October 30, 2013

Introducing the Why

“As leaders of this church, we have a responsibility to pay attention to the people coming in and out of our doors each Sabbath.”

Pastor Jamey Houghton was speaking to the Hillcrest church board last spring, but he might as well have been talking directly to me. My thoughts immediately shifted to Rogelio, a first-time visitor to my Sabbath school class a few weeks before. I’d thought enough to get his phone number, but I hadn’t followed up with him since.

Well, better late than never.

As the board meeting shifted into church business, I scooped my iPhone out of my pocket and sent him a text.

“Hi, Rogelio, it’s Jimmy Phillips from Hillcrest church. Not sure if you remember me, but I just wanted to let u know that we really enjoyed having u in our study a few weeks back.”

I didn’t have to wait long for a reply.

“Of course I remember u, Jimmy. I’d been hoping u would contact me.”

A few days later I met up with Rogelio at a local café. For the next two hours we sat at the corner table and he told me his story.

Rogelio grew up in a broken home, but he’d been much more successful in building his own family. Shortly after graduating from high school he married Melissa. More than 12 years and three kids later they’d managed not to repeat the mistakes of their parents. However, God wasn’t really a part of their lives.

One day—seemingly out of nowhere—his youngest daughter, Isabella, began asking if the family could start going to church.

“Who’s been talking to you about church?” Rogelio asked.

Isabella didn’t have an answer.

About six weeks later Rogelio flipped on his bedroom radio, only to find it tuned to a station he didn’t recognize. There were no hip-hop beats or catchy Top 40 tunes. Instead, someone was reading. Resisting the initial urge to hit the scan button and move on, Rogelio listened as a man named Chuck Smith recited the Creation story from the book of Genesis. It was the first time he’d heard these words.

Rogelio was intrigued and began attending a large nondenominational church. During the week he started reading his Bible. Faithfully, he started in Genesis and read a chapter or two every day, absorbing the text and trying his best to apply the things he read to his life. He found some things easy to understand, while other parts of the text were less straightforward. But as he came upon Exodus 20 and read about the Sabbath, the words seemed plain enough.

If this is true, why am I going to church on Sunday? he thought.

A man of action, Rogelio pulled out his computer and searched for a church in Bakersfield that kept the seventh-day Sabbath. That led him and his three kids to Hillcrest Adventist Church in March 2012.

As I listened in awe to his story, I sensed that he was a person open to the truth. It just so happened that another Bible study I had been leading was wrapping up, so with a step of faith I made Rogelio a proposition.

The next week we started our weekly Bible study, covering a variety of key subjects, from a deeper dive on the Sabbath to the mark of the beast. Rogelio eagerly soaked everything in, always making sure to measure everything I said from God’s Word.

In early December Rogelio was baptized at Hillcrest.

As I sat in the pew reflecting on our amazing journey, I thought about what would have happened if Pastor Jamey hadn’t prompted me to send that simple text last spring. I have no doubt Rogelio would have found truth—God has infinite methods of reaching people who have open hearts.

No, more than anything it would have been my loss. I would have missed out on sharing in the joy of my Lord.

These days I tend to look up at the door a little more often during Sabbath school. After all, you never know who’s going to walk in. n

Jimmy Phillips ([email protected]) writes from Bakersfield, California, where he is electronic media coordinator for San Joaquin Community Hospital. Visit his Web site at www.introducingthewhy.com.

 

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