Shedding Old Ways – Gordon’s Story

the big difference between religion and

relationship I would say as religion is

all based on what you do it’s all about

your attendance your good works things

that you can try in there and people

like that because everyone wants to feel

that they’ve done something I

contributed something positive to any

area of life even their own salvation or

get into heaven but the Bible says it’s

not the case and it’s only through a

personal relationship that any of us can

be saved

when I was a kid those boys are started

at a pickle kids playing football they

the boys about the streets there for

that mom and dad were never interested

really and Christianity in believer I

was available stories and the broadest

sense and there was a chaplain at the

school to do assemblies and he’d had an

after-school Club and things like that

so I was aware of the Bible I knew that

there were some people that believed in

God and practiced that but there was no

real difference in the main in terms of

just religion and the actual gospel I

went along to ikats club there my

brother and sister were going to

and on the Sunday they had a prize given

I remember a guy comin and and here the

snake didn’t like the state with them

but here for all the snake and he was

using that to illustrate the fact that

snake she had used skin and he was

making the point that diversity can

anything’s that if anyone isn’t raised

in a nucleation and all things of passed

away and all things are become new and I

just remember not really speaking to me

it was almost like I forget the session

through it but I brushed that assayed

and thought no I’ll leave it for now and

tried to put it in the back of my mind

that’s a few months later and mom had

signed me up to go to a camp and I had

this ad that I wasn’t going mom said

well I’ve paid for it so you’re going so

I went along to the camp with this idea

of in my mind that I’ll do some actually

and some he’ll walk in and kayak in

which when that was the highlight and

you it was you know there was no

interest in the spiritual because I

wouldn’t been the most sporty but it

seemed as soon as I went back to that

environment under the world of God that

everything had had before seemed to just

come back before and it was the first

night of the cow

but I was thinking while they should us

all make sense I realize that I’ve got a

decision to make again and felt exactly

as I had you know those months before

when I heard the verbena nucleation the

message that Nate was on how Adam had

brought sin unto the world when the

trace could take that scent and our

lives over here and it was fairly simple

but I remember realizing that it was

something that there might be a response

that’s time I knew I couldn’t put it off

any longer

I remember going to speak into the

person that was taken the camp that

weekend was asking them how do you get

saved and he kept asking me all these

questions badly well why do you want to

become a question with deferences I

wanna make him a been a new creation

symbolizes the start of something and

that was the point that he was trying to

make the me was that this is not just

the end goal you don’t say believe in

the Lord Jesus and you’ll be saved and

then live however you want he says this

is something that’s gonna change your

life your direction of life and you’re

not just accepting Jesus as your Savior

you’re recognizing that he is Lord

so I remember him praying and then me

pray a very simple prayer as you said

you know and Obama said I need

forgiveness and there was no dramatic

scene there no light than an earthquake

an end like that but a peace and a sense

of knowing that my sentence over heaven

it was the next morning I just woke up

early in the morning with a sense of

leash very different there are things

things are different now

and he couldn’t be a finger in what it

was I just knew that what had taken

place the night before was something

that was bigger than just that decision

like this joy and if I’m you know on a

supply a sense of relief that I finally

made the decision and that when I died

and you I was going to heaven from that

the oil it’s not that lady’s been

perfect you know you don’t become a

Christian and then everything’s playing

sailing but that’s not the expectation

either the reality is that when things

do go wrong or go off course they’re

when life seems uncertain the joy and

the assurance that I found that there

when I was saved it’s still there it’s

not something that just disappears

and though even ten years later I’m so

thankful for the life that I have in

Christ I’m thankful for friends that

have gained opportunities that have been

given to share of God but most

importantly I’m thankful for the

relationship that I have with the Lord

and the more that you get in the warmth

through reading through reading the

Bible spending time in prayer the richer

your life becomes and the more

significant the reality of that

relationship seamen’s

in weather situation you find yourself

an or ever choices that you have to make

in life I think there’s that rest and

then that God is bigger than my

decision-making and that you have

probably gonna make mistakes and you’re

gonna make them often and you just need

to rest that God’s get something bigger

and that he has working something out of

his own purpose and try to be content

where you are because you can constantly

do things or be looking for a new job or

a new experience I don’t like that but I

think it’s trying to realized that real

joy and contentment phone and crazed

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