Student Terry Jackson and his wife, Karen, are enjoying this time of their lives as grandparents. Their daughters are serving in a church where he served as pastor in Georgia. The distance away from their children and grandchildren is hard, but they know this is where God wants them to be right now.
“I attended church some with my grandparents as a child,” said Jackson. “It was not until the age of 19 that I came to know Jesus as my savior on an Easter morning in that same Baptist church that I had attended with my grandparents. It has been a growth and refining process up to this day. God is still working on me even at 46 years old.
“I surrendered to the call to preach in February 2002,” said Jackson. “I spent two years doing pulpit supply wherever I could. This helped me initially to get some good experience as I was starting out. I took my first pastorate in August 2004. The first church I served was not the only church I would serve in, but it was where I can remember that my call began to shift from a call to preach into a call to pastor.
“After I accepted the call to pastor this church, I discovered Clear Creek’s online program in 2004. I initially attempted to do some online work, but I knew that the on-campus environment would work best for me. So, in the fall semester of 2015, at 45 years old, I became a college student living on campus. Wow! God is good!
“I love the classes that I have been blessed to take so far,” said Jackson. “I look at what an opportunity I have to learn now, and wish that I had learned these things earlier on in the ministry. Classes at Clear Creek are not easy, then again, nothing worth having is. I don’t really have a favorite class because they all are great and they all build on each other.
“Clear Creek has done an excellent job of connecting the dots in our learning process. I would tell anyone looking for a quality Christian education that will equip you for the ministry that Clear Creek is the place to be!”
Donnie Fox is president of Clear Creek Baptist Bible College, 300 Clear Creek Road, Pineville, KY 40977; toll-free: (866) 340-3196; ccbbc.edu; email: dfox@ccbbc.edu.
Donnie Fox