As a child, I grew up in a COGIC church which is typically black. It's generally the same as a Pentecostal church- just historically black. When I moved to Texas my family and I jumped around from COGIC churches for a bit and eventually stopped going all together which was fine by me because I felt judged by my own people every time I entered the church. It was more of a fashion show rather a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit. During those years we stopped going it seemed like our family was going through a lot; from financial stability to disobedience in my sister and I's behavior. Most of the problems came from me because I was a very difficult child. I guess I just wanted attention. Around 2011, my friends invited me to an event called One Night at their church Milestone. Not being in a church for years or even a youth group this was pretty cool to me seeing every kid in Keller at a church. That night the pastor preached the gospel and many students including myself gave their life to Christ. When you decide to become an actual Christian it's like sparks flying inside your heart- it's an amazing encounter. Soon after that I visited the church a couple more times and started noticing things. Even though I hadn't been to church in a long time I knew that playing Rihanna in the church wasn't something that should be accepted. I didn't understand that at all and a lot of the students where there just to hangout. It seemed as if the church was watering down their faith to be socially accepted and I didn't like how it was separated. Everyone had their own group of friends and I didn't feel socially accepted. So my friend invited me to her church, which was a Baptist church. I went here for a while and I loved it at first. It was different because I was actually in a group. I met a lot of girls who were on fire for God, but still I wasn't close to them. The only thing enjoyable about that church was the youth group, then we would go to "big" church after youth and fall asleep. I didn't want that, I wanted more than just a lesson; I wanted REVIVAL. I wanted a youth group were there wasn't any groups and clicks. Eventually, I realized this was what was happening at this church as well. It was such a huge youth everyone had their own group of friends and only came to social. I wanted to be apart of something that changed lives. I wanted other people to feel those sparks I felt when I gave my life to Christ. I wanted to spread that and I didn't feel like any of these churches were trying to do that. After weeks of prayer, God answered my prayers and my friend's pastor began to eat lunch with us at school every Thursday. Pastor Randy would always let us know that "God has a plan and purpose for my life." He doesn't know it be he legit changed my life this year. I finally decided to test out their church. They had Tuesday night services and I tagged along with them. I had never heard of a Pentecostal church until then. As we got there I saw the big sign saying welcome to the Upper Room Church. I was nervous when we walked in because I didn't want this to be a fail like all the others. When we walked into the sanctuary I could tell something was different about this church than the others; I quickly learned that the difference was that this church had the Holy Spirit. I will never forget when we walked in the worship team was singing You're an Army by Rick Pino. It kind of frightened me because everyone was jumping around and being slayed in the spirit, then I realized that's the revival I had been looking for. I wanted to be so consumed with God that I jumped for joy and laid out in the spirit. During youth, their number one rule was no cliques! I loved this because it gave everyone a change to be accepted. Everyone quickly came up to me and greeted me, and even asked for my number so we could hangout. They seemed so interested in me and didn't care that I had on jeans and a hoodie. That night I had a powerful encounter with God. Now throughout the times I was looking for a church and attending the Baptist and Non-denominational church I was still falling into sin because I wasn't being equipped with the tools I needed to fight off temptation but rather I was being worried with the burden of trying to fit in. After going here, I changed completely. I had had my first real encounter with God other than when I had decided to accept Christ as my Lord and Savior. I began to go to the church's services on Tuesday Saturday and Sunday and even went evangelizing on Fridays! I Like how involved in the community and how we gave the people the true gospel and didn't have to water it down. Unfortunately, the devil didn't like what he was seeing and tried to get me away from the church. He tried to make my parents think I was in some kind of cult, but through prayer my parents came to the church and saw it was filled with nothing but the Holy Spirit and people whose desire was to give God all of the glory He deserved. It was different for my mom, because it wasn't a typical black church and different for my dad because He's Methodist. To me, in this generation I don't think it matters what color you are. We all worship the same God and we should be able to worship in the same house. In Heaven we all will be together worshipping Him for eternity so why cant we do it on Heaven without judging our fellow brothers and sisters? I choose to be Pentecostal because it's the first church I felt accepted in- there'd no racial barrier, no judgment and no condemnation. The gospel isn't watered down and the people can admit they aren't perfect, we all need Jesus! I've had amazing encounters at the Upper Room. Since going there I've received the gift of speaking in tongues, got to work in the church nursery and help with the youth, had experiences where gold dust has fallen down on us from Heaven and had amazing fellowship with amazing Christians. I thank God that he placed me at the Upper Room Church and used Pastor Steve, Pastor Randy and Pastor James to help me grown into the Christian I am today. I love being Pentecostal. It's more than just a label to me. It means a group a people who are accepting of others and admit they are broken and need Jesus because they cant do it on their own. I am proud to say I am Pentecostal.
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