It's Okay If You Don't Remember When You Were Saved

1st Thessalonians 4:14, “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.”

I think I was saved at the early age of 12. To be honest, I don't remember the year that I was saved. It is true. For many years I assumed I was 13 when I got saved. But last year I gave it a lot of thought. My parents had removed me from public school at the end of the 6th grade, and I attended a Christian school at a local Baptist church in Chicago for junior high and high school for 6 years. That was the best decision my parents ever made to steer my life into the right direction for Christ. If they hadn't done that, guaranteed, I would have gone to the Devil.

I got saved shortly after I began attending Christian school at a local Baptist church. So, I was 12 to 13 years old. I wish I knew the year I was saved, but I don't. I know it was early summertime. Pastor Jack Hyles was saved at age 11. Dr. Curtis Hutson was also saved at age 11. Pastor Ralph Yankee Arnold was saved at age 18. Pastor Steven Anderson was saved at age 6. Pastor Harry Ironside was saved at age 17. It was in church. I remember the experience, but since I didn't tell anyone that I had been saved, no one could tell me to write down the date in my Bible. I wish that had happened, but it didn't.

The important thing is that I am trusting Christ now as my personal Savior. I know I wasn't born believing, but I believe now, so I must have been saved at some point in my life. I remember an experience in church on a Sunday morning. I remember that it was summertime. I remember that I felt convicted by the pastor's sermon.

During the invitation after the sermon, I clinched the back of the pew in front of me with my hands, and for the first time in my life I felt the Holy Spirit's conviction. I knew that I was a sinner. I was too shy to walk forward down the church aisle, but the best I knew how from my pew I asked the Lord Jesus Christ to save me. I believed that He died on a cross to pay for my sins. I believed that He was buried, but then physically resurrected from the dead three days later. I believed that I was calling out from my heart to a risen Savior, asking Him to please forgive my sins and save me from Hell. I never prayed audibly out loud, just silently from my heart.

I remember that in the days, weeks, months and years to come, I feared greatly that I was not saved. I desperately grabbed every piece of literature regarding salvation that I could get my hands on, but every tract and piece of literature that I could find ended with a requirement to pray a stupid sinner's prayer. That misled and confused me concerning God's simple plan of salvation. Since no one had ever taught me God's simple plan of salvation, I couldn't settle my assurance of it. It wouldn't be until I met Pastor Max D. Younce (1935-2023) online 25 years later that the Lord would finally solidify my salvation beliefs, and give me perfect peace in the matter of God's free gift of eternal life.

Dear reader, although there is nothing wrong and it is quite natural to ask, call or pray for God to save you, it is NOT necessary nor required by God to get to Heaven. What saith the Scripture? John 6:47, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.” Repeatedly in the inspired King James Bible we are told to simply BELIEVE the Gospel of Christ to be saved. Acts 10:43, “To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.” This one Bible verse proves Peter S. Ruckman (1921-2016), Robert Breaker, William P. Grady and Bible Baptist Church in Pensacola all dirty damnable liars!!! No one was ever saved by WORKS under the Mosaic law, they were saved by faith in Christ just as Acts 10:32 declares.

Dr. Bill Grady preaches a perverted view of repentance for salvation. Beware of the Ruckmanite crowd who are corrupt to the core. The greedy Bible Baptist Church in Pensacola are militant reprobates, distributing their toxic damnable Chick Tracts, and preaching another gospel of partial faith in Christ plus turning from your sinning. What they preach is religious quackery, not a free grace Gospel message! If a man is wrong on repentance you simply cannot trust anything that he says. It is like buttoning a dress shirt, if you get the first button wrong then all the buttons that follow will be wrong too.

It's okay dear friend if you don't remember when you were saved, I don't either. But you should remember a moment from your past when you realized that you were a guilty sinner, and you by faith (taking God at His written Word in the Bible) placed your trust (faith, reliance) in the name of Jesus Christ, believing that He died in your place on Calvary's cross; and believing that He didn't stay dead, Jesus physically raised up triumphant from the dead the third day.

You get saved by coming to God as a guilty sinner (Romans 3:19-20), and you by faith (taking God at His written Word in the Bible) accept Christ's sacrifice on the cross as full payment for your sins, believing that He was build, but then three days later bodily resurrected from the dead for your justification (because if Christ is still dead He cannot save anybody). I believe, do you? And remember, if salvation is truly by grace, then you don't need to start or stop anything to be saved. Eternal life is a free gift from God (Romans 6:23). 

Always Explain What It Means To “Repent“ If You Mention It To A Lost Sinner

Mark 6:5-6 and 12, “And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them. And he marvelled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages, teaching. ...And they went out, and preached that men should repent.”

It is tragic that 99% of the people who read our text passage of Scripture from Mark 6:12 will wrongly assume that to “repent” means “to turn from your sins.” However, as I have already done for you, if you examine the passage carefully we find that the issue at hand is not one's sins; but rather, “UNBELIEF” as we see in Mark 6:6. What those people in Jesus' own country where He grew up needed to get to Heaven was to repent of their UNBELIEF, not their sins. 

Not one verse in the inspired King James Bible teaches to “repent of your sins” or “turn from your sins” to get to Heaven. Wicked religious men added those words to God's inspired Word. Proverbs 30:5-6, “Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.” Should God's saints repent of our sins? Yes, absolutely (2nd Timothy 2:19). But to be saved, someone need only repent of their unbelief (Matthew 21:32).

And yet, if you research the pseudo-Christian cults (e.g., Mormons, Roman Catholics, Seventh-Day Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses, Church of Christ, et cetera), they all pervert the biblical meaning of repentance to teach that you must turn away from your sinful ways to get to Heaven. That is works, not salvation by God's grace through faith alone.

Romans 4:4, “Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.” I love that Bible verse! If salvation has ever been merited by works at any time in human civilization, then God owed a debt to that individual, and it wasn't by grace. The Bible warns that this has never been the case. From this passage alone we KNOW that no one under the Mosaic law was ever saved by works, nor by partial faith plus works. According to Acts 10:43 remission of sins has always come only though faith in Christ.

The writer of the preceding counterfeit gospel tells the reader to “repent,” but he doesn't explain what that means. In today's wicked American culture where most churches falsely require people to be willing to forsake a lifestyle of sinning to be saved (which is reformation not repentance), it is absolutely necessary nowadays to explain what it means to “repent.”

I personally never use the word “repent” at all, simply because the Gospel of John (God's Gospel track according to John 20:31) doesn't mention the word “repent” even once. That is simply because repentance is automatically included with believing. That is, you have changed your mind from unbelief to belief when you trust Christ. Bible repentance simply means to “change your mind,” nothing more. The context of a particular Scripture passage provides the necessary supplemental information to know what we must change our mind about.

By deceptively merely requiring readers to “repent,” the reader can go either way in meaning and the questionable webpage creator knows it. Repentance means different things to different people, which is why it is so vitally important to explain what the word means if you ever use it. Like I said, I just don't mention repentance because it is not necessary.

A good illustration of repentance is flying from Chicago to Los Angeles. I can simply instruct you to fly to Los Angeles. It is not necessary for me to first tell you to leave Chicago, and then secondly go to Los Angeles. The same is true with leading someone to faith in Jesus. You can simply preach the Gospel (which means “Good News”) to a lost sinner, without first telling them to leave their unbelief. This is exactly why we find the word “believe” mentioned 85 times in the Gospel of John, but the word “repent” is not mentioned even once.

You don't repent AND believe to be saved; you repent TO believe. Repentance facilitates believing. Please do as Jesus commanded in John 5:39 to 'SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES,' because 99% of churches and religious colleges are WRONG today on Bible repentance and God's simple plan of salvation. There are not 50 different shades of the Gospel, there has alway been only one plan of salvation (Galatians 1:6-9).

If you tell lost sinners to “repent” without explaining to them what it means, you are sending them up a potentially deadly creek without a paddle. You are woefully ignoring the reality that “many false prophets are gone out into the world” (1st John 4:1b). Don't you dare ever tell someone to “repent” to be saved without explaining yourself, because 99% of Americans have been lied to by the religious cults, to think that repentance means to turn away from your sinful bad habits. By the way, the meaning of “repent” in our English dictionary is based upon the Roman Catholic understanding of the word, which is NOT the biblical Greek meaning.

Behavior modification has absolutely nothing to do with the new birth. A changed life is the “fruit” of the indwelling Holy Spirit after you get saved (Galatians 5:22-25). A change of behavior has NOTHING to do with repentance to be saved. Whatever changes God wants to see happen in your life after you get saved is His department alone, and you can be assured that He will attend to it. God is not an absent parent (Hebrews 12:6-8).

Our only part in getting saved is just to believe the Gospel (1st Corinthians 15:1-6). All that God asks is that you believe Jesus did it all for you through Calvary's cross. Nothing more is required or allowed dear sinner! The only thing that you and I contribute to our own salvation is the sin that made it necessary. Salvation is of the LORD (Jonah 2:9).

THANK YOU for reading my ministry blog. To God alone be all the praise, credit and glory.

Beware Of A Sneaky False Gospel

2nd Corinthians 11:3-4, “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.”

Be careful about anybody who tries to make you doubt your salvation.

Salvation is not based on your performance, it’s based on what Jesus Christ already finished through Calvary's cross 2,000 years ago.

Religious legalism is the belief that individuals can earn God's approval and achieve salvation through strict adherence to rules and regulations (works), rather than through faith by grace. It emphasizes a change of external behavior as proof of faith, rather than biblical easy-believism which has absolutely nothing to do with one's behavior.

The moment a man starts tying your salvation to your works, he’s undermining your assurance and denying the sealing of the Holy Spirit the moment you were born again.

Good works are not the payment for sin, the payment for sin is death.

Salvation is not a reward for the righteous, it is a gift for the guilty.

Salvation is not doing your best, it is having Christ's best put to your account through receiving Him by faith.

Turning away from sinful ways would be a work. Faith puts all of the merit where it belongs, on the object of our faith, Jesus and His work.

If to “repent” means to forsake our sinful ways TO BE SAVED, but Jesus already paid for our sins by dying on the cross, then what are we repenting from?

The true Gospel always points you to CHRIST; a false gospel always points to YOU.

One is saved by God's grace through faith in the finished Work of His Son on the Cross as payment in full as our pardon for sin.

We All Wonder Where Someone Went When They Died

Ecclesiastes 12:6-7, “Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern. Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.”

Several notable celebrity deaths have occurred recently, including actor Robert Carradine, who died by suicide at age 71, and former New York Jets running back Matt Snell, who passed away at 84. Additionally, civil rights icon Jesse Jackson has also perished. Phil Campbell died, and the former guitarist of the band Motörhead. Also, actress Jennifer Runyon, known for her role in "Ghostbusters." Other notable deaths include actor Eric Dane, who battled ALS; and John Alford, a British actor who died in prison. Martin Short's daughter, Katherine Short, passed away at 42. These were all recent deaths!

We all wonder where such deceased people went in the afterlife. Is there an afterlife? Are those departed souls unconscious in the grave? Are they suffering in a literal burning Hell? Did they go to a literal place called Heaven with streets of gold? We simply do not know dear reader. If you believe the inspired Holy Bible to be true, as I do, then you believe that there is an afterlife. And you also believe that when a person dies, there are only one of two places they go go, which is either Heaven or Hell forever. There are no second chances beyond the grave! Once you've breathed your last breath on earth, and your heart has beat for the very last time, your eternal destiny is permanently sealed. I believe in an afterlife according to the plain teachings of Scripture, but I cannot prove that there is an afterlife and nobody can!

Dear reader, The Grim Reaper is coming for us all. The death angel doesn't discriminate. Today could be the last day of our life. What saith the Scripture? Proverbs 27:1, “Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.” James 4:14, “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” Life is so short in comparison to the timelessness of eternity. No one can escape death! You might be able to delay your death by living a healthy lifestyle, but you assuredly will eventually die. Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Have you been born again dear friend? It's still not too late.

Death often come without notice. It could be a car accident. You could slip on the ice, hit your head and die, which happened to health guru Robert Atkin (1930-2003). Life has no guarantees. Comedian George Burns (1896-1996) smoked a cigar every day and lived to be 100. So much for the dangers of tobacco! Yet, he still perished.

Someone asked Star Trek film series icon William Shatner (born 1931) how he managed to live to be 94 years old. Shatner said it is just a matter of some good luck and genetics beyond his control. Sadly, William Shatner, best known for his role as Captain Kirk in Star Trek, does not believe in life after death and identifies as an atheist. Shatner's life is near an end but he is not prepared to meet His Creator. That is so heartbreaking.

I oftentimes wonder where AC/DC rhythm guitarist Malcom Young (1953-2017) went in the afterlife. The Young brothers have been very private publicly about their family's beliefs. In sharp contrast, frontman Brian Johnson has publicly denied Jesus' deity, calling him a clever man who deceived the world. Woe unto the wicked! I feel so sorry for Christ-rejecting sinners like Brian Johnson, who blaspheme the Son of God who came down to earth to die on a cross for him. My trust is completely in Jesus Christ because of what He did to pay for my sins on Calvary's cross 2,000 years ago.

Lord willing, as I grow older in the time remaining of my life on earth, I will likely see many of my childhood musical idols pass away into the afterlife. I cannot help but often wonder where they are now. For example: Where did Olivia Newton John (1948-2022) go? Although she did profess to be a Christian, she was a heathen Roman Catholic, regularly visiting mass at Capuchin Novitiate in Santa Ynez, California. There is no salvation in the Catholic prisonhouse of religion. No one has ever been born again via sacramental salvation!!!

It will be interesting when I get to Heaven to learn where everybody went. If the Bible be true, then I am safe in the Father's hands, because Jesus is my only hope for Heaven. I have placed all my hope in the Gospel plus nothing. I hope you have that same peace of assurance dear friend. If you don't you can right now. Simply by faith (taking God at His written Word) accept Christ's sacrificial death on the cross as full payment for your sins. Believe that He was buried, this proving that He was dead. And then finally, believe that Jesus physically resurrected from the dead three days later for your justification and mine. That is, validating our faith in Him as the only begotten Son of God, the Christ. These three things comprise “THE GOSPEL” (1st Corinthians 15:1-6), by which all who BELIEVE IT are saved. Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”

There's a lot of famous celebrities dying lately, and as the Baby Boomer generation ages we'll see millions more passing away over the next 25 years. Glenn Frey (1948-2016) of The Eagles died on January 18, 2016, at the age of 67, from complications of rheumatoid arthritis, acute ulcerative colitis and pneumonia. I couldn't find any information about his beliefs. I have no idea where he might have went in the afterlife. The Holy Bible is nothing to shirk off dear reader. If the Word of God be true, you could end up burning in Hell forever if you neglect to obey the Gospel by simply believing it. Please don't delay if you've never been saved.

To Whom Should We Pray In The Godhead?

Matthew 6:6, “But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.”

John 16:23, “And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.”

I don't find any certain command in the Bible concerning which Person of the Godhead to pray to. Certainly, we must realize that to pray to Jesus, the Father, or the Holy Spirit is to pray to God, for there is only ONE God (Deuteronomy 6:4). The Apostle Paul speaks of the "mystery of God" in Colossians 2:2.

The Godhead is a mystery indeed, but we believe it because the Bible teaches it, and the Holy Spirit bares witness with our spirit that it is true. God has manifest (or revealed) Himself to mankind in the Persons of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

I pray to all three Persons of the Godhead, usually depending on the circumstances. When I pray for guidance, comfort, or power, I usually pray to the Holy Spirit because the Bible mentions the Holy Spirit with those things. If I want something from God, I'll usually pray to the Father, asking “In Jesus name” as the Gospel of John directs us to do so. Daily, I speak with the Lord Jesus, just as I would a friend, Who knows and understands what it means to suffer and be rejected and despised of men.

I don't think it really matters to which Person of the Godhead we choose to pray, just as long as we understand that we are praying to ONE God and that we must come to the Father through the Son, i.e., in Jesus' name. Jesus said in John 14:6 that we must come to the Father through Him, "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." Jesus is one with the Father, and the Holy Spirit lives within the believer's heart. The Holy Spirit is God within us. Thus, we pray TO the Father, THROUGH the Son, IN the Spirit.

This is not to say that we cannot pray directly to the Holy Spirit, knowing that He is the Spirit of Christ (Romans 8:9), or that we cannot pray to the Son of God, Who is called the “Everlasting Father” in Isaiah 9:6. The Godhead (Trinity) is a mystery that unbelievers cannot grasp, because it is spiritually discerned. Unbelievers cannot reconcile their finite human thinking with the eternal truth of God. But as true Christians, we understand (1st Corinthians 2:14-17; Luke 7:35).

Here is a wonderful quote from Dr. Jack Hyles' excellent book, 'EXPLORING PRAYER WITH JACK HYLES' . . .

I remember one night years ago when Dr. John R. Rice and I were at a Bible conference together. Before he preached, he prayed something like this, "Oh, Father, breathe on me. Lord Jesus, help me to preach tonight. Holy Spirit, give me power."

After the service a young preacher came to Dr. Rice and said, "You made a serious mistake while you prayed to God the Father, then you prayed to Jesus, then you prayed to the Holy Spirit." He continued, "The proper procedure is to pray to the Father through the Son in the Spirit."

Dr. Rice looked at him with a sheepish grin and replied, "Son, I've been in the family long enough until I know all of Them personally. I just talk to whichever One I need to talk to at the time." The old giant patted the young man on the shoulder and went his way.

There is nothing wrong with the child of God saying, "Jesus, I love You," "Father, supply my needs," and "Holy Spirit, give me power." Sometimes we can be so busy being theologically correct that we can be spiritually empty! Oh, for the heartbeat of the Christian faith! Oh, for the lilt and joy! Oh, for the tears and the burden! Oh, for the warmth and the tenderness!

SOURCE: Dr. Jack Hyles, 'EXPLORING PRAYER WITH JACK HYLES,' chapter 35

The most important thing is that we understand it is only on the basis of Christ's blood sacrifice that we are entitled to approach the throne of grace (Hebrews 4:15-16). Amen!

Beware Of The Modern Corrupt Bible Versions

Galatians 3:26-29, “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

Look in many of the new corrupt Bible revisions and you'll find that they change the first coming of Jesus Christ from “the time of reformation” to “the new order”...

NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (NIV)—Hebrews 9:10, “They are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial washings—external regulations applying until the time of the new order.” [emphasis added]

KING JAMES BIBLE (KJB)—Hebrews 9:10, “Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.” [emphasis added]

Clearly they are promoting the New World Order. The 1984 NIV even changed Jesus from the chief cornerstone to “THE CAPSTONE.” Don't you see my friend how the Devil is changing Jesus into the Antichrist? The NIV 2011 changed it back to cornerstone. The word “Antichrist” doesn't mean “against Christ”; but rather, “IN PLACE OF” Christ.

The phrase “the time of reformation” simply refers “the change brought about by Christ's sacrifice.” It does not mean “the new order.” The Greek word for “reformation” is diorthosis which means “to straighten thoroughly; rectification, that is, (specifically) the Messianic restoration.” Please throw away or burn your modern Bible revisions because you simply cannot trust them! The only inspired Words of God in the English language are in the King James Bible.

We've got it too easy today in America. The love of money has ruined our nation.

“It would be a godsend if the Church would suffer persecution today; she hasn't suffered it for hundreds of years. She is growing rich and lagging behind. Going back.” —Evangelist Billy Sunday, 'The Need for Revivals,' From 'Billy Sunday: The Man and His Message,' by William T. Ellis, Philadelphia: John C. Winston Co., 1914.

Please only use the inspired King Janes Bible, lest you be deceived by the Devil.

The Gospel In 45 Seconds

1st Corinthians 15:1-4, “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.”

The gospel is three things:

1. Jesus DIED on a cross 2,000 years ago to pay your dent of sin.
2. Jesus was BURIED.
3. Jesus bodily RESURRECTED from the dead three days later.

You must realize that you are a needy sinner. Romans 3:19-20, “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” You've got to know what you're being saved from, the penalty of sin in Hell forever (Revelation 21:8).

Any admitted guilty sinner who comes to God, by faith (taking God at His written Word), accepting Christ's sacrificial death on Calvary's cross as FULL PAYMENT for your sins, believing that Jesus was buried but then raised up the third day, is saved. 1st Thessalonians 4:14, “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.” That's all you need to do to go to Heaven, simply REST in the finished work of Christ through Calvary's cross. Simply BELIEVE (trust, rely) that Jesus did it all for you.

Salvation is not a reward for the righteous, it is a gift for the guilty.

Salvation is not doing your best, it is having Christ's best put to your account through receiving Him by faith.

Turning away from sinful ways would be a work. Faith puts all of the merit where it belongs, on the object of our faith, Jesus and His redemptive work.

The true Gospel always points you to CHRIST; a false gospel always points to YOU.

Faith is the only righteous thing that I can do.

You don't need to pray a Sinner's Prayer to get to Heaven, just “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31).

Thank you for reading my ministry blog.