| |
Please send me your comments.
I really related to several people in your book. As we talked about them in our Sunday School Class, we could identify and then recognize God in our own lives. Sometimes, we get so caught up in everyday survival we go to church and say we are christians. However, by recognizing God`s work in our lives we are transformed to believers of Christ. Am I a Christian? Yes!!! I am! ~Rebecca
Many of us as children have been victims of drive-by evangelism. Where someone asks you "do you want to go to heaven? then repeat this prayer". We were told as long as we could answer yes after a few questions, then we were saved.But being born again is a supernatural work of God on the inside of a person. It is a passing from death to life. It only comes about by the Power of God, on His terms, not ours! This book helps to remind us what it really meens to be saved! To God be the Glory ~Sam
I`m going to order some of your books to keep on hand when someone seeks counsel for assurance of their salvation-- also just if we think they might benefit from reading it. ~Andrea
We have been using your book for our Sunday School lessons the last few weeks. ~Carrie H.
One of the greatest assets for me was that it was short, to the point and it makes you think. ~John
I was telling our friends about you and she pulled your book out of her purse! ~Tony
This is a "must read" book for all new church members and anyone who seeks to understand true salvation. ~Linda
It is an easy read, and not a book that makes you feel overwhelmed. ~Sue
|
|
Everyone has heard the expression “good things come in small packages.” The saying certainly fits am I a Christian? This little volume has changed my life since I bought it at Nena’s book signing on Saturday, January 9, 2010.
I think I began reading around 8:00 that evening and couldn’t put it down until I finished it in a cold sweat. Why a cold sweat? Because it spoke to me and told me that I needed to do something. The book is a collection of stories from people, including Nena and her husband, who discovered later in life that they hadn’t really accepted the Lord and let Him be King of their lives. I have never in my life doubted that God through Jesus is my Lord and Savior; however, if I told you about my early life, you’d know that I’ve certainly doubted my salvation. Doubted whether or not I had made it clear to God that I accepted Jesus. That sounds silly, doesn’t it? The doubting re-surfaced, much to my dismay.
During the next three weeks, I went through bouts of questioning, sometimes the Lord waking me in the middle of the night to question more . . . to talk to Him . . . to tell him over and over that I love Him, that I know for sure that He sent Jesus to save me from my sins, that I repent of my sins, that I accept that divine love, that I want Jesus to be the center of my life, and that I want the Holy Spirit to control everything that I do. I called one of the middle-of-the-night bouts “wrestling with angels” and even credited Satan with one night’s agony, telling him to get out of my head, heart, and life, hoping that that action would give me peace. It didn’t.
I’m not exactly sure when the Lord made it plain to me that sometime I would need to go to the front of the church, talk to the pastor, and pray for myself the prayer that would seal my salvation for me. Today in his sermon, Pastor Bill mentioned over and over again letting the Holy Spirit be in control and having the courage to submit. I felt that today was the day when I would leave my seat on the first stanza of the hymn of invitation (“Only Trust Him” was the song on January 31, 2010). Even though I had talked to the pastor earlier about my feelings of doubt, he looked a bit surprised as I walked the few steps to him. I told him that I wanted to make my salvation sure, that I needed a specific time that I could point to as my day of salvation, that I wanted to know for sure that I am a Christian. I prayed for salvation; Bill prayed for my assurance from God.
Everything in our lives happens for a purpose. God brought Nena Roberts into my life that day in the church office, made me aware that she was a sister not only in Jesus but in writing, told me to go to her book signing, gave me the awareness that I needed to read her book, made me very much uncomfortable as I read, and led me to a true acceptance of Jesus as Lord and Savior of my life. And so I thank Nena for writing am I a Christian?; I thank Bill Achilles for being a pastor with a heart for the Lord and for his flock; I thank God, for convicting me and for seeing me through to true acceptance.
I cannot close this written testimony without saying how thankful I am for Frank, who has been my sounding board, my example, my hero in Christ through almost fifty years.
Through all of my doubts, he has always been my strong supporter. Needless to say, he’s happy that I’ve found the peace that I need.
~Sandy
___________________________________________________
While reading your book it forced me to remember and to share my own past and what I thought it meant to be a Christian.
I was not reared in a Christian family, but I went to church every once in a while, said grace, and recited "Now I lay me down to sleep..." before going to bed. I`d pick up the Bible every once in a while, but I got sleepy or bored every time I tried to read it. I went through my life living like most other people in this world do. I had opportunities to pursue Jesus, but chose not to. I did what I wanted to, but was never completely comfortable with the wild life I was leading. I remember when I was 12 maybe 13 a friend of mine asked me to get baptized with her, and I decided to. Not for the right reason though, it wasn`t for a relationship with God. I remember I didn`t know exactly what I was doing. I just knew that I needed some help from God to stay out of hell. It was like following the instructions on the back of the cake mix--I wanted to go to heaven so I followed the instructions. I didn`t understand that being saved is about having a relationship with Jesus Christ--but that`s all right, God met me where I was at and, in time, He perfected my understanding. I spent the years after that constantly in sin and figured I was saved at one point so it`s okay! I believed in God so when I died I would automatically go to Heaven, right? A few years later I had my children and had this feeling of not only wanting to find a more spiritual relationship with God, but NEEDING to find one. I needed to so badly that it literally hurt. I was in constant pain everyday. I couldn`t understand why but then, at my Moms house, I picked her Bible up and this is what I read:
And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons:
"My son, do not make light of the Lord`s discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
6 because the Lord disciplines those he loves,
and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.[a]
7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? 8 If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! 10Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. 11No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it."
Hebrews 12:5-11
It was at that moment that I knew God was speaking directly to me. Amazing! And so begins my new journey with Him. If you think you`re saved, but there`s no conviction when you do wrong, or you`re not suffering chastisement, you might want to examine your relationship with God. You are probably lost like I was. God loves you enough to correct you. I am so thankful to be able to grow in His grace and knowledge. He has become Lord of my life!
Although I had not been a Christian very long when I read this book, it was just what I needed to read. The manner in which Nena presents the holiness of God in this book is amazing. To know that I am not the only one out there and that I am in fact truly saved now is amazing to me. I suggest that you purchase this book. It is a must read for you and everyone you know! Thank you Nena!!!
~Carrie M.
___________________________________________________
I was "sprinkled" with baptismal water as a 9 year old in the Methodist church and told that I was now a Christian, but I never felt sure.
In the Spring of 1979, I HAD to know if indeed I had accepted Christ as my Savior and would I go to heaven when I died?
My husband was the pastor of a large Baptist church and was a preacher with great evagelistic appeal. Everytime he preached, I felt convicted. When he extended the invitation to the lost to give Jesus their heart by coming forward in the church, I would stand and grab the back of the pew in front of me and pray for the invitation to be over.
One night as I struggled with doubt and the decision to be SURE about my salvation, I went downstairs in my home to my husband`s office, opened my Bible and read until morning. My husband came down and I begged him to spend some time counseling me. "Honey, if you`re not a Christian going to heaven, nobody will make it!", he said. I pleaded, "But I am not sure." I wanted to settle it once and for all. "Please."
He gently said to me, "Don`t worry, God knows your heart and it will embarrass me with my congregation if you come to the front of the church." I love my husband and have always supported him in his ministry. So I let it go for the moment, but my uneasiness continued and wouldn`t go away. Everytime the invitation to come forward was given at church I was convicted again.
I talked and prayed to God and the answer was always the same, to go forward to the front of the church during invitation time. I talked again to my husband. Finally he said if it bothered me that much, he would leave the decision to me, assuring me that I was a Christian and maybe it was just a tender heart seeking a closer walk with God.
That Sunday I felt that God wanted me to come to Him, and by so doing He would give me PEACE about my salvation. The invitation was given, and I held onto the back of that pew until my hands hurt, and the invitation went on.
Then I stepped into the aisle and all embarrasment and uncertainty left me and I was so happy, running down the aisle to repent and accept Christ. My husband asked me to testify about my salvation, and when I did 15 people came that day lining up across the front of the church to receive salvation. We were hugging each other, praising God for the assurance that we were now heaven bound.
Our annual revival service started 2 weeks later and 160 deacons, teachers, bankers, young and old repented and came down the aisle with the shout, "I now know I`ve been saved!" We all lined the aisles while my husband baptized them all until he had to be helped to hold his arms up!
Because of this, a revival began and didn`t end until 290 people that year were saved! Please don`t put off being sure about your salvation. Find Him now!
"I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life." 1 John 5:13
~ Robbie
Tonight, there was a woman who had run out of gas on the entrance road to campus. She had walked up to the gate and didn`t know how to get in. I came along and asked her if she needed help and there began the encounter. We went to the house and I got a gas can and I bought her some gas on campus. I had your book on the seat of the car and she picked it up. She was interested in it, so I gave it to her. She lives near the church and has heard the music on Sunday mornings. I gave her the card about the church and she gave me her name and # because she wants me to call and remind her to come. Pray that she will read your book and that it will impact her life.
~ Linda
Nena would love to hear readers comments about the book and testimonies of their own personal salvation experience. Please send me an email with your experiences: nena@amiachristian.com
|
|
