[ Testimony ] It Took Miracles To Make Me A Christian !

[DrFrank]

Like most Christians,I was raised in a fake faith home.Everyone in my family assumed they were Christians without ever making any meaningful attempt to discover what being a Christ-follower really meant.Yes we attended church but none of us realized that it was a faith pretend church.

Like most true Christians I didn't attain faith until I experienced a major problem and really thought that I needed God in my life for the first time.For me it was a career decision.My father was putting a great deal of pressure on me to join the military and although I was very patriotic,I had grave doubts about the zest for war that the American military had.For the first time in my life I thought that because this was a moral decision,I would ask God for an answer.So I started asking Him on a regular basis,"is war justified".I guess He was really surprised to learn that I was suddenly interested in His opinion for the first time in my life.That probably explains why He didn't answer me for months.Maybe He was waiting to see if I would lose interest in Him as I had my whole life up to that time.But I thought I needed His input to help me make my career decision so I kept asking.

One morning I was loafing around the house and all of a sudden these words popped into my mind,"sermon on the mount".I didn't have the slightest idea what those words meant so I just put them out of my mind.But they kept returning.Over and over again.I kept dismissing the words from my mind but a few minutes later they came right back.Finally out of curiosity I thought I would look the words up in a Bible since one word was "sermon".I found an EXTREMELY OLD Bible on our bookshelf,printed decades before Bibles were published with study aids in them.However this Bible had what looked like a complete alphabetical index in it and sure enough it had an entry named "sermon on the mount".Even better it told me what page to go to in order to find whatever this was.If it listed the location by chapter and verse I would have never found it because I had absolutely no clue how to look up verses using that system.

So I sat down to find out what this mysterious sermon on the mount was all about.As I read it I fell into an increasingly deeper and deeper state of shock that lasted for days.EVEN WITH ALL MY YEARS OF CHURCH ATTENDANCE,I NEVER HAD BEEN TOLD ABOUT THESE TEACHINGS."Love your enemies"?WHAT? I had always been taught to attack and destroy them,the mission of the military.I walked around in a confused daze for days.Several days latter suddenly for a period of 45 minutes a whole flood of ideas kept entering my mind explaining why war was morally sick and why "Do good to those who hate you" actually was a practical way to live for both individuals and nations.There was no more doubt or confusion in my mind.I now knew God's position on military service.The very next day I received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit! At long last I was a Christian!!

Oh you remember that EXTREMELY OLD Bible?Well a few months later I tried to look up something else in that Bible.IT DIDN'T HAVE ANY ALPHABETICAL INDEX! Thank God it used to have one - the one time I needed it! :bounce

 

[Vic C.]

Thanks for sharing.

I sometimes refer the the Sermon on the Mount as that great ol' mirror in the NT. :yes But I see it as a very personal, almost one on one lessons to be learned on how to treat one another. Since God Himself has orchestrated wars in the past, He sometimes uses them to His glory, just as He did in Biblical times.

The founding fathers of the US were at war with the Brits and now they are our most trusted friend and ally. The same with Japan, but to a lessor extent. God used the Crusades to His advantage and glory just as He did the Jewish revolt and resulting war with Rome.

The lessons in the Sermon were directed at the people and religious leaders of His time, who thought they were living by every letter of the law, but missed the mark by a long shot. They were commanded to do well to their neighbors and enemies alike, but redefined what that meant over time. Hence the question they asked Jesus:

Luke 10:29 But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?

By now, we all should know the parable that followed. A perfect example of this action is when we look back and read about all those who took great risks to save the Jews from persecution during WWII.

If someone who considers themselves your enemy or adversary and takes from you or hits you, you don't strike back, you "turn the other cheek". But if one country bombs your harbors or slams jets into your buildings and threatens a nations very way of life, you must do something. The Sermon doesn't deal directly with violence on a national or political level, though if we all lived by the principles outlined in the Sermon, maybe there wouldn't be problems.

Wishful thinking considering we live in a fallen world and as long as Satan is the god of this world, we will never have peace.

1 Cor 15:24 Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.
1 Cor 15:25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
1 Cor 15:26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

Only when the King of Kings returns we will see everlasting peace. :amen :amen