About the Author

Basic Facts:
Name: Marilyn
Age: 24 as of now
Religious Affiliation: Saved from sin! Sin-free. Period.
More Formalistic Explanation of Religious Affiliation: Non-denominational Christian (no sectarian strife! The true saints of God are in unity, according the Holy Bible, the word of God). Fundamental, King James Version, Bible-based. Sin-free means without sin. It doesn't seem too complex to comprehend. The Bible teaches that not even a fool can err therein.

About this page: I was inspired to publish this page to the internet in late 2001, for one basic reason: to share the gospel message to the unbeliever. My philosophy for this page has changed with time, but it began with a simple basic purpose.

It all began with the Joliet Crusade in August of 2001. As we canvassed an area of our town in Joliet, IL for the space of one week, I learned many things. You see, I stand for a lot of things as a Christian. Since I have consistently read my bible every day and regularly attended church since my youth, there is a general understanding that I have about basic Christian concepts. At this late date in my salvation, I believe and hope with all humility that I have progressed beyond basic Christian concepts in the classroom of my life, but that is not the thrust of my point here.

These are concepts that are so recurring, so consistently taught and spoken that I tend to take them for granted. This is because, one day, someone taught the concept to me, and broke it down to my understanding in such a fashion that I received it, believed it, and live it now through God's grace. And then it was taught again. And again. And again. And this will probably continue. Now, I don't know about you, but I am the sort of person that once I have taken something apart, looked over all the pieces, and put it back together again, I am sufficiently convinced about how it works (I did it to my CPU the other day). Now, even though I know for a fact that I have 64 MB of RAM once I added RAM (old computer, I know--pray I get a new one!) I was not able to tell my mother why my addition of 32 MB of RAM made 64 MB of RAM, when she was certain that the hard drive only came with 16 MB of RAM. But I knew I was right: I just could not explain it. But I knew that for some reason, I had been convinced, and that was good enough for me. Now when I went back, and opened it up again, I was able to recollect that the computer came with 16 MB of RAM on the motherboard, and 16 RAM in the slot, and I added 32 MB of RAM in the other slot, which makes, in the aggregate, 64 MB of RAM on the computer.

You might ask: what difference does it make? I believed myself, but I was able to prove it to her. There was a day and time when I did not know myself, and I learned enough to convince me.

This is the same way it was for me with the bible doctrine: I had been convinced at some earlier time in my life, so long ago, that I had long given up memorizing why--it was enough for me that I knew. But my dilemma at the 2001 Crusade was about how I was going to prove it to the next man. Why should he take my word for it? I wouldn't take his if he were preaching to me. he doesn't know me from Eve, and just because I believe me doesn't mean that I am a belief-worthy individual. So I had some work to do! I knew that Christ came to save from sin, and that he enables us to live a sin free life. I brushed up on this concept and learned a few new things myself.

Later that year, I was back in New Jersey working. One night, I was sitting in my apartment, and I thought: why should I duplicate my efforts every year? Why not just write out an outline about getting saved, and keep it for reference? So I got to work. It did not end there. As I studied, my outline matastisized, and suddenly, I realized that it would be incomplete to just set forth how to get saved. I needed more!

I wanted to start at the beginning, and finish at the end. Simple. Almost like a conversation. "Be saved. Why? Because you are in sin. Why am I in sin? Because Adam fell from perfect holiness." Then it became: "Stay saved. How? Continue in salvation. Why does it matter? You can backslide. So what? Then you are back at the beginning--in sin. How long to stay saved? Til the end."

So then, I really did not want to duplicate my efforts again next year, and I was worried because I knew that I was going to move from NJ, and I thought my papers might be lost. I thought if I put the outline on the net, it would be handy for me at any time, no matter where in the world I found myself. I also hoped it might be a blessing to others who wanted to study up on the doctrine, and be a help to any non-COG member who might happen upon the page. I actually figured that I would slap the scriptures up there and forget about it until I needed to look at the scriptures again!

As you can see, I have moved well beyond the "Plan"!

Back to the Plan