OCC


OurChurch.Com - Free Christian Websites



Homepage


BY BECKA HAMILTON
Jesus is On Your Side
With God I Walk
Your Choice
Thank You God


BY JULIE RYAN
Ancient of Days
My Little Girl
Just Beyond The Clouds
He is Speaking To Me
My Prince
My Lifetime Request
This Earthly Tent
Something to Hope For
Stay Near, My Child
Will Jesus Know Me?
My Testimony


BY DARNELL LEE MOORE (HERC)
Enlightenment
Some Friends Stay Forever Near Our Hearts
Get Up From Where You Are and Allow the Potter to Mold You
My Testimony


BY BRENDA NEIGH
To be a Soldier for God
Spirit Filled
It's All About Jesus
Keep Looking Up
Awesome Hero from Revelation
A Lesson at Church
Encouragement for Catholics
My Testimony


BY ELVA LEITEM
My Testimony


BY CARA HENRY
Chiropractic Parable
A Volleyball Parable
Guard Your Heart
Try Again
If Tomorrow Never Comes
A Beautiful Prayer
Dear Lord
Morning Prayer
We are at War
My Testimony
Desperate


BY SUSIE STROBEL
My Testimony


BY SHERRY ELLENBERGER
The Puzzle of My Life


LETTERS FROM PRISON
Tim's Letters
Dead End
Dear Young People
Prison Twist Isn't Fun


SALVATION - GOD'S GIFT TO US
Definition of Being "Born Again"
Q & A
How Do I Pray to Receive Jesus?
How to Be Sure
Good News! Bible Verses about Salvation
Are all religions essentially the same?


MISCELLANEOUS WRITINGS
Restoring Your Passion for God
Steps to Partner Acceptance
Cousin Paul's Testimony
Anonymous Testimony
God Has a Positive Answer For it!
Coping With Depression
Consider This


THE JOYFUL WIFE by Julie Ryan
Introduction
The First Step
The Big "S" Word
Supposed To Be
What a Nag!
Do The Things You Did At First
The Cheerful Giver
Prayer
When We Fail
Focus on Jesus


HOUSEHOLD STUFF
Recipes -- Main Dishes
Desserts
Household Tips


Links


OurChurch.Com - The Best Value in Christian Advertising

Read the Bible in a Year with E-dification.com
Christian Books, Music, Videos, & Gifts OurChurch.Com Advertising Free websites @ OurChurch.Com Remove the ads from your OurChurch.Com website Read the Bible in a Year with E-dification.com
Sister Share
Paul
After graduating High School in Pennsylvania, I moved to New York state with a couple of members of a band I was playing in. We continued to drive home on weekends to play booked dates for a while.

I had started working at IBM a year later in September.

My Grandfather (Dad's father) died 2 years later and I saw my Dad again for the first time in about 8 years.

Earlier...

- I attended Church only a few times, usually with neighbors. During grade school we would be bused to a local firehouse for "religious instruction" - during school hours! Filmstrips, singing, Bible stories. (Memory is a little foggy here.)

- I remember being mad at God because of my parents divorce. Cursing Him. Ridiculing those who were "religious".

- Living in California for a summer I used to go skin diving alone every day out on the point. I used to walk by this huge stone immersed in the sand upon which someone wrote: "Jesus Saves".

- A friend knew a family that were "really religious" and used to answer their telephone with "Jesus loves you". We would call just to hear them answer and then laugh at how silly it all seemed.

- Started Transcendental Meditation. It was all the rage since the Beatles first got into it. I was searching.

- Watched Billy Graham on TV a couple times and was intrigued by his messages.

- Saw the movie "The Exorcist" and wondered if all this could be true - if God actually does exist and has supreme power over evil.

I met a girl at IBM and started dating. Her Dad was a Baptist Pastor and he said I could date his daughter but I had to come to Church with her. Ok, no problem. I can do that. I began to hear, for what seemed like the first time,
the truth. The great thing is - God's word is not complicated. I thought it was. I thought I couldn't read & understand it for myself.

A couple months later I bowed my head at my desk in my office at work and asked God to forgive me of all that I have ever done. For all of my sins - and there were many. For all the times I cursed His name and swore He didn't exist. I admitted that there was a rift between Him & me and that I couldn't fix it myself. I needed His help. I needed the sacrifice that He offered in my place -
His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. I believed that He would take away my sin, guilt, sorrow, and pain - and replace it with the righteousness of Christ, peace of mind, and joy. He did that and more - eternal life. I will live
forever in a glorious place all because of what Christ did on the cross for me 2000 years ago, and not just for me, but for everyone who receives Him.

"For God so loved the world
that He gave His only Son,
that whosoever shall believe in Him
should not perish,
but have eternal life."
John 3:16

That's probably one of the first verses I learned as a believer. It is the bedrock foundation message from the Creator to all of humanity - God loves us and wants to reconcile us to Himself through Jesus' finished work on the cross.

It sounds too good to be true, but it is totally true and will never change.

I'm not religious, I just love Jesus with all my heart and want to serve Him all the days of my life until I see Him face to face.

Life goes on day-to-day - work, family, finances, but all things fall into place as God sees fit once you trust Him and ask Him to come in. At the foot of the cross is level ground. Everyone has to come to God alone, one-on-one - you,
me, the President, the Pope, Billy Graham, the man in the street. God has no grandchildren. We are all sinners in need of a Savior.

Consider praying this simple prayer:

Oh, God, I come to you by faith
and admit to you that I am
guilty of my sin. I can't save
myself. I believe Christ died
in my place for my sin. I'm
asking You now to forgive me of
my sin and to wash it away by
the blood of Your Precious Son.
Come into my heart, Lord Jesus,
and be my Lord & Savior forever.
Fill me with the Holy Spirit to
help me live a life pleasing to
You, to serve You and live for
You forever, to turn from my sin
and live a life pleasing to God.
I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

I have led thousands of people to Christ by that simple prayer. It's not even written in the Bible. The exact words are not even important. God looks on the heart and He hears an earnest call for help. See Romans 10:9-13.

Jesus was the missing piece in the puzzle of my life. My life was pretty happy, but there was always something that I just couldn't put my finger on. I tried a lot of stuff to try to fill the void. That void is placed in each life by God and only He can fill it. We were made to worship Him. Until we do we are in denial and hopelessly groping for something to take His place.

This is my story of faith that I share with you because you are important to me and to God. I pray that you find it within yourself to call out to God and cross from death to life.

Paul