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I
asked Stephen to write an article on what “church” means to him.
Stephen is a gifted young man of almost 21 years at this writing.
Like all young men, he has aspirations for the future which, at the
moment, is to finish a couple of years of college at
Golden
State
Baptist
College
in
San Jose
,
California
. Since graduation from high
school, Stephen, the youngest of four siblings and his mother’s baby, is
in the process of building character with a view to full time Christian
service. He currently has
aspirations to, someday, start a church in
Maine
, the state of his nativity. However,
that is down the road a ways! His
spiritual sensitivity and desire for a good work is illuminating his path
and he is learning that seeing the path and walking it are not the same.
Our church, his mother and I are proud of him.
Stephen, is a gifted artist and somewhat of a computer nerd. He
designed the cover for my book, Soul Winning, Step by Step available on
our church website. This is
Stephen’s literary debut on a public forum.
The Stephen we know and love comes out in his developing style.
We hope you enjoy his thoughts.
RSB
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Church
not only has been the key to my way of life, but also to my thought
process. I was saved when I was four and baptized at the local church. I
have attended church services since I was born. Growing
up in church made following God very easy or should I say easier than if I
had been saved later on in life. You see, I do not remember being taught
all of the Bible stories, I cannot even tell you what church I was
attending when I learned of them, I can just tell you that I learned them
in church and at our family’s devotional time, which we called “Family
Time”. There was a
time, for about five silent years, that I did not attend Church services.
When I finally attended Church services again, the teachers and
preachers talked about the Bible and I knew what they were talking about.
I did not know specifics, but I could carry on a conversation. I saw kids
that were my age, kids whom I thought knew ten times as much Bible as I,
but they didn’t because they went to church later on in life. What I
learned in my childhood, paved the way for my life as a Christian. If
it had not been for my church, I would not have the mindset of a
Christian. In fact, I would be
the exact opposite. I never believed the Bible to be anything but the King
James Bible. You didn’t have to argue with me about God the Father, God
the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. As
a child, I learned most of my beliefs of the Bible in church. You may ask
“Stephen, why are you writing this?” Well,
the answer is that I need my church, which is not just any church, but a
good fundamental Bible believing church. Now my definition of church is, I
believe, not what most people think. I
can sit next to Christians all day long in a building and nothing will
happen. Church is a called out assembly to me. Called out for a reason and
being separated unto God. I have been in churches where it is just a bunch
of Christians running around and nothing happens, but the ones that have
been influential to me have been the ones that are called out assemblies,
learning what God has for them from Gods man, fellowship, teachers, and
friends. In
Exodus 18
, Moses’ father in law told Moses he would wear away if he did it alone.
So he told Moses in verse 20, “And thou shalt teach them ordinances and
laws, and shalt shew them the way wherein they must walk, and the work
that they must do. Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able
men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such
over them, to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of
fifties, and rulers of tens.” Now I put that in to say this, it has not
only been one man that has taught me the way in which I need to walk but
able men and women over the years. Church members who care enough about
the future generations, teaching, and showing how we ought to live. Not
just the Pastor. I have many teachers tell me what to do. Sometimes, I
learn more from a conversation after the services than during the message.
Brother Hyles once said that all men are my teachers meaning that you can
learn something from anybody, if you want to, but what better place than
the church and what better people to learn from than God’s people. We
need each other to learn, grow, and to give each other strength. My best
friends are people I met in church. There was a man named Larry, an older
man, who taught me a lot. He was a very dear friend to me. I met him in
church and I loved to get together with him to get as much information out
of him as I could and I also just liked to be around him. I would never
have met him if it wasn’t for my going to church. God made man because
he was lonely and so that he could fellowship with him. We have a lot of
the same characteristics as God in that we need fellowship with man. What
better place to meet people and fellowship than that called out assembly,
the church. All we have is each other till the Lord comes. When I was out
of church for those five years my life went on a downward spiral. I was
doing things my own way when I was away from my authorities. I didn’t do
anything terrible but I know I was disappointing God by my actions. But
when we got back into church my mindset changed to what God wanted me to
do. In just a short time my life turned around because of Church. I
attended a Christian college not to get a degree but to change my life at
a very fast pace. Because people there were going the same direction,
following the same God, and reading his Word, my life as a Christian
continued to change. All
around me were positive influences. People say they don’t need church
but what they are really saying is that they don’t need God and they
become rebellious at heart. We learn about God; God’s man gives us what
we need, and God gives us people to learn from, to love and fellowship
with. People that say they don’t need church to love God, will not love
God outside of the church. When
Moses spoke God’s word, he gathered the people together much like the
preacher does with the church today. I
know myself and my sinful nature, I need what God has for me, and I need
God’s people to help me along that I may be encouraged. God has a place
and a Pastor for all his people who want to do right. That’s what he did
for the Christians in the New Testament and in the Old. In
Deuteronomy 18:3-8
God talks about the Levites within there gates there to minister. God
chose the place, the priest, and the people. God made his people the
Church, His bride and He chose it for Himself. I
really do enjoy hearing the preaching from the right kind of church, that
is, the church God intended for us to have.
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