My Salvation

When I was four, I thought you had to memorize John 3:16 before you could be saved.  I also thought that being baptized meant “being saved.”  I thought it was an impossible task, and I just feared death.  That’s what I really thought at 4 years old.

I used to fall asleep in church during sermons.  The way it would work is we would find a seat, the organ would play, the choir would come in and sing, everyone would sing and then greet each other, more singing, take up money, THEN as the preacher would start talking, I would lay down in the pew, put my head in my father’s lap, and not wake up until the music started again.  That was church for me as a kid, and for some people it still is. 

I was baptized in the 3^rd grade after walking the aisle during a revival at Faith Baptist Church.  My niece and brother left our pew and started down to the front during the closing invitation.  I didn’t want to be alone, so I went, too.  I was asked if I understood everything and if I took Jesus to be my Lord and Savior.  I wasn’t about to say why I really came down, so I ended up as one of many white robed baptizees a week or two later.

I regularly went to church until sometime during the 4^th grade.  My dad had stopped going for the most part, and so I started playing sick on Sunday mornings.  Mom would come in and tell me to get out of bed.  I would say I didn’t feel good.  She’d tell me to get up and dressed.  Dad would defend me and say I could stay home with him.  Then as soon as mom would go, I would feel so much better.  I would watch westerns and wrestling and sometimes dad and I would just work out in the garage fixing cars.  Okay, I would play and dad would work on cars. 

People from the church would send me little postcards saying they missed me.  Even though I wanted to, I was afraid to go back.  In Sunday School they kept an attendance chart that was covered in stars for those “faithful” children.  I was afraid of what that chart would look like after a couple years, so that fear kept me from going with mom.

I remember sometime in the 6^th grade playing war hero in the backyard.  I was unhappy with my life and I wanted God to fix it.  I remember looking up in the sky over the house and praying out loud, “God, if you’re really there, then give me a million dollars right now and make me the most powerful man in the world.”  (I know.  It hurts.)  Well, I gave God a whopping 10 seconds, and I remember praying, “I didn’t think you could do it.”  Then I did something that really hurt the whole “age of accountability” thing.  I prayed, “Satan, if you’re really there, then you give me a million dollars and make me the most powerful man in the world. " At that moment, I knew I had crossed a line.  I got this uneasy feeling in my gut, and I knew right then that if I died I would go to Hell.

For a while I struggled with my fear of going to church, but eventually we all went.  It might have been Easter.  I don’t remember the day, just that it was spring-time.  I don’t remember anything about Sunday School, the music or the sermon.  During the invitation the pastor Sandy Sandlin said, “Now draw an imaginary circle around yourself, and it’s just you and God in that circle.  Now tell God why He should let you into His Heaven.”  I didn’t have an answer.  I knew I was a sinner.  I knew I was going to Hell.  He led anyone that wanted to become a Christian in a prayer, and I prayed it with all my heart.  On that day, I was changed.  God bought me, cleansed me, and adopted me. 

I didn’t go back to church until the 7^th grade started and fortunately they didn’t still have those attendance charts up.  I looked.  The youth group was one of the best things that ever happened to me.  Craig Lile made sure that there was some kind of Bible lesson at every activity.  I learned so much.

I didn’t get baptized until after Joyce and I had started going to Scotland Baptist Church 7 or 8 years later.  Today, I know who owns me and is still transforming me into the image of His Son Jesus.  This is my story.  This is my salvation, and I am so thankful for a God that never gave up on me. 

--Johnie

A Temple is Necessary

In Matthew 24:15, Jesus describes the beginning of the end by quoting the prophet Daniel, "When you see the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place...", and it makes one wonder what is this thing the Master is speaking of.  It goes back to the prophecies of Daniel where he describes things that are going to happen at the end of this age and just prior to the beginning of the thousand year reign of Christ Jesus on this earth. 

There will be a peace treaty with Israel, but after 3.5 years, the one we know as the Antichrist will set up an image of himself in the Temple and will proclaim himself as God and will terrorize all who do not worship him.  This will happen for 3.5 years after 3.5 years of peace.  After a full 7 years, then Jesus will return to reign on the earth for 1000 years.

One thing that is missing for the fulfillment of this prophecy is a new Temple which will be "the holy place" that Jesus mentions.  Currently there is an old mosque called "The Dome on the Rock" right where the holy place must be for this future event.  The  mosque, built in 691 A.D., covers a sacred bare spot of ground thought to be where three things took place (only one is considered sacred to the muslims).  First, muslims believe that it is the spot where Mohammed was taken up to heaven.  Second, it is believed to be the location of the "Holy of Holies" (i.e. - the holy place) in the destroyed Jewish Temple, and the future location of the holy place talked about by Jesus.  And finally, it is regarded by some as the place where Abraham was interrupted from sacrificing Isaac and then saw the ram caught in the thicket. 

The jews that pray at the western wall ask for many things, one of them being the super-natural destruction of the dome of the rock.  Apparently something will happen to it and a third temple will be rebuilt, undoubtedly making muslims all over the world spit-fire mad.

When the dome is destroyed, look out!  Things will be closer then than ever before.  As much as satan would like the credit, we know that the timeline of things yet to come is God's plan and we know how it turns out.  We are plainly told these things in the Holy Scriptures.  We must ask God to help us understand them.


--Johnie