Butch Monk
Salvation Experience
I was born into a Christian family and regularly attended Havenscourt Colonial church in Oakland. Each Sunday was a family affair with no questions asked, required attendance at church. Church included morning and evening worship along with Sunday school, Jr. church, and weeknight meetings. Each Sunday was thoroughly a church day, with no going outside after church or wearing play clothes. In fact, the only outing allowed after church was to take an afternoon ride with the family and listen to the radio. Such radio entertainment as “Fibber McGee and Molly” or “The Jack Benny show” was considered acceptable listening on the Sunday ride. Throughout the week, our activities were predominantly church-oriented. I participated in the “Sky Pilots” each week where we learned memory verses, worked on model planes, and even had boxing lessons. My parents participated in many church activities from singing in the choir, leading singing in an adult Sunday school class, and cooking for church events. The significance for me in all of this was the development of a church-oriented mindset where all scheduling of activities hinged on what was going on at church.
One Sunday morning, after Junior Church, my two older sisters took me to the missionary guest speaker in order for me to have a personal conversation about what it meant to “give my heart to Jesus”. I am not sure about my motivation for listening to this presentation. Probably it was a mixture of fear and curiosity along with the fact that everybody else was doing it. I usually did what my sisters asked. I also knew that my parents would be happy that I finally “made a decision” to follow Christ. Sitting on the steps to the Jr. Church room, I prayed to accept Christ and started my journey as a follower of Jesus.
Shortly thereafter, my parents decided that it was time to start going to Neighborhood Church of Oakland. Neighborhood offered many more children and youth programs, along with a dynamic music ministry, an evangelistic emphasis both to the local community and the world. Jake Bellig was the pastor. His goal was to reach the Bay area for Christ. Every Sunday night, He and a group of dedicated volunteers presented Illustrated sermons that were named after modern songs. I found each service to be a fascinating combination of Biblical history and contemporary application. It was during one of the services, in high school, that I rededicated myself to truly following Jesus.
I started teaching in the Jr. high school department when I was eighteen years old. Ed Harris Sr. along with his wife provided an atmosphere of strong Biblical teaching and fun outings from ice-skating to trips to Santa Cruz and summer camp. The group kept growing and became a focal point for all my activities just as I had experienced when I was a youngster. The church moved to the Castro Valley location in 1969 and the Jr. high ministry grew even more with the use of the gym each week for Sunday School and break out Sunday School classes, that required movable partitions to be put up in the gym each week.
When Ed asked for someone to coach a girl’s basketball team, Pat Cozzens and I became the coaches. It was during this time, that I realized that Pat was the girl for me. I proposed after one of those basketball practices and we were married in August of 1970. By this time, I was teaching English at St. Felicitas Catholic School. The audience for our wedding was full of students from St. Felicitas and from our Jr. High group at church.
In all of these events, I could see God’s Divine hand of providence working on my behalf. None of the events were accidental or coincidental. God certainly had orchestrated each event from childhood to young adult with His own special purposes in mind. I became the director of the Jr. High department in the mid-seventies and became a part-time staff member in 1975.
In 1972 I left St. Felicitas and moved to Redwood Christian School where I again taught English and eventually became a part of the administrative team. A new campus was opened at Neighborhood Church in September of 1975, and I was named principal. I retired from Redwood Christian schools in 2008. During these years, working at both the church and school, I had many opportunities to see God work in the lives of individuals and families. I have had the privilege of being part of countless programs and ministry opportunities all because God lovingly showed me grace and allowed me to be a means by which His work could be accomplished.
In December of 1990, I began to teach adults for the first time, becoming the teacher of the Challengers’ class. This class has become a major blessing that has led to many other opportunities with adults such as Active Adults on Thursdays. God has blessed Pat and I with an exciting ministry, four children, fifteen grandchildren, and innumerable Christian friends who have been our support system throughout the years. I thank the Lord for the influence of my parents and two Bible-believing churches that consistently taught God’s Word, provided opportunities, and accepted the many bumps in the road along the way.
Some thoughts For The Next Generation:
First of all, I would advise any young believer to make a daily quiet time with the Lord an absolute, consistent priority. In the midst of balancing two jobs and the busyness of life, God has used the daily quiet time, as the means by which He has provided daily guidance and wisdom for larger lifetime decisions.
Secondly, I would advise the young believers of the next generation to make an absolute surrendered effort to organize their lives around Jesus Christ. When decisions are to be made, and relationships developed, it is absolutely essential that one put Christ first and the principles of His Word. Often, we think that the hurried, busy life that the world requires is somehow a sign of influence and status. But, as we commit ourselves to The Lord, we find that making Him the center of life, and slowing down to linger with Him daily in prayer are the keys to success as believers.
Finally, I have learned that strong Christian friends are an absolute joy and necessity for living the Christian life. Having a few, close friends with whom you can share perspectives, problems, and prayer will prove to be just what is needed when one becomes entangled in the difficulties of this world.
Key Scripture
Proverbs 3:5, 6
Ephesians 4:1, 6
James 3:17-18
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