I know I am saved. I don’t hope I’m saved. I’m not being saved. I am saved. The word of God, in 1John 5:13 says:

“These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may KNOW that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.” (emphasis mine)

I was raised in the Church of the Nazarene. Well, let me say it this way...I was raised by parents who went to the Nazarene church when I was young. The truth is that in my house, we did what we were told, and if our parents were pleased, God was pleased. When I lived at home, I honored my parents and lived by their rules. When I left home, which must have been about a week after I turned 18, I took full advantage of not living under their rules anymore. Suffice it to say, rebelling so fiercely against my parents and their “rules” lead me down a long hard road.

Now it is 9 years later. I am what my dear friends at FCFC call a young Christian, and the more I look at myself and compare myself to the word of God, the more I have to agree with them. About 2 years ago I became an internet junkie. My husband put a stop to that right away, so I only went online in the morning. About a year after that I was, for the first time in my life, actively proclaiming a desire to find God. One day, while nested comfortably in front of my computer, space heater roaring, I watched a completely diverse group of people arguing (with really big, scary- looking words) what the word of God says. They were like children! I sat there thinking about Jesus and seeing this mass confusion and said to him, out loud in fact, "Please send someone here that I can trust, Dear Jesus."

I looked back at the screen and one name jumped out at me. I sent her a private message, and said “hi” to her. She actually answered! We started to talk and I told her how all of this was so scary to me. I told her I didn't know what to believe. She said, “believe the word of God.” She asked if I had a Bible, and if it was King James, both “ yes”. Then she asked me a key question. She asked if I believed in eternal security.

My life flashed before my eyes. I recalled my parents saying lots of times that people who believe in eternal security think they have a license to sin. I told her this. She quickly directed me to Romans 3:31 which says:

“Do we make void the law by faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.”

She also told me to look up Hebrews chapter 10. One in particular jumped out at me:

“By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ ONCE FOR ALL.” (Heb 10:10) (Emphasis mine)

I marveled! It said here that Jesus died for my sins once and for all! It said that my sins were remembered no more! God made a COVENANT with me, and would NEVER break it!

That person was our dear Diane. Make no mistake, I give glory to none other than Jesus, our precious Lord and Savior. He knew the desire of my heart that day, and when I knew I was saved, the veil, which felt to me more like a heavy wet blanket, was lifted from my heart.

A year later I'm in a new town, with new friends, and no other desire than to spread the Good News of Jesus to anyone with ears to hear! Now the staff at FCFC are my neighbors. I'm far behind them in knowledge, but I'm growing, by the power of God, through his Mighty Word. I hope in the future to write more to you, dear readers, about the church I came from, and the events in my life. Since I've come to know God’s great love, and have placed all of my faith in Jesus alone, I can see the places in my life when He loved me, even before I loved him.

One night I was invited to attend a Catholic and Protestant round-table, of sorts. It was presented by an outreach ministry led by Jeff Bair. Having been raised in a church that proclaimed itself to be Protestant, and yet clung to the doctrines of Rome(more about this in the future, God willing), I was eager to participate in such a discussion.

It was being held in the back room of a local restaurant. We came in early and found seats next to Rebecca and some other Bible-believing friends. Jeff was setting up his massive (and impressive) collection of books for sale, subjects ranging from the Eucharist to Freemasonry. There were lots of people there. As we waited for the presentation to begin, Rebecca began telling me about a man who had approached her before I arrived. She said his voice was low and steady, and that she had never seen him before, but he walked right up to her and called her by name. The man held out some pictures of Jesus and asked her if she thought they were beautiful. She agreed, saying they were beautiful, and asked if he thought the man in the picture was handsome. The man said, “Yes, very handsome.” Rebecca said, "But the word of God says in Isaiah 53:2:

'For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness: and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.'"

By now we had all ordered large cokes and ice waters, and were getting anxious to begin. The tension was palpable, as more people came in. A short time later, Jeff stood behind a small podium and asked everyone to please be seated. He explained that his ministry was called “Quest For Truth”, and its purpose was to reach out to those still in bondage, and show them that there is freedom to be found by learning and having faith in the word of God. As he read the list of topics that would be discussed this evening, a man within Australian accent interrupted him and asked what “cult” Jeff was representing. I was upset at the man's rudeness. Jeff calmly stated that he represented no cult, that he was here to spread the good news of Jesus. The man grumbled more nonsense, and Jeff continued.

About this time, something very strange happened. Remember, I'm a young protestant, so the worship of Mary is very foreign to me. It was a complete surprise to me when a thin, dark-haired man with a very large crucifix dangling from his neck stood up and spoke loudly saying, “Everyone who participates in this meeting is blaspheming the Holy Spirit!" Everyone just sort of looked at each other. He went on further, “prophesying” to us about the “Final Warning”, which was coming in two months time. It would be during this “Final Warning” that we all would know that we had blasphemed the Holy Spirit, and that we had better leave immediately and say prayers to Mary. Sometime during his “prophecy” he pulled out an even bigger crucifix, and held it up high like a bidder at an auction. Someone called out, “And which cult do YOU represent?" The man packed his trusty crucifix and stalked out, and the room’s laughter followed him.

Amazing. We had a “prophet” in our midst. Ok, so he was a prophet of lies and heresy, but a prophet none the less. I watched him, shocked, and listened to this man give glory to Mary that is only due to the Lord Jesus. I knew that people said prayers to Mary and believed she interceded for them, but I had very little knowledge of the depth of the power given to her. After a few minutes, Mr. Bair stepped back to the podium and finished explaining the agenda for the evening .

We would start by watching a film entitled Catholicism: Crisis of Faith, and then Rebecca would give her testimony, and that would be followed by questions and answers. The lights were dimmed and the film began.

I don't remember the full details of the film. The parts I do remember were the former nuns, seminary students, and priests proclaiming their faith in the word of God, and the subsequent abandonment of the Church and her doctrines of devils. They proclaimed spiritual victory, and it made my heart sing to hear other's testifying of the freedom from bondage. See Galatians.4.

After the show ended, the lights came back up and everyone started to talk. Jeff introduced Rebecca, and most of the people continued right on talking. I was rather offended by such behavior from adults. Jeff was doing a wonderful job here, regardless of whose side he was on, and many of the people on the other side of the room (the Catholic section) had not the common courtesy to listen to their host.

Rebecca took her position behind the podium, and finally all were gracious enough to listen to her. She told us how she had been the cream of the crop of Catholics, pious and generous with her good works. She spoke of eating a piece of bread and calling it God. She described the times when her children were sick and she prayed in tears to Mary to intercede for them. Having heard the story already, I still listened intently, praying at the same time someone in this group would hear the message. She continued giving her inspiring story, of how God had shown her His precious word, and bade her,

"Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and the ye receive not of her plagues." (Rev.18:4)

She gave all the glory to God as she told about how lives had been changed and hearts had been healed. I was proud of her.

Finally came the portion of the evening we had all been waiting for, the Q & A. I regret that I don't remember all the details of every question asked. Tensions were high, and I had very little knowledge of many of the topics. Somewhere along the way, one extremely confident and loud-voiced man, who sat on the side of the room where the other Catholics were seated, elected himself mediator. It didn't last long. Neither side could stand to wait for the mediator to give permission to speak.

There were, however, a few key issues discussed that really stuck in my mind, although the sequence may be out of order. The subject had reached the finished work, which I had studied extensively. We were fervently defending our Lord’s finished work with scripture, quoting much of the book of Hebrews, and others, when suddenly someone from the Catholic side stood up and spoke very loudly saying, "Jesus never came down from the cross." It was as if I’d been hit with a board. I sat there with my jaw hanging down, stunned into silence. I was mortified. Such utter blasphemy! Such complete denial of the Lord who bought them (not the Lord that is BUYING them)! I turned toward Rebecca and she asked me, “Did you hear that?” All I could do was nod. The finished work of Jesus was the cornerstone of my faith and understanding in God's perfect love for me. The word of God says:

“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out all fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.” (1John 4:18)

How do people live and function and believe that Jesus is still hanging there suffering?

I swept up my jaw and the topic moved on. Transubtantiation was brought up, and Rebecca and others took up this cause, quoting especially John 6:63 where Jesus says:

"It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life."

It really doesn't get much more plain than that, my friends. While these people were saying a piece of bread becomes God, and God is the same yesterday, today and forever. My first thought was, then when is God NOT bread? I felt a weight on my heart as I listened to these poor deceived people, committing blasphemy and believing it’s what God commands.

Meanwhile, other discussions were going on. Another friend of ours was, by now, standing on her seat with her Bible in the air, earnestly contending for the faith. A young man, during a rare lull in the discussion, said, "I am in bondage to no man. I used to be a Catholic, and the word of God has set me free." John 8:36 promises us,

“If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”

Our section cheered openly and happily for this man, who hadn't said much of anything before this. By now I was wound up. People with much more knowledge than I, were answering the questions as fast as they came. I sat and listened, trying to soak up as much information as I could. All of this was completely alien to me, a protestant, raised in a church that, by the evidence I had seen so far, protested very little. I was enjoying myself immensely as I watched men and women, young and old, eagerly fighting the good fight.

The man with the “beautiful” pictures stood up and began speaking about statues and idols. I remember when I renounced my “Jesus” pictures and threw them in the garbage. I remember how hard it was, and the instant pain in my heart when I realized how much power I had given a picture. I called out openly to the man, saying, ‘When you call a picture of some guy Jesus, knowing its not what He looks like, you are giving God's glory to another.” The man looked at me very markedly, and took his seat. On the walls of the large room were various drawings of famous people. As the man sat down, another behind him called out, "All of these pictures here are graven images!" My response was, "Are you calling all of these men in these pictures, Jesus? When you call a man in a picture, Jesus, knowing it is not the Lord, it is idolatry." No one answered, except Rebecca, who leaned over and whispered, "Oh Jen, I just love you!"

By now it was nearing ten o'clock. Some had already left. My son was nodding off in the seat next to me. It was decided the discussion would end for now. An elderly gentlemen stood up and informed everyone of how Rome was the reason we had our Bibles. All of our section just repeated the word "lie" for each and every statement he made about how our “Mother Church” had provided us with the word of God. Again, I was rather offended at such nonsense. If Rome gave us the Bible, why didn't she follow it herself?

So the evening ended. My head was ringing from the fierceness of it all. I sat and recalled all that I had been taught by my “protestant” church, The Church of the Nazarene, (whose origins are in Methodism, whose origins are in Catholicism). I had to wonder whose side she would have been on. Before I was given understanding of the scriptures, which came by reading for myself (1John 2:27), and trusting in God that He paid the price ONCE AND FOR ALL, (Heb 10:10) I was in the same type of bondage that Catholics are in. Glory to Jesus, for his Grace is truly amazing! To Be Continued....

by Jenny Tarbell

Free Home Page