 Over the past 18 months or so, I have grown stronger and stronger in Faith each day to the point that I now put the word Christian before any other title I have given myself. For instance Christian Singer/Songwriter, Christian Poet, Christian Writer for my creative pursuits. Christian soccer coach for my sporting aspirations, Christian salesperson for my occupation. All of these things can of course be simply merged together under the term 'Disciple' because above all else I consider myself a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. In October 2015, I made the decision to drive across Australia from my home town of Perth to Melbourne and it has been an amazing experience so far. Many people thought I was crazy to even contemplate such a journey in my 2006 Ford Falcon XT! But I knew The Lord would look after me, right from finding my travel partner, to our choice of itinerary...via Margaret River, Albany and Esperance before heading up through the desert... I felt I was being guided the whole time. During that trip and earlier trips to The South West and The Great Southern in W.A I was able to understand God on a new level. Not only as our Father, our Saviour, The Creator of it all, The King of Kings, as Jesus Christ who was God manifest in the flesh, but also as a great artist, a brilliant architect, a master craftsman. As I drove across the stunning beauty of this incredible country, visiting spectacular coastlines, watching the wonder of sunlight glistening across the ocean with nights spent in awe of countless stars lighting up the vast open sky, I began to understand how God in his infinite genius had brought all this to fruition and that man in his foolish ways had destroyed much of it, usually in the name of 'progress', or in his thirst for power or greed. But, nethertheless, in it's intrinsic form, this planet is perfection. I also learned that God's sense of timing is always perfect. Somebody once told me that a year for God maybe 1000 years for us, and so when we ask for something and invariably get disappointed when it doesn't arrive straight away, well we shouldn't because God will usually give us what we need, not necessarily what we want. Long term this always works out best for us Christians, I have witnessed this in my own life and I am so grateful now that when I was younger, a more foolish man seeking earthly rewards, God withheld them from me, forcing me to grow. Some of these requests began to appear in my life later on in my journey, after I had grown and matured sufficiently to handle them. I have began to understand how God may use a writer, pastor, politician, musician, engineer, teacher, scientist or any person for that matter, to create something new, be it intellectual or something more tangible, for the better good of humanity. I also learned that the devil will attempt to use an unsaved person living in sin, to cause havoc in as many peoples lives as possible. I learned that the only way to avoid the devil and his minions is to strengthen my Faith and as The Scriptures say "Put on the full armour of God." Ephesians 6.10-18 Speaking of sin, when I grew up in Perth, W.A it was everywhere, it was unavoidable. But the more I later became immersed in Jesus and the Bible, the more I was truly repulsed by the sins I committed earlier in life. I have repented, and though of course I am in no ways sinless, far from it, no mortal man is, I am trying my best everyday to be the best person as I can, to be as Christ like as possible. I am vigilant as to what I watch, who I seek fellowship with, where I work...does it line up with God's plan for me? Does it line up with The Scriptures? I'm constantly asking the questions and of course The Holy Spirit guides me. It has been a long journey to find Salvation, I grew up a lukewarm Christian, fell off the rails in my late teens/early to mid 20's, looked outside myself for happiness for so long, yet God knew all along I would come back to him. I read the philosophies of man, studied the great worldly songwriters, listened to many different points of view on religion and spirituality... only to realise that it all means absolutely nothing compared to one drop of the precious blood that Jesus Christ shed for us on The Cross in Calvary. I praise the Lord that he would give me this opportunity to serve him. I hope to lead as many souls to Christ as I can and I promise I will never turn away from my commitment to him. Yours sincerely Phillip Ragan Recently I was asked to write a Testimony of Faith for a Bible college application.
Before I share it with you I decided to write some notes. For those who read any of my three earlier entries to this site or if you ever read my philosophical essay, Winter Sun, I was quoting a lot of worldly musicians, writers and philosophers. For a brief period there I was even calling myself a philosopher! Anyway, I have decided to delete that earlier writing as I don't subscribe to that point of view anymore, Rather my belief now is that all the truth and wisdom one needs can be found in The Holy Bible. I always believed in God, but I didn't truly know Jesus Christ. The Bible says in Matthew 7:7 "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you" I guess my story so far was of a person who was very tenacious in his search for the truth and thanks to the Grace of The Lord Jesus Christ, I found direction and received Salvation. My advise to you, should you want it, is to get yourself a King James Bible and read it cover to cover over the course of a year, and pray to God that the Holy Spirit will guide you, helping it to make sense to you. The more you read it the more it becomes clearer to you. You can never stop learning from it as it is an infinite and supernatural book. If you can't read it all right now, then start with the 4 Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. They make up what some scholars refer to as The heart of The Bible. Then read Acts (which was also written by Luke) Romans and then 1st Corinthians where you will receive a clear instruction in Chapter 15.1-4 on what is required to receive and hear the Gospel yourself. (If you're already saved then God bless you!) Let the power of God's Word move you! If you're unsaved, get saved! It will change your life and destiny forever. Best Regards Phil |
AuthorWritten by Phillip Ragan Archives
February 2020
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