By Pastor Pete
Kinney
My testimony of my
Christian journey and how and why I was led to Summit Bible College;
I came to the Lord and was redeemed in April of 1991 a little more than
21 years ago. This was after praying to God to take my mother who had been sick
for a long time. I owe it all to my dear mother and God’s amazing grace. She had been in a convalescence home for 3 ½
years. She had a series of strokes and
was paralyzed on the left side of her body.
Toward the end of her life on earth, she was diagnosed with lung
cancer. She was given 3-6 months to
live.
I went to visit her in the hospital.
When I arrived she was gasping for air.
I ran and grabbed an oxygen bottle and gave her the oxygen. She began to breath normally again and looked
up at me with those beautiful blue eyes and said “thank you, Pete”.
I made my 90 mile drive home that night in tears and emotional pain
with the thought of her living another few months in that condition. I prayed to God like never before asking God
“Please don’t let her suffer any longer”. That was the prayer that I kept
saying over and over.
She died the next morning in my brother’s arms while looking up at the ceiling
from her bed. With her last breath she
said “it’s beautiful”.
After hearing the news from my brother I fell to my knees and accepted
Jesus as my Lord and Savior. My hardened heart was finally softened. I knew
that God was the real deal and that He had listened to my prayers. That is when
I began my spiritual journey with the Lord.
The hardened ground had been broken up, plowed, watered, and all those
dead seeds that had been sown began to grow. At first I started sporadically
attending church making sure that I at least attended on Easter and at
Christmas.
Backing up a bit, I had been involved in motor racing most of my adult
life beginning with motocross and desert racing starting back in the late 60’s.
Holding an AMA expert plate I even dabbled in some of the SCORE series
professional off-road races finishing the Baja 1000 three times in the late
70’s and early 80’s. From there it was doing 10k’s, triathlon’s, and competing
in racquetball tournaments.
But I missed the speed and thrill of off-road racing where we were
racing at speeds in excess of 110 mph across the desert.
In the mid-90’s a friend took me to an NHRA drag race and I was hooked.
I saw that I could go fast surrounded by a protective steel roll cage in a car
that I could afford to build that I could drive at speeds in excess of 160 mph
in the ¼ mile. That is where I met one of my spiritual mentors Jim Jack from
Racers For Christ Ministries. Every time I went to the races I received prayer
from either Jim or another chaplain before making each pass down the drag
strip. On Sunday mornings at the track I began attending chapel services held
by RFC. I was hooked on Jesus and I looked forward to hearing the message at
every race. I also began to attend church locally on a more regular basis.
Serving in many capacities within the local churches I’ve attended I
have served in areas from the parking lot ministry, to building stages, painting,
greeting, serving food, and sweeping.
But I wanted to do more outside of the church too.
Then, much to my surprise, Director of Field Ministries; Jim Jack asked
me to become a chaplain for RFC. At the time I just didn’t think I was worthy enough.
Of course, now I realize that none of us are. We are only made worthy by Him
and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, but at the time I wasn’t mature enough
to comprehend this truth.
After a dear friend died unexpectedly, I began to study the Bible 1-2
hours a day, sometimes all day. I became hungry for the Word. I couldn’t get
enough. I read it cover to cover. In 2008 I attended a week long chaplain
school on my time and at my expense. God was working on me. He was preparing me
and equipping me for His good purpose. Why? Because now I had a willing heart
to serve and He knew it. Later on that year I applied and was accepted as a
chaplain to RFC.
I’ll never forget the looks on my fellow racers faces when they saw
their friend and fellow racer walking the staging lanes in my RFC uniform at
the annual Winternationals at Pomona held in January of 2009. “Hey Pete,
where’s your car?” I told them I was there for them and explained that you
can’t serve two masters. It was a shock
to most of them because they couldn’t believe I would give up what I loved and what
I was good at to serve the Lord.
It was awesome to be accepted by my fellow competitors at the end of
that year, not as a racer, but as a chaplain and servant of Jesus Christ.
I had seen the good, the bad, and the ugly that year at the races. I
had to minister to many competitors and fans who had witnessed some horrific
crashes and deaths at the track. I had been called to the hospital on a few
occasions when members of our racing family were injured or became sick. I also
was there for the families and friends within our racing community to do funerals
and memorial services for those that have gone on to be with the Lord. I prayed
with my fellow racers and held chapel services on Sunday mornings. They called
me “Preach”; “Preacher Man”; which was all good. Now, they call me Pastor Pete,
which is really good.
God continued to equip and prepare me for things to come; things that I
had no idea about. I was Spirit led to TIP (Trauma Intervention Program). As a TIP volunteer, I had been trained to
provide emotional comfort and support to individuals that have been injured in
some sort of tragedy and also to those that may have been a witness and to the
families that arrived on scene or came to the hospital. Many times the injured died from the accident
and I shifted all of my attention to the grieving family.
I assisted police officers with death notifications. I provided grief
counseling and literature. I served in a liaison role between the victim’s
family and the emergency room personnel. I provided information and referrals
to appropriate agencies for ongoing support. Also I served as a temporary
protector of those victims that were in vulnerable situations by inquisitive
neighbors and/or the press. Dispatched
by local Police and Fire agencies, I was called out whenever there was a
natural or unexpected death of a loved one, to comfort victims of crime,
including rape, assault, robbery, or burglary; victims of domestic violence;
victims of flood and fire; disoriented or lonely elderly people; persons
involved in vehicle accidents, persons who are distraught and were seeking
immediate support, survivors of suicide, employees of workplace tragedies. I received extensive training in these areas
and have over 500 hours of practical experience.
Between TIP and RFC I had over 1000 volunteer hours that year. For every
hour of service I received more back in blessings.
So here I was, a servant of the Lord. I was praying, ministering, and
preaching. But God said I want you to do more and you will need to be further
equipped. I had heard about Summit Bible College through RFC. RFC and Summit
Bible College’s President and Founder, Dr. Victor had put together a program
for ordination of RFC chaplains. The requirement for ordination was 14 college
classes needed to be completed. This would better equip me to serve God. As an
ordained minister, I could marry people too.
God put it on my heart to do this but of course I had to argue a little
bit with the Lord in the process. I said, “Lord, I haven’t picked up a textbook
in over forty years.” Heck, I hadn’t read a book other than the Bible either.
But God clearly told me to do it, so I did a lot of praying asking for God’s
help along the way. So, I picked up the phone and began my relationship with
Jay Mauser who was my counselor. I enrolled and started taking my classes.
I finished my required 14 classes in less than a year and I was
ordained by Christian Motorsports International in January of 2011 in a ceremony
held at our annual RFC chaplain conference in Kansas City, MO. Later in the
year, one month before my 65th birthday, I completed my 20 required
classes and received my BA in Theology from Summit Bible College and graduated
with my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ at the June graduation ceremony
in Bakersfield, CA. I was also ordained by Summit Bible College Christian
Fellowship.
So, on an accelerated program, in a 1 ½ years, at age 64, I completed
all of my classes, remained on the President’s Honor Role, maintained a 4.01
GPA, and graduated Summa Cum Laude. I guess my doubts were put to rest.
Who creates doubt? Satan does; certainly not God. I give the Lord all
the praise and glory for being with me every step of the way and protecting me
from the evil one. It was wisdom from above that encouraged me to do this and
it was the Holy Spirit that gave me discernment and understanding so that I
could comprehend that which I was reading and being taught.
It was also the great staff; Jay, Caitlin, Rebekah, Nicole, and of
course Dr. Victor that always took the time to patiently explain, advise, and
help me along the way. It was the
professors that made each one of my classes interesting, fun, hard, challenging,
and a wonderful learning experience. I have learned practical things in each
one of my classes that I am now using and applying each and every day as I
serve the Lord. It wasn’t easy. In fact, it was hard, but it was worth it.
So what does a 66 year old man do with a college degree in Theology you
might ask?
Well, now I can marry ‘em not just bury ‘em.
I serve as a pastor in a local church in my community.
I am still a chaplain with Racers For Christ only now I am ordained as
a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
In February of this year, God put before me an opportunity to be a
chaplain with Hospice Compassus of Bullhead City, AZ. This is a national
company with offices all over Arizona and other states with corporate headquarters
in Kentucky. This was indeed an opportunity to come out of retirement and
further serve the Lord.
I was not even looking for this job but God had prepared and equipped
me for this very position. The requirements were; chaplaincy experience and a
degree in Divinity or Theology. How did God know? I wonder! Not really. You
see; “all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are
the called according to His purpose”, Romans 8:28
Since coming on board as their chaplain God has opened many doors for me
to lead the lost and their families to the Lord before they died giving them
hope instead of despair, faith instead of doubt, peace instead of anxiety, and
life eternal instead of eternal damnation. Patients that were afraid now know
that they have nothing to fear for as Christ did, we will also defeat death. There
is no sting. “To be absent from the body is to be with the Lord”, 2 Cor 5:8
What a blessing this has been. All of my ministry experience has come
from my volunteer time, but now I receive a pay check and full benefits for
something I love doing. When I go to work each day, I don’t consider it work.
What an honor it is to be with these people and their families bringing the gospel
message to them. What an honor and humbling experience it is to serve such a
loving and merciful God. I have so many stories to tell of how God has brought
me to people right before they died. Just like the criminal on the cross next
to Jesus He continues to give people one last chance to receive the Lord and be
redeemed.
You see, God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary deeds. That insures that the Glory will belong to
Him.
Romans 11:29 (NKJV) For
the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
He’s calling each one of you out; to get into
the game, to use your God given gifts for His glory. He’s saying get out of
your comfort zone and get into His.
One day we will all stand before Jesus in judgment as He separates the
goats from the sheep as described in…..
Matthew 25:33-36 (NKJV) And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the
goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His
right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for
you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and
you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you
took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick
and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’
You do not want to be a goat! For He will say; depart I never knew you!
Remember, whenever we do something good for someone else, we are doing
it for Jesus too!
Well, there you have it! It’s never too late! I am ready to keep going
until the Lord calls me home. As a matter of fact, Jay and I are now discussing
my next adventure in my Christian walk; a Masters Degree in Christian
Counseling from Summit Bible College.
I miss my studies, my professors, and all those who helped me at the
college.
