In search of a Life - Chapter 3 – The Application

Posted by Pastor Bruce Marsee

In search of a Life - Chapter 3 – The ApplicationOne day, Lisa expressed that God was dealing with her about going into the ministry. Bruce responded that,“God has been dealing with me, too.”They came to find out that God was calling them both. Bruce and Lisa prayed for days about this, and were still unsure that it was God who was calling them. They went to see the senior pastor of their church. Pastor Smith of Harvest Community Church AG.Pastor Smith had this to say to Bruce.“Don’t preach, unless you have to.”Bruce told him that it was like a fire shut up in his bones – that, if he didn’t preach, he would explode! He had already been doing some preaching at the County jail.Then, at one point, Pastor Smith turned to Lisa and asked her,“How committed are you?”Lisa answered Pastor Smith by telling him that she would quit her job tomorrow, in order to answer God’s call.There were still doubts in Bruce’s mind concerning the call to preach. He wrestled with the idea for weeks until while attending a woman’s conference at his church, he heard a lady minister named Reva speak. She had an altar call and asked the women to come forward for prayer. She asked the men who were present to assist her by standing behind those who had come forward. As she made her way down the long line of women, laying hands on them, she reached through the women and laid her hand on Bruce’s head and said two words…”Live Preacher!” Bruce felt literal fire run through his body from his head down to his toes… The next thing he remembered was getting up from the floor. There was no more doubt as to the call on his life.And, so, they agreed that she would go ahead and quit her job. When she did, they embarked on a new and long journey, togetherThey followed God, living by faith alone. They had no jobs, and no income. They had only a fervent desire to see the helpless and hopeless addicts come to Christ, through their love and acceptance, and through their counseling, of the addicts, to help them become rehabilitated to a new and responsible place in society. Some, for the first time in their adult lives.They started working with the Circuit Court Judge, in a neighboring county, by asking for an early release of an inmate there. At first, the Judge refused. But they kept going back to see him with their request.Finally, the Judge decided to grant their wish. And at that time, he also added,“My daughter is on drugs. Can you help her, too?”They agreed to help; and so, through Bruce and Lisa’s faithful prayers and counseling, the Judge’s daughter was delivered from her addiction.For three long years, they studied spiritual warfare and drug counseling. Reading everything they could find on the subject. . It was during this time of training that Bruce met Leonard. Leonard was a county social worker, as well as a pastor with many years of experience in both drug counseling and spiritual warfare.Bruce went to Pastor Leonard’s office and asked Leonard to be his mentor. They spoke at length about Bruce’s desire. And Pastor Leonard agreed that he would help Bruce learn whatever he needed to know, in order to become an effective drug counselor. He asked Bruce if he had ever been through drug counseling himself.Bruce replied,“I have been through several secular programs, but they didn’t work.”Then Pastor Leonard asked a question that Bruce was not quite prepared for. He asked,“Will you go through a drug counseling program with me?”And so their Mentor/Pupil relationship began. Pastor Leonard would have a topic for them to discuss, but he would first pray with Bruce, asking the Holy Spirit to prompt one of them onto a different subject.For months, they met together; as Pastor Leonard would, through the Holy Spirit, bring up different subjects that made Bruce re-live some of his worst life experiences.He would say,“When you went through this experience for the first time, you didn’t see Jesus there with you. This time, as we go through the experience, I want you to see Jesus there, also.”It was a powerful method of recovery counseling! As Bruce re-lived each painful experience, the wounds of those experiences would open up, again. Like the wounds left from an images of the war, now deeply imprinted in his mind, the loss of a high school sweetheart, bitter divorce and a failed remarriage. The loss of all he had ever worked for. However, Jesus Christ, Himself, would clean out all the dirt and debris that kept those experiences a cause of pain. Then, Christ bound the wounds with His healing balm. And, when the bandages were removed, no scars were left.Pastor Leonard made a lasting impression on Bruce. Leonard was a humble servant who could discern spirits, and he could help identify the tactics of the Enemy. On one occasion Leonard showed Bruce that there was still an unforgiving spirit of bitterness still holding on to the past pains. They prayed for Bruce to be able to forgive those people who had hurt him, while at the same time, ask for forgiveness for all those people he had hurt.Leonard also recommended that Bruce read two books written by Jim Logan. One book was entitled, “Reclaiming Surrendered Ground.” And the other book was “The Great Deceiver.” These two books proved to be a valuable asset. They explained how we process thoughts from three sources. Thoughts of an original nature, thoughts from God, and thoughts from evil spirits.An example was given…Jim Logan was asked to explain this though process issue to a group of people…He approached a man in the front row and said “Ball up your fist as tight as you can” the man did as instructed…Then Jim said “Go hit the pastor right in the nose” The man said “No!, I won’t”…Jim asked “You won’t what?”… “I won’t hit the pastor on the nose.” Jim replied ”Hit the pastor on the nose?...what kind of person are you to do that?”…The man responded.”You put that thought in my head”This is what Satan does to us…He puts a thought in our head and then accuses us before God with that very thought.Bruce studied hard and applied what he had learned -- first to his own household, then to his counseling method. As people would share with him there fears or frustrations, Bruce would look to see from where the thoughts were coming. He would simply allow the individual to see the same thing and rebuke the thoughts of the enemy.Bruce would read everything he could get his hands on. He would read sermons, and try to understand how to glean just a word or an idea from the scripture, and then build a sermon upon it. It required long sleepless nights communing with the Holy Spirit. Times of lying on the floor weeping before God. The Holy Spirit would fill his mind as he would write. Many of the sermons he wrote have never been preached; perhaps they were intended just for him.Before long he was being asked to speak at other churches while, at the same time, was being used of God at Solid Rock where he attended regularly. His pastor there, Pastor Pete, would have him preach there often.Once Bruce graduated from their discipleship training from Pastor Leonard and Pastor Ronnie, He and Lisa opened their home to first-time offenders who had no record of violence.God watched over them and provided for their needs. Bruce relates that,“To this day, I don’t know how the bills got paid each month. But they did.”One month, they were looking at bills which were two months behind; the mortgage company was ready to begin the eviction process. They prayed and trusted God. One day before the eviction process was to begin; they received a check in the mail for enough to get all their bills current.Another time, while struggling to figure out how they would pay their bills Bruce’s dad called and said that he had helped Bruce’s other two brothers and would be sending him a check also.God gave Bruce and Lisa many successes. But they also had many disappointments.One success was a young man and his wife who had become strung out on drugs, they were about to lose everything and split up, They had two lovely boys. As Bruce counseled with the man, Lisa talked to the wife. They committed their lives to Christ, that day. Today, he is a Deacon in the church and she is still on fire for God.Not every story was a success, one young man named Chris stayed with them in the program for 8 months, and he began to feel strong, in himself, and chose to try life on his own. He was ok for a few weeks but the influences surrounding him were too overwhelming. He ended back in jail. He wrote Bruce and Lisa to say how sorry he was to have disappointed them, but he still remembered what he had been taught while in their careSome of the men returned to their former life styles. And, from time to time, they would receive a letter from someone who was back in jail, who was telling them that he had remembered what he was taught while in their program.More than once , they were left with a large bill to pay because of an intake taking advantage of their meekness. All too often meekness is mistaken for weakness. They never evil for evil, but allowed God to move in their behalfMeanwhile, Bruce was preaching more and more.Bruce had been given the opportunity to preach a various churches. He preached at the largest church in the area. He also preached at one of the smallest. It didn’t matter to him where he preached, if someone opened their pulpit, he would go.He would preach at the County Jail on Tuesdays. One particular Tuesday, when he arrived at the jail, he noticed a large hole dug in the lawn next to the jail building. He signed in and asked if they were planting a tree that day. He was told that one of the Police canines had been shot in the line of duty and was to be buried that day.Bruce’s first thought was that they were going to ask him to preach the dog’s funeral. He quickly went to the meeting room where the service was to be held. Trying, his best, not to be seen by anyone. As soon as the service was over, Bruce signed out and avoided eye contact with anyone. By now the lobby was filling up with officers who had come for the burial of the dog. He quickly made his way to his car and drove off.All the while the Holy Spirit was dealing with him about not staying. He spoke to God and said “Lord, how could I preach a dog’s funeral? What could I say? He was a good dog? He was a brown dog? He’s certainly a dead dog.” God’s spoke back to his spirit and said ‘You could have told them that this dog was faithful to his master, that he was always ready to protect his master, that he was willing to lay down his life for his master. Then you could have told them how the master laid down his life for a dog like you”A missed opportunity to share the word of truth. Bruce felt sick to his stomach for making excuses not to share God’s word. He promised the lord that he would be more conscience in the future. His philosophy became this… Any conversation is an opportunity to share Jesus with the world.His pastor, at that time, Pete Craig, had him preaching regularly at his church. One Sunday morning as Bruce arrived at church, Pastor Pete asked him, ”Do you know who’s preaching today?” Bruce looked across the congregation and recognized Pete’s former pastor and he asked Pete “Your old pastor?” Pastor Pete looked Bruce in the eye and said “No, you are. Are you ready?” Bruce looked back at Pastor Pete and said “I’m like Quaker oats, instant in season and out of season” He stood and preached one of the most powerful messages he had ever preached.On a regular basis, Bruce was sharing his personal testimony of how God had delivered him from the bonds of addiction. Then, in 2007, Bruce was ordained after 4 years of preaching. He was ordained by Pastor Pete Craig at the Solid Rock House of Worship in Barbourville, Kentucky. The church is an independent Pentecostal church.The ordination was a surprise to Bruce. His mother was in town and his aunt attended the service that day. His mother, who had prayed so urgently for his soul lived long enough to see her once wayward son presented to the Lord for service.BruceTestimonyCh3

http://www.livinginblackandwhite.com/profiles/blogs/2133465:BlogPost:5759