Statement of Faith
LaMar’s Statement of Faith
I had the pleasure of growing up in a Christian home where for a number of years my father served as a bi-vocational pastor in different Florida churches. In fact, he is in his mid-seventies and still active in the kingdom’s work in a SBC church in Kingsport, Tennessee. I came to realize as a child of six, sitting beside my grandmother Wilson in First Missionary Baptist Church of Crystal Springs, Florida of my spiritual condition. As the pastor preached a strong message on hell and heaven, sin and putting our faith in Jesus as our Savior, I realized in order for me to go to heaven and not go to hell when I died I needed to put my trust in Jesus.
Even as a six-year-old boy, I understood what sin was. I understood that morning that my sin of unbelief would cause me to go to hell when I died if I did not pray and Jesus Christ to come into my heart and be my Savior. Hell was scary for a six-year-old boy to think about, and I definitely did not want to go there when I died. So that morning seated next to my grandmother, I bowed my head and prayed to God asking him to forgive me of my sins and my sin of unbelief, and come into my heart and be my Savior. Then as the invitation began, I got up out of my seat completely on my own, went forward, and told the pastor that I had prayed and accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior.
Bro. Woodrow Kite then went on to question me about my decision and then when he was confidant I understood the nature of my decision, he then presented me as a candidate for baptism at the end of the invitation. In a few weeks I was baptized (that would be by immersion) in Blackwater Creek. I have been an active member of a church all my life and have never been out of church at any point in my Christian life.
When I married the then June Mahaffey, in 1977, she herself had been saved for a number of years. Her father William G. Mahaffey Sr., pastored churches in North Carolina and Florida for many years passing away in 2001 and June’s mother passing in 2004. It was our pleasure to work and serve in her father’s churches on several occasions, and we even pastored churches a few miles apart in Ocala, Florida at one time.
As a SBC minister, I believe in the 2000 Baptist Faith and Message, as well as support our SBC from a church financial giving perspective. However, I do believe that our involvement in missions must go beyond the sending in of a check on a regular basis. I believe that doing missions, being missional, means getting our lives directly involved in mission projects in a hands on manner whether in our backyard or around the world.
Be the Church,
LaMar
