The Bible declares that there is only one way that a man will see God and that is if he is perfect. But Romans 3:23 declares “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Romans 6:23 says "For the wages of sin is Death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. “For God commanded his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 says. The only way to heaven is accepting the sacrifice of Christ on the cross of Calvalry. Ephesians 2:8-9 says “For by grace are ye saved through faith and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God not of works lest any man should boast.” Romans 10:9 says “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” Verse 13 says “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” If you want to be truly saved I invite you to pray this prayer with me and mean it with all your heart. It’s not just a mind knowledge it’s a heart knowledge:
Dear Jesus:
I believe that you died for my sins on the cross and rose on the third day. And right now I invite you to come into my heart and save me. Thank you Jesus for what you have done for me.
In Jesus name
Amen
If you prayed this and meant it, congratulations! Scriptures declare that you have been saved from your sins. Please post it or e-mail me at cri34205@delta.obu.edu and I will be happy to share with you some more information.
CS, as a Christian, let me tell you that this has about as much effectiveness as yelling it through a loudspeaker outside the football stadium. People are usually changed through personal example and real-life relationship help.
Plus, a lot of people here will probably just chalk this up to the pushy crusaders.
As a Biola grad myself, let me caution you out of my (meager) wisdom of all of my (only 30) years not to let your zeal interfere with your prudence.
Nice prayer. Did it make you feel better? Then it was worth saying.
A personal relationship with God? No thanks, I’ve already got one (and for longer than you have been alive I would wager) and He has told me that I serve Him better as a good example than as a carnie barker.
No reason to jump all over him, it was unworthy of me. As I said, if it makes him feel better (and harms no one) then it is worth doing.
It does rather remond me of the earnestness that my daughters sometimes display. They are too young yet to make a meaningful distinction between faith, religion, and magic. So they really believe that the words have powers, rather than the concepts behind the words.
Of course, my cynical side says that he posted this here to build up Martyr Points ™ for his next Youth Prayer Group meeting…
DrFid, I’ve always known you to be intelligent, honest and a straight shooter. Your two posts on this thread only support my opinion of you.
Crabby or not, I agree with you that God/Christianity doesn’t need cheerleaders. It needs adherents (in the strict sense of that word). Perhaps disciples is really the best word. I too have had a personal relationship with God for more years than the OP has walked the earth. Heck, I probably got gray hairs older than him.
Witnessing is a funny proposition, innit? On the one hand, we’re told to confess with our mouths that Jesus Christ is Lord. On the other hand, we’re told that actions speak louder than words, and by our fruits we shall be known.
Press on, Doc. As a professed charlatan yourself, you’re much better at cutting through the BS, and as I said above, you always have. For that, you are to be admired and emulated.
I, for one, am 100% behind you in every way. I must admit that the vast majority of people who read this thread, if not already saved, will either ignore it, will post something derogatory, or will read it with an open mind.
If only ONE person reads it and get saved because of it, it will have been worth every word. Even if no one gets saved because of it right now, the words have been read and God will work on them. It is now between the reader and God.
Keep up the good work, and don’t let anybody stop you from spreading the Good News.
Um, I would say that’s certainly true, because you’ve just addressed pretty much every possibility. Either they’re already saved, or they’ll ignore it, or they will post something derogatory, or they will read it with an open mind. I don’t see much in the way of other options!
CollegeStudent, I am a former Christian so I know you are carrying out in the most literal form, the charge to all Christians “to go out into the world and tell the gospel to every creature”. But you see here’s the rub. You are doing the equivalent of SPAM or junk mail. You are trying to do a quick commercial for Jesus, and while you may feel the end justifies the means, you are disrespecting most of us by shoving your dogma in our faces. Most of us here are independent freethinkers and don’t respond to people claiming to have the inside track on truth. You are welcome to present your ideas and beliefs here, but don’t just shove them in our face.
Wanderer, as a complete atheist, I came into this thread out of curiosity, thinking maybe there’d be the chance of a witty anti-church drive-by. Why did you come in here? To complain about the content being shoved in your face? Wasn’t it quite clear from the title what the thread was likely to be about?
I understand your sentiments and agree with them, but everyone still has the right to post, no matter how futile or irritating one might find it.
I hope this doesn’t seem offensive. Sorry if it does.
android, everyone who flames someone, ridicules their arguments or tries to make them look stupid is in some way or another complaining. I was just saying what was on my mind in the clearest way possible so that if CollegeStudent had any inkling to listen to what I had to say, he wouldn’t be turned off by immature banter. If CollegeStudent had stopped at witnessing, I wouldn’t even have posted to this thread, but when he helps us “ask Jesus into our lives” that is a little too much in my face.
I daresay that the unaddressed option my85car is hoping for is reading it with an open heart and getting saved. I dunno, maybe I’m just in a tolerant mood today, but this seemed like one of the more earnest witnessing attempts I’ve seen around lately.
Didn’t work, though. I’m still sore over [anti-religious trolling self-censored. -manhattan]
CollegeStudent, every time someone starts dropping bible verses, I wonder if proselytizers like yourself ever feel any responsibility for those whom they send away from God. As several have observed, some people will dismiss you or feel hostile to your message; these are people who might have been saved in other circumstances, or with a different message. But exposure to your rather hamhanded attempt at bringing someone to God may tip the balance in the wrong direction. Aren’t you then the one who prevented them from being saved? Aren’t you then responsible for their soul, burning in hell?
Wouldn’t it be more useful to consider saving people as a pragmatic issue, as one in which success rates count? As it is, it seems more like you’re checking a box on a scorecord for sermons delivered, rather than really considering how to save someone.
I think it’s not a relationship you would find to be the the “correct” one. I imagine if we sat down to a little palaver, you might well end up believing me damned.
There’s the difference between us, you see.
I know in my heart that there are other ways than yours to reach God.
Thank you for your concern. But I know where I’m going. And it’s in the right direction, regardless of my acceptance or nonacceptance of Christ.
And if you think me doomed, damned, or unsaved for not adhering to your own faith, I’m very sorry for you. My God is bigger than that.
For all of you that think there is more than one way to get to Heaven, John 14:6 says: (Jesus speaking) “I am the way, and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father, but by me.” In other words, there is absolutely NO way to get to Heaven without a personal relationship with
Christ. It doesn’t make any difference what the “world” has told you. It doesn’t make any difference what church you may or may not go to. What matters is what you do with Christ. You can call yourself a Christian, but that does not make you one. Regardless of what your beliefs are, if you do not have Christ as your personal savior, you are not a Christian.
I realize that I will get flamed horribly for this post, but my conscience is clear.
One last thing, ask yourself this: If you were to stand in front of God at this very moment, and He asked you why He should let you into Heaven, what would you say? “I’ve been pretty good”? Wrong! “I’ve never killed anybody.” Wrong again. There is only one answer according to the Bible. That is “I’ve accepted Christ as my savior”.
Don’t take my word for it. Read it for yourself. It’s in the Bible. Of course, if you don’t believe the Bible, well…
Here is the real kicker…Everyone WILL believe that Christ is who he says he is, at the point of their death. Unfortunately, for those who don’t believe, when they breathe their last breath, it will be too late.
As I said, I will get flamed horribly for this post, but I believe that it is important and I can withstand a lot of words.
