The last time The War was at First Baptist Church in Clute, TX was in 1998. Since then, much has changed. Pastor Pettijohn has taken the pastorate and His son, Joshua, is the youth pastor. Both men show an obvious love for the ministry and their flock.
The very first morning of recruiting, we faced some intimidating opposition. For instance, we were ejected off of school property almost right away. Though it seemed like our most valuable door had slammed shut in our faces, as soon as we turned around, we found another open door. Later that morning, the youth pastor got to speak to several hundred choir students about The War during the school day. Our week was filled with these kinds of experiences. God had some teens he wanted us to reach, and no man could stop us! I am reminded of Jesus’ words: “I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it.”
Our event was well attended, with 77 teens attending the event. The War events began with some good spirited competition. Right off the bat, the Navy team showed their intent to win, ending the first night with a 4,400 point lead. The second night, the Army team dipped even lower, losing almost every event possible, and ending the night trailing Navy by 14,900 points. However, the final night, the Army team made a concerted effort to make a come back. They ended up sweeping both outside competitions, and nearly everything inside. By time the final score was on the board, Army had surpassed the Navy team by 700 points—an unbelievable comeback!
The salvations, however, were by far the most exciting part of the week. The first night, 15 teens responded and trusted the Lord as their Savior. One young man came back and blurted out to his counselor, “Let’s get one thing straight, my church and your church teach two different things on how to get to heaven. My church says you need to trust Christ, Mary, the Pope, and the saints, to get to heaven. If I understood the preacher tonight, he was saying that Christ is all you need. Which one is right?” The counselor pointed him to John 14:6, where Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” Moments later, he placed his trust in Christ alone.
Another young man responded in the invitation Sunday night and trusted Christ. Afterward, I was questioning him to make sure he understood. I asked him, “What are you counting on now to get you to heaven?” He replied, “Jesus, sir.” I asked him, “Anything else?” He said, “No sir.” I said, “Do you think that’ll work for you?” He said, “I don’t think it will work; I know it will work!” Praise the Holy Spirit for His convincing work in hearts!
8 of the 15 who were saved Saturday night showed up in church on Sunday morning and immediately seemed to make themselves at home in the youth group which now had nearly double in size. By time the week was over, 20 young people had trusted Christ. Several others declared their intent to begin attending First Baptist. What a privilege it was for us to be a part of God moving in hearts this week!
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