Salvation Testimonies

The Lord by His will and good pleasure was pleased to save me 13 years ago, causing me to be born again. I trust by the same power and grace He will sanctify me and keep me until the day of redemption. Soli Deo Gloria.

Prior to becoming a Christian I was living in gross sin. I was involved with drugs, immoralities, and the occult. I was living with a group of people who all idealized the "hippy" lifestyle. My role in the group was as a proponent/leader of our "spiritual quest." We utilized psychedelic drugs and explored eastern religions, as well as shamanism. I mainly was taking from various religious ideas and religions and psychedelic induced "revelations" and creating my own understand of god and a way to worship. This, of course, led to many strange and demonic beliefs and practices, even to the point of bowing down and offering worship to the sun.

Through a few cicumstances I came into contact with a book I thought was about the worship of satan. I thought I would give it a try. However, the book was written by a born-again Christian Hal Lindsay. As many of you might know, Hal wrote a book called, "Satan is Alive and Well on Planet Earth."

To my surprise, the book highlighted the Gospel of Jesus Christ and gave a biblical perspective on sin. We know that the Gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, and that it is by the goodness of GOd we are brought to repentence. The Lord used His word to pierce my heart and convict me of sin.

In my questioning of whether or not Jesus was really the truth, I was having a discussion with one of the girls that lived with us. She was very much into the psychic scene and very opposed to the Gospel. Lindsay pointed out in his book the reality of satan and demons whose purpose was to decieve people and keep them from Jesus. I proposed a test to see if this was true. Her boyfriend was an atheist and I thought if anyone was affected by the demons it would be him. Lindsay has told the story of the seven sons of sceva from the Bible, and how the disciples used to cast out the demons in the name of Jesus. I thought if the atheist had any demons, the name of Jesus would provoke them.

I called him from the back room and when he came out I asked, "What do you think about JESUS!" He responded with great anger and yelled at us both. While this didn't convince me that demons were real, or Jesus for that matter, it was an opportunity to claim victory in the argument! So I turned to the girl and said, "See, demons!" She became quite upset and ran from the apartment in tears. At this point I began to wonder if there really was something to all this.

I went outside to see what had upset her so much. Perhaps it was just her boyfriend yelling at her. This is when the Lord was pleased to cause me to come alive in Christ. When I came close to the girl, I put my hand on her shoulder and asked what was wrong.

Suddenly, I felt something deep in my chest "break" and something leave me. From above I began to feel a mighty rush of pure love, joy, and peace flooding my body. I felt something, as it were, wash over my eyes, and I saw a brilliant light unlike any natural light. Everything within my being cried out that this was Almighty God, Maker of Heaven and Earth, touching me. In the moment I realized that God was doing something, I also realized I did not know Him. And so I asked in my heart, "Who are you?"

I did not hear out loud, but I heard distinctly the words, "I am Jesus." I knew immediately the One doing this thing was Jesus and that He was the true God and the Maker of Heaven and Earth. I was amazed and didn't know what to do. Just then, I was moved in my heart to pray. I even told the girl that we needed to pray, and I prayed, "Dear Lord, if we have been decieved all this time, please open our eyes that we may see."

The next thing the Lord moved me to do was to get a Bible and begin reading it. I devoured the Scriptures as a newborn babe does her mother's milk. In the pages of Holy Scripture I understood what had happened to me. I had been born again by the Word of God. I had become a new creature in Christ, old things had passed away, behold, all things became new.

I faced many trials after this, which is another story, but the nearness of my Lord Jesus Christ was strength enough to face even death if needed. You can see that what happened to me was a Sovereign work of Almighty God. There was no reason for Him to save me except because of His goodness and pleasure. May the Lord Jesus Christ be pleased to bring glory to the Father and His glorious grace for saving and showing such mercy and kindness to miserable wretch as me.

Soli Deo Gloria!

RB

 

I'll be glad to add mine when I get the time. But I saw that you're listening to Angel Martinez testimony. I had the privilege of leading the music in three revivals he preached in our church in Arkansas many years ago. I still pull out the old revival tapes and listen every now and then. What a powerful preacher and a great man of God. He's gone on to glory now, but I'm sure I see him again there.

 

That is an awesome testimony!

But what happened to the girl?

 

Well, that would be another long story! But basically, at first, all my friends hated me for what I now believed, especially her. She refused to talk to me anymore.

One night, she and her friends came home high on LSD. They had not been able to get any for sometime, and were excited to get some. Thsi grieved my heart, so I prayed earnestly to the Lord to intervene.

I was woken up very early in the morning by this girl. I had prayed to the Lord that He would show them the evil of their ways. Well, being shaken awake, her and the others who took the drug with her began seeing demons and she was terrified. What scared her the most was her friends were seeing the exact same thing, which is unusual under that drug.

She said to me that only my God could help them, so I layed my hands on them and prayed for them, and when I did their hallucinations stopped. She was very impressed at this and began to follow the Lord. However, the cost of following Jesus seemed to much to her, and the cares and love of this world choked the Word of God in her life, just like the parable says.

 

Great testimony, Bro.

The Lord has ways of manifesting Himself to us. Some earthshaking, like the Philippian jailor's, some mind boggling, like Paul's, some not so spectacular, like Cornelius who, well, just believed.

Like the song says: some thru the waters, some thru the flood, some thru the fire, but all through the blood.

 

Amen brother, all glory to God.

 

:thumbs:

I really got into that. Reminds me of what happen to Paul. :thumbs:

 

:tear: I'm sorry to hear that. Some people come so close but then turn away.

Very sad.

 

Well, here goes.

I was raised Catholic, so I had a strong dose of religion, but there was nothing to it in reality. I certainly didnt have a clue as to Jesus Christ actually living inside of me and wanting to change me into a new person.

When God began dealing with me I was in my early 20's and basically a hippie type. Smoking reefer, doing acid, LSD, magic mushrooms, etc etc.

I 1st heard the gospel through a cashier at a 7-11 convenient store. He didnt keep his job long...eventually being fired...because he witnessed to people as he was checking them out. :laugh:

I was one of them.

I was in there buying some beer and a Penthouse (porn) magazine. Well, one thing led to another and he witnessed to me. After about an hour...this was around 3AM...I had to leave but before I left he said "If I lend you my bible will you go home and read it?" I said "Sure", and he said to start in Matthew. He knew full well that the sermon on the mount would come up quickly :thumbs:

(To back track a bit, I was very much into comparing my sins with others. Yeah I did *this* and I did *that*....but hey, I wasnt a murderer or anything like that. And the girls I had sex with werent married. They were SINGLE, so its OK! And besides, I'll probably go to purgatory anyway! Thats only temporary, and then I'll go the heaven because after all, I was baptised as a Catholic as a baby, and I sat in mass sometimes. I'm safe.)

He tried to reason with me but it just didnt "take".

Anyway, back to him lending me his bible. I told him I would take it and read it starting in Matthew, then bring it back the next day. Of course, in the sermon on the mount it speaks of adultery, and that if you even LOOK at a woman with lust you were guilty of adultery! And any inordinate anger made me an murderer. etc etc

God knew that I had to be confronted with His law, and my guilt, before I could be born again.

So began about a 2 1/2 year period of conviction. It was with me all the time. I came to understand experientially that God is the "Hound of Heaven". You CAN NOT RUN FROM HIM. He will track you down until he wears you down.

And he was wearing me down. I was now officially under conviction.

Everywhere I went there was a christian there. I took a job at a pizza parlor and the assistant manager was born again. I moved into an apartment complex and my next door neighbor was born again. I visted a sick friend in the hospital and the people in the waiting room were born again. On and on and on.

And all these people lovingly shared the truth with me. I used to think "How do they know where I am going?" And "How do they know I'm not a christian? Is it emblazened on my forehead or something???" And I knew there was something very different about all these christians. They had a joy that was infectious. They had genuine love.

And there werent doing the things that I thought was "the good life"! The reefer, drugs, liquor and illicit sex.

They were from many different persuasions. Some baptist, some pentecostal, some charismatic, some Church of Christ, etc etc...and yet they all seemed to be saying the same things to me! Isnt that amazing? The Catholics like to say that the evangelical world is a chaos of confusion, yet all these "different denomination" christians were all the same to me! And all saying the same thing to me! God was supernaturally translating eveything they said into JUST WHAT I NEEDED TO HEAR to accomplish His purposes.

Anyway, God was wearing me down. I was "fighting against the goads" and didnt even know it. I began listening the christian radio and christian TV. NOT EVEN A CHRISTIAN yet, and I found myself listening and watching.

It took about 2 1/2 years after the 7-11 cashier but one night I layed down to go to sleep, and I couldnt take it any more. I started crying. I was finally willing to admit...to God...that I was a sinner and would go to hell if I died. I needed His mercy. And I knew that I was a dead man, who needed life. Divine life.

And I wanted whatever it was that these christians had!...and I was now willing to ask for it.

As I surrendered myself to, and embraced by faith, Jesus Christ, I remember distinctly that I felt an inner renewing take place inside me. I remember the tears of need turned to tears of joy. And after a period of time...I was in bed getting ready to go to sleep, remember...I drifted off to sleep.

But when I woke up the next day. I KNEW THAT I KNEW THAT I KNEW that I was a NEW MAN! Literally EVERYTHING was different. The world was different. I was different. My attitude was different. My wants and desires were differet. I didnt become perfect right away of course...I'm not perfect now...but I was NEW. And it has never gone away.

And I'll tell you what. I would give anything to someday meet that cashier at the 7-11 in Columbus Ohio, where I lived at that time. His name was Delbert, and if you are on here Delbert, SEND ME A PM, brother! :thumbs:

The only person of all these ones I have referred to that I have since met was one of the Baptists that witnessed to me in the hospital where I was visiting. About 10 years later I was visiting a church and I spotted him walking down an isle. This was now his home church and he didnt remember me until I shared my story. It was so good to tell him about it! And I thanked him for his faithfullness.

I wish I could meet every one of those dear ones who witnessed to me back then.

I realised a few weeks ago that it has now been 25 years since I was born again, and I was 25 years old when I was born again. I've spent exactly 1/2 of my life lost, and now 1/2 of my life saved.

WHAT...A...CHANGE...since 25 years ago. BY FAR the best years of my life have been the "born again" years. I wouldnt take 100 million dollars for Jesus Christ.

Blessings to all,

Mike

(and if anyone thinks my little testimony here might help someone, please copy it and pass it on if you want to)

 

Let me add something here that i just remembered.

All I knew was Catholicism...since i was raised in it...and I knew FOR SURE that I didnt want that. So that presented a problem. By now I had moved back to my hometown from where those christians had witnessed to me, and I didnt know any christians and didnt have any connections with any christian churches...but I VERY MUCH wanted to hook up with other believers.

So, I prayed and simply asked God to lead me to where He wanted me to fellowship.

Well, one day I was driving through a neighborhood that was no where near where I lived, and as I came upon this church it was as if the car made a left turn on its own into that church parking lot!

This was a small church and it was about 2PM. No services where going on and I found out that ordinarilly there would be nobody there that time of day, and on that day of the week.

But there was a woman out in the parking lot standing by her car as if she were waiting for me! She asked if she could help me. I said "Well, maybe. I'm a new christian and I have been wanting to get water baptised but I dont know anybody".

She said, well ordinarilly theres nobody here now but the pastor just happens to be inside and I saw his car and stopped by to talk to him. I'll take you right to him!

We talked for quite a while and I shared my testimony. I ended up having that be my 1st church and was water baptised a month or so later.

God is good!

Mike

 

I was relutant to write my testimony, But that reformed Baptists testimony moved my heart, to begin with Ive been raised in the old regular baptist all my life, and when I was 10 to about 12 years old i used to lie in my bed and sing to our Lord God for some reason I did that many years until later in my life I made i vow to God and denied It and I felt the spirit of cleanlyness leave my body from my head it started unto my feet it left my body, I actually felt the fear of God deep within my heart so strong that i couldnt understand a thing that was goimg on around me, and then it faded away, so many years later i did what i wanted still being of the flesh , then when I was about 18 years of age God started working in my heart again for i knew not the ways of God still even at this point of my life, Then I began to pursue going to church and really listen to the Word of God be preached, And as time went on I began to sneek out to pray unto the Lord and beg and beg to him to for give such a unworthy person such as I , this proceeded for a whille until when I felt that God wasnt listening to me I said within myself that Im just going to do what I want: But was I wrong thank you Jesus for on March 3 1991 at 2:30 or so the Lord proclaimed my soul with great fear and lead me to my final prayer, of repentance: which I began to Pray OOOO!! God please just let me die before thee and let my body be found here on earth unto death, and when I said that with my whole heart ,soul ,mind and strenght:I was lifted up off the ground where I was lieing not of my own strenght but God touched my natural body and stood me on my feet, at first I didnt know what to think but when I realized that i was standing and not lieing on the ground I went home and woke my mother and dad with the joy of shouting and praising my Lord God and thanking him for saving such a awful sinner like me, brother bless!!the Lord for he is good to my taste and pure to my heart, Im now by the Lords will going to 39 years of age and I still to this day think of that great day of my Lord forgiving me ,may the Lord bless you brothern,amen.

 

What great testimonies of God's goodness and mercy in bringing many sons (and daughters) to glory! All glory to our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ!

 

Very interesting testimony, ReformedBaptist, thank you. Mr. Togo, a drug addict, came to my church in Yokohama many years ago. One day he borrowed Lindsay's book in Japanese from our church library. He read it until 3:00 in the morning, whereupon he trusted Jesus Christ as Savior! The drugs had wrecked his body, though, so he went to Heaven early, but left behind a young lady who was saved through his testimony.

 

What a great idea for a thread, Bro. Williams! :thumbs:

In Wheaton, IL, in 1955 I was rebellious against my parents, a thief, a brawler (usually with my brother), a liar--and then I turned four! My mother says I was a very rebellious child, and would disobey over and over direct orders from her to come.

I remember lying in bed at age four and thinking, "I can live my life the way I want to, have fun all my life, and then get saved when I'm an old man lying on my bed just before I die." I must have heard a sermon on deathbed religion!

Finally the Lord's work in my heart brought fruit. My father was out of town preaching a revival meeting somewhere, so I went to Mom and said, "I want to get saved." I already knew the Gospel. After all, it's simply, and you actually have to become like a child to accept Christ. Mom had me quote John 3:16, then put my name in it: "For God so loved Johnny, that He gave His only begotten Son, that if Johnny would believe on Him, Johnny would not perish, but have everlasting life. Then I prayed to thank the Lord for saving me.

Such joy and holiness filled my soul that later at age six I described it to my friend Paul in kindergarten this way: "It's like when you go to bed and the sheets are brand new and it feels so good and clean to get in bed!" Then I told Paul that bit about putting his name in John 3:16, and he did so just as I had.

The next day Paul and his mother came over, and Paul and I played while the grownups talked. Then I was called inside to meet Paul's Mom. "Uh, oh," I thought, "What have I done wrong now?" But Paul's mother simply wanted to thank me for witnessing to her little boy! "Oh, whew, if that's all, then we can play some more, right?" :saint:

 

forgive the long post

I grew up in a biblically Christian home. MY parents were saved. Both sets of grandparents were saved. The church I grew up in was a wonderful, warm growing, evangelistic church.

I had made a profession of faith when I was 6, but it really was because others were doing it. I didn't understand anything. When I hit Junior High School, I remember deliberately choosing to do what my friends did (drink, smoke and other stuff) rather than do what I know was right. I became an expert on being 2 different people: one at church, the other everywhere else. I was so good at it that in 6th grade, I cursed out a teacher. My parents were called and my mother assured the teacher that her son would never do anything like that.

I became an athlete, playing HS football, basketball and baseball. My goal was not to be a pro athlete, but to make as much money as I could. My parents soon understood that I was being 2 people and began to pray. They also started to restrict me in terms of what I could do. They did their best but I skipped church when I was supposed to be at youth group.

God used 2 events to bring me to himself.
The first was the church called an Education Minister who was primarily tasked to work with youth. He saw through me immediately. One Sunday, after I had disrupted a youth activity, he took me into his office. I expected him to yell at me, threaten to tell my parents. But all he said was that he knew what I was doing and that I needed to come to Christ. Then he said that every time he saw me from then on, he was going to pray for me. Needless to say I tried my best to avoid him.

The second was meeting a business man. He was everything that I wanted to be: rich and successful. He owned a construction business. But every summer - his busiest time - he would pay for his crew to fly down to a mission field, and build a church with materials he paid for. When I asked him "why", his remark hit me: "If you knew the Jesus I know, you wouldn't even have to ask."

I went home that night and read through the gospel of John. On Sunday morning, I read through John again instead of listening to the sermon at church.

That night at church, I listened to the sermon, something new and different for me. After church, standing alone, for the first time, a thought occurred to me that if I died, I would go to hell. Right then, right there, I told Jesus that if He wanted me, He had me.

I told the youth pastor at the church. He talked to me about Philippians 1:6 and that God would continue to work in me. He talked about what to do when I sinned. He gave me a book called "Now That I Believe" by Bob Cook (I think).

I thank God that the Holy Spirit kept working in me and leading others to pray for me.

 

My Testimony
by Rev. Ronald W. Robey

I was born on Wednesday September 9th, 1959 in Tagiuria, Libya, Africa to American parents.
My Dad was stationed at the Wheelus Air Base in Tripoli, Libya. On Christmas day of 1960 my father drowned in the Mediterranean Sea while trying out a new scuba diving outfit that his buddies in his barracks had bought him for Christmas that year. By January 1960, mother brought me, my twin sister, and my three brothers to the United States. We lived for a period of time at my aunts and uncles in Oakton Virginia. In 1962, we moved to Manassas Park Virginia. We lived in Manassas Park for three years and then moved to another suburb of Manassas. By 1968, we were back in Manassas Park in a different house. We remained in that house until 1977 during that period of time I was somewhat of a misfit around the home. On my ninth birthday, my oldest brother who was 17 gave me a bowl of hash to smoke, and also introduced me to cigarettes. Through the next several years I tried several different drugs but found no pleasure in them. From hash, to marijuana, to speed, to kilo weed, acid and later cocaine.

Although I tried those many drugs I never felt that I was actually addicted to them because I could pass them up for weeks without accepting them. It was more of a social thing for me, but that's what most people who are addicted to these drugs say.

From the age of nine when I was first introduced to these drugs I would disappear from home for two and three days at a time without telling mother where I was. This went on until the age of 13.

At the age of 13 I moved to Pennsylvania with some Mennonite friends of mine. There I was made to go to church every Sunday which was an odd experience, seeing as it was a Mennonite community. I had been raised in the Assemblies of God movement. It was unusual to see the man sitting on one side of the church and women on the other during services. Also, they had foot washings, which I had never seen before in the assemblies. The Mennonites seemed to be stricter than the Pentecostal’s. I stayed with the Mennonite family for almost a year before returning to Manassas Park Virginia. And then it was back to the same old thing, I’d stay home one or two days a week, and be gone the rest of the time. Even though I was not home as much as I should have been, I still knew that I should be in church and stayed in church.

At the age of 14, I made a homemade bomb and placed it in a water drainage pipe in Manassas Park. The bomb went off, and Fire Company #9 was called to extinguish a huge fire. When the bomb went off, I was standing in the middle of a 50 foot wide road. The bomb was so powerful, it blew an 85 lb. manhole cover in the air about 4 feet and shot fire clean across the road and up an embankment. I ran in a friend’s house before the fire department got there.

After the fire was extinguished, the Fire Marshall and Chief of Police began knocking on doors to see if anyone had seen what happened. My friend answered the door, and before the police could finish asking the question, my friend told the police I did it. The Fire Marshall took me down in the drain pipe and told me he wanted me to see the damage I had done. With a little geologist pick, he tapped the concrete wall and it crumbled.


Just 2 feet from the wall was a gas line. I was told by the Fire Marshall that that line supplied gas to around 5,000 homes in Manassas Park and if the fire company had not extinguished the flame when they did, it could have blown up over half of that park; killing nearly 3,500 people in the fire, including my self. I was then taken to the police station and my mother was called. I had a court date, and received 6 months probation.

At the age of 16 a circus came to town. I saw the African elephant and several lions and knew immediately that I had to join. Upon talking to the manager of the circus, I learned that in order to join the circus I would have to get my mother's permission giving them custody of me since I was a minor. I immediately went home and told mother my plans to join the circus. Mother was adamant about the fact that I was not leaving home. I was rebellious. I climbed up on the roof of our home and told mother I was not coming down until after she signed the papers giving me permission to leave. After several hours mother came out of the house and told me I could leave. She said she would rather see me gone than to see me fall off the roof and break my neck. At that age I did not realize how much I hurt mother in my rebellion.

At the age of 17, I was told by an eye doctor that I would be totally blind in ten years time due to Retinitis Pigmentosa and retinal deterioration. Since then, I have gone blind in my left eye and my right eye has lost all but a 4.5° peripheral field.

I traveled with the circus for four years as an assistant animal trainer. During my first year in the circus I met and fell in love with one of the high wire walkers. Judy was also a contortionist. Her family was from South America.

In October of 1977 my son was born in Jacksonville Florida. Three days later, his mother was killed in a car accident when she was broadsided by a drunk driver. On the measly pay of $75 a week I could not take care of my child. And so, I gave him over to his grandparents and aunts that were with the circus. They left the circus that week for Judy's funeral, and I never saw them again. I've heard stories from other circus members who say that my son Juan is walking the high wire like his aunts and mother did.

Upon leaving the circus in 1979, I was arrested in Manassas Virginia and charged with grand larceny, a crime which I did not commit. I was convicted and sent to prison with a five-year sentence.

Prison was the best thing that could've happened to me here on this earth. For it was in that prison that I realized that I was lost and in need of a Savior. A born-again Jewish chaplain, Charles Steinberg, and a Pentecostal Evangelist, J. Robert Wyatt, would come to the jailhouse twice a week and share from the Word of God with those who were interested. For the first couple weeks, I was bitter. I would just sit in my cell not wanting to hear a thing. After a while, I decided I could not do anything else so I may as well participate in the Bible study. As I would dig in the Word the Spirit would convict me more and more. I gave my heart to Jesus Christ there in that dirty jail cell. With Brother Steinberg's help, I got into a correspondent's Bible study outside the jail. Three weeks later, I was sent to the prison to serve the rest of my sentence.


Upon my release from prison, I continued in the Word of God and study. I went to live with my Pastor and stayed with him and his family for three and a half years. During that period, I attended minister’s meetings in Berkley Springs, West Virginia and Grantsville, Maryland twice a month.

I have been preaching the gospel since my release from prison. God is so good.

I served as an assistant pastor in Manassas, Virginia for two years before moving to Greensboro, North Carolina where I opened a fellowship called MorningStar Fellowship. I pastured in North Carolina for 6 years until I had to step down due to health problems that put me in the wheelchair. Doctors at that time told me I would spend the rest of my life in that chair. What was happening was this… When I would stand up, my blood pressure would drop and I would pass out within 8 – 10 seconds. Doctors tried several different medicines to bring my BP up, but to no avail. After four months of being in the chair, trying to stand only to fall to the floor and have to be picked up again, I told the Lord that I did not want to be in that chair any more. I told Him that I could not stand on my own and was depending on Him to keep me up. I stood that day and have not been back in that chair but a couple times since then; and that was because I was needing rest and other chairs were taken. I still have problems with my health to this date, but God has brought me out of the chair. I can walk into the doctor’s office today and the blood pressure will be ‘astronomically low’, as one nurse put it. On the average, it is around 97/61, but it is sometimes lower. When they scratch their heads and say, ‘I don’t know how you are standing’, I tell them, ‘I know!’ I am then able to witness God’s hand upon my life!.

In December of 2004, God brought a very special woman into my life and on June 11th, 2005, Linda64 and I were married in a little church on a hill in New Market, Virginia.

All praise goes to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

 

As the Apostles once cried out, 'Lord, increase our faith,' so should we also desire an increased faith for ourselves.

Others personal testimonies help to strengthen or increase our faith.
Daily Bible study will help to increase our faith.
Prayer helps to strengthen our faith.
Fellowship helps to strengthen our faith.
and Services at the local Sanctuary help to strengthen our faith.


May each one of us endeavor to cry as the Apostles did, "Lord, increase our faith.'