My Life Story: Out of the Depths I Cried: The Courage and Faith to Rise to Greatness

By H. Bill Coker

My life is defined by many expressions and experiences designed to facilitate a trajectory of hopeful destiny. This process entails continuance in faithful endurance, anchored to prayer and confidence in the promises of God. One is called to recognize a purpose-filled journey through perseverance of intentional prayers that can change things altogether, with profound expectation of that promise. This posture leads to what is hopeful, healing, and sustaining.

Abandoning this discipline for a path of least resistance does not complement the expectations of a destined promise. Staying the course conditions the faithful servant to fulfill God's best at every station in the journey. No shortcuts; endurance in the unfamiliar positions us to make a choice of retreating or taking a risk at trusting God with unfeigned faith.

The purpose of this book is threefold. First, it highlights testimonies of God's grace that have proven sufficient for those who will face the tough seasons in life. Second, it encourages and empowers those who are dealing with their personal struggles. Finally, it enumerates some tried and proven strategies that will serve as a guide to facilitate focus as one is discerning his/her process that will consequently lead to a hopeful destiny.

This book will inspire confidence and faith in others to fulfill their purposes in life. The intentional reader will quickly realize that employing a life of prayer and holding on to God's promises, and the support of trusted agents will make the difference in all things. When one cries from the depths of his/her heart, God will always hear, and He will respond from heaven at His appointed time. God hears prayers of faith, and He always answers. The prophet Jeremiah records this promise this way, "Call on Me, and I will answer and show you great and mighty things that you know not of" (Jeremiah 33:3 NKJV).

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Sep 28, 2022
• ISBN: 9798886163841

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My Life Story

Out of the Depths I Cried: The Courage and Faith to Rise to Greatness

H. Bill Coker

ISBN 979-8-88616-383-4 (paperback)

ISBN 979-8-88685-838-9 (hardcover)

ISBN 979-8-88616-384-1 (digital)

Copyright © 2022 by H. Bill Coker

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Dedication

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Childhood Memories

A Quest to Finding Myself

Turbulent Seasons and a Narrow Escape

Dark Days

The Influence of Grandma Flo's Prayers

Turning Points and Turning Out

God Sent Me an Angel

Love-Marriage-Family

A Journey with Bunny

Shepherding the Uniformed Family

Retired and Refired

Making Shepherds and Feeding Sheep

Discerning the Right Way

Theological Reflections

About the Author

Psalm 130 (NKJV)

Out of the depths I have cried to You, O Lord;

Lord, hear my voice!

Let Your ears be attentive

To the voice of my supplications.

If You, Lord, should [a]mark iniquities,

O Lord, who could stand?

But there is forgiveness with You,

That You may be feared.

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,

And in His word I do hope.

My soul waits for the Lord

More than those who watch for the morning—

Yes, more than those who watch for the morning.

O Israel, hope in the Lord;

For with the Lord there is mercy,

And with Him is abundant redemption.

And He shall redeem Israel

From all his iniquities.

Dedication

This book is lovingly dedicated to my father of blessed memory, Herbert Eliezer Billy Coker and my mother, Florence Rebecca Kashope Coker (nee Ademu-John), who were instrumental in nurturing me upon the foundations of faith and teaching me the necessary truths of life.

To my maternal grandmother of blessed memory, Florence Adeshola Ademu-John (nee Coker), whose life of prayer and commitment to the study of the Word of God influenced my path to serving as a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am grateful for our walks and prayers in the garden, trusting me with the errands to the bank and the post office to ensure that her offerings made it to the late chancellor Oral Roberts during the building of the Prayer Tower at the center of the Oral Roberts University (ORU) campus. The seeds she sowed turned out a great harvest and an opportunity for me to be able to attend and train at ORU to become a chaplain and minister to our military families as well as our civilian worshipping communities.

I dedicate this book also to my siblings who stood the test of times when our father suddenly answered his heavenly call to be with the Lord over decades ago. The seasons we endured were tough, but by God's grace, we were able to stand, and we are still standing.

I dedicate this book to my darling wife, Donna, who gave me acceptance and unconditional love at a season in my life when I was tempted to quit and go back to Freetown. Her life of studying the Word of God and prayer was so impressive that it influenced me to grow in a deeper relationship with the Lord.

I dedicate this book to the late Reverend Don Coleman, my dad away from home. Your unconditional acceptance, wisdom, and patience gave me a moment to refresh and reset my trajectory. Thank you for believing in me. Thank you for saying yes when I asked you for your daughter's hand in marriage.

To Reverend Ann Coleman, my mom away from home. Thank you for accepting me and for giving me hospitality at 171 Lexington Avenue in Dayton, Ohio. Thanks for our conversations and your wise counsel. Thanks for being my prayer partner. Thank you for raising a wonderful daughter, a mighty woman of God. I am grateful!

To my children, Billy, Jonathan, Stefanie, and Stephen; my daughters-in-love, Danielle and Jaymee; and our four wonderful granddaughters, I am so proud of you. Thanks for embracing and walking in the way of the Lord. You are shining stars, and for this, I am grateful.

Finally, I dedicate this book to all my professors and mentors at Oral Roberts University. Thanks for your investments. You made me an intentional minister and for this I am grateful.

Preface

Several landmarks serve as points of reflection as I navigate my way from my point of origin, through treacherous terrains in life and processes that have conditioned me to face the tasks head-on. Each moment serves as a launching pad for the next levels that were intentionally designed for my good.

A few years ago, I was attending the new students' orientation at Wright State University in the city of Dayton, Ohio. The facilitator asked each student to share some significant points about their lives. Each foreign student shared about their struggles and disappointments, hopes and dreams, missed opportunities, and broken promises, but somehow, they were able to come to the great United States of America to experience the opportunities that awaits them.

It was now my turn to share my story. I realized that I, too, had a similar story as my friends. It was at that point that I thought writing might just be the way to share the fullness of my story. So this book has been in the making ever since I came to America. Other chapters have now developed because of my experiences in the United States of America.

Through the various seasons of my life, I find myself in circles where I am asked to share my story. When I preach sermons, I share highlights of my story as an illustration to drive home the theme of the sermon. On one occasion I spoke about knowing the purpose for which God has called you, praying fervently and faithfully, persevering in the face of all opposition, patience as an experience, praising God in all things, embracing the promise, and finding rest in the peace of God! In fact, these points have become my process in meeting every challenge that I face in life.

As I stand in the back of the sanctuary meeting and greeting the congregants, most of them ask if I had considered writing a book about my life. These moments are almost a confirmation for writing my story. I am inspired by others who have been able to tell their stories. They have written them on pages so that others get to read about their processes as they navigate their journeys.

I am convinced that everyone carries within them the fullness of their story. These stories always begin with one's place of origin which consequently leads to the process of becoming what they are and eventually lands them on the promise—the very expression they'd hoped for. How they relay it to their audience is the task at hand. Dealing with hopelessness and trauma at every turn makes it difficult to tell the story without missing some key points that connect the dots.

Personal struggles and disappointments, a close call to death, and experiencing God's deliverance are landmarks of my story. From the tough places of my life, I cried out unto the Lord. He heard my cries and delivered me and reset my trajectory to the place of hope and healing.

It is about my formative years, hopes and dreams, seasons of rejections, rediscoveries, and acceptance. It is also about the joys and celebrations in life. One thing is certain in all these things; I discovered very quickly that through these challenges, God, who called me according to His eternal purpose was developing me to become stronger and wiser for the task at hand.

It has been said that God never gives His toughest battles to His strongest soldiers; rather, He will use the toughest battles to develop one in strength and wisdom so that they are able to deal with life's callings. My confidence is in knowing that He will never let me weather these storms alone. He is always present in partnership and affords sufficient grace to face every storm. A wise man once said to me that God will never call you to undertake a challenge, if He is not able to see you through the challenge.

Through my life experiences, I quickly realized that a man is made better and stronger after he has weathered the strong storms, rode the surfs of the swelling seas, and has been tried in the fires of life. This crucible brings out of a man his best self. The key is to endure those moments that are set to break and make him—those moments that will condition him until he finds the confidence to rise and face the world with unfeigned courage and boldness.

The mark of an individual who has been tried in the fire is a willingness to mentor those who are striving to discover who they are. When one commits the self to investing in others, that individual is making them better, and the joy of that one is seeing an investment come to fruition in the lives of the beneficiaries.

The purpose of this book is threefold. First, it is to share my testimony of God's grace that has proven sufficient for me in some of the toughest seasons in my life. Second, it is to encourage and empower those who are dealing with their personal struggles in life. Finally, it is to share my tried and proven strategies that have served as my guide, which has brought me to where I am today. The journey continues, and I believe that my best days have just begun.

I am not advocating that my process is the end of it all. Each of us are dealt a hand in life. It is how well we play that hand that determines our successes in life. There are ebbs and flows, peaks and valleys, and of course, bends along the way. A dear friend said to me that a bend in the road is not the end of the road. It is a matter of how you navigate your way into the turn that determines how you get to your destiny.

I encourage you to write your story. You will quickly come to realize that the good hand of the Lord has always been upon you, guiding, sustaining, and delivering you all along. Do not underestimate who you are. Do not diminish the value of your story. Your story is your story. Write your story and inspire others to rise to greatness. You might just have in you a best seller.

As for me, I can confidently say that because the Lord is on my side, I am able to stand as a living testimony to declare that He has done great things in my life, and He is still working in me and through me to bring out in me my best self for His glory and for revealing of His greatness in me. If it had not been for the Lord who was on my side…! My journey continues until…!

Acknowledgments

I give thanks to the only wise God who has called me according to His purpose and has set my trajectory to greatness and a hopeful end. If it had not been for the Lord who was on my side…

A man can never fulfill his God-given purpose unless he has the unwavering support of a God-fearing, supportive, and praying wife. My gratitude and heartfelt appreciation are to my darling wife, Donna, who created the enabling environment for me to accomplish this work. Thanks for who you are, and thanks for all that you do. Agape!

I also acknowledge my indebtedness to my brother, Professor G. Adeyemi Coker, for his painstaking effort in reading the first draft of the manuscript and offering keen advice that has turned into a story that brings the pages to life. I am grateful.

Finally, I would like to thank my family and friends, especially Stacie Mary Sanford, whose growing anticipation has inspired me to get the work done. Done! Done! Done!

Introduction

This is the story of my journey from Freetown, Sierra Leone, West Africa to the United States of America. I write to share a brief historical and cultural background to give some appreciation of my upbringing. Those who had opportunities to travel and experience this great land called America, the land of hope and opportunities, were vast in their views and comparison between Sierra Leone and the United States of America. In fact, those who would profoundly share their foundations of faith would refer