Garrett Glende
I
have pretty much grown up in the church since fourth grade, when my
mom and my sister started attending Bayside Church in Granite Bay, California.
At this point, my parents were in the middle of their second separation
and there were many difficult times in my family. I wasn't really
thinking about God or the impact that He could have on my life until
I saw how He changed my family first. After my mom had been going to
church for a while, she gave her life to Christ and realized that she
needed to work things out with my dad. They agreed to move back in together
and continue their relationship. My dad started coming out to church
and eventually was saved as well. It is truly by the grace of God that
they both had their lives transformed and their relationship with one
another renewed. This was really the first time I had seen the power
of God work in my life and the lives of those around me. Without His
grace, our family would not be together today. However, I didn't realize
the magnitude of what was going on at the time and I continued to believe
that it was fine as long as I played along and went to church.
I
always considered myself to be a good kid because I never did anything
really bad and I got good grades. I had a higher view of myself than
of other people. For me, I always went to church with my family and
I understood the basic Bible stories and I believed that God and Jesus
were real, however it didn't really mean anything to me when I was
younger. My life was still as sinful as it was before I went to church
and I wasn't conscious of the gravity of my sin, but I gradually learned
more and more about God's grace and love and about Jesus' death
and resurrection and its significance.
In
my freshman year of high school I went on a mission trip to Mexico with
my church. I called myself a Christian at the time, but I was still
unrepentant of my sin and I had not turned to follow Christ. During
the trip, a pastor would give sermons at night after everyone was back
at camp and on the last night he preached the gospel more clearly than
I had ever heard before. This is when I believe that I became saved.
There, I learned that God is completely sufficient for our lives. I
understood my selfishness, my pride, and my sin in light of a holy God.
I saw the poverty that the Mexican people had to live in and yet they
still praised God for everything. They had every reason to be angry
at God for not giving them "a good life," but instead they were
grateful for all that He had done for them. I became much more humble
and grew in appreciation of what God has done for me. I realized that
I had sinned against God in my selfishness and self centered lifestyle
and this was really the turning point in my life.
Through
high school, I kept attending church and enjoying all that I thought
the Christian life had to offer. However, it was difficult for me to
get involved in the life of the church because I didn't think it was
necessary and I was scared to make friends outside of the ones I already
had. So when I entered college at UCSD, I didn't have a firm grasp
of the importance of the local church in the life of a Christian. I
attended the Rock church every once in a while because I felt comfortable
there, but I soon realized that I needed to find more accountability
from fellow believers. My suitemate at the time, Ryan Hong, invited
me out to Lighthouse and I knew a few of the people there from CCM,
so I thought I'd give it a try. When I got there I was kind of shocked
at first and I didn't know what to do, but I was amazed and convicted
by the manner in which Gods word was preached. I have now been attending
for about a year and a half and I am so thankful that God has placed
me in a church where everyone is committed to upholding a high view
of God and His word. I am humbled weekly, understanding all the more
how amazing Gods grace really is. God is truly sovereign. I never thought
that pretty much all my friends would be Asian, but I really could not
be more thankful for His guiding hand over my life.
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