What it had come down to was I knew I was a sinner and I needed to be saved and Jesus Christ (who is God, by the way) is the One who does just that. He died for me, rose again from the dead and I believe it. I made it official between God and me on Super Bowl Sunday in January of 1979. I understand now God was pursuing me. It wasn't a matter of me slowly "figuring it out" and then by a conclusion arrived at by logical thought processes, deciding to believe. God makes what was dead, alive. I was dead in trespasses and sin and a dead man does not have spiritual thought processes...logical or otherwise. He made me a new creation.
I was baptized in a local baptist church where my sister-in-law was a member...my wife and I joined and got involved. Before I knew it, I was singing in the choir and working with the teens in what the Southern Baptists called at that time "Training Union". A lot of churches make the mistake of grabbing "fresh meat" and throwing them immediately into some kind of service or work. That's not smart at all. I had no real clue as to what I was doing. Some of those kids looked up to me as some kind of celebrity because I was a local radio dj and that did not really help in my being viewed as a spiritual teacher or leader. I was a brand new Christian and ready to do anything the church leaders asked. However, new believers need to be trained and mentored themselves before they are put in positions of leadership. A lot of bad things could happen in situations like that. Let's just say I was very fortunate in the short time I was in that position. It was short lived however as I felt that God was calling me into some form of Christian radio work.
Before I close this chapter let me say this: becoming a Christian does not make you perfect and it does not mean your life becomes perfect. Christ took what I deserved on the cross so that I am justified...God sees His Son's perfect work...not sinful me. In this life we will always have trials and tribulations. As Christians we have God and His Word to help us through the difficult times. And I still sin....oh do I ever. Temptation to sin is probably worse now than ever because now I'm on God's side. I did not become some kind of "Christian robot". I am still a human being with human desires and emotions as long as I'm still on this earth in this body. When I was on the other side, they already had me, so why be tempted? You just did what came natural. I am very grateful for and encouraged by the scripture in 1 John which says "if we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness".
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