Looking Back – November 5th, 1987
Hard to believe that is has been exactly 21 years to the date that I accepted Christ in my life at a little Christian School in Monroe, NC. It was November 5th, 1987, and I was just entering my 7th grade year at my new school. My parents desired to send me to a private school rather than the public schools in the area so I went begrudgingly to Tabernacle Christian School. After all, I was a shy, skinny, and nerdy little runt of a kid, so I knew 7th grade was going to be tough. Through daily chapel preaching, through the daily teaching and my new friends it was hard not realize that they had something “or at least proclaimed something” that I didn’t have. I remember sitting in the old chapel building and listening to the guest speaker that morning (Kitral Benton) and his message on the reality of hell. I was scared to death and knew I wanted no part of that place. I believed that my only recourse was to accept Christ, who paid for my sins through His sacrifice on the cross! He defeated death and the power of sin and rose from the grave so that I might not have to experience eternal death in hell and eternity without Him.
That year, specifically that date, would be the single most influential turning point in my life. I would become involved in the church there (Bible Baptist Tabernacle – Monroe, NC, and surround myself with so many Christian friends that would help frame who I am today. When I think of the lives of individuals and how they change the course of history by following Christ and living a Holy Spirit filled life the person that comes up in my mind is Pastor Bobby Leonard. Pastor Bobby founded that church and Christian School where I attended. Obviously it’s more personal to me because his actions directly affected my eternal state as God used him to eventually create the place and position where I might hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know he would be the first to say it wasn’t about him, but about God; however, I can’t help to think of the “what if’s” in this scenario. Ultimately I don’t dwell on them long because all those factors leading up to my salvation were God controlled and God ordained. I didn’t choose Christ, rather before the foundations of the world, He chose me. I don’t understand it, as it is only by the grace of God, and I am eternally thankful for the grace of God that he bestowed upon me in that little chapel on Walkup Avenue in Monroe, NC.
I couldn’t let the day go by without exclaiming how proud I am to be a believer in Jesus Christ and how thankful I am for what He did for me and continues to do in my life and the life of my family. We live in a world where millions are without hope, seethe with hate, have no direction or purpose in life and as Christians we live with the remedy to their ailments. I pray that there are more people who look at their lives like Pastor Bobby … as a chance to be a vessel of usefulness to God. I know I am only one of likely thousands that he has impacted throughout his Spirit filled life. My prayer is that I live my life with the hopes of being daily constrained to the leading of the Holy Spirit in the hopes that others lives will be eternally impacted.
Today I am thankful for 21 years of Salvation, a Godly country preacher who laid the groundwork that I might come to know Him, and to God who has never failed in those 21 years …. Even though I fail Him often!
williamsbrian1
