"Faith Confronted" - An Interview with the WCBC Heritage Singers

This week on the podcast, Bro. Isaac sits down with the Heritage Singers from West Coast Baptist College in Lancaster, CA for a special interview. In this episode, one of the students, Ariel, shares his powerful testimony of how his faith was confronted and challenged by a peer.  Hear how God worked in his life. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:07

Welcome to the Everyday Faith Podcast from East Side. This is where faith meets real life, right where you live. Here we dive into honest conversations about where God is moving in our everyday moments, in our homes, our neighborhoods, and our community. Whether you're listening on your morning commute, walking the dog, or winding down at home, we're glad you're here. Let's explore what everyday faith looks like. Hey there, welcome back. We're so glad that you've tuned in again this week to everyday faith. And we have some special guests with us here this week, and I'm going to let them introduce themselves. They're from West Coast Baptist College out in Lancaster, California. And they came today to sing for us and to preach for the young adults. All right. That was a totally different, uh, totally different uh atmosphere. I said young adults, but it was the senior saints or our laugh group here at the church, and uh did a great job for us, and uh one of the young men preached, and then they'll be preaching tonight uh and singing in uh the evening service here on Tuesday night, a little bit different for us, but uh I wanted them to introduce themselves, so take it away, whoever's first, who's gonna introduce themselves first?

SPEAKER_06 1:21

Right. Well, um we're the Heritage Quartet. We're from West Coast Baptist College in Lancaster, California. My name is Josh Molina. I'm from Vancouver, Canada, and I'm a senior studying biblical counseling.

SPEAKER_00 1:31

A senior, all right, studying biblical counseling, very good.

SPEAKER_01 1:34

Yep, and my name is Braxton Ascherbrenner. I'm from Nashville, Tennessee, and I uh I'm a sophomore studying church music.

SPEAKER_00 1:41

All right, Braxton, and Braxton's the closest to us here, so very good.

SPEAKER_05 1:46

Hello, my name is uh Josías Perez from Ensenada, Mexico. Uh I'm studying masters and studied Bibles.

SPEAKER_00 1:52

All right.

SPEAKER_05 1:54

And I'm Jonathan Tony, I'm from San Diego, California, and I am a senior studying pastoral theology.

SPEAKER_00 2:00

All right, start studying pastoral theology, and then uh we have the leader of the group, all right, and he's heading it up, I guess.

SPEAKER_07 2:08

Yes, sir. My name is Dominic Perry. I'm from uh Central California, and I just graduated last year with a degree in pastoral theology, and I'm leading the group out here.

SPEAKER_00 2:17

All right, thank you, Dominic. And then last but not least, and he's actually going to uh share a little bit of his story of how God changed his life and I guess brought him to uh to West Coast is I'm Ariel Arguin.

SPEAKER_04 2:30

I'm also from Vancouver, Canada, and I'm a senior studying church ministries.

SPEAKER_00 2:34

All right, senior start studying church ministries. And uh if you don't know anything about uh West Coast Baptist College, I encourage you to look them up. Uh a great college out in Lancaster, California, and it's uh a church ministry, Lancaster Baptist Church, Dr. Paul Chapel, and we've mentioned him several times uh here on our podcast. In fact, we use uh his devotional book, Rooted in Christ, the principles from that. We kind of uh use that every single day on our daily podcast, and so it's neat to have them here. And so Ariel's going to share uh his testimony of how God changed his life. Go ahead, Ariel, and I'll just let you take it away.

SPEAKER_04 3:14

Yes, sir. Thank you. Thank you very much for having me. It's a wonderful time to have, certainly experience, first time being able to do something like this, sharing my my testimony, I guess, on the air through the podcast. But um it's quite amazing, actually. It's it's it's something that all starts um like a lot of other people I've noticed have. Um I grew up in a ministry home. I grew up in a home that that goes to church um every Sunday. And um, you know, my father was choir director, my mom uh was secretary of the church, and every day I'd I'd put on my suit, go to church, say the right things, do the right things, and at about nine years old I went to a a youth camp um because because there was no one to take care of me at home at the time because people were traveling, and while I was there, I had heard real real preaching, real, real problems happening in in young people's lives. It wasn't just like the Sunday school lessons that I was I was constantly having to go through. It wasn't small things like Joan and the Whale. It was like it was real hellfire and brimstone preaching. Right. And at that, at that age, um, with the limited understanding I had, all I knew was that I was gonna go to hell. All I knew was that there was something very wrong with me. And in the end, what happened was I got I got scared into save into raising my hand up at the end of that camp, and and and the pastor asked offering, hey, if if you don't want, you know, if you if you're not 100% sure you're going to heaven, you know, raise your hand during this time of invitation, we can give you a guide, we can show you how. And I did. But at nine years old and terrified, I really didn't believe what I was saying. I had professed salvation, or I had said that that yes, from that moment on I was saved. And as much as I wish I could say that's where my story ended, it it didn't, because from then on, for the next nine years, ten years of my life, I I would go back to church with my family, back to church and put on my Sunday rest, say all the right things, sing all the right things. But for the rest of the week, I would just live in in darkness and sin. And as I grew up going through high school, I um I would delve deeper and deeper into sin, but then just put on the facade of of going to church again. And and it was rough, constantly dealing with doubts. Um but whenever I did, I would just think back to that time when I was nine and and trust in my prayer, trust in my fear that I must have I must have been so scared that I did the right thing. I must have been so scared that I I I took all the steps to make sure I wasn't going there. So I was trusting more in my in my fear and what I said than truly believing in Christ. Now my family, like I said, they were always ministry oriented um oriented, and so they had always required for me to go to West Coast for for one year, at least, at least any Bible college. And uh and I had kept that promise. I had kept that promise. I had actually decided I had actually gotten the opportunity to go down um to West Coast for the youth conference they have there, and that was my first year of high school in 2018. And when I went down again, I heard real preaching, I heard real heavy stuff about not only surrendering your life to the Lord, but number one, number one, understanding that that you need to be saved. And and as I was down there with with all these other hundreds of teens around me, everyone was going down to surrender their lives and and come to West Coast, go to any Bible college, and I I was glued to my chair. I was I remember literally gripping the seat there because I was like, why I wanna I wanna do that too. I see all these guys doing, I want to surrender, I wanna live for the Lord, but I can't. And I knew why in the back of my mind, but I I didn't wanna I didn't want to accept it. I just fell back on hey, I was scared, I did the right thing. I knew I did the right thing when I was nine, I was just trusting in that. But the most, and I thank the Lord for it, that what I was able to do was was go down to the altar and and surrender one year of my life in Bible college. Surrender at least that much. And again, I wish I could say that's where it ended, but that was just my first freshman year of high school as I went through on th through throughout the rest of my high school career for the next four years, nothing changed. In fact, everything got much worse as I grew up, grew older and got to do into bigger and worse sins. Until finally it was it was it was time to go to college. And I and I went through my whole freshman year um you know struggling with with with sin, with depression, never having victory until at the very end of it, I had a very I had a very close friend to me ask me. For the first time, he pointed at me in the dorm because he kept trying to get me to come back for four years, and I would always tell him, No, I'm gonna go back to Vancouver, no, I'm gonna go become a mechanic, I'm gonna I'm gonna do all these things, I'm gonna just you know live for myself. But he was always trying to get me to come back for four years, and he and he asked me, Why won't you come back? I was like, I just don't, I'm not not really just not planning on it. And finally he asked me in the dorms, past lights out, he he pointed at me, he said, Are you saved, Ariel? This wasn't like like a camp or a service or any other thing where like your heads are bowed, you know, you can you can just raise your hand up when when the pastor says, if you're going to heaven, you know, raise your hand. You know, this wasn't anything I could avoid. I was really confronted about my faith. And um, and in that moment I couldn't, I couldn't just lie like I had I couldn't just say, Yeah, I know. I wasn't 100% sure. I knew that that that the doubts had just been growing in the back of my mind that I'd I'd known the truth all this whole time, but he left me with that. He couldn't stay for longer because the dorm soups were getting mad at him.

SPEAKER_00 8:41

But for a whole a whole week, hey, hold on, hold on, hold on. This guy's not saved either. His lights out, but hey, who cares?

SPEAKER_04 8:49

Arguing was like, I promise you, this is more important. And the guy was like, nope, you gotta get out, you gotta get out. It's like this is more important. Nope. Oh my goodness. It was insane, yeah. Um, but yeah, it was it was crazy. But really, after that moment, after that night, for the next couple, for the next week, next five days, I was just losing sleep. I was sweating, I was, I was like begging the Lord, like, show me some clarity, show me something, until finally I I opened my Bible and I was like, Lord, show me something. And I went and I'm reading through like the passages I was doing for my classes, and it was in James, the book of James and James chapter number two, about oh, oh vain man, wilt thou know that faith without works is dead. And I I sat there in my dorm room alone and I was thinking about my whole life ever since ever since like I was nine years old, to now I was I was asking Lord, show me what fruit do I have, you know, what who else have I shared the gospel with? Who what what what victory have you given me over my sins? What what has changed since then? And nothing. I had nothing to show for it. And I I realized, you know, the gravity of my situation. I realized like, yeah, I I just been avoiding this question for years and not settling this this doubt that I I knew I had that I wasn't going to heaven. And so then the next day, April 30th, it was the baccalaureate service, and again I'm seeing these these graduates up on the stage of of West Coast, um, and they're you know, the the the faculties giving a speech about how you guys are gonna go out into the world, you guys are gonna change the world, you're gonna be the difference, you guys are this this key generation in for Christ. And again, I felt like like a teenager and a kid again, watching all these people surrender Christ and live for Christ because they were all saved, and I didn't have that. And so I I just couldn't hold it anymore. And I went down, I I found uh the vice president of the college, I told him, Hey, Dr. R, I'm uh I really need to talk to you about something. And took me to the back, and I told him I explained this whole situation I was going through, this whole testimony, and funny enough, you told me, Well, it seems like you know what to do. And I I'd heard it my whole in church, in camp. I mean, I was at Bible college, and so yeah, April 30th, on that on that day, April 30th, 2023, I I fully accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and personal Savior.

SPEAKER_00 11:01

Amen. Amen. Praise the Lord. That is awesome. Well, what a story. Uh and I mean, you think about the boldness of that guy in your dorm room, yeah, just to, you know, confront you. Hey, look, I mean, here's bottom line, your problem is not are you wanting to come back to Bible college or not. Your problem is you're not saved.

SPEAKER_01 11:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:22

And you already knew it, uh, but yet didn't really want to deal with it. And uh, you know, for whatever reason that was, whether it be the devil or uh whether it be just uh pride, sometimes, you know, pride gets in the way. Here you you have a guy, right, that is at Bible college, and I tell our young people this all the time, because we have quite a few young people that go to Christian schools, and I tell them this. I say, uh, you know, they go, I said, even though they're that person is going to a Christian school, does not mean that they're a Christian. Uh there, I believe there's Christian schools that are filled with lost young people. Uh, and we it sometimes slips your mind thinking that in a Bible college, right? Because the fact of the matter is, what are the what are those young people going there for? Well, I mean, uh ministry majors and uh I mean I do I know that you have one-year Bible certificates and things like that that they do hand out uh and uh that's that's courses, but most of the time you don't think that you know of a college student as being lost, uh, but here you were and God brought you to that point, God used that that particular person in your life uh to to with boldness uh to tell you that. And so uh for our listeners out there, really think about this. Uh maybe you have grown up in church, and maybe you've been around church your whole life, like Ariel had been, uh, and yet there's that unsettledness, there's that uh there's no peace in your life. Uh if we can help you, uh and and uh like Ariel, he knew what to do, right? And you probably, if you've been around church, you know the gospel, the death, the burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, that you're a sinner that uh uh is bound for hell. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. And if we'll turn from our sin, repent from our sin, and trust Jesus and Him alone uh for salvation, that is how we can get to heaven. Ariel knew that, but yet he just hadn't completely yielded himself fully to Christ. And I'm so thankful that he he got that settled and he's here today uh with us. How old are you? I'm uh 22 today, actually. Twenty-two today. It's my birthday. Well, happy birthday, man. Why don't you tell us that earlier, man? We would have had a cake or something and and made a big deal about it. Maybe well, we still got there's more a day left, so maybe we'll we'll think about that. But happy birthday, Ariel. Well, we're gonna do something a little bit different uh than we have ever done on the podcast. All these guys introduced themselves just a moment ago, and uh all not all of them are going to sing, I don't think, but uh the guys that do sing, uh we're gonna let them sing for you here on the podcast, and uh so I'm sure it'll be a blessing to you.

SPEAKER_02 14:04

Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted up and heard him say, Who shall I send? Who will go for us? Isaiah felt unworthy to go and prophesy, but his heart was more than willing, and this was his reply.

SPEAKER_03 14:22

Any time anything you want me to be my dance of red with things work that's work for me to do.

SPEAKER_01 14:46

The harvest now is ready, but like you. Sometimes I feel unworthy to share salvation's plan. But Lord, you know I'm willing to do what you command.

SPEAKER_00 15:46

Amen. My answer is yes. Wow. I feel like I'm on a radio station now. My answer is yes. That was a big uh a big one there. So that was great, guys, and it fit perfectly with Ariel's testimony, too. Uh, so thank you for that. Uh brother Dominic is uh did I get that right, Dominic? Uh Dominic, yeah. Dominic. All right. Well, Dominic uh is going to uh kind of tell us a little bit about the college, and uh we got his name completely wrong at the Senior Saints for some reason, yeah, twice. Uh we called him a pastor called him Duncan.

SPEAKER_07 16:19

So I said he called me, he introduced me as Donovan to a lady. It's kind of funny.

SPEAKER_00 16:24

It's just you know, you know, it happens.

SPEAKER_07 16:27

So well, go ahead. Tell us a little bit about uh the college. Yes, sir. Well, thank you so much for letting us come here and just you know be with you guys today on the podcast. And so West Coast Baptist College is a ministry of Lancaster Baptist Church, and we exist for one purpose. And brother, that purpose is to train laborers for the harvest. And now I travel for a living around the country, and I don't think it'd be an exaggeration to say that I talk to literally thousands of teenagers every year. And just to give you some statistics, of probably every thousand teenagers I talk to, when I ask the question of what they want to do or what God wants them to do with their life, I would say maybe twelve to fifteen out of every thousand say, I want to be in full-time ministry. And I don't go to public schools, I don't go to places like that. I'm talking about Christian young people and good Bible-believing churches. Uh, because my friend, the labor, the laborers are few. That's right. And we know that. Very true. And West Coast Baptist College just celebrated 31 years. We have right around 4,000 graduates serving the Lord. I believe in 49 different countries in all 50 states. And so the ministry never sets on West Coast Baptist College, or the sun never sets on the ministry of West Coast. And uh, I just want to talk a minute. Uh, maybe if you're listening here today and you're not really sure what God has for your life, whether you're a young person or old person or somewhere in between, I mean, everyone can learn a thing or two more about the Bible. We can all have a better foundation for our faith and uh what we understand and what we believe. And maybe you're a young person, especially, maybe again at a high school or just guy at a high school, you don't have a set direction yet. Uh, I would encourage you and challenge you to consider just when you're at West Coast. Amen. Uh, you know, if you're going to the career world or you're gonna be, you know, in the trades or just a stay-at-home mom or something like that, uh, you need to know what you believe, you know, because this world is crazy, and we need Christians that are gonna stand up for what's right. And now if you are listening and you feel like God wants you to be in full-time ministry, uh, as you heard a moment ago, uh say yes. That's the best thing you can do. And we specialize in preaching and teaching uh with evangelism, missions, and then uh education degrees as well. And as I said, we're accredited, and so that's that's a big part of it as well. But yeah, thank you so much, brother, for letting us come on and talk for a moment. Yeah. And yeah, was there anything else that you wanted to add?

SPEAKER_00 18:29

I I think that's great. And I will just add to that that uh we've been out there quite a bit uh for the Spiritual Leadership Conference and seen uh kind of what goes on out there in the student body, and it's just amazing. I would highly recommend uh West Coast Baptist College just because of what we've seen. We've had a couple graduates uh that uh or students, I think one was a graduate, in fact, uh Tyler Nelson that's been uh several years ago, and now he's serving the Lord in education. Uh and so we've had a couple students that that have gone to West Coast and we would highly recommend it. So I appreciate y'all being here today today. Thank y'all for taking your time to come in here, share your testimony, uh, and then share the song with us and uh share a little bit about the college. If you have any questions, uh you can find out more information on the on their website.

SPEAKER_07 19:17

So the website's gonna be wcbc.edu. Um and then you mentioned the f uh the uh spiritual leadership conference. This year is actually gonna be the 40th anniversary year. And so if you've never made it out before, this is definitely a year to try to get out there.

SPEAKER_00 19:29

And it's not just for pastors, assistant pastors like that. There's people there from you know all walks of life that maybe serve in uh as piano player or maybe you know serve as a Sunday school teacher. You don't have to be necessarily in full-time ministry to take part uh in that. And so uh just want to put that plug in there as well. So uh again, thank you all for being here. And uh if there's anything that we can do for you uh from our standpoint, uh if you're a listener today and there's something that maybe you have a question about that we can help you with, be sure to uh call us at our church office, 901-372-2583. We'd be glad to help you uh with any of those questions that you may have. Again, thanks for listening. We'll see you again next time. Thanks for joining us for the Everyday Faith Podcast from Eastside. Remember, faith grows not just on Sundays, but in the everyday moments of your life. If today's conversation has encouraged you, share it with someone who might need it. And don't forget to follow and subscribe so you never miss an episode. We'll see you next time, right here on the Everyday Faith Podcast from Eastside.