TESTIMONY

After graduating from college, I  made my living as a musician, playing in clubs …

The lifestyle that I was a part of was, shall we say, not the best.

I became the owner of a sports newspaper called Sportsbeat…

Some of  the stringers that wrote for me were:

Pete Franklin

Tom Hamilton

Casey Coleman

Duane Kuiper

Jeff Torborg was manager of the Indians and Andre Thornton, Rick Manning and Duane Kuper were on the team

Sam Rutigliano, Brian Sipe, Lyle Alzado on the Browns

Bill Fitch, Bingo Smith and Austin Carr on the Cavaliers

It was a good life..I OD’d on sports..was

I went to every game of every sport.

 Two things happened that changed my life forever!

-          Red Right 88

-          Ted Stepien bought the Cavaliers

Business fell off, cash became tight

And my personal heaven became a personal hell!!

IT WAS THE BEST THING TO EVER HAPPEN TO ME!!!

What I discovered was that

1.       Things were out of my control…

I had no power to change them

2.       I knew that this situation was an example of  my whole life and life style

My inability to sustain my business was just an outgrowth of my inability to control my own life!!

I knew that how I was living was wrong…and I didn’t know how to change it!

I had learned the Lord’s prayer as a child, and it was the only scripture that I knew

When I got to the part that says

“Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven…it struck me

If I didn’t have the power or knowledge to change my circumstances, how could I impose my solutions upon God?

As I prayed, I also became cognizant of my sinfulness…

My wrong thoughts

My wrong actions

And most of all

My own wrong motives and desires

I asked Him to forgive me for how I had lived and what I had done..

I asked Him for His solutions to my problems

You see, I had some knowledge about Christ…

but I had never known Christ before this

But what about YOU???

Illustration:

 Plain Dealer article in one of last weeks

ALLOW ME TO GIVE YOU SOME FACTS ABOUT OUR SOCIETY..

1. Since 1960 the total number of crimes             has increased 300%

2. Eight out of every 10 Americans will be          a victim of violent crime at least once     in their lives

3. Since 1960 the rate of homicide among           children has more than quadrupled.

4. Since 1965 the arrest rate among       juveniles for violent crimes has tripled.

5. Since 1960 illegitimate birth rates have           increased more than 400 %

6. Since 1972 there have been more than           28 million abortions in the United            States

     Today 1 in 4  pregnancies ends in       abortion

 “There is something wrong, very wrong not only in the country… BUT IN ME!

“What do I do about it?

Everyone knows in his heart of hearts that there is something wrong inside him or her.

Business psychologists tell us that the#1 fear of  every executive is that he will be FOUND OUT!!..…that people will discover what he DOESN’T KNOW!

WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT IT?

We try to make ourselves “better”

We try to DO MORE…

WE SET RULES FOR OURSELVES

WE SET LAWS THAT WE SAY WE ARE GOING TO FOLLOW

We set workout goals

… AND FEEL GUILTY WHEN WE MISS THREE DAYS IN A ROW

We turn over a new leaf in some area that we are trying to change…

…and the leaf gets blown away in the first breeze of opposition

In Business…

We set sales goals

We set profit goals

AND EVEN WHEN WE SURPASS THEM…

THERE’S A FEELING THAT WE

SOMEHOW

WE HAVE FALLEN SHORT

WE COULD HAVE DONE MORE..

WE KNOW THAT SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH OUR LIVES…

SOMETHING IS NOT “RIGHT”

But  I’m a good person..

I give to United  Way

I help ladies across the street..

I go Church every Sunday… or almost anyway..

IF WE ACKNOWLEDGE THAT WE ARE NOT DOING ENOUGH TO BE RIGHT IN OUR BUSINESS AND PERSONAL LIVES….

HOW DO WE KNOW  THAT WE ARE “DOING ENOUGH” TO BE “RIGHT” IN OUR SPIRITUAL LIVES ?

IF WE FALL SO SHORT IN OUR PERSONAL GOALS

AND IN OUR BUSINESS GOALS

 How far short do we fall in our Spiritual goals??

HERE’S THE BAD NEWS

On the authority of God’s word.

ROM 3:23 says

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…..

Well thanks a lot, you say..

But here’s the good news

(21) “But now a righteousness from God..

APART FROM THE LAW…

Has been made known ( manifest)

To which the Law and the Prophets testify

This righteousness from god comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe..

There is no difference….

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…

And are justified freely through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

Well you say, “I know about Christ..I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t know about Him.

PRINICIPLE: 

1.      Knowledge ABOUT God

is not the same as knowing God.

2.      Knowing ABOUT TRUSTING God

is not the same as trusting God

A PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE OF GOD WILL CHANGE US…

AND IMPACT OTHERS.

 The apostles had a personal relationship with Christ.  Their lives were changed and the world was impacted!!!!

The way we distinguish between BC and AD on the calendar demonstrates2000 years later…

But is 2000 years later

And many people who call themselves Christians…KNOW ABOUT CHRIST…

BUT DON’T KNOW  THE LIVING :

CHRIST

Illustration

Love the game of baseball..never played prof game

Sidelines of a 10K or Marathon

Never Run in it..n

Why are you Here?

Why did God Make You?

The Westminster catechism says:

The Catholic Baltimore Chaechism says

To Know, Love and Serve God

Once you know why you are here; The

priorities and values are at once set in our minds

Once you become aware that  the main reason you are here is to know God, most of life’s problems fall into place.

Knowing God more than knowing about Him

It is a matter of dealing with Him!

God reveals Himself to man in His word.