Who is this guy they call Pastor Ron?
I was born at a very early age… but seriously…
I was born in Coquille, OR on November 14, 1956 to Steve (Charles) and Blondie (Bertha) Stephens. Dad was a road construction worker and mom stayed at home to raise my older sister Peggy and I. They tell me we had the first 50’ trailer in Oregon, but I really don’t remember. About the time I was ready to start pre-school, we settled in Sweet Home, Oregon, where dad worked as a Sergeant and mom as a radio dispatcher for the Sweet Home Police Department. In the early ‘60s we moved briefly to Portland, Oregon and then to Vancouver, Washington, just in time for me to start Kindergarten in Mrs. Meyer’s class at Minnehaha Elementary School.
Everywhere we lived, music was a big part of our life. I don’t remember a time when jam sessions didn’t stretch late into the night. They would always get little Ronnie (that’s me) up and sing before it got too late. When I was seven, my dad taught me to play guitar and for the next 20 years or so, my entire life would revolve around playing the guitar.
During the years I pursued a music career, I played countless nights in countless places with countless bands. I was able to travel the world (literally going around the globe), meet and perform on the bill with many of my musical heroes, and play on hundreds of records. But no matter how good the song, how great the music, how popular the band, or how big the audience, there was always something lacking inside.
While my career in music was on an upward climb, my personal life was on a downward spiral. I married 10 days after my 16th birthday (too young) and had a son five months later (you do the math). Seven years later, I found myself the father of two, divorced and alienated from my family, and all alone ñ except for the drug habit I had acquired while aspiring to the Rock & Roll lifestyle. By 1985 I had achieved a moderate degree of success in the northwest music scene. That spring three songs I worked on were receiving regular radio play. But still, it seemed the closer I got to that brass ring of success, the less satisfying I knew it would be. The drugs and alcohol could only do so much to mask my disappointment and loneliness. I had this undeniable inner thirst for… something. But when music and drugs couldn’t satisfy it, I didn’t know where to turn. And, that’s when God bent down to meet me.
The story you are about to read is true...
I came home from a gig about 3:00 a.m. in May 1985. When it’s your job to party, you get used to being wasted all the time and this particular night was no exception. As was my habit, I turned on the TV to unwind with a few more blasts of this and shots of that. Flipping through the channels, I came across the late night Christian shows (what else was on cable at 3:00 a.m. in 1985?). There was the lady with the mascara running down her face, crying that her ministry was going to go under if I didn’t send some money. On the next channel was the powerful preacher from Louisiana, crying that his ministry was going to go under if I didn’t send some money. Snort. Slurp. “What a hoot! These people are hilarious!” I thought. The next channel had a real character: a white-haired, white bearded man, sitting in a recliner chair, surrounded by books, smoking the biggest cigar I’d ever seen. This I had to watch. He read from Galatians 3, “You foolish Galatians! Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?” The Dr. went on to explain that nobody can know God by “observing the law” (following rules) or by “human effort” (being good). Wow! I’d always thought that was the ONLY way to know God! I wanna hear more. By the end of the show, he had explained that when we give up working to earn God’s approval and come to Him with only our faith (belief, trust, confidence), He extends grace (unmerited favor, unconditional love and acceptance) and we receive, as a gift, the very thing we were trying so hard to earn.
I’d never heard such a thing! But I wasn’t looking for religion. And I didn’t need some kind of crutch to get through life. I was doing just fine all by my… er… wait a minute. I wasn’t doing all that well, was I?
This is crazy. Quick! Turn the channel! And there, as I reached for one more line of cocaine and saw myself in the mirror I held in my hand, the man on this channel looked right into the camera and said, “You know that your life is going nowhere. You’re either gonna die or go to jail if you keep doing what you’re doing.” He was right. And I knew he was right. As I looked at my puffy, pasty face in that cocaine mirror, I knew God was trying to save my life. And even though parts of me were screaming “don’t do it!” I prayed the sinners prayer with that man on the TV. I confessed that I had blown it big time, agreed that I needed to turn my life around, and believed God’s promise that if I’d simply trust Him, He’d come into my life. And you know what? He did.
Not too long after that, I began attending Crossroads Community Church in Vancouver, Washington. The preacher there didn’t yell at me or speak in Christianese. He talked to me gently, lovingly, authoritatively, like someone who’d been where I’d been and discovered what I’d discovered. He explained what the Bible meant, and how it’s meaning applied to me. The people there were genuine, open and honest. They sang to God from the depth of their hearts ñ something I’d never seen or experienced before. And they accepted me ñ bad habits, divorce, the whole package - and loved me simply because I was another trophy of God’s grace.
For that first year I had one foot in God’s Kingdom, but kept one foot firmly planted in the world. I didn’t know how to give up the only life I’d ever known, yet refused to let go of the life God had planted in me. When I told Pastor Bill I was living with my ex-wife he told me straight out, “It’s a sin to live with her that way.” I went home, set up my pup tent in the backyard, and lived there until we were remarried (that’s a whole ‘nother story!). I noticed myself feeling uncomfortable with the language and conduct of the people I worked with. Not that I was judging them, but there was just something inside me that squirmed and wanted to get away when they said “those words” and did “those things.” I also wanted desperately to be free of the habits and addictions that had taken root in my life. And over the next few years, one by one, according to God’s perfect timing, they all fell away (all, that is, except for my predilection for salted peanuts in the shell. But God’s not through with me yet!).
For the next several years I played guitar in the Crossroads worship band, taught Sunday School, attended a home Bible study, led a home Bible study, taught the New Believer’s class, took night classes at a nearby Bible college, sang in the choir, and vacuumed the church (I was the worst janitor ever). If the doors were unlocked, I was there because I wanted to be surrounded by God’s people and saturated with God’s truth every waking moment.
In early 1991, I was invited to teach a home Bible study about 20 miles north of Crossroads. That Bible study eventually became Calvary Chapel La Center and I became Pastor Ron. And the rest, as they say, is history.
“With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26)
MINISTRY EXPERIENCE July 2003 - Present, Senior Pastor, Toutle Christian Fellowship Toutle, WA Responsible for all facets of church operations, including: • Bible Teaching • Biblical Counseling • Business Management/Administration • Establishing and communicating overall ministry vision • Providing leadership and preparing others for leadership June 2000 - May 2004, Assisting Pastor, Crossroads Community Church Vancouver, WA • Men's Ministry Pastor • Calvary Chapel Bible College Instructor • Sound Ministry Pastor • Crossroads Productions Recording Studio Manager June 1999 ñ May 2000, Associate Pastor, Calvary Chapel of Portland Portland, OR • Music & Sound Ministries Pastor -Plan and conduct worship services, arrange music, organize and lead worship team -Design, build and operate ProTools digital recording system -Design & maintain sound system (PA), train and schedule operators • Home Group Ministry Pastor -Organize home groups; develop curriculum, train leaders, etc. • Online School of Ministry Pastor -Develop curriculum, oversee classes and student projects February 1998 - May 1999, Senior Pastor, Calvary Chapel Christian Fellowship Portland, OR • Duties & responsibilities as described above. February 1991 - March 1997, Senior Pastor, Calvary Chapel LaCenter, LaCenter, WA • Duties & responsibilities as described above. August 1985 to January 1991, Committed Believer, Crossroads Community Church, Vancouver, WA • Sunday School Teacher • Home Group Leader • New Believer’s Class Teacher • Worship Leader • Janitor • Here I am, send me MINISTRY-RELATED EDUCATION • College level Bible courses at Liberty University and Multnomah Bible College • Home-study Bible courses, retreats, workshops, seminars, conferences, Bible-centered adult education programs • Greatest spiritual education: the past 20+ years of studying, applying, and teaching the Bible. LIFE INTERESTS
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