Still Growing: An Autobiography (29 page)

So if you haven’t yet repented and trusted the Savior, please do it now. Simply tell God you are sorry for your sins, then
turn
from them and place your trust in Jesus Christ alone to save you. Don’t wait until tomorrow. It may never come.

The Bible tells us that this same Judge who will find you guilty of breaking His Law is also rich in mercy. He has made a way for you to be forgiven. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

If there is one chance in a million that this is true, then you owe it to your good sense to consider it with an open heart. God offers everlasting life to all humanity and promises, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more” (Heb. 10:17). What you must do in response is to “repent” (not simply confess your sins, but
turn
from them) and trust the Savior (not just a belief, but a “trust”—as you would trust a parachute to save you). The moment you do that, God reveals Himself to you—not necessarily in a vision or in a voice, but by giving you His Holy Spirit to live inside of you. He makes you brand new on the inside, so that you want to do what is pleasing to Him.

That’s a miracle for a sin-loving sinner. It’s so radical that the Bible calls it being “born again.”

It’s like this: If I look at a heater and
believe
the heater is hot, I have an intellectual belief. But if I say to myself, “I wonder if it really
is
hot” and reach out and grip the bar, the second my flesh burns, I stop
believing
it’s
hot—I now
know
it’s hot. I have moved out of the realm of
belief
into the realm of
experience
.

That’s what will happen to you the moment you are born again (when you become a Christian). You will move out of the realm of “belief” into the realm of “personal experience.” A Christian is not someone who has a belief, but someone who has a relationship with the living God. You come to
know
Him. You will say with the writer of “Amazing Grace,” “I once was blind, but now I see.”

1
. From Ray Comfort,
How to Know God Exists
(Alachua, FL: Bridge Logos Publishers, 2008). Used by permission of Bridge Logos Publishers.

2
. Frank Newport, “Americans More Likely to Believe in God than the Devil, Heaven More than Hell,” Gallup News Service, June 13, 2007.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/27877/Americans-More-Likely-Believe-God-Than-Devil-Heaven-More-Than-Hell.aspx
(accessed January 2008).

3
. A condensed version of this chapter, called
Why Christianity?
, is available in booklet form. See
www.livingwaters.com
.

4
. “Is it possible for a man to be reborn as a lower animal?” Maharshi: “Yes. It is possible, as illustrated by Jada Bharata—the scriptural anecdote of a royal sage having been reborn as a deer.” From
The Teaching of Sri Ramana Maharishi
, edited by David Godman.
www.hinduism.co.za/reincarn.htm
(accessed January 2008).

5
. “When you transcend your thinking mind in the realization of your own pure, timeless, ever-present awareness, then the illusion of time completely collapses, and you become utterly free of the samsaric cycle of time, change, impermanence, and suffering.” Tom Huston, “Buddhism and the Illusion of Time.”
http://www.buddhistinformation.com/buddhism_and_the_illusion_of_time.htm
(accessed January 2008).

6
. “Then those whose balance (of good deeds) is heavy, they will be successful. But those whose balance is light, will be those who have lost their souls; in hell will they abide” (Sura 23:102-103).

This is a short list of books that I highly recommend.

Comfort, Ray.
God Doesn’t Believe in Atheists: Proof that the Atheist Does Not Exist
. Alachua, FL: Bridge Logos Publishers, revised edition, 1993.

D’Souza, Dinesh.
What’s So Great About Christianity
. Washington, DC: Regnery Publishing, Inc., 2007.

Geisler, Norman L., and Frank Turek.
I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist
. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2004.

Strobel, Lee.
The Case for a Creator: A Journalist Investigates Scientific Evidence that Points Toward God
. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, new edition, 2005.

Alcorn, Randy.
Heaven
. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2004.

———.
Money, Possessions and Eternity
. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, rev. ed. 2003.

———.
Safely Home
. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2003.

Comfort, Ray.
The Way of the Master
. Alachua, FL: Bridge Logos Publishers, 2006.

MacArthur, John.
The MacArthur Study Bible (NASB)
. Nashville, TN: Nelson Bibles, 2006. Read every verse and every footnote in the New Testament (at your own pace) and you will have a firm foundation.

———.
Hard to Believe: The High Cost and Infinite Value of Following Jesus
. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2003.

Mahaney, C. J.
The Cross Centered Life: Keeping the Gospel the Main Thing
. Colorado Springs, CO: Multnomah, 2002.

Meade, Matthew.
The Almost Christian Discovered
. Lake Mary, FL: Soli Deo Gloria Ministries, 1997.

Bunyan, John.
The Pilgrim’s Progress
. New York: Oxford University Press, new ed., 2003.

Foxe, John.
Foxe’s Book of Martyrs
. Gainesville, FL: Bridge-Logos, 2001.

Spurgeon, Charles.
Lectures to My Students
. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, new ed., 1979.

———.
Morning and Evening
. Crossway Books, rev. ed., 2003.

———.
The Soul Winner
. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., rev. ed., 1995.

Tozer, A. W.
The Pursuit of God
. Camp Hill, PA: Christian Publications, Inc., 1993.

Camp Firefly, like any other grass-roots effort, relies on
generous people to continue. We do not take any pay for
what we do, but the camp itself needs funding. If you would
like to help these families by donating in-kind gifts or
financially sponsoring a portion of Camp Firefly, write to:

The Firefly Foundation
5737 Kanan Road #180
Agoura, CA 91301

A DVD with more information about Camp Firefly is available
from the same address. Please also visit our website at
www.CampFirefly.com
.

The Truth Comes Out

When Someone You Love
Is in a Same-Sex Relationship
Nancy Heche
ISBN 978.08307.39122

Through a Screen Darkly

Looking Closer at Beauty,
Truth and Evil in the Movies
Jeffrey Overstreet
ISBN 978.08307.43154

Why Believe the Bible?

John MacArthur
ISBN 978.08307.45647

Let Justice Roll Down

The Civil Rights Classic
John Perkins
ISBN 978.08307.43073