Know Why You Believe - Todd Strandberg - http://www.raptureready.com/rap16.html
Throughout many years I've added a wide variety of pages to the site that are all designed to help advance the gospel message. One of the most basic witnessing tools can be found on the Testimony pages. They were added to the site sometime in the spring of 2002.
In one of my Nearing Midnight articles I had made an appeal for people to write up their testimonies and send them to the site. We listed them by common categories such as homosexuality, drugs, and cults to encourage people who may be dealing with those various problems. Since we had as many as a dozen people under each category, I was satisfied with the number we had-so we never added any new testimonies.
But recently I have had to make regular updates on those Testimony pages. There have been at least a dozen times that people have asked me to remove their testimony of faith from the site. I only used first names, so it wasn't a problem with personal information. A few people included emails to mostly Hotmail, AOL, or Yahoo accounts.
It quickly became obvious why people wanted me to delete their testimonies; they no longer believed what they had written. The passage of time had caused them to back away from the most important declaration that a person can make: To choose Christ as Lord and Savior by faith and accept His free gift of salvation.
You would think that most people would be too embarrassed to make such a request. I could tell that having a testimony on the Internet had been eating at them. They searched for their testimonies down to the point of discovering some of the ones found on a RR's mirror sight. It makes me sick to my stomach to have people driven to remove all traces of their previous confession of faith In Christ. I can only think of Jesus' statement:
"Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels" (Mark 8:38).
In one case, I received a delete request from someone who had previously operated a major Christian website. It once had the motto: "This ministry is devoted to Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior." I asked the person why he pulled the plug on his witnessing tool.
He wrote back saying, "I have mixed feelings about organized religion... I also have concerns about the Trinity doctrine, and I think Jesus might have been a prophet. I also have doubts about the Rapture doctrine."
But he still wanted to be "like Christ" from an academic point of view.
I did a search of this person's name on Google and found he had a long unflattering record with Wikipedia. He had been banned from the site for posting lies and creating false accounts to promote a book he wrote. To get back in Wikipedia's good graces, he had to post a letter admitting his misdeeds.
Over the years, I have witnessed dozens of people who have suffered spiritual train wrecks. Of the people I know personally there were warning indications of trouble to come. I don't ever recall observing someone of strong faith just suddenly recanting his or her belief in God. The ones who flame out are those who have a long struggle with their Christian identity.
The obvious lesson here is that identifying yourself with Christianity doesn't make you a believer. True faith must come from the heart. The apostle Paul said you could do all the good works in the world, but without love you have nothing:
"Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing" (1 Corinthians 13:1-3).
The main purpose for having a testimony is because you love the Lord Jesus, and you wish to publicly declare what He has done for you. The test of time will separate true believers from false believers. If you have a true commitment to Christ, there is nothing that can break that bond.
"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek" (Romans 1:16).
Throughout many years I've added a wide variety of pages to the site that are all designed to help advance the gospel message. One of the most basic witnessing tools can be found on the Testimony pages. They were added to the site sometime in the spring of 2002.
In one of my Nearing Midnight articles I had made an appeal for people to write up their testimonies and send them to the site. We listed them by common categories such as homosexuality, drugs, and cults to encourage people who may be dealing with those various problems. Since we had as many as a dozen people under each category, I was satisfied with the number we had-so we never added any new testimonies.
But recently I have had to make regular updates on those Testimony pages. There have been at least a dozen times that people have asked me to remove their testimony of faith from the site. I only used first names, so it wasn't a problem with personal information. A few people included emails to mostly Hotmail, AOL, or Yahoo accounts.
It quickly became obvious why people wanted me to delete their testimonies; they no longer believed what they had written. The passage of time had caused them to back away from the most important declaration that a person can make: To choose Christ as Lord and Savior by faith and accept His free gift of salvation.
You would think that most people would be too embarrassed to make such a request. I could tell that having a testimony on the Internet had been eating at them. They searched for their testimonies down to the point of discovering some of the ones found on a RR's mirror sight. It makes me sick to my stomach to have people driven to remove all traces of their previous confession of faith In Christ. I can only think of Jesus' statement:
"Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels" (Mark 8:38).
In one case, I received a delete request from someone who had previously operated a major Christian website. It once had the motto: "This ministry is devoted to Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior." I asked the person why he pulled the plug on his witnessing tool.
He wrote back saying, "I have mixed feelings about organized religion... I also have concerns about the Trinity doctrine, and I think Jesus might have been a prophet. I also have doubts about the Rapture doctrine."
But he still wanted to be "like Christ" from an academic point of view.
I did a search of this person's name on Google and found he had a long unflattering record with Wikipedia. He had been banned from the site for posting lies and creating false accounts to promote a book he wrote. To get back in Wikipedia's good graces, he had to post a letter admitting his misdeeds.
Over the years, I have witnessed dozens of people who have suffered spiritual train wrecks. Of the people I know personally there were warning indications of trouble to come. I don't ever recall observing someone of strong faith just suddenly recanting his or her belief in God. The ones who flame out are those who have a long struggle with their Christian identity.
The obvious lesson here is that identifying yourself with Christianity doesn't make you a believer. True faith must come from the heart. The apostle Paul said you could do all the good works in the world, but without love you have nothing:
"Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing" (1 Corinthians 13:1-3).
The main purpose for having a testimony is because you love the Lord Jesus, and you wish to publicly declare what He has done for you. The test of time will separate true believers from false believers. If you have a true commitment to Christ, there is nothing that can break that bond.
"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek" (Romans 1:16).
BE SURE TO CHECK OUT MY ALL NEW PROPHECY AND CREATION DESIGN WEBSITES. THERE IS A LOT TO SEE AND DO..........
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