This is My Story I was raised in a Christian home with parents that were very involved at church. We were always at church! My parents instilled in my brother and myself at a very early age that God and church was an important part of our lives. It didn’t matter if there was a thunderstorm or a hurricane outside, my mom made sure that we went to church and were on-time for Sunday School. In fact, I remember doing so well in Sunday School that one Sunday my teacher had me teach the class! Time went on and as I began my teenage years, I accepted Jesus as my savior at a youth meeting and shortly after got water baptized. It was an awesome time in my life, however it was short lived. I would love to tell you that from that point on I lived a good God-fearing life, but as time passed, my rebellious years began. I knew how to play “church”. I was one way at church and a totally different person at school. Trying to fit in, I had such a filthy mouth - every other word was a swear word. As time continued I looked to violence to let out my aggression and anger. Speaking in “colorful” language and being able to fight sure got me friends, but not with the right crowd. While this took place Monday to Friday, on Sunday I was different. I continued going to Sunday School like any good Christian, sang all the songs, listened to the preacher and went home. No change! During the later part of my teenage years, with the constant nagging of my youth leaders, I signed up for a weekend youth convention at Queen’s University. It was there the Holy Spirit began to work in my heart. All day Saturday, I was a hot mess. They had so many activities for the youth to do between sessions but I headed back to my dorm with a youth leader. I shared with him all the things that I was involved in back at school. He began to pray for me and I remember the thought of how hard it would be to actually change my ways and all the friends that I would end up losing came to my mind. At that moment, I felt the Holy Spirit tell me that it was going to be okay and that He would give me strength. The evening session on that Saturday totally rocked my world. To this day, I can’t tell you who the guest speaker was and what He was speaking on, but I remember sitting in the bleachers of the arena, with an overwhelming feeling of God’s love for me. To think that He loved me despite the double life I was living gripped my heart with emotion. I knew that I had to change. At that altar call, still no clue what that call was actually for, I rededicated my life to follow Jesus. There began a transformation that forever changed my life. I knew that He loved me. Despite all the mess I was in, my life and what I did with it mattered to Him. There is so much more but I will stop here for now. Blessings, Pastor Mark Reach Out and Creative Arts
Posted on: Sat, 10 May 2014 07:30:55 +0000
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