How I Met Him

So how did I become a Christian anyway?

I became a Christian by the Grace of God, through the hearing of His word. Oh, you want details? Well, more specifically, I was in a band for a while. Most of us in the band professed to be Christians, and though we weren’t “bad” people, and we didn’t really do “bad” things, I can’t say for sure we were all Christians. I know now, I personally wasn’t a true Christian. You see, I thought I had it together. I grew up in church, my mom and dad were dedicated believers, and my good deeds/lack of bad deeds, had tricked me into believing I was saved. Fast forward, when I was 21, the singer of our band, Sam, began attending a college ministry. He loved it, and wanted me to experience it too. He invited me over and over again, until one day I told him in my pride, “I don’t go because you always invite me. The first time you don’t invite me I’ll go.” I was such a “good” Christian and “so cool,” I refused to be a follower. This was part of my problem. A few more weeks went by with Sam asking me to go, and then one day, he stopped. Because I’m wonderfully prideful, I called him and said, “let’s go.”

So we showed up to “Crave.” There were cool people from all walks of life, they seemed to love God, and they were all my age. Naturally, I basically refused to mingle, but something felt different. When the leader started speaking, just welcoming everyone, I felt weird. I know now the spirit was working in me. This particular night, he wasn’t going to speak. He said he wanted to show us all a video from a Preacher named, Paul Washer. I had never heard of the guy, but I was intrigued. The way he introduced himself, the way he prayed, the way he spoke, he was different. And suddenly, the words I had heard all of my life, on so many Sundays, were new. God was opening my eyes to His mysteries. He was opening my ears to hear.

I was losing it on the inside and no one around me even knew. In this moment, I knew sin. I truly knew it for the first time. Which I believe, meant I truly knew God for the first time. Trying to hold myself together I waited on the altar call. At the time I didn’t know God didn’t need altar calls. I was hanging on every truth of God that came out of Paul’s mouth, condemning sin and calling sinners to life. The invitation couldn’t come soon enough. The only words I could think of, that I could utter in prayer, were “I’m sorry.” While I was praying, God began to reveal to me what was happening. By His grace, I repented of my sins, trusted in Jesus’s work, not my own, and began a new life.

When I truly met God, I told everyone. I couldn’t keep it in. This truly was good news. All the people that believed I was saved along with me, I told them. All the people I feared for what they would think, I told them. I began praying, devouring the word, and I was bearing fruit. How I met Him was a truly amazing thing. God had saved me. He made me new. He was and is powerful enough to humble even the most self-righteous person before His throne, and for that, I am eternally grateful.

Here is the sermon by Paul Washer. If you have never seen it, please watch it. Listen, and be made new. If God is calling you, don’t wait on an altar call. The Cross was the final altar, and Jesus was the final sacrifice. Repent and believe.