New Believer One

Everyone has their own story, their own experiences in their journey to God, Sam is no different. Her journey actually began in a household where the family was practicing paganism, rituals and all... She had seen many people growing up that had left the Christian faith to follow the ways of paganism, so the thought of becoming a believer in Christ was not ever entertained. As she was in middle school and into high school she began having more and more thoughts of who God and Jesus really was. And literally, one day, she woke up and felt like she had to go to a church. "Like woke up, couldn't sleep anymore, and just had to go to church. Every fiber in my being was screaming to go, and I did. That day I accepted Jesus into my life."
Sounds pretty simple, and yet so dramatic! Sam said that day didn't make everything easy, so many of her friends, let alone family, were still involved in paganism. She's been learning that there are a lot of habits needed to be broken.
What was the one thing that pushed her to make the step of faith? Sam believes it was just the Holy Spirit in her saying 'Hey, pay attention now, you've put this off too long and it's just time now'. She feels like she didn't have a choice in the matter. In fact, she said she doesn't think she ever had been that compelled to do what she did that first time she went to church.
The best part of becoming a follower of Jesus is her faith. "Faith in God and Jesus gives me hope, and without that, I would be dead," she said. "I rely on my faith everyday for something". Sometimes it's about how she's going to make payments, and sometimes it's "Lord please take this hurt away from my soul, its hurting so bad that I wanna die." Her faith is real. Her faith is her strength.
But still, the most challenging part of becoming a follower of Jesus is keeping life in balance. Needing to feel God near all the time for His peace. As a pagan, she used to rely on the energy of the people around her to keep going. Now that she has decided to follow God, His presence is what keeps her going... she added that "it's the same, but better". When she can't feel Him she has a hard time focusing on her faith, and without faith she says she can't function.
So what has helped Sam to grow in her faith? "Inspiration. Inspiration helps me grow in my faith more than anything." She says that she is an artist, a creator at heart. Sam feels that her inspiration comes from God and what He has created. Lately it's been trees. As she studies the things that inspire her she finds herself drawing closer to God.
We learn from each other and our experiences, so I asked her what advice she had for me that would allow me to help people like herself grow further in their faith. "Prayer! Specifically for pagans that have converted, prayer is very important." She said that prayer gives them the same connection and feelings that they would have gotten from a ritual, and makes them feel more at home. She also mentioned encouraging people to use their gifts that God has given them. "A lot of people ignore these things, but to a pagan, that's what their life has been about".
Sam's story is awesome... I love the fact that she is making strides towards knowing the God we serve more. My encouragement to her through the time together was through His Word. Reminding her that He will never leave us or forsake us, that Faith is not something we can see or feel, it's something we trust, believe and hope for, regardless of our situations. He is always there, just like He was when He initially was compelling her to come. As with any new believer (or any believer for that fact) the bible must be central to personal growth on our journey toward God. As we talked, I am quite aware that there are still pieces from her pagan roots that will need to be torn down along the way; I pray for opportunity to guide in that process and ask the Holy Spirit to be as compelling as in the beginning to enable her to make the bold steps ahead.

New Believer Survey

This assignment was to interview 2 New Believers in Jesus Christ. 2 people we know who have decided to follow Jesus within the past year. The next couple posts titled New Believer Survey are my interactions with these friends over the following questions...

• Tell me a little about your journey to faith in Jesus.
• What helped you the most to step over the line to make the commitment to Christ?
• What has been the best part of becoming a follower of Jesus?
• What has been the most challenging part?
• What do you think is helping you grow the most in your faith?
• What advice do you have for me in helping others like yourself grow in their faith?

Terry Drost

Continuing in the rich heritage of faithfulness, Terry Drost is furthering the work of the kingdom at Peckville Assembly of God in Pennsylvania.

There are appointed moments in our lives when obedient men and women of faith encourage us to listen to the voice of God for direction. Perhaps God allows them to see something in us that we don't see in ourselves at the moment. Pastor Terry had one of these moments in the early 90's when his father, who was senior pastor at the Peckville church, approached him to seek the heart of God concerning the future of the youth ministry. It was a pivotal moment in the life calling he would begin to pursue. Pastor Terry obediently sacrificed a full-time career in commercial printing to pour into ministry to youth at the church. Looking back on those days, God was shaping him to be the leader in the church he is today.

Always driven toward growth, an aspect of his ministry work ethic he is proud of, he currently is involved with a Pastor's Coaching network in New York City, directed by Nelson Searcy. This is a non-denominational network focused on strengthening the systems a healthy church needs to grow and sustain growth into the future. How is that done? Pastor Terry quotes Nelson when he says, "Look at what most other churches are doing, and do the opposite". That isn't entirely accurate, the heart of the thought is that most churches are not concerned about people outside the church walls and are focused too much on maintaining their traditions than reaching a new generation with new methods. Sure, connect cards, hand written letters, and giving gas cards are good ideas, but the notable thing about them is not that they are new methods, different than what some other churches are doing, but that they actually express interest in others. Peckville Assembly is currently in a wonderful season of growth and it has a lot to do with the adage "They don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care."

All that being said, there may currently be a multi-million dollar building, big name "Christian" concerts, fireworks, and even a staff with strong work ethics, but the increase and blessing being experienced is more likely fruit being harvested from the years of faithful planting that the Holy Spirit guided through faithful men and women.

I pray God continues to bless Pastor Terry, his staff, and the Peckville Church as He guides them by the Holy Spirit to plant good seed for the harvests to come...

Jason Lamer

So many thoughts and ideas are brought to the class, everyone has a personal element to their interview, but the item that stands out to me about Jason is a genuine heart for allowing God to work in the places He sees fit to work.

"I owned my faith as a junior in high school, during a difficult time in the church."

I owned my faith. A personal walk with Jesus Christ, finding your identity in Christ is the essential element to the ministry. You must know, beyond any doubt, who you are in God's eyes. Without that there are so many ideas, so many voices, so many seemingly "better" things out there.

This aspect of Jason's call has lead him to look for the crowd in the community and listen for the voice of God to direct. Admittedly, they don't always know what they are doing... but God is always faithful to guide. "Sell yourself as professionals, even when you don't feel like you are". Never underestimate the power of the Spirit of God.

He knew the biggest area of ministry to teens would be the place where teens spent most of their time, the schools, and set out to build bridges and relationships to make it happen. I'm inspired by his ambition and dedication to building a network of ministries to accomplish big things for the kingdom. The Seven Project, the ministry that he currently directs within the Penn-Del district is just that. A high school assembly program designed to network youth ministries in a community to reach teens for the Kingdom of God.

The ministries that we have seen come through the class are all inspiring, but the take away for me from Jason's ministry is the importance of identity and networking. Knowing who you are and what you are called to be in Christ, and working together with other believers to reach out to our communities with the love of God.

David Kennard

Doing Life Together, Deeply.
Church ministry is not a place to be a loner. An individual's calling is meant to be shared with others. As disciples, we grow best when we are in relationship with one another, learning from each other, and strengthening each other. At Riverside Community Church, in Pittsburgh, their primary source of care is in the small group experience. They believe that discipleship, the training of Christ Followers, is a process best conveyed through intentional relationships. Modeling Jesus' ministry, they look for opportunity in everyday life to convey the truth of the gospel. We never read of Jesus standing in front of the church saying "Hey, get out your papyrus and write these thoughts down, you're going to need them". Instead, he moved people toward the Father through daily experiences. At Riverside, leaders are intentional about helping people move forward in their journey toward a fully devoted life in Christ and their church wide systems reflect this. At the core of their ministry are values of revering God through worship, connecting to others through relationships, and contributing to the Kingdom of God through service. A great amount of time and heart has gone into the development of the discipleship process at Riverside, and they have been blessed by the quality and longevity of the leadership team that has been brought together.