[Renee]

Hello again Stephanos,

Well I am relaxed, but I still see things the same way. Biblestudent quoted this verse:

Galatians 4:16 Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?

Do you not realize the love we show you here in our postings? We "throw stones" of truth at you hoping that the Lord will use the scriptures shown so uou may be saved unto eternal life?

[B]2 Peter 1:10-13 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:

11 For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

12 Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth.

13Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance;

We only want that "you be established in the present truth".

Stephanos, I am 64 years of age, married for 47 years to a wonderful man (George) that God has blessed me with. We have trained up 7 children in the Lord as best as we could, 7 have professed to be saved by the blood unto eternal salvation, all are morally "good". Not all are living for the Lord and 1 is living with the Lord He was only 42 years old when Our Lord took him home.

As parents we do not even think about our children dying before us, we want them near us untill we go home to heaven. How much more, (once we become the children of God) God in His holy and righteous love wants us near Him and is able to keep us?

John 17:15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.

2 Timothy 1:12 For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

My understanding of the word "keep" is very deep. George and I have been married for many years, he not only loves me, he keeps me. He "keeps" me through the many faults I have, the many stupid things I do, the many times I fail him. This is the kind of Love God has given us for eachother. We are carnal and able to possess this kind of Love. How much greater Our Lord's HOLY, INFINITE, INFALABLE AND EVERLASTING LOVE is.

No Stephanos, there is no hate involved in our post, only a deep concern that you be saved unto eternal life.

I have bared my heart (and God knows what I have said to be true):

Romans 9:1 I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost,

I pray that the doors of your heart remain open, I do pray for you.

Irene

[chette777]

Stephen,

Maybe you just have not been taught how to accurately detail your testimony. I have three, one long verson and two shorter versions.

the main thing you want to do when sharing your testimony (especially for the unsaved who may be listening or reading) is to be specific on when you beleived the Gospel, when you made Christ your personal savior and to express that at that moment you were saved and received eternal life.

For example, I heard the gospel, I was convicted in my heart that I needed Christ, I beleived he died in my place and paid the price for my sins, his blood made atonement for my sins and he rose from the dead to give me the assurance of eternal life with him.

all those terms are part of my testimony in one form or another. that way no one would be mistaken to think that there is any other way to be saved other than belief on Christ.

I was not doubting your salvation. I was doubting that your testimony was Biblical. as Bible beleivers we want to make every attempt to have our testimonies agree with the scriptures or we maybe sharing a different gospel.

I didn't beat you down and neither did George. as a matter of fact if you are one who is learning from this forum. you will take his insight and what I just shared and rewrite your testimony in a more Biblically accurate way so as not to mislead unbelievers.

I would not presume to judge your salvation and niether did George.


there is something I do. not everyone does this. But what I do is everytime I get a new Bible (of which I just did) I go through Proverbs. one per day until completed. I make comments in the margins as to what the verses are speaking to me about (that is persoal application). I get to see where I am in light of these scriptures, is my heart on the side of righteousness or wickedness? for throughout Proverbs that contrast is made clear. I still have some of those wicked contrats in my life and I can pray them with the Lord and ask for the Holy Ghost to help me do the things of righteousness in my heart and not the things of wickedness.

May I suggest you do something like that with the book of Proverbs. it is you doing it for you and no one else. that book will have a way of helping you see yourself more clearly and truthfully. So be honest with yourself, attitude and heart as you go through it. For Christ said we must remove the speck from our own eye before we can help remove the stone from our brothers eye.

blessing

[Biblestudent]

Stephanos,
When I read your testimony, I believe you are saved (with a little "reading between the lines"), and especially that you claim to be a "fundamentalist" (although there are many kinds of them, too). But I think George and Chette were right. We ought to give a clear testimony of our salvation and should not hesitate to details if there is any question about the matter. The CONTENT of the gospel that we believe is very important and should be included in our salvation testimony. We may be truly saved, but there are a lot of people here whom I know have "given their lives to Jesus" but do not believe that all there sins were washed by the blood of Christ through faith in Him.
(In my opinion, it's important to disclose to others who we really are. Otherwise, we forfeit the right to be "beaten down" and mistaken as someone else by our fellowsoldiers in Christ.)

[stephanos]

Originally Posted by chette777

Stephen,

Maybe you just have not been taught how to accurately detail your testimony. I have three, one long verson and two shorter versions.

the main thing you want to do when sharing your testimony (especially for the unsaved who may be listening or reading) is to be specific on when you beleived the Gospel, when you made Christ your personal savior and to express that at that moment you were saved and received eternal life.

For example, I heard the gospel, I was convicted in my heart that I needed Christ, I beleived he died in my place and paid the price for my sins, his blood made atonement for my sins and he rose from the dead to give me the assurance of eternal life with him.

all those terms are part of my testimony in one form or another. that way no one would be mistaken to think that there is any other way to be saved other than belief on Christ.

I was not doubting your salvation. I was doubting that your testimony was Biblical. as Bible beleivers we want to make every attempt to have our testimonies agree with the scriptures or we maybe sharing a different gospel.

I didn't beat you down and neither did George. as a matter of fact if you are one who is learning from this forum. you will take his insight and what I just shared and rewrite your testimony in a more Biblically accurate way so as not to mislead unbelievers.

I would not presume to judge your salvation and niether did George.


there is something I do. not everyone does this. But what I do is everytime I get a new Bible (of which I just did) I go through Proverbs. one per day until completed. I make comments in the margins as to what the verses are speaking to me about (that is persoal application). I get to see where I am in light of these scriptures, is my heart on the side of righteousness or wickedness? for throughout Proverbs that contrast is made clear. I still have some of those wicked contrats in my life and I can pray them with the Lord and ask for the Holy Ghost to help me do the things of righteousness in my heart and not the things of wickedness.

May I suggest you do something like that with the book of Proverbs. it is you doing it for you and no one else. that book will have a way of helping you see yourself more clearly and truthfully. So be honest with yourself, attitude and heart as you go through it. For Christ said we must remove the speck from our own eye before we can help remove the stone from our brothers eye.

blessing

Chette: this post of yours is right on. What I didn't make clear to you guys is that I (in the first account, and then the second account I wrote within miniutes of crawling out of bed) wrote a very brief testimony when I was feeling a bit frustrated over things. I didn't realize I would be required to give an exhaustive account of how I came to where I am today. I have often wondered if I should write out a formal testimony, and perhaps this is a wake up call for me to do so. Concerning Proverbs, I have been through it many times, and each time is as if the first. Proverbs is a gem! Again, I thank you for this post. This is the first post of yours I actually felt like you weren't out to ostrasize me. I appreciate this very much. If only you all knew how agonizing the prayers I've had lately have been. In all honesty this whole mess has really left me feeling beaten up spiritually.

Renee: I am so sorry... I wish I could tell you that in person. I am a fool sometimes, and I want you to know more than anything that I was so wrong for what I said. I have nothing but love and respect for you. *sigh*

Debau: of course you are absolutely correct. I guess I wasn't expecting to have to do so here of all places. Truly you do bring forth wisdom to this conversation.

George: There was nothing sensational at all about my recieving Christ's invitation to recieve forgiveness by His atoning blood of 10 years ago when I was staying in the house of the deacon of my parents church after our house had burned down the day before Christmas. I really REALLY was lost at that time in all sorts of destructive behaviours. Our family was stressed to the max after seeing everything we owned go up in flames, and on top of that I was becoming more and more rebellious as time went by (I think I was trying to cope with things in, ultimately, the wrong way). I had indeed grown up in a fairly liberal Christian home (I sure wish I could lead them out of this today, but they won't here it from their son) but none the less my mother wanted me to recieve Christ Jesus into my heart, and sat me down one evening to explain the gospel one last time to me. At that moment I wanted nothing to do with Jesus or what He offered me, mainly because I more often than not rebelled against my parents just for the sake of rebellion. However, something didn't settle right with me that week. I just felt unsettled by the knowledge of what Jesus Christ had done, and one evening while I was watching a film I realized that the only reason I didn't want to recieve Christ Jesus was solely for the sake of rebellion, and that my years of fighting and bad mouthing Christians was done because I ultimately knew that God indeed existed and that salvation was only through His Son. That night I was scared and didn't know what to pray. I was all alone in the basement of a strangers home with the greatest desire to make peace with God, and I only knew that I could do so because Christ Jesus had hung on a cross on my behalf. I remember expressing to God that I would not continue on in rebellion, and that I would live my life for Him instead of myself. "Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." That night by the grace of God through my faith in His Son Jesus Christ, who hung on the cross for my sins and rose again the third day, I recieved eternal forgiveness for all of my sins . At this point I started to read the NIV bible and began to learn what that translation had to offer a young Christian still on the milk. I got involved in youth group and Bible study etc. One thing that also happened was that I became aware of sin in my life. I've always felt very sensitive to it for some reason. I've always battled with why I desire to do good but at times still do sinful things. My prayers reflect this... I know that Christ's sacrifice was once and for all, so my salvation was never in question. However I was tormented (and still am) by the desire to make my Master smile, and the blatant sin that still exists in my life. Fast forward , it was my decision years later to put away the perVersions and get the Good ol' Booke that I my life began to really reflect the promises I found in God's Word. I started to really hunger for those life giving words and also found a great desire in me to share what I'd found with others. You all know the rest. People (in my experience) just don't want to be told that the bible they own is not God's preserved Words. I wasn't very graceful in my approach either, and I'm thinking that hasn't changed much today.

I haven't detailed everything George, but if you have questions, please feel free to ask.

a fool for Jesus,
Stephen

[chette777]

Ok, don't beat yourself up to much over what has been shared. go easy on us and yourself no one including George is trying to do you harm or hatred.

[George]

Originally Posted by chette777

Ok, don't beat yourself up to much over what has been shared. go easy on us and yourself no one including George is trying to do you harm or hatred.

Re: Stephanos - Stephen's "testimony"

Aloha Stephen,

I'll go along with brother Chette. It's not my business to "verify" someone elses salvation. I am called to preach, teach, warn, admonish, reprove, and yes, once in a while - to rebuke. (Contending for the faith includes all of the above)

I especially appreciate your apology to my wife, and at this point I believe it would be "profitable" for us all to drop the matter.

It is my sincere prayer that this experience would be instructive to you, and you might grow by it.

There is a reason that the Scriptures use the term "elders" in describing bishops/pastors. Unless a person is an "old fool", there's a good chance that, having been saved for 50 years - just might mean that some of us have learned a few things from the Scriptures; from the Holy Spirit; and from having lived as long as we have.

Let's begin anew, and let bygones be bygone.

[Renee]

Hello Stephanos,

I accept your apology and we will put this behind us. I do forgive you. I do have one thing more though, and do not get offended, but it does irk me. Please take the cross off MY Saviours back.

Aloha ,
Renee