This month, I celebrated my birthday, but it is not the day I was born physically. Instead, it marks my spiritual birthday—the day I dedicated my life to Jesus and accepted Him as my Lord and Savior. “So I thank the Lord that I was born the first time, but I thank him even more that I was born again,” to quote Michael W. Smith.

When did this occur? It was in the early 1980s, during my teenage years. I was raised at Lynnhurst United Church of Christ in Louisville, KY, where I participated in Sunday school, Vacation Bible School, and church camp. However, I never fully committed my life to Jesus. In high school, I attended a conservative Christian school and Young Life meetings, a Christian outreach for high school students that shared the Gospel. My parents and godparents served as sponsors.

I especially enjoyed attending Young Life meetings, where they promoted a summer camp in Colorado, claiming it would be the greatest week of your life. I was interested, so some of us signed up and took a van to Colorado, where we indeed had the greatest week of our lives. We camped, hiked, climbed mountains, rappelled, swam, rafted white water, did a ropes course, learned to square dance, participated in games and competitions, and at night, after dinner, we had meetings where the counselors talked about Jesus, who He is, and His sacrifice on the cross for us.

Although I had heard about this and understood it, I realized I had never truly committed myself to God. I came to see that Christianity is more than a religion; it’s about having a relationship with the living God. That night, I committed myself to Jesus, and the next night I stood with many others to proclaim that I was now a born-again Christian. Some people who knew me were surprised because they already thought I was a Christian, but as I told them, I may have been an active churchgoer, yet I had never committed myself to Christ. It’s like the saying, “Going to church makes you no more a Christian than going to McDonald’s makes you a hamburger.”

So my question to you is simple: Do you sense an invitation to take the next step in your faith journey? Are you a churchgoer who has never given your life to Jesus? If you are a born-again Christian, have you joined a church that will challenge you, help you grow as a Christian, and encourage you to help those around you? First Baptist Herndon is a place where we can encourage and support one another as we discern what God invites us to do. We trust that saying yes to God, by joining a church and giving our lives to Jesus, means there is so much goodness ahead for us! We want to help each other get there. What are you waiting for? God is waiting for you to respond!

Take care,

Bill R.