The Testimony of John Shrader, how the Lord graciously saved me...

Another a fellow brother in the Lord Jesus Christ has shared how he was saved..

The Testimony of John Shrader, how the Lord graciously saved me. I was privileged to grow up in a Christian home. My grandfather was a functional drunkard, and was divorced and remarried right times, so I praise the Living God of Heaven for saving my father when He was 16, and my mother out of an unbelieving home in her teens as well. The Lord used my father to plant the Tri-County Baptist Church when I was only two, so I grew up in church, constantly hearing the Gospel, and with parents who were reading and teaching me the Word of God and the glorious gospel of Christ. I learned to read at a very young age, and quickly became a voracious reader, as I am to this day, and, at around four years old, began to ask my father and mother about being saved, and how I could be saved. Jesus taught that we must become as a little child to receive and enter the Kingdom of God (Mark 10:15). I am so thankful to the Lord for the wisdom He gave my parents at my tender young age, for I have heard and seen people take children as young as three who ask such questions and "lead" them in a prayer. Praise God my parents did not do so with me. As I would come to them, usually at night in fear of the dark and of hell, they, concerned if I truly understood and was under Holy Spirit conviction, would speak with me, share Bible verses with me, then, pray that God would work in my heart and instruct me to come back and speak more with them in the morning. I never returned, because, in my youthful tenderness and fear, when the light of morning shone I forgot all about the conversation just a few hours the previous night. This continued on for some time, each time following a now predictable pattern, until my fifth year of life. I know that is young, but people mature physically and mentally at different rates, and, at least one of the King James Bible translators was reading not only English, but Hebrew and Greek at age five! I will never forget the day by Lord saved me. I had come to speak with my mother, as I had so many many times before, but this night was different, in my heart. My father was out on visitation, so my mother dealt with me just as she had so often, by sharing and discussing some Bible passages, then instructing me to pray about it and come back to talk more with them in the morning, but something had charged, something was different. I was under true conviction over my sin and the coming judgement (John 16:8), and godly sorry was working repentance in my heart (II Cor. 7:10). I insisted to my mother that I could not wait until the morning, so she gave me one final test. She gave me permission to stay up late and wait for my father to return home so that I could talk with him. I remember the waiting, and when my father finally came home, he had the gall to take a shower while my soul was in eternal peril! It was real to me, no longer was it just a childish desire to "receive Jesus" as I so often heard preached, or merely a fear of the dark and hell. When my father finally scared my room, we discussed the Bible passages yet again, on my sin, need for God's righteousness through Christ, and dad questioned me to make sure I had sufficient understanding, and I believe he saw my obvious conviction, and that night, from my own heart, I, realizing I could do nothing to save myself, put my faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and His shed Blood and death on the Cross, and that He rose again for my sins and to pay the debt so I could be forgiven! (Romans 3:10, 19-26; 5:8; 10:1-3; 8-13; Eph. 3:8,9; Titus 3:5,6; Isaiah 64:6; 61:1-3,10; John 1:12; I Cor. 5:21, etc.) I know that the Lord saved me from the penalty of my sin that night, cleansed my heart and made me a new creature (II Cor. 5:17), and my life has given witness to that fact now for more than thirty years. I am still growing in Christ, but according to I John 5:13, according to what is written in that precious book of Scripture, I "know" that I "have eternal life"!!! God has to bring the conviction. Had my parents led me in a prayer at an earlier time, I would not have been saved, for there was zero conviction. No godly sorrow, only fear. I praise God for saving me, and calling me to serve Him five years later, when I intentionally surrendered my life to whatever, whenever, and however the Lord wanted to use me, being convicted that He wanted me to preach in some capacity. If you would like more passages, or to have a discussion on what godly sorrow, biblical repentance and faith are, and how an unrighteous sinner can be made righteousness, not through a church, or a baptism, or a communion or any religion, please feel free to contact me via email at: 2tim22@gmail.com , through Messenger under our FB "John Esther Shrader", or my WhatsApp line which is +260969508272 I have also written several gospel tracts and booklets to try and help point seekers of truth to the Bible, through which, by reading or hearing preached, it says we are born again


(I Peter 1:23; Romans 10:17; Eph. 2:8,9; I Cor. 1:21). Thank you for taking the time to read my testimony. If you do not know for sure that you are 100% certain, according to the Word of God that you are biblically born again, please give us the privilege of carefully sharing the glorious "gospel of Christ," which reveals "the righteousness of God" with you (Romans 1:16,17). Bro. John Shrader Zambia, Africa