Post Date: Friday, February 01, 2013
By Alicia Austin
Why do you go to church?
For you church goers, is this a question that needs much thinking or can you answer without conscious reasoning?
Well those of you who attended the last night of the first quarter of our annual convention which by the way was youth night got some very candid answers from Reverend Gregory Holder.
Holder, the speaker, brought a very “straight talk” to the podium on Wednesday at MERC, Fairchild Street, Bridgetown, St Michael, while addressing the reality of the Bible and our Christianity. The youth pastor at the River Road Church of God started out his sermon with the above question, which got a few hesitant answers from the congregation, such as “to hear the Word of God,” or “to hear what God has in store for me.”
Holder, who wasted no time unfolding the message which God had given to him, gave a number of frank answers by which some of us related to through smiles and nods. One of his reasons was that because of age, there were some children who had no choice because mummy and daddy lays down the law.
However, not forgetting the opposite side to the question, which was mainly directed to the youth, Holder also voiced a true thing. He said: “As we get older something happens, we don’t feel like going,” and stated that homework was used as a guise. So the reverend challenged the youth of the New Testament Church of God with this: bringing the sermon from Proverbs three verses one to three he encouraged them to be the example of the Word (Bible). He said that he was waiting for the day when the youth change things for God, preach and live for Him.
“If you do the Word, your life would be satisfying… you would have favour with God and man,” he said and urged them to be crazy for God.
“If the Word of God is central to our Christian experience can we trust the Word of God?” the reverend asked. This was stated a few moments after expressing his concern about how Christians respond after being challenged about the Bible and their faith. Holder noted that we as Christians get uncomfortable when we are tested about the Bible and do not understand the reality of it which makes us consider where we stand in the Word. He then said that the biggest challenge for Christianity was Rastafarianism and asserted that this type of people was often seen on the “block” when open-air sessions are usually held.
“No man in his right mind would write the Bible and give God the glory because man likes to promote himself… just goes to show the Word is God’s breath,” he said.
Holder who was one of the speakers at the organisation’s last summer camp charged us to apply ourselves to the Bible. He reckoned that there were some people who read the Bible and had difficulty understanding it.
“There are things in the Word that give us trouble because it goes against the flesh,” he said, and rationalised that nowadays human like things done the fast way.
“It is not that we don’t know the Word unless you’re young in the faith, it’s that we don’t internalise it,” the pastor reasoned and said that we must memorise what we read from God’s Word.
He stated there was no power in going half way if we wanted to be empowered by the God’s holy book, therefore it must be done "wholesale".
“Every day is going to be a challenge against the Word because there is a devil…” he said while adding that the closer we get to the rapture the darker the days would get, hence the Lord is telling the young people it is time to get up.
“Young people you are the ones God is charging,” he told them.
He exhorted the older folks to invest in youth of the New Testament Church of God, because they were the ones to carry on where they have left off.
However, Reverend Holder wasn’t the only person guileless about the truth. River Roadian Jesse King (attends River Road New Testament Church of God) shared his testimony about his sexual impurities, as most Bajans would say “straight up”.
Anyone who knows this young man knows that even a subject such as this will not daunt him from sharing his experience honestly with a group of people. The usual comical King confessed that he strayed away from God and was caught up in sexual sins. In his moving testimony which received a standing ovation he advised the congregation that if they were in search for real love read first Corinthians chapter 13.
“Any person that seeking a relationship with a boyfriend or girlfriend, seek the Lord… Hold firm, seek God, seek God like ya desperate,” he recommended.
Even though the service could be rated as fair, nevertheless, it was a night of committing the youth into God’s hand and could not have ended the first quarter in our annual convention in any other note.p
