LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP) -- Oct. 27 is an important date for me.
On that day, many years ago, I was a young kid walking alone under a starry sky in my hometown of Biloxi, Miss. I was grappling with who I was and what my life would mean. And there, looking up into the vault of space up there overhead, I trusted a Stranger in the Night to forgive me, and to take me wherever He wanted. The Gospel wasn't new to me, and the teachings of Jesus weren't new to me. Years and years of Sunday School and Baptist Training Union and Vacation Bible Schools were all back there. But, somehow, I just knew at that moment that the central point of all those things was true: the Gospel. It was as though I heard a voice.
The reason I write this is because my story isn't at all typical of most Christians I know, and many kind of feel guilty about that. Many believe if they really have embraced the Gospel, they ought to have a moment, a date, they can point to as the instant they passed from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light.
Sometimes our churches reinforce this misunderstanding. Preachers talk about assurance of salvation as though it were about remembering a past experience, and doing a mental autopsy on the sincerity of that. The people we allow to give testimonies in our churches and in our publications all seem to have a dramatic tale to tell.
That's not what the Gospel is about. Continue at Baptist Press
On that day, many years ago, I was a young kid walking alone under a starry sky in my hometown of Biloxi, Miss. I was grappling with who I was and what my life would mean. And there, looking up into the vault of space up there overhead, I trusted a Stranger in the Night to forgive me, and to take me wherever He wanted. The Gospel wasn't new to me, and the teachings of Jesus weren't new to me. Years and years of Sunday School and Baptist Training Union and Vacation Bible Schools were all back there. But, somehow, I just knew at that moment that the central point of all those things was true: the Gospel. It was as though I heard a voice.
The reason I write this is because my story isn't at all typical of most Christians I know, and many kind of feel guilty about that. Many believe if they really have embraced the Gospel, they ought to have a moment, a date, they can point to as the instant they passed from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light.
Sometimes our churches reinforce this misunderstanding. Preachers talk about assurance of salvation as though it were about remembering a past experience, and doing a mental autopsy on the sincerity of that. The people we allow to give testimonies in our churches and in our publications all seem to have a dramatic tale to tell.
That's not what the Gospel is about. Continue at Baptist Press
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