Testimonies
The spirit of God convinces people of sin, of righteousness, and of Judgement. Our job as fellow laborer’s with Christ is to testify…to bear witness of Christ in us the hope of glory. He has made each of us able ministers of the New Testament. As the Apostle Paul said, “”I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation, to the Jew first and also to the Gentile.” Our stories are a witness and a living testimony of God’s deliverance. As Jesus said to John the Baptist’s followers when they asked if he was the promised Messiah, “Go and tell John what you’ve seen and heard, that the blind recover their sight.” He has called us and opened the eyes of our spiritual understanding…that we may know the hope of our calling and the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the Saints. We are the testimonies of God’s salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.
Scott MacDonald grew up in a church environment and went to his local Presbyterian church with his twin sister every Sunday morning. In High School he started to back away from church. In college, he wanted to concentrate on priorities other than his faith. Scott thought that his good deeds outweighed the bad. His twin sister was converted to Christianity during his second year in college. His identity was in sports, grades, and what the world considers success in college. As a college elective, he took a PE class on social dancing. His dance partner invited him to a Christian group that met on campus during lunch. He finally accepted her invitation. On the way to the meeting, she asked if he were a Christian. Then she asked if he were born again. From his response she knew that he didn’t have a personal relationship with Christ. He started thinking about what they discussed in the group meeting. His heart became convicted that he didn’t really know the Lord Jesus Christ. He ended up studying the bible with Mike MacIntosh at a Calvary Chapel in San Diego. Even though he was in a dorm at SDSU, this time in the Word set his course as a disciple and ambassador for his Lord. Even though he wasn’t called to “full time Christian ministry,” he knew that God had called him to serve in the marketplace. God’s faithful blessings have encouraged him throughout his life.
Paul thought that he was a good twice-a-year Christmas and Easter Christian. Even though he knew the catechism doctrine, he had never accepted Jesus as Lord. A friend invited him to a Byzantine Catholic Church and he was taken aback by their rituals and their unique worship service. He was baptized in his twenties and started attending church. For twenty years he did things the world taught him as a single man and had not committed himself to the work of the Lord. He noticed a church across the street from where he lived. He signed up for a new believers’ class and they told him that he needed to get a bible. He bought a bible and the first verse they covered was John 3:16. He started attending three bible studies a week. Paul grew in the Word volunteered to help at a youth retreat with his church. As he was ministering to thirty children, God spoke to him and he committed his heart to the Lord. Today he is a pastor at Calvary Chapel East Hills.
Willie grew up in England and was a member of choir through high school. For twenty years after high school he fell into the secular world. Then he met his wife who was a devout Christian. At the age of 57, he dedicated himself to Christian service in answer to God’s call. He’s been attending Influencers for the last 6 years. Three years ago he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Every day he wakes up, he thanks God that he can be used for the Lord’s work. He has used his ordeal with cancer as his outreach ministry. During his cancer treatment he prayed with other cancer patients who were at the treatment center. His prayer has been, God please continue to use me as a living witness of your healing power. God taught him that it’s never too late to come to the lord and to dedicate your life to his service.
Scott Wilson met Jesus Christ in 1988 two months before his 57th birthday at Calvary Chapel in Seal Beach. He felt that the preacher was preaching directly to him. That day, he asked Jesus to come into his heart as Lord and master. For 52 years previously he had been an alcoholic. However that Sunday, God opened the eyes of his heart and he visualized the Word of God pouring into his heart. After dedicating his life, he went home and decided he’d pour himself a drink. A voice said to him, “you don’t need that any more.” He shared this with his wife and she agreed. They both poured the booze down the drain. Scott’s testimony is that when you step into the light, he’ll deliver you so that you can serve him.
Adam went to a Christian school and received Jesus at the age of twelve. However in his teens he became addicted to drugs and alcohol. About eight years ago he committed his life to Christ. God has helped him turn his life around, to finish college and graduate school. He’s now involved with missions in Mexico and continues to rejoice in how God has restored his life.
If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation. All things have passed away, behold all things have become new. As the Apostle Paul said, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I but Christ liveth in me, and the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.” We have no other Hope, we have no other argument except for the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our lives are the witness of his resurrection. Because he has made us able ministers of the New Testament, we are his witnesses, his living epistles, his love letters known and read of all men. Our testimonies bear witness of His amazing grace. We are the only Bible some people will ever read.
May we ever live to the praise of the glory of His grace!
Your brother in Christ,
Michael