THE INWARD FORCE IN ONE’S SPIRIT THAT KEEPS THEM GOING

In October 1975, after resigning Victory Baptist Church, and having not been invited to pastor a church in West Carrollton, Ohio (The vote was 48 to 49). I was absolutely at a point that I was resolved not to continue to do ministry.

For some reason, which I can’t remember, I left for Fort Worth, Texas. I went alone, leaving Charity and Eric in West Portsmouth. Charity had a great job at the A Plant. I went to seek a secular job and to find a place to live. Where was my head?. Those early months in Texas were no pleasure. I will forgo some of the unfortunate happenings that took place early in 1975. I secured a good job and a place to stay in Grapevine, Texas. Charity left a good job and she and Eric flew to Texas to join me. On February 10th 1976 Becky was born, on Eric’s 5th birthday. For the fun of it I obtained a second job. Two forty- hour jobs.

Truly at this point in time, I was just satisfied to work at a secular job. And the reason I went to church was that I had a continued streak of a lifetime of not missing church. Otherwise I might have just stayed home.

Bob and Lenore came down to visit us and see their new granddaughter Becky. While they were there, Bob went to FBC of Haltom City , and he knew the pastor, Bro.M.M. Mosley. Bob mentioned to Bro. Mosley about my circumstance. That week M. M. Mosley came over to our apartment and simply asked, "Charles will you preach for me Sunday Night?" To this point, I really had no thought of ever preaching again.

Now the question becomes "Should I have taken a review of my belief that God had lead me to preach and work in ministry?" {Other than finally coming to FBC in Altoona, Kansas I would say that I should have terminated this mission.} Scripture says "Examine yourself to see if you are of the faith!" Could this not also be for ministry as well?

Those words "Will you preach for me Sunday Evening?", hit me straight in my spirit, and without thought I said, "Yes." What had I done? That was an instantaneous response. That was an instant healing of spirit.
That following Sunday Evening I parched in the First Baptist Church. The Pastor asked me to come over to visit with him. That week I found the opportunity to visit with him, and he said, "Bro. Charles, I need a Minister of Education." "But at this time I can’t pay you."

What was I thinking here. I have two full- time secular jobs, eighty hours a week, and Bro. Mosley wants me to be the Minister of Education. What was he thinking, what was I thinking?
"OK Bro. Mosley, when do I start?" I am speculating what have I done! Have I misplaced my mind? "You can start this week" was the reply.

Bro. Mosley said, "Bro Charles, I want you to organize our whole Sunday School, and teach our teachers." I think Bob Temple must have told him what we had done at Victory Baptist Church.
For the next six months we were privileged in working for the church. I had a great time in re- organizing the whole Sunday School program and teaching the teachers. Bro. Mosley was supportive 100% in our work in the church.

Today September 12, 2006 I called to speak with Bro. Mosley, and his wife answered the phone, "Mrs. Mosley, I am Charles Whisnant, I was the Minister of Education of your church in 1975"

Only thirty-one years ago. Do you remember me.? And after a while she did, And then she said that Bro. Mosley had passed away in February of this year. He was 83 years old and still preaching at the church. His youngest son, who is a year younger than I is pastoring the church. He is now with the Lord, and I remarked to Mrs. Mosley, "The Lord used your husband to speak to my spirit and as a result I was not a drop-out in ministry."

One in ten men who are in ministry will not be in ministry in ten years from now.

While in Grapevine, I really had two good jobs that I enjoyed working. Had I now found my place to work? This could be really good.

Sometimes you wonder why you make the decisions you do in this life. I still shake my head in wonderment at some of the decisions I made. After all I was 28 years old and Charity was 27. We had two children. I was smart, intelligent and perspicacious. No, not really, but I just couldn’t get this idea of preaching out of my mind. We had a wonderful six months, and my spirit was again lifted up. Ready for the next assignment. We received a call from Dr. Thomas Leatherwood, Mansfield Baptist Temple.

Ohio State #1 in Football

NASCAR the Chase in on

Viewed and corrected by my lovely wife.

WE ARE THE CONSEQUENCE......... OF WHAT? OF WHO? OF WHAT MOVEMENT?

How do you know that your last forty-five years have been within the will of God? How can you believe that "you have fought a good fight, you have run a good race?" Can you have some assurance that even this day you are running a good race for the Lord Jesus Christ?

How in all our failures and sinfulness that occur in our life, can we still have a sense that we are doing the purpose of the Lord? Even when you desire to be sufficiently holy in your love for the Lord?

When I look back over the last 44 years since1964, in my mind I have pleasant thoughts about the work that the Lord has allowed us to do.

The path that Charity and I have trekked (Star Trek) I unquestionably believe was performed in the best reasonable motives that we knew at the time.

We are a product of our peers before us. Our actions have to come from somewhere, we had to be taught by somebody. We are a product of those before us who have taught us. We are the result of both the custom and the essence of what we were taught. I am a product of my dad, first of all, he was my model. I am a product of the Youth Camps I went to every summer for years. Bob Levin, evangelist who brought home the need for Christians to be holy and right before God. Lester Roloff gave me a sense that the Word of God was the most important book to read. M.R. DeHaan, radio program gave me a sense of application to the Word of God. Oliver B. Greene was a daily in our home on radio for most of my early teen life. I was thrilled when I was able to meet him in person. Those historical fundamentalists were the best example that I could have ever had.

I saw ministry and Christian living through the eyes of those great giants of the faith. I certainly wanted to be an illustration of what I believed they characterized. Their voices are still in my head as I write this article. I am eternally indebted for their influence in my life.

I remember hearing Evangelist Wayne Swearingen preaching on "I Am Crucified With Christ." It changed my life totally. Bob Harrington, when he first began preaching gave me the excitement for Christ that still rings in my heart and soul today. Bob Barber, and his dad, were a great influence in my early years. They modify my life’s thinking and behavior.

When I arrived as Pastor at Madison Baptist Church, I was well equipped to be a great pastor. This was the idea that we were led to believe. It’s my personal belief that those ecommendations of church ministry would have achieved good success. Sometimes the fight exhausts your spirit and body.

After resigning the church in June of 1974, we prayed for our next journey.
Maybe too often in this down period of time, your decision making might be a little difficult. Now at this point we had little knowledge as to what we were going to do. Charity’s dad suggested that we help him. Consequently in July of 1974 we became Youth Pastor and Minister of Education.

Springing back from Madison’s experience, we began a ministry at Victory Baptist Church, in West Portsmouth. The church was completing the last stages of a new church building. Forthwith the building was finished and the congregation began to grow. Bob Temple and I were a good team. In just over a year of ministry later the church had grown to over 200 people. Bob and I were doing what we were taught in Seminary and the church was growing and folks were being saved. The Sunday School was teaching and training young people and adults, and reaching out in the community to reach boys and girls on the bus ministry. .Charity and I were training teachers how to be teachers and were developing a great youth department and Sunday School. This church was being blessed, visitors were coming every Sunday. In over a year the youth department had over two hundred first time visitors. We were seeing the hand of the Lord on this place. .

Isn’t it funny, amusing, hilarious, whimsical, humorous (not really) that good results should bring about an appreciative church body of Believers. This was not to be the position of many of the people in the church. When the church body has the idea that they possess the spiritual ability to discern what is good for the church leadership, that supersedes that of the leadership, then the fellowship is distracted from doing the work of the ministry.

Following a series of comments from discontented members, I decided to resign my position in the church. Why do we do that? How do we see this action being the will of God? Personally I do not believe the will of God was for me to resign. Yet the church said "Well, if that is what you desire, it’s okay we us." It was wrong in my opinion, but my thought was, if I am the trouble in this church I would resign. I was hoping that the church would say otherwise, this was not to be.

I resign and Charity tell me she is pregnant.. Has this not happened before? I must say this event became the lowest point of my ministry. I was just one step away from saying, "Lord, I give up!"

I do not understand what kept me functioning in ministry. I know at this depressed point I was ready to bail out altogether..... defeated, disappointed, disillusioned, disheartened. Humbled.
Writing this today, my emotions are swelling up in me. The emotions of that day are as lively in my spirit as then. Why? If there had been failure in the performance of my work, I could have lived with that. If there had been personal moral failure, or I had abused Charity or Eric, then I could have lived with it. But that was not the argument.

Parents of the young people were essentially the cause of the discontentment with my work. This has always been the cause. Parents are the number one problem, whether it’s with the school, the ball team, or the church youth department. This point in itself could engender a whole long post.

At this point many preachers, and young pastors, quit and leave the ministry all together. Discouragement sets in and you just want to say, "forget this."

As I write this article, knowing what is about to occur in the coming year of 1975, is not easy to remember. 9/11 all over again.

So when do you know it’s time to quit? You do take ministry personally.

Isa 40:31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew [their] strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; [and] they shall walk, and not faint.

It’s never, never time to quit! It may be time to quit a church, but it is never time to quit serving the Lord.

WAYS PAUL DID NOT PREACH WHEN HE CAME TO TOWN

1Th 2:3 For our exhortation was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile::4 But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts.5 For neither at any time used we flattering words, as ye know, nor a cloke of covetousness; God is witness::6 Nor of men sought we glory, neither of you, nor yet of others, when we might have been burdensome, as the apostles of Christ.:7 But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children:8 So being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of.
ESV 1 Thess. 2:2-8
3 For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive, 4 but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts. 5 For we never came with words of flattery,as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness. 6 Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ. 7 But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. 8 So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.

1A OUR EXHORTATION WAS NOT BASED ON A DELUSIONS: 3a James 5:19-20
He did not allow for sloppy preaching: 2 Timothy 2:15
He did not manipulate the Scripture for homiletical elegance.
He did not twist the Scripture to fit his alliteration.
He preached the Scriptures as the text set them forth.

Jas 5:19 Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him;:20 Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.
2Ti 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

2A OUR EXHORTATION WAS NOT FROM ANY IMPURE MOTIVES OR PRACTICE 3b 1 Thess 4:7
He preached spirtiually clean. Isa 52:11
Water flows through pipes and if the pipe is rusty, the water may flow, but there will be discoloration and sediment and the water will taste of the pipe,.
Water will taste of the pipe.
The Gospel needs to flow from a clean, right, holy human channel
When the messdenger is false the message will not taste right.

1Th 4:7 For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.
Isa 52:11 Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean [thing]; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the LORD.

3A OUR PREACHING WAS NOT IN GUILE, FULL OF TRICKS. 3c
Paul ws not two-faced. He was and believed what he preached

4A HIS PREACHING WAS NOT DESIGNED TO PLEASE MEN: 4b
He did not deliberately antagonized people, nor go out of his way to offend people.
But it wasn’t Paul’s ambition to plese men. Gal. 1:10
One of the occupational hazards of the ministry is criticism.
Thin skinned men don’t need to apply....
You can not get people to like you. Eph. 6:6-7

Eph 6:6 Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart;:7 With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men:
Ga 1:10 For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.

5A HIS PREACHING DID NOT CONTAIN FLATTERING WORDS. Vs 5 Acts I corin 2:1-5, 2 Peter 2:3 Romans 16:17-1
The preaching of Paul did not in any manner take advantage of the people.
He did not use crowd psychology, nor swaying people.
He did nothing to gain the upper hand for his own personal needs.
He stated the facts, told the truth, compliment people honestly, reported accurately and that is honest and flattery

1Co 2:1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.:2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.:3 And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.:4 And my speech and my preaching [was] not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power::5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
2Pe 2:3 And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.
Rom 16:17 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.18 For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.

6A HIS MINISTRY WAS NOT USED AS A HIDDEN WITH FALSE PRETENSE vs. 5b
There was no cover up of aim to gain money
There was no pretext. Acts 20:33, Luke 12:15 Col. 3:5
Rather Paul was content in mind, in heart. 2 Corin 1:23, Rom 1:9 Rom 9:1

Ac 20:33 I have coveted no man's silver, or gold, or apparel.
Luke 12:15 And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.
Col 3:5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:
2Co 1:23 Moreover I call God for a record upon my soul, that to spare you I came not as yet unto Corinth.
Ro 1:9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers;
Ro 9:1 ¶ I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost,

7A HIS MINISTRY DID NOT SEEK HONOUR FROM MEN. 6a
It is spiritual suicide for any servant to seek glory. Isa 42:8 Psa. 29:2
you give the Lord the Glory, the credit and the praise that is due to Him.
It is not our due, nor our glory. Psa. 115:1 John 12:42-43

Isa 42:8 I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.
Ps 29:2 Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.
Ps 115:1 Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake.
Joh 12:42 Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess [him], lest they should be put out of the synagogue::43 For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.

8A HE DID NOT SEEK PRAISE OF HIS MEMBERS 6b
He did not come to be gush over. Jer 45:5 Matt 6:33
He didn’t seek any credit and glory any plaudits any adulation from you.
Glory, recognition, credit came from Christ

Jer 45:5 And seekest thou great things for thyself? seek [them] not: for, behold, I will bring evil upon all flesh, saith the LORD: but thy life will I give unto thee for a prey in all places whither thou goest.
Mt 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

9A HE DID NOT DESIRE TO BE KNOWN 6c
This is by far the most tempted.....
The desire to be known, to have prestige, to be famous, to hae top billing #1 draft pick. 1 Corin 4:6
Yes we want people to think well of us, not overestimate us.
Most never sell themselves short. We sell other people short. Phil 2:6-7

1Co 4:6 And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and [to] Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think [of men] above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another.
Php 2:6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God::7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

10A HE DID NOT USE HIS POSITION TO MAKE DEMANDS 6d
He could have thrown his spiritual weight around but he didn’t. (Tent-making)

11A HE WAS A GENTLE AMONG THE PEOPLE vs. 7 I Tim 2:23-26

2Ti 2:23 But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes.
2Ti 2:24 And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all [men], apt to teach, patient,25 In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;:26 And [that] they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

CHARITY, WIFE AND MOTHER, PASTOR'S WIFE, HOW DOES SHE DO IT?

How does Charity deal with her husband, children, and ministry, outhouses!

I was telling Charity, "This blog is about our ministry over the last forty years. The last thirty-seven years it’s a ministry that has definitely involved our whole family." So often we hear about the preacher or evangelist, but little about their wives and children.

As I was telling Eric about the purpose of this blog and "Eric, you need to read this post." Eric said, "Dad I have lived it." What he was saying is "I’ve been a part of this family for thirty-five years." And Chad was the one who really encouraged me to write this stuff down.

I am not sure where Charity learned to be a wife, a mother, and a Pastor’s wife, but from the reports from her husband, children, and church members, she has been a model example. (*I learned from my grandmothers, mother and mother-in-law and other godly women in our churches.)

MY MOTHER PAULINE GREENE WHISNANT
Before I address Charity’s role in this ministry, let me say an insufficient amount of words about another wonderful example of a mother, and pastor’s wife-- my mother. There are not enough words that I could describe the beauty of my mother.

Why does it take children to become adults before they can see how wonderful their mother was when they were kids? From the beginning I was always a dad’s son. He was my life as a child. I modeled my whole life around dad, but it was mom who gave me life, and character and love.

Mom must have been a Christian early in life. She was even going to be a preacher in those early years, and she would have been a good one, too. When she met my dad as a young girl, she was already studying the Bible at College. Mom starting playing the piano for dad in his tent meetings in North Carolina.... and she played the piano for the next fifty years.

Mom taught me Bible stories that I still remember today. When I am preaching and there is a story in the text, I have flashbacks of the story in my mind, the way mom used to teach.

My dad was on the radio for a number of years, and mom was very active with dad . She was a distinguished writer and an excellent singer. (When I get my research complete about dad and mom I will write a better article) Mom was like Charity-- never grouchy about going wherever dad went. And dad was always going somewhere, pastoring this church and then another church, or starting this church, and then moving to another city. And mom would go with him.

I must have been my dad’s child. Because since we have been in ministry, we have moved a dozen plus times over the last thirty-seven years. Charity doesn’t know how long we will be in any given church. As I look back over the years, it was just accepted that where the Lord called we would go. When we left a church to go to another place, Charity just went.

YELLOW CORVAIR MONZA, HAWKIN'S GROCERY,

In 1968 I was the youth pastor at a church in Fort Worth, and dating Charity. "Charity I think we will go to Gideon Baptist Church" "Okay." Charity said. And it’s been that way most of the time. ‘Honey, I think we will go to Wooster Baptist Temple (Ohio) to be the Youth Pastor. Linda Clark (Shelton) said it’s a good church. Charity said, "Okay."

The year was 1970. Charity had a 1965 yellow Corvair Monza and we took off from Fort Worth to Wooster. Before we arrived, there was no heat in the car, and the brakes had gone out by the time we pulled up into the church’s parking lot. It was really cold and snow was on the ground. We found out that the preacher cut our salary in half even before we started. I worked part time at Hawkin’s Grocery Store for a while, until I felt lead to quit and work at the church by faith. The next week, Charity tells me she is expecting a child.

ERIC BORN DURING A BLIZZARD

In February, in Wooster we had a blizzard, and wouldn’t you know it Eric was born on the 10th in 1971 in the middle of a big snowy blizzard. (*Charity’s note: Charles took another job with a man in our church, knocking down an old Amish barn. He did not have suitable clothes for the freezing northern Ohio weather, but he went everyday to provide for our family.) Then a couple months later, I tell Charity, we need to leave. "Where are we going?" Charity said. "I do not have any idea!" That always sounds good to a wife and mother with a tiny baby.

So off we go to West Portsmouth, Ohio, in March 1971 and thanks to her mom and dad we had a place to stay. We stayed over the Pizza Shop, where her mom and dad owned a pizza business. Eric learned to sleep over the sound of pizza pans banging below.

FIRST PASTORATE AND THE CHURCH'S OUTHOUSE AND THE DEACON'S
Oh! A job! I checked out several churches in the area, and finally decided to try out at Madison Baptist Church in Minford Ohio, not far from West Portsmouth in June of 1971. It was a decent cinder block building, no running water, and two outhouses in the back. (* That is where the Lord taught me a valuable lesson while painting the outhouse fences. Sharon Vest painted the men’s fence and I painted the women’s fence. I was "Miss Picky" and was determined to do a perfect job. Sharon got the job done an hour before I did. So what if there were some paint drips on the grass! Once it was mowed what difference did it make? LESSON: You don’t have to be a perfectionist about everything. Do the best you can and in some areas, Good enough is good enough.) And twelve people voted for us to come to pastor, and they were willing to pay me five dollars a week. Plus a house that was owned by one of the deacons. So Charity and I and Eric go to Minford.

WHY CHURCHES CALL PASTORS, AND WHY PREACHERS GO TO THE CHURCH?

Really, things were going well for the first six months. Charity got a job at her aunt Betty’s pizza shop, and I took Eric in his baby carrier and set him on the front pew of the church while I preached on Wednesday night. Thanks to Sharon Vest and her mom and dad, Everett Vest, for taking care of us for the next few years.

GOODYEAR ATOMIC PLANT, SHARON VEST

By June 1971 the deacons wanted us to leave the church, and when the church members said no, the deacon’s family left and kicked us out of their house. How’s that for ministry, and at your very first pastorate. Why preachers stay after something like that, I have little or no clue. "Now what, Charles?" Charity said, I think. Here we have this four month old boy and no place to live! (*During this time, the Holy Spirit blessed Matthew 6:19-34 to my beginning to learn & grow to trust the Lord to supply our every need.) I got a job driving the Minford High School Bus. Then in the summer I became an insurance salesman for Mutual Of Omaha.. Charity started to work at the Goodyear Atomic Plant in Piketon. And Sharon Vest took care of Eric. We found a house in Minford and were there for a three years.. Then we moved into Portsmouth. Really we had a good ministry at Madison for three years. We have had some life-long friends from that church, even today we rejoice that the church is doing great.

Now let us see, Fort Worth, Wooster, West Portsmouth, Minford, Porstmouth, all in three years. Charity is still dangling in there. Do you wonder why preachers’ wives wouldn’t like to leave their husbands? Why they wouldn’t encourage their husbands to get into another profession?

CHARITY'S CHALLENGES
While I was having a great time preaching, not realizing the hardship this was on Charity. What I didn’t realize was that the difficulty at the church, was precipitating Charity’s emotions. Although I was overlooking plenty of the challenges at the church, Charity was taking all this personally. Charity was never going to get personally involved in the challenges with the people. Often in churches, the pastor’s wife will try to run interference for the pastor, and cause more trouble. Wives leave their husbands or harass them until their husbands leave the ministry. And in many cases, do you blame them?

This was our third stop in ministry, and many more yet to come, but at this point Charity and Eric were doing okay, and we are now getting ready to discover the next place of ministry the Lord has for us in 1974. That will be for the next time......

IS THERE A MESSAGE HERE?
Is there a message here? How could we have averted all this in the first place? What kind of training could we have taken that would have avoided our experiences?

What kind of advice would I give young preachers and his wife about ministry? What kind of advice would I give preachers before they accept a call to a church to be their pastor or be on the staff?

How should Bible Colleges and Seminaries and churches give advice to new preachers how to contend with ministry in churches?

I was totally clueless about pastoring people I guess. I definitely believed I was equipped to do ministry, and I wish somehow we could have been able to communicated better. What I can say is this. Many of the ideas and planning that I had hoped to see happen at Madison, and was the cause of unsettledness, subsequently after I left, those very things were implemented by the church.

I can’t say that I really believed the Lord wanted us to go or not to go to Madison Baptist Church, or any other church we have been to. The issue was that I wanted to be in ministry and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I had hypothesized, not really, I imagined I was prepared for ministry because of the success we had in my father’s church. I had seen my dad and mom, they were an illustration of good parents. And dad was a prototype pastor. My mom was a great mom and pastor’s wife. Even to this day, I believe that.

This article’s events ended June 1974. Charity and I were still married. Eric is three years old. Charity is working still at the A Plant. My mother and sixteen year old sister have come to live with us. And I am looking for a place to nevertheless minister in another church.

*Charity's comments

GENEALOGICAL DATE OF THE WHISNANT’S FAMILY.

Guillaume beget Jean and Jean Beget Estienner and Estienner beget Francois, and Francois beget Philip Peter, and Philip Peter beget John Adam, and John Adam beget Phillip, and Phillip beget John, and John beget Ephraim, and Ephraim beget Marcus and Marcus beget Lloyd Polycarp and Lloyd beget Everette, and Everette, beget Charles, Donald, and Ellen, and and Charles beget Eric, Becky, Chad, and Kyle.... First Whisnant Chapter 31:1-13

Raymond C. Whisnant, provided the Whisnants with wonderful genealogical data. We can go back 436 years. From Switzerland, to Germany, to Philadelphia, to North Caroline, to Virginia, to Kansas, now Ohio.

My great-grandfather x 10 Guillaume Visinand lived in Maracon, Canton of Vaud, Switzerland before 1570. (9) Jean Visinand lived in Corsier, Switzerland, married & had 7 children. (8) Estienner Visinand married to Andreaz Daunet & 3 children (7) Francois Visinand, lived in Switzerland, but lived in the French speaking region. Married Jeannie Ramus & five children. Were winemakers . (6)Philip Peter Visinand (Wisenant) Edenkoben, Germany, 1684, Moved to Philadelphia, USA in 1731. Married Anna Neff. & six children. They were members of the Reformed Church (5) John Adam Whisenhunt, (Whisanant) born in Hassloch, Germany, moved to Lancaster Country, PA, then to Lincoln County, North Caroline in 1749. Married: Anna Barbara & 8 children. (4) Phillip Whisenhunt (Wisanant) born in PA in 1736 moved to NC. Served in the British Army during the American Revolution. Married: Mary Bohelier & eight children. Phillip had a son who took the last name spelling of Whisnant in 1769; (3) John Whisenhunt born in 1736 (seven children) (2) Ephraim Whisenhunt born 1775. farmers. Married: Catherine Plantena & 5 children. (1) Marcus Eph Whisenhunt born in 1841-1903. Married: Sina Hahn & 8 children. Lived in Hickory, N.C.. My grand-father Lloyd Polycarp Whisnant born in 1883. Married: Minnie Caroline Abernathy. He was a contractor, painting buildings. Died in 1943 Then my dad Everette Thomas Whisnant born in1903. Attended Wake Forest U. in 1922-25. Married: Pauline Greene. Their children were Charles, Donald and Ellen . A Baptist Preacher/Pastor in North Carolina, and Virginia. Dad died in 1966. His son was Charles Everette Whisnant born in Virginia in 1947. Married Charity Mucha in 1969 our children Eric born in 1971 in Ohio, daughter Becky born in Texas in 1976, and Chad born in 1980 and Kyle born in 1984. both in Kansas.
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A brief history from the Whisnant’s.

WHY DO CHURCHES CHOOSE PASTORS AND PASTORS CHOOSE TO ACCEPT THE INVITATION TO COME PT 2

I will write this article established upon my own personal experiences. I recollect these events in my own personal encounters. As a whole many churches are clueless as to procedure that they should pursue in commissioning a Pastor. And I am not so confident about us as preachers that we do not have the identical problems.

It has been my experience, that if I am to submit a résumé, I have to tailor make it for the kind of church that I am sending the application to. If I know the church is a KJV only church, I am in trouble. If the church is known as a "free will" church, I am in trouble if I address this issue. If this church is a soul winning/altar calling church, I am in trouble. You get the point. You might say, what is wrong with a free will, KJV, soul winning/altar calling church? Nothing. I was raised in one of those independent fundamental Baptist churches. But if you have changed your view points, then there will be problems. I know not to give a résumé to a Presbyterian or a Methodist church.

I have been told by some, that if you want a church, you need to make sure that your résumé reads good, address the right questions, is crisp statements . In other words don’t be real honest.

I have had some to tell me, you don’t need to mention that you are not Southern Baptist, nor GARB, or WBF, BBF, etc. You don’t need to mention that you are not KJV only.. You do not need to mention that you are an expostional teacher. You do not need to mention that you are not a door to door soul winner. And that you preach doctrinally rather than the fuzzy feeling kind of talking. And I am not to mention that I teach the Doctrines of Grace, as are Spurgeon’s point of view. Just wait unto they get you as their pastor and then share with the church.

I often hear this statement: "We are seeking the pastor that God would have this church to have, not necessarily the kind of pastor we would want" While that is a great statement, and one that is correct. The fact is, generally the church is not really looking for God’s man to do God’s work. The church is looking for their idea of what they would like for God’s man to do in that church.

When I accepted the pastorate at Madison Baptist, and First Baptist, or even the two short term pastorats of Southern Baptist Churches, the first response to our coming were near disastrous, some were catastrophic. Well that point was overstated.

I remember in asking the pastor’s search committee of the two SBC, "Did you pray that God would lead you to the pastor that He would choose." And both times they said, "Yes" Than I said, "Then why have you rejected the leadership of the pastor, whom you believed the Holy Spirit lead you to bring to this church?" They had no answer. Who missed the leading of the Holy Spirit, the church or the preacher?

I have read a few questionnaires. I am amazed at the questions that are asked! I am not sure that most address the biblical idea of a Pastor. I Timothy and Titus give us the qualification for a Pastor/Elder. Those alone are the best set of qualifications that a church could follow in seeking the kind of minister that God would want for their church. And I am not sure a questionnaire answers those qualifications.

So why is this procedure of selecting a pastor or staff minister so hard?

Of course, the churches that are already in existence are a product of their training from the previous pastors and leaders.. Churches are today what they have been becoming. All churches have their idea what makes a great church. Unfortunately the church body is made up of people with dozens of different opinions as to what makes a good church and a good minister. The local church body of members usually is a collection of a smorgasbord of folks with as many convictions as there are people in the church. There is rarely a First Corinthian 1:10 congregation: ""Now I beseech you, church members, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, but that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment." (I don’t thank Paul was speaking of Baptist Churches do you?)

When you ask the membership what they would like to see in the next Pastor?. There will be as many ideologies as there are members. The membership will designate a pastor search committee, to search in their behalf and then when the committee submits to them their choice, more frequently than not they will say no. The praying of the Search Committee and the Membership is as if they are praying to two different Gods. Which is of course impossible.

I have seen this process many times. Within a few months of the new preacher’s introduction into the church, the church is prepared to see him depart. Generally I always think, they called him, rather than the Holy Spirit. I also hear the new preacher say, "The Holy Spirit called me to this church." Yep! That might be true, but the membership will say, it’s time for you to leave.

I can say this same thing, in this process that the Pastor of the church selects an Associate. Staff member. I have been employed by the Pastor, and then asked to leave within fourteen months, when the church desired me to stay. My mother said to me, "Charles if you are successful, as a youth pastor, you can be sure he will find a way to fire you" She was 99.9% correct.

Too often I have been tooooooo electrified in going to a church to minister, enamored by the size of the church building or the salary either as a staff pastor or the pastor. And too often the result has not been very enjoyable.

I have been often asked "How did you know that the Lord really wanted you to go to that church?" My answer is generally this: "Give me a year and I will let you know if it’s been the Lord’s will to be here."

What would make you say then, "This has been the Lord’s will that I came to First Baptist Church of Altoona, Kansas. I have said: The Nunnenkamp/Heaton/Alana Families, The Barnhart Family, The Busby/Frye families, The Cornwell Family, to name just a few.

I remember when our associate pastor questioned my staying at the church as pastor, Allen Nunnenkamp said "Since Charles has been here as Pastor I have been saved, my wife baptized and my family been saved........" And he named reasons why he was glad that I came as Pastor.
By the way I could use the same formula for Madison Baptist Church, after 30 years since I was pastor, there are still some good folks still active members of that church.

How do you know it’s the Lord’s will to go to a church, and then you are fired by the Pastor. If the results turn out to be men and women who have ministries like Alan Harris, Dave Greegor, Bill Rinehart, David Critcher, Randy Webb, Teresa Mills. To name a few. If the Lord can use a servant, even in a very small way, to accomplish His glory, then it’s His will for that servant to be there.

I Corinthians 2:10 "But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit: for the Spirit searches all things, yea, the deep things of God."

HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED WHY CHURCHES CHOOSE PASTORS AND WHY PASTORS CHOOSE TO GO TO A CHURCH?

Have you ever wondered why churches choose pastors and why pastors choose to go to a church?

Dr. George Norris had a class during the summer at BBS on practical circumstances that we as students should know about if we were going to be preachers. Many of the students had just been saved two weeks before their pastor sent them off to college.

Dr. Norris invited a dozen of us students to his church on Saturdays to teach us some things we would need to know about ministry. This was not even a school class. This was a free services by a great man and theologian and pastor.

One of these lessons was on visitation.(this is a fundamental term for visiting people in their homes sometime during the week or on Thursday night ( This also could be a term which means "Soul Winning.") "Do you men know how you are going to build the church that you are going to pastor?", Dr. Norris asked. This was in 1965. As an efficiently seasoned student I was to speak up and say I knew. So we were sent out into the highways and byways in the community around the Gideon Baptist Church of Fort Worth to enlist people, or take a survey as to who we could get as prospective members. This gave me an opportunity to show my stuff.

The following Saturday, in our class, Dr. Norris commented on our project of getting prospective members. He said "I want to give you an example how not to take a survey." And he used me as an example. I guess I was not ready for the pastorate.

This was a life savor for us, because as a whole we were really clueless.. I do remember that he did encourage us to start a church from scratch. I wish I had taken his advice.

This was the norm for fundamentalism. Start a church. Ask God where He wants you to go, and go, start knocking on doors, win souls, and hang out a sign and go to it. Amen brother.

There have been many very successful men who have accomplished this task successfully. And this is wonderful. My father-in-law Robert "Bob" Temple started the Victory Baptist Church in West Portsmouth, Ohio.

Instead of starting a church in Roanoke, Virginia, where I thought about, I took the advice of my and Charity’s friend Linda Clark Shelton., and we went to Wooster, Ohio, as a Youth Pastor. As a side note. In spite of that suggestion, we have remained life-long friends. Her mom and dad Richard and Elizabeth Clark have also been wonderful friends for nearly forty years.

After fourteen months, we left Wooster and went to West Porstmouth, Ohio. So what does the Lord have for us to do now? We pondered this question? How are you to know how to discern God’s will for your life? I am after forty years trying to learn the answer to that question.

This time I didn’t ask Linda Clark. Rather we heard that there was a church in need of a pastor in Minford, Ohio. I remember driving over to the church and looking into the building to see if we could see what the attendance was. You do that you know. If I recall, they had twelve to come to Sunday School that Sunday in June of 1971. "Lord are you calling us to this church?" What was I thinking? What was the presuppositional equation that I am to use to know God’s will?

I was totally clueless as to what I was doing. I knew I could preach, but that was about it. Who knew the history of this church? I was to learn this church was 150 years old and had a history of short term preachers. But I didn’t know that when I accepted their invitation to preach at this church. As I found out soon, this was a GARB church, which was deacon run. I was certainly not prepared for this church government

So why would God direct us to this church, and why would God direct the people to choose me as their pastor? I have yet to figure this out! But it’s like when you are married, it’s no longer a matter of God’s will, you are in this for eternity. Sorry, Charity, but you are attached with me until we die.

Would you believe, before the month wasout, the members wanted me out. How is it that they prayed that the Lord would direct them to the right pastor, and they believed that He had, and when the pastor comes, they are ready to vote him out in the first sixth months he is there.

How is that possible? How do people discern God’s will? I actually think people are genuinely stupefied about this issue of God’s will. Here the church had twelve in church the Sunday I arrived, and in six months we had over ninety. And they asked us to leave. A vote was taken, and would you believe they said that the vote was in our favor. So we stayed. Maybe we should have prayed about that decision. For the next three years, we really had a very fruitful ministry.

Today, the church is doing rather good. Some thirty years later, Randy Barkley is still doing the work of ministry, the bus ministry that is. He is one of the rewards of ministry in that church.

How do you know the will of God for ministry, when to stay and when to leave?

We will continue to look at this question in the next post.
Thanks to those who have make comments, via e mail...

Charity proof read, and truth check, and to Alan Harris: Charity did checked the spelling.