rising from the dead. He took the blood he had shed on the cross up to heaven and laid it on the altar, saying to God, "It is finished. I have paid the debt for man's sin. I have made it possible to man to be spiritually alive again. Here is my blood sacrifice. Man can be saved."  God did all the work on Calvary. All you have to do is accept the gift God is offering to you. You may say "How do I accept his gift?" Well, in Romans 10:9 the Bible states "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thy hear that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." Also in Romans 10:13  the Bible says " For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."  Just ask God to forgive you of your sins and take you to heaven when you die. If you truly believe that the Bible is true and you have truly asked God to forgive you, you are saved and on your way to heaven. If you have done this, leave a comment and let me know. Don't stop at being saved though. You are on your way to heaven and nothing can change that, but now you need to serve God. He did so much for you and you have a lot to look forward to and be thankful for, but don't you think you should try and thank him through service to him. Find a good Baptist church near you.(I might be able to help you with that as well) and start attending faithfully. God will show you what to do and how to grow. Most importantly, READ THE BIBLE AND PRAY. Get a good King James Bible 1611 Authorized version and pray asking God to show you how to grow through his Word. If you have any questions, please leave a comment, I will get back to you. Please don't put of getting saved, no one knows how long they have left on this earth. I'm on my way to heaven. Are you?

(All Scripture is quoted from the King James Bible 1611 Authorized version)

 

Using God as a good luck charm.

 1Sa 4:1 ¶ And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out against the Philistines to battle, and pitched beside Ebenezer: and the Philistines pitched in Aphek.
1Sa 4:2 And the Philistines put themselves in array against Israel: and when they joined battle, Israel was smitten before the Philistines: and they slew of the army in the field about four thousand men.
1Sa 4:3 And when the people were come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, Wherefore hath the LORD smitten us to day before the Philistines? Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of Shiloh unto us, that, when it cometh among us, it may save us out of the hand of our enemies.
1Sa 4:4 So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from thence the ark of the covenant of the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth between the cherubims: and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.
1Sa 4:5 And when the ark of the covenant of the LORD came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth rang again.
1Sa 4:6 And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, What meaneth the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews? And they understood that the ark of the LORD was come into the camp.
1Sa 4:7 And the Philistines were afraid, for they said, God is come into the camp. And they said, Woe unto us! for there hath not been such a thing heretofore.
1Sa 4:8 Woe unto us! who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty Gods? these are the Gods that smote the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness.
1Sa 4:9 Be strong, and quit yourselves like men, O ye Philistines, that ye be not servants unto the Hebrews, as they have been to you: quit yourselves like men, and fight.
1Sa 4:10 ¶ And the Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten, and they fled every man into his tent: and there was a very great slaughter; for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen.
1Sa 4:11 And the ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain.

In this passage we see that Israel is, once again, at war with the Philistines. However, the Israelites are losing because they are not following God. We see, that in a desperate attempt to win the war, Israel takes the Ark of the Covenant and brings it into the battle. Now ,a funny thing happens, they still lose. You'd think that because the Israelites brought the holiest thing that they had access to that God would help them win. Sounds right doesn't it? Well, lets think about this, what do you do with a good luck charm? Do you wear it around your neck in the shape of a rabbits foot? Or do you keep it in your pocket in the form of a button? Or do you not use it until you need it in the form of prayer? To many people use prayer and God as good luck charms. I read in a book about a school who hung this sign in its lobby. "To whom it may concern: In the event of Atomic Attack all rules against praying in this school are indefinitely suspended." This is was rather difficult for me to read without bursting out in laughter. Then I thought , "Why am laughing, this really isn't funny. With America the way it is, this is normal." Prayer is not a tool to be set on the back shelf. God will answer prayer but he will not be our good luck charm. He deserves better than that. Considering everything He has done for you.







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Update

I am sorry for not posting but until recently I have not had access to a computer. VBS was a huge success 24 kids saved, the teaching was great, and the Heartland team was a huge help. Coming up we have teen camp!! So far from our church we have 12-15 kids going. The dates are July 28-Aug.1 The preacher hat week will be Bro. Tony Wood. Please be praying. On that note I will wish you all a wonderful summer.

Update!

I have finally gotten back to check up on you all. You will have to excuse my lack of posts recently, it has become increasingly harder to get on a computer that I can actually post on. Anyway, I have an announcement to make. Northwoods Baptist Church is having their third annual Vacation Bible School!!! Several exciting things will mark this VBS. We will be having Bro. Rick Mitchell come and preach for us, as usual. We are having a VBS team from Heartland Baptist Bible College come up and help us. Last but not least, we are having a five-day VBS this year instead of our usual three-day. For a church our size this is a huge endeavor so please pray for several things: for Bro. Mitchell and the VBS team for safety as they are travelling, for the supplies needed, and for the kids that they would allow God to speak to them this coming VBS. The date for this is June 2nd through the 6th so please be praying. Thats about it so I will check up with you all later. Hope you all have a good spring.

Faith that will move mountains.

Well, the snow is officially gone. The rain, however, just dealt its first devastating blow. Our road was flooded along with many others, Best of all, an old wish of the family came true. We suddenly had a pool in the backyard.  There is one thing, though, that never ceases to amaze me. Any church bus runner will agree with me that running in the rain is not exactly preferable. Now maybe its just because I've been at it such a short time but I have never had to do any running in the rain. This Sunday was especially cool. I woke up, and it was pouring, everything was already flooded. Everyone said I was going to get wet. I said "I've never had to run in the rain before, God will stop the rain." I just knew He had it under control. So we got in the car, and the rain stopped. We got to church, I ran my route, we got back to church with the kids, and it started raining. After classes I had to stay in the church for a few minutes, so I sent the kids out to the bus with the other workers. It was still raining. By the time I got out to the bus the rain had stopped. I ran the kids home and by that evening the rain started again. Not once did I have to run in the rain. Now you may call it sheer luck, but I think God was being mighty good to me and those kids. I had faith God would stop the rain in time to keep everyone dry and I think everyone reading this knows what faith can do. "And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying,
Mt 17:15 Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water.
Mt 17:16 And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.
Mt 17:17 Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me.
Mt 17:18 And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.
Mt 17:19 Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?
Mt 17:20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you." Now, in no way am I bragging that I have great faith, it is actually quite the contrary. I struggle with my faith as much as the other guy. But I know what it can do. If you go through life trusting God with everything you have, God will bless you for it. That doesn't mean God won't take you through trials, but rather that he will give them to you as a way to increase your faith. Who's up for some faith exercises.

"How Much I Owe"

How Much I Owe

When this passing world is done,

When has sunk yon glowing sun,

When we stand with Christ in glory,

Looking o’er life’s finished story.

Then, Lord, shall I fully know ---

Not till then --- how much I owe.

When I stand before the throne,

Dressed in beauty not my own,

When I see Thee as Thou art,

Love Thee with unsinning heart,

Then, Lord, shall I fully know ---

Not till then --- how much I owe.

When the praise of heaven I hear,

Loud as thunder to the ear,

Loud as many water’s noise,

Sweet as harp‘s melodious voice,

Then, Lord, shall I fully know ---

Not till then --- how much I owe.

Even on earth, as through a glass

Darkly, let Thy glory pass,

Make forgiveness feel so sweet,

Make Thy Spirit’s help to meet

Even on earth, Lord, make me know

Something of how much I owe.

                     Robert Murry McCheyne

The effect of sin in your life.

WOW!! It is a relief to finally see a release of winters cold hand on our part of michigan. For the first time in to long I can see grass in our yard. However, If you look hard at winter you can learn a thing or two from it. Sometimes the cold of winter can be compared with coldness of our own hearts concerning the conviction of the Holy Spirit. After only a short period of time in sin, we can make the spirit of none effect because we won't listen to God's guiding voice. However, where there is cold there is a chance at thaw. We can always pray for forgiveness from God, confess our sins and start serving God again. Now I'm not at all saying that things will not be different. Concerning the sin, there is a chance you have ruined your testimony and are of little use to God. That doesn't mean you can't serve, it just means it will be an uphill battle, and he might not be able to use you like he could have.
If you look at the outcome it isn't worth even going in that direction, but God will always accept you back into his fold. Just remember, Your sin will always find you out.

Going Home

"Stepping Ashore"
Oh, think to step ashore,
   And find it Heaven;
To clasp a hand outstretched,
   And find it God's hand!
To breathe new air,
   And that, celestial air;
To feel refreshed,
   And find it immortality;
Ah, think to step from storm and stress
   To one unbroken calm:
To awake and find it Home.
                             Robert E. Selle

Beautiful, isn't it. To think of a day like that. Oh, to step from the sin and strife of this world to the calm of forever. To me this poem means peace, everlasting peace. From this vantage point its hard to imagine a world like that. A world of perfect peace in an everlasting state. Always being able to talk face to face with the most wonderful and awesome Friend that ever has been and always will be.
I think of the song "What A Day That Will Be" when my Jesus I shall see. Jesus gave us a glimpse of Heaven when he said "In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
Joh 14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
Joh 14:4 ¶ And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.

Sounds great doesn't it? I can't wait.

Christmas and New Years -The aftermath

Hey everybody. Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, I know I did. My grandparents came over and my Grandpa made his always amazingly good stew for Christmas Eve dinner. On Christmas night we went to church and heard an amazing message from our pastor. After the service we went back to my grandparents hotel room and  finished the night playing Skipbo and talking about the wonderful day we had. For New Years we went to our church and had a haystack supper. (For those of you who don't know what a haystack is, let me explain. First you layer your plate with tortilla chips or a single soft tortilla shell. Then you lay on the nacho/taco meat like never before. Now you have multiple choices you can have nacho cheese sauce, shredded cheese, guacamole, salsa, and everything else you can think of to put on a mexican meal. Usually the shredded cheese is last and if you do it right it looks like a haystack. One of the best meals on earth) After we ate, we started playing a few games my mom had prepared and had a great time. At about 10:30 we went into the auditorium and prayed in the new year. I thank the Lord for such a wonderful church family to go into the new year with. To face trials and triumphs, as well as temptations to either overcome or fall into to. As we go into the new year I think it would be good to realize that no matter what you have a decision to make. In this new year it is all to easy to just give up and take a the wrong path away from the wonderful God who loves you more than you can imagine. Don't turn away. I've seen to many people just up and walk away, never to walk through the church doors again. You could reach so many people for God if you would just give everything to Him. Don't become another spiritual casualty. Do something for God this year. Merry CHRISTmas and a happy New Year.

Tommorrow is the first blank page of a 365 page book
Write a good one.    
                                              Unknown

New Year's Wishes

What shall I wish thee?
Treasures of earth?
Songs in the springtime,
Pleasures and mirth?
Flowers on thy pathway,
Skies ever clear?
Would this ensure thee
A Happy New Year?

What shall I wish thee?
What can be found
Bringing thee sunshine
All the year round?
Where is the treasure,
Lasting and dear,
That shall ensure thee
A Happy New Year?

Faith that increaseth,
Walking in light;
Hope that aboundeth,
Happy and bright;
Love that is perfect,
Casting out fear;
These shall ensure thee
A Happy New Year.

Peace in the Savior,
Rest at His feet,
Smile of His countenance
Radiant and sweet,
Joy in His presence!
Christ ever near!
This will ensure thee
A Happy New Year!

–Frances Ridley Havergal