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I grew up with a drug problem. My family drug me to church almost every Sunday. My parents and relatives tried to instill in me the importance of going to Church. Although, at the time I did not understand why it was important. It was not until later in life that I came to a realization of the impact church had on me. I came to understand that God had created me for a purpose. He loved me so much that He sent His one and only Son to die on the cross for my sins. When I finally understood what Jesus did for me, I wanted to know more about why He loved me so much. My life before meeting Christ was a normal one. I was a good child that tried to live right and who wanted to be friends with everyone. Although I was living a normal life as a child, I was missing something in my life.
That something was Someone and His name is Jesus. I heard all about God's love for me through Jesus Christ but I never asked Him to come into me life and save me from my sins. It was clear to me that I wanted to know Jesus in a personal way. The Holy Spirit revealed to me in an evening service that it was time to be saved. My conversion experience took place at Beech Street First Baptist Church in Texarkana, Arkansas when I was eight years old. I asked Jesus to come into my life and forgive me for all my sins. He answered my prayer and made me His child. I was later baptized and became a member of the church. This means so much to me because I do not deserve what the Lord has given me through Jesus - SALVATION! I believe the love of my family showed me and their sharing with me about God's love brought me to the place where I wanted to know God. They have been supportive in my decision to follow the Lord. After my salvation experience, I was never really discipled. I grew away from the Lord because of my selfish desires. In the eighth grade I started to drink alcohol and partying with my friends. This was the beginning of a very low time in my life spiritually. I started to rebel against God and my family by spending more time with my friends that what I should have and going along with the crowd. The Lord confronted me about my lifestyle when I was in the twelfth grade. He revealed to me through His Holy Spirit and His Word that i was destroying my life and my family. I wanted to change the way I was living but I could not. I had to give my problems over to the Lord and He promised to help me through them all. I could do all things through Christ and not on my own. - Philippians 4:13. In May of 1987, I rededicated my life to the Lord and I have not been the same since. He has allowed me to share with others about his love and most of all, He has strengthened my family. My youth Pastor had a big influence on my life. We became close friends and worked together on a lot of things in the youth ministry at Beech Street First Baptist Church. He taught me a lot about living for Jesus and serving Him faithfully throughout my life. The Lord called me into the Gospel Ministry on November 22, 1987, at Beech Street Baptist Church in Texarkana, Arkansas. I had been struggling during the year as to what I was going to do wit my life. Should I get a job or go to college? I decided to go to college even though I did not know what I was going to major in. It was during my first semester of college that God revealed to me what He wanted to do with my life. God wanted me to minister to the needs of youth and share with them the change that Jesus can make in their life. I have been in youth ministry for 19 years now. My personal desire is to live out 1 Timothy 4:12. "Do not let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity." NIV
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Bro. Clark Colbert
Youth Minister
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