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Over the years I have posts on my blog on the self-attesting nature of the Bible. See Master’s Thesis: The Self-Attesting Nature of the New Testament Canon by John Gordon Duncan, Quick Thoughts on the self attesting nature of the Bible and Introduction to Hermeneutics Series: Session Four: The Doctrine of the Self-Attesting Word of God.
I believe the Word of God when read is powerful to draw people to Himself and save sinners.
Here’s my own testimony.
I grew up in a household where my father was an atheist and my mother was a Buddhist. The first time I heard of Christianity was when a church came knocking at our front door to invite children to their Vacation Bible School. I did not understand much of what was going on at that time at the age of five but one thing they did that would change my life would be the fact that they gave me a Bible.
Fast forward ten years later, when I was an atheist in high school, and my best friend was arguing with a girl that he liked and she was a Christian. He made fun of the Bible and called me to have me join in since at that time I was also an atheist. My best friend one day said I should read the Bible and let him know what I thought about it. Not too long after that I started reading the Bible and listening to the Christian radio and heard preachers like John MacArthur and other pastors and teachers.
Around the same time I was getting into a lot of trouble in school and finally got expelled for bringing a knife to school. While placed in an alternative high school for disciplined kids I started reading the Bible daily and trying to figure out what it was all about. The first few books in the Bible convinced me I was in trouble with God and that I was a sinner.
That year on Easter I visited the same church that gave me the Bible when I was five. The pastor explained the Gospel and somehow it dawned on me that over the last few months of reading the Bible I did believe that I was a sinner who deserved hell and I needed to trust in Christ to be justified. I made a public profession of faith on April 4th, 1999.
The Domain for Truth 
Thank you for sharing your testimony brother. It certainly shines as evidence of the power and effectiveness of God’s Word in the life of sinners. May our Father God continue to guide and bless you today 🙏
Thank you for those words of Blessings Alan!
Thank you for sharing your story! Only God knows how a Bible will impact someone and the life change that will result because of it. Have a restfully Monday!
Amen sister! Amen! Thanks for the wish for a restful Monday. I’m grateful that you teach our kids with how amazing God’s Word is, with Biblical Theology! Thanks once more! So…any more reading of Van Til?
Hey, brother! No Van Til. We have been reading Barth and Young. This week we are starting God’s Word Alone by Matthew Barrett. I am really looking forward to reading this! I had this before I was at WTS and wanted to read it, but when I saw this syllabi I decided to wait!!!
Thankyou for your testimony Jim. The Word is powerful, way more than mere words could ever hope to be. God’s word is an extension of himself speaking into our lives and ever drawing us closer no matter how far or close we may be to understanding.
Amen Gary. Hope you have a blessed Monday!
Beautiful testimony. It should help build faith in others who hear it.
Amen Frank, amen brother!
Thanks for sharing your testimony of the power of Jesus and His good news in the bible.
Shalom!
Thank you..We never really know”where people come from” until we are told. Those of us who have grown up in Christian homes really may not appreciate what we have and may even have a lot more to learn than we even know. But our God is good and puts us where he wants us and where we can be of best use to his kingdom. Thank you ..again for being where God wants you to be.
Thanks for sharing that and for your thoughts!! God bless you B!!!
Thank you for sharing that wonderful testimony.
Thank you for reading this Elder Mike
When GOD calls and renews! Pastor Jim, I’m reminded of Romans 10:17 with your testimony. Your story is an encouraging one to continue sharing GOD’s Word. Blessings to you, Nancy, and your kids!
Blessings to you Kent!! God bless you! Always good to hear from you!!!
I thank God for the power of his Word, for the church that gave you a Bible when you were young and was still available to help you understand the message of the Bible when you were older. Those simple acts have been a blessing to many more people, and the ripples of God’s power continue to spread and expand. What a blessing! J.
Amen I pray for the ripple action of God’s Word to continue with both of us with what we do, both online and offline!
Just reading that you went back to the church that gave you your first Bible gave me goosebumps! I’m reminded of that famous poem/hymn by William Cowper, “God moves in mysterious ways/His wonders to perform.” And Psalm 139:5 — “You have encircled me behind and in front, And placed Your hand upon me.” Praise God! How blessed I am by your testimony, brother. What a loving Father we have who has called us by name and made us His own through Christ Jesus and by the Spirit’s life-giving power! May your testimony be an encouragement to many and a hope to all those who persevere in sharing the gospel with the unsaved, even as we work out our salvation “with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.” Praise God!
“May your testimony be an encouragement to many and a hope to all those who persevere in sharing the gospel with the unsaved, even as we work out our salvation “with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.” Praise God!”
Amen Dora! I pray the same in light of your comment! It would be nice to read your testimony sometime on your post! When you can…praying for your health
I will start thinking about such a post, I want to do it as you did, in a way that honors and glorifies our Lord as you did. God forbid it should be a stumbling block or an occasion to sin in mockery. Every chance I get with my poetry, I try to put the word of God before my readers. God’s word is the hammer, the fire, that breaks stony ground as Jeremiah says. So grateful for your prayers J., and know that you and your family are in mine.
[…] The Power of Giving Somone a Bible: My Testimony — The Domain for Truth […]
Thanks for your testimony regarding initially reading the Bible! Reading the Bible for myself upended everything I had been (wrongly) taught about Christianity.
Glad to hear God saved you through the Word of God!!!! Wo up early???
Thanks, brother! Got up at 5AM which is “sleeping in” for me.
Reblogged this on clydeherrin.
Wonderful testimony! The drawing of the Lord through His Word is an eye opening event on so many levels. I’m glad to hear how the Holy Spirit gave you life in Christ Jesus. Amen!!
Thanks Kristafal for reading it! Had to write my testimony for ministry related document and thought I make it into a post. Hope your day is going well brother!!!
Going great. Thanks for asking. God bless
It is great to read you share a lot of your testimony. It is usually when we are in big trouble or in a crisis that God is able to get our attention and draw us to repentance. Glad God used different people in your life. 1999 to today!
On another note. I know that you are from an Asian family, since you shared that. If you got expelled from school, that must have REALLY angered your parents. I live in a mostly Japanese American neighborhood and saw the other kids parents were much stricter about grades and homework than my mom was.
Wow brother I’m encouraged with how you are aware of cultural naunces; yes the Asian cultural aspect made it very shameful for my parents; even years later when I got married my best friend was my best man gave a testimony of those days I got expelled and my parents were horrified to hear that being spoken openly before my relatives. And my GPA that year of 1.7 with the semester I got expelled is even hard for my parents and that’s years later after UCLA and other degrees. Every culture has its good and weaknesses. Thanks for commenting brother, hope your day is going well with this rainy Fall day in SoCal? How are you enjoying the weather?
Today was so rainy and it makes everyone such a bad driver in California almost everytime. Went out and voted today.
Yes I grew up around Asians as I wrote. In my neighborhood almost every neighbor is of Japanese descent. Lots of my classmates in school were Asian. I was in Boy Scouts and I was one of the only non-Asians in my Boy Scout Troop. I was shocked by how much more strict their parents were than my mom who is White. The Academic Pressure. My Asian friends in Boy Scouts would joke would the strictness of studying and academics and not much social life.
I love hearing testimonies. God bless you!
Wow thanks for reading this sister!
That is what made me a Christian, reading the Bible. I waited much longer than you did to get around to it, but the important thing is that I did read it.
Curiosity question. Why do you think the Asians in this country emphasize academics so much? I suppose that it largely a good thing. It might even be a good thing for the rest of us to imitate, but I wonder what drives it.
I wonder too; I think perhaps a Confucian background in some Asian culture for centuries really drill the idea of progress and upward mobility has to do with education. That’s what I think anyways. It can also go too overboard in my opinion, where sometimes when I minister people actually ask what university I graduated from and I see the weighing of whether or not I might speak with any “weight.” Not always, but sometimes. I do appreciate Asian Christians in America being a bit more balance than the larger Asian American community (specifically East Asians who are Koreans, Chinese and Japanese descent). Fascinating that you noticed this…is from people you have known in the past brother Tom?
There is a sizeable Vietnamese community in the Washington DC area that I have had some association with. Mostly, I just observed the fracas over a prestigious magnet school in Fairfax County, Thomas Jefferson High.
Liberal Democrats started modifying the entry requirements for the school because they thought too many of the children being admitted to the school were Asians. Not diverse enough, supposedly.
Apparently “tiger moms” are a real thing. Not sure if that is good or bad, but children do need to be disciplined so they will learn. The issue is whether tiger moms overdo it. I don’t know.
In a competitive environment, people imitate success. Therefore, other ethnic groups will eventually imitate Asian parents if the children of Asian parents are allowed to succeed in getting their children a good education. But some politicians want power, not honest competition. These will squelch competition for the sake of power. That is not good for anyone.
This is a powerful testimony my brother. It proves how powerful the Word of God is. Thanks for sharing
Thanks for reading this hope you are doing well Beverley!
You are welcome. I am doing well. I am way behind in my blogging.
Same!
What a beautiful testimony, Bill! Thank you for sharing! Gid to s so good!
Thank you for reading this Andy!
Reblogged this on The Creation Cowboy and commented:
Your mother was a Buddhist and your father smelt of elderberries (was an atheist).
We see several things coming together in this atheist’s conversion to Christ, including the work of the Holy Spirit by leading him and working in other circumstances. Giving him the Bible was a major factor.
Beautiful testimony! This, if naught else, proves that God’s word is “sharper than a two-edged sword”. Blessings on you!
Amen to that about the WOrd of God! God bless you hope you are doing well!!!!
“The Word of God is living and active. . .” Your just one example brother!
I realized today after reading this post (shared by The Creation Cowboy)the power of one small gift given to me a day or two after the day I was born again.
My wife, Wendy, gave me a little, burgundy colored New Testament with Psalms and Proverbs that I could carry in my pocket.
I began to read, really read the Bible for the first time.
The initial change that came over me when my eyes were opened on May 8, 1978 was real.
But, the process of feeding on the Word of God is where my strength, my growth, my, faith, and my trust in the One who made the initial change took flight.
Reading and studying this book with a brand “new heart” was more important to my New Life than I ever realized.
“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”
Hebrews 4:12-13 ESV
https://bible.com/bible/59/heb.4.12-13.ESV
Wow thanks for sharing this Randy, praise God for the power of His Word to save you and anyone who open the Word and let the Word work in our hearts
Powerful 😇❤️🙏
Thank you and thanks for reading this!
You’re very welcome 😊
Thank you for this testimony. It is wonderous and powerful to look back and see God in all of our past. He was patiently waiting, but He also put the other events into motion.
Thanks Mark! God has been working and is working and for that I am grateful. I’m traveling this week so will be slow with blogs; how are you?
We are both fine, but tired – the usual. But since doctors do not like to see patients during December, we are spending our spare days visiting friends in the local area. Great fun.
Wow! I loved your testimony. Its funny how reading that one little book can change someones life. Usually its for the better. I’m happy for you that the Biblical words helped you grow. That’s truly a blessing
Thank you; God bless