“But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts;
and be ready always to give an answer to
every man that asketh you a
reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.”
1 Peter 3:15
Introduction
First,
I hope that our
readers are not offended by
the large type used to write this article.I had to enlarge the type in order to see what I am
writing on the
computer screen.My
eyesight continues
to deteriorate.Your
prayers are truly
appreciated.
Second, my recent article entitled
“Memories,” setting forth an account of the tornado that
struck my hometown when
I was a young boy only 13 years of age, resulted in a number
of responses from
readers.Among
the responses was one
from a sister
in Christ, specifically
asking me to write about my call to the Lord’s ministry.
After
considering her request and praying
about it, I felt led of the Lord to set forth my testimony
of the Lord’s call
upon my life.
I am well aware that some pastors of
churches today don’t seem to understand that pastoring and
preaching IS
NOT a career choice one makes
to provide income for themselves and their families.Rather, the
ministry of the Word and
pastoring the Lord’s churches is A CALLING FROM GOD.I hope to be able
to make this clear in my
personal testimony which follows.
THE BACKGROUND
I am a firm Christian believer.I was born into
and grew up in a Christian
home.My Mom
and Dad took me to church
services every Sunday, and we had Bible study and prayer in
our home during the
week.This
resulted in my receiving the
Lord Jesus as my Savior when I was 11 years of age.
I wish that I could say that from that
time forth I was a dedicated Christian believer, but if I
did, it would not be
true.Growing
up, I engaged in many of
the “youthful lusts” that young people often engage
in.Yet, I
never forgot the Christian principles I
was taught in my Christian home, and which were preached by
my Godly
pastor.There
is no question in my mind,
that these Biblical teachings kept me from in church
services.doubted my
salvation, and my faith in Christ kept
me from some of the sins of the flesh, that many young
people are commonly
engaging in today. Praise
the Lord for
His goodness and mercy.
I left home and entered into public work
when I was 17 years of age.The year was
1951.No!I did not finish
high school.I
mean no offense to anyone, but I am one of
those “drop
outs” that the professional
educators sometimes rail about today. The principle
in my school, made it a point
to warn the other student in my class that I would one day
be very sorry that I
never finished high school.Well, here I
am 69 years later, and I have never had even the slightest
regret for not
finishing high school.
I was offered a very good job with the
Santa Fe railroad at the age of 17, and I took it.Believe it or not,
back then people were
working for usually no more than $1 per hour.The average family income was only $160 dollars per
month.I went
to work drawing $300 per month on my
railroad job, much more income than my parents had coming
in.The reason
for the low income was that
America was emerging from both the Great Depression and the
Second World War,
and wages were very low.
As I worked for the railroad, my wages
were steadily increased as the nation’s economy increased.Now I am not
sharing all of this background
info with our readers, just to fill up space.I share it because it fits right into my testimony of
being called into
the Lord’s ministry.
When I took my job with the Santa Fe,
their headquarters in that part of Texas was located in
Amarillo.My
oldest sister was already working in
Amarillo, so when I moved there I began attending church
with her.
Wow!What a church.The
Bethel
Missionary Baptist Church was a church literally “on fire”
for the Lord.The
pastor was Roy B. Flippo, and that man
knew how to preach the Word.He knew how
to “feed the sheep,” and he did so in every service Sunday
morning, Sunday
night, and Wednesday night.It was a joy
and blessing to set under his preaching.
I began growing in the Lord like never
before as I attended the services of that church.I began reading
the Bible for myself, and
even carrying a pocket New Testament with me during the week
so that I could
read God’s Word in my spare time.What
blessings I received from getting seirous about atudying the
Word.Praise
the Lord.
But I must also mention to our reader the
location of the church.The church was
located on a side street just one-half block off of NE 8th
street in
Amarillo.As I
write I haven’t been back
to Amarillo in many years, so I don’t know what changes
may have
occurred over these many years. But in
1951 and 1952, NE 8th street was the street
in Amarillo loaded
with liquor stores, bars, honkytonks, dance halls, and
brothels.And
our church location was on a side street just a half block
off of NE 8th.
I am relating this because often during
our church services, some drunk would come off of NE 8th,
and
stumble through the door of our church while we were in the
midst of a church
service.If
they set down in a pew and
remained quiet, they were welcome to stay.But if they were loud and boisterous in the drunken
state, two of our
church deacons would escort them out of the church and back
onto the
street.Once in
a great while one of
these drunks would actually listen to the preaching and come
forward to receive
the Lord as their Savior. This had been the circumstance
with two or three of
our most dedicated church members.Romans
10:13 is still in the Bible.Praise
the Lord!
Now how does all of this info relate to
my testimony?I’m
so glad you
asked!
I had been growing immensely in the
knowledge of God’s Word, and in “the faith,” as I attended
Bethel church.One
Sunday night we were having great
services.The
power of the Holy Spirt
was strong in the service.Then we were
interrupted by a drunk stumbing through the door of the
church.That
drunk hadn’t even realized that he was
entering a church, but even in his drunken state he
recognized immediately that
he was in a church service.He sat down
in a pew on the back row, listened for a few minutes, and
then
began
sobbing deeply.A
few minutes passed,
then he arose and made his way to the front of the church.He
literally fell to his knees at the mourner’s bench, and
began praying.Yes!Our church had an
old fashioned “mourner’s
bench” at the front of the church, instead of the table we
usually see in
churches today.That drunken sot
began crying out loudly, “Oh,
Lord God, have mercy upon my soul.”Many
in our church also began crying and praying for the man.
RIGHT THERE the Holy Spirit of God spoke
to my heart, soul, and mind, and said to me, “I want to use
you to bring such
people to me for salvation.”No!The
Lord did not speak to me in an audible
voice.I make
no such claim.But
He might as well have, for His message to
me came through loud and clear.I
understood it perfectly.He was calling
me into His ministry.
MYRESPONSE
I was shocked and
dumbfounded!The
thought of being a “preacher” had never
even occurred to me.I
had thought a
little about my future, but my thoughts had never included
being a preacher of
the gospel.
I had a real good job, making a real good
income, and I had no intention of giving it up.I planned to buy a fine home, marry a good woman, and
live a good
life.Being a
preacher was most
certainly not in my plans.
I left the church shaken in my soul that
night.And I
couldn’t forget what has
happened to me.It
was as real as if the
Lord Himself had spoken directly in person. I hardly slept
at all that night.What
I had seen with that drunk that night, and what I had heard
in my soul just played
back in my heart and mind over and over again.
When I awakened the next morning, it was
the first thing on my mind.And it never
left me.I
thought about it at work, at
leisure, at all hours of the days and nights.And, of course, I made a decision.
I told the Lord, “You have called the
wrong man.”Being
a preacher just wasnot in the plans for my life.I hadn’t yet grasp the truth of 1
Corinthians 6:19-20.
I had loved attending the church services
of Bethel Missionary Baptist Church, but I didn’t return to
the church for a
long time.I
had this terrible
conviction bothering me, and I knew if I went back it would
only be more
intense.
Sadly, I also knew that a real preacher
had to truly be “a man of God.”So I
decided to go the other direction.In my
human reasoning, I figured that if I indulged in sin a
little, God wouldn’t
want me to be one of His preachers, so that is what I did;
indulge in sin.I
didn’t yet know that “the gifts and
calling of God are without repentance,” Romans
11:29.
I
began drinking, dancing, smoking, and carousing.I just knew that
if I sinned enough, God
wouldn’t want me for one of His preachers.Talk about stupidity!For over a
year, that
Could
have been my middle name.I am bitterly
ashamed of that period of time in my life, when I was in
rebellion, fighting
God’s call to be one of His ministers.Today,
looking back, I can remember sitting in a bar trying to
drink myself into a
drunken stupor, yet having the conviction of the Holy Spirit
telling me, “This
is not what you have been called to do.”
Folks, no reader should ever try to outrun
God, for He is always ahead in this race of life.Glory to His dear
name!
REPENTANCE AND RESTORATION
After a few months, I realized that I was
hurting myself, and grieving my Godly parents, and others
who loved me, so I
turned back to God in true repentance, and like the drunk,
ask God to forgive
me and have mercy upon my soul.And He
did!
I was so alone, so empty, and feeling
ashamed of how I had wasted those past few months.I needed some real fellowship and companionship.So I cried out to
God to bring me into
contact with someone who would love me, and whom I could
truly love and share
my faith with.And
He heard and answered
my prayer.
Over the years I have been asked several
times how I met my wife?My answer…..I
prayed for God to give me the wife He wanted for me, and He
heard and answered
speedily. The
Lord had plans for my
life, and He wasn’t wasting any time.
Riight about that time a man in southeast
Arkansas was offered a good job on a ranch in the Texas
panhandle.So
he moved his entire family to our little
town in Texas.
The man and his wife had several
children.Among
them was a daughter a few
years younger than me. I
was 19 at the
time, and she was only 16.But when
I saw her, I thought she was the most
beautiful young lady I had ever seen.She was filled with
joy, always smiling and
laughing and enjoying life.
It took me a few weeks to get up the
courage to ask her for a “date.”I
really didn’t expect her to accept, as my conscience was
still bothering
me.I figured
she wouldn’t want to go on
a date with someone like me.But I
finally got the courage to ask her, and she readily
accepted.The
Lord God was at work in both of our
lives.
We had a wonderful time on that first
date, and then on the next date the next day, and then on
the day after that,
and on and on.We
were together every
day. I
quickly learned that she was a
dedicated Christian believer, and that we shared many of the
same interests and
desires for our lives.Then I popped the
question, and she said YES!I am not
recommending this to any young people reading this article,
but we were married
31 days after our first date. The
date of our marriage was August 14, 1953.Absolutely
wrong!That is
what her parents advised her, and
others made similar statement to me.Nevertheless,
the will of God prevailed, and our wonderful marriage lasted
28 years.The
Lord took her home to glory in April of 1981.She
was a wonderful wife, a loving and caring mother to our
children, and a
wondeful prayer warrior and helper in the ministry to which
the Lord had called
me.She has
been gone now for 40 years,
and I do still miss her so much and grieve over her, while
being so grateful
that she is with our Lord.Glory!
MY SURRENDER TO GOD’S CALL
After our marriage, we started going back
to my church in Amarillo.I still didn’t
want to be a preacher, so I hadn’t said anything to anyone
about my call to the Lord’s
ministry.Not
to my parents, my wife, or
anyone.It was
something between me and
the Lord.
But as we started attending church
services on a regular basis, the call bothered me even more.Every service!Then one Sunday
night in May of 1954, we had
a glorious service.The
building was
filled with the presence of the Holy Spirit.His convicting power was so mighty that night.A couple of people
received Christ as their
Savior that night.As
the church began
singing a hymn and moving to the front to shake hands and
congratulate those
who had been saved, I couldn’t resist God’s will any longer.I was so convicted to make a public declaration of my
surrender to the
Lord’s ministry.But
standing in the
church pew beside my precious bride, I told the Lord “no”
one more time.Immediately,
Ithought of my
wife.I know
the Lord spoke to me, again not
audibly, but very plainly within my soul, “Okay!You asked me for
someone to love, and I gave
her to you.I
can also take her
away.”
That
did it! I left that pew andran up the aisle, asking the Lord to please not
take my beloved bride from me.I took
our pastor by the hand, and told him explicitly that I was
surrendering my life
to the Lord’s ministry.Immediately I
had the assurance that I was doing the right thing, and that
my wife would be
right by my side as I preached the gospel of Christ and
pastored churches.And
so she was until the Lord took her home
after our being together for 28 years.
Since
that time so many years ago, I have on occasion told congregations
to whom I was preaching that I sometimes think the Lord
didn’t get much when He
called me into His ministry, BUT HE GOT ALL I KNEW HOW TO
GIVE HIM.Nothing
was held back that night.I surrendered to the Lord my whole heart,
mind, body, soul, and strength, and He has been pleased to
use me to lead many
souls to Christ since that time.Glory
to His Holy Name!
The Lord blessed abundantly.I began to STUDY
God’s Word as never before, to
preach at every opportunity.Then my
attitude also changed.I became so
grateful that the Lord had given me the privilege of being
one of His ministers.Today
I have no desire to do anything but
preach and send forth the wonderful truths of God’s Word.Sixty-six years of
blessing.Who
could ask for more?
The Lord also blessed our marriage.He gave us three
wonderful daughters, all of
whom now have families and homes of their own, and all of
whom are saved and
serving the Lord in some capacity.We have so
many grandchildren, and yes, now great
grandchildren, that I have difficulty trying to count them
all.
How very good and gracious is our Lord God!I am now old and
weak and have difficulty
with my hearing and my eyes, but I have nothing but
thanksgiving and praise for
the Lord allowing me to be one of His God called and Spirit
led ministers.
Our readers have my testimony of God’s in
my call to His ministry.I pray these
memories will be a blessing to every reader.