My first post in the forum

[Jody Edwards]

Hello everyone,
I have just recently received membership in the forum and wanted to introduce myself.  My name is Jody Edwards and I live in Fayetteville, Arkansas.  I am 47 years old and have a wonderful wife named Julie.  We have three boys - ages 14, 12 & 7.  Julie homeschools all three of them and I work in the poultry industry. 

The Lord brought my wife & me to bible-truths.com in October 2005.  At that time we had been attending a pentecostal church for about a year.  Before that, we had been associated with Baptist churches, Church of Christ churches and non-demoninational churches from the time we were children.  Obviously, attending a pentecostal church was a big change of us back then but it is where the Lord wanted us at that time.  Mercifully though, the Lord pulled us out after only one year. 

My testimony:  Back in Oct. 2005 I was reading Foxnews online about an earthquake in Pakistan.  The article showed a picture of a little 12 year old boy who had lost his parents in the quake and was now homeless.  My heart really went out to the boy, not just because of his losses but because I knew he was a Muslim and was most likely not ever going to "be saved".  Of course back then, I believed in hell and I believed that this boy's miserable life was only going to get worse when he died.  That night as I prayed, my thoughts of this boy came back into my mind and I grieved for him.  I just couldn't understand why I had been given so much in this life but this poor boy had been given nothing.  His future seemed so bleak to me and I knew that he was going to end up in the fires of hell.  I just couldn't understand the fairness in all this and it brought me to tears.  I asked the Lord to explain this to me and give me an answer.  Three days later, I had put this out of my mind and was going about business as usual - but the Lord had not forgotten.  That day I had extra time at work and I decided to find something to read on the internet.  Back then, I was big into endtime prophecy and liked to read all I could find on that subject.  I went to Google and performed a search and a list of websites came up.  The first one that looked interesting to me was bible-truths.com so I clicked on it.  After reading a little bit I thought this site was pretty far "out there" but I kept on reading because Ray Smith's arguments and scriptures seemed to make sense.  After I got home from work, I brought the site back up and read all evening - I just couldn't believe what I was reading but I couldn't stop reading either.  The next morning I prayed to the Lord that if what Ray was teaching was true, that He would open my eyes to it so that I can believe it.  I went back to reading again and I was on the Lake of Fire part 4 when an overwhelming sense of relief and joy came over me.  I knew right then that the Lord gave me the belief I had asked for an hour earlier.  And then immediately after that, my prayer three days earlier for the Muslim boy came back to my mind and I knew that this was the Lord's answer for that boy.  The joy I felt at that moment was incredible.  I called out to my wife and explained to her what I had just been shown and within 30 minutes we both were praising the Lord for the truth he had just shown us. 

Within two weeks, we left the babylonian church system for good after our pentecostal church rejected what we had been shown.  None of our friends there could believe a single word we were saying to them.  To my wife and I, the truths the Lord had shown us were marvellous, but to them those same truths were lies from Satan.  Since that time (almost 3 years now), none of our friends or family can accept these wonderful truths either.

I could say much more but I will leave that to another time.  I thank the Lord for the work He is doing through Ray and all those who are a part of bible-truths.com.

I am planning on attending the Nashville conference next month and I hope to make many new friends there, in addition to the new friends I hope to make on this forum.
May the Lord continue to bless you all,
Jody
   
   

[carol v]

Hi Jody,  I saw your name and had to have a doubletake -- Yes, that's the Jody and Julie on my Skype 

That's great that you are going to the conference. Look forward to hearing all about it when you get back.

Great story how you found bible-truths. We all seem to have a similar story to tell.

Welcome!
Carol

[Dave in Tenn]

Hi Jody.  Very moving story of God's bringing you to truth.  How glad I am we have a God who loves that little Pakistani boy as much as you or I.  Looking forward to hearing more from you and your wife.  Maybe I'll get a chance to meet you in Nashville. 

[Phil3:10]

Jody,
Your story is so much like mine and many others who frequent this site. You are indeed blessed in that your wife in on board with you. It took me a year to come to the full belief in what Ray teaches after much time checking his teachings and being guided by the HOLY SPIRIT. I have found the inner peace that GOD has brought to me and I pray that many more will soon find HIS peace that passeth all understanding.
In HIM,
Phil3:10

[iris]

Hi Jody,

Welcome to the forum!


Iris

[gmik]

Hi Jody.  What a great testimony!  Isn't it absolutely amazing how you re acted to Ray's teachings and no one else???  Same story w/ me!  Praise God my Husband got right on board too.

My son was in Pakistan right before the earthquake.  He was there a year.  He had a similar feeling of..."are ALL these people damned eternally"?  Why?  Then he was assigned to Uganda and like you started w/ Google and found Ray's site.  The rest as they say is history!!

So I am blessed that I have a son and hubby knowing the truth.  Our other son and daughter...ummmm not so much!!!  Like we don't talk about it!

I have been to 2 conferences and know you will be blessed and have fun!  I am on the waiting list for the next one!

God Bless and keep posting!!

[Samson]

Welcome aboard Jody & Julie,

                                         Really appreciated and enjoyed your testimony as to your finding Bible-Truths. I spent most of my Church Life as one of Jehovah's Witnesses and I'm very thankfull that God led me out of there. Unless I'm mistaken, you mentioned that your Wife shares these views, we have a blessed thing we share in common, my Wife, The Freckle Girl is a member too. Looking forward to your comments in the days that follow.

                                     Kind Regards, Samson.

[Kat]

Hi Jody,

I glad you have joined us    Glad for Julie too 
It is indeed a wonderful miracle for God to lead you to BT and open your eyes to these truths and a double blessing to have your wife's eyes opened as well.  It will be nice to hear more of your story.   
We have a lot to offer here at the forum, here are a few links you might be interested in.

Don't forget to go over the forum rules, it will help you see how this forum is moderated.
http://forums.bible-truths.com/index.php/topic,3.0.html
http://forums.bible-truths.com/index.php/topic,4558.0.html
http://forums.bible-truths.com/index.php/topic,3614.0.html

Forum Indexes & lots of Info.
http://forums.bible-truths.com/index.php/board,14.0.html

Ray's Audios 
http://forums.bible-truths.com/index.php/topic,2641.0.html

Transcripts of Ray's Audios
http://forums.bible-truths.com/index.php/board,12.0.html

Who Am I? (members pics and personal stuff)
http://forums.bible-truths.com/index.php/board,16.0.html

mercy, peace and love
Kat

[Stevernator]

Wellllllllcccccccccoooooooommmmmmmmmmmeeeeee JODY!

[WhoAmI]

Hey Jody,

I love that! You sound like you have a great family. I am so happy for you. Thanks for sharing that and welcome!

Jeff

[cjwood]

welcome jody and julie. it has to be a very very special feeling that you AND your wife are both reading and studying the dynamic teachings of truth that God has shown to ray smith. i know that the other forum members who are married with spouses whose spiritual understanding has been opened, have posted like minded expressions of gratitude and thankfulness for the fact that each spouse now knows the Truths of the scriptures. i am married too, however, my husband is an agnostic. but i have accepted that God has me where He wants me. my husband is aware of my studying the teachings of God thru ray, and he is even excited for me going to my first conference in nashville, BUT he believes ray is just another man teaching about God and Jesus. what can i say? i love my husband and now i know that he too will one day choose to bow on bended knee and praise God. anyway, i am very glad for you and your family. how great it will be for your kids having parents who know the Truth. i too was led to bibletruths.com after crying out to God to show me the hidden treasures that the scriptures tell us are there for us to find if only we will be willing to dig deep and study the scriptures.

love in Him to you and yours,
claudia

[Jody Edwards]

Thanks everyone for your warm greetings and kind words.  My wife Julie also sends her greetings to everyone on the forum.  She wishes that she was coming to Nashville with me to meet everyone but she is going to be away on a trip with her 80 year old mother during that time. 

I will try to get Julie to post a family picture of us in the personal section of the forum.  It's always nice to be able to put a face with the writers in the forum.  I appreciate all those who have posted their own pictures - it makes the forum more personal.
Jody

 

[Linny]

Hi Jody and Julie! I am Linda and my husband Tobin is also a BT convert! Isn't it exciting to have all this new knowledge? I am especially excited to pass it on to our children. We also homeschool in Kentucky! 
Welcome you guys!

Many blessings!
Lin

[frecklegirl417]

Jody and Julie,

    Welcome with open arms and prayers. Keep reading and studying Ray's teachings. Samson and I continue to learn more and more everyday. It is truly heart warming to have a spouse who believes also. My mother believes in God and she still believes the total opposite of what we learned here. I pray everyday her desire to believe in the truth grows and she joins the forum. I see the world in a whole new light since joining. I am glad to see new members especially couples and families. It makes my heart sing with joy.

                                                          With God's love & Understanding,
                                                                   Pam

[OBrenda]

Welcome...Jody and Julie,

I will have to pray for my envy that I'm struggling with not be able to attend the conference!
Your heart for that boy was very moving.  I remember watching the movie for the plane that went down with the terrorists on 9/11 and thinking beyond my anger, these people believe they are doing the right thing.  They are praying and willing to die for how they were taught about God.

How many "Pew Warmers" are willing to do anything that has a cost to themselves?
Are they going to all go to hell because of where they were born, and that they were taught lies?
[I'm not saying that they did the right thing, just understood they were deceived]

It's amazing when the light bulb goes on!
Glad your here....
Brenda

[Beloved]

Welcome Jody

We are all glad to see your post. We are a scattered bunch but God is opening eyes and ears all the time.

It is amazing that so many people will not hear the very good news. Godis loving and He has a plan and all things will be restored and made new.

We all enjoy the fellowship we find here, it can appear to be a lonely walk but "Christ in"  us tells us that is okay for now.

All will be in All


beloved

[Richard D]

Hello Jody and God Bless you friend, I'm new here also and just wanted to say hello to you friend. This is indeed a God lead forum, no doubt in me about that.