THROUGH THE BIBLE IN THREE YEARS
TESTIMONY
GOD'S CALL TO MINISTRY
Bro. Bruce McGee For 6 long years, from 1968 to 1974, I had worked 40 to 48
hours per week as an assistant manager and gone to college taking
12 and 15 hours per semester. After graduating, I had continued
to attend college and work on a masters degree. Finally, I got
tired of school. That's when the boss promoted me and sent me to
Texarkana. In 1978, I was manager of a rather large grocery store for
Safeway Stores, Inc. The store was located in Texarkana,
Arkansas; and we had been there about 4 years. The good ole "American Dream" for a Christian man is
to make something of himself and provide the best for his family.
That's what I thought I was doing. The store demanded long hours,
practically 7 days per week; especially if one wanted to get that
next promotion. Now, I was saved in 1954. But I had joined the USAF in 1963,
just before Ann and I were married. During the four years in the
USAF, and all through the college years, I had drifted away from
the things that a Christian oughta be doing. Bible study was
sporadic, prayer was only when I wanted something, and church
attendance was very irregular. In short, the good ole
"American Dream" had replaced God as the number one
priority in my life! It's important that we realize when we are
saved, that we shouldn't do our own thing. We should be
looking for what GOD wants, and not what we want! One Thursday evening I came home late (as usual). It was
supposed to be my day off, but work demanded that I stay
(according to my desires to make that next promotion). The pastor
and his wife had just left, and my children (9 and 7 years of
age) had just made professions of faith in our living room. I was excited! This was great! They wanted to make public
professions of faith the following Sunday; and they wanted to be
baptized the Sunday after that. Uh Oh! The store had inventory
scheduled for the Sunday they wanted to be baptized! So I called the pastor, and rearranged the baptism date to the
next Sunday. When I hung up the phone, something really tugged at
my heart! I looked at Ann, and said, "My priorities are all
messed up." She said, "Honey, you'll do the right
thing. Just listen to God." Then she just walked off! Ann and I grew up together in the same neighborhood and (country) church.
We have known each other since she was 3 and I was 5.
We've always been pretty good at talking things out, even
when we're angry with one another. (We never have fights;
but you might hear some of our discussions a couple blocks
away!) Why would she just "walk off" like that? Why didn't
she stay and TALK about it? She understood! Even as young
as we were, she knew and always allowed me to be the "head
of the house." She left me to make a decision! When we are saved, and we study God's Word, He promises to
"call all things to remembrance" that He has taught us.
Just as Ann walked off, the Scripture in Deuteronomy 6:4-9 struck
my heart like a ton of bricks! It says, "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:
And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart,
and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these
words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine
heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy
children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine
house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest
down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a
sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between
thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy
house, and on thy gates." I felt DIRTY! I felt CONVICTED! So I went to God in prayer and
begged His forgiveness, and I asked Him to show me what HE
wanted in my life. God is FAITHFUL! And He answered my
prayer in a way that I didn't expect! The next 3 months, I was probably the most confused
manager that Safeway had! Every little decision was an agonizing
experience. It seemed that I couldn't think straight any
more. The Scriptures of God kept coming to mind and breaking my
heart. I kept going to God and confessing; then He'd bring
something else to mind. Oh what a MISERABLE man I was!
When God is cleansing an old jar of clay, it ain't a
pretty sight! Not being able to make quick and effective decisions is awful
for a grocery store manager. That job demands quick clear
thinking and decisions based on business principals coupled with
experience. God was muddling my mind! And FINALLY I
realized it. One Sunday night, after missing church again, I closed
the store. No one was there but me. In the office of the back
room, I knelt to pray. Tears poured, and sobs came. I begged God
to show me what He wanted. No angels came down; no thunder and
lightning; no audible voice - NOTHING - except my crying and
praying. Now, for a good ole conservative Southern Baptist, this next
part was scary. Finally, after about an hour and a half of
prayer, I just said, "God, You know my very being. I'm
asking you to take control of every cell of my body. When I get
up, I'm going to believe that the first thought which enters my
mind is planted there by you. And I'm going to focus my life
upon that thought." I didn't understand what I was doing. But right there in that
office, I TOTALLY SURRENDERED to God. Whatever HE
wanted, no matter the cost to me, I was going to do. If we want
to be in the CENTER of God's will, we must DIE TO SELF and
become what HE WANTS! "And He said unto them all, If any man will
come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross
daily, and follow me."(Luke 9:23) When I got up, the first thought that struck my mind was a
visual picture of the place Ann and I had always talked about
building a house for retirement. We had lived in a trailer there while I went to
college. We had dreamed of one day building a nice two-story
house there. It was a little plot of land right across from her
dad. That night, I went home and told Ann to start packing the
house. The next day I was going to resign, and we were moving
home. What she said, really showed me that decision was RIGHT!
She said, "Well, the house is almost packed. It's been
packed and ready to move for about 3 months now!" SHE knew! God knew. But I had been so blinded by the good ole
"American Dream" that I didn't see!
Oh! What a difference
it makes when we LISTEN to God!! We moved home. For the next year I spent about 4 hours per day
studying God's Word. We went to church everytime the door was
open. We moved our letters back to our home church (New Chapel
Hill Baptist, West Monroe, La.). I started teaching Sunday School
again. I literally "hung" on every word preached by my
pastor, Perry Lassiter, or his associate, James Burns. Oh! How I ENJOYED those days! God was really blessing my heart! But the contractor who was building our house took his second
draw and left. He never returned to finish the job. We had to
file a suit, wait 3 months for the judge's decision; and then
finish the house ourselves. It took ALL of our savings. But our
HEARTS were HAPPY!! God was solidifying our family. God is GOOD -
ALL the time! Even when it don't FEEL good to us, He's working
behind the scenes, getting everything in line for His glory to be
revealed. Then next year, I committed to take the Youth II department.
Ann and I really enjoyed that year. We had some of the best
teachers in that department, and we met some of the best youth
with whom we've ever worked. We saw several of those young people make
professions of faith. God was really blessing! Then the next year
I committed to the Sunday School Director's position. During those three years, I was also singing in a quartet. And
THAT was a WONDERFUL experience. In my heart I said, "Surely
THIS is what God wants! This is GREAT!" Being involved in church, and singing on the weekends was a
real blessing. I had many opportunities to witness to other
people; even became involved in visitation. But then, something happened. My heart was telling me that God
wanted something MORE! Soon, I understood that He was calling me
to preach. Well, I didn't understand at first; so my prayers were
filled with searching questions. "Lord, do You want me to be
an evangelist? Lord, don't you just want me to preach to the
crowds while the quartet is singing? Lord, how about Interim
pastor work?" Agony again filled my heart. But this time it was easier. I
already knew total surrender. After a few months of searching
prayers, I realized that God wanted me to become a pastor. One Sunday afternoon, after the children had left the house,
Ann and I were watching the football game - the SUPER BOWL. She
was lying on the couch, I was reclining in the big chair. I
turned the TV OFF! Ann sat up, knowing that something was up if I
turned off the Super Bowl. I said, "Honey, the Lord is calling me to be a
pastor." She jumped up off the couch, and looked directly at
me. Then she said, in that little defiant way she has, "Now
I KNOW that you've lost your mind! God don't want anybody like
YOU behind a pulpit! And besides that, He hasn't called me to be
a pastor's WIFE!"
See? I TOLD ya she liked to talk things
out! Well, I told her, "Honey, God has called. Next Sunday,
I'm going down the aisle and surrender to that call." MAN!!
It was COLD in that house for the next week. She barely would
talk to me. Anxiety and anticipation was so thick you could cut
it with a knife. But Sunday morning, after Bro. James Burns preached on "Commitment" (AGAIN!),
I went down the aisle and took Bro. Perry Lassiter's hand. I
said, "Bro. Perry, God is calling me to be a pastor. He's
not calling me to be an evangelist; but He's calling me to be a pastor." Bro. Perry looked directly into my eyes; and you wouldn't
BELIEVE the first question he asked! He said, "Well, Bruce,
what does ANN think about this?" I nearly fell down! But
just then, I saw Perry's eyes move. I looked behind me, and there
came Ann down the aisle. LISTEN young men in Christian life. When God calls a pastor,
He also calls the pastor's WIFE! That wife must become the
pastor's confidant, supporter, encourager, prodder, and yes - his
pastor! If a man feels called to be a pastor, and his wife won't
surrender, it AIN'T GONNA WORK!! In 1978, when all this started, I was earning about $40,000
per year. All our insurance was paid for, we had stock in the
company, and savings in the bank. Today, some 30 years later, Ann
and I BOTH earn a little over that amount. But we've never done
WITHOUT anything! We've managed to pay our bills, and keep food
on the table when I thought that next paycheck surely would never
stretch. Our son finished college and, somehow, we managed the cost
(together with his scholarship). I'm constantly hearing how pastors have stress in the
ministry. There's no doubt that it's a stressful job. But if it's
a JOB, then there's a question about whether it's a calling.
I don't have STRESS, I have JESUS! (Well, I really don't have HIM
as much as He has ME!) And Jesus has provided me with the
"peace that passes all understanding." And He's
provided me with a wonderful pastor's wife, who's really connected
with this ole country boy, and the ministry to which God has
called us. "What can we then say to these things? If God
be for us, who can be against us?"(Romans
8:31) Being in the ministry for Jesus is WONDERFUL! I wouldn't trade
it for the world! SURRENDER! THAT'S the key to being a Christian. That's
the key to being in HIS SERVICE.
I knew that God was telling me it was my responsibility as
father of the home to teach my children about Jesus and about how
to be saved. But I had been neglecting that. Ann, the pastor and
his wife, and the Sunday School teacher had been diligently
performing what I had neglected!
Our daughter went to Beauty School, and somehow we managed the cost.
God can make a LITTLE be very MUCH!
In almost 26 years of pastoral ministry, and 7 years of ministry in evangelism (after retirement) Ann and I have been intimately involved in 530 professions of faith by people to whom we've witnessed. We've also been indirectly involved in hundreds
of others. WHAT A GREAT JOY!! WHAT A GREAT BLESSING!!