Practical Missions Lights the Way to Ministry

My seminary experience began in January 1988. Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary was really the only school in which I was interested. Their emphasis on the Bible as the Word of God, on missions, and on evangelism struck a chord that still resonates within me today.

One of my very first experiences sharing the Gospel came shortly after I got saved. A friend who had received Christ a few months before I did asked me to go with him to share the Gospel with his friend. We went and knocked on the guy’s door. We spent quite a bit of time talking to him and trying to share Jesus with him. It didn’t really go very well.

One of the things I soon learned as I began to feel the call of God into pastoral ministry was that preparation was not just a good option, it was essential. When God opened the door for me and my wife to move to Memphis and attend Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary, I was ready.

I wanted all the training and preparation for ministry that I could get. Some may look at preaching classes, theology classes, biblical languages, and missions as the subjects that we really need to learn. They’re not wrong. But we also need the practical part of doing ministry. There is nothing more practical than being able to share the Gospel. As a pastor, I have great appreciation for what Mid-America did to prepare me for ministry.

“To all the world for Jesus’ sake! Where bodies hurt and sad hearts ache…” The words of our Alma Mater still ring in my mind today. The sound of all those students singing within that great old Midtown Chapel was amazing. Report hours on Tuesday mornings were also an incredible moment as students shared about witnessing to the lost and what God did.

The basic requirement for the practical missions program was to be involved in a ministry that would give us opportunities to share the Gospel each week. We were required to witness to an average of one person each week. Dr. B. Gray Allison taught us that to witness was to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with a lost person in the power of the Holy Spirit in a genuine attempt to lead them to Jesus. At the time, there was no other seminary that had such a requirement. I still don’t know of one.

My first experiences in the practical missions program were through the jail ministry. We would go out and have a service with the inmates on Thursday evenings. We would sing, and one of the students would preach. Then, we would break into small groups and share the Gospel with those men. It was not uncommon to have a number of them respond to the Gospel.

I served as a pastor during the last part of my seminary experience. Lenn Downey was an older man who lived in our community. His wife attended our church, but he never did. Over time, I developed a friendship with him, and we would talk together about growing tomatoes and raising a garden.

Then one day, his wife called. She was upset. Lenn had lung cancer. I went to see him in the hospital. I shared the Gospel with him, and he was ready. He prayed to receive Christ. When he came home, he was changed. A friend who came to stay with them and help out told me how Lenn even wanted to pray before meals. He was a different man. His friend also came to Christ.

Lenn didn’t live long. In fact, he was never able to attend church. But I am so thankful he put his faith in Christ. I look forward to seeing him again in Heaven.

One of the keys to sharing the Gospel is to trust the Holy Spirit. We must trust Him to work in us and to give us the words to speak. We must also trust Him to speak to the hearts of people and draw them to Christ.

God is so good that He will use even a bashful young man like myself to help others come to know Jesus. I am thankful. I have never been the greatest at evangelism, but there is no joy like sharing Christ and seeing someone bow their head and invite Him to save them.

From elderly people in nursing homes and hospital rooms to young people to children who are broken-hearted over their sins, I have been blessed to see many come to Christ. The lostness in our country today is so great that we desperately need Gospel-centered churches who are led by faithful pastors who are ready and willing to share Christ.

Through my seminary experience, I learned to share Jesus in any number of situations and with all kinds of people. That’s still true today. As a pastor, I get opportunities to share with people in many different settings.

As a pastor of a small, country church I have learned that the key to all of ministry is to trust the work of the Holy Spirit. He is the one who fills us with His presence and His power so that we can share the Good News of Jesus. I have seen this in missions trips—six trips to India plus trips to Michigan, North Dakota, and many trips back to Memphis to share Christ on the streets in the inner city. In Memphis, we have worked with Ronnie Tullos (another Mid-America grad) whose ministry in the inner city continues to touch lives and change hearts.

I am grateful for the vision that God placed in Dr. Gray’s heart. He wanted a school that would produce soul-winning pastors, missionaries, and teachers. If there has ever been a time that this is needed, it is now. May God richly bless the faculty and staff, the students, and the supporters of Mid-America.