Remember... re the level of English - this was written for ESL students. Actually, I believe the politically correct term now is EAL students - English as an Additional Language. that's fine with me.
My ancestors have been Christians for over 200 years. Maybe even over 400 years.
My father was a teacher, missionary and pastor. My mother was also a teacher and she and my father worked together. So, I grew up always knowing about God and Jesus. The Bible (The King James Version in fact – a birthday present for my 6th birthday) and other Christian literature (such as Back to the Bible Hour's Good News Ambassador paper) were what I learned to read first.
I believe I was blessed to grow up in a home where the love of Jesus was felt, with parents who followed The Way of Jesus. It probably helped keep me from getting into a lot of trouble. It also helped me learn a lot.
Once when my younger sister and I were about 7 years old, we were having our evening prayers and readings with our parents. We realized from what we heard that we were sinful creatures. Knowing this made us cry because of sadness for whom we were. However, our parents knew there was a way out of feeling like this. My father read these verses that I will always remember:
"My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you will not sin. If anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the father, Jesus Christ…he is the sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for the sins of the whole world"…The First Letter from John, ch. 2, vs. 1-2.
That was wonderful news. Jesus represents us to God. He stands before His Father to plead our case on our behalf. That is what an advocate is. It's like Jesus is our Lawyer in God's court. If we believe in what he is doing for us, we will not receive the final punishment for our sins. We can be forgiven and have new and eternal life.
My sister and I prayed for forgiveness that evening. That was our beginning in the New Life.
NOTE: Chapter 3 is not included in this series as it concerns my wife's story, which I did not feel I was at liberty to publish, although I had shared it with our class, who knew her, of course. Remember, this series was originally written for our Bible class in the summer of 2008.
NOTE: Chapter 3 is not included in this series as it concerns my wife's story, which I did not feel I was at liberty to publish, although I had shared it with our class, who knew her, of course. Remember, this series was originally written for our Bible class in the summer of 2008.
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