Gerri Boland
As I look back on my life before I was saved, I'd have to say that by the world's standards, I was a religious person. I worked hard trying to achieve closeness with God. I had attended parochial grammar school and high school, so I knew what my church wanted of me.
As an adult, I became a little lax for a few years and only attended church when it was convenient. But when my children reached school age, I felt that religious training was important for them. I enrolled them in religious education classes and started attending church regularly again myself. Something was missing, though. I had to do more. I wanted a closer relationship with God but never seemed to reach it.
I joined a church society thinking it would help. My association here only further confused me. My church seemed more and more liberal to me. I didn't like some of the things my kids and I were learning in church, like:
The Bible is full of symbolism.
God would probably never condemn anyone to hell, but we'd all have to spend time in purgatory before we could merit heaven (It was quite a shock to me when I later found out that "purgatory" is not even found in the Bible).
The teaching that bothered me most, though, was:
Sin is only sin if you think it is sin.
I loved my church and believed that her leader was infallible, but I did not like these teachings. I tried to put these doubts in the back of my mind.
About this time, my sister-in-law and brother-in-law started talking to me about the Bible. In fact, it seemed that's all they ever talked about. They said that the Bible taught that a person could know that they were going to heaven. They were sure they were going there, simply because they were trusting in Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. This is not what my church taught. I was skeptical about the idea of salvation without works. Occasionally we'd have heated discussions about the Bible and I always defended my Church. I was curious, but wouldn't admit it.
My husband was curious too. One Saturday night he asked if I'd like to visit a Bible teaching church the next day. I had never attended a service other than my own religion. We had decided to look for a Bible teaching church in the phone book. Any church would do, except a Baptist church. We thought Baptists were unusual people and fanatics. But through a series of mishaps that morning, we ended up at the Baptist church in our town. I was sure we were going to find out how are relatives were being misled.
The Pastor preached from the second chapter of Ephesians, "By grace are ye saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast." I squirmed in my seat thinking somebody told him we were coming, and somebody told him what to say. Someone had told him what to say; that someone was the Lord. The Lord knew my heart that day. The message was clear and simple.
I had always believed that Jesus died for my sins, but had never put my complete trust in that sacrifice alone for my salvation. I was trying to work my way to heaven. There's no way I could have done that. If I could get there on my own, then Jesus died in vain. But Jesus did not die in vain, He died to save me - and He died to save you. All I had to do to receive God's gift of salvation was to ask Jesus to save me. God was not asking me to understand, but simply to believe.
After that service, I prayed and asked Jesus to save me and to come into my life.
Since that day, January 27, 1980, my life has not been the same. There is real peace in knowing that you are a child of God. I had been searching for that peace for a long time.
I have a rulebook for my life now - it's the Bible. Being a Christian is no longer a religion to me - it's a way of life.
- Gerri Boland
Ray Sand
The most important decision of my life has been to accept Jesus Christ as my personal Savior. Having a relationship with the Lord is much more than following a list of do's and don'ts. People who do not know the Lord often take for granted that I live my life trying to be a good person in order to be accepted into heaven. In reality, the only good in me comes from God and is not obtained from my own effort, but rather my relying on the Lord for strength. "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."( James 1:17). Although I strive to please the Lord with my life, it does not come naturally and requires work. If I were left on my own, I would no doubt fail, so only through studying God's Word, the Bible, am I able to learn more about the one who died for my sins so that I may have eternal life with Him.
I have known the Lord for all of my adult life and most of my youth. It was not until I was in college that I fully appreciated my relationship and the blessings that result by depending on the Lord for guidance and instruction. The friendships I established with those I prayed and shared spiritual victories with are forever lasting and very dear to me. Another important decision in my life and in my wife's life was to find a group of believers who had the same convictions and desire to serve the Lord as we did. After searching for months, the Lord led us to Parsippany Baptist Church in 1991. Serving the Lord does take time and energy, but it is well worth the spiritual blessings. One thing I have found out is there is no limit to what you can do if you put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ who gives us all the strength we need.
The Bible is full of God's promises, but one that I continually look back on is found in Joshua 1:8:
This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
It was my 10th grade Sunday school teacher that had explained there is a three-step process to becoming a success in the eyes of God. One is to read the Word of God, two is to memorize and study it, and three is to practice it in your life. This challenge will remain before me as I long for the day when I will meet my Savior face to face.
- Ray Sand