Hello!!

[YellowRose]

I have just recently been approved for membership to this forum and it is with much thanksgiving to God that I say to all of you, "Hello, my brothers and sisters in Christ!!! "  I am so happy and relieved to be here and to have the opportunity to fellowship with you!!!  This forum is a cool refreshing drink of Living Water and I am overjoyed to partake of it!  For my background information, you can save me some typing time by reading an email Ray posted on www.bibletruths.com entitled "Released from a Dark Prison."  I was brought to www.bibletruths.com in August 2004 and I have since been a regular student of God's Word through the teachings there.  I am a single mom to a 12 year old daughter.  I have worked full-time as a legal secretary for 23 years so far and I currently work for a decent group of people (by the world's standard, that is).  I bought my first home 2-1/2 years ago and my daughter and I share it with two dogs and two cats.  All in all, I pretty much have my hands full.  Oh I was born and raised in New York City and I moved away from my family to Houston, Texas in 1978, where I still live.  I am very much looking forward to participating in this forum and I look forward to getting to know each and everyone of you.   Last night, In anticipation of my first post to this forum, I typed the following.

I would like to share with you one of my most favorite Scriptures:

For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in the heavens and on earth is named, that He may give to you, according to the riches of His glory, with might to be strengthened through His Spirit, in regard to the inner man, that the Christ may dwell through the faith in your hearts, in love having been rooted and founded, that ye may be in strength to comprehend, with all the saints, what [is] the breadth, and length, and depth, and height, to know also the love of the Christ that is exceeding the knowledge, that ye may be filled -- to all the fullness of God; and to Him who is able above all things to do exceeding abundantly what we ask or think, according to the power that is working in us, to Him [is] the glory in the assembly in Christ Jesus, to all the generations of the age of the ages. Amen.  Ephesians 3:14-21

In December 1986, after a 13-month reading and self-study of the entire Bible, immediately after reading Revelation 22:21, I prostrated myself on my living room floor and said out loud, "My Lord and My King!"  I felt at that moment that Jesus was standing right in front of me, in all of His Glory, Power, and Authority as my Savior, my Lord, and my King.  It was such a profound personal experience for me to recognize and acknowledge who Jesus Christ is, t.h.e. most profound thing that had ever happened to me in my then 27 years of earthly life.  I was not surprised by that physical act of submission and it did not confuse me to do it, although I had never done anything like that in my life.  I understood without question that it was the only thing for me to do.  Now I look back and I see that it was the defining moment of God's call on my life.  Nothing has since been the same for me, and although the journey has often been tortuous and confusing and sometimes filled with terror from all sides, truly this Scripture reflects the end result of all of my trials thus far: Grace to you, and peace be multiplied in the acknowledgement of God and of Jesus our Lord!  2 Peter 1:2. 

It gives me such joy to speak these words to you because I know that you don't see Him as a baby in a manger or a dying savior on a cross.  I know that none of you are thinking, "Yes, but which church do you belong to?  Do you tithe?  Have you recited the sinner's prayer?  Have you received the gift of tongues?   Have you been baptized?  Did you watch T.B.N. last night?"  I have approached the edge of madness having to contend with pagan beliefs.  Truly the day I found www.bibletruths.com began the wrestling away from all of that madness and the untangling from the webs of false teachings, not just in spiritual matters but also in my daily exposure to carnal wisdom via my personal and workplace relationships, television, the internet, the grocery store, etc.  Sometimes I am very surprised to recognize how deep carnality still runs in me, but I am grateful for www.bibletruths.com because God continues to use Ray Smith's teachings of His Truth to bring me out of the world's darkness and into His Glorious Light. 

God bless you all!

Cathy

[javajoe]

Cathy,

Welcome to the forum and what an awesome testimony! Faith was quickened in me in 1984 in a similar manner, sinner's prayer didn't work.

I have been really blessed by joining this forum, and I believe you will be too. Just reading your testimony eased some of the anxiety I have been experiencing today.

I can tell you are going to be a true blessing!   

JavaJoe

[gmik]

Hi Cathy, Welcome Welcome.  What a great testimony.  I love seeing how the Lord works in all our lives so differently yet so similar that it leads us to BT!!

Hope you can fellowship w/ us often!!

[GODSown1]

Hey hi Cathy & Welcum!!,
                                 Wow! Thanx! 4 sharing, I Praise the LORD 4 U & bringing U hea wit us 2 See & Hear the TRUTHS of our Allmighty GODs Word, U sound so strong sister & its gunna b great hearing more from U, GODBlesS! n e wayz sister, may great BlesSnz! fall upon U & ur daughter in abundance, Peace b wit uZ! alwayZ!!..
                                 muchLOVE!! Pera

ps. Im frm Palmerston North, New Zealand. I jus want 2 add, da Fellowship hea is Pure!! aZ!!  u will LOVE it, "GOD is GOOD!".. Oxx

[DuluthGA]

WOW YELLOWROSE CATHY.....  here's a yellow rose for you!



It is bright and shiny as is your spirit! 

Hello also dear sister in Christ!  It was so nice to hear your story and wonderful to meet someone who also knows HE IS R.E.A.L. 

Wow... you've been reading BT since 04?  Me about two years... just joined the forum this summer.  Goodie you are here!

Have fun, share, grow, learn, help others, be with us!   

See ya!  God bless you and your daughter and family back in NY.
Janice

[YellowRose]

Wow!  Hello to all of you who have already replied to me!  After I read your posts, I turned in my chair and threw my arms up in the air and felt SUCH EXHILARATION to have made contact with you!  Thank You, God!  Thank you, ALL!  I feel like I have landed on another planet after a very long and arduous journey to get there!!    

I just LOVE my yellow rose.  It is beautiful.  Thank you, Janice, for sending it to me! 

I feel nudged by the Holy Spirit to share another quick testimony.  This one is from my daughter.  In September 2004, after carefully reading Ray's letter to John Hagee, I was convinced about the truth about hell.  I sat my daughter down on the couch and told her I had to share something so important and amazing and wonderful about God.  I told her about coming upon the www.bibletruths.com website and this particular teaching and, after careful scrutiny of it, I was absolutely certain that hell never existed, doesn't exist, and never will exist.  My then 9-year old daughter looked at me with her eyes filled with tears of joy and cried out, "Bless God!!!" 

The weeks and months that followed were filled with more discussions and explanations until finally I removed her from a local church where I had placed her for the previous three years.  I had refused to join that church because of my own spiritual uncertainties but, without a sound scriptural basis to exclude her from their teachings, I did not impose on her my doubts about what they taught.  I had wanted her there so that she would at least have some foundation of Christian teaching but as soon as I realized who and what they are really all about, I removed her from there.  I explained to her that I could no longer allow her to be taught things that were not rooted in the truth about God.  Because I began teaching her what I am learning, she was having difficulties accepting their (pagan) teachings, coming home to me and questioning things she was being taught by them.  Removing her from that church turned out to be a source of great relief for her.

Well, it's quickly getting past my bedtime so I must bid you all a good night.  Thank you, all, again, for your wonderful, wonderful posts back to me.  They mean so much to me!! 

In His Service,

Cathy

[DuluthGA]

Hi again Cathy,

Well I read your note over again... it's cool God gave you to read the entire or most of the bible, me too when I was 30 (24 years ago)... at least we sorta know what's not in there, ha ha, endless torturing... ho ho!    I too am so very grateful for Ray's writings, and as I say, he's the best thing since sliced bread.    It's great as you say to be "untangled from WEBS OF FALSEHOOD.... ooooohhh GOOD ONE  .... so glad that we are FREE AT LAST from the vast bulk of the CRAP of it, ha! 

It is exceptionally splendid to hear that you have been given to apply these new spiritual truths not only to your spiritual life itself but your connection with the world... I guess the two (concepts) do kinda go hand in hand... and our Lord has been working with you and honing you for quite a few years now... cool!  You sound spiritually mature and I will probably NEED to hear more from ya!  *HUG* 

And God bless you for being a single mom... surely this is not easy for you and at times quite difficult indeed.  You are in my prayers.  Surely our Lord has strengthened you to get you this far!

So anyway... then there's your new note, great... have got to read it...

.... SO GLAD YOU "LANDED" HERE TOO GIRL...

What another amazing story about your daughter, her upbringing and the church/school interaction and how you acted and are reinforcing God's truth to her at such a young receptive age.  PRAISE GOD for all these complex happenings that, from the way you delivered it, seemed to flow so fairly smoothly.  Zow!

Good show Cathy!  You are right-on!     

And you're welcome on the rose,
Have a great week in Him,
With joy,
Janice

[Sue Creamer]

Hi Cathy,

Welcome to the forum and may you find all the love, fellowship and truth you seek.
Peace
Sue ann

[iris]

Hi Cathy,

What a great testimony!!!
Welcome to the forum.


Peace and Love
Iris

[skydreamers]

So happy that you have joined us here!  What a joy to read your testimony!

Peace and love,
Diana

[Kat]

Hi Cathy,

I'm Glad you have joined us here 
That was a really nice testimony, thanks for letting us know about yourself and your daughter.  I hope you will find the wonderful fellowship that we have here, to be as beneficial to you as it has been to me.  To have so many believers gathered here, that can be tapped for help with questions, is so helpful in growing in the knowledge of the truth.  So join in, I'm looking forward to your input.

mercy, peace, and love
Kat

[LittleBear]

Hi Cathy,

Thanks for your wonderful testimony! And welcome. You will find it a great joy to be interacting with fellow like-minded believers, so lets hear lots from you. I will check out your email to Ray. I'm so glad for your daughter too. It is a source of great distress to many a child to be taught about hell. What an
abominable heresy!

You made me laugh when you mentioned all the usual questions you get from the church crowd. Every one of those questions is SO annoying!


Love,

Ursula

[YellowRose]

Good evening, everyone!  What wonderful welcomes you have all sent to me!  I am so happy to hear from you and to know that I am connected to His Body.  Wow; it has been a lonely journey until now.  I understand and accept that God has needed me all to Himself these many years, and I suspect He will continue to separate me from so much of what goes on around me, but I am oh so very grateful to participate in this forum and to experience my place in His Body. 

I was thinking tonight about all of us and about Ray Smith and about www.bibletruths.com ("BT") and how it all mirrors the events of Jesus' ministry in the four gospels.  We are the disciples learning at Jesus' feet as Ray reveals God's truths on BT in preparation for His next "great commission."  The only exception to that comparison is that Ray does not speak in parables.  Ha!  (I really laughed when I first read how His disciples got to the point where they didn't want to ask Jesus to explain a parable to them yet again because they were afraid He would be mad at them for still not understanding.)  No, God is speaking to us through Ray Smith in very clear and specific spiritual language and while the process has its own challenges for each of us, the bottom line is we are being formed into one body through it, into His Body, and I recognize tonight that is who we are and that is what we are doing here.   I am so grateful to God for using Ray Smith to do this.  I think of how much terrible horrible stuff is on the internet and yet God uses that very forum to bless us above and beyond anything we could ever have imagined.  I am so in awe of Him.  His ways clearly are not our ways, thankfully!

May God's peace that surpasses all understanding be with all of us, always.

In His Service,

Cathy

[dawnnnny]

Hi Cathy!

I saw one of your posts on another thread and thought "hmmmm, I don't remember this person" so I had to come find your first post so I could say

W E L C O M E !!!

 


I loved reading your testimony and saw a lot of my own experiences that were similar.  I look forward to getting to know you! 

Much Love,
Dawn   

[indianabob]

Good morning, Cathy (a yellow rose of Texas) good idea

Welcome to the forum and welcome to our journey toward paradise.

For the past 18 months my lovely wife and I have had our teen grandson living with us and attending the local school.  He is a great grandson, but he is a teen age man and we had a real challenge on our hands.  So, I think we understand better than some, the daily challenges of rearing a young person.
It was amazing the things that we had forgotten about kids and their needs.

I look forward to learning how you are dealing with life in the fast lane and I  felt blessed to read your testimony concerning your relationship with your daughter.  Family is what it is all about and she is blessed to have you.

Love and hugs, Ole Indiana Bob & Doris

[Beloved]

Welcom Cathy

Glad that you can join into the conversation. Lots to read and share with like minded people.

Beloved 

         
   
         
I could not find any yellow roses but this is a blushing rose with yellow outer petals

[pylady]

Hi Cathy,

Welcome!  Love your enthusiasm, and I know I'm going to love your posts!

You've already taught me something.  I didn't know that the bibletruths website has been around since 2004.  To think of all I've missed!

Your sister in Christ,

                     Cindy