Stephen’s Testimony

          I grew up in a good home going to church every Wednesday and Sunday. When I was in the fourth grade the film “A Thief in the Night” came out and was shown at our church. I became really scared after seeing the movie and was crying a lot. One day my Dad asked me why I was crying and I explained to him I was scared I was going to die and go to hell. He asked me if I would like to be saved and told me I needed to ask Jesus to come into my heart and forgive me of my sins. We knelt in front of our couch and I repeated the sinner’s prayer. When I got up from there it was as though I had a ball of light about the size of a cantaloupe right there inside my chest. I began trying to read my Bible more and do the things Christians were supposed to do.

          As I grew older I was always in church but I still worried a lot about if I would go to Heaven when I died. During revival services at the church the preacher would ask if there was anyone who was not sure they would go to Heaven when they died. All those who raised their hand were told to go into another room with a worker and that person would show you how to know whether you were saved. Even after that worker would go through all the scriptures and tell me all kinds of stuff I was still no better off than before the meeting started. I always knew I was “saved” because I had asked Jesus to save me but I had no assurance I would go out if the rapture happened and I just couldn’t picture myself in Heaven.

Once in high school I much more enjoyed the things of the world than the things of God. Some people would ask me how I could be a Christian and still do the things I did. I explained that my being a Christian was this thing over here and the life I led was something else over there. They were just two different things and the one had no bearing on the other. After high school I joined the Navy and about a year into my service I was severely injured. When I returned home I began attending another Baptist church in our area. The preacher, Bro. Lee Whitaker, preached a lot different than the pastor I grew up under. He was a lot louder, he moved around a whole lot more, and he had such an assurance of his salvation. Bro. Lee was always saying he knew that he knew that he knew that he knew that he was saved and going to Heaven  one day. I was so envious of his assurance. I remember telling God “I wish I had that kind of salvation, Lord.”

God really began dealing with me about my “salvation” at this time and continued dealing with me for two years. During that time my confusion grew and I kept going to my pastor asking him about my problem. He always told me what the Bible said about salvation and told me how he knew that he was saved. I thank the Lord that Bro. Lee allowed the Holy Ghost to show me I was lost instead of trying to take the place of the Holy Spirit. After two years of this kind of misery I was at a point that I did not know what I was going to do. I knew something had to change but I did not know how. I had tried to leave sin many times before but I was never quite able to. I was not rebelling against what God was telling me, I simply did not know where I stood with the Lord; I did not know if I was lost or saved or what!

          On a Friday night at another church we were listening to a family sing when God spoke audibly to me. No one else heard it but God told me that if I did not get up and find a preacher and get saved then I was going to die and go to hell. I was very scared but somewhat relieved at the same time. At last, I finally knew for sure where I stood with the Lord!!! Well, I went to church Sunday morning looking to get saved. When the preacher finally gave the invitation I rushed down to the altar and started praying but I just could not quite feel it “coming on.” I was trying to say the right words and get the prayer just right so I would be saved this time but I could tell it just was not going anywhere. I went home that morning lost and scared to death. I went back to church Sunday night but it was the same way. Eventually my pastor told me he would speak to me more about it in a little room in the front of the church. After the people left he came in and talked for a while but it did not help. Then he got the youth pastor who came in and talked to me for a few minutes but he could not help me either. While the youth pastor was gone to get Bro. Lee God showed me; there I was hanging out over Hell by the end of my rope and there was Christ between me and Hell and all I had to do was trust in Christ. God showed me all I had to do was be willing to let go of everything and Christ would catch (save) me. I told God “Okay!” and let go and Christ did save me.

After all of the turmoil of the previous two years I knew I had to have something from God in order to KNOW that I would go to Heaven when I died. God gave me Romans 10:13 as that assurance. Every time I would begin to doubt or question what God had done for me God would take me to that verse “for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord…” and say “Did you do that?” I would tell Him “Yes sir, I did.” And God would say “Then what did I say I would do?” (SHALL be saved) I thank God for not only what He has done for me but also for the blessed assurance from His word.

Elizabeth’s Testimony

          I grew up in a Christian home. It was a normal part of my life to be in church regularly. When I was ten years old I said a prayer for salvation; however, it was not until years later that I truly became saved. At the age of eighteen I met my husband Stephen and began to attend his church as well as my own. It was at this time that I began to have doubts about my salvation and the prayer that I had said when I was ten.  I began to earnestly seek answers from the Lord, one day it was settled, “I am saved” and the next day “I just don’t know if I am saved.”  I also began to ask Stephen how to be sure of your salvation? His answer to me was not too assuring. “I don’t know, you just know.” However he was under conviction as well. Everyday for about four months I would pray the same prayer. “Lord, if I am lost, save me.” It was on a Friday night, March 8, 1992, that God answered my prayer. We were in the middle of a revival service and God spoke to my heart and told me “You are lost.” It was such a surprise yet a relief.

The preacher that night, Bro. James Taylor, preached out of James on the subject that the devils believe yet they are not saved and that salvation is more that belief; it a total surrender of your life to Christ.  I wanted Christ so bad that nothing else mattered to me in the world. Once God spoke to my heart I literally ran to the altar and gave my whole life to him simply praying “Lord save me!”  I never realized the void in my life until that moment of salvation when peace filled my soul. After salvation my whole life changed and I thank the Lord for choosing me to be his servant.