A 16-yr-old declares his faith....

OK, I have to confess that the day felt like my son was getting married...well, like how I think I might feel...(-; . It was totally surreal. When my son stepped out the door to descend into the baptistry, I started shaking, I was in awe. Wow, my little prince. The day I have been waiting for. That picture is forever etched in my memory.
Thank You, Lord. All glory and praise is Yours.

With his permission, I share my son's journey in faith thus far...[my comments are in red]

My life hasn’t been very long, but there’s been a lot of stuff, I have to say.
Life began for me in July of 1993. I was born into a Christian family, and was raised as such. I have a great family, one who raised me in the church, and reinforced its values at home.

I’ve got a loving mom, a caring dad, and a brother that I can’t properly describe,
[at this remark, the whole church erupted in laughter when his undescribable brother yelled out "thanks!"] ...but he’s good too.
And yes, there's my aunt..can't properly describe her either. [another eruption of laughter as my sister is rather well-known for umm...eccentricities]

I’ve been going to Rexdale [our church-Rexdale Alliance Church] since I was really small. There’s never really been another church that I’ve gone to. Rexdale is like a second home to me. Here, I’ve learnt a lot of what it means to be a Christian. I accepted Christ at the age of four. But from then on till about grade seven, I never went to God unless I felt I wanted something.

I was a sort of sentimental Christian, only going to God when I felt I needed him. Nothing more. It wasn’t a relationship. It was more like me mooching off of someone who loved me a lot. [I thought this was really insightful]
And I gave nothing back.

Time went on. I gained many friends from church. I had a community there.
All my Jam and Roots [Jam is Gr.7-8 and Roots is Gr.9-12] people out there, I’m talking to you.
It was a place I loved to be. But something different happened when I came to Jam. Here, I saw leaders who in many ways were like me. They were young, older than me obviously, but still young enough to be considered young in my books.

There was also Pastor Steevens. [Our youth pastor and the person who baptised him] What a guy. All I have to say. Also, that he’s great, and has been a big and godly influence in my life. Here I saw a different kind of life. A life lived with Christ. With Christ. That’s something pretty important.

Christ was active in their lives. They prayed to him all the time. They had a relationship with him. That’s the thing that kept me coming to Jam, along with the fellowship and the games. I made it my ultimate purpose, every Friday – besides the first Friday of the month of course – to be there.

Time continued on. I passed from grade eight and into the Roots stage. The moment I came to the first one, I realized there was something different. There were games, yes. But that ended quickly. That was the big difference.
It was a lot more teaching than I used to, so young as I was, I was slightly annoyed. [laughter...so genuine] I loved the games. A lot. What was wrong with the games? Why weren’t there more?

The teaching was something I valued, but it seemed to be, I valued it a bit less than the games. I became a bit dissatisfied with Roots. Then Blizzard came around.[the winter youth retreat]

It really hit home here, how important a relationship is with God. Because he can transform you. He will work in you, and do things you can’t do, “for nothing is impossible with God.”

A guy who had previously never been to youth group before gave his life to Christ that weekend. I didn’t show it, but I was deeply moved inside. I realized, on the Saturday night session, just what being a Christian is all about.

It’s about a constant relationship with him. I re-gave my life to him that night, this time for real, I have not looked back since.

I never really considered baptism until a few months ago. It never really crossed my mind. But I’ve realized over the past months that baptism is an act of obedience. It’s not a choice. You’re obeying God when you show the world that you’ve chosen to follow him and that you are free in his salvation and grace.

I knew, ever since the last baptism, that I would be going to the next baptism class, because I’ve decided that for the rest of my life, through all of my shortcomings and flaws, I’m going to do my best to follow him in all that I do, and run the good race. Through all the troubles I see, I will cling to the fact that my life is in his hands, for "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him."

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After he shared, his encourager, his small group leader, spoke of my son's 'special' gift as a person who influences those around him by his very nature. And as I remembered what one of his teachers had said about him, that 'the other students got quiet and listened to my son as he shared his insights on faith, ...that they gravitated towards him'...and then looked around and saw that 5 of his high school friends had come, I just thanked God. Now I know that my work in prayer is increasing as warfare is a given when anyone advances the kingdom of God. But how I thank God.