Pastor Burson has been the spiritual leader at the First Baptist Church in Madras, Oregon, for the past 8 1/2 years. However, today was his last sermon at FBC. He and his wife, Josie, are heading to Estacada, where he will take over senior pastoral duties at Clackamas Valley Baptist Church.
Burson views these transition periods as a continuation of God's ongoing guidance in the lives of His children. In fact, his life could be summed up in the periods when he needed to be guided (or led) to the Lord, receiving a more in-depth guidance during his Chrsitian walk, and then taking what he learned to guide others through the ministry in which God has placed him.
While growing up, and as the third child out of eight (along with two step-sisters), it was easy for Burson to lose sight of his true identity. He admits to struggling as an introvert for most of his life, especially during the early years.
His family was poor. For the first ten years of his life they resided in a canyon seven-miles up a back country road near the town of Dillard, Oregon.
"We were pretty self-sufficient," said Burson. A pioneer style existence: they grew their own vegetables, and the main course would often be rabbit, gray squirrel, or venison. In fact, it wasn't until he was ten years old, and the family moved to Roseburg, that they got electricity.
Spiritually speaking, up until that point, they only attended church on the important days, like Easter or Christmas.
The close proximity to civilization increased attendance a little, including events like Vacation Bible School. However, it was also at ten years of age that Burson first recalls standing out on the street corner and having serious thoughts that he "needed to be in church." And yet, without the proper mentoring or encouragement, little was done about it.
Three years would pass before Burson pinpoints another instance of spiritual guidance. He was exiting junior high, and across the street was a church, and he both felt and heard confirmation that he would attend that church: and he eventually did. And he continued there for quite some time.
Two years later, while attending a Christian concert at an Assembly of God church --- the same church his brother would be married at in a couple years --- he discerned the Holy Spirit telling him that he would someday preach at that pulpit. It would take 45 years, but that prophetic word came to pass when he preached there at his brother-in-law's funeral.
Unfortunately, during those early years of church attendance, he wasn't truly a Christian, since he had no personal relationship with God. And Burson admits that during that time he definitely had no plans on becoming a pastor. In fact, when he met Josie, his future wife, she was the professing Christian, not him.
They got married fairly quick, in July of 1966: the same year they met. However, he soon received his draft notice, and entered the Army in September of that year: though Josie was able to accompany him when he was stationed at Ft. Lewis, Washington.
They rented a place above a garage, and Burson attributes their destination to part of that ongoing divine guidance. If living with a Christian wife wasn't influence enough, both the tenant's in front and behind them were sons of preachers. Therefore, between the three, they were more than enough influence to get him back into church.
They were attending a little Baptist church at the time he recieved his orders to go to Vietnam. And one day, while the preacher was giving the invitation following his sermon, he said, "If you die today, do you know for sure that you'll go to heaven?"
"I realized if I went to Vietnam and got killed," said Burson, "I'd go to hell." So he lifted his hand and went forward. After many years of sporadic church attendance he finally accepted the Lord.
Unfortunately, upon returning from his tour of duty and discharging from the Army, they returned to Roseburg where Burson went to work at the mills, and he likewise returned to his old sinful ways.
Since he worked hard he felt he was entitled to play hard as well, which included barhopping.
"Josie always had a Christian heart, and loved the Lord," Burson said. "I was leading her away from that."
However, she wasn't led too far before deciding it was time for her and the kids to get back to church.
She had extended the invitation to him, but he chose to "go to the bars, drink, and play pool."
That's when God decided it was time to increase the volume, and instead of the easily dismissed still small voice, the urging within him became so continuous that he put down the pool cue, left the tops on the bottles, and sat himself down with his family in church.
This time the Lord provided some wonderful friendships, additional discipling, and eventually a new pastor, named Doyle Collins, who emphasized ministering and ministry.
Burson wasn't sure how to respond to the unction of the Spirit at that point. He had already tried to become a deacon in the church, a position he really wanted, but lost the nomination by one vote.
He wrestled with the decision of going into ministry for over a year and a half after receiving the calling. That is, until one day while laying on his bed, he asked for God's guidance on beginning the ministry. This time he heard a clear voice tell him, "You'd be a fool if you didn't."
Those words, along with an identical confirmation, was all he needed. Burson, and his family, headed to Texas where he and Josie attended a Bible College.
As you can see, the road to becoming a pastor is not always clear and easy. It required a lot of inner struggle and external guidance for Pastor Burson to reach this point. Stay tuned for part 2 of the interview, and see that there are often as many obstacles to overcome after becoming a pastor as there were prior to entering the ministry. However, there were many more blessings after he made the choice to follow God's will for his life.
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