Copyright © 1996-2009 Global Alphabet, Inc. All rights reserved.
BigchurchSM and Big ChurchSM are service marks of Global Alphabet, Inc.
BigchurchSM and Big ChurchSM are service marks of Global Alphabet, Inc.
 | Blogs > deepestfaith > Mesianic Viewpoints > In the Heat of the Night: Testimony Chapter 4 |
In the Heat of the Night: Testimony Chapter 4
Last Read: |
My testimony is actually a path God took me on over 32 years. Since that might take volumes of tomes, I am posting them in chapters in no specific order. The first three were First Church: Testimony Part 1, Second Church: Testimony Part 2 and Testimony – Chapter 3 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - After leaving Franklin, GA that Tuesday afternoon (see Testimony – Chapter 3 ) I drove to Covington, GA. This is where In the Heat of the Night episodes was filmed and I mentioned that because I had my own heat of the night there. I had been married almost 9 years and we had been separated for the last 5-6 months. My wife at that time and I had started dating again and repairing our marriage. We always went out and celebrated our birthdays together and hers was coming up that Friday. She had been spending the last week at the beech with her parents which she did every year. I finally got hold of her on the phone about 8PM and asked what she would like to do on her birthday this coming Friday. She informed me she was going to Atlanta and spend it with Lisa and Tom. Lisa had been a roommate of hers in college and Tom was Lisa’s husband. I felt like I had been hit be a freight train. This would be the first birthday we had not celebrated together in 13 years. After hanging up, I wept for over 2 hours, and at times even started hyperventilating and had to turn on a steaming shower to stick me head in to breath clearly. I was having a super pity party for myself. I won’t drag on how long all this went and the myriad of thoughts I had, but around 1AM my thoughts returned to the happenings of the day and talking to the court clerk and his secretary about Christ and religion. For some reason, I opened the nightstand between the two double beds and got out the Gideon bible from there. I went to the end of the Old Testament and found Matthew was the next book and started reading it. After a few minutes, I sat it down and went to my car for some paper to write questions on. When I had finished reading Matthew, I had almost 4 pages of questions on the paper. But the main thing was that I was astounded at how many questions I had been having all of my life that the book answered. It was like having a V-8 moment with me smacking my forehead and saying, you silly man, here has been the answers all your life within easy reach and you took this long to read the New Testament. I remember sleeping a lot better and with fewer worries when I finally turned out the lights about 4AM. The next morning, I was shaving with the TV on. I had turned it on and an evangelist was on there that I recognized. In the past, I had always flipped to another channel because frankly, he always had a 60-minute show and it felt like 55 minutes of it he was asking for money. While shaving, I heard him say, “It is alright to have doubt in the mind as long as you don’t have doubt in the heart.” I felt like WOW, this is where I was. I didn’t know anything about Jesus, no one had ever witnessed or testified to me and I had never read the New Testament, so I had my doubts in my mind. But in my heart, I knew Jesus was my savior. Now I have to admit, I am not a lover of Shakespeare, and reading the King James Version reminded me a lot of his style and it was very difficult for me to understand. So that morning, I went by Wal-Mart and bought a New King James Version. I reread Matthew that night, and the 4 pages of questions got crossed out to only 3 questions. All of a sudden, I was so hungry for the Word, that I also read Mark and Luke that night. I finished working that week, and on Saturday morning I was back in North Georgia, visiting my son and wife. We were still separated and I was living 125 miles away in Nashville. I shared with her what had happened and she didn’t know what to think. You have to remember I had been Jewish for 32 years and my wife had been praying for me to accept Christ for 10 years. I know it caught her completely off-guard. It did me too. We lived right off an exit on the interstate, and near the end of the morning, I had decided to go check the post office for my mail. It was located at the next exit south. As I was driving on to the entrance ramp I was thinking about Christ, and all of a sudden, I slowed down and pulled over onto the shoulder. All of a sudden I felt totally complete. I had no doubts in not only my heart, but also no doubts in my mind. Gripping the wheel, I lowered my head and prayed and thanked Jesus and the Father for the Spirit I had just received. Still today, I have not heard that many testimonies, and I don’t know if it is common or rare to know the exact moment and place one receives the Spirit or is saved. But I consider that Saturday morning, June 26, 1993, at Exit 350 on I-75 as the time my life started anew as a saved Christians and child of Christ. To be continued… Christianity for Dummies: Chapter 4 : Go to Church Christianity for Dummies: Chapter 3 : Sin and Repentence Christianity for Dummies: Chapter 2 Salvation Christianity for Dummies: Prologue and Chapter 1 : Praying In the Heat of the Night: Testimony Chapter 4 Judging and Gossiping , Commitment and Covenant: For All (Part 15, 16 and End) Commitment and Covenant: For All (Part 13 and 14) , Commitment and Covenant: For Men (Part 11 and 12 ) Commitment and Covenant: For Men (Part 9 and 10 ) , Commitment and Covenant: For Women (Part 8 ) Commitment and Covenant: For Women (Part 7) , Commitment and Covenant: For Women (Part 5 & 6) Commitment and Covenant: Relationships (Part 4) , Commitment and Covenant: Relationships (Part 3) Commitment and Covenant: Relationships (Part 1 & 2) , Walk the Walk Self Esteem....and the 8-Cow Wife , I am a Christian…So What Now? Communicating According to the Scriptures , Friend vs. Spouse Christ in the cells of our body. , The Love-Hate list |
||
7/7/2008 9:30 pm |
Dear Michael I really enjoyed reading your testimony and yes there is something profound and radical in the change that takes place when we become a "new person/creature" in Jesus! I have to agree with Floridagal2 who said that every tear is counted and even here He is reading my mail  as I had a vision when I was reborn at a woman's retreat in 1993 and saw a swimming pool half filled with water and knew that they were a collection of a lifetime of tears - all kinds of tears and knew too they were all precious to Him and each one counted. I remember sitting down because immediately after that vision, I finally surrendered to Him and in that surrender transformed... Thank you for this place of sharing and as a result of reading this feel humble that He loves us so much to do the Things He does!
| ||
6/29/2008 1:30 pm |
June 18, 1994, Christian Servicemen's Center, C Street, Lawton, OK...around 7 p.m. Wonderful testimony! Peace,Beth In all thy ways ackowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths. Prov 3:6
| ||
6/28/2008 6:59 pm |
Wow - what an awesome testimony Michael!! September 13th - 1992 - 11:45 am - North Frankfort Baptist Church - Frankfort, KY was my spiritual birthday and birthplace. My life was forever changed in that moment!! Look forward to 'the rest of the story'!!  Blessings!How can we NOT praise Him - Marilyn
| ||
6/28/2008 5:01 pm |
Michael...I think that there is a moment for every Christian when he/she has the blinders taken off and not only then knows the truth, but accepts the truth. What a beautiful testimony. It also impresses me how God was working in the background all along to draw you to Him...sometimes He must bring us to the very end of ourselves, where we are prostrate before Him...so that He can then pick us up. Every tear is counted and means something to God. He is no fool if he should choose to lose the things he cannot keep to gain what he can never lose.....Jim Elliott Deena 
|
 |
 |
 |
| Become a member to comment on this blog | ||
 |
