Another Special Life in Christ

These testimony lives are not stories of "role models". Jesus is the role model!
These are lives wonderfully touched & changed by Jesus!

Ravi Zacharias:

Born in Madras, India in 1946, he tried to short-cut to high school graduation by attending a community college. Hidden inside were many doubts, and he flirted with failure in many directions, cutting school and hiding within himself. His father was a man who had reached great heights of power & success in India. His father found out one day and gave Ravi an unforgettable "tongue lashing" and thrashing.

He came forward at a Christian-event  alter call his sister had invited him to...the preacher was Sam Wolgemuth who had preached about God's love from John chapter 3. But, Ravi continued in Hinduism. He stopped one day at a cremation site and asked the Hindu priest where that cremated person was now; the priest responded, "...and you will never find a certain answer." After some months, in despair, he attempted suicide at age 17...but survived.

While in the hospital, someone brought a Bible to him and read to him John chapter 14 about God's purpose...the words in that chapter having been spoken to the apostle Thomas who came to India (a memorial to Thomas exists just a few miles from where Ravi was born). I noted the words, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father except through Me." But his attention was captured a few lines later when Jesus said, "Because I live, you shall live also." But Ravi was not sure what this all meant. He knew that it meant more than just biological "life". Piecing together God's love in Christ, plus the way of life that was provided because of Christ, and the promise of life through Him, "...on that hospital bed I made my commitment to give my life and my pursuits into His hands."

He left that hospital as a new man. "I walked out of that hospital room a new man. The Lord Christ had entered in. The transformation was as dramatic as I could have ever imagined. There is no other way to describe it. From then on, my longings, my hopes, my dreams, and my every effort has been to live for Him who rescued me, to study for Him who gave me His mind, to serve Him who fashioned my will, and to speak for Him who gave me a voice."

At age 20 (1966), his family moved to Canada. He migrated in 1966 to Canada, worked in hotel management, and settled into a Christian and Missionary Alliance (CMA) church. 'My first Sunday there, a missions conference began,' he recalls. 'A Canadian missionary who had gone to India was speaking. For the first time, I heard myself described to others as a mission field.' Not long afterward, sensing a call to ministry, Ravi began training for his new vocation. He graduated from Ontario Bible College in 1972, and before starting graduate studies at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, married fellow youth group member Margaret Reynolds. He was also commissioned by the CMA as an international evangelist, and from 1981 to 1984 held the Chair of Evangelism and Contemporary Thought at the denomination's Alliance Seminary at Nyack, New York. He lives in Atlanta.

I'd heard his name a number of times between 1993-2004 when I bought and read half of his book, Jesus Among Other Gods. In July 2005, my son passed on to me a CD with a lecture by him. I listened to most of it on the way back from family vacation at the beach outside of Charleston, SC. The lecture was exciting, and I thought to myself, "This man is brilliant and has sought and yearned for the Truth much more so than I but as I have yearned for it." I then read his book again. His defense of The Truth of Jesus the Christ is extremely compelling, and I recommend his book and arguments to any who have doubts but are willing to believe. His website [here]. His explanations to "Western"-thinking people of many things coming out of an "Eastern" way of thinking are highly valuable. Wikipedia, HERE.

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(posted 2 August 2005)

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You have just read a very brief example of the powerful, supernatural transformation of a person's life which is possible through the acceptance of Jesus as your savior. Are you tired of life as it now is for you? He will accept you just as you are right this second! Consider accepting Jesus now [check it out]!