Hadley Baker
READ HEBREWS 12:1-2
Do you remember where you were twenty-two years ago today? I know what you are all wanting to say right now..."Bro, I wasn't even alive twenty-two years ago." Go ahead and fire me up (I know you want to). Try and make me feel old!
I remember vividly where I was. June 30, 1992 was a Tuesday. I was in the small southern town of Comanche, Oklahoma. The only dad I had as a child (my grandfather) had passed away only three days before. He was my dad. My grandfather. My spiritual leader. He was my everything. When my family walked into that little country church that summer morning it hit me. This was for real. I remember the shirt I was wearing. The shoes I had on. The people who were there. I remember it all so clearly. It's a day I will never forget. But not for the reasons you might be thinking.
June 30, 1992 is a special day for me because it is the day I surrendered my life to Christ. Undoubtedly, the memories are bittersweet. I was saying goodbye to the man that I owed my life to. And at the same time I was saying goodbye to an old way of living. Death is never more real than when you stand beside a coffin. You see someone who once talked to you, laughed with you, prayed for you, and hugged you laying there lifeless. In that moment death sinks in. But, fortunately, for me so did life. As a fourteen- year-old young man, God in His grace opened my eyes to the reality of my need for Him. I held the hand of my grandfather and spoke these words through my tears: "Grandpa, I don't know what all I'm going to have to do, but I promise I will see you in heaven someday."
That moment changed my life. My grandfather wasn't the only one who died that day. I died, too. And I was born again. The old me was gone. There is one Way to heaven. His name is Jesus. I love Him more today than I ever have. This love started twenty-two years ago today thanks to a man named Richard Morgan. A great deal of who I am now is because of him. Because of that day. What I believe, what I am doing with my life, who I married, how I raise my daughter, why I pray. It's all because of that day and that man. Time hasn't put out this fire. I am more ON FIRE now than I have ever been.
READ ROMANS 6:1-18, JOHN 3:3, 2 CORINTHIANS 5:17
Have you died to sin? Are you living this new life that Jesus died to give you? Remember there is no such thing as “sort of dead” or “kind of surrendered.” Jesus invites you to radical obedience. Be all in for Him today.
READ HEBREWS 12:1-2
Do you remember where you were twenty-two years ago today? I know what you are all wanting to say right now..."Bro, I wasn't even alive twenty-two years ago." Go ahead and fire me up (I know you want to). Try and make me feel old!
I remember vividly where I was. June 30, 1992 was a Tuesday. I was in the small southern town of Comanche, Oklahoma. The only dad I had as a child (my grandfather) had passed away only three days before. He was my dad. My grandfather. My spiritual leader. He was my everything. When my family walked into that little country church that summer morning it hit me. This was for real. I remember the shirt I was wearing. The shoes I had on. The people who were there. I remember it all so clearly. It's a day I will never forget. But not for the reasons you might be thinking.
June 30, 1992 is a special day for me because it is the day I surrendered my life to Christ. Undoubtedly, the memories are bittersweet. I was saying goodbye to the man that I owed my life to. And at the same time I was saying goodbye to an old way of living. Death is never more real than when you stand beside a coffin. You see someone who once talked to you, laughed with you, prayed for you, and hugged you laying there lifeless. In that moment death sinks in. But, fortunately, for me so did life. As a fourteen- year-old young man, God in His grace opened my eyes to the reality of my need for Him. I held the hand of my grandfather and spoke these words through my tears: "Grandpa, I don't know what all I'm going to have to do, but I promise I will see you in heaven someday."
That moment changed my life. My grandfather wasn't the only one who died that day. I died, too. And I was born again. The old me was gone. There is one Way to heaven. His name is Jesus. I love Him more today than I ever have. This love started twenty-two years ago today thanks to a man named Richard Morgan. A great deal of who I am now is because of him. Because of that day. What I believe, what I am doing with my life, who I married, how I raise my daughter, why I pray. It's all because of that day and that man. Time hasn't put out this fire. I am more ON FIRE now than I have ever been.
READ ROMANS 6:1-18, JOHN 3:3, 2 CORINTHIANS 5:17
Have you died to sin? Are you living this new life that Jesus died to give you? Remember there is no such thing as “sort of dead” or “kind of surrendered.” Jesus invites you to radical obedience. Be all in for Him today.
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