You read it right. I need to be saved. Not in the sense we church folk usually toss the word around, but I need it nonetheless.
Yes, I have repented of my sins, and I have trusted Christ as my Lord. I know I’m going to heaven and that I’m a child of God, a joint heir with Jesus Christ. But more than ever, I need the wholeness, the deliverance, and the healing that only He can offer. I need to be saved.
Salvation is a three‑faced experience. I have been saved; I am being saved; I will be saved. Past, present, and future. The Bible words: justification, sanctification, glorification. All of this is possible through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross and His victorious resurrection. And all of it comes as a package deal.
Sometimes we get the idea that we can be justified (forgiven of our sins) and glorified (taken to heaven) and bypass the sanctification (being conformed into Christ’s image). But the fact is, there is no salvation without sanctification. If you see no evidence of the Holy Spirit transforming you into the image of Jesus, you’d best check out whatever it is you call your “profession of faith.”
How do I know I need to be saved? Simple. [click to continue…]
Real people, real stories, real living Christ! If you’re in the South Plains (Texas) area, please help us get the word out… no matter what you’re facing, a Risen Lord changes everything. Join us at Turning Point for our Easter 2009 celebration on April 11-12. Saturday service: 5:00 pm. Sunday Services: 9:00 and 10:30 am.
Click here to go to the web site for directions and more information.
If you live elsewhere, please pray for us, and let me know in the comments section below how we can pray for you this Easter season.
(with a big salute to Michael Card)
He waited, and waited, and waited. He put up with so much. While His love was spurned, He suffered long, awaiting that one climactic moment in time that was a part of His eternal plan.
When that moment came, He took the initiative and arrived on the scene. In kindness He reached out to us with tangible expressions of His love – a healing touch, the pleasure of His company, a word of forgiveness. His kindness was refreshing, because it touched those who weren’t used to receiving it.
He was criticized, questioned, suspected, and ultimately undermined by jealous people. But there wasn’t a jealous bone in His body.
He went toe-to-toe with an establishment of hypocrites who loved to parade themselves before men. But in spite of His immense popularity, He never flaunted Himself.
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He puts smiles on the faces of little boys.
He sprinkles sweetness on little girls.
He gives dignity to solemn vows, and sacredness to relationships.
He brings purpose and satisfaction to the striving and seeking of your life.
And it is this life of Jesus that brings healing and peace into the broken life.
I live – I live – because He is risen.
Those words, from a musical titled “Living Witnesses,” profoundly impacted my life more than 30 years ago. So much so that we had them printed on the cover of our wedding brochure in 1983. And on this week in which all over the world we pay attention to the fact that Jesus lives, I find myself thinking of them again. Read them again, slowly. Deeply.
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Born on the first Easter and commissioned forty days later, the history and destiny of the world has been forever changed and shaped by an army sent forth by the Lord Jesus Himself. You are now part of that army.