Reverend Brian Smith

GEORGE HENRY, STAR Writer

The Reverend Brian Smith currently shepherds two congregations in Manchester. He leads the flocks at the Hibernia and Mollison Restored Church of God. He has been a pastor for 20 years and has been walking with the Lord for 22 years.

Smith's walk with Christ started when he realised the goodness of the Lord while being raised in a home where his parents had been following the Master for decades. His grandfather was the founder of the Restored Church of God in Jamaica.

"Upon seeing the work of God upon my grandfather's life, I realised that He (Jesus) was the answer to my questions. So I found it easy to surrender to Him. I found it easy because at the time when I surrendered my life to God, I was really in a desperate situation, where I began to ask myself a lot of questions," said Smith.

He shared that upon realising that it was only God who could answer his questions, he decided that he had to turn to Him. Smith said the questions he asked himself mainly had to do with the future, including his purpose for existing.

"After surrendering my life to God, I began to realise my life's purpose day after day, and now it is not even a choice anymore. It has become an obligation serving God," testified Smith.

He believes man is not obligated to serve God because man was made a free moral agent, which means man is free to choose. However, Smith was quick to point out that man must be conscious that he will face the consequences for the choices he makes in the long run.

"After making that choice to serve God, there is not another option anymore because in the Bible, Jesus lost over 70 disciples at one time, and He turned to the others and said, 'Will you also go?' and they said, 'to whom shall we go?' So after serving God for a period of time, you realise that there is no other way. He is the way," preached Smith.

The pastor said Christ is the way because there is no other to compare to Him because He is the author and finisher of life. He stressed that when one needs help, the best person to go to is the Creator, who knows you better than anybody else.

Smith said following Christ is not a burden. He explained that there are many benefits to be derived from serving Him because man does not follow Christ in vain.

"He said to Peter, 'Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.' Most men in the Bible reaped the reward of serving God. So there are rewards in serving the Lord. He also said, 'Behold I come quickly and my reward is with me to pay every man according to their work.' So serving God, we have expectations and anticipations," testified Smith.

Smith, who did a stint as the presiding pastor for his denomination, which has eight churches in Jamaica, said the life of pastors is always challenging. He stressed that human life is always challenging but that most of the times we who pressure ourselves due to lack of knowledge about what God requires of us.

"I do not believe that God requires perfection as in without blemish. What He requires of us is maturity - how to handle our failures and how to trust Him. The Bible says, 'my people suffer because of the lack of knowledge. The Bible can be a weapon, it can be a tool, and it can be used in different ways. Some people use the Bible to destroy themselves," explained the church leader.

He pointed out that it was not pressuring for him to be a pastor because over the years, he has had a relationship with God. He added that serving God is not about religion, but about relationship. Smith said he is so mature now that the relationship he has with the Lord enables him to reason with Him (God) and trust Him.

The pastor said he deals with the challenges which come his way by looking to the word of God. He stressed that God has a word for every situation, and once that word is found, it eases one's stress and pain.

"Jesus says, 'Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.' Many times, we tend to struggle with our burden when He is there waiting to take them from us. So even when one has sinned, we have an advocate in the Father, who is Jesus. Actually, He is our lawyer. he is our barrister. So why should I speak for myself when Christ is there to speak for me?" said Smith.

Smith is married to Mitsy and has two children, Vichoreah and Obriein. He gave his favourite Bible verse as St Mathew 4:4. His favourite song is I have decided to make Jesus my choice. Both his children are baptised and sing on the youth choir at his church.

Feedback: pehenrya@hotmail.com