JR Staton

Biography

The Start

I was born October 31, 1952 in Pittsburg, Texas which is the county seat of Camp County in East Texas.  Pittsburg is considered by locals as being the "Hot Link Capital" of Texas and has garnered national attention by being home to Pilgrim's Pride, a major chicken processor.  My dad, Bill Staton, was a carpenter and my mom, Sue Staton, was the keeper of the house.  I also have a sister, Sarah, who was born over 18 years after me.

Quick Personal Info

I met Lisa on a blind date arranged by mutual friends.  We continued dating while in college but later broke up.   This occurred during a period of time in my life where I began trying to believe God.  I had no revelation of the Gospel but God ministered to me nonetheless.  A couple of my closer friends did what they could to encourage me but they had no revelation of the Gospel either.

At a later date a quiet voice told me to call Lisa.  I was amazed at what I heard and thought it was my own thinking getting in the way.  The voice spoke to me at least once, maybe two more times, to call Lisa.  Finally, I did.  The conversation lasted maybe two minutes and ended somewhat indifferently.  I thought, okay, that is over and felt glad that I had called her. 

Some weeks later, this same voice told me to call her again.  Again I was hesitant.  Finally, I called her.  The conversation lasted a little longer and seemed more friendly.  A couple of weeks passed and, you guessed it, the voice said to call her again.  I did.  After that we began dating again and the rest is history.  I did not know until later that the still, small voice was the voice of the Lord.

Lisa and I have two children, Travis and Amy.  Now on with the rest of the story.

On The Move

After I was born we moved from Pittsburg to Louisiana, then to Tyler, Texas and back to Pittsburg according to my dad's jobs.  We moved from Pittsburg to Garland, Texas, which is a suburb of Dallas, Texas in 1955.  While I literally grew up in Garland, I always liked to return to Pittsburg to visit with family members, but especially because they lived in the country.  It was as if there were no boundaries and there was always something fun to do!

Education

I attended a private school for the first grade because I was not six years old at the time Garland started its school year. 

For grades 2-12 I attended Garland schools.  I was a good student and usually made A's and B's.  It was probably during high school that I began to wonder why we had to study certain things.  I was a pretty good athlete in various sports but really enjoyed playing baseball. 

I graduated from Garland High School in May 1970 and then attended Tyler Jr. College for the next two years.  I received an Associate degree from there and then went to the University of Texas at Arlington.  It was a miserable year and I was glad to transfer to the University of Texas at Austin.  While Tyler JC had been a very enjoyable two years, UT-Arlington was the pits. 

I graduated from UT-Austin in May 1976 with a double major in Accounting and Business Administration.  Without going into detail here, I was told heading into my final semester that if I took two accounting courses, I would graduate with the double major.  I thought, what the heck, why not.  It seemed right so I did it.   After all, I was not going to pursue accounting as my career, or so I thought.

God Had a Job for Me

After graduating from UT, I took a driving vacation with a friend of mine that took us through much of the southern states, north to New York/New Jersey, over to Missouri and, finally, back to Texas.  I then decided not to interview with companies but rather to go to work at my old construction job.  My dad had worked for Jonrock Construction Company for years and I was able to work there during the summers and extended holiday vacations during school.  I enjoyed the work and know that God provided the job for me. 

I worked there until September and began the interviewing game.  I was returning from an interview I had in Ft. Worth, Texas when a voice told me to drop off my resume at a particular company.  This company was looking for a recent college graduate, accounting degree, no experience necessary.  In addition, it was just about a mile from our house.  It seemed too good to be true and besides, it was an accounting job.  I did not want to do what this voice was telling me to do. 

The voice told me to drop off my resume again.  What was unusual about all this was that I was driving down the road hearing a voice telling me to drop off my resume and I was not bothered by it.  It was a normal conversation except I could not see the other person.  I stopped at the company and dropped off my resume.  I received a call shortly from the company's personnel manager asking for an interview.  We met and I later left the meeting thinking this was all pretty cool.  It was about to get really interesting.

The Dream

I received a call for a second interview.  The night before the interview I had a dream.  Some may say it was really a vision but I will say it was a dream.  In the dream, I was in an office seated in a chair along the north wall.  A gray-haired man wearing glasses was seated behind a desk in front of a window in the east wall.  A dark-haired man was seated to my right.  I was given an opportunity to speak and I said, "The only thing I can tell you is that I will do the best that I can do."  That concluded the dream.

It Happened

I awoke, got dressed and went to the interview.  I met with two men - one had gray hair, wore glasses and was sitting at a desk in front of a window in the east wall and the other man had black hair and wound up sitting to my right.  I was sitting in a chair along the north wall.  I thought this was all very interesting.   At the conclusion of the interview I was either asked a question or given the opportunity to speak.  Is there any doubt as to what I said?  "The only thing I can tell you is that I will do the best that I can do."  I started as an entry-level accountant at Continental-Emsco Company, an oil field equipment manufacturer, in November 1976.

On The Job

I will not go into detail about my time at C-E except to say that God certainly gave me the job and blessed me while I was there.  As I stated above I started as an entry-level accountant which meant that I knew next to nothing about how the company functioned from an accounting point of view.   My boss told me to do two things at the outset which I found initially strange - study the company chart of accounts and practice on the 10-key calculator before giving me a specific assignment.  He told me these two things would benefit me greatly and he was right.  You have to know where to charge things and how much to charge.  I soon became very proficient in both areas and thus became a number cruncher ( a.k.a. bean counter ).

I worked in Accounting for a couple of years, then was transferred to Industrial Engineering for a year or so to monitor a major project for the company.   After that it was back to Accounting to become supervisor.  When I left the company in May 1985, I was the Division Accounting Manager.  I left because God had another job for me.

Marmon, Not Mormon

I joined Marmon Motor Company in June 1985 as Controller.  Marmon was a manufacturer of heavy duty diesel trucks and also had government contract work.  My boss at Marmon was VP of Finance and a graduate of Texas A&M which made him an Aggie.  I mention this only because others in the company wondered why he hired a UT graduate while he was literally a die-hard Aggie.  It was later told to me that if he saw an object the color of burnt orange it was thrown away.  I laughed at that but later saw him in action.  I know God gave me the job because my boss and I got along well, I made more money, had less responsibility and had better hours than I had while at Continental-Emsco.  Due to a company reorganization I was released from Marmon in June or July 1987.  I was not bothered because I knew this was part of God's plan for my life.

A True Foundation

I want to mention that as a child I was observant of things that went on around me.  I had thoughts that I kept to myself.  I wondered why certain things happened and why things happened to some people and not to others.  I believed as a young child that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, that he died and was buried and was in Heaven with God.  My parents taught me those things.  We did not attend church, not even for Easter.  For years I never felt as if I was missing anything.  I prayed to God and felt okay about  my relationship with Him.   There came a time as a teenager I asked my mom about going to church.  She said that if I wanted to go she would take me.  I asked which church and she said the Baptist church.  I asked why the Baptist church and she said because we were Baptists.

I attended the First Baptist Church in Garland with a friend of mine shortly thereafter.  As I was sitting there a thought came to me, "There has to be more to it than this."  I would not know for years that those words were brought about by the Spirit of God.

In August 1985, we ( Lisa, Travis, Amy, myself ) visited a church in Plano, Texas.  There was an obvious difference about this ministry compared to others we had been associated with the previous ten years.  The pastor read and taught from the Bible.  Very straight-forward.  No frills.   No rousing words to get people enthused.  Very different indeed.  Our lives were being affected by what this man read from the Bible.  The difference was that he was led by the Holy Spirit to minister what God wanted to minister to us and the other people there.

Prior to visiting the church in Plano, we attended a church in Rockwall, Texas for five years.  Before that we attended a church in Dallas, Texas for about five years.  At these churches, the pastors and others talked of the power of God, including miracles which occurred in people's lives.  The problem was this power did not work in our lives and we rarely saw any power manifest.  We had no revelation of the Gospel and did not know, at that time, a person could minister power and it be done in rebellion ( Read Matthew 7 ). 

The ten years spent at the two churches listed above did not benefit my family very much spiritually.  If the apostle/prophet ministry had been in operation, the Gospel would have been preached and the power of  God would have manifested to set people at safety and make them sound.  This is now occurring in our lives on a daily basis.  II Corinthians 6:2 states:  "For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee:   behold, now is the accepted time;  behold, now is the day of salvation."

It is recorded in I Corinthians 3:10-11 that God gave Paul grace and, as a wise masterbuilder, he ( Paul ) laid the foundation, and another built thereon.  He then said that every man should take heed how he builds thereon because there is only one foundation, Jesus Christ.  Ephesians 2:19-22 says:   "Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;  And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner;  In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:  In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit."

This foundation has been laid in my heart.   It can be laid in your heart as well because God is not a respecter of persons ( Acts 10:34 ).  The foundation of Jesus Christ in my heart, as well as yours,  is essential for living as a Christian.  I have the power of God in my life now for every situation.  For it to work, however, I must believe for it to and to obey God daily.  Do you recall what I wrote earlier when I was in the Baptist church?  "There has to be more to it than this."  Well, the "more" is this - Jesus died, was buried and was raised again the third day.   That is the power of God.  That is the foundation that can be yours.  Thanks for stopping by and God bless you.

E-mail me at  jrs@jrstaton.com.