Jesse Barrington: Salvation Testimony & Call to the Ministry

I was raised, by God's grace,

in a Christian home.

My father read the Bible to me daily,

and sacrificed a lot to give me

a Christian education -

kindergarten through college.

I went to Bible college.

And so I had a lot of knowledge

about the Lord and the things of the Lord.

We regularly attended a church,

and we were faithful in attendance there.

And at a young age - maybe 7,

I made a profession of faith,

was baptized.

And I prided myself at that time

that I did not participate in things

like drinking or drugs.

But as I look back, I saw that

I just lived openly in so many other sins.

I went away to college.

I met my wife.

She was in the exact same
place I was spiritually.

We were married the week after college.

We moved to Dallas for business

and started attending a church in Dallas.

We were faithful there.

And it was shortly after that

that one day I picked up my Bible,

which was not common,

and began to read.

And I read 1 John 2.

"If you love the world

or the things in the world,

the love of the Father is not in you."

And I was so confronted with the reality

that I loved so many
other things than God.

I was convicted of my sin.

I didn't have a lot of good doctrine.

I was more introduced to things

like the sinner's prayer.

And I didn't know what
to do at that moment,

but I knew this for sure -

I was lost.

And I cried out to God for mercy.

And He saved me.

And as the Scriptures say, at that moment

everything became new.

I was a new creation.

And there was a turning of my affections

from the world

to the things of the Lord,

and by His grace, that has
continued to this day.

Question: What led
you to ultimately pastor?

How were you called to the ministry?

Jesse: It was not a traditional calling.

The Lord works in unique ways.

After conversion, I was in a profession

where I had hours free every day.

I could finish my work,

and then I had to wait
for people to come in.

It was a retail environment.

And so I had five to six
hours a day often by myself,

which I look back now,

it was the grace of the Lord.

And that went on for ten years.

So for that long time,

I would just read the Bible.

And I read the Bible
over and over and over.

And I began to share the
truths of the gospel

with people around me.

I was so excited about the
truths that I was seeing.

And God in His grace began to save people.

And they came back to me
after they were saved,

and said, "Well, where
should we go to church?"

And brother, I didn't know
what to tell them

because the church that
I was in at the time

was a shallow view of the gospel,

more entertainment based,

and so what we began doing

is meeting in my home for Bible studies.

And this is further along

after I was converted

and a number of years in the faith.

And we met in our home for years.

Prayer meetings, Bible studies,

fellowship, to go evangelize.

And that became where we're at today,

which is the church that we meet with.

So not a traditional
path, to say the least,

but the Lord has blessed it

and graced us and worked
through it for His glory.