Isaiah 6:6-8
6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."
8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for Us?"
And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"
NIV
[Editor's Comment: The call of God comes at different times in our lives. It is important to be able to recognize that it is the Voice of God speaking to us. While I was a young Marine at Quantico, Virginia in the 50s, I heard the Voice of God over a cacophony of voices calling me to prepare myself for the military chaplaincy. God used a young United Methodist Navy Chaplain by the name of James Hull from Greensboro, NC to be an inspiration to me and a guide to a fruitful and profitable ministry. I am glad God called me. I endeavored to be obedient to that calling. God gave me Melvine to be my wife. She believed in my calling and helped me to go through seminary and has been a vital part of our ministry together over many years.
While I was a seminarian at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, KY, I was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the Army Chaplain Candidate Program and completed the 11-week Chaplain Basic Training at Fort Slocum, NY, and was promoted to 1st Lieutenant upon graduation from seminary. I spent two years in the Army Reserve as a chaplain. During my first pastorate at the Brownville P. H. Church near Evergreen, Alabama in Conecuh County, Bishop J. A. Synan called me and asked me to go in the Air Force to fill the vacancy of Air Force Chaplain, Colonel Thomas Eugene Myers who was killed in a military air transport plane crash in April 1964 over Manila, Philippines. I entered the Air Force Chaplaincy in May 1965. My first assignment was at McChord AFB, Washington.]
6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."
8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for Us?"
And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"
NIV
[Editor's Comment: The call of God comes at different times in our lives. It is important to be able to recognize that it is the Voice of God speaking to us. While I was a young Marine at Quantico, Virginia in the 50s, I heard the Voice of God over a cacophony of voices calling me to prepare myself for the military chaplaincy. God used a young United Methodist Navy Chaplain by the name of James Hull from Greensboro, NC to be an inspiration to me and a guide to a fruitful and profitable ministry. I am glad God called me. I endeavored to be obedient to that calling. God gave me Melvine to be my wife. She believed in my calling and helped me to go through seminary and has been a vital part of our ministry together over many years.
While I was a seminarian at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, KY, I was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the Army Chaplain Candidate Program and completed the 11-week Chaplain Basic Training at Fort Slocum, NY, and was promoted to 1st Lieutenant upon graduation from seminary. I spent two years in the Army Reserve as a chaplain. During my first pastorate at the Brownville P. H. Church near Evergreen, Alabama in Conecuh County, Bishop J. A. Synan called me and asked me to go in the Air Force to fill the vacancy of Air Force Chaplain, Colonel Thomas Eugene Myers who was killed in a military air transport plane crash in April 1964 over Manila, Philippines. I entered the Air Force Chaplaincy in May 1965. My first assignment was at McChord AFB, Washington.]