We will be starting a new Bible Study Sunday, April 11 at Spring Creek Baptist Church (details in a later post). I invite you to come and "get plugged in." I want to take a few minutes and share the story of how God brought me and my family to where we are today...
After attending Spring Creek Baptist Church for a little over two years now, I have seen it grow tremendously. Evidently, I arrived at Spring Creek at the turning point - I mean, the point at which the growth was exploding upward. I have been involved with a Bible study, or "Sunday School" class since almost the start of my attending the Church. As a side note, this notion of going to church regularly and attending Sunday School was not foreign to me, just distant. My wife Monica and I were both active members of (separate) churches in San Angelo, TX. about 14-15 years ago (before we were married). Several things happened to drastically change our habits. 1) We got married, and needed to reconcile which one, if either of our individual churches would be our family church, but before that could happen 2) I joined the US Air Force and went away for boot camp, technical training and what turned out to be a 1 year assignment to South Korea (wonderful assignment by the way, but a story for another time). 3) Our relatively stable lives and habits were turned upside down by 6 successive moves (Korea, San Antonio, South Carolina, Turkey, Kansas, and Houston) in 10 years. We always said we needed to find a local church - and even joined one briefly during one of the assignments, which turned out to hold a theological surprise we thought flew in the face of God's Word. Needless to say, we never found a "family" church home.
Fast forward to 2007. In Houston for 1 year, now with two wonderful boys, ages 4 months and 10 years. I deployed to Baghdad in the summer, and would be gone for 7 months. We both knew, whether we discussed it or not, that the separation was a chance to grow closer to God for the both of us, and thankfully, we both took advantage of the opportunity. I attended chapel regularly for the duration of my tour. As I relayed the spiritual strengthening effect that a body of believers was having on me to Monica, she started to visit a couple of local churches, ending up at Spring Creek just about the time I was coming home. We both agreed there would never be a better time to find a home church - so we put aside all the excuses we had (consciously or subconsciously) used for the past 12 years and committed to get plugged-in at Spring Creek at the beginning of 2008.
What a sense of timing God has! We continue to be human…in other words, we have faced many blessings and some hardships (some [ok, most!] of our own doing) in the past two years. We never expected to still be in Houston, and to be honest, I don't know where we'll be in a few years…but that matters so much less now than it did several years ago. We are part of a family at Spring Creek. I know, through God's grace, and through the Biblical teaching and genuine caring that we have experienced at Spring Creek, that life's uncertainties must be dealt with day to day - and with a faith that MY uncertainties are certainly NOT God's.
I hope to be able to pass along a mere fraction of the learning I have experienced and am experiencing through teaching a new Bible study class. A little nervous, I am. A little uncertain, God is not. I hope and pray, if you have never plugged into a Bible study group, or if it has been awhile, that you take this opportunity for a new beginning, and commit to plugging in, commit to growth, and ultimately commit to God. No matter where you are in life, your uncertainties are not His.
He promises His people this:
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Jeremiah 29:11
