Vintage

Paul Barnum

How the Lord has worked in my life for the past 25 years!

I was born in 1944 in Livonia, Michigan. I moved to Oswego, NY in 1961 where I met my wife. We got married in September, 1964. Around 1980 my wife and I where looking for a church to attend. We were in and out of different denominations but we did not care for any of them.

I was working at Alcan Aluminum Corp. In June of 1982, Sam Distin invited me to attend church on Sunday morning. Sam was telling me they were having a special speaker. My wife and I decided we would attend the following Sunday. The special speaker was speaking on Hell. I thought it was the most negative message I had ever heard!

The preacher was speaking on Hell that Sunday. Hell is a real place where real people go and people who do not trust Jesus as Savior will go there.

My wife and I decided we would never go back to that church again! The next day (Monday) Sam came up and asked if I would attend the following Sunday. At that time I told him, "No way!" We would never go back to that church (Grace Bible Baptist) again. I was unaware at that time the Holy Spirit of God was working in my heart.

All week Sam kept asking me to go to church with him on Sunday. I kept saying, "No, no, no." Sunday morning the Holy Spirit kept working on me and I decided to go. My wife at that time said no, but my daughter had said she would go with me. (She was about 6 at that time) My wife said if my daughter was going then she would go also.

That Sunday, July 4^th, 1982, I trusted the Lord as my Saviour. At 12:15 Sam Destin opened up God's Word and asked me, "Are you 100% sure you are going to heaven?" I said, "No." He lead me to Christ that day.

What comes after salvation?

When I got saved, I was born into the family of God .The very next Wednesday, Pastor Victor Shepherd stopped over to ask me if he could do a Bible study with us. That day he led my wife to the Lord. Before he left he told me the next step in the Christian life was to get baptized; not for salvation but to obey the Lord. ((Acts 2:41 KJV)  Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.) I had no problem with this. If the Lord wants me to, I would do it. I was told you don’t get baptized into the church but it just shows the world that you have trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal savior. After I trusted the Lord for salvation, I got baptized. The Lord was still working in my life.

So what comes after baptism? What’s next?

The Lord was still working in my heart. I was wondering what I could do next. About that time the church decided they wanted to add a bus to their bus ministry. You got it, I volunteered to drive the bus. This meant I had to get a bus license, which I did. So I started driving the bus, picking up young and old alike. The Bible says “(Luke 14:23 KJV)  And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.”

I started doing bus visiting on Saturday. I noticed many of the people I visited had about the same type of background that I had when I was growing up. This helped me help them; I could relate to some of the problems they were having. I knew the answer to all the problems in life are found in the Bible.

About 1987, Pastor Mark Elliott and the congregation decided we would build a new church building. At the time we were meeting in an old school house, which we had purchased in 1983. Around 1988, the new Grace Bible Baptist Church building was completed.

About that time I noticed something was wrong; I did not see as good as other people.

I went and had my eyes checked.

My eye doctor said there was nothing wrong. I said to myself, "I know something is going on, but what?" I decided to go see a specialist. The tests seemed to take hours. Eventually, they told me I had a very rare eye disease. One day I might go blind. (This eye disease reminds me of sin in our lives. It is so gradual that you do not even notice it. Then all of a sudden it hits you.) Wow! Going blind! That was a shock. Here I was, doing just what I knew the Lord wanted me to do and the Devil just threw a ton of bricks at me. That was a shock but I still had 20/20 vision with glasses. I could still do the things that I was doing; I was still able to drive, teach Sunday school, and preach in Jr. Church. The thought was there but nothing had changed yet!  However, I knew down the road I would not be able to do some of those things I loved to do.

I drove the church bus for about 15 years. Then it happened, around 1997. I had to give up driving the bus. I loved to drive, but it was not the end. I was able to still teach and preach. I still visit the bus route.

So what happens or what do you do when the Devil throws a ton of bricks at you?

Pastor Paul Komrowski said if I could get 25 teens, then I could start a teen class. The teens and myself worked extremely hard at getting 25 teens rounded up. The Lord blessed! We had reached our goal and I began preaching Teen church services. For the past 10-12 years we have had about that many teens, sometimes more and sometime less.

The Lord laid upon my heart many years ago to work with youth. I'm writing this testimony hopefully to help you. Satan will throw bricks at you and I know even saved people, young or old, will encounter problems in life. The answer is not drugs, not alcohol, not worry, not stress; but put all your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.

(Proverbs 3:5-7 KJV)  Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.

1^st The Lord has a plan for all of us.

2^nd Trust Him as your Saviour.

3^rd Trust Him to guide you.

4^th Trust Him in every part of your life.

This is not the easy thing you will do in your life. But at the end, it will be the most rewarding. After 25 years, I can testify to that.

Lastly, a special note to all that read this. Fall in love with the Lord Jesus; not just for a moment in time, but for eternity. Serve others and see what the Lord will do in your Life.

(1 John 4:19 KJV)  We love him, because he first loved us.