The Next Milepost

It has been quite a journey. A journey which has taken me to the other side of the earth. A journey that traces its roots to a small town in Iowa about 13 years ago. I was a cross country truck driver waiting for my trailer to be loaded for a trip back home to Phoenix. The snow laid heavy all around me for the second day and I was stuck in my truck engaged in a knock down drag out fight with God.

God had been bugging me for a while about going into full time ministry. He was calling me to be a preacher, or a pastor, or something like that. I wanted no part of that. I was horrified of the thought of getting up in front of people and preaching God's Word. I was armed with all my Moses arguments as to why I was not able to do what He was calling me to do. I lifetime of driving a truck was my backside of the wilderness and Marshalltown, Iowa was the location of my burning bush.

As with Moses, God was not going to be denied. He broke my will and I gave in. I knew I could not do this without the Lord by my side, directing my path.

He put people in my life to help guide me along the way. Pastor Randy Southwick had been my friend and mentor up to that point and he helped mentor me afterwards with a different purpose in mind.

This morning we were reminiscing as we recalled how God has brought me up to this weekend. Sunday, October 27, 2013, is the day I pass the next milepost. I am being ordained as a pastor. It is evidence that God has a sense of humor. He has taken a truck driver and made me into a shepherd.

I am humbled that Calvary Community Church would ordain me. God wrestled me with me until I tapped out on that snowy day, 13 years ago, and I couldn't be happier. I love what he has me doing now. He has even given me a love for the people and land of India. As I write this post I am getting ready for the India Fellowship we have every Friday evening and I am planning my second trip to India.

I am a happy and blessed man. Sunday is not the finish line...just the next milepost.

Stories From The Road - Seeking The Blessing

Stories From The Road

I have been asked to write down some of the stories from being a truck driver for 25 years. This is the first of these stories. I will post more as I can remember them and I have time to write them down.

Seeking The Blessing

I had a habit of taking my Bible into restaurants to read while my meal was being prepared as well as while I was eating. One evening I stopped at a restaurant that had some extra space around back where I could park my truck and avoid truck stop food. I can’t remember exactly where the diner was located. It was either in rural Missouri or Iowa.

When I entered the café there were only two tables occupied. The waitress walked me past the first occupied table and seated me next to the table where two couples were engaged in a deep conversation. One couple was older and the other was a young couple.

Just before I finished my dinner and time in the Word I overheard the younger couple say the name of a town that I had heard of before, Baborigame. I have friends who had been translating the Bible, at that time, for 20 years into the language of the Tepehuan Indians. Baborigame is a small village high up in the mountains outside Chihuahua, Mexico.

I gathered my things to leave and as I passed their table I paused for a few seconds as I debated whether to interrupt their conversation or not. I finally asked for their forgiveness as I broke into their discussion. I asked them if I had heard them correctly and they all looked very surprised when I said, “Baborigame.” I told them of my friends, Kevin and Wendy Case, who had been serving the Lord in this tiny village for so long. I asked if they were praying about going and serving with the team there with New Tribes Missions. The younger couple said they were praying about it. I let them know I would be praying for them and I left.

Several years went by when I was attending a mission conference where Kevin and Wendy were being featured, telling the congregation of their work in Mexico. Kevin came up to me and said he needed to talk to me. We went out for lunch after the service and he asked if I remembered the incident at the little restaurant with the two couples. I did not remember encounter until he started recounting to me what had happened. He told me that the younger couple was asking her parents for their blessing to go to the mission field where they felt the Lord was calling them.

Her parents were against them going to Mexico. They felt their daughter and son-in-law were too young and were misinterpreting whatever it was the Lord was doing in their lives. Kevin told me that when I spoke up they were forced to realize that God was at work. The older couple came to see how many things God had to arrange to accomplish this divine appointment.

1. Truck driver from Phoenix at that particular restaurant at that time.

2. Truck driver knew one of the couples on the Baborigame team.

3. Truck driver actually remembered the name of the village although he had never been there.

4. Waitress sat truck driver close enough to overhear their conversation.

5. You could probably see more God workings than I have noted here.

Kevin said that her parents figured if God had orchestrated everything needed to put me there at the same time as the blessing was being sought that He must have the whole thing under control. Therefore, they gave the young people their blessing. Kevin said that that couple had joined them in translating the scripture in Baborigame.

I knew God had called me into ministry, yet I was getting very anxious about still being out on the road. I thought I was out there not being of any use the kingdom of Christ. The Lord used this to illustrate to me that He was in control and I was right where He wanted me.  Just think of the blessings I would have missed out on if I would have been impatient and tried to do what God had called me to do but in my timing rather than his. I pray I never get running ahead of the Lord and bypass the divine appointments He has ordained for me.

God Fulfills His Promise.

About seven years ago, I had an argument with God. God was calling me into ministry. I had bought a 18 wheel diesel truck and trailer a couple of years earlier and I was perfectly happy with my life as a cross-country truck driver. I was making more money than I ever had made in my life. And most of all, I was not a public speaker.

It came to a head while I was in Marshalltown, IA. I had dropped my trailer off at a meat packing plant and they told me to get comfortable. It was going to a couple of days before my load was ready. So I settled in for a long stay in my sleeper.

I was set up so I could stay in my truck for several days without having to come out. It had been snowing, so I was quite comfortable in my little hideaway. Little did I know what God had planned for me in those couple of days.

I was able to pick up a Christian radio station, Calvary Satellite Network, which program schedule included a lot of teaching from Calvary Chapel pastors around the country. God started working on me right away. The more He convicted me of His call on my life, the more I argued with Him as to why He had the wrong guy.

I had never been a public speaker. I had barely graduated from high school. I was a slow reader and I HATED to study. I was not the man for the job. I had all the "Moses" arguments. God had made a mistake on this one.

I thought that I could drown out His voice by listening to all these different preachers. Surely they would not all be preaching on surrendering my will to God. But the more I listened, the more the Holy Spirit used their words to drill holes in the wall that I had erected to a teaching ministry. So I thought that I would turn the radio off and start listening to the cd's in my music library. That did not work. It seemed like every singer and every song all had to do with the same thing, bowing my knee to what God was calling me to do.

Finally, out of shear exhaustion, I literally cried out that I couldn't do it. In the silence that followed I felt like God was telling me to open my Bible to 1 Corinthians chapter 1. There I read that God had chosen the foolish to confound the wise, and the weak to overcome the mighty. It says that God uses things that are despised. I then heard the still small voice of God speak to my heart that He didn't want someone who could "do it." He wanted someone who was willing.

I told God that I was willing, but that was all I had going for me. I truly fit the job description: Foolish-Weak-Despised. God told me that He would be with me, give me strength, and put the words in my mouth. I could do my part, but He had to show up and do the lion's share of the work. He said that He would do that for me.

Now, fast forward to October 11, 2009. I had been asked to give the Sunday evening message at our church. I attend a rather large church and Pastor Mark is very particular as to who fills the pulpit. He asked me to deliver a message that I had given to a group at a spiritual retreat a month and a half earlier. The message I gave is the one that goes with an earlier blog post, The Saga Of JoJo.

The message went over well and I became comfortable early on. I was surprised that I was not more nervous. Here I was, a truck driver with no credentials other than God's promise to be with me and a staff of pastors who have poured their life into mine. I have not fully arrived yet. I have a lot of work to do still. I have a lot left to learn. But, I have God on my side!

On Monday, after the message, I was driving around reflecting on what God had done for and through me the night before. I started to weep as God brought back to mind the promise He made to me so many years before. He used a simple truck driver to deliver His message to people. He showed up big! He is a great and glorious God! He uses those who are despised and He keeps His promises!!!

If you are interested in listening to the message I gave, you can find it on iTunes under Calvary Community Church in Phoenix, AZ or go to www.calvaryphx.com.