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Who am I Pt#1

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Mark S

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I want to tell you a little bit about myself. When God started working on me to shape me and mold me into a tool a messenger and teacher of his living word, to educate people and help them find the path to salvation.

My relationship with God/Jesus Christ started before I could walk or talk. My grandmother would take me to church with her every Sunday. This continued into my teenage years. This was a small mountain church in upstate New York, not exactly the Bible Belt. Pastor Bill was the preacher and a close family friend who preached Christian values and fire and brimstone every Sunday for over 50 years. My grandmother would also read me bedtime stories each night. However, the bedtime stories she read me were not just any bedtime stories. They were stories straight from God’s word, like Noah’s Ark, Jonah and the whale, David and Goliath, and many others.

As a toddler and grade schooler I would sit in the pew next to my grandmother playing with my matchbox toys listening to the pastor preaching his fiery sermons. Everyone thought of me as the boy being dragged to church by his grandmother and paying little attention to the sermons being preached. This was not true however. As I got a bit older I would stop playing with my matchbox toys. Look at the old preacher intently focused on every word. From time to time and more frequent as I got older. Pastor Bill would look me in the eye smile and nod his head as if to say I know God is speaking to you and you understand.

Pastor Bill being a close family friend would stop by our house where I lived with my grandmother from time to time. We always had friendly conversations of both worldly things and religious things. From time to time. I myself alone or with other family members with stop by pastor Bill’s house under the same friendly social circumstances. I would also sometimes stop by pastor Bill’s house when I had questions about God’s word or for prayers about circumstances in my life. Pastor Bill was always there for anyone church member or not looking for his counsel and prayers.

As I grew into my teenage years. Like most teenagers I became rebellious and distanced myself from the church and from Jesus Christ. However, once you are chosen by God to do his work. You cannot run away from that destiny no matter how hard you try. Just ask Jonah. Remember the story Jonah and the whale? (The book of Jonah)

throughout my teenage years, God continued his work on me. He continued to mold me and shaped me. He taught me some hard lessons. There is truth to the saying that the school of hard knocks is the best teacher. God showed me sin. The up close, personal evil of it. I seen a lot of sin and evil both in its fleshly form and even in its spiritual form. God opened and closed doors in front of me to put me in the right places at the right time. According to his plan (not mine).
 
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