about me

(excerpt from “Open Letter to Rick Warren #0″)

I’m an English teacher who spent much of my life thinking I could be good enough to go to Heaven, even though I knew deep down I could not. After a personal tragedy in my late 20’s, I was convinced – on an intellectual level – that Jesus had to have died and rose again for my sins to be forgiven. My pastor at the time took this to mean that I was saved, and I yielded to his better understanding on the matter.

For the next five years, as I taught others and led in ministry opportunities, my mind was fraught with fears and insecurities. Then, one evening in August of 2003, God used a close friend to convince me of my need to simply accept His gift of grace through faith in Christ. That was the night God saved me from my sins.

I was born again and was now a child of God. How do I know? Because I haven’t wrestled with any pangs of doubt or insecurity regarding my faith since that wonderful night. (That and the fact that the Bible tells me so! Romans 8:16 says, “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God…” (ESV)

The months that followed were very difficult for me. My eyes were opened to some of the unbiblical teachings that Paul speaks of in his letter to Timothy. These worldly teachings had a great influence upon the thinking and preaching of our pastor and much of the congregation, though a few of us believed that what we were being taught was not in sync with God’s Word…

- Chris Edward Jensen