The 100 Project

The 100 Project aims to interview & photograph 100 Christians to learn why they believe in Jesus. Jesus is arguably the most controversial person in history. If he really is who he says he is in the Bible, then it would stand to reason that regardless of age, cultural background, race, marital or economic statuses, the experiences of Christians should be remarkably similar. Through the documentation of testimonies of Christians, this project looks to uncover the truth - if Jesus is is the real deal & why people even need him.

[100keepingit100]

Nicolette

Profession: Clinical Social Worker

Years keeping it 100: 33 years

WHO IS JESUS TO YOU?

To me Jesus is love personified.  When I think about what he’s done for me; dying for me, my sins, just the fact that when he was on earth he showed us what it means to be compassionate & to really be loving to others & just seeing what he’s done in my own life, I know that I am loved.  After years of really not understanding what that meant, just knowing that there’s someone who loves me unconditionally, it really means a lot to know that I serve a God who is love.

HOW DID YOU BECOME CONVICTED JESUS IS THE REAL DEAL, THAT IS WHO HE SAID HE WAS?

Ok so I have two parts. So the first one is, I remember back in 2000 when my father kind of walked out of my family’s life & we were in such a bad situation at that time.  We all knew the Lord, we all new Jesus, I knew him from a child growing up.  I can honestly tell you that looking back, I don’t know how we made it through.  When I really think about it, I can attest to the fact that he [Jesus] was there for us, in many ways.  When he said “I will never leave you or forsake you,” that verse really became real to me.  Just looking back at every moment where we had a lack, he made up the difference.  Every time I felt as if I didn’t really know what to do, he always provided & always made a way.  And so that really cemented my understanding of who he was as a provider.  The Lord really keeps & satisfies, even in the midst of hardship.  

And the second thing is, I remember watching The Passion of the Christ for the first time in movie theaters.  And movie that really broke me.  Like I said, I was saved at a young age & I knew Jesus.  But, to see what he actually did, on that magnitude that was never filmed before, it really hit home; the sacrifice that he really made for me.  And so I really was convicted at that point to really understand that he is was who he said he was.  That he really came to die for our sins.  And he committed to that for us.  

WHY DO PEOPLE NEED JESUS?

People need Jesus because people are lost & people are in sin & people need a way out.  And Jesus is the only answer.  We were all born in sin & shaped in iniquity.  We were all basically on our way to hell.  We didn’t do anything other than be born to be sinners because of what Adam did in the beginning.  But, Jesus made a way by dying for our sins & rising again so that we can have eternal life if we can accept the truth of the Gospel, that he came to die for our sins & cleanse us.  I feel like many of us feel like we can do without him, but in the end, it doesn’t really matter what your life looks like.  We are all sinners.  And until you believe in Jesus you will not be able to see Heaven, you will not be able to see Jesus, you will not be able to claim eternal life.  And so we need Jesus.  We need salvation.  We need the Lord & savior.  There is really no way around that.

WHAT IS THE ONE THING ABOUT JEUSUS YOU WISH EVERYONE UNDERSTOOD OR KNEW ABOUT JESUS?

That he really, really loves you.  You know we’re living in a world where love can often times be transactional or we only love those who love us because it’s easy.  And Jesus when he came to earth & died for us, while we were yet sinners he died for us.  And that’s love.  To really love someone & sacrifice for someone knowing they don’t want you, knowing that they don’t know you exist or even care; that magnitude of love, that magnitude of compassion where he sat with sinners & ate with them no matter who criticized & who said a bunch of evil things about him because of it.  He made sure to note to us that his love was completely going across the board.  There’s really no condition behind his love.  He is absolutely love personified.  There’s nothing you can ever do to make him stop loving you.  Nothing you can ever do.  The Bible says that all are called to repentance.  There’s nothing you can ever do to make yourself not good enough to come to God because he will always accept you.  I think that’s the beauty of God himself because God is love.  His very essence is love.  And Jesus is love.  His compassion that he has for us.  Just knowing that he can identify with our own needs, our own struggles because he went through it when he was here on earth.  So he knows & understands what we go through.  And knowing that everything that we do he knows about & he still loves us anyway.  I think that is something I really want to stress to people because we’re living in a world where it’s just easy to just push someone to the side.  It’s just easy to abandon someone for not believing in your principles.  Or to even feel as if you’re not wanted for whatever reason.  But there is a God in Heaven, there’s Jesus, his son, who is the very epitome of everything that love stands for.  That’s what I really, really want people to understand.  

[100keepingit100]

Kel & Quana

Kel

Profession: Entrepreneur

Years keeping it 100: 15 years

Quana

Profession: Entrepreneur

Years keeping it 100: 15 years

WHO IS JESUS TO YOU?

Kel: Jesus is the ideal human.  Jesus is the physical, the mental, the social, the spiritual, the intention, the thought to action, the desire to serve.  He is a model.  A model of who I personally would like to emulate, I’m going to fall short unfortunately, but Jesus to me is the ideal human.  The ideal human who we should be modeling our lives after.

Quana: Jesus is to me the Son of God & literally our guide for how to live, right here in the flesh.  Sometimes I think we all have situations in life where you just like “I feel like I want to do this, but I know it’s wrong, I know I shouldn’t do it.”  I think if you go back & listen to his words there was a reason he came & he did what he did.  He lived amongst people, just like we do.  You gotta follow how he did it & that’s sometimes is despite how you feel.  Sometimes what you feel is just not the right thing to go with.  That why he really is or should be your guide.  So for me, he’s the Son of God, he’s my guide literally on how to live everyday life & how to deal with myself first.  I think a lot of people worry about just how to deal with others.  I think sometimes that can make you think it’s everybody else.  And I think that’s just the wrong way to approach life because I feel like the more you do your own self-work, every relationship around you will become better.  So I think that’s what Jesus was here for, that’s what he does, that’s why he’s the guide we should follow.

HOW DID YOU BECOME CONVICTED JESUS IS THE REAL DEAL, THAT IS WHO HE SAID HE WAS?

Kel:  I’m not the type of person who grew up in the church.  I am not particularly a fan of preaching so to speak.  I was blessed to find a teaching church, that our pastor teaches and we take notes.  We are taught how to apply the Word to our lives so like literally when you walk out of church this is what you can apply to your household, this is what you can apply to your business, this is what you can apply to your finances.  Literally.  It’s the application of it.  So finding a space like that & actually hearing the Word & being hearers of the Word & being doers of the Word coupled with; you know there’s a bunch of different things that we can follow, but for Christ to say “I am the Word, I am the One, there are many supposed paths, but I am the One.”  So for him to declare that he’s the One & as I’m applying the things that are of the One to my life, it’s like there can’t be something else out there that also works.  So mine was more of a revelation through logic.  It was not some super “when’s the God gonna  come?”  I think Jesus gets too spooky.  It’s not a spooky thing.  There is a very practical.  Is there a spiritual component to what we believe?  Absolutely.  But you can’t be looking for spiritual breakthroughs everyday.  So that was my conviction.

Quana: I became convicted very similarly.  Something we share is that I didn’t grow up in church either. You know a lot of people you meet are like “I’m a church girl.”  I wasn’t.  So for me again it also came through practical everyday living of life.  I understand we all fall short.  No matter how great your intentions are, how much studying you do & you’re like “I’m not going to be upset or I’m gonna be…” whatever it is, you fall short.  So it made sense to me when I got to know what Jesus was about, when I got to know what the purpose was for him coming & laying his life down so that’s covered for me.  I feel like that is absolutely what a nightly powerful God would do to save his children because we are going to fall short every single time.  We are even with the best of intentions.  So to know that plan was in place it made sense to me.  And to see “ok I look at the principles” and when you apply that; when you forgive, when you are absolutely justified in your feelings, it just frees you.  I absolutely just became convicted from practical everyday life & just knowing the love of God.

WHY DO PEOPLE NEED JESUS?

Kel:  Why people need Jesus is connected to the question for how I view him or what he is to me.  I think the number one reason is for him to be inserted into the very place that we live & had to have endured the exact same conditions as us: interact with people, deal in the marketplace, deal with people’s attitudes, their biases, for him to serve as a model who had done that, without that you’re blind in just trying to figure out & guess.  He is a marker.  He is a symbol.  He is an example & like I said he had to deal with any & everything that we’ve had to deal with.  Aside from using him as an example, you’re literally just winging it everyday.  So I would say for any semblance of success, he’s the ideal marker.

Quana:  I believe people need Jesus because I think that’s how you’ll have peace, honestly.  You know we don’t know what’s going to happen, not only the next day, but you don’t know what’s going to happen within the day, within the hour.  You have no idea.  So I think to have peace, I think that’s the most important reason to have him, to know him, to listen to what he say.  Find out what he did, how he lived, right here with people I think with bring you peace because  like he said [gestures towards Kel] he dealt with everything & I’ll almost say times ten.  You know everyone talked about him, everyone had something to say & he was still great.  He was still divine.  I think you need the peace.  You need the peace more than anything.   And that’s why you need him.  

WHAT IS THE ONE THING ABOUT JEUSUS YOU WISH EVERYONE UNDERSTOOD OR KNEW ABOUT JESUS or Christianity?

Kel: That’s a whole lot.  I would say the biggest thing is that a lot of what you see on tv, a lot of what grandma might have learned, a lot of what grandpa might have learned, a lot of what African Americans in general have learned are not necessarily an accurate depiction of Christianity.  A lot of what African Americans have learned was taught through the lens of slave masters which clearly is not an accurate lens.  And then over time things get distorted & switched & changed & so when you go to a church & there’s hootin’ & hollerin’ & people cartwheeling up & down, that has very little to do with Jesus & Christianity.  And then there’s pastors who have a more tame environment & there’s prosperity teaching.  Using scripture to explain how you can get rich.  And there may be a degree of truth to that as well too, but that’s not necessarily Jesus or Christianity.  It is absolutely everything to do with your relationship with him, your relationship with his ways, your relationship with his application & living of the Word & its principles.  That is at the core of it.  And I think if people understood that, things would be a lot less spooky, a lot less over spiritualized.  So you know “you’re a Christian?”  Just because I don’t quote scripture everyday.  Now if you want me to pray with you, I will.  If you want to open up our Bibles & we discuss scripture & how it applies, we can do that.  The same way if you ask me to open up a math book.  Well how does math apply to the painting I have to do in this room?  Well we can measure some walls & figure out how.  There’s nothing spiritual & spooky about it.  It’s application of the principals of math.  So I think the biggest misconception is a lot of the hoopla that has gone around that is in the church.  There’s a difference between Christians & church folk.  Unfortunately the church folk is what the world thinks is Christianity & that’s just not true.  

Quana:  I have to piggyback on that.  If there’s one thing I want people to know about Jesus or Christianity it would really be that it’s about balance, it’s about living.  We feel [looks at Kel] that same way, that’s why we started to go to the same church, before we even know each other because there was a great deal of teaching.  So the one thing I  really want people to understand is it’s really about the relationship.  I think that’s a great way to sum it up.  It’s about the relationship you have with God, through Jesus Christ.  I truly believe it’s about building a relationship.  You know you can find the church you like & you’re not going to like all the people in the church, that’s just not realistic, people are people even inside of churches.  But I think the relationship should be the main focus.  And then that will help you build a life that is peaceful & that is pleasing to God.  If they can lead with that.

Kel:  There’s a scripture & I’m going to paraphrase when two or more are present God is there.  So you can over spiritualize that.  “Oh let’s get a bunch of us together & pray because the spirit will…”  Maybe.  Or maybe it’s saying two heads are better than one.  Let’s get together because what I’m not seeing, you might be able to see & hey if we get a third person here, we can get a third perspective & now we have 3 perspectives & whatever I was going to do on my own is now bigger & better & more powerful because there’s three of us here.  I kind of go with the second, the practical.  Now can we get together & pray?  Is there power in prayer?  Yes.  But I just don’t live it with “come on the more people we can get in here.”  It’s more of the more perspectives we can get, it’s just better that way.  So I look at all scripture that way, not the [makes big dramatic gesture], and when everybody looks at it the [big dramatic gesture again] things looks crazy & you miss it.

Quana:  The thing is you literally miss God.  You miss his voice.  His voice is small & whispers because he wants to make sure you’re paying attention.  I don’t know about you, I think most people especially adults our minds are racing because we are thinking of this & that.  It takes a lot to quiet your mind.  So God wants to know you’re serious about hearing his voice.  He’s not going to scream over all of that.  You have to choose to be like “listen I know I’ve got to pay this bill, I know this project is due, but I’m going to sit & talk to God first.”  Like you have to exercise that discipline to quiet your mind & then you’ll hear him.  Nice, soft & sweet because he’s competing with a lot.  And he wants to make sure that you’re serious about hearing him.

Kel:  I wish I could remember his Instagram handle, there’s an Instagram influencer; so you see these DYI hacks where people, somebody created some concoction where you put it on top of a can of soda & you twist something, it’s almost like a can opener, it goes around & it cuts the whole top off the can of soda & then you pop the top off.  This Instagram guy he’ll show that video & then it will cut to him & he just pops open a can of soda. [laughs]  Like why are you doing all of that?  And that is what Christianity is like sometimes.  No. Just pop the top.  Like what are we doing?  So I just wish more people understood & knew that.  [claps hands]  That’s all I got.  

Quana:  That’s all you need.  That’s the most important.

[100keepingit100]

Nyala

Profession: Business & Marketing Coach

Years keeping it 100: 1 year

WHO IS JESUS TO YOU?

He’s everything.  He is my protector.  He is the only one in the world that I would say I can trust, you know.  I think I said he’s everything already.  He’s the king, he is most powerful.  That’s who Jesus is to me.

HOW DID YOU BECOME CONVICTED JESUS IS THE REAL DEAL, THAT IS WHO HE SAID HE WAS?

Funny thing is, I was raised as a Christian, my parents, before I was born held high offices in the church, so I was someone who heard about God every single day.  I’m talking about prayer meeting on Wednesday, church on Saturday, Path Finders on Sunday, I went to Christian school.  God was a part of my whole life.  But, and I hope that some people that’s listening to this will probably resonate, it was not until I had my own personal experience that I really realized he was the real deal.  It’s like you know he’s the real deal because it’s been drilled into you, you know.  But. when I got diagnosed with cancer and it’s like he’s all I could have went to at that point.  I think a lot of people are in the position where you don’t realize that God is all you need, until he’s all you have. And so when I got diagnosed with cancer, it was during COVID, so I was alone in the hospital & that was all the time that I had was just Him and I.  Reading; it was the first time, so funny, I grew up in Bible competitions, where they would test you on the Bible and you’d have to read chapters and study.  But I didn’t really understand what the Bible was saying until I got sick and I actually started being inquisitive to learn more about what these parables meant.  When I got sick, that’s when I realized he is the real deal.  I’ll give you a quick story.  When I got diagnosed with leukemia, they told me that my body was 76% leukemia cells and it was growing rapidly.  I found out one day and the next day I was on chemotherapy.  They had to get in there really fast to get me stable.  Within 14 days it was at 0% cancer in my blood.  And even though I still had to go through chemo & go through treatment, that is the power of God.  Only God can do that.  Not medication.  Not doctors.  Only God could do that.

WHY DO PEOPLE NEED JESUS?

Well you need him to live.  You need him to survive.  You need him because he is the person who will always provide for you.  You need him for happiness.  You know people think materialistic things is what makes them happy, but the truth is, it’s not.  You need him for peace.  You need him to learn how to forgive, the same way he forgive us and forgives us everyday.  A lot of times we walk around here holding grudges on people, God is the only one who can make your heart clean.  And so, I don’t want to say the everything word again, but you need him for everything.

WHAT IS THE ONE THING ABOUT JEUSUS YOU WISH EVERYONE UNDERSTOOD OR KNEW ABOUT JESUS?

That he is not someone to be feared.  Stick with me.  Because anyone who reads the Bible they say “fear God.”  But I think a lot of people they misinterpret what that fear is.  Because God is a God of love and kindness, right.  And so to give you an example, with your parents you respect them, you fear them and so you follow their rules.  And that’s what fearing God really is.  It’s not about being terrified, the way you would be to a snake or a spider, it’s about respect.  It’s about being in awe of him and his goodness and his glory.  I think that’s something I’ve learned this year and that I want to pass along because so many people hear stories about God and they think “well how could God make people die?”  God doesn’t make people die.  “How could God cause accidents?”  God doesn’t cause accidents.  He allows certain things to happen because one of the promises God said was that before he came, he wanted to bring all souls to him.  And so sometimes he lets the devil attack us in certain ways to bring us closer to him because he is who should be first and foremost in our lives.  So we can’t fear someone whose loving and kind, we just have to respect and know that God’s law is above all law.  So that is what I want to make sure everybody knows about our Lord Jesus Savior Christ.

[100keepingit100]

Lilly

Profession: Applications Specialist - IT, Author & Confidence Coach

Years keeping it 100: 19 years

WHO IS JESUS TO YOU?

Jesus has always been to me a keeper of my soul, but in the last year & a half with everything I’ve gone through with the loss of my husband he is a friend that shows up when no-one else does.  He has wiped my tears.  You know what?  He just gives me my space, he allows me to be who I am.  I’m not perfect.  He meets me right where I am.  And no matter where that is he right there with me.  There is a scripture that says “he is closer than a brother” & I’ve never known that more than I’ve know that now.  And so for me that’s all been a learning process because when you have a spouse, you know the truth of the matter is you sometimes forget about Jesus. [laughs] It’s the truth.  And it wasn’t until I lost him [husband] that I understand that he [Jesus] really is a friend, a lover, a keeper.  I can go on & on & on about who he is to me, but most importantly he is the keeper of my soul & for that I’m grateful.

HOW DID YOU BECOME CONVICTED JESUS IS THE REAL DEAL, THAT IS WHO HE SAID HE WAS?

I’ve been saved since 9-11 & it took me a really long time to figure that out.  I know that I have been in situations in my life, whether I acknowledged him or not, that I knew he was real.  And the bigger question is, how do people do it without him? For me of course, I know that now, but back then…  He is the real deal.  I know I’ve been in situations where I’ve been abandoned & left alone & miraculously people show up to save me.  And I know that’s not because me & my wonderful self deserves that.  So he is the real deal.  He shows up, when no one else does.  He will send you signs, whether it be a song, a television program, a book, a friend, you know that’s not you.  You know that’s Jesus meeting you right where you are, g iving you what you need in that moment.  Now I know he is the real deal.  Since 2001, 19 years later, he is the real deal.    

WHY DO PEOPLE NEED JESUS?

Let’s start by saying I don’t know how they do it without him.  I’m going to quote scripture a little bit because he is the truth, the way & the life.  He is the light of the world.  He will provide a way that no one else can.  So I myself have been lost many times & without even claiming Jesus as my Lord & savior, he’s always been there to guide me.  And so 2020’s hindsight & here am 54 years later in my life wondering how did I make it through so many obstacles without Jesus.  He is a way maker, he is a director.  He’s like a GPS, right? So you could be walking on this path called life, us being who we are, we think all together & Jesus will come & say “I need you to make this detour because that right you’re about to make that is going to destroy your life.”  And I can tell you time & time again as a witness that I’ve made the wrong turn & he’s always directed me back.  So I think my question would be “How do people do it without him?”  That’s a bigger question ‘cause for someone who’s had him in their life for so long, for 19 years, I don’t know how I’d live the next 40 - 50 years without him directing me & giving me instruction.  So people need him number one for instruction in their lives, to guide them to their next level, to help a hopeless world.  I mean we are in the middle of a COVID-19 & there are so many people who are physically & mentally loosing their minds.  To lean on him will give you comfort.  It’s the only way for me to describe it.  The night’s where you’re not sleeping, you call out his name & he’ll give you sweet sleep.  He holds your hand when there’s no one there to hold your hand.  He so big.  He’s so large.  And he’s so wonderful!  I’m just going to say, people you just need him. [laughs] There’s no other way to say it.  You need him to lead you & guide you through this challenging thing called life.

WHAT IS THE ONE THING ABOUT JEUSUS YOU WISH EVERYONE UNDERSTOOD OR KNEW ABOUT JESUS?

So that is my favorite question because Jesus is a gentleman. And the reason I say that is because you know how God gives us free-will?  He will not impose anything on you because of your free-will.  And although he will make suggestions & I love when the scriptures talk about the blessings & the cursings & life & death & God says “choose life” but there are people who still won’t make that choice.  Jesus will not beat on you, he will not badger you, he will not harass you.  He will love you from the place where you are.  He will always be a gentleman.  He will always present it as if you are going on your first date & someone brings you flowers & pulls out the chair for you to sit down & you have a lovely dinner & he kisses you on the cheek goodnight.  That is the analogy I use about Jesus.  He’s just a gentleman who will embrace you ever so gently, love you ever so gently, but will never ever impose anything on you that you don’t want for yourself.  So if I had to describe him as anything, he is the consummate gentleman.

[100keepingit100]

Mutsumi

Profession: Japanese Language Teacher

Years keeping it 100: 26 years

WHO IS JESUS TO YOU?

Jesus is my savior.  Also he is a giver.  He gives his life, he gives eternal life, hope, healing, joyfulness, everything.  He knows what I need & what my family needs.  So he gives so many things I can’t count.

HOW DID YOU BECOME CONVICTED JESUS IS THE REAL DEAL, THAT IS WHO HE SAID HE WAS?

I read the Bible the first time 26 years ago through my father-in-law, he was a missionary pastor.  He talked to me about Jesus & Bible stories.  The first time I didn’t believe that a human was God.  I believed in God, but I always prayed to some idol.  Buddhism, Shinto & the ancestors my family had in our household.  So I was praying to things.  And so the Bible said don’t make idols, but I believed that the idols had in their insides a soul.  I couldn’t believe that God came to earth as a human.  But I started to read the Bible & learned about sin.  I always prayed to the idols & wanted to ask them something, to change my heart.  But they never changed my inside.  So I realized God’s only son, Jesus, came for all people, for sin he died on the cross.  I realized my sin.  I knew my bad heart, my insides I couldn’t change by myself.  And the idols couldn’t change me. The scripture, God’s word, so many words touched my heart.  I started to pray & I realized that only this Jesus can change my sin.  And I believed he died on the cross for my sins.  I believe it.  

WHY DO PEOPLE NEED JESUS?

Because people need love, the true love.  So God, his love is very merciful.  Also, if people know God’s love then they have hope.  And of course we are going to die, everyone is going to die & people have fear, I’ve had fear too.  But God promised no fear with Jesus’s resurrection.  And his love it’s amazing.  Yes, people need his love.  

WHAT IS THE ONE THING ABOUT JEUSUS YOU WISH EVERYONE UNDERSTOOD OR KNEW ABOUT JESUS?

His love.  His love & his forgiveness for sins.  He protects us in that he has a plan for every people.  And that he loves and that he is a faithful God.  I want them to know his love.

[100keepingit100]

Wicile

Profession: Licensed Mental Health Clinician

Years keeping it 100: 30 years

WHO IS JESUS TO YOU?

That’s loaded. He is everything. I can’t imagine anything without Jesus in it. I put him first in everything I do. It’s overwhelming when I think of how much I trust in Jesus & how much he’s done for me.  And it’s evident with where I am now because without him I wouldn’t be who I am & when I didn’t have him I was lost. So he’s everything.  

HOW DID YOU BECOME CONVICTED JESUS IS THE REAL DEAL, THAT IS WHO HE SAID HE WAS?

So I was raised in church, born into church, went to church my whole entire life, but it wasn’t until I lost my mom that I, & that was one of my biggest fears since I was younger because my dad was abusive towards my mom.  I was always afraid that she wouldn’t be home I got home from school & my biggest fear growing up was loosing my mom.  And then it happened when I turned 29.  So it was like “Wow, God where are you. Like how do you let my mom go?  Out of everything else in life why is she the person that had to leave?”  So that was hard for me to wrap my head around & because a lot of memories with my mom was formed through church, it was hard for me to go.  It was hard for me to really connect with God because when she was sick, I prayed.  I was hoping that he would save her & it didn’t happen.  What I learned was it was what I had in me, my faith, that brought me through my mom’s death, took me through it actually.  Although I didn’t go into the physical building, he was with me.  And that’s the only reason why I’m here today.  

WHY DO PEOPLE NEED JESUS?

As I mentioned earlier without Jesus you are lost.  I’ve tried it.  I don’t want to believe in anything I just want to go out in the world & do what I have to do, but I was lonely, I was sad, I was always looking for something to fulfill that emptiness in me.  That emptiness that Jesus could fill.  He’s the only person that could fill it.  No one else.  So it was just not having that fulfillment & feeling empty & always searching for that thing.  And then when I allowed him back into my life, that thing that was once empty was filled.

WHAT IS THE ONE THING ABOUT JEUSUS YOU WISH EVERYONE UNDERSTOOD OR KNEW ABOUT JESUS?

I mean it’s something that I’m still learning & it’s that if you trust in Jesus, if you delight in him all of your heart desires you will receive, according to his will.  It’s one of those things that you go back & forth with, like what’s more important? Just waiting for it or just trusting God & he will provide.  And that’s what we need Jesus for.

[100keepingit100]

Dicky

Profession:  Textile Designer

Years keeping it 100:  26 years

WHO IS JESUS TO YOU?

Jesus to me…I hope you have all day.  Well…Jesus is so much to me & it’s really sort of hard to put it in words, really.  He’s first my savior, you know my Lord, but in addition to that he’s my greatest confidant, he’s my best friend, he’s my anchor.  He’s who I run to when I feel lost or hopeless or if I’m upset.  I feel he’s the only person that understands me, he gets me.  And so he is my all encompassing person, you know, he provides, you know, he listens, he corrects me.  And even in the moments when I feel as though I am being corrected & disciplined by him in a way that isn’t comfortable, you know, I recognize that it’s important. You know what I mean?  I love my dad, I love my mom & was I happy as a kid when I was spanked or reprimanded?  No.  But I valued them as my parents & I understood that they were doing something that was right.  And so he’s also my disciplinarian & I love him.  Truth is, he’s my everything.  And it’s hard to put in words who Jesus is to me.  I say to people I don’t know how I would survive, how I would function had I not known him, you know what I mean?  And I understand why people who don’t know him, they have no sense of being anchored, you know, they have no hope.  Which is why they turn to so many things to pacify themselves, you know, drugs, alcohol, sex, that sort of thing.  He’s proven himself over the years to be the one person that I can trust, who will never let me down.  My family means everything to me, but I recognize that they’re mere humans, that they’re greatly flawed & at no point are they to me everything that I need them to be.  Jesus has been that, you know what I mean.  He’s been a counselor & a wise one.  And a great friend & a comforter. In my darkest of moments, when I can’t share my deepest pains with someone else who I feel might not understand or who might judge me, I can run to him. And even in the absence of words, I feel his comfort & his reassurance, you know.  So to put it simply, he is my anchor, my hope, my strength, he’s my everything.  And would I hate to imagine a life apart from him, you know what I mean?  I live for him.  I live for him.

HOW DID YOU BECOME CONVICTED JESUS IS THE REAL DEAL, THAT IS WHO HE SAID HE WAS?

I think as a spiritual being, you can’t help but realize that there’s a force greater, bigger than you are.  And some will say “the universe”, you know, but I think a part of us, each person, even atheists, recognizes that there is something there. And some people give credit to science.  I’ve come to realize that my God is beyond one that I can intellectualize.  And so he is spiritual.  And so from a very, very young age, I’ve always felt a connection & a connection with a divine being.  And I was taught early, that this was, that his name was Jesus & you know I went to church & I saw people around me having a certain experience & uh more than I understood it, it was something that I had an appreciation for because I realized that these people, believed in something that was really, really huge.  And so my curiosity would always lead me to not just say the prayer “our father” & just repeat words, but I really wanted to find out who this God was.  And so as a kid, there were very specific prayers that I would pray. And they were answered for the most part & to me that was a confirmation that this Jesus was real.  If I was sad as a kid & I prayed about a particular thing that made me sad, I would experience peace, I would experience joy.  And then as I got older & I started to read the scripture for myself, then I started to get great revelation about Jesus.  And it would solidify in my mind, one of the things that I’ve always believed in.  That Jesus wasn’t just this person you go to church on Sundays to worship.  That Jesus was real, that he was a real person, that though we couldn’t see him or hear him, you know touch him in a tangible way, that he was real.  And that he was concerned about me.  And so the more I started to read the word, the more real he became to me.  And the more I started to pray.  And as I started praying then I started worshiping & I would sense his tangible presence.  And I knew when I was 18 for sure that Jesus was real.  Why?  Because there was a part of me that started searching.  And I was searching & I don’t have to do this, it’s so weird talking to a tablet, it makes me feel a little rigid almost, but I started searching for something because there was an emptiness inside, there was a void.  So even although I was reading the word & praying there was a void, yah.  And I remember the summer of 1991, I started praying like “Lord, I want to get to know you better,” right?  But it so happens that at the same time that - there was a church not far from where I lived & you know there were these beautiful girls who would come together for these meetings on Fridays.  I was like “oh man” & I said to my brother because we were in college & we lived together & we were away from our parents & I said to him “let’s visit these, this youth group on a Friday & see what it’s about.”  He was like “yah sure.”  So the first night I went by myself ‘cause my brother had to work & I was like “oh man this is dope, this is kool, these girls are pretty & you get to know people”.  And then as I started going, the meetings became more about me meeting people, being a social thing & I started having, it taking on its own form & having a certain meaning.  And I didn’t realize God was setting me up.  That same summer, maybe a month and a half later, I had a dream & in the dream - it was a dream, but it felt so real, but it was God coming to me & he said to me “I’m ready for you.”  And I said “What?  You’re ready?  If it’s to die, I’m not ready to die.  If it’s to get saved, I’m not ready, I’m just 18. I’m just starting to live.  I need to enjoy life & spread my wild oats & you know, I need to do me.  I’m not ready.  I need to party a little more.”  Then he left the room & I was weeping.  So I continued to return to these meetings.  But God started making himself real to me.  Yah.  Because all of this came, one first from this little desire to really connect with this Jesus who I’ve been hearing about all my life who I’ve prayed to as well & I read about.  And it’s amazing how he sets it up.  He creates a desire, once I start saying “I want to get to know you” he says “ok I’m going to create a greater desire” & then oh well here’s a church next to me, next door pretty much & I would not have gone had there not been this huge meeting & these girls that were coming together as part of the meeting.  And that led to me hearing the word & being in an atmosphere of worship.  And then I have this dream & then after the dream, I was invited by my brother’s supervisor to another church.  And the long short is we both got saved there weeks after visiting.  At this point I think, it was sort of like fertile soil if you will.  And my heart was open & tender to receive Jesus.  So I knew without a shadow of a doubt that Jesus was real.  Because there was a desire that I had. That it’s just hard to explain.  It’s, it’s my spiritual man crying out for this connection because you know we’re designed for him.  And I found Jesus that year.  Yah?  I can’t tell you, the many thousands of experiences that I’ve had that have confirmed in my mind, in my heart, in my spirit, that Jesus is real.  It goes beyond an answered prayer.  It’s about experiencing certain peace that I never knew before, that a woman, my family, a job, a degree, money, cloths, all the things I love, couldn’t give me.  It’s a presence that assures me in my darkest moments that it is going to be alright.  Even if I’m facing a challenge at the moment that seems insurmountable, to know in that moment, that Jesus is with me.  As real as you are to me, he is to me.  I can’t see him.  But I experience him through others, others loving me.  The fact that I get up everyday & I can do this the things we take for granted because how else can we do that without him?  So Jesus is real & has proven himself to me day after day through different experiences.  He’s real.  He’s real.  

WHY DO PEOPLE NEED JESUS?

Because we all need a savior.  We all need to be saved.  Saved from ourselves, most importantly.  But - and that’s really what it boils down to.  Why did he come?  He came to save.  He came to deliver us. And primarily from sin, to rescue us from hopelessness & a destiny - a destiny with the enemy where our souls would be in perpetual misery.  And so I think just the same way that one could say well I need a husband or I need a wife to feel complete, someone to go home to at night & of course there are more reasons than bedding someone, but for companionship.  Some people get married to feel secure, to have someone to partner with, to have someone build them up & build someone else up & to complete them & you know to just have someone - so bottom line is, we all need a savior.  And I recognize each day how just imperfect I am & I always say to people that my faith is not out of tradition, it’s not out of me being religious, it’s about recognizing my need of Christ because I’m a mess without him.  A royal mess.  There’s no good in me, right?  And it’s one of the things I say to people often when I share Christ with them because often times we come across as hypocritical because we say “well you’re bad & that’s why you need the Lord” & I say “No, you know what? We’re all bad & without him, I’d be worse than you are.  And that is why I need him.  I need someone to keep me focused, I need someone to bring out the best in me.  And only he can.  I need someone to rescue me from me because I think I am my biggest enemy.  There is no good in me apart from him.  I need him because there’s no peace without him.  There’s no joy without him.  I am miserable without him.”  I can always tell when - because sometimes you know you’re sort of on autopilot & you get busy with life & what have you. But I can always tell from having a certain feeling - something’s off, what’s wrong?  Oh, I haven’t been praying.  I haven’t been reading the word.  I haven’t been listening to God.  I haven’t been worshiping. You feel the difference.  My mind is on everything else other than what it should be on.  I can’t focus - my thoughts, my though pattern, it’s corrupt.  And I have to be real.  I have to be real.  I’m not going to tell you well - my best days are the days when I seek him before I leave the house.  When I get in the word. Those are my best days.  I need him for direction, to get guidance.  Otherwise I’m walking around hopeless, I’m lost.  And I don’t want to sound melodramatic, but it is what it is.  This - God has - he’s set up my life in a way that I recognize my need of him.  There was a time when, even as a Christian, I was very dependent upon self & I felt as though I was unstoppable.  And he had to change those things.  So sometimes he brings us to the end of ourselves to recognize “Dude!” (*chuckles) “You’re nothing without me.  And I’m going to prove to you.  And I’m going to take you down a certain path that you’re going to recognize your need of me.”  And so he takes away our crutches.  He takes away everything that we thought in life were the things that made us valuable, the things that made us important or  feel important, the things that gave us value.  And so you realize it’s not your degree.  You realize it’s not money. (*chuckles)  And so while I’m such an imperfect Christian, I’ve just come to realize that man, I can’t survive without him, that I need him everyday.  Every single day.  Everyday.

WHAT IS THE ONE THING ABOUT JEUSUS YOU WISH EVERYONE UNDERSTOOD OR KNEW?

That his love - that he loves us more.  He loves us regardless of our strugglings, our failures.  He loves us regardless of our past.  And that love represents forgiveness.  Because of his love for us, that he is so compassionate & understanding & patient.  You know I think all of that love encompasses all of that.  Because I believe for a very long time, the world has taught to believe that the one idea - of course there is heaven & there’s hell, but too often what we preach to the world is hell fire rather than the love of God.  And that’s really why Jesus came because of his love.  The Bible says “for God so loved the world that he gave his only son” & Jesus came because of love.  You know he didn’t come to punish us.  He didn’t come to judge us, certainly not.  The day of judgement is coming, but he really came to save us because of his love for us.  And I really wish that people could understand the love of God because this is what changes our lives.  And he doesn’t change it for a season, but he changes it forever.  I think that once you’ve had a real encounter with him, you can’t help but be changed.  You can’t help but become a better person because love, love does that.  Love heals, love comforts, it reassures, it restores, it provides, it protects.  And like I said in my first question it corrects.  That’s love.  So if you think of love, in its truest & purest form, that’s Jesus.

[100keepingit100]

Vanessa

Profession: Author, Speaker, Executive Leadership & Life Coach

Years keeping it 100: since age 16

WHO IS JESUS TO YOU?

So Jesus to me is a friend, a savior, my confidant, really my guide, my life guide. Jesus represents all that I want to be & is consistent in a world that is inconsistent.  

HOW DID YOU BECOME CONVICTED JESUS IS THE REAL DEAL, THAT IS WHO HE SAID HE WAS?

I grew up always believing that Jesus was a Biblical figure that we were suppose to look to.  I definitely had a relationship with Jesus when I was a child but it wasn’t really until after I’d really been serving the Lord a long time that my relationship deepened in a way that I realized life was always going to be better if I chose to believe the truth about who Jesus said he was & is.   And that was when I was sick.  I was diagnosed with cancer for the first time, I had been left by my first husband for the second time & I was in this really horrible time in my life & I was alone & sick & I just remember feeling like I had nothing.  That was the period of my life that my relationship with God & more importantly with Jesus, this really tangible person that I could relate to, became alive to me.  And that’s when I would say that I knew that no matter what happened in my life, that would always be the same.  That would always be consistent.

WHY DO PEOPLE NEED JESUS?

I will tell you why I need Jesus.  I think that I’m a person & I’m a human being in this world & I’ve experienced things that I’m sure other people have experienced & so I hope that people can relate to why I need Jesus & see that in their own life.  I need Jesus because I am a hot mess without him.  Because I am judgmental, I am not always kind, I have a hard time with fear, I have a hard time believing there’s goodness in this world when I see so much hate.  Truthfully I don’t know how I would survive the crisis of my life like cancer & betrayal & other things that I’ve experienced like infertility & abandonment without having someone to believe & something to believe in & something that is living & real.  That’s why I think people need Jesus because that’s why I need Jesus.  I think the world needs more consistency, the world needs more love, the world needs more comfort.  The world needs more grace & the world needs more joy.  And in relationship with Jesus there are all of those things & more.  

WHAT IS THE ONE THING ABOUT JEUSUS YOU WISH EVERYONE UNDERSTOOD OR KNEW ABOUT JESUS?

I would say the one thing I wish everyone really understood about Jesus is that he was really a change agent & a warrior for justice & peace.  He modeled the action of loving people that were not like him.  I think that’s lost in the world today because what we see in a lot of Christians, people that are Jesus followers, does not reflect who Jesus was.  So if there is one thing I would love for the world to know is that he was & is love.  A perfect kind of love that is hard to describe.  We need more of that.  

[100keepingit100]

Bud & Beverly

Beverly

Profession: House Wife

Years keeping it 100: 38 years

Bud

Profession: Architect’s Representative

Years keeping it 100: 44 years

WHO IS JESUS TO YOU?

Beverly:  Well today’s a special day, it’s the resurrection day of Jesus.  And Jesus is my savior.

Bud:  Jesus is the Son of God & he’s my savior.

HOW DID YOU BECOME CONVICTED JESUS IS THE REAL DEAL, THAT IS WHO HE SAID HE WAS?

Bud:  Well in 1973 I went to a Lay Witness Mission & that’s where I realized Jesus was my savior.  I went to an alter call at the end of the mission & acknowledged that.  

Beverly:  You know it’s at the same church.  I also went to an alter call later on with a different pastor & it was a Lay Witness Mission.  But actually now I have to tell this a little bit differently…the pastor the Sunday before had given his testimony & invited us to the alter if we wanted to come up.  So I went up to the alter on that Sunday when the congregation was there & I did kneel down & at that time those were tears of repentance.  But the pastor didn’t know any more than that, he just thought it was everything taken care of.  And then came the Lay Witness Mission that I had mentioned & when I told the people who had come up from New Jersey, it was Sunday night, that I had been to the alter & then they said to me “did you ask Jesus to come into your heart?”.  And I said “no”.  And so that’s when I asked Jesus to come into my heart, but to know that Jesus is the real deal, that’s taken years.  It’s taken time through so many different experiences when Jesus has come through, time after time & after time.  And that’s from the healings, & from the comfort, from the answers for prayer.  That’s how you know Jesus is the real deal.  And his grace, it’s the grace of Jesus.  

WHY DO PEOPLE NEED JESUS?

Beverly:  To be delivered from sin & death.  It’s that simple because the Lord is our redeemer, he is the Lamb of God & that’s the sacrifice that was made for us.  And that means we will have life, life abundant & life eternal when we believe in him.  To believe that Jesus is Lord.

Bud:  For salvation & the entrance into heaven.

WHAT IS THE ONE THING ABOUT JEUSUS YOU WISH EVERYONE UNDERSTOOD OR KNEW?

Bud:  That Jesus is the Son of God & that for entrance into heaven you have to believe that.  

Beverly: There is no other way, there is no other way but the way through Jesus.  The name of Jesus is a powerful name, it’s God’s plan & there is no other way to salvation but through Jesus.  Believing that Jesus is Lord.  Hallelujah, hallelujah, amen & amen.

[100keepingit100]

Kenny

Profession:  Educator

Years keeping it 100: 33 years

WHO IS JESUS TO YOU?

Jesus to me, he is the background noise.  He’s always there.  You say Alpha & Omega, big huge words, the beginning & the end.  But there’s also everything in between.  When you have the idea of who Jesus is, that’s great.  You can put a stamp on everything by that, but in the middle of everything, when you’re by yourself, when you’re in a crowd, when you’re out doing something you like to do or don’t like to do, there’s always that essence that’s there that has become more & more detectable as I’ve gotten older.  I’m not saying Jesus is this metaphysical, meta spiritual ghost thing, what I’m saying is Jesus has changed from a concept to a reality that’s always with me.  I have tried to walk away or shut that thing down, but there’s something real about what I’m feeling.  If I’m two minds about making a bad decision or a decision that may not be to my benefit, the reason why I’m two minds about it is not because I’m worried about a family member being disappointed or whatever, it’s like there’s something of substance that is with me, that really is there.  So Jesus to me is the in-between, the background.  You know it’s like the air you can’t see that’s real.  People say “the silence is deafening,” when you’re quiet you can hear the silence that’s kind of what Jesus is for to me because now it’s something that’s perpetually with me.  And that’s something that’s come up for me as I’ve gotten older in faith.  The ideas won’t take you that far, but when reality hits you, the reality will keep you much longer.  

HOW DID YOU BECOME CONVICTED JESUS IS THE REAL DEAL, THAT IS WHO HE SAID HE WAS?

Alright so, I remember when I was 19 or 20 I was at a church conference, really intense.  As far as feeling the presence of God, when you talk to people who go to church they say they feel something tangible to it & I felt that before.  You can call it a lot of different things, but there’s a certain sense you have.  I remember I was in college, we had a Monday night service & the next morning I went to class & I was still feeling what I felt at church.  It never had followed me out of church before & I was like “this is very weird” because I only associated that feeling when I was in church, in a service, with all the people with a mindset, everyone’s focused on what they’re doing as far as demonstrating their faith.  But now I’m by myself.  No one to hype up the crowd, no pastor, no music, no nothing.  In college, kind of tired, probably broke & hungry (‘cause that’s college life) & I was like “I still feel God.  Wow.  This is more than just an idea, this is real, something tangible.”  I can’t explain it to other people, but I know what I felt differently.  And from that point on I’ve learned to detect the presence of God in my life.  Both for good & for when I’m getting checked like “yah, you messed up.”  I started to hear that.  But it was more a tangible feeling.  I guess how you would tickle a child, but after a few years you need to talk to the child.  It was that kind of thing.  I felt that & that’s grown into discernment about just being detectable about things.  So that was something that really stuck in my mind as far as that goes.    

WHY DO PEOPLE NEED JESUS?

Why do people need Jesus?  I think because innately people know what’s right & wrong, but people don’t know how to really make right & wrong manifest.  They might have a steak of doing right, but then something always gets mixed up in the mix.  Take politics for example, which ideally the majority of our needs should be represented there, but it’s so infiltrated by corruption & bad attitudes.  You can’t mix good & bad.  So the need for Jesus is to provide the actual answers for the questions that we’re trying to do.  If we didn’t need Jesus then we’d have the answers ‘cause at no point in time in the last 15-20 years has the world not been connected, through technology, through what we have.  So it’s not about our connectivity, it’s more about what we are connecting & communicating with. As I look at it, you see the lack thereof.  We’re 60-70 years from nuclear warfare & that’s ancient technology compared with what we have now.  So what we have now, well that’s not even close & what keeps that together is such a paper thin treaty.  What is it?  It’s the lack thereof that causes us to have to do these things.  And I think we need Jesus because the lack of Jesus is so evident in the world nowadays.  People don’t know what to do for themselves.  They can’t get out of their own prisons, they can’t get out of their own mind, they don’t know how to have relationships.  Yet everyone wants to have a relationship, everyone wants to be healthy, everyone wants to see clean water & government & no pollution yet but what is it that is causing us to not have these things?  It’s the lack thereof of the key missing ingredient.  And so I think the evidence of us needing Jesus is the fact we don’t have Jesus represented where he needs to be represented, in the people he needs to be represented through & that is what’s causing the disconnect with what we want & how we’re trying to do it.  

WHAT IS THE ONE THING ABOUT JEUSUS YOU WISH EVERYONE UNDERSTOOD OR KNEW?

It sounds corny, but the one thing is I wish everyone knew is Jesus is real & not just an idea.  And Jesus does not need your help.  You need Jesus’ help.  Once you understand that, your ability to relate & your access to relation with Jesus, that’s the foundation of it.  Some people are like, “it’s a thing, it’s a prophet, a poetic thing, a historical figure,” instead of a tangible person, a reality you can live in & with.  And you definitely don’t need to make up something about him because Jesus doesn’t need your help.  He’s kool, he’s fine, he’s like “I’m good.”  Do you understand why he’s good?  Do you understand what he’s trying to do?  Do you understand that his purpose in life is so directly applicable to what you are trying to do & accomplish & the why of who you are?  If you understood that, it makes it more than just going to church & hearing someone else speak.  It becomes a whole dimension that is real & worth exploring & can really enhance your life without taking you from this life experience & depositing you into crazy world.  You don’t need to put on airs.  You need to recognize this is a real thing that has real results.  It’s not about belonging to a church, it’s more about belonging into a relationship.  And that’s really a knowledge, a understanding of what this is.  Why do I go to church?  Because I need to know more from God.  Who is God?  Who is Jesus?  Understand that.  Once you understand that then you start to have a relationship with that understanding & you realize it’s not just a concept, but it’s actually a person.  And then once you get involved with a person, you recognize there’s no limit to that.  It’s an endless journey.  That’s where transformation comes from, not just going to be part of a congregation or a group.  So that’s one thing I wish people understood.  

[100keepingit100]

Beth

Beth

Profession: Photographer & Educator

Years keeping it 100: 23 years total, 5 years since rededicating life to Jesus

WHO IS JESUS TO YOU?

Jesus is my savior, he saved my life.  Literally, physically.  There were times, there was a time when I was a baby I was sick, he saved my life through prayer & healed me.  He also saved my soul.  So he has saved me so that I will have eternal life with him in Heaven.  He’s also my best friend.  He is my provider, he provides my every need & also oftentimes he meets my desires.  And there have been times in my past when the only thing that has been different between me & a homeless person is my answered prayers for money, to pay the rent, to keep a house over my…a roof over my head.  Umm he’s been my provider, he has been my way maker, he’s made ways for me, opened doors for me that I would otherwise not have & ummm he’s just everything to me.

HOW DID YOU BECOME CONVICTED JESUS IS THE REAL DEAL, THAT IS WHO HE SAID HE WAS?

There have been many times in my life where through prayer he’s come through.  I don’t believe in coincidence, but there have been two times specifically in my life where I know, that he’s proven himself to be real.  The Bible says to try him, to ask him & he will prove himself.  And he has proved himself to me when I have asked him.  When I was growing up, my dream was to leave my town, I didn’t want to stay in my hometown.  It was a small town, I was bored, I didn’t feel I fit in.  I felt like a misfit, but I didn’t know where to go, I didn’t know how to get there or anywhere, I didn’t know how to get out.  My mom, as an adult told me she didn’t see me going far, she had no idea what I would be.  I really was lost.  And one time when I was 16 I asked Jesus, if you’re real, show me, get me out of here.  Move me.  And that summer, I somehow got it together.  I went on college tours, something that I never thought that I would do.  And I also went to France for the summer.  That summer when I was 17.  So in a few short months, he proved himself that he was real.  He answered my prayer, I told, I asked him “prove it, show me” and he proved it, he got me out of that town.  The other time that was very, very clear, not that there haven’t been other times throughout my life, there’s everyday I wake up I know he’s real, he gets me out of bed.  But…when I was 26, I basically did the worst thing you could possible think, the most unforgivable sin that you could do & I regretted it.  And I remember that evening in the bathroom, was crying & I was asking God to forgive me, “please forgive me Jesus, just forgive me”.  And as soon as I asked him to forgive me &as soon as I told him “I’m so sorry, please just forgive me” I remember there was this peace.  And I instantly felt this love, like he was there immediately.  And so I knew he was real.  It’s not possible to do what I did & then to feel peace & love & comfort, immediately, as soon as I asked for it, if he was not real.  I can still feel how that was.  I can’t really explain it, but I felt so good & I felt forgiven, I felt peace, I felt him inside of me.  After that for years later, Satan told me over & over again that I didn’t deserve the forgiveness.  That the forgiveness was too easy & that I should be punished.  And he messed with my mind.  In my mind, I thought I had to punish myself because God’s forgiveness was…was too easy.  What he’s shown me as I got older, in my late 30’s that that’s not true.  He forgives us & then it’s for us & we’re not suppose to punish ourselves.  That we…he’s gentle with us, he loves us so much & he wants us to have his peace & he wants us to be happy & he wants us to be free.  And he’s been teaching me to be gentle with myself & he’s been showing me that that was a lie, a lie of Satan, that even though I was forgiven of my sin by God, by Jesus because Jesus died on the cross to forgive me, that anything less than that is a lie.  And he’s…Jesus has been my friend through this whole thing.  It took years to work through & for him to really teach me how to be gentle with myself.  And that is how I know he’s real.  

WHY DO PEOPLE NEED JESUS?

First of all people need Jesus for their salvation.  Their eternal life.  There is a void within us, that people try, that I have tried to fill without Jesus & there’s nothing that can fill it without him.  There is this hole & people think they can find it with Chanel bags or perfume or vacations or a husband or a wife or whatever, but there is nothing…not careers, not money not sorts of pleasure, not sex, not any alcohol, drugs, whatever, there’s nothing that can fill the void that is suppose to be filled with him, with God, through Jesus.  So Jesus saves us & he brings us into relationship with God & he fills that void in our lives we look so often to fill with other things & desires, but he fills it.  So he fills the void in us & he saves us so that we can have eternal life so that we will not go to Hell.  And there is only one way, the world will teach many ways, there is only one way.  And he is that one way.  Though Jesus.  And he’s also our helper.  He’s helped me through so many things, everyday he helps me.  He helps us to know how to treat each other, how to overcome situations.  He just gives us guidance & comfort & help.  And he does not promise things to be easy in life because Jesus’s life itself wasn’t easy.  He himself went through many hardships.  The Bible describes him as a man of sorrows, so life was not easy for him.  If it was not easy for the Son of God well it won’t be easy for us.  But he will help us through it, he will comfort us.  And every time that I’ve ever gone through anything hard, he’s always delivered me, he’s always brought me through & people need that.  They need that encouragement, that support, that guidance, that help.  And they need to have that void filled that only he can fill with his love.  And that’s why people need Jesus.  

WHAT IS THE ONE THING ABOUT JEUSUS YOU WISH EVERYONE UNDERSTOOD OR KNEW?

I wish everyone knew that he was a gentleman.  I’m kind of plagiarizing that from a woman I know & that’s how she describes Jesus.  And he really is, he’s like a gentleman.  He never forces us to follow him, he holds out his hands to us & he, he says “come, come walk with me”, but he never forces us.  And his love, his love is gentle.  He does not judge us & he does not expect us to come to him perfect, he says “come as you are, I’ll take you as you are, I love you as you are”.  So I wish people knew how much his love was tender & kind.  And he’s not…yes there are certain rules that are said - don’t steal, don’t fornicate, don’t commit adultery, don’t do this, don’t do that, but they are for our protection & they are out of love.  And it’s the same thing if you are a parent.  You say to your child “don’t touch that hot stove!”.  And the child maybe like “well mom that looks fun”.  But it’s really for our protection.  But even when we make mistakes & even when we don’t follow him & his “rules” so to speak, he still loves us & he will… because of his love, he will help us with everything.  And we don’t have to be the ones who fight & try to be better.  We just say “God, I can’t, this is such a temptation, this is hard for me to give up, this is hard for me to do, help me.”  And he will help.  Everything that we need, because he loves us so much he will help us with.  And everything we ever have felt, every hurt, every joy, every tear, everything that we’ve ever gone through in life he has gone through.  If you think about it, his life, the way it started out, with his earthly father, his step-father, his brothers & sisters, we don’t know a lot about his early life in the Bible, but it says in the Bible he was a man of sorrows & so he went through many things that hurt him.  There were many times when he himself was hurting & he experienced every temptation that we have faced, he has been through it, he has experienced those emotions & those temptations.  And did he give into them?  No.  So he fights for us.  He helps us.  And all we need to do is we need to ask him & he will fight our battles for us.  We don’t need to do anything.  He wants us to be anxious for nothing, he wants us to just trust him & relax in him & let him take care of our problems because he loves us so much.  And he fights for us & he helps us.  And I wish people understood these things about him.  And didn’t think of him as someone who is like a hard taskmaster, someone who they had to bend over backwards to please or someone that had to be perfect or they had to “get right” before coming to him or coming into relationship with him.  No.  He wants you just as you are.  No matter how messy you are & I have messed up so many times & I have done things so many times that was like “oh why did I do that?”.  Every time though he’s always given me his love, his peace & he just loves us so much.  And he wants to love you so much & he just wants you to take his hand, he’s offering his arm to you in love & tenderness & he will just guide you & he will help you in everything because he loves you.  And that’s what I wish people knew.

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Carl

Profession:  Author & Executive Producer 

Years keeping it 100:  since childhood, 5 years studying, practicing, directing

WHO IS JESUS TO YOU?

Jesus is an example to me of what love looks like, of what leadership looks like, of what faith looks like.  I really couldn’t be where I am today without Jesus’s guidance, love, everything.  I really don’t know what more to say, you know, it’s just the ultimate love, ultimate sacrifice, ultimate healer, redeemer & just amazingness.  He’s just a perfect gift of love.  

HOW DID YOU BECOME CONVICTED JESUS IS THE REAL DEAL, THAT IS WHO HE SAID HE WAS?

Mmmm, yah there’s, there’s something about the name Jesus.  I grew up in church & I always knew that Jesus was this great person, but sometimes you kind of think that he’s some myth, made up character or something like that. For me the real deal came a few years ago when I was in Baltimore, Maryland & it was an actual, this was the first time I actually, well maybe not the first time, but I had an actual spiritual attack on my life.  And I felt like someone was trying to kill me, in the spiritual realm.  And I know it may sound a little far fetched, or whatever the case may be, but I… I was wide awake, but I felt like the darkness came over me & I felt like my hands being bound & my legs being bound while I was in bed, my mouth being covered.  I felt like I started to suffocate.  And I heard like this voice talking gibberish in my ear & it, it was a crazy experience. And I felt like I couldn’t breath.  And I started to fight for my life & I’m wiggling & I’m going crazy & not even out loud because again I felt like my mouth was being covered, but in my mind I screamed out the name “Jesus”.  And in that instant, everything that I felt was fighting me, vanished.  And the room literally went from dark to light in that moment.  I was gasping for air, I was crying & it was literally like maybe 5, 6 in the morning & I turned over in bed & a thought came into my mind to “call your sister.”  My sister at that time was in Connecticut.  So I called my sister up & I said “hey you’re not gonna believe what happened, I don’t know what I just experienced, but I heard these voices in my head & I felt like somebody was trying to suffocate me, I felt like something crazy.  I explained more to her & she said “Carl, I heard those same exact voices.”  And I said “What?  What happened?”  She said “I felt like I heard somebody, yelling or chanting in my ear & I felt this dark presence in my room.”  And she said “I cast you out in the name of Jesus.”  And everything vanished for her too.  So in the same exact moment, my sister & I heard the same exact voices & we did the same exact thing, we called on the name of Jesus & immediately those voices, the presence, the attacks disappeared. That’s how I know, there is no name, there is nothing greater than the name of Jesus.

WHY DO PEOPLE NEED JESUS?

Oh man!  People need Jesus because you need a good moral example in your life of what to do, what not to do.  There’s a lot of people that are lost & they don’t even know that they’re lost.  Some people just go about their life causin’ harm to people or just existing, you know, but Jesus is who provides a life worth living for you, provides understanding, provides love & guidance as I mentioned before.  You know so this is someone who, if you don’t have Jesus in your life you will think maybe man is the reason why your emotions are the way that they are or other people have the power to change your day, change your mood or whatever the case may be.  But man didn’t give you joy, man can’t take it away.  Jesus is the reason that you’re able to fill your heart with joy, & all the greatness that’s within you can be, can be enhanced if you have Jesus in your life.  

WHAT IS THE ONE THING ABOUT JEUSUS YOU WISH EVERYONE UNDERSTOOD OR KNEW?

Hmmm, I think everyone knows, well I hope that everyone knows that Jesus died for you.  But he died in order to give you life & he died in order for you to understand that love is greater than all things.  Death couldn’t even hold Jesus down & that’s because of the love that was within him.  And one of the key messages, the key phrases, the key things that he was always stressing is that love conquers all.  

[100keepingit100]

Mark

Profession: college student & photographer

Years Keeping it 100: 20 years total, 6.5 years walking with Jesus - “I look at it as I invited him into my home at age 6, but never showed common curtesy & allowed him to come in & have a seat.  I left him standing at the door of my life for many years.”

WHO IS JESUS TO YOU?

Jesus is my savior, Jesus is my big brother, Jesus is my best friend, Jesus is my redeemer, my helper, my comforter, Jesus is everything to me, everything I ever wanted, everything I ever needed.  But the things that I don’t even know that I need that have some unexplained void in my heart, he is the one to fill that need.  That’s who Jesus is to me, Jesus is my everything, my life.

HOW DID YOU BECOME CONVICTED JESUS IS THE REAL DEAL, THAT IS WHO HE SAID HE WAS?

I think growing up, growing up in church we were taught Jesus is the way, the truth & the life, that he died on the cross for my sins,,,like I knew this, but personally as I grew older that wasn’t a reality for me because I was kind of livening off my parent’s faith, so I would always question, I would always look at what’s happening around me.  And it’s like seeing other people drink water, but unless you drink that water yourself, you can’t really relate.  If you see it, you know it’s real, you have eyes that aren’t lying to you, you see that this person is drinking water & that they’re experiencing water it’s great, it tastes good, but if I never that same glass I can’t fully relate, I can’t fully deeply understand how that water tastes.  And it’s funny how Jesus, one of his characteristics, he’s labeled as the living water.  The Bible talks about taste & see that the Lord is good, so I guess that deep down I was yearning for that taste & I didn’t know that I was.  So to kind of give an understanding of when Jesus became real to me or when who he said he was became a reality to my life was at the age of 19 when I was like down on threads, hanging on threads in life, I was in distress, distraught, just far gone & like church was just church.  I was going to church just to warm up a seat, like I wasn’t really living it.  I was in the world, so I was smoking, drinking, running the streets, gangs, so on so forth.  This one particular day, I was inebriated at the time, but very conscious & I was experiencing so much conviction of my life & I was just weighed down & distressed & distraught & so filled with anxiety & I just felt condemned, I felt like yo I’m never gonna make it, I’m going to die & loose my soul, go to hell, like I’m not making it to heaven.  It was just like all of these thoughts at one moment.  And because of how I was feeling, it made me want to go home.  I was at school at the time, I left to go home.  I remember going home, I walk into the house, my mom is in the kitchen & I would usually, I was accustomed to say good afternoon, I said nothing to her, I literally couldn’t speak.  I went, something drew me into my bedroom & I went straight into my bedroom, I fell on my bed & the Bible happened to be right by my bed & immediately I just grabbed it & I just opened it.  I didn’t turn to a specific page, I didn’t look for a specific book, chapter, nothing, I just grabbed the Bible & opened it in a sense of like tell me something!  You know what I mean & as soon as I opened it, the first words that jumped out at me from the page were do not be afraid for I will never leave you or forsake you.  Immediately as I read those words, everything I was feeling, everything, the noise the thoughts, everything went away like that /snaps fingers/ & it was replaced with love, compassion, a peace a joy.  I felt love, for the first time I felt Jesus, for the first time he made himself real to me.  This was the first time I that tasted God & my view of God from being this judge that wants to condemn the world for their sins, that wants to condemn me for my sins, immediately that changed to him being a father.  No father would turn away his children if he came back saying Daddy I’m sorry.  That was the moment when I was running, not knowing where I was running to, but I was running & I turned a corner & I bumped chests with him.  And oh I fell in his arms & I felt his love & from that day forward I knew Jesus was real 100%.  Like no one could change it, no one could take that away from me.  That was a concrete & endearing experience that I had, that I kept to myself for 3 over years, I didn’t tell anyone about it because it was that dear to me.  Like you Jesus is real!  And from that day forward in knowing that he’s real, that he’d revealed himself to me, it finally planted in me a desire to change.  Of course I wanted to change before, like I know what I’m doing is wrong, but I couldn’t stop.  But this time I experienced his love & it was a different type of desire to where like I don’t want to hurt him.  I really want to stop these things because I don’t want to hurt God. Not, not like I really want to stop these things because I know it’s wrong but not it’s I want to stop these things because I don’t want to hurt Jesus.  And that was the desire I had now, encountering him at the age of 19.

WHY DO PEOPLE NEED JESUS?

To state the obvious, we’re all sinners, including myself, we’re all sinners we all fall short of the glory of God.  No one man is good, no one has ever lived up & fulfilled the law.  No one has ever lived up to the righteous requirements in which the law needed in order to be fulfilled, we all fall short.  So we have a record, everyone has a record.  Everyone’s record varies in length, but the fact is you have a record if you sin once you can’t undo that wrong in your life.  I’ll that that obvious we need Jesus because the Bible states that the wages of sin is death.  So there is a cost, there’s a penalty for sin.  Something, a price has to be paid for sin & the cost unfortunately is death & the idea is it’s either you pay for your own sin or you allow someone else to pay for you.  Regardless to what, there’s a payment & unfortunately no one else on earth was perfect, without flaw, without blemish to be able to pay the price for everyone else.  So God himself had to step into time & take on human flesh & blood to be able to pay the price himself & die for us.  This is why we need Jesus ‘cause without Jesus we’re lost, without Jesus we’re hopeless, without Jesus we have to pay for our own sins.  Sin has left us to doom.  Jesus brings hope, Jesus brings a way out.  Aside from our own sin people need Jesus because people need love.  Love is, love is, it’s recorded that love is the most powerful force in the universe.  The Bible teaches that God is love.  Men are pursuing & looking for love, but they’re running from God.  So there’s a disconnect from the true love that man’s heart need, there’s a void that each heart has that needs to be filled & Jesus is the only one who can fill this void.  Jesus is the only one who can produce that love.  That deep satisfaction of a soul, of a heart that nothing else can fill.  Drugs can’t fill it, money can’t fill it, fame can’t fill it, success, a spouse, a family, it will forever be empty.  It’s like falling through a hole that it can’t fit in.  There’s a God shaped hole in everyone’s heart that’s only fit for God & no one else.  And this is where Jesus steps in.  Without that you’re going to there will always be a sense of, like something’s missing.  People need Jesus because with or without him life will still be hard.  So it’s either do life on your own or you have a helper in this life, to comfort you, to take care of you, to wrap you in his arms, to reassure you, to affirm you & just let you know that you can make it.  That’s who Jesus is.  Yes we have friends, we have family, we have people of sorts that can play those roles in minor places, but they’re not with you 24/7.  When you’re alone whose there?  Who can you talk to? Jesus is the only one.  People need Jesus, he is of high necessity to man, the most important thing that man needs is Jesus.  And I could go on & on & on, the countless ways that he fulfills the needs of our lives, but his word said it best; I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life, no one comes to the father but through me.  We need life.  We need a way.  Without a way we’re wandering.  Without the truth we’re left with lies.  We need Jesus.  I need Jesus.  You need Jesus.  People need Jesus.

WHAT IS THE ONE THING ABOUT JEUSUS YOU WISH EVERYONE UNDERSTOOD OR KNEW?

I would say the one thing, a verse a John 3:16 &17 comes to my mind; for God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.  Now the following verse, verse 17 says but God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.  So from that verse, the one thing that I would want everyone to know, to understand about Jesus is he came to save that which are lost.  He came for the broken hearted.  He came for the downcast.  He came for those who are desolate in their hearts.  Jesus came to save.  Nothing about Jesus, nothing about his character, nothing about his purpose his plan falls under the line of condemnation, him condemning us.  No, no, no, no, no.  Jesus was driven from a place of love, from a place of love Jesus humbled himself & came into this world for you and for me.  To die on the cross for our sins, to save us from Hell, from the penalty of sin, to save us from the misery of life & all that sin brings with it.  He came to save not to condemn.  So that’s the one thing I that would want people to truly understand about Jesus.  He’s a savior.  That’s it.

[100keepingit100]

Ed

Profession:  Retired Dairy Herdsman

Years keeping it 100: 11 years

WHO IS JESUS TO YOU?

My savior, my Lord, my king, my best friend.  I had a guy this past week, I went into a public place & the guy says “How comes every time I think of Jesus Christ you walk in the door?”  I looked at him & I says “Well maybe it’s ‘cause he walks with me & he talks with me everyday.”  He said “You’d better go see a psychiatrist.”  “What’s a psychiatrist going to do for me?  He can’t do anything for me that Jesus Christ can’t.”  And he shut right up, he didn’t say no more.  But he, I notice that if he can make fun of people that go to church you know & he can cuss the Bible out, he does.  And the more fun he can make of it, the better he likes it.  I’m getting to the point where I don’t want to talk to him period & I’ve known him for over 60 years.  But he’s just not my kind of guy, not anymore.    

HOW DID YOU BECOME CONVICTED JESUS IS THE REAL DEAL, THAT IS WHO HE SAID HE WAS?

I think I would have to say the Holy Spirit was working on me.  I felt very uncomfortable.  I knew something was happening.  Finally I surrendered my life to Christ & I’ve, I’ve never been sorry.  He’s been absolutely wonderful.  And I know God answers prayer.  I told your father, last Wednesday evening I did not feel good, I called Dave & I told him I wouldn’t be at prayer meeting because I was settin’ in the house, it was 80 some degrees in the house, I was settin' there freezin’.  And he said “Well I’ll mention it & we’ll pray for you.”  Well along between 8:30 & 9:00, just like that, I started gettin’ better, I started feelin’ better, I warmed up & I thought to myself “Yup they’re prayin’ for me ‘cause God just answered a prayer.”  So I knew right off, you know.  He does.  He’s answered a lot of prayers.  When I went to buy this Jeep, we went to Whitney Point to an auction & they started running these vehicles through & I’m lookin’, I said “Lord help us.”  Well he did.  We got a Jeep for less than $2,000.  Beautiful, nice vehicle, got it for less than $2,000.  And uh, I told the pastor, I said “The Lord helped us.” I said “He did, believe me, he has.”  And it’s been one thing right after another.  I’ve been blessed more in the past 6 or 8 weeks than anybody could ever ask for.  And it’s wonderful.  It’s wonderful to know Jesus Christ as Lord & savior of your life.  I strongly recommend it.  

WHY DO PEOPLE NEED JESUS?

They need Jesus Christ to make their life complete.  And I truly believe that.   They talk about something missing.  And it’s true.  There is something missing.  And that something is Jesus Christ.  And they do need Jesus Christ to make their life complete.  I believe.  Maybe I’m wrong, I don’t know, but I don’t think so.

WHAT IS THE ONE THING ABOUT JEUSUS YOU WISH EVERYONE UNDERSTOOD OR KNEW?

I wish everyone could know him personally the way I know him, I really do.  It would be a wonderful world if everybody would know & live according to the Bible, according to what Jesus said.  It would be a wonderful world, it really would.    

[100keepingit100]

Kate

Profession:  Accountant

Years keeping it 100: 26 years

WHO IS JESUS TO YOU?

Jesus is the savior to me, obviously.  And actually he is everything.  He is healer, provider & counselor.  So yah, he’s everything.

HOW DID YOU BECOME CONVICTED JESUS IS THE REAL DEAL, THAT IS WHO HE SAID HE WAS?

I grew up in Christian family & my parents were & are very Godly people so I just grew up believing Jesus is my savior very naturally.  So I didn’t have some kind of special moment where I was turned away from Jesus into the world or came back, like some people say “I was alcoholic but now I’m Christian”.  There was not really that in my life, but I just, I do not exactly remember when that was, but I just know that Jesus is someone who rescues me from sin & I have never doubt about it in my life.  But of course there were some moments where I got to know Jesus more deeply at many different levels.  And the first moment that I remember is when I was about 10 years old I met a really great Sunday School teacher & she was full of Jesus love.  She really wants to teach & show that Jesus love through her life & her attitude & everything.  Then one day she told us that if we, she asks us if we really believe in Jesus as the savior.  Whether he erase our sin & saved us from our sin.  So yes we did, we said that.  And then she said that if we do then even if we die right now we will go to the heaven.  But actually, you know what, around that age you do not think about the death that deeply or often.  You are quite young enough not to think about it.  But then for some reason, I got conviction about my belief & the life after this life when I was 10.  And since then I had a very strong & firm conviction that I would go to heaven.  And I started to think that my friends at school who do not know about this truth, know this Jesus thing & that it would be really good to share this Gospel & Good News with the friends.  And since then I just naturally know that Jesus is the real one & have never doubt about it.  And of course after that I also went through some ups & downs in my life & belief & I’ve questioned why things turn out like this to God.  But the fundamentally I know that I will come back to Jesus & he’s my Lord & he’s the one that I need to pray to.  So that was the first moment I remember about Jesus.  

WHY DO PEOPLE NEED JESUS?

Because people cannot live a life without him, including me ‘cause Jesus is the only way for salvation.  I know there will be a lot of other reasons, we can tell, but yah, that is the fundamental reason I think.

WHAT IS THE ONE THING ABOUT JEUSUS YOU WISH EVERYONE UNDERSTOOD OR KNEW?

I wish everyone knew that Jesus care about them.  So we know that Jesus is the one who created this world & he care about everything.  But he also cares about you & me & everyone & he wants to hear our day to day life.  He wants to help us & he wants to guide us & he wants to be a friend with us so yah there isn’t nothing too small for him to know.  So I wish everyone knows that.

https://youtu.be/Dxtpkjq0geE

[100keepingit100]

Shneidine

Profession:  Executive Producer of the Youth Empowerment Show

Years keeping it 100:  20 years

WHO IS JESUS TO YOU?

Jesus is my Lord & savior.  He is the Alpha, Omega, the beginning & the end. He is the one I call to.  He is my friend.  He is my everything.  That’s who Jesus is to me.

HOW DID YOU BECOME CONVICTED JESUS IS THE REAL DEAL, THAT IS WHO HE SAID HE WAS?

Wow.  That is a deep question.  I have to honestly say I knew that Jesus was the real deal when I was 17 years old.  I was a senior in high school & I got picked up from my dad, he came to get me & he was crying.  And I said, “Dad what’s wrong?” ‘cause my father never cries, he’s not a crier.  And then he was just like, “Wow, we almost just lost your mother today.”  I said “What do you mean almost lost our mom?”  He was like, “Yah, I just resuscitated her & now she’s in the hospital.”  My mom was in the hospital for two weeks.  They said that they found a cyst on her frontal lobe.  She was in a coma for two weeks & I said, “Lord Jesus, if you are the real God, the living God that the whole earth & the whole world is worshiping & adoring, I want to see if you are real.  I want to feel your presence.  Come down your throne & touch my mom.”  I was 17 years old.  I bargained with God.  I said, “If everything that you said in the Bible is real, let me see it.  If you are real, I will really worship you faithfully for the rest of my life.  I promise you.”  The next day I came to the hospital from school, my mom was up.  I said, “I believe in Jesus Christ & he is my Lord & savior.  Going forward I will always serve him.”  He is real.  Even though he’s not tangible, even though we don’t see who he is in the physical aspect, but he is real. When you pray to God, he really answers.  I have life stories on when I talk to Jesus.  I pray.  Everything I speak about, I think about, it comes into fruition.  Jesus is real.  He is alive.  He listens.  He makes us go through a lot of trials & tribulations because he wants us to be drawn closer to him.  So that’s when I got convicted God is real because my mom almost died & I bargained with God & he resuscitated her, he gave her breath of life after two weeks of coma.  So I believe in God.

WHY DO PEOPLE NEED JESUS?

I feel people need Jesus for a lot of reasons.  People need Jesus for companionship.  People need Jesus to get them through their trials & tribulation in life.  People need Jesus because some of them they don’t have any family, Jesus can be your family.  He could be your shelter.  He could be your provider. He has been everything to me.  A lot of times when you’re going through problems or you feel like your alone, you’re never really alone because the father, the son & the Holy Spirit is with you, guiding you, leading you, ordering your steps every, every day.  We may not feel that he’s near, but he really, really is.  Sometimes too people need Jesus to get them through.  A lot of people that I know are married & marriage is not something that you can take lightly. Marriage is not something that is easy or happy everyday.  A lot of people go through a lot in their marriages.  Some people have hardships with infidelity. Some people have problems in their marriage because of money.  Some people have problems because of children or their spouse is not working, whatever it may be, but people need Jesus for a whole lot of different reasons.  Everyone that’s on this earth is facing some kind of issue.  Some people have drug addictions.  Some people have problems with a boyfriend or girlfriend.  Some people can’t keep a job.  Some people have problems with the jail system or whatever it is or family.  Some people they have family feuds & they just feeling like if they have someone to help them along the way, like Jesus, they could get through.  Jesus is the solution to every problem.

WHAT IS THE ONE THING ABOUT JEUSUS YOU WISH EVERYONE UNDERSTOOD OR KNEW?

Wow, Jesus is just so amazing.  Once you build a relationship with God you can start having so much faith that your tomorrow is going to be better than today.  I learned a lot & I feel that when you have Jesus by your side you can get through any kind of circumstance because he is the one that truly has your back.  He is the one that died for you.  Do you know anybody on earth that would die for you besides your mom?  I can’t seem to think of one, not even a husband or a wife would die for you…maybe…or maybe not.  But God is just so amazing.  If you have Jesus you have everything that you need.  Honestly.  

[100keepingit100]

Hadassa, Hannah & Hope

Hadassa

Profession: Student

Years keeping it 100: 5 years

Hannah

Profession: Student

Years keeping it 100: 2 years

Hope

Profession: Student

Years keeping it 100: 3 years

WHO IS JESUS TO YOU?

Hope:  Jesus is my personal Lord, Christ & Savior.

Hannah:  Jesus to me, he’s my best friend like I can go to him whenever I need something & he also is my savior because without him I’d have a bunch of sins laying around.

Hadassa: To me he’s someone I can just go to out of the blue & just talk to him ‘cause that’s what I do on a daily basis.

HOW DID YOU BECOME CONVICTED JESUS IS THE REAL DEAL, THAT IS WHO HE SAID HE WAS?

Hadassa:  Well in my church, The Brooklyn Tabernacle, we have a kid church & in church we sometimes have a worship Sunday & on that worship Sunday we sing praise & worship songs.  And then some teachers would give like testimonies & it happened like every few songs so after every few songs like a few teachers would come tell their testimony & they all say how when they were like in a different hard place that they met someone or a friend of theirs told them about Jesus Christ & they went to church one day & they prayed & they asked for forgiveness & they were in the church.  So I didn’t think it was a coincidence so I went to one of the teachers & I told her & she, you know, I told her how I felt & then that’s how I really knew Jesus Christ is real.

Hope:  I like, in church, in our church BT Kids, like they’re always talking about like Genesis.  And earlier this year we had this thing called BTKUG.  It stand for BT Genesis, like BT Kids Genesis.  And so they have this thing where every Sunday they would give us like a paper, every Sunday they’d give us a paper & we have to study it for like the whole week & when we go back to church on Sunday we would say it to like the stand & we would get like a sticker.  And the day of the competition we have to say like all the 5 main subjects & so that’s how you get into the competition.  And I entered into the competition. And in the competition, well people were asking us the questions, I was learning more & more & I didn’t get the questions that I didn’t know.  And at the end I turned out winning like the whole competition. And I learned that if Jesus or God wasn't here, then we wouldn’t be here, there would just be like an earth like here, just sitting here like nothing on the earth.

Hannah:  Ok so recently I went to a retreat with my church & on the retreat one of the leaders that were on stage called me up to pray for someone that was sick & this happened before during regular Sunday but it happened this time.  And I went up & yes I prayed, but after I questioned the teacher & asked her why did that main teacher always pick me to pray.  And then she told me that “you were gifted that you have a gift from God”.  And I always wondered like “why me though?” & after I went to speak to that teacher that always use to pick me & I use to wonder like “why, who am I praying to?”  Like I’m not just praying to go up onstage & make everybody look at me & close their eyes, I was praying to someone that can answer prayers that can actually heal people.  And that’s when I knew that Jesus is real because he helped people that I was praying for & I heard good news.

WHY DO PEOPLE NEED JESUS?

Hannah:  People need Jesus because Jesus is the only way that we can really forget about our sins, or not forget about them, but get forgiveness for them because if no one had Jesus we’d just be people who live & die & you know go to hell.  So people need Jesus to save them to be their redeemer to be in their lives.

Hope:  People need Jesus because like Jesus is the only to go to heaven.  And a lot of people need Jesus in their life because there’s things that’s going on in their life & they just want to like wish to like make it go away.  But you need Jesus because he will help your problems & he’s just a way, to you know someone to talk to when you’re feeling sad, or yah.

Hadassa:  I believe people need Jesus because he's uh, he’s a person, uh a spirit, that just, he’s there for you & he forgave us for everything that we’ve done & everything that we’re about to do.  Because our lives have just begun & there’s a lot that he’s forgiven us for already & we don’t even know about it.  So I think people need Jesus because he knows us all personally, more than we know ourselves & even if we did all these bad things he still can forgive us.  So I think we just need Jesus because he’s there & he loves us all.

WHAT IS THE ONE THING ABOUT JEUSUS YOU WISH EVERYONE UNDERSTOOD OR KNEW?

Hadassa:  I think, I wish people knew his love for them because he loves us unconditionally.  And a lot of people don’t, they feel they’re like abandoned & left out & no one loves them & no one cares for them but I just want them to know there’s a person, there’s someone who wants them to know who he is & wants them to be with him forever.

Hope:  I wish people knew that Jesus was like there & Jesus was like always with them because like a lot of people they don’t know Jesus & they always have these big thing like behind them that they always drag with them, like their sins & if they want like their sins to be washed away they need Jesus because Jesus died on the cross for us & he shed his blood.  And yah I just wish people knew that Jesus is with them & they don’t have to worry about anything bad.

Hannah:  I wish everyone knew that Jesus forgave them for everything because some people believe that you need to be good to go to heaven or for Jesus to accept you because no one in this world is perfect, everyone has sins so there’s no way that we just get into heaven, you know by just being ourselves.  So this Sunday actually I went to church & they talked about Jesus coming back & everybody, everybody else was so excited & I was really, really sad because I thought that Jesus only forgave me for my sins in the past & like the things that I haven’t done, like if I did a sin & then a couple hours later Jesus came back I wouldn’t go to heaven.  So after the service was finished I went to go talk to the main, what its called, the main counselor there & I told her this & I started crying because I really want to go to heaven because I love God & I love Jesus & I just want to see them one day.  So I told her that & then she said “do you understand, I mean did you give your life to Christ?” and I said “yes”.  She said “do you understand that the only way to go to heaven is through Jesus”?  And I was like “yes”.  And then she said “do you also know that Jesus forgave you for things that you did in the past & things that you haven’t done already that he knows?” and I said “no”.  And that’s what’s been on my heart, that if I did something & that Jesus came back I wouldn’t go.  So she told me “also don’t take this fore granted because just because Jesus forgave you for the past, the present & the future you shouldn’t sin & just say oh God is gonna forgive me.  Just keep it in check like what you do & if you do something just go to God & ask him for forgiveness for that sin”.  And she also said because I have God’s gift of prayer that the Devil would come after me more & like tempt me more so that I just be like careful & keep upright.