I Still Have Joy

By Pastor Robert Walker

There is a misconception that ministry is closely related to industry. This could never be farthest from the truth. In industry, we are rewarded for selfish accomplishments, but in ministry, we are at the complete disposal of the Father’s will to be used to benefit the kingdom of God. Jesus profoundly speaks, “Not my will but thine be done.”

I Still Have Joy was birthed out of the trials, tribulations, and joys I experienced while running away from God and then running back to God. I have learned that we are always in God’s presence and he wants us to live in perfect peace. That peace can only be found in Christ Jesus. I still have joy because through it all, I was never alone. I was always in the arms of Jesus. Whether trials, tribulations, casualties, or calamities, if we are anchored in Jesus, when the dust is settled from the charge that Christ has laid upon us, we can say, “I still have joy.”

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Oct 10, 2018
• ISBN: 9781984558176

Pastor Robert Walker

Rev. Robert D. Walker is the Pastor and Founder of Iconium Missionary Baptist Church, located in Beaumont, Texas South Park community. With explosive power that comes from combining divine faith with decisive action, Pastor Walker has made a colossal impact on the lives of his congregation and members of the surrounding neighborhood through the powerful dynamics of anointed teaching. His down to earth personality and his confrontational style of communicating God’s messages of right priorities, integrity, character, balance and leadership, has empowered his flock to live lives of fulfillment and success. His heart for touching and transforming the lives of others can be seen throughout his ministry. His effective style of communication has placed him in high demand as a guest speaker at the national, regional, and local levels. Pastor Walker has been married to his wife Linda for 29 years and has one child, LaJoia.

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It’s All Good

My journey began when I was in college. I attended Wiley College in Marshall, Texas. Wiley College is a private four-year historically black liberal arts college located on the west side of Marshall, Texas. It is one of the oldest predominantly black colleges located west of the Mississippi River. While attending Wiley College, I was the secretary of the Parliamentarian Club. It was a religious organization that scheduled revivals on campus.

One night, there was a revival on campus. The only reason I attended the revival was because I was an officer in the club. A revival was taking place on campus while a party was going on at my house. After the revival, I couldn’t stop crying. Instead of going straight to the party, I detoured and went to Dr. Telley Miller’s house. Dr. Telley was the head of the Religious Philosophy Department at Wiley College. When I arrived at his house, I didn’t knock on the door; I just sat on the porch, crying. Dr. Miller heard me on his porch and invited me into his house. I told him what was happening, and he said the Lord had a calling on my life. When some say you have a calling on your life, that means the Lord is calling you to preach. After visiting with Dr. Miller, I went home to the party. When I walked into my apartment I said, Oh my Lord, what is going on here? I looked around and then went to my bedroom. The people attending the party thought I was sick and wanted to take me to the hospital. They didn’t know that a change had occurred in my life and I was not the fellow they once knew.

After graduating from college, I returned to my parents’ home in Leesville, Louisiana. Although I had graduated from college, I was still trying to get clarity on whether or not God was calling me to preach. One night, I prayed to God and asked Him to show me a sign if He was calling me to preach. If confirmation was rendered, I would go into the bedroom and tell my parents that I was called to preach. The Spirit of the Lord came upon me, and I couldn’t say anything. The presence of the Holy Spirit was a confirmation that God was calling me to preach. When the Spirit left me, my intentions were to knock on my parents’ door and tell them God had called me to preach, but for some reason, I didn’t. I didn’t do what I promised God I would do. Because I was disobedient to God, a fear came on me, and I was afraid to go to my bedroom. There was a bathroom right next to my parents’ room. I went there and slept on the toilet all night.

Shortly after this escapade, I left Leesville, Louisiana, and moved to Houston, Texas, and lived with my college roommate and fraternity brother. After a couple of months, I became gainfully employed at Liquid Carbonic Corporation. When I started working, I left my friend’s house, and my sister and I got an apartment together on Corporate Drive in southwest Houston. One day, I was taking out the garbage and met Lee Bilton, who was living in the same apartment complex. Lee and I became good friends. Lee was attending Little Union Missionary Baptist Church and invited me as a guest. I visited the church a couple of times and listened to the preaching. I also observed the operation of the church and the various ministries. I was impressed with the preaching, teaching, and ministries, so I became a member.

While attending Little Union, I met Phyllis Williams. Phyllis and I developed a close bond immediately. We not only became sisters and brothers in the faith but we also became lifelong friends. Phyllis had a young son named Garland. I fell in love with Garland and became his knight in shining armor. I used to call myself his savior because I would always save him from being punished. Even though he was wrong, I would persuade Phyllis to give him another chance. Phyllis and I continued to sharpen each other in the faith by studying the Word of God.

Fugitive Of The Faith

As the New Year was approaching, Phyllis invited me, along with a friend, to a prayer bowl they attended annually. The prayer bowl was held on the first day of the New Year at Pleasant Grove Missionary Baptist Church, under the leadership of Pastor C. L. Jackson. At the prayer bowl, well-known pastors from all over the United States would come to Houston, Texas, and preach. This would go on all day and night until everyone invited had preached. The night before the prayer bowl, I was asking the Lord again to show me a sign if He was calling me to preach. I wanted God to show Phyllis or her friend a vision of me standing at the pulpit, preaching. The next morning, I thought to myself, Phyllis is not going to see me in the pulpit preaching because it’s morning, and the only way that can happen will be in a dream. My finite mind was trying to limit God. I forgot that Isaiah 55:9 says, As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than Your ways and my thoughts than Your thoughts.

After the prayer bowl, I was talking to Phyllis and her friend on the telephone. Her friend said, Phyllis, tell Darnell what we saw today. Darnell was my middle name.

Phyllis said, I saw a man preaching at the pulpit, who looked just like you. When we went to the cafeteria to eat, we saw that man again, and he didn’t look like you at all.

I couldn’t believe what I heard. Once again, God confirmed that He was calling me to preach. After hearing that, I did what Jonah did and