Journal Entry Date: February 23, 1997
There was a guest speaker at church today. I know my wife didn’t really want to go, but we went anyway. I had a wonderful time of worship, followed by a sermon from Acts 12. Many folks came forward to accept Christ, request baptism, and join the church.
The couple I counseled, ‘Clint’ and ‘Mary’, came forward to join the church, and Mary wanted to be baptized. Clint mentioned that Mary had a lot of questions so I offered to visit them on Monday night at 7:00pm.
Evening service had the same guest speaker and a team of others joining him to lead the service. I was kind of uncomfortable with the puppet show due to a lot of racial stereotyping… they were doing their own rendition of ‘Jesus Loves the Little Children.’ Service was running late and we really wanted to duck out but we stayed anyway.
During invitation, ‘Andy’ came forward saying that he had prayed to accept Jesus in his heart! I don’t think he really understands it, but do any of us really understand when we accept the gift of salvation?
Author’s Note: Whenever we feel like not going to church… those just may be the times we really need to be there! God did some amazing things in both the morning and evening services that day… and we almost didn’t show up! I’ll share more about ‘Clint’ and ‘Mary’, who I counseled during the morning service, in my next post. But let me share a little more about ‘Andy’…
‘Andy’ is our oldest son, but at the time this journal entry was first written, he was only about 5 years old. When young children express their faith in Jesus, it can be difficult to discern whether a genuine spiritual transformation has occurred, or whether they are simply doing what they’ve observed others doing. In Andy’s case, we continued to see evidence of God working in and through him as the weeks, months, and years went by. It brings us such incredible joy to see the loving and godly man that he has grown to become over the years, validating that decision he made those many years ago.
Andy truly had the faith of a little child, and he placed his faith in Jesus. If you haven’t placed your faith in Jesus and are interested in knowing more, click HERE to access an excellent online resource from ‘Need Him Global.’
May the Lord meet you wherever you are… You are never so far away from God that He cannot reach you with His grace and love and mercy.
My Abiding Life 