Why The Church?

I found the Lord when I was eight-year-old. This is when I know I was born again and entered the family of God. After that, I had no thoughts that I should be concerned about attending any specific Church. Almost four years had passed and I had not been invited to join a Church. I guess that I thought that you just went to Church, not realizing that there was anything more that was needed to become a Church member. My parents carried my sister and I too the same type of Church every Sunday; however, I had never been told that I should consider joining there.

The night that I presented myself to become a Church member, I was sitting between my mom and another lady. Twelve year-old boys didn’t get to sit with their friends if they couldn’t be quiet. That meant that I normally sat with my mom or dad. Well, that night the pastor gave an opportunity for membership and made a statement that I can still hear today. He said that the opportunity to become a Church member was about to occur. He explained some things relating to becoming a Church member. Then he stated that a child of God would “never fully enjoy their salvation until they joined the Lord’s Church”. He also said that “the Lord would lead those who were suppose to join His Church through the Holy Spirit”. At that very instant, I experienced a feeling down in my soul that was more real to me than I have words to express. I could be still no longer. I climbed over the lady seated between the aisle and me. I recall her saying, “Well Michael!” Before I knew it I was standing beside the pastor.

After I related my experience of salvation to the Church, I was received to become a member when baptized. Not many days after that, I was buried in baptism in a creek near that Church building. I have had many occasions in which I have thought back about the night when the Lord led me to join His Church. Because of the way He led me to follow Him in baptism, I know that I am a member of the Church where the Lord wants me to be. I find that this makes me an Old Time Missionary Baptist. When people ask me why I became a Missionary Baptist, they normally conclude that I joined this type of Church because my family belongs there. This is not my situation at all. I am a Missionary Baptist because the Lord led me there.