Eric Rinehart’s Testimony: TL;DR

1. Before I Trusted Messiah

   Before I trusted Messiah Yeshua, I was unaware that I was a sinner, or that there was a price connected to my sin. I had no idea that I needed to be saved, what I needed to be saved from, or how to be saved. I had been raised going to church, but church was more of a social thing than a salvation or even educational experience.

   I figured I was “a good enough person”, and that things were just Ok.

2. Trusting Messiah

   Around 1995, my wife was expecting our first child. I didn't feel up to the task of raising a son, and I wanted help. I wasn't sure what kind of help, or where to find that help.

   A friend invited me to Promise Keepers. I agreed, not knowing what to expect. There, I learned that I AM a sinner, but that God knows about it, and offers forgiveness for the asking. I learned that God wants a personal relationship with me, and that I can talk to Him myself, and He will talk to me.

3. Since Trusting Messiah

   Note: I didn't have a “radical conversion experience”. I hope someone actually finds that encouraging. Salvation is not just for those who have hit rock bottom.

   Since then, I have grown in my relationship with God. I learned that I can talk to Him, I can ask Him for help, I can trust in Him.

   Having children of my own has helped me to understand my relationship with Him, and how He loves me, even though I am a sinner.

   I have gone to enough “traditional” churches to see that people pick and choose which parts of the Bible they believe and apply to their lives. So, I have started to read the Bible with the intent of figuring out for myself what it really says, and what God wants from me.

   Also, I have found that “salvation” is NOT a one-time action, but an ongoing process of trust and choices.

4. Some of my Guiding Verses

   • Luke 9:23 - “And He said to them all, ‘If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.’ ”
     • “take up his cross daily” = The relationship with God is not a one-time decision, but a lifestyle and a series of choices each day.
   • Philippians 2:12 - “Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”
     • “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” = I must think about and choose what will bring me closer to God.
   • Romans 7:18-20 - “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, Rom 7:17 I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.”
     • “For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.” = Temptation to do wrong still exists; I must recognize and resist this. The temptation doesn't go away just because I now belong to God by Yeshua.