First time singing on YouTube!

Former atheist sings “Trust and Obey”

I do not think I will get any invitations to American Idol, but it was fun singing on stickcam anyway. I had a lot of trouble with my computer. It was always hanging. I definitely must get a Mac. I dont know if this will be effective for evangelism. Please pray that it leads some non-Christians accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour.

There was so much noise, with construction work nearby, plus I had to reduce the resolution of the video so that the computer would stop hanging,  but I just built in the defects into the message. 

God bless,

George

My testimony: Atheist/Agnostic to Christian

I am making this testimony to explain to people how I became a Christian. I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour in Apr 2002. I have been sharing my faith on YouTube since Oct 2007. I have been asked by non-Christians, mostly atheists, on how I know the Bible is true. I hope this testimony will help atheists and agnostics understand my experience better. This testimony will focus on historical facts in my life, and as much as possible will not be emotional.

I lived my childhood years in the Philippines. In Grade School I was very interested in Science. I have a memory of me and my babysitter when I was still in Grade 1. I told my babysitter that I did not think that there was a God, because I could not see God. We were learning about God in school, which was a Catholic school. As I grew older, I went through the motions of being a Catholic. There were times when I became agnostic, as I had a sense that there was a God. By the time I reached High School though, my opinion was that this sense may be a mental illusion needed for the survival of intelligent life, but not something real.

My home life deteriorated during my childhood. My Dad left my Mom when I was in Grade 1, and they started fighting in court. My sister eventually ran away from home to our grandfather, who sent her to boarding school in the UK. I ran away from home when I was 12, and spent the night on the roof of a shopping mall, but returned a day later. The following year, my grandfather arranged to have me sent to boarding school in the UK. I omitted the reasons I left home from my testimony. However, I can testify that I hated my parents, and considered boarding school a convenient escape.

I hated boarding school. I was bullied a lot, and I found comfort and peace in my studies. I was a very shy person and was a loner during this time, but I had some friends with whom I studied with. I was a very angry person too, and difficult to approach. I decided to become a doctor. I studied hard, got excellent grades, and was able to enter Kings College Hospital Medical School, which is part of the University of London. In the UK, medicine is a 5 year undergraduate course.

At Kings, my first year went well, and although I was a difficult person to relate to, as I was very quiet, I had a small group of friends, which included some Christians. These were the first Christians I knew. One of them, George Malcolm, clearly presented the Gospel of Jesus Christ to me. He told me that because of sin, we will go to hell, but Jesus Christ, by dying on the cross, paid the price for our sins, so we could go to heaven. We discussed the Bible a lot. I explained that I did not believe in God, but if for the sake of argument there was a God, I did not think that God would do this. It sounded “like too good a deal”. I remember using those exact words. There ought to be something we would need to do too, because nothing is free. I also did not think that God would use a book to communicate, but would do so directly.

In my second year at medical school, the workload was higher. I could not study anymore, and I think that I was finally burning out after studying extremely hard for nearly 10 years, and since the only pleasure I had from life was my studies, I tried to kill myself. I was found and hospitalized. I was allowed a year off from medical school to undergo psychotherapy and social skills training full time at a therapeutic community. During this time, I learned social skills, such as how to make friends and talk to people, domestic skills, such as cooking and cleaning, and stress management. I had a lot of free time, and I read a lot. Naturally, I read the books of Sigmund Freud, who developed Psychoanalysis. As a result of this study, I decided that the physical model of the universe was insufficient to account for all phenomena, in particular, the conscious and unconscious mind. My worldview therefore changed from atheist to agnostic. I thought that a newer model of the universe, that included mental phenomena, might allow the existence of God within the mental space. During this time I also became familiar with Marxist Political Theory, and Philosophy.

I re-entered medical school, and completed my medical science training. In my first year at clinical training, I became suicidal again, but was able to get help from my local doctor, and after a few months of counseling, I decided to switch to Computer Studies, which was a much easier course, and so I transferred to Bristol Polytechnic. I was also politically active during this time, first as a member, and then later a speaker, of the Socialist Party of Great Britain, which is a small political party, which still exists today. I wanted to improve the world, and since I could no longer become a doctor, I turned to politics. Membership is given only if you pass a test. I remember that they asked me what my religious beliefs were, because you could not join if you believed in God. I told them that I was agnostic, and after some discussion, as they preferred that I be an atheist, they allowed me to join, and I was active in evangelizing the “socialist utopia”. I completed my studies after 2 years, and returned to the Philippines to find work.

I found work as a computer programmer. I advanced in my career, and I am now an Information Technology Project Manager. I married, and now have 2 children. During the boom years of the ’90s I worked all over South-East Asia, Australia, and the US. I stopped being active politically, as I was disillusioned by the lack of interest by the workers of the world, and I also thought that Marxist theory, being based on a purely materialist philosophy, probably was incomplete. However, I continued to pursue my interests in Science and Philosophy, and my researches eventually led me to examine the Occult.

I once saw my Grade 6 Science teacher play with a deck of Tarot Cards and tell fortunes with it. I did not take it seriously then, as I was an atheist at that time. However, when I became agnostic, I began to wonder if occult knowledge contained information that could provide an integrated model of mental and physical space. I experimented primarily with candle magic and tarot cards, and started researching witchcraft.

Oscar, my brother-in-law, is a Baptist pastor, and was conducting Bible studies at my father-in-laws house, where my family was staying while we saved for a place of our own. I attended when I was based in the Philippines, but was not interested and my mind typically wandered. One day, Oscar did a Bible study on the Ten Commandments. During this study, a thought occurred to me that “if the Bible was true then I should follow the Ten Commandments”. At the end of the Bible study, Oscar asked us if we would like to “go to Church tomorrow”, in obedience to the Fourth Commandment. I said “OK”, and asked my father-in-law to join me for company, as I did not want to go there alone. When I told my wife that I was going with Oscar to his Church tomorrow and asked her if she would like to join me so that I will have some company, she looked at me a bit strangely and asked me “Why”? I do not remember my reply to her. My wife is Catholic and she knew that I did not believe in God, so she was surprised. Afterwards, I began to wonder why too, and then I realized that I knew that the Bible was true, that is, the Word of God. That is the sequence of events that I remember. I also recall being very surprised.

I attended Church the next day, but I do not recall anything from that day, but I started going every Sunday. A few weeks later I decided to study the Bible in more detail, and searched in Amazon for a Study Bible. I found a Bible called the Companion Bible, with study notes from Bullinger. I recalled that this was the Bible used by George Malcolm’s father (he invited me to his house once to stay over the holidays), and after reviewing the reader comments, I decided to purchase this Bible. The Bible arrived via courier, and I wrote the following on the dedication page:

Presented to GEORGE A. MARCELO JR., on 23rd April, 2002, by the HOLY SPIRIT.

On the following page is a lined page, and I wrote the verse John 16:8 “And when He is come, He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment”.

I remember thinking that it would look silly if I wrote Presented to George Marcelo by George Marcelo, although I did buy the Bible for myself. So I decided to credit the Holy Spirit for leading me to this Bible. I started to study the Bible. I eventually decided that I believed in God, as well as the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Therefore, I agreed to be baptized by immersion as a public declaration of my belief.

Shortly before being baptized, I lost my job, as the company I was working for downsized. This gave me a lot of free time, and I used it to start a personal project to read the entire Bible. Eventually my family stopped going to church with me and I was going alone. This was very difficult for me and finally I stopped going to church too. After a few months, I found a job which involved a lot of work in Canada. I started attending a Baptist Church there and also attended Bible studies, but stopped again after a few months. After several years in Canada, I eventually returned to the Philippines. My son was going with my parents-in-law to church, and after a year, in 2006, I joined them. I completed reading the Bible in 2007. I started sharing my faith in Oct 2007.

There have been some changes in my character from 2002 to 2007. I am less angry now, but still occasionally lose my temper. I used to hate my parents so much I could not talk to them, but now I am able to visit them. My wife and daughter still do not go to church with me, but I pray for them instead of despairing. I get nauseous whenever I think about the occult, so God has protected me from that sin, maybe because He knows I cannot handle that temptation. I am definitely still a “work in progress”.

I would like to thank George Malcolm, wherever you are, for sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ to me. It took almost 20 years for that sowed seed to come to life! I would like to thank Oscar and other Christians for faithfully sharing the Gospel. I want to thank all Christians who prayed to God for the unsaved. Most importantly, I would like to thank my Heavenly Father for giving me my new spiritual life, born from above, and for His Son, Jesus Christ, Whose death on the cross and resurrection from the dead, paid the penalty of my sins, so that I could be reconciled to God, and welcomed into His family, and for the Holy Spirit, for showing me, who was an enemy of God, the Truth.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, I wish this testimony encourages you to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ to people who hate God.

Rom 1:20a “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.”

This testimony was given on Jan 13, 2008. Thank you for reading.

May God bless you all,

George

Wake up, you sleepy Christians!

Fat Lady asks ALL Christians to give their Testimony

Prayer works! I have been praying for this challenge and support is coming in! The events are moving fast. Please pray to God that this will lead to a revival in the Christian churches of the world.

Awake! Awake! You sleepy Christians! Awake! Check out the video below:

Most of all, PRAY! The battle is on!

God bless,

George

Planting a seed…

I sent this guy whose YouTube id is called “manwithoutgod101″ my video tract “Letter from God to Atheists (see below):

He sent me this video response.

I placed a comment on this guys video that I found his response funny. Five minutes after commenting on his video, my internet connection went down. I had to reboot my computer to get it working again. This means that either this could be a gentle rebuke from God, or a sign that I should replace my PC with a Mac. I think it is both.

Remember, the work of salvation belongs to God, and we are only told by God to communicate the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I think the Holy Spirit was upset that I found this video funny, and now, after thinking about it, I am upset too that I found this video funny. The Holy Spirit takes evangelism seriously. The Holy Spirit does not find it funny when anyone rejects the Gospel of Jesus Christ. An infinite price was paid for our salvation: the only begotten Son of God, Jesus Christ.

God bless,

George

Lord I give you my heart

My daughter, Nicolette, made this Powerpoint presentation for her High School project. Praise the Lord, I am so happy! I converted it to a video and after asking her permission, posted it for her on her YouTube account.

God bless,

George

The Christian Challenge : I believe in a thing called love

Dear Readers,

I would like you all to support Emily in her project. Please send videos to her and email her words of encouragement. She has been sent negative communications by many people on YouTube (who are hostile to Christianity) for starting this project.

I believe that her efforts will encourage other Christians to share their faith! If you have not shared the Gospel of Jesus Christ before, then do so now! Make a short video, post it to YouTube, and reply to her video with your video.

God bless,

George

War Stories 2007/12/31

I have been sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ on YouTube for a few months now, and I have some war stories to tell. Why war stories? We are at war, brothers and sisters in Christ: “For we wrestle, not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. (Eph. 6:12)”.

The Battle of the Urge

The most difficult thing was just starting. I wanted to do it. I knew I should do it. But I did not do it. I should have prayed. If I prayed less time would have been spent on this battle. Someone must have been praying for me though, as I had a sudden urge to make my first video on Oct 31, 2007. I bought a stickcam in the morning, wrote the script (this stops me from saying “ummms..” when I talk), and I then read it to the stickcam in the early afternoon. This is why the video is so bright. I tried everything to bring the light down but I live in a place with a lot of windows and the sun was shining that day. It can get really bright in the Philippines. I already told you I had this urge, right? So I posted the video on YouTube. It looks like I am recording it in heaven but of course that is not possible (Luke 16:19-31).

The video is titled “How to Prepare for Death”, and is posted at my YouTube Channel http://www.youtube.com/georgeamarcelo.

Artillery

Before going to battle you need to soften up the target with artillery. So pray, especially with others, for your evangelistic efforts. The initial results were wonderful. I got encouraging comments from Christians on YouTube, and brothers and sisters in Christ who know me. It is funny how relatives, who would not listen to me witness to them for 5 seconds, actually watched the video for the whole 2 minutes and 21 seconds! The video got 1-2 views an hour. I could not get many people to subscribe though. Just my pastor and daughter.

I soon posted more videos on YouTube of evangelistic activities organized by Pastor Abel Bernardo, who is an open air evangelist from Word of Life (Philippines).

Contact with Atheists

Atheists are really short tempered, so get used to it. For example, I told one that I am praying for him and he told me that he despises me for praying for him. I used to be an atheist so I can understand. I was not as rude as that only because I am shy. I am not an eloquent person so it is fortunate that Jesus Christ showed us that the Word is our sword. I usually reply “It is written…” followed by a Bible verse that makes my point. You can see some of these encounters at the comments section on the videos. It makes them go quiet eventually.

Two of these atheists have become friends, I think. One is a conspiracy theorist like me. He lives in Canada. I am sent him some videos that demonstrate the truth of biblical prophecy, especially prophecy of the End Times that foretell the creation of the One World Government and One World Religion. The other is a Filipina who lives in Canada. She agreed that she is going to hell and told me that she prefers it because she likes it hot… I guess she must be finding Canada very cold this winter. I am praying for her.

Please pray for the unsaved on YouTube.

No longer alone

While browsing through YouTube I saw a video that paid tribute to people who are sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ on YouTube! I did not know that there were so many of us! Take a look:

I was no longer alone! I subscribed to their channels on New Years Eve and some subscribed back. I got nearly 100 views on my YouTube Channel in 2 days! Praise the Lord! What an end to the year! I wonder what the Lord will bring me next year?

(to be continued…)