I was a minister for five years before I was saved. Welcome to Connections with Rich and Bobby. Hi, I'm Bobby, Bobby Hamlin. And I'm Rich, Rich Homeris. Our guest on this podcast is Pastor Arthur Mellon. He serves at Sovereign Grace Baptist Church in Hayward, California. Pastor Mellon talks about how his church started and the interesting paths the Lord took him on before calling him to become a pastor, but most importantly, how he became saved. We started as a mission in our house in 2014, and then became a Bible study. Then we became a mission. We've gone from a Bible study to a mission to a church. It's so growing, so that's wonderful. We're constant. We've been together over five years. And going back, a lot of times God takes us in a direction and surprises us. And so what was your background? Did you expect from the get-go to be a pastor, or were you involved in other things? I was in the military. You heard of special forces, special operations type. I worked with the embassies in El Salvador and also in Jordan. And my background, I was saved years ago. But I went to seminary, went back in the military, then came out again, finished a doctorate degree in business administration, and then one in education. So my background, again, was in Christian education and business. Well, how did the Lord call you to become a pastor? When did you feel that calling? Well, that's strange because I was a minister for five years before I was saved. Yeah, you know the everybody says when you're growing up that man, he's a good speaker, you know young minister and all this Can I just knew something was wrong? I could not put my finger on it And then I read Spurgeon's book on he said how terrible it must be to offer life to others and not have it yourself and that just floored me so I realized I needed Christ and Then after I saved, I said, well, you know, I don't have to preach anymore. I don't have to do any of this stuff anymore, you know. But the Lord says, basically, I haven't sent you to learn all this stuff for nothing. So I just kept trying to fight it. And I said, I can't fight it no more. He called me to ministry. That's where I should be. You know, I've heard of a pastor that once said that he was saved under his own preaching, and that faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. And so, in a roundabout way, God was speaking to you. He was not speaking to me. He was nailing me to the floor. And how is that for you as you go forth to proclaim God's Word, knowing that there are others out there that, you know, they kind of talk the talk, so to speak, but yet they're as far away as possible from God as you were. Well, it taught me that even in my congregation or wherever I am, whether I'm talking to a preacher or whatever, that if I can be a lost preacher, there's lost preachers in the pulpit all over the place. And they need to be saved just like I needed to be saved. So I don't trust everybody that says they're a Christian. I preach to them just like they're lost. You know, people might be out there thinking, how do I know? How do I know if my preacher is saved or not? Maybe you could give some tips as to what would be indications that what they're saying is worthy of learning and sitting under. Well, I think a lot of it has to do with the preacher himself. Not only in what he says, but his conduct. I hear preachers that really slam other preachers and say they can't even fellowship with him on salvation, and that bothers me. The Bible says the proof of salvation is, do you love your brother? He may be different than you. He may be speaking some things that you don't think is biblical, but The proof is in, do you love your brother? You know, the influences of the world seem to be drifting further and further away from the things of God. How is that for you as a pastor? You mentioned that, you know, your church is beginning You're starting to proclaim God's Word, but yet the influence of the world for ministry sometimes brings us into a place of compromise as opposed to being faithful to God's Word. Well, the problem is that too many do compromise. You can't compromise on the Word of God. You can't do it. I mean, you may want to have that fellow in your church. He might be a well supporter of the church and all these things, but when it comes down to, does he believe the Scriptures? Does he believe what God says? If he doesn't, Well, I don't think he's saved. All I can do is preach for him or he'll usually leave. It is scary. We've probably all been in churches where you don't hear scripture even quoted. You know, there are stories told and so on, moral stories, but they don't even use even the name of Jesus at times. So I know what you mean about, you know, the Word of God is so important. And it's interesting how God got Pastor Mellon's attention by holding up the mirror, using the words of another preacher, Charles Spurgeon, when he said, how terrible it must be to offer life to others and not have it yourself. Well, we'll return to our talk with Pastor Mellon in just a moment, so stay with us. You're listening to Connections with Rich and Bobby, and we'd love to connect with you. Just go to our website at connectionswithrichandbobby, that's all one word, and Bobby is b-o-b-b-i dot com. That's connectionswithrichandbobby.com. There, all of our podcasts are posted, along with all of our contact information. Also, you can contact us on social media by friending us on Facebook, post on Instagram, or tweet us on Twitter. Now let's return to our talk with Pastor Arthur Mellon as he shares about his ministry. Let me ask you, do you have a central theme that you feel called to preach? And what burden has God given you on your heart that everything sort of revolves around? Well, the central theme has to be the gospel. That's the one theme that you cannot get away from. And everything will grow out of that, all the different doctrines. As a person is saved, of course, then you educate them. You teach the different doctrines of the Bible. And Paul says, I've declared the whole doctrine to you. I've not shunned to give you just part of it. I've given you all of it. And that's what a preacher needs to do, not to be tied up in just one subject forever. But you pick a subject, again, on the needs of a congregation. Our Bible study was formed out of a church that collapsed, and there were a few members left. But I felt, because I knew these members that were left behind, that they had no place. So I felt my heart since we knew them. that they needed a place to get back together. They've been really under some real hard pressures and a lot of garbage that went on. So I felt the calling that, hey, I need to go back and round up these people that were lost sheep and start from there. So that was the motive for me to come down and do that. So we have a church because of that here in Hayward. You know, you mentioned about presenting the full counsel of God, all of scripture. That's hard for pastors to stay firm to presenting the full counsel of God. People don't want to hear it. There seems to be parts of the scriptures that, okay, I can adhere to this, but these other parts, that's not for me. So to present the full counsel of God, how's that been for you and how you think your congregation has been receiving that? Well, when you have a congregation that's come out of some bad churches, when I say bad, not biblically taught at all, they just seem like sponges, you know. We want it. And that's been a real blessing because one fellow that has been coming says, I never ever knew this stuff. Why didn't my pastor ever show it to me? So that's why I keep doing it. And the Bible tells me, hey, I'm supposed to preach it, whether people like it or not. It says, this is what your congregations need. That's what the preacher's supposed to preach. He goes for those needs. He watches his congregation. He hears his congregation talking. They relate to him, you know, aspects of their life. So you see where you basically need to go. The Holy Spirit leads you there. And then you put out what you need to do and see if it grows. Some people just don't learn. Been in a church for 30 years and you ask them a basic Bible question and it's like, huh? Well, what have you been doing for 30 years? You got your Bible, you come to class every Sunday, and they say amen, and you ask them a basic Bible question. My problem is, what's going to happen to them when a lost person asks them a basic Bible question? The Bible said we should be able to give an answer for the hope that's within us. Now being a pastor is not just a once a week job where you come forth and declare God's Word and then everyone leaves and wait till the next Sunday that comes around. How is that for you to be a minister 24-7? Well, I've been having a small church, just a small group of us. I don't have to deal with all the externals, so I don't have to worry about a lot of stuff that's going on externally. We have a treasurer. He takes care of the money. We have no deacons, so everybody acts as a deacon, basically. And we go from there. So I spend probably, what, 18 hours, 16 hours a day studying. And I enjoy it. I mean, for me to open a book and see what God has to say in his scripture and what some of his commentaries have to say, it's just amazing. But isn't that a joy to see that it's a body working together and it's not just one person doing all the work? Well, I'm handicapped and I have a lot of illness. And they deal with that with me. That's a blessing, where they could say, hey, you know, we need somebody that's in better health. We need somebody that can do this. But they really take care of me. Well, God had you prepared, and he had these people prepared to minister to you as well, it sounds like. Any words of challenge or any words of encouragement that you'd like to share with those that are tuned in? Well, I would say that if you find a good pastor, hang on to it. Find a good church. Find somebody that is preaching the gospel. Don't worry about the programs. The gospel is the program. Everything else is really not worth the time. Find a good preacher, one that sticks by the scriptures, and that'll grow you better than anything else. We get too involved in all this human outside of junk that we add to our churches in place of the gospel. Stick with the gospel. Oh yes, stick with the gospel, as we're told in Romans 1 verse 16, for I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes. Now, if you'd like to find out more about Pastor Arthur Mellon and his ministry at Sovereign Grace Baptist Church in Hayward, California, just go to our website at ConnectionsWithRichAndBobby.com and click on Program Insights. That's Program Insights at ConnectionsWithRichAndBobby.com. Now you've been listening to Connections with Rich and Bobby, and we'd love to have you subscribe to our podcast on this platform or any of the others like iTunes, Google Play, or Spotify. If you've missed one of our podcasts or would like to hear our current one again, or to invite others to listen, just go to our website at ConnectionsWithRichAndBobby.com. Also, all of our contact information is there as well. If you have a smart speaker, you can listen by simply saying, play the podcast Connections with Rich and Bobbi. 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