The Eighth Chair

The weight of God's word fell heavy on me that summer night. The truth penetrated my mind and heart. I carried an extra burden that night before preaching. I knew God was about to move in a powerful way. I did not know that it would be in me primarily. I felt a burning in my soul to deliver His message. His truth felt like molten lava and my mouth like a volcano about to erupt.

Trusting God for His fresh anointing I preached with everything in me. God welled up intense passion, a tender compassion, bold courage, and laser like focus to deliver God's intended message. The longer I preached the more the truth began impacting me. It felt like I was preaching to myself. Yet I could see God's truth melting the hearts of others too.

When I challenged the listeners to respond to God at the end of the message I walked off to my left to the furtherest seat on the left front row. I sat there under conviction wrestling with a huge decision. Time seemed suspended. All that mattered in that moment was meeting with God. God dealt with me about living what I preached. So I asked God what He wanted and then I did something I have done hundreds of times before.

I laid my life down on His altar. I surrendered my will, my life, my family and my ministry before Him. I offered Him my all based on the message that night. That was the point of the message that night.

Romans 12:1 (ESV)
1  I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

When God led me to step away from a church plant Brenda and I gave six years of our lives to building in the summer of 2017 I did not know what would be next. I missed a few Sundays preaching but God began to open doors. I traveled all over preaching. Then I got a phone call from a man I had no contact with for decades. He heard I was available to preach and his pastor had just resigned. They needed someone to fill the pulpit at Heritage Baptist Church in Weatherford, TX.

We talked about the church and I agreed to come fill the pulpit. The people were friendly, loving and warm. They asked me to come back a second time and then a third. During that time I was asked several times if I would consider being the pastor. I had no inclination to do so. In fact we had another church lined up in South Texas who extended a call for us to be their pastor and we accepted.

I agreed to fill the Heritage pulpit on Sundays and Wednesdays for several consecutive weeks and then we officially left Heritage to accept our new assignment. A month into our new assignment Brenda and I both felt we had missed God. We lacked peace. We discovered issues that would not allow us to serve in that church. In a most difficult decision I resigned the new position after a month. We never even moved there but commuted the fourteen hour round trip.

We did not know what would happen next. I applied for several jobs. Teaching Bible and coaching at a Christian school. Working at a grocery store, a public library, a hotel, a hardware store, a fitness club, as a security guard at a hospital, at a funeral home. I even got a few interviews. Every door shut.

Then my friend from Heritage Baptist Church called me again. He heard we resigned our position and was available. He asked if I would consider coming back to help them as they could not find a pastor. I emphatically told him I would come be their interim pastor but not their pastor. I had several reasons why I did not think I was a good fit for them or they for us. They called me to be their interim pastor and we went to work. All the while we trusted God to open a door for a permanent position.

Weeks turned into months. We settled into the work but I remained adamant about not becoming the permanent pastor. Finally another church called. We drove to west Texas to interview. In a few days they called extending an invitation for us to come be formally voted on to be their pastor. I informed Heritage and we made our plans to move.

Back to the summer night and the message from Romans 12:1. When I sat in that eighth chair under the convition of the Holy Spirit I asked God, "Do you want me to stay at Heritage. If You are calling me to stay at Heritage then I surrender. I give You my yes. If this is Your will I lay my life down on Your altar."

I had one of those encounters with God you cannot shake. A life altering encounter. The next week I flew to Panama Beach, FL to preach a youth camp. God met me again at that camp.  I called Brenda to tell her what I was sensing. She agreed. We turned down the west Texas church and agreed to become the permanent pastor of Heritage Baptist Church. Turner told us he had been praying for that all the time. Heritage prayed the same thing. Twice we were out the door at Heriage and they prayed us back in.

The going was hard. There were numerous things to be done. Things to sort out, procedures to organize and a huge mountain of debt to pay off. Problems to solve. Somewhere along the way I lost heart. The challenges seemed too big. The mountains too high. The odds felt stacked against us. I started praying for God to move us. I pleaded with God to move us to an easier assignment.

God met me in a profound way this past Thursday as I sat in my office. I had the kind of encounter with God that you can't shake or forget. God spoke from His word and then through a circumstance stranger than fiction to confirm what He spoke through His word. I could not have missed what He said even if I had wanted to. I sat in my office stunned.

Seated there I went back in time to that summer night in the eighth chair. I felt compelled to get up and go into the sanctuary and sit in that same chair to give my response. God made it clear I was to stay at Heritage. Seated in that sacred eighth chair I again laid my life on God's altar. I surrendered my life to shepherd that flock and prayerfully build a church that glorifies Him.

The challenges have not changed. The mountains are still just as high. The call of God persisted and triumphed dwarfing the challenges and mountains. I committed to be all in. I drew my line in the sand and crossed over. I am humbled, honored and unworthy to be the pastor of Heritage Baptist Church in Weatherford, TX.

In those moments vision exploded in my mind and heart for the future. Vision that would take a lifetime to pursue. Vision that only God could bring to pass. Vision that would require more faith and prayer than I've ever had or given. That eighth chair holds a special place in my heart. Each time I see that chair I'm reminded about two life altering God encounters. It is a sacred spot. Holy ground. An altar. Where I encountered and experienced God.

I am sure you have an eighth chair. A sacred place you encountered God or continue to encounter Him. A place where you made significant commitments to God. I have many. Abe Martin Football Stadium in Lufkin, TX where I met Jesus as my Savior. Pineywoods Baptist Encampment in Woodlake, TX where God called me to preach. Gordon Wood Stadium in Brownwood, TX where I asked Brenda to marry me. FBC Hurst, TX where Brenda and I married. An old prayer room converted into my office at Denman Avenue Baptist Church in Lufkin, TX. My living room floor at 4128 Evans Gann Road in Hudson, TX where I met God profoundly. A wood cabin in Tennessee Colony, TX where I prayer retreat. An organ in Seminole, TX where God called me pastor the FBC there. Now, the eighth chair on the front row to my left looking down from the pulpit in the sanctuary at Heritage Baptist Church in Weatherford, TX.

Each of those places represents a place where I met God in a significant way. Some might call them spiritual marker.s All I know is God met me in a profound way in that eighth chair and I am humbled and grateful. I hope He does the same for you. I thank God for the eighth chair.