Jerry Was Right..."What A Long Strange Trip It's Been!"

Great Picture, isn't it. Kind of a stoic figure. Pondering the deeper things and mysteries of life. Actually It's a picture Laura Catoe took of me after asking me to pose and look intelligent. Sorry! This is the best I could come up with.

Today is an anniversary of sorts for me.

I'm not really big on such things, but this day always brings back memories and gives me hope for the future.

I started in full time ministry 14 years ago

IT was the culmination of one life and the beginning of one I should have embraced long before 1998.

You see, I knew I was to be a Pastor/Teacher. I knew it back in 1964. That was the year I felt God calling me to ministry.

July of that year, the church I attended, Gallant Baptist, was having a revival. Back then, revivals were week long. Services in the morning and services at night. Brother Hugh Chambliss was the preacher for our revival. It was on Wednesday night of that revival that he preached a message that would forever impact me. It was as if everyone else in that church had disappeared and he was talking just to me. He spoke of commitment and God's call on a person's life. I knew it was for me. I  knew that this was God talking to me. I knew that I could never fulfill such a call. I ran. In my head I ran. In my heart I turned away from God. But God never quit calling, never gave up on me and allowed me to run. I guess He knew that I'd come around at some point.

For the next 33 years, I tried to have a normal life. Vicki and I were married. We had two sons, Chad and Josh. Bought a home. Had a decent job and was living the good life. But I wasn't doing what God had called me to do.

Off and on over that period of time, I had stayed connected with my high school friend, Jim Bentley, who just happened to be the Senior pastor of Gadsden Vineyard Church.  I was working in the Electronics Department of Mid-South Electric. The day was May 20, 1994 and I was sitting in my car on my lunch break and was finishing up a book I had been reading, The Open Church . It was the most incredible book I had ever read. The author was going into great detail about how the church had drifted from what it was intended to be. How the mandate and call rested upon each individual in the church family. It really wasn't about the preacher or pastor, it was simply his job to make sure that each person was equipped to do the works of ministry. The book stated that church services should be open and that, as Scripture stated, each should bring a Psalm, a hymn, a word or a Scripture.This concept burned in my heart...."Yes! Yes! I want to be a part of something like that," I prayed. God came right back with, "Then do it." I knew that the call that had been placed on me back in 1964 was still alive and well. God had been waiting on me all that time and was now ready to release me into ministry.

I knew that I was suppose to start a home group. That was step one.
But I also knew that I needed to be under a spiritual covering or authority. But who?

I went to the pastor of the church we were attending and told him what was going on and what I thought I was suppose to do. He told me that he appreciated the situation I was in, but that he could not bless nor support such an endeavor because he felt it was outside of the boundaries of his church. I asked him if he would bless me and release me so I could pursue this new thing God was placing before me. He did. Funny thing in all of this.I still did not put two and two together. I was starting a home group, but I wasn't a pastor.

June 25, 1994, we hosted our first home meeting and over the next 3 years, I didn't know it, but God was training me and showing me that the call He'd given me back in 1964 was still alive and well. It wasn't until the spring of 1997, that I quit running. During a conversation with Jim, he asked me if I'd ever thought of being ordained. Ordained? That's what others did, not me. Funny part was when Jim mentioned this to me, my heart jumped.Everything about that revival back in '64 came flooding back over me. It was time to quit running.

On July 6, 1997, Jim Bentley ordained me into the Association of Vineyard Churches. I was now a pastor. Let me rephrase that...I was now officially a pastor. The call to occupy such a roll happens whether you have papers or not. Papers do not make a pastor, they are man's way of recognizing the authority and call God has placed on a life. There, I feel better now.
I took over the morning service at Gadsden Vineyard and began the process of learning what a pastor did. In other words, a lot of trial and error. Mostly error, but as my wife says..."You are very teachable."

In February of 1998, God spoke again and told me that I was to move into full time ministry on August 1st. I obeyed this time, instead of running away and the rest is history. Two weeks after taking the position of Associate Pastor of Gadsden Vineyard, I was invited by a friend to help lead worship at a local drug and alcohol treatment center...Rapha. I went to help my friend and I never left. I helped out for 6 years as a volunteer. As time passed, I knew that Rapha was where God would lead me to. My idea of pastoring and what God had in store didn't match up. Truth be known, His idea was way better than mine.

In March of 2004, I came on board the Staff at Rapha as their Staff Pastor/ Chaplin. Eventually in April of 2006, we started a weekly service there on the compound at Rapha and, as some would say, "The rest is history." I am grateful beyond belief for where God has lead me and what He has called not only me, but my wife also, to do. We truly are one flesh, one mind and one heart that beats with love to see God's hand touch and heal those who are trapped in addiction. Who knows what the next 14 years will bring? I am excited about the possibility.

You go, God!

God on you....

mb