My grandmother, whom we called Nan, was an Assemblies of God evangelist and pastor for over sixty years of ministry. When she turned 80 years old, she said that she wanted to be like Moses and start over with something new to do for Christ… I knew Moses spent forty years in Egypt, forty years on the backside of the desert, and forty years leading the Children of Israel to the Promise Land. I would always laugh when I heard her tell that joke as she would always go on preaching to and at me. Because of this, I guess, I have always just thought of Moses as the “old guy.”
When I was talking to my oldest son, JC, the other night about a lecture I was assigned for one of the bible classes I am taking discussing mentors, he began telling me about a Christmas present he got. I was sharing the Elijah and Elisha, Paul and Timothy, and Moses and Joshua mentoring discussed. We went on to discuss that I needed to get someone to be my mentor. I thought he was changing the subject as he said, “Dad, I had this transgender girl that I have been talking to give me a nice bible for Christmas. It blew me away that she --- a transgender girl --- had bought me this bible that speaks against her lifestyle. I asked her what this was for. She told him, it is for answering all my questions without judging me for what I look like.” I was sitting at the moment saying to myself, and almost to him, what does this have to do with our conversation? Then he continued to say, “Dad, I couldn’t have done that unless I had heard you say that you must look past how people look and act and to be ready to reach the person God at that moment they are ready. Dad, what you fail to realize is that you aren’t the Joshua anymore. You’re the Moses.”
There I sat with my mouth gapping open as if I had been punched in the stomach with the phone in my hand. Was this another “you’re old” comment? No, it wasn’t. It was one of the moments when God started to roll His Words in my heart and mind.
Hi there! My name is Jeffery Huber, Sr. I am married to Marcia, and we have two (2) sons – JC and Joshua. We live in Jacksonville, Arkansas. Our boys have recently moved out and live in their apartment in nearby North Little Rock. I guess I have to face that I transitioned to be a Moses. LOL!
Let me tell you about my Joshua journey. I have been in a Pentecostal church since I was two weeks old. My mother had me at the Mon General Hospital in Morgantown, West Virginia, to be closer to her family. Two weeks later before our family made the trip back to our hometown, we went to church because mom wanted me dedicated to God. So, I was dedicated to God. When we got back to our home church, the pastor heard that I had been dedicated the week prior but felt something special about this boy and said that he had to dedicate me to God again and charged my mother and father to bring me up in the admonition of God. They accepted this charge from the pastor in front of the congregation. And, they lived happily ever after! Only if!
Unfortunately, we didn’t live happily ever after. Due to circumstances, my parents got a divorce, but my mom never forgot the charge to bring her sons up in the admonition of God. When days were dark and she didn’t feel like going on, she remembered her oath. She kept that promise. I and my two brothers were brought up in a Pentecostal Christian home.
I have always wanted to be a preacher of the Word of God even from my childhood. I used plant stands and TV trays to sing and re-preach what I heard my pastor preach the week prior. I have been fortunate. I have had great Christian mentors my whole life.
I grew up in the small town of Point Marion, Pennsylvania. We attended the Point Marion Apostolic Church which was pastored by Bishop Charles K. Krause. My mentor wasn’t just my pastor, but I have Sunday School teachers like Sister Nell that made sure every kid that walked into her room felt loved by her hug and telling the stories of Jesus; Sister Vi made sure as we grew up we understood the Beatitudes, Fruit of the Spirit, and other spiritual attributes in the Word; Brother David and Sister Cindy, before he became pastor, taught our teen class that listening to those elders would keep us from going down some of those wrong paths; Sister Bonnie taught us to sing and play instruments to worship God in Spirit; Brother Brad, as our teen teacher and youth minister, taught us that we are not only the church of tomorrow but also today and we needed to learn, live, and teach each other and others about this great salvation. Speckled through the church were people like Dave Cotrell who taught me to pray with power and anointing; Nick Corob who taught me how to testify; and Martha Johnson who taught us to love in spite of any circumstances. Not only did our pastor and others bring me to salvation, but they allowed me to develop ministry in me.
I not only was mentored by Point Marion Apostolic Church, but in my twenties, I moved to Columbus, Ohio, and was once again mentored by a church, North Apostolic Tabernacle. Bishop L. A. Wedlund was the pastor. The Tuesday Night Bible Study was set up on a bible college curriculum. Bishop and Sister Wedlund were my favorite teachers. They made the Word just come alive and burn within me. But I was mentored by others…. Brother Carroll allowed me to travel with him to preach. Sister Terry made me sound great when I got to lead worship. Brother David taught me that worship was a lifestyle, not just a part of the service. Brother and Sister Lloyd took me into their home and rented me a room which became a big part of my life. Brother and Sister Shoemaker gave me my first opportunity to teach a Sunday School class. Brother Phil and Sister Sherry helped me develop as a youth minister.
During the time I was in Columbus, God revealed the ministry he had for me. Bishop Wedlund asked me to get my minister's license, and with the help of the church began helping develop me in the ministry. Several years later, Bishop Wedlund and Bishop Carroll asked me to further the ministry and become ordained.
Then the inevitable happened. You see since I was born my grandmothers and mom were praying that I would find the perfect lady that would enhance me, and the ministry God was developing for us to walk into. I met the one that they had been praying for all those years and the love of my life, Marcia! I met her at a youth camp in Hot Springs, Arkansas. We were both counselors. We had a long-distance relationship for a short time. She moved to Columbus, Ohio. As we were working on the details of the wedding, the company I worked for said that they were transferring me to Cleveland, Ohio. I moved to Cleveland and Marcia went home to finish our wedding plans. We got married in Arkansas, but I took my bride back to Cleveland.
We got back to Cleveland on Saturday, and Sunday we went to a church a family friend had recommended to us. We walked through the doors of the First United Pentecostal Church of Parma and immediately felt at home. Pastor O’Bannion later told us that when we walked through the door, God told him that He was going to use that couple in this church. You see, when God closes a chapter, he has another door already opening. Ministry opens for us as the youth pastor. So much happened in a short period of two (2) years that developed us as ministers and a family.
But, once again, my company told me they were relocating all the positions of my type to Atlanta, Georgia. We didn’t feel that it was the right move for us and started looking to either stay in Cleveland or move closer to family in West Virginia or Arkansas. The cost of living was so high, and the church couldn’t support us full-time even though they offered to do it. Arkansas’ job market was stronger, and I shortly went to work. I have been fortunate that God has always had a job for me so I could serve as a bi-vocational minister.
Upon our moving Pastor Davis at Lighthouse Tabernacle in Lonoke, Arkansas, quickly put us to work teaching the young adult’s class, singing, and ministering upon occasion. We helped Life Tabernacle with their youth program. When Pastor Denton was called to Lighthouse Tabernacle as the pastor, we received a call to become the Youth Pastor. We also served to help small churches as interim ministers while they were looking for a pastor.
Then, we received a call from Pastor Denton that he had submitted our name to try out as pastor for Hope Pentecostal Church in Sheridan, Arkansas. We pastored that small church for about a year and a half. We had one father that came to a great salvation because he needed to meet this Brother Jeff his daughters kept talking about. This same man was getting ready to go deer hunting on a Sunday morning but got convicted by the scripture about a divided house. His wife and daughter were in church, and he was on his deer stand waiting for the sun to come up. He climbed down out of his stand and came to church that morning as he was. God blessed him at that service and gave him an eight-point buck later that day.
We then pastored another small church in Hot Springs, Arkansas, for about two years. God was moving greatly. We thought for the longest time that this would be where we made our home. One Sunday, we had a young man that had never been in church in his life come in and was filled with the Spirit.
But, in between each place God always brought us back to Jacksonville, Arkansas. We opened up to a house church that we called Victory Apostolic Fellowship. We had times we had 20 – 30 people in our house. Seems like we never started on time, but we had a true fellowship with one another. The services, preaching, teaching, and the bond that we had strengthened us Spiritually and physically. Shortly before Covid hit, two families announced that they would be moving. One with a job, and the other with the Army. We stay in contact but weren’t sure what we needed to do.
Lighthouse Tabernacle changed its name to Cross Covenant. We have suspended our service at the house church but invited everyone to worship with us at Cross Covenant. Then Covid hit! I love electronics and found a church that upgraded their video system and sold us their old system for $500 bucks. We were able to upgrade from having service via a cell phone have nice service online with decent quality production and sound.
So, this brings us full circle. Yes, whether I like it or not, I am transitioning to Moses. I’m over fifty. There are some things that I need to brush up on. There are some things that I never learned. There are some things that I need to look at from a different perspective. I’m not Joshua anymore. The old Saturday morning GI Joe cartoon used to say, “…knowing is half the battle because knowledge is power.” The knowledge I share with my Joshua(s) needs to be balanced with Spirit and Truth.