Let me tell you about…

The Most Powerful Message I’d Ever Heard

Then my brother gave me a CD called “How Permanent is Your Salvation?” and he asked me to listen to it. Actually, “asked” may be too mild a word, as I’m pretty sure he almost begged me to listen to it. I laid it aside and didn’t think too much about it for a while, until one day as I was leaving for work, I decided to pick up that CD and bring it with me. As I pulled out of my driveway, I put the CD in and started to listen.

The speaker on that CD was Dr. Hank Lindstrom, and the strength and conviction in his voice engaged me. I found myself at the end of my 20-minute drive to the office, but I craved more information from this incredible CD. I took it out of the player and brought it inside with me, and listened to the rest of it as I worked.

When the CD was finished, I wanted so badly to hear it again that I re-played it later that afternoon. When I left for the day I brought it with me to the car again, and listened to this incredible disk as I drove home to my family.

That simple message changed my life forever.

Trust in Christ Alone

Let me be completely clear: Dr. Lindstrom didn’t convince me that his information about the Holy Scripture was correct. In fact, I didn’t take his word for anything. I put everything he said the test. I went directly to the Bible and researched the Word for myself. And that’s what I urge you to do as well. Dr. Lindstrom’s message inspired me to seek the truth of God’s Word, and I hope that this Web site will inspire you to do the same.

That was the incredible power of the message, and of Dr. Lindstrom’s CD: he showed me exactly how simple God’s plan for Eternal Salvation is. It wasn’t Dr. Lindstrom’s words that created the impact for me, it was the Word of God. Dr. Lindstrom simply presented those Words to me in a way that it hadn’t been in the past, and he encouraged me to find out for myself rather than believe anything that any person told me.

The catholic church, the church of Rome, has attempted to reserve for itself the sole right to interpret Holy Scripture. The catholic church has decided that only IT may decide what the actual meaning of God’s Word is. While this is certainly beneficial to the church of Rome (since it can decide what its followers believe), it isn’t beneficial to people who are seeking the Truth in God’s Word. The Holy Scripture does NOT need to be interpreted for us, for if we place our Trust in Christ Alone and tell Him that we will no longer rely on the words of men to tell us the meaning of Scripture, we will have the counsel of the Holy Spirit and then as we read God’s Word we will have Him to help us understand it’s Truth.

The catholic church says that that tradition is just as important as the Holy Scripture. In fact, you can confirm that for yourself in the “Catechism of the Catholic Church” from which I quote:

“As a result the Church, to whom the transmission and interpretation of Revelation is entrusted, does not derive her certainty about all revealed truths from the holy Scriptures alone. Both Scripture and Tradition must be accepted and honored with equal sentiments of devotion and reverence.”

Further:

“Tradition is to be distinguished from the various theological, disciplinary, liturgical or devotional traditions, born in the local churches over time. These are the particular forms, adapted to different places and times, in which the great Tradition is expressed. In the light of Tradition, these traditions can be retained, modified or even abandoned under the guidance of the Church’s Magisterium.”

(Link: http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p1s1c2a2.htm)

So the catholic church insists that tradition and Holy Scripture should be accepted as EQUAL when it comes to Spiritual Truth. It also says that the church can decide which traditions are worth keeping and which can be abandoned. The church of Rome gives itself much power here, to decide for millions of followers what they should believe, even if the tradition runs counter to the Holy Scripture. However…

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness”

- 2 Timothy 3:16

There are many debates about the importance of tradition, and many verses of Scripture which can be cited both in favor of and against tradition. But despite all of the debate over whether or not tradition should be integral to Spiritual Truth, we can turn directly to the Words of Jesus Christ Himself to settle the issue about which is more important, Scripture or tradition:

“Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread. But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.”

- Matthew 15:1-6

The commandment of God was made “of none effect” by tradition. Very, very powerful words.

Regardless of whether you believe tradition is important in religion or not, no matter which side of the “tradition” debate you might be on, whatever you might say about this passage of Holy Scripture, at least one enduring truth must be observed: the traditions of the religious leaders were subject to the Word of God, not equal to it as the catholic church insists.

My eyes had now been opened.

I Faced an Important Decision

I had to make an important choice: I could believe in the teachings of my church, the traditions and practices it promoted that were mixed in with the selected portions of Holy Scripture the catholic church told me to focus on, or I could trust in Christ alone. I read Matthew 15 again and again. If the catholic church was 100% correct in everything it said or did, then certainly the former would not be harmful. But what if the catholic church was wrong?

If I accepted that roman catholicism was wrong, at least sometimes, how would I know which issues the catholic church was correct on and which it was not? I had already learned that having the trees in the church and on the altar was contrary to the Scripture. Dr. Lindstrom’s CD had set me on a path to find that out for myself, through detailed references in the Holy Scripture. It was now very clear that Christ Himself has told us that tradition is subject to the Word of God, not equal to it. The catholic church insists that tradition and Scripture are equal. So, what if the church was wrong about other things?

Where should I place my trust? In the catholic church or in Jesus Christ Himself?

The church of Rome is run by humans who have flaws and can make mistakes. The history of mistakes in the catholic church is a long one, as most may already be aware. So I knew, absolutely KNEW for dead certain that Jesus Christ cannot make a mistake when it comes to God, while the church run by men could. I couldn’t take the chance, I had to turn to the Holy Scripture for guidance. I had to trust fully, completely, totally, and only in Jesus Christ.

Then I Trusted in Christ Alone and not in the teachings of men. Then I told Jesus Christ that I was willing to put aside the traditions of my “church” and subject myself solely to the Word of God. I told Jesus Christ that I Trusted completely and only in Him for my Eternal Life.

IT WAS ONLY THEN THAT I WAS TRULY SAVED!

It was that night, for the very first time in my life, that I truly received the Gift of Eternal Salvation. Not in the future, but right then and there. My life changed in that very moment!

Let me spell out for you exactly what had happened to me…

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