06/23/2026
A blog from Glenn Rogers
I Am Glad I Asked
Recently, where I preached at a church on the coastal side of our Network we had a joyous experience that could have easily and tragically been missed. This church even with 3 services on Sunday morning still makes time for a “come forward” invitation and also calls for prayer at the Altar.
So, after of course referencing the tenets of the Gospel in the message I explained how to respond as we began the invitation. When I asked for response a senior lady came forward to me with a prayer request, which we later prayed over. BUT before that I asked as usual, “Are you certain that you have a permanent and personal relationship to the Lord Jesus?” Considering the depth and spiritual nature of her initial prayer request her answer surprised me, well a little. She said, “no, I think about that every day”. She called “on the name of the Lord” with me in prayer and tears. It was glorious of course.
After the service we sat down together to get the back story and talk about assurance and baptism. She had an extensive church background and had recently just began “getting back in church”, but still needed Jesus!
Well, I am glad I asked. I am glad God has burned it in my heart TO ASK! I would say that in personal or church evangelism settings at least HALF of the people I ask about “assurance of salvation” express serious doubts. This I have seen for over fifty years. I will note that maybe 15 – 20 % of those with doubts I judge to be saved but needed to gain assurance. Most were still, religious, sometimes serving in church, but lost and some simple caring questions revealed this. I am glad I still ask. Do you?
This next brief story will sound stunning to some but according to our Savior as recorded in Matthew 7:21-23 it SHOULD NOT BE!
While on the platform of the Tallahassee Billy Graham crusade in 1986, I ended up sitting right beside the former Manager of the New York Yankees (name withheld here). He had just given his moving testimony of God healing him of cancer. I am a lifelong Yankees fan so I was thrilled to talk with him and could have been “star struck” by this man whom I had seen on TV many times who just shared about what God was doing in his life before thousands of people. But, I AM GLAD I ASKED him about his conversion experience and assurance. He had almost NO clear thoughts on it and began to weep as we talked. He said that he struggled with this often even mightily as he prepared to speak today. He knew was that God loved him and healed him but that was about it. See John 9 for a similar story and familiar pattern of the ways of our Lord.
That man prayed to receive Christ with me right on the platform of the Billy Graham crusade after he just sat through a great sermon. It was glorious yet I have learned not to be surprised by this. Jesus used a lot of questions with a lot of people. He cared enough to ask. I AM GLAD I ASKED, Do you ask?
Glenn Rogers
