Thursday, August 5, 2010

Faith

Going to college is one of the most trying times for a Christian. It is often the time students leave their parents and begin life on their own. College throws temptations out there: drugs, alcohol, etc. It throws the temptations of not doing things out as well. The decision whether to attend church or not is in the student's hands. It is at this time that most make their faith their own.

I was "saved" during high school. I grew up in the church to some degree. I did not attend regularly, but I did go to Sunday School at my grandparents church every now and then. After my sixth grade year my parents and I moved to Conway.

All of this time I knew about God. I did not deny his existence. I believed in heaven, I believed in hell. I even had a desire to know more, and even go to church. But during middle school when one of my friends asked me to go to church with him I kept making excuses. I was nervous about the dress and things like that on a Wednesday night. I had never been before.
 


Finally, my ninth grade year, he convinced me to go. It wasn't bad. It wasn't what I expected. I liked it. So I started going to youth group on Wednesday nights. Eventually I started going to Sunday morning services. That lasted maybe 6 months or so. Then the youth pastor left to start another church. I stuck around a little while, but without a new youth pastor, ended up leaving the church to try and find another.

I was never able to find one quite right for me. My eleventh grade year, some of my friends that still went to that church told me they had a new youth pastor. I went back and again loved the group. I stuck around again. And I am so glad I did.

In the youth group we talked a lot about missions. I began to feel a tug on my heart in that direction, but I knew I had to get some stuff straightened out first. I knew that I did not know enough about the bible. I began to realize the reason I had some of the depressed feelings was because of sin in my life.

One Sunday morning the pastor used an analogy to describe our relationship with Christ. He said that Salvation was like a life preserver. A person could fall overboard on a ship and a shipmate might throw a preserver. The victim can know all day long it will keep him afloat, but unless he actually makes an effort and grabs hold he is drowning. I hadn't grabbed hold of Christ yet. I was in that stage of just knowing facts about him. It was time to grab hold.

I was saved during my senior year of high school, after calling myself a Christian my entire life. And there were so many times before then that I should have died. One of the things that will forever stick in my mind happened one November (or December) during what must have been my eighth or ninth grade year. We were preparing to go hunting so my Dad sent me upstairs to pack the guns. One of them was a .22 revolver.

I wanted to make sure it wasn't loaded so being a stupid kid I cocked the gun. I had it pointed in every direction, including my face. I tried to see inside the revolver whether it was loaded but could not tell. I eventually pointed it forward, away from me, the ceiling and the floor and pulled the trigger. It fired.

That is just one story where I should have died. But God had other plans. In the summer of 2007 I went on my first mission trip. I made another decision after returning. On August 5, 2007 I was baptized. A few weeks later I embarked on a new journey: college.

to be continued... (Part 2, tomorrow)

No comments:

Post a Comment

Please leave your comments about the topic or post!!! :)