My turning point from church girl to Disciple of Christ.

Hey Yall!!

I know it has been years since I posted on this blog. I give God glory for his faithfulness, love and protection upon me and my family from when I started this blog to now. This blog is coming about because I watched a video testimony of a fellow sister in Christ Valerie sharing about why she denounced her allegiance to her sorority.  Please see video below. 

https://youtu.be/PETKNILWacc

While watching the video the Holy Spirit was pressing on my heart to share my testimony also. Here it goes.

I grew up in a Christian household. We went to church every Sunday. We probably never missed a Sunday service. I was a obedient, studious and a hardworking child. If you ask my parents they would say I was a good child for the most part I did have my stubborn times but I was not rebellious. I love church and learning about God. Where I grew up in Nigeria religious studies was taught in school. I learned about Jesus and his disciples and I assumed if you were not Muslim in my country then you were Christian and there were people who practiced idol worship (they have man made gods they worship which either they created or was passed from one generation to another). I lacked understanding on what true Christianity and fellowship with God through the Holy Spirt was. 

Fast forward to teenage years, we relocated back to America in 2007. I was born in America but relocated to Nigeria at 7 years old. We continued going to church every Sunday. My twin sister and I were in the youth choir at the church we were attending. I enjoy singing so I am always excited to be apart of a choir. I enjoyed that season of my life even though there were barriers to making friends and immersing into American culture since we were from a different country and had an accent so people tend to see us different or ask questions of where we were from.

Fast-forward to 2010 I went off to college in a city about 3 hours away from home I believe I had strong foundation in the word of God and faith in Jesus Christ. I went to college with a King James version of the Bible I bought from Family Dollar or maybe my mom bought it I do not remember. I joined a Christian organization freshman year called Eden Ministries. We were having a revival night or some special program I cannot recall exactly what the program was but it was to seek the face of God and be spiritually empowered which I did not even know what that meant then. One of the leaders asked me a question through God's leading " She said I was lukewarm and God is asking do I want to serve Him". I have never heard that type of language before. I said to myself why would I come to this meeting if I did not want to serve Him. I thought to myself have I not been serving God all my life going to church and singing in the choir.  After that day I stopped attending the fellowship. My first year of college was done. My second year of college started I was in the same dormitory with people I went to High school with. I was happy. One of the things talked about is that in college you make long lasting friendships. I began to attend college campus parties hosted by the different fraternities and sororities of the school. I did not think there was anything wrong going as the people hosting the events called themselves Christians. I attended the parties to have something to do since that is what everyone else was doing. I did not understand that our walk with God is personal and you cannot look to others/compare yourself with others to know the right way to go but you have to compare yourself to the Word of God. I did not engage in fornication (pre-marital sex) so to myself I thought I was doing better than others. I did attend a fellowship on campus but looking back I know the word of God there was not strong as I felt no conviction to change after hearing the word of God I went about life as usual.  

My third year of college started and I was told about the opening of a Redeemed Christian Church of God in the city where my college was located. I began attending weekly Sunday services and joined the choir ministry there. I learned about what God requires as his follower so I stopped attending college parties. During my third year of college I was part of the African student association on campus our purpose was to spread cultural awareness and unite Africans on campus. We organized events and had weekly meetings to do so. After the African festivals were over, other executive board members would organize an after party. I would not attend because I had better understanding on why as a follower of Christ we should not attend such events. My last year of college was the same I was learning more about God and avoiding unfruitful works of darkness Ephesians 5:11. 

"Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them"

I graduated college April 2014. My pastor at RCCG Kalamazoo gifted me an NIV Bible as a graduation gift. I had good grades and loved God I thought I would have a nice job lined up after graduation and life would be great. God had other plans for me. I went through a pruning season of having to unlearn things I had learned in church about God that was not true. During the summer of 2014 after my college graduation I was watching YouTube videos and came across Brittany Jay's YouTube channel called High Heels High Standards. She shared her testimony about how she grew up in church and was blind to the light of the gospel so when she went off to college she engaged in the unfruitful works of darkness but God saved her in 2012 and she has been joyous and on a mission to help other women learn about their worth in Christ. Check out her ministry page. You will be blessed. Brittany's testimony resonated with me even though her story was not exactly the same as mine but her testimony and videos answered the questions I had in college about how can so many people say they are Christians but not follow God's standard of living. She had videos talking about what we are suppose to be doing as followers of Christ and how we need to read the Bible for ourselves and not depend on weekly services for spiritual empowerment. I started reading the Bible on my own and praying and I started watching more sermons and Biblical teachings. In college I was not doing that and I did not see the importance of it then. After that I started this blog to get the word of God out to other people. I wanted as many youths as possible to hear Brittany's Testimony so my sister and I started a ministry called Burning 4 Christ to teach and disciple other youths. We were able to bring Brittany from Atlanta to Detroit with the help of the Redeemed Christian Church of God Detroit assembly and she spoke to the youths. I always think back about that program the power of God in the hall that day was so strong and powerful. After that my family and I encountered trials and tribulations. Now this is 2022 I am still walking with Christ digging deeper into His word to learn about God and help others on the narrow path of salvation.

My testimony is that you need to have an encounter with God like Samuel did, Samuel grew up in prophet Eli's house and he was a good and obedient boy unlike Eli's sons but until He had an encounter with Christ and had the word of the Lord revealed to Him He was not able to walk in his calling. God has placed each and every one of us on this earth for a purpose. We have to discover our identity in Christ. 1 Samuel: 3 V 1-21

Matthew 7:13 NLT  You can enter God's Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad and its gate is wide for many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.

I pray that as you have read this post that you will have a personal encounter with Jesus Christ in Jesus Mighty Name. Thanks for reading through. God bless you as you strive to improve your walk with Christ.

Grace and peace

SouledoutsisterP