Bible

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The Bridge Christian Fellowship
Steve Farnworth
The Pastor’s Pen


In 1972 I moved to Susanville, California from Quincy, Washington. I thought the move was just for the summer, because I had plans to attend Eastern Washington State College. However, God changed my plans, and I wound up working in a sawmill instead. At the same time, I got
immersed in ministry in the church I had joined, Calvary Baptist. The more I served, the more I experienced God's provision and blessing, and the more I experienced His provision and blessing, the more I found myself serving.
That fall, our church offered two extension classes through Northern California Bible Institute (NCBI), an evening only school that was in its third year, located in Redding, California. The following spring I enrolled in two more classes. Why? The more I served, the more I craved a
deeper understanding of God's Word, and the more I longed for deeper intimacy with Him. I didn't just want to know the book; I wanted to intimately know the God of the book!
In the fall of 1973, NCBI opened its doors as a full time school. A few hundred students enrolled, but only 13 of us were full time students. All but one of our professors were full time pastors serving all over northern California. Because they were actively engaged in the battlefield of ministry, our training was rich with application. These men of God were not mere theorists, they were hands-on practitioners!
As great as the instruction was, the financial resources during those early years was slim indeed! Every week we concluded chapel with a time of earnest prayer, literally on our knees before God. We praised Him and thanked Him for providing the funds to keep the doors of NCBI open yet another week, and asked Him for the faith to continue on, to trust Him as He provided according to our need. Like the meal and the oil that He provided for the widow of Zarephath in Elijah's day, He always provided just enough and no more. Time and time and time again, I witnessed God's response to our simple yet fervent prayers of faith. Was our faith great? No, but our faith was placed in our GREAT God!
I took away a lot of knowledge during my years at NCBI, sitting under the instruction of my professors. But I believe no training compared to the lesson that I learned on my knees, the lesson of utter and absolute dependence upon God.
This lesson was further impressed into my soul when I agreed to fill the pulpit in a tiny little country church 15 miles outside of Redding in November of 1975. Little did I know that I would be spending the next 8 and one half years of my life as the pastor of Cloverdale Community Church. The congregation of 20 or so met in a converted milking shed that could seat 60-70 if packed in tight. In addition, they had an old 10' x 48' trailer that they dubbed the "CE wing." The folks had no vision, no real purpose, and little, if any, hope. I was 22 years old, and knew enough to know, that, if God did not show up in a mighty way, I was in deep weeds.
I prayed and prayed and prayed some more. I invited folks to join me in prayer, and a few did from time to time. As I prayed I begged God for His guidance. I asked Him to prepare a huge harvest of souls that He would entrust to our care. I also asked Him to open my eyes to ministry
opportunities in our little community through which we could engage those still outside the family of God.
Right away I was invited to join the local volunteer fire department, so I became a volunteer fireman. Soon the other fireman asked me to be their chaplain. Within another year, I became a volunteer chaplain with the Shasta County Sheriff's Department. My responsibilities included emergency counseling, pastoral care of the police officers, and death notifications, among others. God allowed me to be on the first Little League board for the community. In fact, the board meetings were held at our kitchen table.
God heard our desperate cry. He provided as only He can provide! First one, then another, came to Christ. The church began to grow as baptisms become more and more frequent. During our time at Cloverdale we saw the church grow to well over 200 on a typical Sunday and complete two building programs. Far more important, right around 70% of those in the church had come to Christ as a result of the church engaging the community right where they lived.
My friends, there is no place more powerful, more unstoppable, more dynamic for the Christian than the place of total and absolute dependence upon our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. May I encourage you to read and then practice the message contained in Hebrews 4:16? If you do, you will discover what I have: There is no room like the throne room!