The first time War of Special Forces came to First Baptist of Long Beach was in 2011. This year was our second visit. The principal, Tim Egge, was there in 2011. It was great to work with him again!
We had one rally night this week instead of three. There were 11 teens who were saved in the invitation. One young man was recruited by one of the team captains as he was walking down the street. His parents brought him, and then they stayed for the Wednesday church service. This young man was locked in to the preaching and responded to the invitation and got saved. David, the Ranger captain, brought him to his parents out in the parking lot. They asked, “Did you like it?” Before they left they told David, “We will be back many times.”
One young man was talking with David, the Ranger captain, when David asked him, “Do you come here to church?” “I’m Orthodox,” he replied. He had responded to the invitation on bitterness. David replied, “Jesus can take this away, but before we go any further, how did you get saved? If you died now, would you go to heaven?” “Yes, because I do good things and have been baptized,” was the answer. David gave his father’s testimony of being a church member for 18 years. He was baptized, but not yet saved. David went through the Gospel. This young man got saved and then asked, “How can I help my friends know this?”
Jeremy, the Marine team captain, dealt with another young man. As soon as he recognized that he could trust Jesus to do it all, he was excited about that!
There were several students who really dealt with issues in their lives. Some got right with parents on things they were doing that weren’t right. Others got right with the school, and others got right with their parents over relationship problems. Below are parts of some of the testimonies.
“So, this week as we learned about bitterness. God really worked in my heart about letting go. So…yesterday morning I talked to him [his dad]. You know, I told him about I’m really sorry about how…I told him how I felt. I told him that ‘every time you tell me something, I would always…I would always get angry at you. And you would always tell me you were doing it for good.’ So, yesterday when I talked to him…I didn’t feel any anger. I didn’t feel any bitterness…. I told him…I told him I loved him…. And I encourage you if you have bitterness towards someone, just let it go.”
“One of the messages that spoke to me was on Wednesday morning, message about bitterness…. And…when I was younger, I felt mistreated and…I had bitterness. And as I grew up…well, I’m 13…as I grew up, I…I started to, like, shoo away God and I started…my thoughts weren’t right. I started thinking bad things against people. And…it made me…fall in my Christian life…. And…Wednesday’s message through this amazing, was right on point…. Bitterness and…the grace of God and…it was just a great blessing and so, my burden is lifted…bitterness. I’m forgiven.”
“The message that really spoke to me was about… ‘your secret sins’ and…most for about two years I was struggling with secret sin. And…it was really hard for me cuz… ‘whoso covereth his sins shall not prosper.’ The only way I can prosper is if I…confess my sin.”
“What the Lord spoke to me really about this week is…getting out of the boat. And that’s…so most of you know, I’m preaching on Sunday. And this whole week I was kind of stressing it. Just pretty much everybody cuz I was nervous about preaching. But this week’s…this morning’s message helped me realize it’s not me who’s this message is for, it’s for God’s glory and I just needed to fully depend on Him for it.”
We enjoyed working with these young people. It was great to see their tender hearts to the Lord’s working.
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