Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
My name is Jim Smith. It is my honor and privilege to serve our Lord Jesus Christ as a Christian and an evangelist. I have been married for over 27 years to my wonderful wife Monica. We are blest to be members of Liberty Baptist Church. Pastor Gresham has been a help and a blessing to both of us. When I was a young man, I thought I was ca
lled to preach but was not certain of it. I attended the Pensacola Bible Institute from 1979 to 1982 and graduated with a Bachelor of Divinity. I received a call from Cedar Grove Baptist Church in Lynx, Ohio to be their pastor. I was pastor there for almost 2 years before I resigned. I was not sure what God wanted me to do and was not settled as a young man. I worked several different jobs. In 1991 I ended up taking a police officer position with the City of Hamilton Police Dept. It was at that time I became cold to serving the Lord. I did not attend church regularly and was backslidden. However, the Lord Jesus Christ and my previous pastor Bro. Eric Brazelton of Miltonville Baptist Church would not forget me. Thank God for faithful pastors who remember, pray, and visit the ones who have been discouraged and wounded in the battle! I am thankful we have a God that gives us second chances and shows us mercy. Pastor Brazelton asked me and Monica to teach Sunday school to the 4th thru 6th grade. We jumped at the chance that God would let us get back into the fight. We taught Sunday School at Miltonville Baptist Church for 17 years. I was witnessing to my co-workers and was able to lead 4 police officers to Christ. I spent 7 years on the SWAT team as a sniper, and by God’s grace had the blessing of my SWAT team partner asking the Lord to save him. I was a detective for 17 years and spent 15 of those years working numerous homicides. I was promoted to sergeant and then to lieutenant, but Pastor Eric Brazelton kept telling me that he thought I was called to preach. I wanted to be a witness and win souls for Christ, but preaching was another matter. I retired from the police force and I thought my wife and I would just have a good retirement serving the Lord at our church and local community. However, God had other plans. The more I spent time in prayer the more I could not escape. One night in prayer the Lord spoke to me and He made it clear that He was calling me to preach. He was tired of me fighting against His will and I was either going to preach or He was done with me. I was scared to death that night. I did not want the Lord to be done with me and so I answered the call to preach. I now know that God has called me to be an evangelist; to try and be a blessing to others and preach the Gospel wherever He leads. God has been so good to us. I have been able to preach the gospel at camp meetings, revivals and several churches in Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Indiana and Texas. We are both so happy and blest that God is using us where He sees fit. Please pray for us.
