church groups Testimonials

I started using ONE on ONE with GOD in 1982 in a country church in Oklahoma and continue to use it and recommend its use over and over.

I particularly enjoy leading those Christians who have been around a long time but have never made a commitment to be a disciple. It is a great joy to see them bloom under the simple yet deep teachings of Scripture explained in ONE on ONE.

Phil B.

Pastor

I had the privilege of going through ONE on ONE with GOD in 1990.

I believe the Holy Spirit used ONE on ONE to change my life in a dramatic way.

ONE on ONE with GOD gave me an appreciation of how much God loves me as an individual and a real sense that God has good plans for me in His kingdom. It gave me a desire to read and study His Word and challenged me to apply that Word to my life. Most importantly, it allowed me to realize that God has a purpose for me in His kingdom. It gave me an appreciation for how God is at work in this world and challenged me to get involved. It transformed me from a Christian sitting on the sidelines to one who now tries to participate in the Lord’s work daily.

I have taken several men through ONE on ONE and have seen the Holy Spirit begin to transform their lives during the course of the fifteen-week study. I continue to use illustrations and diagrams contained in the course in Sunday school and Bible study lessons.

I heartily recommend ONE on ONE with GOD to Christians in all stages of their walk with the Lord. The truths I learned in this study allow me to see the world through God’s eyes each day, and the principles I learned continue to challenge me to be involved in the Lord’s work, no matter where I am.

M.D.

Medical doctor

The best words to use to describe my life after completing ONE on ONE with GOD would be renewed or revitalized toward my quiet times.

I made the commitment to a daily quiet time a long time ago, but I had gotten lazy with it. I am now re-committed to doing it more faithfully. I am more mindful of why I spend time with the Lord. I am also more eager to memorize Scripture.

Cheryl P.

God has done a work in my life.

He has drawn me closer to Him, and I have begun talking about Jesus to my lost friends and ministering to them out of His Word. He has also drawn me closer to Christian friends. I can see His hand in my everyday life, and I can see in His Word comfort and direction in what areas I need to improve.

Steve P.

When I began ONE on ONE with GOD, I was aware of the importance of God’s Word and studying it, but I did not have any idea of the great principles I would learn from the study.

Learning to ponder, picture, and pray Scripture was the single best thing for me since it made meditation a practical, simple procedure. I also benefited greatly from practicing the Principle of Displacement and learning to encourage myself in the Lord. The interactive Bible studies were also helpful in exposing me to the Word at a hands-on level.

B.Y.

At the beginning of ONE on ONE with GOD, I did not feel confident or knowledgeable about many aspects of Christianity.

I was concerned about my daughter, who did not attend church even though she had a religious upbringing. But now I feel equipped to approach her and share what I have learned.

E.C.

Before I started ONE on ONE with GOD, I was committed to God and church but not to daily Bible reading and saturation of my life with God’s Word.

I did not see the true value of daily Bible reading, study, and meditation. I did not focus on Jesus or have a clear purpose for reading, studying, meditating, praying, and memorizing Scripture. I had never made any effort to memorize Scripture, and I had not taken a lot of God’s Word from my head to my heart.

After finishing the course, God’s Word seems fresh and new. My relationship to Jesus is more personal. I have been able to memorize Scripture, which has helped me to hide Scripture in my heart. My heart is more sensitive as a result. I have a new picture of Jesus and a new focus and purpose.

Randy L.

I took ONE on ONE with GOD around three years ago while living in Spain.

It changed my life. That relationship with God and discipline and intimacy only get stronger day by day. Now, three years later, I am teaching the class. There are five women in my group, and their lives are changing before my eyesŠ—_ Thank you so much for your wisdom put to paper to teach others.

T.H.

My wife and I so appreciated participating in ONE on ONE with GOD.

The experience was very meaningful under your leadership. We are both determined to follow through on the things you taught usŠ—”chiefly the determination to carry out Bible study, etc.

R.M.

I am happy to bear witness to the tremendous value of the discipleship tool ONE on ONE with GOD as developed, with God’s guidance, by Jerry and Marilyn Fine.

My wife and I have been led to a tremendous walk with the Lord and have been blessed to disciple others in Maine and northern Virginia.

I spent many years of my life as a baby Christian because no one had discipled and taught me the many truths of Scripture. In 1987 and early 1988, I began to pray that God would show me the way to have the close walk with Christ that some in our church seemed to have. My prayers were answered when I was coaxed into attending discipleship training with Jerry Fine. Immediately my life was changed as I started each and every day fellowshipping with the Lord. As Jerry put it, he was Š—“just one beggar showing another beggar where to find bread.Š— As a Navy pilot I now found that the Navy and its worldly way were no longer important. Since taking ONE on ONE with GOD, I have found that the real purpose in life is to know Jesus. To start my day without first spending time with the Creator would be like taking off in my airplane without enough fuel to land.

The most important aspect about ONE on ONE is that it prompts God’s chosen to disciple others. My wife and I have discipled in Maine, Iceland, Greenland, and northern Virginia. In all instances God blessed our efforts by allowing us to see Him at work in the lives of others as well as our own.

ONE on ONE with GOD is full of Scripture and easy, childlike explanations of God’s plans and desires for our walk with Him. My wife and I strongly believe that ONE on ONE is God’s own inspired tool for training and strengthening believers and winning the lost.

S.S.

Navy pilot

My wife and I have been members of Jerry and Marilyn Fine’s church for over twenty years and have either gone through ONE on ONE with GOD or led the study ourselves on a number of occasions.

We have found the study to be very helpful in our own lives and also in the lives of those we have discipled. I think some of the strengths of ONE on ONE are the following:

1. This is a study whose primary focus is on the personal relationship between the disciple and Jesus Christ. While there certainly are procedural and mechanical aspects to what one does during this study, the overriding focus and thrust of the material is to build the individual’s relationship with the Lord.

2. ONE on ONE offers the disciples some relatively easy tools and methods by which they may seek God and deepen their relationship with Him.

3. There is a proper emphasis on the working out of the Christian life, being the fruit of a personal relationship with the Lord through Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.

4. The fifteen-week time frame and the general depth of the study make this an easily manageable endeavor for the new believer, yet it is also edifying for those more mature in the faith.

F.D.

Medical doctor

God found me at the beginning of ONE on ONE with GOD fearful and full of worry.

Over the past seven months He has done a tremendous work in me, shedding light on His truths. The truths that I have come to trust and believe far surpass the lies I was believing! I praise God for the growth He has given me and the desire to progressively know Him more intimately!

J.H.

When I began ONE on ONE with GOD, I knew it was a good idea to read my Bible, but I didn’t know why.

I felt like a failure if missed a week or more in my Bible, so I wouldn’t make a commitment. I thought of Jesus rarely throughout my day.

Now I am more disciplined in reading my Bible daily. I know why I read it daily: so that God can speak to me. I know every day is a new day, and I realize my responsibility to share Jesus. I now have a desire to think on Jesus continually and to share Him with others.

C.O.

When I started ONE on ONE with GOD, I was very stubborn and unwilling to submit to God’s control.

I am still struggling with this issue, but I feel like this is a decision I want to make for my life more and more every day. I see the way, and I want to follow Him. But it is not easy for me. I think for some people who hit rock bottom it is easy to trust God because they have no way to go but up. For me I am kind of stuck in a comfort zone. I have paradise and God’s peace as my goal, but often I turn away or fall away from the goal and land in the comfort zone where I have always been. I know the right from the wrong and the truth from the lie. I just don’t always choose the right. I have a lot of guilt, and I know that I don’t have to feel this shame if I will truly give control to God. I want to be baptized, and I choose to acquire a stronger desire to submit myself to God.

W.M.

Before I began this session of ONE on ONE with GOD, I was unsure of my ability to understand all of God’s Word and make it personal.

Now I am not afraid of the genealogies and the lists of foreign names. They have meaning for me.

I also really wanted to do this session to support two friends who were ready for this discipleship training. I really worried, especially about one, that she was only trying to please me by studying God’s Word. I wanted her to love God’s Word and God independent of our relationship. I have been so blessed to see her grow and learn.

I am anxious to teach and introduce this tool to others. I loved leading the class because I felt I learned so much more!

A.

When God first found me fifteen weeks ago, I lacked knowledge and was apprehensive.

I enjoyed learning more and more about God throughout the duration of our time together in ONE on ONE with GOD. I am comfortable with my prayer time and more confident reading on my own. I know what a true Christian is now, and I try my hardest to be filled with love even though it can be difficult. I am a firm believer in Jesus now and am not afraid to talk about God with people. I have learned an immeasurable amount of wisdom and truth in this class.

J.M.

Fifteen weeks ago, God found me struggling to decide how to make the decision to move toward Him.

He probably earnestly desired for me to break through into a disciplined life, but He still saw me struggling and intensely confused at times. He saw me beat myself up constantly and probably desired that I would not do that, but He may have been letting me sink deeper and deeper until I came to a point where I surrendered it all to Him.

ONE on ONE with GOD has been tough for me. Most weeks I’ve not fulfilled all obligations, and I don’t know if God is pleased or displeased with my performance. I understand that I am the one who is missing out. But I am very much more aware of my need for Him and know that He speaks through His Word. How can He speak if I don’t read? I have been made aware of the need for discipline and study, but it seems that I have failed in following through. Yet I’m still trusting in Him.

J.O.

Fifteen weeks ago I was struggling to have a consistent, organized daily Bible reading.

My prayer life was consistent. My scripture memory was nonexistent. I loved God and had given Him control of every area of my life, yet I was not being tied into His instruction (through time in the Word) to establish the permanent foundation I desired.

Now I’m in the Word daily. My prayer life is still consistent. I have developed the habit of waking up early every morning to spend time with Him. My scripture memory is developing, and I’ve memorized about twenty-five verses. I want to become more disciplined and consistent in this area. My wife knows that I am doing all I can to be the spiritual leader in our home. I am realizing my own call to ministry in the workplace and in the lives of people I come in contact with. I am looking for God to bring some men for me to disciple. I have developed a stronger love for God than I’ve ever known for an extended period of time.

G.H.

I have had a unique opportunity to observe the effectiveness of ONE on ONE with GOD, both as a layman and as a minister of education.

My own life has been significantly influenced by the principles and training concepts in this workbook.

I first encountered ONE on ONE in about 1975, before it had been codified in workbook form. At that time, Jerry Fine invited me to meet with him each week and allow him to share with me some of the things God had been teaching him. Little did I realize that this was the beginning of a process through which God would move me from serving as a layman to full-time vocational Christian service. Although I had been a Christian since grade school and had remained active in serving Christ in the church, my faith was more of discipline and commitment than love and motivation. Through this course I began to understand that Christ first wanted to develop a personal relationship with me based on love. As this personal relationship with Christ began to develop, my attitude and focus began to change. I began to obey God out of a heart of love, and He began to build some significant principles into my life:

1. Jesus desires a personal relationship with me, and the motivation for service comes from falling in love with Jesus.

2. I must continually saturate my life with God’s Word.

3. I must continually saturate my life with prayer. God wants prayer to be a constant, continual, and ongoing part of my life.

4. I must saturate my life with loveŠ—”God’s kind of love. As I learned to saturate my life with love, it strengthened my self-image and my relationship with other believers and caused me to have a greater desire to see the lost come to know Christ as personal Lord and Savior.

Over the next three to four years, I began to train other men, and I saw ministry multiply as men I had trained began to walk with God and to significantly invest in our church. As my own spiritual gifts and ministry began to develop and grow, God gave me increasing responsibility at my church, and I was eventually called as a full-time staff member.

ONE on ONE is equally helpful to new Christians and to Christians who have known the Lord for many years. New believers learn to develop the lifestyle of a growing relationship with Christ and are taught the principles underlying the methods of spiritual disciplines. Mature believers, many of whom are like me, have often been exposed to many spiritual methods but have missed the principles and heart commitments underlying those methods; it is refreshing to watch them come to life as they begin to understand these principles. Mature believers who already understand these principles appreciate ONE on ONE because it is an effective method by which they can train other people.

The ONE on ONE workbook and leader’s guide are laid out in a clear, easy-to-use format. As long as a person is one or two lessons ahead, he or she can begin the process of discipling another person.

In short, ONE on ONE with GOD is effective with Christians at all stages of their development, develops committed leaders, and builds disciple-makers.

Bob S.

Minister

I want to try to put into words how God has used ONE on ONE with GOD in my life since I went through it three years ago.

At the time I had been a Christian for seventeen years but had just begun to seek a deeper relationship with God a few years earlier. I was having devotions fairly regularly, but they lacked direction and were sort of haphazard. Going through ONE on ONE with GOD was like cleaning a window. I had never before learned how to actually study the Bible. I didn’t know the difference between adoration and thanksgiving in my prayers, and I had never experienced a real thirst for the Word before.

For some time after the study was over, I kept having the thought that the women in our church should have the opportunity to learn some of these things, too, but I certainly didn’t feel I was qualified to lead a Bible study and didn’t act on these promptings. But after having two different women ask me about the study and suggest I lead it, I felt the Holy Spirit might be giving me a gentle shove. So last year I led the study. I don’t fully know just how God has used it in the lives of the women who attended, but one dear lady told me just a few weeks ago that she would like to go through it again this year and that I will never know what it has meant to her.

I have often thought that the authors of ONE on ONE with GOD must have spent many hours praying over it because it is so effective. My relationship with God is much deeper and stronger now, and I truly desire to serve Him. He is leading me in new areas I didn’t think I could go! Praise God for the work He is completing in me and the way He has used this study in that process.

B.F.