Counterfeit Christians — Charlie Orr

Well, it's good to be with you this morning. We had a great time in Sunday school. And I just want to thank you for praying for me the last several months. I've sensed your prayers. We were in a meeting last week in a Christian school in Wise, Virginia.

And we saw God move in in mighty power. But this is a new hour. And this week could be the greatest week of our lives. Why? Because if God decides, and I believe He is, to move in, folks, we just are in for some good things.

But we need to pray. And we need to obey. And we need to believe. Trust and obey. For there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey. And would you just simply ask God to speak to your heart today.

The preacher of my neighbor needs to be spoken to more than me. You might be surprised. You might be surprised what you need today and what I need today. I get preached to when I preach. Because God often makes me live up to the sermons I preach.

I never have liked that, but He does it quite often. He said, preacher, you didn't preach that yesterday. Now, here's the circumstance. You've got to live up to what you preach. Now, I wish I could say every time God's done that to me, I've passed with flying colors.

But I'm sure on that heavenly report card, there are a few F's, Brother Jules. That this sorry preacher has flunked out. But the good news is this. God never gives up on His children. He's more committed to us than we're committed to Him.

And I'm grateful for that kind of faithful God that wants to bless us in spite of who we are. I'm so grateful for that. And this morning I have a message that I believe is important for us to have presented.

The Parable of the Tares and the Danger of Counterfeit Christians

So let's turn in our Bibles to the Gospel of Matthew chapter number 13, beginning at verse number 36. Matthew 13, beginning at verse number 36. And I want to speak on this subject, counterfeit Christians.

Counterfeit Christians. We'll be looking at other portions of Matthew and also the Gospel of John. Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came unto Him, saying, declaring to us the parable of the tares of the field.

Notice, Jesus did not give this parable to the multitudes, but to His disciples. He answered and said unto them, So if the good seed is the son of man, the field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom.

But the tares are the children of the wicked one. The enemy that sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the world, and the reapers are the angels. Therefore the tares are gathered and burned in fire, so shall it be in the end of the world.

The son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend and them that do iniquity. And shall cast them into a furnace of fire, and there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Then shall the righteous shine forth as the son in the kingdom of their father, who hath ears to hear, let him hear. Now let us pray together and then we'll move right into the message. And would you do this today?

Would you simply ask God if you are a counterfeit Christian to show it to you? You know, the Bible says our hearts are deceitful, desperately wicked, who can know them? And there are a lot of things that sings right unto man, but the ends thereof are the ways of death.

And I think one of the greatest needs in God's kingdom today are for those who are members of churches, those who have learned to be faithful in the flesh, those who have been studying the Bible in their minds, who have never been truly born again, to really have an encounter with Jesus for the first time.

Where all things will pass away, behold, all things will come new, and they'll have a genuine birth into the kingdom of God. Brother, you cannot have revival till there's a resurrection. And you might be surprised today, there could be just one person, it could be two, brother pastor, it could be as many as five, it could be more than we can expect, who really don't know Jesus.

And would you simply say, Lord, if I'm deceitful, you show me today, if I truly know you in an intimate, personal relationship. I believe he'll do that today if we ask him. Amen. Let's pray together. Father, this is your time.

We simply want you to superintend this preaching hour with an unction from on high and spiritual revelation in the heart. And Lord, for those who could be here, and they've been deceived by the God of this world, their own deceitful hearts, God, pull back the covers and may conviction reign and conversion reign in this service.

Knowing the Real Christian by Examining the Genuine

Bring glory to thyself. In Jesus' name we pray with thanksgiving. Amen. Counterfeit Christians. You know, they tell me in the banking industry that quite often bank tellers and other bank officials are trained to try to find out what counterfeit money looks like.

Now, I want to ask you a question today. Which of these $20 bills is counterfeit? Which one? This one? Okay. Anybody else want to guess? Which one of these is counterfeit? Neither one of them. I want to ask this question.

How do we even know? Do you know the only way to tell a counterfeit from a real one? You've got to know what the real one is really like. That's how they train bank officials. They show them exactly what a real $20 or $5 or $100 bill looks like.

And when they so learn what the real one looks like when a counterfeit comes by, you know it. I don't think there's anybody in here that's studied a $20 bill close enough to believe both of these could be counterfeit.

Man, I'd be in trouble, wouldn't I? I appreciate the fruit basket that you left me over at my dwelling place. But you know what I thought when I looked at it? I said, that's a beautiful artificial basket.

So I went over there and began to smell it. And began to feel it. And this morning began to taste it. The only way I could find out was to investigate to see if it was real. There's a certain brand of watches that are pretty expensive.

They're called Rolex watches. I don't know. They say they run at least $2 ,000 up to maybe $30 ,000 for a watch. I think that's pretty expensive. They're collector's items. They hold their value. But you know, quite often you'll find in these magazines Rolex watches for $500 or $100.

You know by the price that they're counterfeit. And if you look at them on the outside, they look just like it. But it's the inward works that makes the difference. There was a TV program a number of years ago when, you know, had these comic, I mean, these programs.

It's called To Tell the Truth. How many of you ever saw that program To Tell the Truth? You're going to tell on your age. Amen? Well, they had this program where you had three people come out on the stage.

What is your name? My name is John Smith. What is your name? My name is John Smith. What is your name? My name is John Smith. John Smith wrestles alligators for a living in Florida. And he's been doing this for 20 years.

And then the panel asks them questions. And then they cast a vote who the real John Smith is. And it's usually the skinny fellow that you never think wrestles alligators. Amen? Listen, and many times that entire panel and even my entire family when we watched that program would be deceived because a man can put on but the real one knew who he was.

Where do you get to, preacher? Why are you saying all that? Because in the kingdom of God we have a lot of people that say they know Jesus and say they're born again and have been baptized in every creek and pond to the frogs, know them by name.

Amen? And have their names on church rolls and teach Sunday school classes and they become Christian leaders. But they have never had a real encounter with Jesus because they did not change. Now, there are three very simple points I want to talk about today in my message.

The Sheep Know and Belong to the Shepherd

First of all, let's talk about the sheep. The sheep. You know, you can tell a real Christian because a Christian is a sheep and their father in heaven is the great shepherd, Jesus. And there are several things about a sheep I want you to notice.

First of all, a sheep knows they belong to God's flock. They're members of the flock of God. Isaiah 40 verse 11 says, He shall feed his flock like a shepherd. Luke 12 verse 32 says, Fear not, little flock, for it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

Psalm 103, we are his people and what? The sheep of his pasture. What are you talking about, preacher? Well, you know, when somebody is truly born again, I become part of his flock, the church. And that means when I'm saved, I enjoy being around other sheep.

Amen, Brother Jules? And I enjoy listening to my shepherd. I know that I don't belong to myself anymore, that I got bought out by the blood of Jesus Christ. And because I'm bought out by the blood of Jesus Christ, I lose all rights to myself and I belong to somebody else.

And that's good news because if I belong to God, it's God's responsibility to take care of me and you. And when you belong to his flock, you enjoy being in fellowship with God's people, don't you? And when God is my shepherd and I'm his sheep, I know that God's devoted to me.

He has devotion toward me. Why? Because a true shepherd watches after his sheep real close. He knows when they get in the bramble bushes. He knows when they get in fast-moving streams. He knows when they're hungry.

He knows when the wolves come. And my shepherd's taking care of me. Hasn't he, you? I'll tell you something else about our shepherd. He delights in us. One thing that God's been teaching me in these days is that God's thoughts toward me are good, not evil.

That my God today has a delight in his child. I'll tell you something else about my shepherd. He likes to discipline me. If God chastens those he loves. That's one reason you know you're a Christian because you can't get by with wrong anymore and can't enjoy it anymore.

I used to enjoy doing all kinds of wicked things and just loved it. Ate it up. I mean, boy, I loved to sin. When I got saved, I decided to go back and sin one day. So I bought me a baggie of hashish from this fellow named Burnout Robert.

And I was going to take me a smoke of that hashish. And I did. And what happened? I got sick. I felt awful. I felt guilty. And I got rid of it. Why? Because God had given me a new desire. God put conviction on me.

And I'll say this today, folks. My God loves you and I well enough to get on our heads when we're wrong. A friend of mine was in a revival meeting. A pastor's daughter came down. She was in her twenties and made a decision for Jesus.

Supposedly got saved. And the evangelist got happy. And he said, praise God. Hallelujah. Praise God. Hallelujah. But he noticed the pastor didn't seem to be too happy. And so the pastor came up to my friend and said, brother, I noticed you seemed to be upset with me that I didn't get real excited when my daughter came down and made a decision.

He said, that's right. You should have been happy. She got saved. We've been praying for her. He said, my brother, you'll see me shout when I see God treating her as though she was his young 'un or child.

Feeding on God's Word and Loving Sound Doctrine

Can I say this today? When God treats you like his young 'un, you'll know that you're his child. Amen. Number two. We'd like to be fed by the shepherd. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd.

I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restores my soul. That means when you and I are saved, we shall be saved and you shall go in and out and find pasture.

John 10, 9. His delight is in his law and in his law doth he meditate day and night. We shall live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. You know how I know you and I are saved? Because we love the Word of God.

Eat it up. Can't get enough of it, man. I mean, the hotter and the heavier. I mean, the more fervent the message is, the more it cuts up. Woo! Give it to me, preacher. Boy, this crowd that says, oh boy, God didn't do her another sermon.

Oh boy, I've got to listen to another hour's sermon. Give me out of here, 12 o 'clock dull preacher, so I can go home and watch my TV program. My ball team is playing at 12 o 'clock. Give me out of here, preacher.

Folks, I want to tell you something today. Somebody that is truly saved loves this book and they like good preaching. They like good teaching. In fact, they can't get enough of it. I have trouble with these crowds always picking apart the Word of God and picking out the parts of the Word they want and don't want.

Right? I know of a crowd, all they want to hear about is heaven and salvation. Why? Because they won't put you under conviction. I get tickled. I know these people like to watch these slop operas as the stomach turns.

Day after tomorrow, my day was like theirs, I'll be looking for tomorrow too. The young and the shameless. Reading True Magazines and National Inquirers and People Magazine, reading all that slop. Amen.

And you know, when you fill yourself with that stuff, folks, you come to the house of God, no wonder you're bored. I tell you, when I got saved, I had never read the Bible that much in my life, but when I got saved, I got the Bible and that book fascinated me and still does.

I got the book of Revelations, the first one I got in after I got saved. Man, I was through the tribulation, seeing those demon-like locusts come out of the pit. I was asking that preacher, what in the world is going to go on?

Are we going to be around here? He said, no, we're going up. I said, hallelujah. Hallelujah. I'll let you know, folks, you ought to love the Bible. In fact, you know what they did in Romania? A man would preach two hours and they'd get through preaching and they'd start weeping and say, give us more.

Give us more. Now, brother, you can preach and people fall asleep on you. I went to one church one time, before I could even get started. I was a young preacher, three of them, and one got caught back with snoring.

So, you know, I didn't have any better manners. I'd be like this. Wake up! I mean, they got rapture, you know, and I said, hey, listen, I'm a man of God and if you sleep on me, I'm going to wake you up and embarrass you.

First time I heard in years. Old pruned-up, he said, go on, puff up me, you're going to hear a man of God. I'm tired of people sleeping on me. Saw those wives punching these old bow-cats, got bowed up at me, and I preached.

A couple of old ladies walked through the church of preachers. About time somebody woke those dead heads up. Now, if you're on medication, we understand that. If you've had a long night and you're tired, we understand that.

But, brother, if you can come in the house of God and sleep, it's something wrong with you. Now, amen. Now, if the preacher's born, we can understand that too, but I don't think I'm that born. Hope not.

You'll want to be fed by the shepherd. Number three, you're familiar with the shepherd's voice. Familiar with the shepherd's voice. My sheep hear my voice. I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and have known of mine.

All that ever came for me are thieves and robbers, and the sheep did not hear them. Can I say this? Once you get saved, you'll begin to know how God's voice sounds. By the way, God's voice always coincides with this book.

When I was growing up, I knew my daddy's voice. For supper! I knew it was my daddy's voice because I'd heard my daddy's voice from birth. You know what God told me right after I got saved? First week I got saved, Brother Jules, you know what God told me?

And I'd never heard a sermon on tithing. He said, give me a tenth. I made 70 bucks. I gave God $7 .50 just to let the devil know I'd been saved good. That's Florida God! I'll tell you this, no one had to tell me that when Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night came, my place was in the house of God.

Amen? No one had to tell me when revival came, I adjusted my schedule to be there even though it was tiring. Nobody told me that. My father told me that. And by the way, my father likes me to beck his voice.

He doesn't want me to be a knothead. By the way, it's known that sheep become so familiar with their shepherd's voice that when a stranger comes by and tries to call them if they hear another voice, those sheep will run from that stranger.

Do you know how I know people are saved? In fact, that when the devil beckons them with hypocrites and backbiters and liars in church, they won't listen to that junk. Number four, they want to follow their shepherd.

Following the Shepherd's Call and Lordship

They want to follow their shepherd. John 10 3 says, He called his own sheep by name and leadeth them out. My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me. John 10 27. I want to say this, if you're really one of God's sheep, when He calls you and tells you to do something, you follow Him.

Jesus. Where's God led you? He's a preacher in all kinds of places. Why does He lead you? Because He knows the best way for me to go. Now, I wanted to be a college basketball coach after I got saved. I wanted to go back and get my master's degree and I wanted to be a college basketball coach.

God wouldn't even talk to me about that. He had designs on me to be a preacher. And on November 17, 1977 at Second Baptist Church in Great Falls, South Carolina, God put His hand on me and so convicted me I couldn't even take notes, Brother Jewel.

I was thrown into conviction. I'd been saved about two and a half years and I was convicted and weeping and I threw up the white flag and told God I'd preach the gospel. Amen. I didn't want to be a preacher.

Why? Because preachers get a hard time. Right? I tell you folks, I wish some of you would be a preacher for a week. You'd thank God. Amen. I only ever did sit around and drink coffee and preach sermons.

Where's your head at, folk? Where have you been? Had to fight the devil and demons and hypocrites and back biters and didn't have a family and trust God. Hey, listen folks, I know this. I'm called a preacher.

I know I've got the right woman. Why? Because God hunted her up for me. I waited on God for that baby doll. Saved. Raised in a Christian home. Sings. She didn't want to marry a preacher. God had to wring her out to get her to marry me.

Amen. Amen. You know why? Because God knew exactly who I needed. And see, He led me to her. There are a lot of girls who came by with cow fits. Nice looking. Played the piano. You know what happened? Got around them.

God said, don't even date a preacher. There's a trap. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. God never leads me to sin. He tells me when to get my hair cut. He tells me what kind of clothes to wear.

He tells me the kind of people to fellowship with. Why? Because He's my Lord and your Lord. Isn't that good to have a God like that? All you had to do was walk with Him. There's a boy on this train station platform, about eight years old.

He was just going around there going, whoo boy, good boy, just jumping around there. And this old revivalist, James Stewart, saw him. And he was just running around and said, son, where are you going?

He said, I don't know. Whoo wee, yippee. Where are you going? I don't know. Whoo wee, yippee. He said, son, where are you going? He said, I don't know, but there's my daddy. Ask him. See, you don't need to worry where you're going.

You just need to walk with Him. I have a problem, Brother Jules. These people are always trying to do what they want to do and never ask God what His opinion is. That's the difference between Christianity and religion.

Christianity, God starts it. Christianity, man starts it. I mean, Christianity, God starts it. Religion, man starts it. That's the sheep. We belong to His flock. We're fed by the shepherd. We're familiar with the shepherd's voice and we follow the shepherd.

The Seed, the Soil, and False Professions

Now, is that you? Number two, let's talk about the seed. The seed. What about the seed? Well, over here in Matthew chapter number 13 and in verse number 3 through 9 it talks about the seed and the soil.

And it says here there's the first kind of soil that the seed can get on is the stubborn heart. Notice in verse 4 of chapter 13, and he went and sowed and some seed fell by the wayside and the fowls came in to buy them up.

I want you to notice what else it says in verse 2. And they come to church and they hear the word but because their hearts are hard, the seed doesn't last very long because the demons come along and take the word of God away.

Those are the stony hearts, the hard hearts, the stubborn hearts. And I always had a crowd, Brother Jill, in my church that you couldn't move if you dynamited them. You know, they were the stumps in the water daring you to move them.

Bless me if you can, preacher. I've been here longer than you, preacher. I'm a pillar in the church. Yeah, I could tell how stiff he was. Never moved, but there, there, the devil had them there. Those are the people who have stubborn hearts.

Have you ever met people that go so stubborn? Rebellious. Arguing with the word of God. Getting bucking up on the preacher. I've met them. You've seen them. Too busy to hear God running here and there.

Rushing here and there. Going here and there. Too busy for God. That's our trouble. We don't have time to wait on God and know Him. That's why we have so little comprehension of Him these days. We don't have time to wait on Him and know Him.

Then also, the stubborn heart, number two, you have the shallow heart. Notice verses five and six. Some fell upon stony places or little soil where they didn't have much earth forthwith. They sprung up because they had no deepness in the earth when the sun was up and they were scorched because they had no root and they withered away.

Notice the explanation of that is found in verse 20 and 21. But he that received the seed into stony places is he that heareth the word and immediately with joy receives it, yet he hath not rooted himself, but lasts for a while.

For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word by and by, he is offended. Here's somebody who has a shallow heart. Here's somebody who makes an emotional decision. Amen? They're emotionally moved.

He hears the word. It's planted for a moment seemingly. But when the true test to walking with God comes, when somebody makes fun of them or tribulation comes, there's no root in it and they don't last.

That's that crowd that'll make a decision emotionally. They'll cry and thank God for the emotions being moved, but you can't find them after a month and they say they're saved. I always had a crowd on my church row when I used to pastor.

I didn't know where they were. If they showed up, they'd have a heart attack. Yeah, but they've been saved. You'd be saying, yeah, preacher, I remember when I got saved. I walked down and shook the preacher's hand and prayed a prayer and was baptized.

I know I don't go to church, but I know I'm saved for only a bologna friend. Don't you let anybody fool you if somebody's not in the house of God and is not convicted about being in the house of God and could care less about being in the house of God.

I don't care how many prayers they've prayed. I don't care how many decisions they've made. They need to be in the house of God. If they're not there, they're probably not God's child. They had a superficial decision that didn't last.

See, the super soul winners have done us that, you know. I inherited a church where they sent out 50 or 60 people a week to soul win and they had 50 or 60 decisions a night. Here's what they say. Brother, you're a sinner, aren't you?

Yeah. You want to go to heaven, don't you? Yeah. Why don't you pray this prayer for me to save you? Okay, they pray. Folks, there needs to be holy ghost conviction where somebody's so convinced they're lost, they know hell's ready to swallow them up and where they're willing to repent and get right with Jesus any way they can, friend, and have faith in a person who changes them.

And that's when a person gets saved. And we birthed a bunch of illegitimate children in the kingdom of God and we're trying to get them revived and we need to have them resurrected. Endure it for a while and when the costs come, they fold up.

Then you have those who have a sensual heart. Verse 7, some fell upon thorns and the thorns sprung up and choked them. And verse number 22 gives the explanation that he that also hath received the seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word and the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word and he becometh unfruitful.

Here's somebody who is unseparated and unrepentant. And they receive, supposedly, the word of God but see the world still has a hold on them. That's that crowd that loves the pleasures of this world and loves the possessions of this world.

What do you mean, preacher? Folks who have better time outside of there and rather than here. And what we've done today in order to get a crowd, we've had to ruralize our churches. What do you mean? Oh, we've got to have a ball team and we've got to have this and we've got to have that to get them.

I thought you were supposed to get them with God getting them and get them where they become disciples and cross bearers and true disciples where they don't want to be entertained. They just want to get into the presence of God so they can meet their king and worship and pay the price.

See, I had a bunch of men, boy, when deer season came around, brother, you couldn't find them. Up there, four o 'clock in the morning, freezing to death. Painted up, trying to kill a big buck. And that big buck up there in that tree, freezing to death.

You couldn't get that crowd to have an early morning prayer meeting and save your life. But boy, they'll shift their schedule, take a vacation, send those words starved to death, freezing to death. They kill one old buck and then they get mad because it's not a big one.

Isn't that something? I'll tell you, I just wonder about that crowd. I'm not saying they're not saved, but friend, when they get more excited about killing a buck than seeking God, it's something wrong.

Another crowd bow down to slimy fish. Amen? Rather than hunting for men. Ladies, you'd rather knit and crochet. People would rather have green stuff than God. There's nothing wrong with having money. God gives people the ability to make money and give to the kingdom.

That's amen. As long as money doesn't have you, that's fine. You can have all you want. But you've got to be willing to let it go whenever God tells you to let it go, too. Because it doesn't mean much to you.

You know what's happened to America? We're materialistic and self-centered and pleasure-oriented. I went to a church. God helped this church to visit it. Thinking about joining it. Visiting it. First Sunday we went there.

Looked at the bulletin. Sunday night. Super Bowl Sunday night. Going to put up a widescreen TV. Scoop the Super Bowl up there. Eat popcorn and peanuts and Coca-Cola's. And then at halftime give an invitation to get people to Jesus.

And the preacher said, this is a great way to get our lost friends because this is a way of getting them to come to church. Because I know some of you wouldn't come anyway because you can watch the Super Bowl.

How in the world can our God, you know, try to compete with Spud the Dud? My children are 10 and 7. You know what my son did when he looked at that little pamphlet? He said, Dave, this is a liberal church, isn't it?

And it is. And we didn't go back. Super Bowl Sunday. I know of pastors that call Super Bowl Sunday family night so they can go home and watch it. I know of two preachers that are friends of mine that call Super Bowl Sunday family night because they were afraid the crowd would run short.

We had our biggest crowd Super Bowl night in Maryland. You know why? Because I told them if they stayed home, I was just wondering what they even say to watch that junk. Nude cheerleaders and beer and all that sloth and cheering for teams that what they did but boy, you're bound down to your God.

The God of athletics and sports and entertainment. Bound down for that TV. Amen? Bound down in front of that softball team. Football team. Athletics. Bound down to the God of sports. Now you've got the athletes that stand up and talk about being Christian.

I'm sure there are some but I think a lot of them are just shallow as can be and doubt they're saved because listen, a lot of that crowd would not do what they're doing if they were saved. Christian movie stars.

God help us. Christian beauty queens. How in the world can somebody say walk out on the platform dress like a nudist and let men lust after them and say God let them do that junk? Is that good preaching?

It's the truth folks and I'll tell you why folks. We've got people in our churches who've had central hearts but they've never been saved. Let's have a softball team. We'll get lost people out there so we can win to Jesus on the softball field.

Follow me. Below me. So once you got to the worst players in the city, they used to go out to the best so they can win the trophy. Then they got there and get in fights like my home church. They got into a fight down there and had to call the police.

They did. The mother-in-law and the daughter-in-law got in a fight and then all the daddies and the in-laws got in a fight and had to call the police to break it up. And then that's the first Sunday I joined my home church.

I'd only been saved about nine months. Went there and they had a business meeting to keep the softball team out of the church because if we're going to act like that we're not going to have it. And two men stood up one old boy stood up and said Preacher I'll let you know if you keep the softball team out I'm going to have something to say about it.

And I said it's nothing wrong we just made a mistake. Both those fellas back slid in as a donkey getting up there after the church butt and bellies with the preacher wanting to fight with him. Preacher I'll tell you what I'm going to whip you right here.

I said Lord did I join the right church? I used to see this down in ballrooms every Friday night. Lord what's going on here? Isn't that something folks? The sensual heart. Hey but the last thing is if somebody has the right kind of heart in which they have a spiritual heart.

Verse number 8. But some fell on good ground and brought forth fruit a hundredfold sixtyfold and thirtyfold. Then verse number 23 says. But he that received the seed into good ground is he that heareth the word understands it which also beareth fruit brings forth some hundredfold sixtyfold thirtyfold.

Here somebody really gets saved they receive the word of God their spiritual conception and then their spiritual fruitation. You know can I tell you somebody saved somebody that's saved beareth fruit.

Somebody that's really saved and walking with God they beareth fruit. What you mean? I hadn't been saved over a week and I was telling people about Jesus and I never had a course on soul winning. First fellow I ever witnessed to was a friend of mine that went to school with me.

I called him up and you'd have to know the circumstance I was in and told him I was in a lot of trouble but I'd been saved and the fellow had some church background and it didn't turn him off too much.

He came down and helped me out and I told Bobby about being saved. Then I got on a bus to move in with the Baptist preacher. I got saved and a sailor sits next to me and the spirit of God told me tell him what happened to you and I said friend I got saved yesterday he said from what?

Were you drowning? I said no Jesus saved me he found him another seat in the back of the bus. Why? Because see God was in my life and God was living through my life and I suddenly saw that my life was not my own.