People Who Live What They Preach

“If you feel God is calling you to tell others about Him, please raise your hand,” Pastor Duane McKee, vice-president for evangelism of the southwestern union conference said as he neared the end of his presentation. Pastor McKee was looking for Southwestern students to join him on a mission trip to the Philippines and preach an evangelistic series. Raising my hand would mean committing to go on the trip, so I dared not to raise my hand. God is calling me to tell others about Him by living as He would, I thought. Anyone can preach, what society needs are not people who can preach, but people who live what they preach.

During the months prior to his appeal, I’d sensed the need to strengthen my relationship with God. I realized that many of my pious acts were done in an attempt to gain righteousness instead of as a byproduct of a relationship with Him. This truth had freed me from a tendency of mine to get involved in a wide spectrum of Christian activities, and given me the liberty to enjoy and learn more of the God who created me. During this period of my life, I had rediscovered the God I attempted so hard to please, and developed both loyalty and devotion towards Him. I was somehow afraid that if I started testifying once more I was going to, sooner or later, find myself involved in the self-righteous cycle of serving God out of duty that I had just gone out of.

“God, give me wisdom to make the right choice,” I whispered, as Pastor McKee uttered the last words of his appeal. “Father you know that deep within me I love you and I don’t want to do my will but yours. Give me understanding and the assurance of your blessing. Amen.”

I felt at peace about not going on the mission trip, and continued to grow every day in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. About a month before the trip was scheduled, a new desire was born within my heart to tell the Filipinos about the wonderful God that I serve. So I signed up for the trip having the total assurance that, even though I owed a couple thousand tuition dollars, and didn’t have a way in sight to raise the money I was going to need for the trip, God was going to provide a way. God is the owner of the universe; he created all the gold, silver, and precious stones. He is my father and He is going to pay for my trip, I thought.

God demonstrated his faithfulness, and through three friends of mine; my dean, a nursing professor, and a friend of my family, as well as some of my own savings, He covered the trip’s expenses. I preached for three weeks in a relatively small 30-member church in a town called Pola in the Island of East Mindoro. I enjoyed teaching the people about God, and in turn, they enjoyed listening to my messages. As a result my audience grew every night.

Every night both children and adults, excited and with eyes glowing with hope, came running up the hill to the church were I preached. The Filipino kids admired my height; they thought I was as tall as Goliath. The adults were amazed that a young man could know so much about the Bible, and enjoyed listening to my singing at the end of each seminar.

I taught them about the end-time prophesies of the books of Daniel and Revelation, about the second advent of Christ, about the plan of salvation, the state of the dead, and many other relevant Bible truths. At the end of the meetings 47 people gave their lives to the Lord. What was previously a 30-member church is now a 77-member church.

I want to thank God for working with and through me in spite of my defects of character, and for giving me the satisfaction that comes by knowing Him and doing His will. Through my experience I learned that, in order for people to live what they preach, they cannot remain silent; they still need to preach.