with repeats to save several of my class- mates that night. Since that time God has launched this ministry around the world, as was prophesied to me while attending Lee College in the early 1980s. I count it an honor to serve as a God-called minis- ter of the gospel.

I am presently serving as pastor of Daytona Deliverance Church of God in Daytona Beach, Florida. My wife, Sheila, and I have also served churches in Providence, Rhode Island; Baltimore, Maryland; and Hamilton, Bermuda. I also served as a Church of God national evangelist for many years. While serv- ing as an evangelist was a tremendous blessing, I felt the need to transition to a position where I could utilize my other gifts besides the gift to preach. God is blessing our ministry in Florida as we are seeing growth in these first few months. It is exciting to know that we are in the perfect will of God.

William Lee lives in Daytona Beach, Florida, where he pastors the Daytona Deliv- erance Church of God.

FROM A SPORTS

HEN GOD called me into the ministry, I was a 33-year-old sports editor in Middletown, Ohio, and host of a one-hour daily radio show doing the news of the county each day. I had been saved in a Baptist church in Lebanon, Ohio, several years earlier. My wife, Wahneta, and I became youth leaders there. I was chosen to be an ordained deacon until I learned about their doctrine on eternal security, which I didn’t agree with. We left the Baptist

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22 EVANGEL • APR 2010

church and started attending the Church of God.

In a revival service, a lady evangelist named Lou Galino stopped me from praying and asked, “Do you want the Holy Ghost?” My first reaction was anger because I had been seeking the baptism in the Spirit for nine months. However, my response was, “More than anything in the world.” She simply laid hands on

heaven is straight and narrow.” When I opened my eyes the church was dark. Everyone had gone home except Wahneta and our two children, who were sitting on a pew waiting for me to tell what had happened. It was hard to explain, but Wahneta knew exactly what had taken place.

When I told the congregation about my calling and that I intended to heed

“When I told the congregation about my calling and that I intended to heed it, I was surprised at their reaction. They told me it was just enthusiasm and not a calling.”

—Jack Reynolds (pictured in his early ministry)

me and said, “Receive the Holy Ghost!” I immediately began to speak in tongues and rejoice.

DESK TO A PULPIT

by Jack Reynolds

Sister Galino called Wahneta aside and told her to pray much because God showed her I had a calling on my life. Later, in a Wednesday night service, the Holy Spirit moved on me as I was standing with my hands raised in wor- ship. I was immediately caught away in the Spirit. My mother (who had passed away earlier that year) came to me and asked me if I wanted to go to heaven. I said, “Yes.”

As we walked heavenward, everything was so beautiful and peaceful. I was overwhelmed by the scenery, which was beyond description. I could see the walls of the city ahead, and I was very excited when I saw the gates. I stopped as I saw a great gulf we had to cross, and the only way across was a two-foot-wide board. My mother started across but turned around when she saw I wasn’t following. She said, “Don’t you want to go in?” I said, “Yes I do, but I can’t because I must go back and tell everyone that the path to

it, we were surprised at their reaction. I had only been filled with the Holy Spirit a short time, and they told me it was just enthusiasm and not a calling. However, we prayed and fasted, and the Lord told us a prophet is without honor in his own land.

So, we left Ohio and moved to Texas to begin our ministry. After a short time, we realized I didn’t have adequate knowl- edge of our church doctrines and we moved to Cleveland, Tennessee, where I attended Lee College for three years before going to New Jersey, where God helped us grow a church.

God has richly blessed us in ministry. We never led a church that didn’t grow. We also had good success in evangeliz- ing for six years. I served on state boards in Florida, Michigan, and South Georgia. We can honestly say that in over 40 years of ministry we always followed God’s calling.

Jack E. Reynolds is a retired ordained bishop in the Church of God. He and his wife, Wahneta, live in Middletown, Ohio.