Over 30 years ago, we came to Providence Baptist Church for the first time. We have been there many times with several different pastors. It has always been a blessing. We were thrilled to be back with Pastor Mark Duff and the youth pastor Paul Patterson again. The Lord worked in many hearts, and I would say that we saw a real reviving work of God!
Ashton, the captain of the Super Seals, counseled a young man on his team early on in the week. He was struggling with his assurance and got that settled! He was also very burdened about giving the gospel to his grandpa. He testified on Friday night,
Hi, everyone…I’m in seventh grade…Five years from now about, I was…in chapel or whatever, and they were asking if anyone here was not saved. And they said, “Put your hand up.” So I put my hand up, and they took me to the youth center, and I prayed and I asked the Lord to be my savior. And um, maybe it was like a month later, and they were doing the same thing. So I thought maybe that I wasn’t actually saved. So I raised my hand again. I did it all over. And maybe another year later, I still didn’t think that I was actually saved. So, I did the whole cycle over again. And then now this this week…I have realized throughout that you don’t have to get saved multiple times or like a thousand times. You just get saved that once. You accept Christ as your savior once. And that is the only time that you do it, and he comes into your heart. He acknowledges you. He saves you. He rescues you. And I just have been awakened by that by…everything that the Special Forces have done this week. It just has opened my eyes to the Lord even more than I’ve ever known.
Ashton was also able to counsel a young man dealing with immoral viewing. He was struggling with suicidal thoughts as well. After walking him through some verses, Ashton encouraged him to bring his sin into the light and the young man was able to talk to his dad that week.
Violet, the co-captain for the Mighty Marines, recruited a boy on Thursday. He came on Thursday night and was clearly moved during the gospel message. He went back to be counseled, but his brother called and pulled him out of the counseling room before he could make a decision. We prayed for him, and thankfully, the young man came back Friday night as well. During the testimony service, the youth pastor in the church was able to talk with him and lead him to Jesus.
Hyles, the Incredible Ranger captain, counsled a young man on his team about immorality. While talking to him, Hyles realized he was also struggling with is assurance of salvation because of his sin. He got that settled that week and made steps to have victory in the moral arena. He gave a testimony on Friday,
So for the past, I don’t even know how long in my life, I’ve been struggling with deep addictions and very sinful things that have taken a toll on my life, that have taken a toll on people I love’s life, and it’s been horrible. But recently, like a good month ago, I was able, by the grace of God, with prayer, a lot of prayer, and trusting in him to fully and completely take that from me, I was able to beat that addiction of mine…And I’ve felt so much better….So I just tell any of y’all that have addictions in anything…give that to God. He will help you with it. No matter how big the addiction is, no matter how small it is, no matter anything, whatever it is, he will help you through, and he will help you beat that addiction only by his grace.
Austin, the Mighty Marine captain, was burdened for a boy on his team all week. Finally, on Friday, he responded to an invitation. He was trapped in the bondage of viewing things on the internet. That week, he was able to talk to his parents and take the first steps toward victory.
Violet also counseled a girl on her team. She was a very smart student and had won many state and national awards. She realized that she was holding herself to this level of perfection and came to understand that she couldn’t do it herself, but it’s 100% God. She testified on Friday,
I wanted to talk tonight about something that God taught me through…Mr. Van Gelderen’s message on Sunday night and through chapel today. Being a senior, I have really wanted to make a difference in the people around me this year, but I’ve been going about it all the wrong way…I’ve been putting this unattainable expectation of perfection on myself. And at times I’ve felt as though I’m being crushed trying to live up to what the people around me think, trying to keep the mask on just a little bit longer so that I’ll seem perfect. And that…expectation that I’ve been living with for so long…it’s been really bad for the past month…to the point where I’ve had anxiety attacks and everything like that. But on Sunday night and today in Chapel, Mr. Van Gelderen talked about the happy topic of failure. And the fact that we all fail spiritually. And when we fail, it’s because of our unbelief, something we’re believing a lie about God. And then we get discouraged like I’ve been and we’re answering our unbelief with more unbelief…and God started dealing with me. Even the weeks before this week, I knew I was miserable and I needed to make a change. And God showed me that the way I was dealing with failure…was not the way that he wants me to deal with it.
Failure is an indication that I have stopped depending on God and have started depending on myself. And one thing that stuck out to me is that the same way that we were saved is the same way that we have to live the Christian life. Absolutely nothing of us and absolutely everything of him…And I know he I was really scared trying to make this decision because…there was that part of me in the back of my mind saying, you’re going to mess this up again. It’s not going to last. And what Mr. Van Gelderen said, making a decision this week is not about promising perfection to yourself or promising it to God. It’s about telling God, I’m changing my direction and then pursuing wholeheartedly after him. And I want to leave you guys with…a really liberating thought, at least to me, is that the Christian life isn’t hard, it’s impossible. At least for us. But we know a God who can do the impossible. And when we let him work in our lives, when I let him work in my life, I can see him do the things that I could never do. And so that is my goal.
God has touched my heart about several different ways that several small areas where I’ve backslid, some seen some defeat in spiritual battle. But now I know how to deal with those failures…with the mind of God. And I’ve set up preventions to keep myself…not living in discouragement.
Here are a few more testimonies from Friday night,
They preached on, I’m pretty sure on Wednesday…it was the topic of bitterness and forgiveness. Like, I didn’t even realize how much bitterness I had in my heart towards people that…have done me wrong and…how much I lack..forgiving them. And even though…the people that…I did have bitterness towards, I can’t talk to them physically and be like, I forgive you, I did my best to forgive them in my heart and I make a decision every day when I wake up, okay, I have forgiven and these people are no longer my enemies. They’re no longer people that I need to be bitter towards….And…I pray for them every day that the Lord can work in their hearts also….And it is just a liberating experience. Like, if you have bitterness towards anybody in your heart that you know…you need to forgive them, please do it because it is the best experience you will ever have…aside from salvation.
This week has definitely been a amazing week as far as the games and then also just the services have been such a blessing in my life…This week has definitely been a big eye opener to me of how much just hate and bitterness I have in my life towards just people that have done me wrong…I had a very rough childhood…three years ago…my mom passed away. And I think ever since then, I just I carried such hate in my life because I was like, why did she leave…Why why did God put this situation in my life? Why did God take my mom?… I just I carried that hate towards God and my mom because it’s just like, why?… I’ve always been like, like a good outside Christian. I try to do what I can do to show people that, oh, I’m a good Christian. I don’t do anything wrong. But honestly, I really do…I’ve done some things that I can never take back, but I know that God has forgiven me for them….andI just want to encourage you guys that you really can find refuge in God. You really can because…my burdens are so gone now.
My grandpa just recently passed away in January…after that, I just I left God…I didn’t want anything to do with him. I was so close to my grandpa and I miss him so dearly. But this week has shown me so much that no matter what I’m going through, I give it all to God.
For the last year and a half, my relationship with my parents has been basically non-existent…I’d get home, constant arguing and…I knew they loved me, but for a while, I didn’t think I loved them. I truly hated my parents. I’m not going to go into details about anything…It was really hard for a year, year and a half, you know? I’d come home and I’d tell to myself, this isn’t my fault, you know? This isn’t me, this is them. They’re they’re the ones causing all this. And no, that was me. That was all me. And that was because of pride. And I talked to Dr. JIm and he told me that. He said that I have been causing strife in my household because of my own pride. And that’s not fair to my family who adopted me, who loved me, who cared for me, who provide for me….My parents sacrificed everything for me. They do everything they can and I treat them like dirt. And I came home and I talked to my dad and I told him, Dad, I’m so sorry. I do not want my kids to treat me this way and I should never, ever have treated him that way. He doesn’t deserve it. He deserves my respect. He’s given me everything and I gave him nothing in return. And I’ve been really burdened about that and it’s been destroying me on the inside. I’ve been heartbroken…on the outside, you know, I try and make everything seem okay…But it’s been destroying me at home and I couldn’t live with it any longer. And you know, I thought about running away many, many times because of my own pride. Not wanting to apologize, not wanting to get it right every time. I would think about apologizing. I would be like, no, it’s too late, I don’t want to bring it up. And that’s what pride was. Pride was such a big thing in my life that I couldn’t even say sorry to my own parents who gave me everything. They’re the only reason I’m even alive today. And I want to tell you guys that no matter what you think you’re so far in that you can’t ever give up, you can’t say you’re sorry, you can’t get over that, you can. You always can. If anybody else deals with pride, get it right. Anybody else won’t forgive, get it right….My parents never deserved that.
And I’m going to do the as best as I can for the rest of my life to treat them the way they deserve to be treated. Because I know when I’m an adult and I have my own kids, I don’t want my son coming to me and telling me that he hates him to his face. That’s not what I want. And that’s what I did to my dad. And that is not what he deserves whatsoever. And that’s going to break my heart for the rest of my life, and I won’t ever say that to my dad and that’s a scar in his heart that he will never ever forget. And I’ll always regret that. They love you, okay?…Can’t treat them like dirt.
I’m a lot like these other teenagers that have spoken. I go to the school…I’m also here at this church almost every single Sunday…every Wednesday. But there’s been one thing that God has really spoken to me about…and Dr. Van Gelderen spoke on it, I think Wednesday, and it was a message about bitterness, a lot like these other teens have talked about. And what I realized is that it’s become such a habit of mine to be bitter at people that have wronged me. Especially for my parents. You know, just point, pointing things behind their back. So even to those students like when school is easy and we’re all on the same team, I get mad at them for stuff. I just want to say I’m sorry… I’ve offended you with words or I’ve physically…just push you and it’s kind of took a toll on you. I’m sorry. And I just want to make it right.
Not that long ago, probably two years, something happened that changed my life. And…a lot of people treated me really poorly after that. But in Dr. Van Gelderen’s…message, he said that…mistakes don’t define you, but your salvation does….I was extremely bitter to a lot of people. And…I’m not bitter at you guys anymore. And I’m going to go to every one of you and apologize. But also, another thing that God brought to me with Matthew’s testimony is…I’m also adopted, which means my parents chose me. And I’ve treated them terribly….I would either yell at them all the time or never talk to them. I’ve even said to their face I wish that I didn’t get adopted. But I’m so thankful for them and everything they’ve done for me. And if it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be here…getting right with you this week.
God has spoken to me a lot this week, but I think this week he’s pointing out to me is that actually today…he talked about how the Christian life is not just hard, but it’s impossible to do unless you’re doing it for Christ. It’s zero percent your own strength and 100% his. And almost every single moment of the day, I keep pushing. I think I strive to be the perfect Christian. I strive to be the perfect student, the perfect daughter, the perfect Christian, the perfect friend. But I know I can’t. And I have to learn to submit everything…to God. And actually, about last year, um, my grades, I started slipping, and it was because I kind of just gave up on…being perfect…But now, I will always strive to do my best, but remember that I don’t have to be perfect because Christ is the only one who can be like that. And in 2nd Corinthians, Christ says, “My grace is sufficient and in God’s eyes through Christ, I am made perfect even though I mess up sometimes.”
I would just like to keep this short and say that if the Lord’s special forces wasn’t here at this school, I wouldn’t be saved right now. I’m glad I got saved.
Wednesday chapel, I think, we were talking about bitterness and all the bitterness I have against my parents, my brother, everybody around me. I want to say I’m sorry, Mom and Dad. I think it was this morning or yesterday night when my mom was talking to me, and I didn’t want to listen to her. I want to say I’m sorry. And ever since my grandma passed away this summer, it’s been very hard on me. I was so close to her…And it’s just so hard on me. I want to say I’m sorry for everybody that I’ve been bitter to this year or last year, and I’m sorry.
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