SA 2011: Blown away

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Workshop inspires new trust in God

By Jalanea Hart, junior from Heritage Bible Church, Bakersfield, Calif.

Editor’s note: Congregations were invited to select one student to serve as a CL student reporter for SA2011. Thanks to the 11 youth leaders who recruited student writers and to these students for their honest and inspiring reflections.

Bakersfield, Calif.—28 hours, 15 hundred miles, four different states, truck stops and drive-throughs, 17 people—an endeavor to San Antonio, Texas. An endeavor I thought I couldn’t endure. To attend the national youth convention.

The workshop I attended was inspirational to me. This workshop, “Everyday Radical,” was a eye opener. “Learning to see Jesus in the most ordinary place imaginable…your everyday life.” And it was based off these three false assumptions of the gospel: “God’s somewhere else,” “salvation is for tomorrow” and “I’m just waiting around for heaven.” Two of these three false assumptions were something I was living by, something I learned wasn’t true.

Jesus is everywhere. He doesn’t leave your side and whatever you do, he does with you. No matter where you are and how hard you try to hide from God, he is always there. He never leaves your side. And this is the one aspect that stuck out to me and hit home. I live strongly by this, and now I know that he is everywhere and that everything I do he is a part of.

The second truth is that salvation is for everyone, and I never wanted to accept his salvation. I thought I wasn’t good enough. I had messed up to much for him to want me to forgive me, but that’s what salvation is. Salvation is being “born again” or redemption from the power of sin. Sin is a powerful thing. Something we all need to learn to overcome, something I have learned to overcome. Something we all need is God’s salvation, and there’s not a cost to salvation. It is a gift from our Maker. All we need to do is accept this gift from God and let him take control of our lives.

I accepted his salvation at this conference. I rededicated myself to him, and this time I’m jumping in wholeheartedly, no hesitations. God is in control. “Everyday Radical” was by far one of the most inspiring and moving things I have heard. I believe God put me in that workshop for a reason, and it defiantly was a movement of his love and grace.

God stirred in my heart, and is calling me to him. I know now how much he loves me and how much he wants me to be a part of his family. In the begining of this conference I thought I would gain nothing, and I ended up being blown off my feet and committing myself fully to God. I learned so much about myself, my friends and my God. I praise God for being able to attend this conference. It was a blessing.

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