He was born to a poor family in Turkey, Texas, in 1934, on a hard piece of ground. They named him John William.
The ground got harder when, a year later, his father died prematurely. His mother wanted the best for her son, but she was unable to provide.
So, she sent him off to live with her sister and her sister’s husband ,who had 10 kids of their own. Little John William was not naturally born to this family, but they loved him as if he was.
He did well enough in his schoolwork, but he thrived in sports, especially football. At the end of his senior year, he received a scholarship to play running back at Texas Christian University.
At TCU, he made the freshman team and had a good year running the football. The path was open for him to continue his college football career with the hope of making the pros. Then something changed.
On an evening in the dorm, John felt a nudge from God. It came out of nowhere. He felt God was calling him to be a singer, to lead people in worshipping God in song.
John changes direction
John William finished his freshman year at TCU. He then enrolled at North Texas State University in musical arts. North Texas had an award-winning choir and a nationally known choir director.
Did I tell you John never had sung before? He never sang in church. He never sang in high school, never sang for the Glee Club, never sang a solo, unless you count the times he burst out a song in the shower when no one was around.
The first week of that semester, he tried out for the university choir. The much-touted choir director asked John William to meet with him after the audition. John William felt pretty good about his chances.
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It was then the director asked, “John, what made you want to try out for our choir?”
John answered, “God has called me to be a singer.”.
The director didn’t want to hurt his feelings, but also wanted to be honest: “John, in all my years of holding these auditions, son, you were by far the worst. I want to encourage you to try to do something different.”
John was determined: “No, sir. God called me to be a singer. Will you please give me a chance? I will be a good student. I will work hard. I will do what you say. I will practice constantly. Please give me a chance.”
The director felt he was wasting his time, but he gave him a shot. He assigned John to the third-string choir as a baritone. John was happy about the chance.
John gets another chance
On the first day of practice for the third-string choir, the director for that group gave each vocal group their parts. When he pulled them together to sing an arrangement, John sang with them with a big smile on his face.
After the rehearsal, this director asked John to stay after class, which he did.
The director asked John: “I asked you to sing with the baritones, but you only sang the melody. Why?”
John answered, “That’s all I know, sir.”
The director told John: “Look, I want to take a chance with you. Take these three songs and learn to sing the melody for these. Next week, I am going to have you try to sing the melody while the rest do their parts. Let’s see what happens.”
John was on his last chance to be a singer, to follow what he thought God had called him to do. The next week, John was pulled in front of the third-string choir. All would sing their parts. John William would sing the lead.
Do you know what happened next? John William, the little boy from Turkey, knocked it out of the park. The following week, he was singing lead for the first-string choir. He was a big hit.
John went far
The next thing you know, he was leading Christian crusades across America for men like James Robison, Bailey Smith, Mike Huckabee and more. He was singing on television weekly.
God used John William McKay in a mighty way. Mr. McKay, my best friend’s dad, went to be with the Lord recently, at age 90. He leaves behind five children, 16 grandchildren, 31 great-grandchildren, and a legacy of love and obedience.
God calls the most unlikely to do his work, because he does not look at the outside, but on the inside. He can use a turkey to do his work or a boy from a small community called Turkey, Texas. He can use you, too. Just listen and obey.
Johnny Teague is the senior pastor of Church at the Cross in West Houston and the author of several books, including The Lost Diary of Mary Magdalene. The views expressed in this opinion article are those of the author.
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