I was raised in the United Methodist Church and hardly ever missed a Sunday. I came to the Lord at the age of 10. I went with my family to a revival service, and I remember that near the end of the service, something the evangelist said touched me, and I began to cry. I was still crying when I looked up at my mother, who was sitting across the aisle from me. She came over and took me by the hand, and we went forward. Even at the age of 10, I can remember a heaviness lifting off me. I was clean.
     During my teenage years I continued to go to church and was actively involved in our youth group, but my relationship with the Lord was going downhill. After graduation I fell even further away from the Lord, though I still attended church faithfully. It wasn’t until I met my wife a few years later and started going to Cedar Grove BIC Church that the Lord truly got a hold of my life. I have never been the same.
     The Lord has been molding and shaping me for the past 22 years. There have been many days when I thought it would be much easier to give up on my faith and follow the world because God’s refining process is not an easy one to go through. I am finding out that God truly wants us to die to anything that is not from Him. It is in coming to the end of ourselves that we finally find Christ!
     That initial moment when we repent of our sins and ask the Holy Spirit to reside in us is only the beginning of our walk with Christ! I need to diligently seek for more of the Holy Spirit in my life and submit to Him daily, until I see my Savior face to face!

Brian Diffenderfer
Cedar Grove BIC Church (Mifflintown, Pa.)

I was raised with the understanding that salvation was just as simple as believing, saying you believe when asked, and waiting at the base of the cross for Jesus to return.  I didn’t have a dramatic conversion experience, but I remember giving my life to Jesus in my youth and having a peace and assurance from my commitment.   But reflecting on the start of my faith journey is not what I want to dwell on, because what I have learned about faith since then is so much more exciting.

In August of 2007, I was fortunate enough to attend a BIC Core Course on salvation.  After reviewing what I learned during the week, I found that my understanding of salvation was juvenile. I realized that salvation is a process that begins with the grace of God, which jump-starts a catalyst of rebirth and restoration in people’s lives.  This "jump-start" conversion combines with the Holy Spirit’s continued work of sanctification to make salvation both instantaneous and never-ending.  Another aspect of salvation which God's grace affords is “puffs-of-truth,” or bursts of enlightenment, which we receive from the Holy Spirit throughout our lives.  These sparks of light evidence the Lord’s refining work that changes us daily, until we finally go to glory. 

Through God's grace and the Holy Spirit’s presence, salvation can be thought of as a bridge. At one end, the base of the bridge is rooted in our accepting salvation.  Then, it rises above the landscape and spans across our lives as we receive bursts of truth from the Spirit, pursue holiness as a way of life, experience a gradual release to the Spirit, and sometimes get a second “jump-start” to our faith. All of this is aimed at transforming us into spiritual beings in order to bring us across the bridge to the gates of glory on the other side.

This revelation has affected me in many ways.  Primarily, it provides hope that I will be changed if I look for the lights of truth and listen to the Holy Spirit.  Secondly, it reminds me how small I am in the whole journey of life and that I cannot do anything apart from the Spirit.  Finally, I am truly grateful for the Holy Spirit’s work through people like my instructor, Dr. Keefer, whose ideas of “bridges and puffs-of-truth” are concepts that this now life-long student of salvation will always remember.

Bruce V. Johnson
The Bridge @ Beans (Sterling, Ill.)

I was raised in a Christian home and professed Christ as my savior at a fairly young age.  Although I claimed to be a Christian, I went on to “rededicate” my life to Christ many times throughout my youth.  It was difficult for me to trust that Jesus had accepted me, and with each sin, I felt as though I needed to experience salvation all over again.

During my high school and early college years I basically gave up on sacrificing my own agenda.  I may never have renounced Jesus with my lips, but I certainly did with my life.  Life became less and less satisfying for me.  I started to realize that pursuing only selfish interests was leading to a self-destructive lifestyle. 

I eventually resolved to become a better person.  I planned on achieving this on my own and gave no thought of turning to the Holy Spirit for any help.  Through identifying negative behaviors and striving to change them, I experienced some success, and my life did improve.  However, these successes were always short-lived, and soon I became exhausted and devastated. 

Without my knowledge, many family members and friends were praying for me during these years.  And even more importantly, I can now see clearly that Jesus Christ had been relentlessly pursuing me for my entire life.  When faced with my obvious weakness, I was finally convinced that a transformation in my life would only be possible through the power and grace of Jesus.  Transformation became a reality when I truly surrendered to Christ.  It came when I arrived at a point in my journey when I finally understood that salvation was more than just the forgiveness of my sins, but that it required that I submit my will to Christ and make Him the Lord of my life.

Corey Alleman
New Guilford BIC Church (Chambersburg, Pa.)

I was born and raised Catholic—full of glamorous traditions, beautiful hymns, and ornate garments. My main reason for going to church was because I had to, not because I wanted to. And this wasn’t even an every-Sunday occurrence.

After high school, I went to college and pretty much stopped going to church altogether. I was always a believer and never doubted that God or Jesus existed—but I never consciously thought about God or Jesus and what they mean to our existence.

After college I landed my first real job. With this, I met a really great person named Janine. We both decided that maybe we should look into some churches that would accept us without being too pushy. I was reluctant to try church again, but I dove in.

My first day at The Bridge was definitely an experience. I kept thinking, “Wow, church in a school—how odd…Wow, there a concert on stage—how cool.” I knew there was so much more to come…and I couldn’t wait to come back.

Pastor John’s discussions (I don’t really like to call them sermons) are at times so powerful it brings me to tears—not out of anger or sadness, but out of the realization that this God stuff is so amazing in such an innocent and humble way—and how dare I think of myself as any less of a person than I am.

Today, I am embracing life rather than merely dwelling in it. Christ has given me such a sense of peace that I find myself more mindful of others and their feelings, and more generous of my time and efforts. I’m human and I’m scared, but I feel secure in knowing that I’ve put my life in the hands of a God who will humbly guide me through this life and show me the way to eternal life with Him.

We all have room to grow, myself included, but I feel as though I’m well on my to a more fulfilling and meaningful life—and this time, not for selfish reasons, but for reasons of a higher power: God and Jesus!

Erin Kuhn
The Bridge Church (Hummelstown, Pa.)

When I think of my own salvation, I can look back and be very thankful for the Christians in my life who served as beacons to light the path for me. My parents and grandparents, friends, and teachers all helped to guide my faith. God continues to lead and challenge my faith to deeper levels through relationships, both old and new. I am taught the most about salvation and faith through the daily living of my wife, Kimberly. God is a God of relationships. From the beginning of Genesis to the end of Revelation, Scripture speaks of God's desire for humanity to be in relationship with the Trinity. Through the incarnation and life of Jesus, we see just how far God will go to be in a relationship with each of us.

Kevin Lay
Mt. Tabor BIC Church (Mercersburg, Pa.)

As a teenager, I walked into a life of drinking and drugs. As an adult, I married an abusive husband and had two children. I lived through ten years of abuse at the hands of a few men.

I tried many churches, seeking something, but not really sure what that was. I was not seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. That was to change at the Atglen Fair. My children signed me up for something and that led to a phone call from Cathy Christ. She asked if there was anything she could do to help. She had no idea that I was hurting, inside and out. As I got to know Cathy, she told me about New Day Community. She invited me to a service.

That first Sunday, something happened. I was greeted at the door. People gathered around me and welcomed me. The music touched my soul profoundly. Later, I asked if I could come again. “Sure! We want you to come again,” was the reply. I could not understand why such good, healthy people would want me again, and so I brought my daughter with me the next week. I have been coming for almost a year now. I was baptized in August along with my daughter, Sam.

God has touched me though the people at New Day Community Church. I have come to really know that, no matter what is going on in my life, I can go to Jesus for guidance and love. With Him as the most important one in my life, everything else just falls into place.

I can’t thank Jesus enough for putting all of the New Day Community people into my life. I hope one day to help someone else like I’ve been helped and to express to someone how very loving Jesus is. I want for nothing spiritually, and I have all this through Christ and my church.

Michele Valentin
New Day Community Church (New Holland, Pa.)