A reflection of my first year as a Christian

Well it has nearly been a year since God took out my heart of stone and put in a heart of flesh. For the first time I really hated the things He hated and loved the things He loved. Around this time last year I wasn't really a bad guy according to other people, just a sin-stained one who jumped into sin consistently.

I have shared my testimony many times this year, who wouldn't!? Being born-again by the power of God is a miraculous and beautiful thing. Growing up in Texas and the United States I wore the title of Christian and played the role of one pretty much my entire life because it was a cultural standard. The purpose of this blog today is not to share my testimony, but to reflect on my first year of truly being a child of God.

Once God changed me I knew it. I don't know the exact day or time as some do, but I know it was in the month of January. When it happened I was hit with sorrow, guilt, and a realization of how foolish and wretched I really was. It wasn't like when I thought I was a Christian before. When I was younger I was baptized or re-dedicated a couple of times. I would go through phases of listening to Christian music, go to church, and hang out with a "nicer" crowd. Like I said, I was good at playing the role, but I wasn't genuine. I did everything to look like a Christian and I really thought I was, based on my beliefs, what I learned, and what I was told.

I'm not blaming anyone or thing because now that I look back on my life I can see how it was all part of God's plan for my actual salvation. Once I became a "real" Christian, somehow I was lead to the Way of the Master program on the internet. I liked what I saw because I was very interested in sharing my new experience and what God had done for me. I wanted to reach the lost just as I had been, especially if people are going to hell! My passion right away was to share the gospel. I instantly re-visited my bible, watched hours of sermons, witnessing encounters, and was heavily reading different books regarding evangelism and theology.

I called my pastor up and told him that I am going to be an evangelist as all Christians are really supposed to be (Mark 16, Matthew28). I'm not talking about the gift of the evangelist - one who trains others to evangelize in the church. I believe many try to use this as an excuse by saying they don't have the gift of evangelism. Sharing the gospel is a command, not a gift. EVERY Christian really should be evangelizing. Anyways, he prayed for me and gave me some good words of encouragement. A couple months later my wife and I had to leave the church due to some doctrinal issues that I wasn't even aware of. This was extremely hard on my wife and I because it was the same church where we had met and had been going to for almost 5 years. We almost got married there as well. We still love everyone there and they do a lot of good, but it is evident that it is not to be our church home.

We have been trying out different churches this whole year in hopes of finding a church home where we may humbly serve, fellowship, and worship. Now I've heard that ignorance is bliss many times, but ignorance is deadly. I was knowledgeable about religious things and Christianity, but EXTREMELY ignorant of the most important aspects of it. Meaning, I didn't properly apply the knowledge that I had. Once God opened my eyes and changed my heart it's as if I could instantly apply the knowledge that I had. I felt very stupid for not seeing those things before.

I began to order some free gospel tracts and place them in bathrooms and such. I was so nervous doing this and probably looked really suspicious. I then bought some tracts from Living Waters, which are GREAT tracts, and started to be a little more creative with my placement. This wasn't enough for me. I felt like I HAD to share the gospel verbally with someone!

The first time I tried to share my faith was just plain awful. I went to the mall and walked around for about 4 hours sweating with my hands shaking. I finally sat down next to a lady and handed her a penny with the 10 commandments on it. I asked if she went to church around there and tried to get into the law with her, but she walked off. I think I creeped her out. I creeped myself out to be honest now that I look back on it. I was so nervous and heart-broken after this experience. Earlier, around February I applied to what is called the Ambassador's Alliance. It is basically like a boot camp for Christians wanting to share their faith. They only pick 50 people so I honestly did not think I would get picked.

Then one day at the hospital I got a phone interview and was invited to go to LA to be a part of the Ambassador's Alliance. I was psyched, but the closer it got to the date the more and more nervous I got. I tried to back out of it several times, but my wife was a good encourager! I am a home-body and I like to always be within 15 minutes of my house. The only other time I left home was when I was 18 and went to Boston for about a week for a guitar workshop. Needless to say, I wound up going to LA. The people I met at this academy was the most genuine and loving people I had ever met. I thought to myself, this is what Christians are supposed to look like. They really loved God and loved people. It was so different than any other church I had been to before. These were members of the body of Christ!

The passion that was shown for our Lord was amazing. We had meetings, fellowship, worship, and spread the gospel of our glorious God together. Before I went I had gotten better about handing tracts to people, but now that I was with these other Christians I was actually engaging people in conversations and passing out hundreds of gospel tracts to others I didn't even know! No one tried to out-do anyone, because it isn't a competition. The person who passes out one tract or shares their faith with one person is just as important as the one who open-air preaches to hundreds of people. The most important thing is that we were spreading the gospel.

The power of the Holy Spirit through the proclamation of the gospel is what saves. That's it, period. The problem we are seeing and that I had is that I did not understand what the gospel really was. Another reason we are to share our faith by any means. The true gospel must be preached.

Once I returned from LA I told my pastor right away (before I left the church) and began to witness regularly at a local spot. I had many, many great experiences. Eventually I started carrying tracts with me all the time, going to any place I could think of to share my faith. During the summer while my wife was at school I would take my son with me in a stroller to go spread the gospel. My wife and I also revamped some of our holiday traditions in order to glorify God more instead of the world and ourselves. Which went AWESOME by the way!

As evangelism is obviously a big part of my life now there are some other things that happened in this year that are important. I stumbled upon this whole facebook thing. Wow, that opened doors. I had a myspace page, but I was never really into that whole thing. With facebook I saw it as an evangelism opportunity. I still use it for that to this day. However, with having many friends I have read LOTS of ugly debates, attacks, and different views. Unfortunately, the most anger I have seen and ever encountered are with "alleged" Christians and not my atheist, agnostic, or other friends of a different religion.

This put me back into research mode to find out what all these debates and beliefs were about. Through much prayer and many headaches I reached a verdict on a lot of the stances that other Christians had serious convictions and allegations about that I have never even heard of. I made sure that I never got involved into much of it as it is not edifying behavior. Plus, you can't ever guarantee that everyone you know is a Christian, unfortunately.

With this facebook thing I began to have many great conversation, witnessing experiences, and establish some relationships with brothers and sisters in Christ. I know I have seriously ticked some people off, but to be honest, the gospel is offensive and that is what I try to be all about. I would rather have everyone hate me for proclaiming truth than love me for telling lies and being luke-warm.

My first year as a Christian has had many ups and downs. I would say more ups when I look back on it though. My life did not become easier as some would tell you. I did not gain finances or have better health, BUT I did get saved from hell, a promise of everlasting life with the Creator of all, a relationship with Jesus Christ, and so much more that simply cannot be measured on this earth.

This year I hope to find a spot to open-air preach and a place that I can go and preach in...I'm thinking maybe somewhere in Dallas. I am also praying that my wife and I will find our church home. It may be under our noses, but we'll see. I'm not into New Years resolutions or whatever, but I am into striving to grow closer to my Father and be more like Christ everyday. I look forward to however much time the Lord decides to give me in this world and I can assure you that I will NEVER get over my salvation. All the glory to God!

If you are not a born-again Christian or are not even sure, these sites have a great, short, gospel presentation that may help you out. God bless you and thank you so much for reading!

www.thegoodpersontest.net
www.needGod.com


In Christ,

Joey