Project Arctos Contributor - David Dinius
Background image by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
Charleston, South Carolina, USA
Favorite hymn/worship song:
“King of Kings” by Geoff Bullock; “In Christ Alone” by Stuart Townend; “It Is Well With My Soul” by Horatio G. Spafford & Philip P. Bliss
Type of church context:
I was born and raised on James Island in Charleston, South Carolina, where I currently live. I grew up in Bethany United Methodist Church where I was baptized as a child. My mother is still an active member of the choir. My dad was involved in many church ministries from men’s groups to leading the sound/tech ministry. I learned the basics of Christianity and to be a good neighbor and to treat others the way you’d want to be treated. I made many friends in the church and understood what faith was. We gathered on Sunday mornings for traditional worship and sang hymns together and listened to the word preached and shared in communion once every month. I eventually learned to play the guitar and joined the contemporary worship music team in the church. This was a big reason for me to move to Boston and seek out professional music school to study worship music production.
Commune:
I moved to Boston in the spring of 2016 and began a new season in search of more from life through Berklee College of Music. God revealed a lot to me in the process. I attended Renewal Church Boston.
On August 7th, 2016, the teaching was focused on temptation. "The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, He will show you a way out so that you can endure" (1 Corinthians 10:13, NLT). I saw it differently just then. God limits my temptation to be withstood. I should expect to be tempted, yet know that I can withstand it. It’s never more than I can handle. He provides an escape so that I can run from it. Then the pastor said, “If what you want at the bottom of your heart is to know Him, to be known by Him, to have a relationship with Him, to walk with Him every day, and to have God Himself living in you, then the temptation to worship other things fades away. If what you want more than anything is God, then temptation loses its grip on you.” All I had ever wanted was a relationship. At that moment when I heard that, I felt something in my heart. I physically felt God reach into my chest and take my hardened heart in His hand and smash it. I went from feeling the deepest guilt I’d ever felt, immediately to desiring the Spirit of God in me. My heart then was lifted and I felt lighter than anything. He'd given me a new heart. I knew that God had actually captured my heart and I had seen what kind of beauty He really is. I found a new meaning and purpose!
Just one month later, I moved into an intentional Christian community home in Boston and started putting God in front of a lot of things in my life. I desired community and fellowship and new teachings to reveal who God is and what He’s like. This new life I had been given felt like I was finally found and I knew who I wanted to be. A follower of Jesus.
Much has happened since then and I now live with my family in Charleston, South Carolina again. I’m currently seeking a community of fellowship in Christ.
Articles written by David: