Ron McGatlin
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Posted: 02/19/2005 at 8:29am
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How he saved me just in "HIS" time. - Patrick Conaty
Well where do I begin?
At my physical beginning or at the Beginning?
If I start at the beginning will it be full of excuses about my DAD being an alcoholic when I was born or of not having much when I grew up, or that I lived next door to the church and had to go every time the doors were open!
If I start mid-way through my life, do I deal with drugs, sexual immorality or the whole list of sins covered in Galatians chapter 5. (If you don't know them look it up, it covers them all). I have thought about this a lot!
As I look at where my life has come from and where it is today, I realize that the details don't really matter. I don't really think about the past, or the future. I let tomorrow worry about itself. I just resolve to keep looking up and keep trying to seek the face of God one day at a time. I make a promise to myself I will keep my eyes on the prize. I will be the spiritual leader of my household, an example to my church and my community. I will be a good steward of my time and my money. I will share when I feel selfish, I will smile when I don't feel a smile coming on, I will love my wife as Christ loves the church and I will raise my children up in the way God wants me too. I will not raise them as if they will leave the truth and come back, but teach them the truth, knowing it will keep them. I will edify my family and friends when I really don't feel like it. I will make it a point to talk about my Jesus anywhere, anytime, any place, anyhow...with no shame to my game.
When he delivered me from Alcohol, Pills, Lust of the Flesh, Conceit, etc........(the list is too long), on May 9th, 2002 at New Life United Pentecostal Church, I have never been the same ....I PUT ON THE NEW MAN, AND TOOK OFF OF THE OLD. When I was baptized in Jesus' Name, and received the Holy Ghost, my mind was made up to NEVER look back, or hang my head in shame, or hide from God like Adam thought he could in the garden. I am learning through study and prayer, to start a fire that will spread and not burn out, to stay hungry for the Word and to share it with anyone that will listen..... I will share as I learn, all that I know (which is not very much, but it gets me by, amen).
Through the support of my wife, the help of my Pastor, my church, my Brothers and Sisters in God, I was and am with no doubt saved, delivered, redeemed, cleansed, saved again, (haha) however you wanna phrase it. I did not find it through NA, or AA, but I did find it through G-O-D.......Only through the saving mercy and grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the only one on the throne, did I put down the bottle forever. I wll not fall, I will not fail, waiver, or take a step back, or like Sara, look back.I might make a pit stop but never a pitfall. I will not be a Pentecostal Pew Warmer (haha)!
I will pray without ceasing, and bind the Prince of the Air, that old serpent the devil. I will tell, not ask him, to leave my house and my work, and quit wasting his time trying to raise the old man up. He can't take what is not his anymore!! I am a child of God. A newborn. I might be a babe in Christ, but I will drink the milk until I can eat the meat, I will crawl until I can walk, then I will run and never stop!! I will put God first in all things and seek ye first the kingdom of heaven. I believe all things will work out for the good of those who love the Lord...amen?
Look at my life, analyze it, slice it, dice it, put it under a microscope, if you don't see me walking the walk, I WILL not be talking the talk. Only through a REAL relationship with Jesus, fervent prayer, a daily walk, and most importantly a Bible Study, will I ever be close to the man God wants me to be.If not for God I might not even be typing this letter to you. I would probably be in prison or dead from my abuse of alcohol. I praise God for saving a wretch like me, IN HIS TIME, to be able to humbly bow before him and ask him to bless others, and give me the wisdom to change the world, one city at a time.
I thank God, that I serve an awesome God who decided to put me back in his EQUATION or I would not be in the picture above with the family I almost single-handedly destroyed! If you do not have a personal relationship with God, seek his face through prayer, bible study, and find a church (not a dead dry, traditionalized one either). Get yourself in a position to put God back in your EQUATION!!!
Lord Bless you and yours....Patrick Conaty
Click on "New Topic" to post your story, ask a question, or post a prayer need. Or you can send an email to "Life's Issues" basileia@earthlink.net Life's Issues prayer counselors are available online to help with your need.
Edited by Ron McGatlin on 02/21/2005 at 7:55pm
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Ron McGatlin
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Joined: 08/23/2004
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 4141
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Posted: 03/05/2005 at 1:26pm
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It really does matter.
It’s strange how some people, who show ordinary intelligence in other areas of life, seem to lose all rationality when it comes to spiritual matters. “It doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you are sincere,” they say. That same person would never think of saying, “It doesn’t matter what you believe the sum of two numbers to be as long as you are sincere in it.” Much less, “It doesn’t matter what medicine you take for an ailment, as long as you sincerely believe it will cure you.” Yet, in the far more important spiritual realm, they will make such a ridiculous statement.
That is not to discount the importance of sincerity. It is absolutely essential. But sincerity that is not joined with truth is useless, or worse. One may sincerely believe that drinking hydrochloric acid will cure indigestion; but for all his sincerity he will be no less dead if he should drink it.
Saul of Tarsus persecuted and martyred the followers of Christ with all sincerity and zeal (Phil. 3:6; Acts 8:3; 9:1). And the Lord Himself warned that the time would come when those who murdered His disciples would have the most sincere religious motivation and think they were doing God a favor (John 16:1-3).
The road to hell is indeed paved with good intentions. One day many will stand before Christ and plea that they sincerely sought to accomplish great things in His name. But He shall reply to them, “depart from me ye who work iniquity, I never knew you” (Matt. 7:22).
It does matter what you believe, and it does matter which church you attend. I am aware that the religiously sophisticated say, “It doesn’t matter which church you attend, as they are all Christ’s churches.” But can two obviously different things be the same thing? Are apples and arsenic the same thing? Are doves and serpents to be equated? Can different churches preaching different and conflicting plans of salvation, practicing different and conflicting forms of baptism, and organized according to different and conflicting forms of church government all be the Lord’s churches? Is Christ then to be dismissed as schizophrenic? No, He said the gates of hell would not prevail against His church (Matt. 16:18), and His church is described in detail in the New Testament, for any who care to find it in the world today.
Above all else, it does matter what you trust in for the salvation of your eternal soul. The apostle Peter asserts: “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). No other thing will avail, no religious rite or ritual; no other person. Christ and Christ alone will avail to salvation.
Don’t be taken in by the religious double speak of our day. Jesus Christ is still the only way to God (John 14:6). And only a church descended from the first church that He founded, and adhering to the doctrines that He established, is a genuine church of the Lord Jesus Christ.
In the mean time, be radical for God!!
Patrick Conaty
If you would like to communicate with someone about knowing Christ and knowing Him better send an email to: Larry Silverman nhministry@yahoo.com or post a reply to this message.
Edited by Moderator on 04/20/2005 at 9:17am
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Topic: How he saved me just in "HIS" time. - Patrick Conaty
Topic Closed)
