BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

"I let my hair grow long and became unkempt. Although I disrespected my dad, I still loved him. He was a musician, so I became one as well. I started playing clarinet in fifth grade and switched to the saxophone the following year. "I felt safe in the band. I also felt safe at church. Everyone there was nice to me. Our church preached a lot of fire and brimstone, and I was afraid of going to hell. That's why, during an altar call, I went forward and shook the preacher's hand. Then I filled out a membership card. I believed that made me a Christian, but I never had a change of heart. "I still felt empty and bitter. But I led music during our youth revivals. In high school, I played first-chair saxophone. During youth group one night, the kids talked about what to do after graduation. I had no idea. I thought about it. I was good at music, and the people at church were nice to me. I figured I'd go into church music." Following high school, Terry majored in music and earned an associate degree. Afterward, he accepted jobs as the musical director for di˜erent churches. Then, he enrolled in Oklahoma Baptist University. All through those years, Terry lived a double life. On Sundays and Wednesdays, he led choir. The rest of the time, he acted out of his hurt and bitterness. A New Life In 1982, Terry moved to Nashville. He visited Belmont Church because he knew Amy Grant attended there. Though he didn't meet her, he met someone greater; he met Jesus. Jesus was present in the ushers who greeted him, Terry recalls. He was present in worship, which made him weep. He was present in the Word of God, which brought conviction. For the first time in his life, Terry Cox surrendered his heart and life to Jesus. He was desperate for God. He wanted everything God had to o˜er. Later, Terry attended Belmont College, which prepared students to work in the music industry. While there, he became a booking agent for artists. "In 1986, I decided to go into missions," Terry remembers. "My first step was to go through discipleship training school, which was part of Youth With A Mission (YWAM). I contacted my home church back in Gri¡n and told the pastor my plan. He told me that they wanted to ordain me and send me as a licensed minister." After becoming ordained, Terry went to Kona, Hawaii, for training. "The motto of YWAM is: 'To Know God and Make Him Known.' The first six months, we learned that for ourselves." Seeing the Miraculous "One of our leaders was leaving for China, and had asked that we pray for him," said Terry. "We kept notebooks filled with things God showed us. One day we were praying in the spirit for him. Later we learned that at the exact time we prayed, he started praying in tongues. When he did, people crowded to hear—because he was preaching the gospel in Chinese! "The Lord spoke to me through Isaiah 55:11, which says, 'So will My word be which goes out of My mouth; it will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding¦ in the purpose¦ for which I sent it' (New American Standard Bible). From that day, I knew I was supposed to preach God's Word. "From Hawaii, we went to the Philippines, where we saw many miraculous answers to prayer. For instance, we had scheduled a special time for the people, God gave us the date, and we used our funds to get food. The night before the event, it rained like a monsoon. It was still raining the next morning. So we went outside, looked up to the sky, and began to speak to the rain. One of our team members said, 'I curse that rain in the Name of Jesus! I tell you to silence yourself now! Stop and go back!' The clouds dried up and we had a marvelous outreach. "I loved living on the edge and seeing God move in miraculous ways," says Terry. "I knew this was what I wanted to do with my life." Toward the end of his training program, Terry's leader met with him. "Terry, I'm getting ready to move to the Los Angeles YWAM base. I really believe I'm supposed to bring you on sta˜ there. Are you interested?" In January 1987, Terry moved to Los Angeles. There, he was put in charge of a program called Night of Missions. He took YWAM teams from around the world to Bible schools, universities and churches. He also led outreach teams to the streets of Hollywood, where they ministered to young people—some who couldn't make it in movies and others who got caught up in prostitution. 1 4 : B V O V SEPT READ THROUGH THE BIBLE Old Testament New Testament Sun 1 Ps. 104; Prov. 21:16-31 Mon 2 Job 16-18 Phil. 2 Tue 3 Job 19-20 Phil. 3 Wed 4 Job 21-22 Phil. 4 Thu 5 Job 23-26 Col. 1 Fri 6 Job 27:1-29:6 Col. 2 Sat 7 Job 29:7-31:15 Sun 8 Ps. 105; Prov. 22:1-16 Mon 9 Job 31:16-33:18 Col. 3 Tue 10 Job 33:19-35:16 Col. 4 Wed 11 Job 36:1-38:11 1 Thess. 1 Thu 12 Job 38:12-39:30 1 Thess. 2 Fri 13 Job 40-42 1 Thess. 3 Sat 14 Eccl. 1-3 Sun 15 Ps. 106; Prov. 22:17-29 Mon 16 Eccl. 4:1-7:12 1 Thess. 4 Tue 17 Eccl. 7:13-10:7 1 Thess. 5 Wed 18 Eccl. 10:8- Songs 2:7 2 Thess. 1 Thu 19 Songs 2:8-6:10 2 Thess. 2 Fri 20 Songs 6:11-Isa. 1:31 2 Thess. 3 Sat 21 Isa. 2:1-5:7 Sun 22 Ps. 107; Prov. 23:1-28 Mon 23 Isa. 5:8-7:25 1 Tim. 1 Tue 24 Isa. 8:1-10:19 1 Tim. 2 Wed 25 Isa. 10:20-13:22 1 Tim. 3 Thu 26 Isa. 14-17 1 Tim. 4 Fri 27 Isa. 18:1-22:14 1 Tim. 5 Sat 28 Isa. 22:15-25:12 Sun 29 Ps. 108-109; Prov. 23:29-24:22 Mon 30 Isa. 26-28 1 Tim. 6

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