Call to Ministry: Leading to Pensacola Christian College
Earlier we began this series with An Introduction.
In November 1984 my wife, one year old daughter and I first attended Marquette Manor Baptist Church (MMBC). Dr. Wayne VanGelderen, Sr. was the pastor then. We became regulars and joined the church soon after. Over the next two years we grew spiritually through Sunday school and worship services.
I began getting more and more involved with church programs. I took a series of soul winning classes, volunteered to help with various outreach programs in the church.
In October 1986 our Sunday school teacher (Dr. David Pennington) brought a lesson on Romans 12:1-2. I remember a few days after that lesson going to see Dr. Pennington for lunch to get a better understanding of what the passage meant for me. When he finished I went to my car and prayed a simple prayer, something like this, "Lord, I don’t care what it is, where it takes me, or what the cost, whatever you want me to do I will do it."
Looking back it seems to me that was my little Samuel response to the voice of God, "Speak; for Thy servant heareth." (1 Samuel 3:9-10 )Let me tell you the Lord took me up on the promise I made. Over the next six months there were numerous occasions when the Lord challenged me on my promise. I began making decisions and taking steps to live out the principles of that passage. I found myself responding to the Lord’s direction to get more of some things into my life, and other things out of my life. I was going forward during invitation time following sermons to make those decisions and commitments. A few days following one of those decisions I received a note from my Pastor, VanGelderen, Sr. It read, "Lou, that was a good decision. Keep it up." These steps of obedience to the Lord’s commands continued into April 1987.
That month MMBC held its annual Revival meeting with Evangelist Ron Comfort preaching that year. I can't recall what Dr. Comfort's first Sunday morning sermon was about, but at the invitation time God was clearly calling me to follow Him into full time ministry. I knew it, plain as day, but for the first time since October, committing to Romans 12:1-2, I did not respond to His call.
It wasn't a crushing pressure, but God was in a loving, powerful way calling on me to surrender to full time ministry. I recall having this sense of the Lord speaking to my heart, "Why didn't you go forward, I called you, you said you would do anything I asked of you." This went on all afternoon and evening. Because of professional responsibilities in those days I was unable to attend the Sunday evening service, but God was still speaking to me, "I called you, why didn't you go forward?" This went on through Monday. I asked my manager if I could leave work early so I could attend the service at church. He gave that permission, and I drove straight to church. Dr. Comfort was preaching by the time I arrived. I took a seat in the foyer, still agonizing over God calling me to preach.
I don't know why I hesitated, I knew I had to surrender, but the unexpectedness of God's call caught me off guard, and I was wrestling through it all.
So, there I am sitting in the foyer, half listening to the sermon. One of our deacons John Ramler (a godly man, 10 years my senior, with the Lord now) approached me. He greeted me and asked how I'm doing. I told him, "God is calling on me to make an important decision for Him." The deacon replied, "Well, then you better do it."
I was seated right under one of the overhead audio speakers carrying Dr. Comfort's message. There is nothing I remember from his sermon, with the exception of one word, which was, "JONAH." Immediately upon hearing that name God said to me, "YOU ARE DOING THE SAME THING!"
That was enough! I rose to my feet, gripped the handle of a door to the auditorium, and on the first note of the invitation hymn I opened the door and made my way up the right side aisle to the front. John VanGelderen was there, I told him why I had come forward. When the invitation closed John took me to the church office, asked me to wait there while he got his father (Wayne, Sr.) to come meet with me. Moments later Dr. VanGelderen came in, sat down and listened as I told him what transpired over the previous 36 hours. He asked me a few questions, shared some comments, prayed with me, and then asked me to come back in the morning to meet with him and Dr. Comfort to discuss next steps.
That next morning Drs. VanGelderen and Comfort met with me. It was a time of encouraging me and to discuss getting trained in the Scriptures. Until that time my only college training was a B.A. in Telecommunications from Michigan State University, 1981. Dr. VanGelderen felt PCC would be a good fit for Bible training and the college might be able to use me there, somewhere. With that I reached out to PCC to begin the application process for graduate school.
Before I close this chapter I'd like to share a discussion between Drs. VanGelderen and Comfort once they were done speaking to me. Not recalling the specifics, the men were talking about the need for another Bible College. They discussed Dr. Comfort's thinking of opening a new Bible College. Two years later Dr. Comfort opened Ambassador Baptist College.
Next time I'll share what transpired over the summer of 1987, which led to my leaving Chicago for Pensacola, Florida. See, A Phone Call & Heart's Desire.
LM
Addendum:
In 1984 I was 29 years old. I recall seeing men there who were many years my senior. Good men who loved the Lord and faithful members of the church. Now, in 2025, I look around the congregation recognizing I'm one of the "old guys" now.
I began getting more and more involved with church programs. I took a series of soul winning classes, volunteered to help with various outreach programs in the church.
In October 1986 our Sunday school teacher (Dr. David Pennington) brought a lesson on Romans 12:1-2. I remember a few days after that lesson going to see Dr. Pennington for lunch to get a better understanding of what the passage meant for me. When he finished I went to my car and prayed a simple prayer, something like this, "Lord, I don’t care what it is, where it takes me, or what the cost, whatever you want me to do I will do it."
Looking back it seems to me that was my little Samuel response to the voice of God, "Speak; for Thy servant heareth." (1 Samuel 3:9-10 )Let me tell you the Lord took me up on the promise I made. Over the next six months there were numerous occasions when the Lord challenged me on my promise. I began making decisions and taking steps to live out the principles of that passage. I found myself responding to the Lord’s direction to get more of some things into my life, and other things out of my life. I was going forward during invitation time following sermons to make those decisions and commitments. A few days following one of those decisions I received a note from my Pastor, VanGelderen, Sr. It read, "Lou, that was a good decision. Keep it up." These steps of obedience to the Lord’s commands continued into April 1987.
That month MMBC held its annual Revival meeting with Evangelist Ron Comfort preaching that year. I can't recall what Dr. Comfort's first Sunday morning sermon was about, but at the invitation time God was clearly calling me to follow Him into full time ministry. I knew it, plain as day, but for the first time since October, committing to Romans 12:1-2, I did not respond to His call.
It wasn't a crushing pressure, but God was in a loving, powerful way calling on me to surrender to full time ministry. I recall having this sense of the Lord speaking to my heart, "Why didn't you go forward, I called you, you said you would do anything I asked of you." This went on all afternoon and evening. Because of professional responsibilities in those days I was unable to attend the Sunday evening service, but God was still speaking to me, "I called you, why didn't you go forward?" This went on through Monday. I asked my manager if I could leave work early so I could attend the service at church. He gave that permission, and I drove straight to church. Dr. Comfort was preaching by the time I arrived. I took a seat in the foyer, still agonizing over God calling me to preach.
I don't know why I hesitated, I knew I had to surrender, but the unexpectedness of God's call caught me off guard, and I was wrestling through it all.
So, there I am sitting in the foyer, half listening to the sermon. One of our deacons John Ramler (a godly man, 10 years my senior, with the Lord now) approached me. He greeted me and asked how I'm doing. I told him, "God is calling on me to make an important decision for Him." The deacon replied, "Well, then you better do it."
I was seated right under one of the overhead audio speakers carrying Dr. Comfort's message. There is nothing I remember from his sermon, with the exception of one word, which was, "JONAH." Immediately upon hearing that name God said to me, "YOU ARE DOING THE SAME THING!"
That was enough! I rose to my feet, gripped the handle of a door to the auditorium, and on the first note of the invitation hymn I opened the door and made my way up the right side aisle to the front. John VanGelderen was there, I told him why I had come forward. When the invitation closed John took me to the church office, asked me to wait there while he got his father (Wayne, Sr.) to come meet with me. Moments later Dr. VanGelderen came in, sat down and listened as I told him what transpired over the previous 36 hours. He asked me a few questions, shared some comments, prayed with me, and then asked me to come back in the morning to meet with him and Dr. Comfort to discuss next steps.
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| Dr. VanGelderen, Sr. |
That next morning Drs. VanGelderen and Comfort met with me. It was a time of encouraging me and to discuss getting trained in the Scriptures. Until that time my only college training was a B.A. in Telecommunications from Michigan State University, 1981. Dr. VanGelderen felt PCC would be a good fit for Bible training and the college might be able to use me there, somewhere. With that I reached out to PCC to begin the application process for graduate school.
Before I close this chapter I'd like to share a discussion between Drs. VanGelderen and Comfort once they were done speaking to me. Not recalling the specifics, the men were talking about the need for another Bible College. They discussed Dr. Comfort's thinking of opening a new Bible College. Two years later Dr. Comfort opened Ambassador Baptist College.
Next time I'll share what transpired over the summer of 1987, which led to my leaving Chicago for Pensacola, Florida. See, A Phone Call & Heart's Desire.
LM
Addendum:
In 1984 I was 29 years old. I recall seeing men there who were many years my senior. Good men who loved the Lord and faithful members of the church. Now, in 2025, I look around the congregation recognizing I'm one of the "old guys" now.
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