New Christian? So What’s Next?

So you’ve truly been born again. That’s great! Your mind, heart (seat of your emotions), and life are changed forevermore. You have everlasting life and want to make your days count in the service of the Lord Jesus Christ. I offer recommendations for you, based on Scripture and experience. To keep this article short I won’t “prove” the basis for each recommendation. You’ll find such discussion in other articles on this site and in the list of references below.

Also, I’d love to be of help. If you have questions or just want a new friend, a brother in Christ, contact me or my wife at the emails provided on the “Contact Us” page.

Kumanovo Recommendations:

1. Get yourself a King James version of the Bible. You can’t trust the new, corrupted English versions. (If you would like a brief summary of the problems with the immense variety of “modern versions,” then check out Section #8 of my “10 Heresies” essay.) The best “study” Bible I’ve found is the New Defender’s Study Bible with notes and commentary by Henry Morris. I like 98% of Morris’ comments. If you want my cautionary thoughts on the other 2%, then contact me after you acquire it. Also, especially: Read at least several chapters each day! If you have a habit of eating food each day, then count God’s word of as much importance for your spiritual growth. And start memorizing verses or passages that grab your attention. I recommend the Bible reading schedule you’ll see at the end of this article, which I devised for myself. I do about 20-30 minutes of Bible memory work every day, in addition to reading the Bible.

You should certainly read through the Bible every year, but I have found that it’s really essential to read the New Testament twice each year. After all, we Christians live in the New Testament age and live particularly by the books, Matthew through Revelation, that reveal everything we need to know about the Lord Jesus until we meet Him in the flesh. You’ll find that the schedule works if you read about five chapters per day. Even so, you’ll be able to “accidentally miss” several days per month and still stay on schedule. Give it a try.

2. Find a serious Bible-believing church that has at least some of the characteristics in the article Three Pillars for a New Testament Church – A Simple Model found on this site. Join this church, get baptized by immersion, and love the brethren you find there. My guess is that you won’t be able to find such a church if you live in America. In that case, I would like to be a friend to you and we can correspond about how to start a ‘house church’ in your living room. You will grow in wisdom and love far better on your own than in a church-in-name-only which violates New Testament principles. If you know just one other Christian, even a family member, you can start there. Read my several articles in this section that pertain to the local church.

3. Spend time every day with God in prayer and praise. Thank Him for His blessings on your life and ask Him for help regarding the burdens on your heart.

4. Immediately start sharing the Gospel message to the lost people you know, including relatives, neighbors, coworkers, and acquaintances, and also start sharing the Gospel with complete strangers. See the articles listed in the “Evangelism” section for help. If you know how you’ve been saved, then you know enough to tell someone else to do the same.

5. Get good Gospel tracts to give to the people you don’t have time to talk to; for example, people walking by you on the sidewalk, or waitresses, or clerks. See the article Tracts – Choosing & Using. And schedule some time each week where there is pedestrian traffic to offer tracts to and share the Gospel with strangers. If you can’t find such a place, then knock neighborhood doors, introduce yourself, and go for it. If you live in such a remote area that not even neighborhood doors are available to you, then move to a location where God can make use of your life!

6. Study and read much. Your first priority is the Bible itself. You also need to get wise on several relevant subjects including the history of Christianity, creation vs. evolution, evangelism, and Biblical vs. non-Biblical worldviews. I’ve written 4 books that discuss (in order) how to live the Christian life, how to reach out to others with the Gospel, how you can stand firmly on Biblical history and refute evolutionary lies, and a dozen solid arguments to convince a lost person why she should become a Christian. You can download these books as free pdf files from our Free e-book store. Other books that you should definitely add to your library include:

History of the Churches, by David Cloud
The New Answers Book, by Ken Ham
The Way of the Master, by Ray Comfort
Grave Influence – 21 Radicals and Their Worldviews that Rule America from the Grave, by Brannon Howse
Prayer – Asking & Receiving, by John Rice
Heaven, by Randy Alcorn
Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret, by Dr. & Mrs. Howard Taylor
The Bible Version Issue, by David Cloud
America in Crimson Red, by James Beller
A Woman Rides the Beast, by Dave Hunt

You might say, “But I don’t like to read much.” Then repent from laziness and ask God to give you a desire for good books and to acquire knowledge and wisdom. Build a good library. When you find a book you love, buy an extra copy to give away. It’s a great blessing to do so.

7. Get acquainted with the websites below and their archived articles. If they offer an email newsletter, sign up so you can get a good inflow of Scriptural thinking each week.

I pray that you find some help from the recommendations above. If I don’t hear from you in this life, then we can swap stories around a camp fire after the Lord’s return.

internationally Here is that Bible reading schedule:

1-year Bible reading schedule: OT once, NT twice

January: Genesis, Matthew, Romans
February: Exodus, Leviticus, Mark, 1 & 2 Corinthians
March: Numbers, Deuteronomy, Luke, Galatians, Ephesians
April: Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, John, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians
May: 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, Acts, 2 Thessalonians – Philemon
June: 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Hebrews – Revelation
July: Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Matthew, Romans
August: Psalms, Mark, 1 & 2 Corinthians
September: Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Isaiah, Luke, Galatians, Ephesians
October: Jeremiah, Lamentations, John, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians
November: Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Acts, 2 Thessalonians – Philemon
December: Amos – Malachi, Hebrews – Revelation

– drdave@truthreallymatters.com

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