Who Told You?

There were many busses coming through my impoverished neighborhood for one reason or another. A painted-over blue bus used to drive through my neighborhood on Sunday mornings. It beeped its horn, before stopping at the end of the block. Most children in this impoverished neighborhood knew this meant it was time to go to church. Anyone who wanted to go, ran toward the blue bus who waited patiently.

Most of the neighborhood kids were dressed and ready to go, so as the horn blew, we’d run out to meet it. Our parent’s, some not home and others working, didn’t mind if we went to church. I guess they figured it was better for us to be in church, than on the streets getting into trouble.

This bus would make a few more stops in other poor neighborhoods, and then drive thirty-minutes to First Baptist Church of Mar Vista in Venice, Ca.

My first visit to this church we “bussed” children were sent from the main sanctuary, where everyone was, to another building where young people from all walks of life and all colors learned and worshiped Jesus together.
For months I attended this church, via the blue bus, and got to know who Jesus was.

During a winter youth retreat in the mountains, we bused children saw snow for the first time. We also praised God like never before. This is where I also found my everlasting love for Jesus. There in the mountains, full of snow, I decided to believe, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.” (John 3:16)

The following Sunday, I got baptized and I’ve been a believer ever since. That’s not to say I haven’t strayed away and lived like any other sinner. But God never left me in my sin. He always gently called me back to Himself, where I eventually stayed.

If it weren’t for the faithful servants of Mar Vista church, the kids from my neighborhood and I would not have gone to church, any church. If it weren’t for the love those people showed, caring for poor children from another side of town, I may not have fully given my life to Christ.

This is what I know. Each one of us has a responsibility to tell someone about Jesus. Then, it’s God’s work to touch their heart.

Thank you saints of Mar Vista for bringing me to church when I had no other way of getting there. And, thank you for telling me (in a way a teen-ager could understand); that “No man comes to the Father except by the Son,” and that is Jesus Christ.

Did anyone tell you?

Can You Keep It?

I was about eight years old and I remember going to a neighbor’s house where various people in our neighborhood gathered together to study the bible.

I watched in amazement as they read bible verses and discussed it’s application to our everyday lives. An old man with a cute dog who lived across the street, the elderly lady who lived next door and others I hadn’t met before sat next to each other talking about God.

At the end of the study, the home owner gave everyone a bible verse to remember for the next meeting. I was assigned Luke 11:28.

I remember the panic that poured over me. “I’m just a kid,” I thought. “How can I remember this AND repeat it for adults?” I was worried. I went home and read that bible verse over and over. “Blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it.” Luke 11:28

When time came for the next week’s bible study I was ready.
As usual, the adults read and discussed various bible verses and I listened quietly. After the study, the leader went around the room to have everyone quote the bible verse they were assigned.

I stood up slowly, noticing everyone’s eyes on me, and I pronounced: “Luke 11:28, Blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it.” Everyone cheered. My mother looked so proud and I was shocked that I had actually remembered the verse considering my fear.

Years later, God would remind me of this experience. He taught me to read His Word, study it and remember it. And, in return I would be “blessed.”

I challenge everyone to read God’s word. Know for yourself the promises of God, the instruction of God and the blessings of God. No one can tell you anything better than the source itself. Open the bible and gain knowledge, learn the ways of God and our relationship to Him.

Let the Word come alive in you and always keep it.