I promised about a week or two ago to share my testimony about how I became a Christian. I also wanted to get this other series started so … first things first.

My story.

I was very fortunate to have grown up in a Christian home. My parent’s took me and my siblings to church and we were taught about God and the bible at home as well.

But, that did not make me a “Christian”.

Jesus said to Nicodemus in John chapter 3…”ye must be born-again”. Nic asked Jesus- how can a man be born again? You mean like, climb back into mom’s womb? (My paraphrase here). Jesus went on to explain that being born-again is a spiritual thing. When I understood that I needed to be saved, I asked Jesus to save me. I was about 4 years old. I remember that time, but don’t remember most of the details.

As I got older I wasn’t so sure that I was saved (its a bible word, look it up!) so I later made sure that I had trusted Christ to save me and have been following Him ever since. I can say from personal experience, it is a relationship with God that I have. Its not about “religion”, its not about anything I can do for myself or about how “good” I am.  I received God’s gift of salvation because I knew that without Him I would spend eternity in hell because I am a sinner. As a result, I chose to put my trust in His Son, Jesus Christ for my salvation. Its an act of faith. I’ve already written a post or two about salvation and why everyone needs to be born-again. If you wish you can look those posts up here and here.

If you’re not sure whether or not you need to be saved, don’t take my word for it, take God’s. Just take the “Good” Test here. Answer the questions for yourself and see where you stand in light of God’s Word.  But, in a nutshell its as simple as ABC. Admit you are a sinner (Romans 3:10, 23), Believe that Jesus Christ died for you and that he was buried and rose again (I Corinthians 15:1-4) , and Confess Him as your Lord and Savior (Romans 10:9-10, 13).

In addition to my “WAHM’s  & Self-employed Women Share Summer Series” where I feature a post on one or two of these women on my blog each week,  I wanted to do something intriguing in a… different sort of way. I hesitate to call it “religious” but it is along those lines and that is how many people view things related to “faith”.  I happen to not only believe, but know, that being a Christian, a true Christian, is about having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ (who is God, btw).

Being a Christian is not about being “religious”. You may have been brought up in a very “religious” home.  Many people get turned off from God I think because they have “religion” forced down their  throat.

If thats your case, I can understand why you wouldn’t think much of anything biblical, church or God- related.

But just hear me out on this if you will.

God does not want you to be “religious”. God does not want you to be “good enough” for Him. Because, no secret here but, we can NEVER be “good enough” to earn God’s favor, eternal life,  or a home in heaven after we die. Its impossible. The bible says that for such a thing as that to be possible, one would have to have righteousness beyond what a Pharisee could produce. And they were the guys who “looked like they were so righteous” but inwardly were not.

They were hypocrites! And they were enemies of God (just read Matthew, Mark, Luke and John).

And so I want to introduce my “other” summer series “13 Saturdays to a Sharper Focus- Romans 1:20”. Each Saturday I plan to share some facts about the bible and God that you may not have known. I’ve been reading and studying my bible for probably almost two-thirds of my life now (I’m 40!). I have been extremely blessed to have been part of a bible believing church that teaches the bible the way it was written and preserved.

This will not be a boring series! I’ll keep you guessing from week to week ~ probably.

I may hop all over the place as far as what I’ll share. This is NOT a “bible study” on anything particular. Its not necessarily a bible study. However, I will share the facts and the references to where I get my info when I have that to share so you can look these things up for yourself. **Yes, its true, you do NOT need a bible college degree (though I do have one if you think otherwise) and you do NOT need a priest to interpret the bible for you.

I’ll give you a brief idea of a few things I’ll touch on…

• Scientific facts the bible mentions BEFORE modern-day science discovered them.

• The unseen world revealed by what we can see.

• Why I believe the bible is God’s final authority and why I believe there is only one trustworthy version (now, don’t you other believers go getting your shorts in a bunch over that!  I respect everyone’s right to believe what you want)…

• Understanding the bible correctly is not about “how you see it” (in other words, based on private interpretation). I’ll tell you how you can understand the bible.

So, I hope you’re on board and willing to travel this summer with me on this series for 13 Saturdays.  I think for many of you your faith will be stretched as you learn some things your current church or the one you were raised in didn’t teach you (nor anyone else in your life). I hope you’ll see God and the bible  in a way you haven’t yet.

**Special thanks to my wonderful husband who is assisting me with this series!

Subscribe through this link to get my blog posts by email or RSS. Whichever you prefer. Don’t miss out on this series!

Update: This series is over but you can find all the posts right here.