My Testimony

My testimony is something I usually avoid telling because, to be honest…I don't really know when I was saved.

Like many of us, I grew up in a series of calvinist and charismatic churches, each more worldly than the next. I took the gospel for granted and clearly remember thinking that I wanted to sin whilst I was young, and worry about it later.

When I was 13 I attended my church youth group. The leader asked us the all important question - if Jesus came back tonight, would you go to heaven? And I’m not going to lie - I was scared. I went home that night and asked God to forgive me for my sins. I told my youth leader that I prayed for my salvation but was now doubtful, and he encouraged me with the verse Hebrews 13:5. My Mam had died 3 years earlier, and I had a horrible relationship with my Dad - so hearing that I had a spiritual parent who would would never leave me or forsake me, who I could fully trust, made me WANT to be saved. But was I saved then? Maybe. But I’m not so sure. That youth leader constantly taught a works based salvation, and so I can't be sure that I even really understood the gospel, let alone trusted Jesus 100% for myself.

Time went by and my faith wavered from weak to non existent. I fell into grievous sins and was very much on the path to destruction. It wasn't until I discovered the New IFB movement, that my life truly changed.

At aged 18, five years from my supposed salvation, a friend introduced me to Pastor Anderson's videos and I have to say, it was a shock to the system. It was preaching like I'd never heard it before and although I didn’t agree with a lot of the doctrine at the time, for the first time in my life I felt like I was actually learning something.

I'd grown up in church my whole life but not once was I taught anything beyond an incorrect gospel presentation, and a couple of the typical Bible stories we all hear in Sunday school like Noah’s Ark and Moses. And that’s exactly what they had become to me - stories. Pastor Anderson’s preaching awakened me to the true meaning of the gospel and I started to think about what that meant for my life.

I began to question my salvation, and the sincerity behind my thirteen-year old prayer. I knew my life had been wicked and my faith weak. The Bible says in Matthew 7:20 “Ye shall know them by their fruits.” - but I had no fruit. Did this mean I had no faith either?

My friend told me that the worries about my salvation showed that my fear of the Lord was real. But looking back I realized that I was striving towards a works based salvation.

My walk with the Lord has been more of a series of baby steps. Learning to trust the Lord with all my heart, and to lean not on my own understanding, has not come naturally. I have faced many obstacles, namely my unwillingness to submit to God and spells of deep depression - and I strongly believe that one has been the cause of the other. But God has been transforming me daily and showing me that with obedience comes true joy.

Over the years and in the past few months especially, I have learned to separate what is needed for salvation and what is expected of me as a daughter of Christ. The Bible says:

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. {Ephesians 2:8-9}

I’m eternally grateful that God placed people like Josh and Pastor Anderson in my life, because without them I may never have realized that not only am I saved, but there is nothing and no-one that can pluck me from God’s hands.

Thank you for reading and until next time, have a blessed week.

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” - {John 10:27-28}

The New IFB Week in Review

It’s been an eventful few weeks in the New Independent Fundamental Baptist movement; God has really been purging the churches, separating the wheat from the chaff. Though I personally believe this is a good thing, it has been quite a distressing and confusing time for many people both in these respective churches, and those watching it unravel via Youtube.

I’d just like to say to those feeling discouraged, that we as a movement, are not being destroyed - we are being made stronger. Of course it’s heartbreaking to see supposed men of God crumble and be corrupted, but that does not discredit the great work that God is doing through the New IFB.

In times like this we need to remember who we serve. We serve God, not man. And whilst we should definitely be supporting the great leaders of the New IFB, and the effort they are making to get souls saved, we need to remember to put our trust in God alone because man is not perfect. Man can fail. Do not let the devil use this turbulent time to distract you from what truly matters - winning souls to Christ. God has not left us and his kingdom is still very much at hand. So go forth, give the gospel and get people saved.

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
{Matthew 28:19-20}

The storm of the previous two weeks is starting to settle and some excellent sermons have been preached from the pulpits across America, this week. Ben Knight of ‘Ben the Baptist’ hosted The Week In Review, featuring Pastor Aaron Thompson from Sure Foundations BC, Pastor Jonathan Shelley, the new Stedfast Baptist pastor, and of course the notorious Pastor Steven L Anderson. The video expands on why all of this needed to happen, in relation to what the Bible says.

It is an excellent video so be sure to give it a watch when you get a chance.

My First Time Soulwinning!

"I went soul winning and all I took with this crummy selfie". 

Sunday was a big day for me. It was my first time attending a new church in London, but even more excitingly, it was my first time ever going soul winning. A group of guys from the church I visited, kindly took me under their wings, and I honestly don’t think I could’ve had a better first experience. I have been on a zealous high for days!

Soul winning is something I've wanted to do for a long time but have never been able to find anyone to join me. I'm quite shy and still new to reading the Bible, so going it alone didn't seem like an option. Every church I approached said soul winning wasn't something they did and were not interested in starting. All of my attempts to reach out to churches, were pretty half-hearted and it wasn’t until recently that I felt a real desire to get out there and give the gospel. I was so excited to finally give it a go but I was definitely nervous.

Thankfully, I was paired up with Brother Glodie, an experienced soul winner who’s passion for Christ is tangible. We knocked doors in an apartment block, in Mitcham armed with Youtube cards, tracts and New Testament Bibles. I acted as a silent partner, with Bro Glodie taking the lead.

Just before we knocked the first door I said “I always just think that noone will want to listen”, but my skepticism was about to be shattered. On the very first door we knocked there was a salvation!
Praise the Lord!

A young woman called Alex, told us she had been brought up a Christian but when asked what she thought you had to do to go to heaven, she gave the typical answer “be a good person”. Bro Glodie showed her from the Bible that salvation is based on faith alone, that we do not have to earn our way into heaven or repent of sins to be saved. Alex was extremely receptive, and gave us time to thoroughly go through the plan of salvation with her, covering everything from why we need faith, to the idea of “once saved always saved”.

I have been guilty in the past of having little compassion for the unsaved, but I physically felt my heart change as we gave the gospel to Alex. There’s something about looking someone in the eye, knowing that whatever you say next could determine their salvation, that just hits you hard.

After we gave the gospel to Alex, we saw two young boys (around the age of 13) messing around downstairs. One was wearing a Halloween mask, and they were shouting something to us. We decided to go downstairs and at least try to give them the gospel, though we weren’t really expecting much to happen. To our surprise, the boys were also extremely receptive. They were of Brazilian evangelical origin, and one boy translated in Portuguese, to his friend. They had also been taught a works based salvation and when asked if they were sure they’d go to heaven, they said “around 70%”.

The conversation we had with them touched my heart immensely. I don’t want to disclose what was said, but one of the boys in particular had a very hard home life and desperately wanted his family to be brought to salvation. They listened attentively to everything Bro Glodie and I said, and also had lots of questions and stories for us to listen to us as well. Both boys got saved, and are now 100% certain of their salvation. I just pray God does great things in their lives from here on out.

Our soul winning streak, seemingly dried up from there. We knocked a couple more doors with either no answer, or people who were not interested, which is fine. That’s kind of what I expected for the whole day so to even get one salvation was amazing. God really showed me the power of his word, and that I should never lean on my own understanding.

I hope I get the chance to go soul winning again soon and that, eventually, I can give the gospel myself someday. Thank you to Brother Glodie for showing me the ropes and praise be to God for his marvellous works.

“Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord”

- {1 Corinthians 15:51-58}

For more info on soul winning in the UK, visit www.soul-winning.co.uk