MY QUICK TESTIMONY
By Brooks A. Harris, O.D.
Although I was brought up in church, I had doubts about God’s existence due to my scientific beliefs. I considered myself an agnostic - I did not know what to believe. I am a scientific person and I thought I needed proof. Preachers would tell me that I just needed to believe by faith, but I wanted proof. Although I knew many stories in the Bible, I was ignorant of the reliability of the Bible and ignorant of the overwhelming evidence for the reality of God and His creation.
I used to wonder - "Is there really a heaven and a hell as described in the Bible and if there is then what will happen to me if I die and do not totally accept God?" So in 1999 I began studying scientific evidence for the origins of Life, the Species, Man, the Universe, and much more evidence for biblical reliability. I read books, viewed tapes and CD’s, and listened to many programs on how science, history and many other evidences supported the Holy Bible. I also purchased and read large portions of a few different study Bibles which helped explain what the Bible means.
Before long my eyes were truly opened. I understood so much. I was no longer ignorant. Over ten years of research, I had found logical, understandable answers to many questions I had. I do not know everything there is to know, but I now have no doubt that God definitely exists, Jesus really lived, died and was resurrected, and I know I can trust what the Bible says. Is the Bible totally accurate and error-free? No, it does contain some translation and copying errors, but its messages are reliable (much more reliable than any other religious book).
I finally accepted God as my Creator and Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I asked Jesus to come into my life, save me, and guide me to do His will. I knew I was a sinner (as all people are). Sin is doing, thinking or saying anything that goes against God’s will. For my Lord to accept me I knew I had to confess my sins to Him. Since Jesus is omniscient (He knows everything) I knew He knew what my sins were, but by telling Him what I had done and what I am doing I knew I was admitting to my wrong doings and I was accepting responsibility for them. I asked for His forgiveness and I repented (did my best to try not to continue to do sinful thoughts or acts). I have learned that confessing, asking for forgiveness, and repenting is to be a part of our prayer life since we all sin from time to time, even true Christians.
I have come to realize that God created me, He has a plan for me, and He loves me and wants me to love Him back. He wants me to talk to Him and develop a personal relationship with Him. My relationship is growing stronger and stronger everyday as I continue to talk to Him in prayer, to read and/or listen to His word (in the Bible Scriptures), and try to live a righteous life which is pleasing to God. There is a saying, "We are what we eat." Our environment influences who we are and who we will become. So watch what you let into your life, what influences you. If what you see, hear, read, and hang around is a bad influence to you, get away from it and change it.
Over a ten year period, I have researched and studied and written several articles and collected several articles from other people. These articles are a summary of what I have learned and what has inspired me to understand and believe what I now believe. In order to share what I have learned, I have developed (with God’s guidance) an informative and inspirational "Evidence For Biblical Reliability" CD and blogsite http://biblicalreliability.blogspot.com. The CD and blogsite contain many of these articles which will answer many questions about God and His two creations: His Word - the Holy Bible and His World - the Heavens and the Earth and all that is within them. Read the article "My World View" to see what I now believe and see why I see God as our ultimate authority and the Bible as our guide. The CD is Free to anyone and may be copied to share with others. If you would like a free CD, contact my office at 731-635-3026. Leave a message and I’ll contact you. May God bless you and guide your understanding and spiritual growth.
