My Testimony

of living my life as a follower of Christ

I wasn’t always a diehard for Jesus Christ. I was born into the Lutheran Church but I always went for the purpose of family tradition. To be honest I hated when people got all prayerful and spiritual about things. It was just annoying for me. I lived life with a lot of thinking and little action. I probably thought so much that teachers would have to push me to get my school work done and turned in. I still think a lot but I’ve learned how to deal with it. I generally always have had the will to do what’s right even if I would be at a loss. I didn’t see how adding some drama could make life any more enjoyable.

Then one day my aunt and uncle invited us to Vineyard of Faith in Windsor, CA. When I arrived it felt weird to show up to a church I’ve never really been to after twelve years at Faith Lutheran in Santa Rosa, CA. One thing that was different was the hustle and bustle and excitement in the air. There was some thing that made people want to go somewhere. Something was happening. I remember that after a few sermons, I was actually listening to the whole entire sermon. That was traditionally nap time at the old church.

My parents played a role in getting me connected. My family lived in Rohnert Park so we were traveling thirty minuets at least once a week just to get to the church. My parents have been looking for a house for a couple years and after a few months at Vineyard of Faith we found a house in Windsor that what we were seeking for and my parents finally bought their first home. The escrow process was smooth and didn’t fall through and we were less than a mile away from our church.

As I took on the lifestyle of Vineyard of Faith I started hearing things I’ve never heard before. The words of secular music on the radio came in more clearly. The once enjoyable tunes seemed more degrading and unappealing. Life had more of a purpose. It wasn’t to simply survive but to live as a child of God, to share the good news and be a living example.

In middle school this sharing the gospel wasn’t an easy thing especially for someone who didn’t want to get involved in other people’s lives, who got tired of being let down and made fun of. I just didn’t care to get involved in the drama but this new Christian life style didn’t call for that. What stuck out to the people was when they saw how I acted. They knew something was different about me besides that I preferred Christian T-shirts. They noticed that I wasn’t making fun of people, I wasn’t gossiping about another person’s lives. Some people asked me questions about Christianity that I haven’t even heard of and today I still don’t really seem them as important. Other’s just assumed I was very sheltered and didn’t know what the real world was like. Even today, ten years later people still have the similar thoughts and comments about me. But when I hear their comments I’m a lot more familiar and confident dealing with the questions that the ignorant people have.

What made this turn in my life wasn’t doing a much of good things. It wasn’t attending an exciting church. It wasn’t wearing a bunch of Christian T-shirts and listing to a bunch of Christian music. Sure those things were encouraging but over all it was living an interactive life with the Holy Spirit and my church and taking a hold of the gospel. The gospel is the message that Jesus Christ or God, came to the sinful and discussing earth to become a human and to experience what life is like and to pay the ultimate price of our sins on the cross. Our sin is our ungodly actions and thoughts that stain our soul. Jesus took that away so we can spend an eternity in heaven with him.

My view of the world became much more clear and complete through this journey of a Christian life. I hope I can share this amazing view to a world in a living and “something’s happening” kind of way.