Deb (Sandberg) Murtagh
* BIO & Statement of Belief *

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        I am one of the founding members of Phoenix ALIVE! Christian Ministries (PACM), and the sister of Rebecca Sherry Lynn Sandberg Michael (who is the President of our ministry). We grew up in Vancouver, BC, Canada, but I have been living in the USA for over 20 years.

        I was born November 3, 1957 ... oh oh, I think I just gave away my age ... I am now 48 (soon to be 49 ~ on November 3, 2006). I grew up as most city kids did at the time. My teenage years were taking place just as the hippy era was *flowering*, I loved rock music (and still do, although now it's called *Classic Rock* but I do find myself more and more moving away from that as I draw closer to God). I have to say that throughout my young (& adult) life I've always felt God around me. I will atest here and now that when I was about six years old I saw Angels ... one cannot dismiss God as non-existant when such a thing happens!

        When I was around 18 years old, I gave my life to Christ. The whys and wherefores aren't so important since I feel I've always known God, it was a natural step to give my life to Him. There was no drum roll, no fan fair ... but when I did so I felt a certain peace that only other Christians can relate to. Nothing happened instantly, as the saying goes, "Time wounds all heels", and so it was for me. As a matter of a fact, I wasn't even baptized until about the age of 21 (in a Baptist church). I know God was with me all that time but I wasn't called to baptism until I'd grown in the spirit awhile. Giving ones life to Christ shouldn't be construed as some form of instant change, I was still a teenager, still doing the things teenagers do, but now I was at least aware of when I was sinning and I made an effort to make it right with God by confessing my sin & shortcomings and asking for forgiveness ... and more importantly for His help so that I could stop that particular sin. I have been growing in the spirit for some 30+ years now :o}

        My life has been an exciting rollercoaster ride for which most of it I dare not go into at this time. What really matters through it all is that I've found God, I know the Lord Jesus Christ intimately as my Savior ... I know He gave His life for me that I may live eternally. I know that the Holy Spirit resides within me and that without Him I could not hope to know God or understand His plan for my life. I know my life belongs to God, it always has ... even if I've not been aware of it at times. I know that in the spiritual sense I need to get out of the driver's seat of my spiritual car and let Jesus drive ... He will not steer me wrong (as I so tragically do when I do the driving). I encourage you to do likewise. Do you know what God's love is? It's summed up in 1 Cor 13:4-7 ...


        God is bringing me into a new phase of life. I'm told to get past the 'milk drinking' stage (in which I was learning of Him or just plain lazy or scared to go further) and get on to 'solid food' and teach of Him. I believe time is getting short and that it's imparative that we reach out to others and bring them to Him ... Jesus said, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." -- Matt 28:19-20 (NASV) This is a loud call and thus our Phoenix ALIVE! Christian Ministry is born, not of us but of God! Christ has called me to the ministry as surely as he called the Apostles, and other believers, before me ... I will answer the call to the best of my ability for I know that God is righteous in all that He does.

        Listen, did you know ...

• You cannot understand God, or His holy word ~ the Bible, without asking Jesus Christ to come into your life ... it will seem as foolishness to you. "But people who aren't Christians can't understand these truths from God's Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them because only those who HAVE the Spirit can understand what the Spirit means." -- 1 Cor 2:14 (NLT) {emphasis on the word HAVE in the scriptural quote above is mine} The reason for this is that if you knew God was *real* you would obey Him without question or reservation ... and certainly not of your own free will as you'd likely be terrified of Him. What kind of Father would want a child's love because of terror or fear? God wants you to come to Him by faith and of your own free will, and only then will He reveal Himself to you because you have come to Him and asked Him to! 

I'm sure my own father would not want me to love him just because he's my dad ... he would want me to come to him, trust in him, believe in him because it is my own free will to do so ... and so I do, even though at this point in time he is not a Christian, I do as the bible tells me and that is to honor my father AND my mother that my days may be long on the earth, that's one of the 10 commandments! (Exo 20:12 & also Deu 5:16) ... but above that, my honor for my carnal parents in the here and now is a mere reflection of my love and honor of my spiritual Father God. 

Dad, I pray for you daily ... please come to Christ ... please. Trust me, I have NO REASON to hurt or mislead you! I gain nothing by you coming to God, aside from the assurance that we'll see each other again in the spirit. You are the only one in our family nucleus that I will not see in heaven (if you continue on your path of denial) ... what a tragedy for both of us since you are the one who has influenced my life the longest (aside from Sherry who is already a Christian) ... you mean the world to me Dad. I do so pray that you *see the light* ... I ask the Lord to grant us that ... amen!

• You must confess Jesus as the LIVING Son of God who died and rose from the dead. Ask Jesus to come into your life and heart, confess your sins, and publicly show you have given your life to Christ, and you need to be baptized! See here: "For if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." -- Rom 10:9 (NLT), Jesus said, "If anyone acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I will openly acknowledge that person before my Father in heaven." -- Matt 10:32 (NLT) and "Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned." -- Mark 16:16 (NLT) and "Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." -- Acts 2:38 (NKJV)
  

• Once you've given your life to Jesus, He will indeed come in to you, that very instant, in the form of the Holy Spirit and then you are *born again* and begin your amazing journey into eternity. "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me." -- Rev 3:20 (NASV) The Lord here is saying that He's standing at the door (of your heart) and knocking ... He is making His presence known ... if you open the door (of your heart) to Him and let Him in, He will come into you and will share his table of spiritual food with you. You cannot receive His spiritual food (understanding of the things of the spirit) without allowing Him into your life. You must do this freely of your own will. The term *born again* refers to being reborn a new, eternal creature in the spirit. 

        Some would say being a Christian is a crutch, to you I say that you too have your *crutch* and you alone know what that is. But, can you say your crutch promises (and delivers) eternal life? Did your crutch die for you so that you can live eternally? I think not ... no other religious leader has ever *died for you* ... Christ alone did that. Your crutch may be money, or alcohol, or cigarettes, or drugs (none of which are healthy or life GIVING, on the contrary they are life TAKING, all of which are earthly ... not eternal), or some other thing or person you worship or live for ... none of those bring you life eternal, they are only temporary for the physical! My hope is that you will give your life to God, the only SURE & TRUE source of ALL life and creation. He accepts you ONLY if you come to Him by accepting His Son, Jesus Christ, as your Lord & Savior.

        This next bit is harsh but it needs to be said ...

        To the *atheist* (and to all who profess there is no God), speaking in terms of life itself, if there is NO God and there is no life AFTER this physical existance, then why should people be good? Why not go forth and rape, pillage, plunder, claw your way to the top and trample into the ground everyone who gets in your way and further, teach your children to do the same? Why not murder your neighbor because their dog soils your lawn or barks too much, for that matter why not do the dog in too!? Why not walk into the grocery store and just take what you want without paying for it? Why not just gas up and take off? If you have nothing to live for AFTER your existance here then why be honest, why be good, why honor your parents, why teach your children moral standards? Why not live your short existence to the fullest ... enjoy life, do whatever pleases you? Sadly some do, but those that do don't lay claim to solely being atheist! Think about it, atheism makes absolutely no sense ...

        It makes no sense to say there is no God, yet a good majority of you teach your children moral values (what for?) and observe Christian holidays like Christmas, the day we choose to celebrate Christ's birthday, and Easter, the day of Christ's death & resurrection!? Talk about being hypocritical! How can you say there is no God? How can you subscribe to *the big bang* ... theory? You like the idea that we come from slime in the ocean, and over time *evolved* into apes and then ape men and finally mankind as we know it? What is YOUR proof? You side with a so-called sciencific viewpoint, a 'hypothesis' or 'theory', that you've chosen to make YOUR gospel!? You have a god, it's just the WRONG GOD ... it's a god of your own choosing, it's a god you've made up to suit yourself so that you can continue to live the way you want to live. You may think that's OK but it's not, your god will last to your grave (or your conversion to Christ which I truly hope is the case).

        My GOD IS GOD, He is the ONLY true God and He has been around since the beginning and will be here through eternity ... and beyond! My God teaches me to love, be compassionate, help those in need, give, do good (in short, to obey the 10 commandments to the best of my ability) ... believe in His Son Jesus Christ, my Lord & Savior (who died to pay the price of my sins & yours) ... all good and honorable things. Your god teaches you self gratification, do your own thing, take what is yours ... none of which is good or honorable. Your god, call him what you want ... money, alcohol ... satan, the devil, is leading you to eternal death and you are following along as though you had a ring in your nose. You've heard it said, "leading the bull by the nose" ... your god is bull that's for sure, and it's leading you by the nosering to your eternal sorrow. Your god is as much a crutch to you as you think my God is to me ... only I've invited my God to be my crutch! What's your excuse? Ask me about my God, I will tell you ... but have an open mind & heart, ears to hear and eyes to see ... I pray this for you!

        What sins did I break? What exactly IS sin? I'm glad you asked! Sin is the breaking of the 10 Commandments (laws of God) as seen in the Bible in Exodus 20. The 10 Commandments are as alive, vibrant & relevant today as the day God carved them out of a mountain with His own finger ... in a nutshell, they are:


        Isn't THIS the very thing we try to teach our children (believers & non-believers alike)!? Don't for a moment think that only non-believers have broken these, we've ALL broken them, on a daily basis we've broken at least one a day in thought, word or deed! "For the wages of sin [is] death; but the gift of God [is] eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Rom 6:23 (KJV) Yes, our bodies still die, this is not the death Christ conquered ... He conquered spiritual death, or better described as eternal separation from God the Creator. This is why Jesus gave His life for us, this is how He made atonement for OUR sins. He Himself was sinless! He took on the punishment we rightfully should have. Not only did He pay our *fine* but He promises us everlasting life if we choose to follow Him! How can you go wrong with that kind of offer???

        Ask Jesus to come into your life, ask Him to forgive you of your sins (the willful breaking of the 10 commandments), repent, believe that Jesus IS the LIVING Son of God and has by His own free will given His own life a ransom for yours ... He DIED FOR YOU so that you may live (eternally) ... He paid for your sins, indeed the sins of the whole world, with his own innocent life's blood.

        What a beautiful sacrifice He gave ... what a marvelous gift! Think about it, is there anyone in your life that you love so much that if need be you'd give your life in place of theirs??? Christ loves us THAT MUCH! He paid the wages of our sins, all you have to do is ask Him to come in to you and allow you to know His Grace and Love ... and thereafter His Eternity! You won't regret it ... I promise! Jesus has arisen from the grave, He IS ALIVE and well, and He promises to do the same for you!