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| Hephzibah ntcc church in Augusta, Georgia |
Rodney and Lisa Ballard took over the Servicemen's Home and church in Augusta Georgia toward the end of my tenure with the ntcc. I quickly became friends with them and we went through some of the wildest and greatest adventures that I ever would experience in the ntcc. I'm not going to rehash the past or get into specifics about the good or the bad; but I want to say this:
Rodney and Lisa Ballard would do anything to help a person out; and they would never do anything to harm a soul.
While they did not fit into the mold of an ntcc pastor and wife in a perfect way according to the ntcc leadership, they did more to help me at a time in my life when I really needed help, then they will ever know.
They broke one of the cardinal rules of the ntcc and that was that they became a friend to me.
Much was said about over-familiarity; and members were very seldom allowed to become a friend or an equal with the Pastor of a church. Much of this stemmed from a separation that was said to be necessary between a pastor of a church and the members of that church but the real purpose of this separation was so that the preacher would be revered and would be able to have much influence over a person's life. This separation was necessary and conducive to manipulating a congregation into financial and spiritual submission according to ntcc standard operations. You supposedly can not correct a person if you are friends with them.
Jesus called His disciples friends.
I can say that the Ballards broke this rule and allowed me to be a part of their world; and we became good friends and had more fun and touched many lives in a good way. We were living under a very strict set of guidelines that made life difficult and presented many financial challenges. An ntcc preacher is placed at a great disadvantage in that so many of the rules that exist keep them from being human and doing things that normal people do and one of those things is sharing emotion and establishing friendships. For the first time in my life in the ntcc we put a lot of the rules and policies aside and were real.
The Gospel was preached through love and the Ballards never exalted themselves to a lofty place of reverence and unobtainable perfection that many others presented. They were far from perfect; and we all did things that were not honorable in the eyes of the Borg; but we survived the best we could under a system that makes many people slaves and limits them to life of under-achievement.
After becoming great friends with the Ballards I came down on orders for Ft. Eustis Va. This would be my last assignment in the Army and my last stint with the ntcc. My next pastor was a company man and I don't mean this in a negative way because he too, was under the same system of structure and routine that zapped me of all my desire to be a part of the ntcc any more. All of the ntcc pastors I've had, deal with this pressure in different ways. I had seen every side of the ntcc that you could see; and my mind, my heart and my desire to have normal relationships made me realize that I had to escape ntcc. I stayed in contact with the Ballards which was another sin which you are not supposed to commit in the ntcc.
They confided in me and only me, to my knowledge, that they were going to leave the ntcc. At first I was horrified at the thought; but the more I thought about it, the more
my inner most being desired freedom:
- mental freedom
- physical freedom
- normalcy
- and a chance to think for myself!
I have to thank the Ballards for this; because they helped me escape from something that controlled me beyond the limits that Jesus would ever impose upon someone.
- It took years for my mind to heal; and now I have experienced salvation through grace and mercy that has brought unspeakable happiness and joy to my life!
- I have a wife who I love and want to spend all the days of my life with.
- I have a great job and have peace in my heart.
- I wake up and pray to the God I love and enjoy reading His word.
- My situation is better than it ever has been and my relationship with God is at its best when I'm able to fulfill my service to Him out of the freedom of my own heart and desire as opposed to the robotic motions that were dictated to us by those who had no interest in our spiritual well being.
We did things in those days that I'm not proud of and things that nobody would ever understand; but through it all, the kindness and friendship of a former ntcc preacher and his wife has stood the test of time; and because of this I am forever grateful!
