Pastor in Focus – Cecil Mackey

Can you briefly share about your family and about where serve in ministry; and how the Lord called you to serve?

I serve at Little City Baptist Church in Madill. I have pastored this church for eight years. It is also my first pastorate. I have been married to my high school sweetheart, Tammy, for 28 years. We have two grown children. Our daughter Leslie is married and has a 10-month-old daughter “Sugar Bear” and she and “Pappy” are tight. My son, Jeff works for the Choctaw Nation. My whole family attends Little City Baptist church.

When the Lord called me into ministry, we attended Atoka, Southside, where I served as a deacon. I had filled in for our pastor a time or two by doing “devotions” and had led out in our men’s ministry. I knew the Lord was calling me to more, but I fought it for about five years. One night in a revival service there I couldn’t resist anymore, so I surrendered. But I thought OK, God, I will be a supply preacher. And for the next year I preached every Sunday somewhere except for two or three Sundays. I came to little city just to supply because they were between preachers.

I preached a couple times for them, and they asked if I was interested and I said “No, I’m just a supply guy.” After about three weeks of fighting with God, I said “OK God.” I told my wife, and she said, “I knew it. I’ve been waiting on you to figure it out. So, I called one of the deacons and told him. He said they were already talking to someone, but he wanted to have lunch. When we met for lunch, he said the guy they had been taking to just called him and backed out. So, we interviewed. I went in view of a call on Easter Sunday 2016, and here we are.

What impact are you seeing the Lord make in your church and community?

We have seen many come to faith in those eight years. Right now, I see God growing a large group of young families and maturing them as they begin to serve Him and grow in knowledge and maturity. We have a small food pantry that has really become a great ministry of late. We are always looking for opportunities to serve people in our community and be there in times of need. We are strategizing now how to be more evangelistic to people who come to the lake in the summer since we are right on Lake Texoma.

You have served as a firefighter and first responder. What similarities do you see between those roles and pastoral ministry, in terms of helping people?

In my 25 years as a volunteer firefighter/first responder, I have seen firsthand the devastation that enters people’s lives, but goes unnoticed by the majority of those around them. I believe it has prepared me to be perceptive to opportunities to meet needs and minister to people in times of brokenness. It also has helped me in leadership because I was fire chief for several years before serving as rural fire coordinator for the Department of forestry for five years when I was their liaison to 120 fire departments in south central Oklahoma. That prepared me for how to help people resolve conflicts and come together for a common good greater than themselves. And as believers we sometimes have to lay aside personal preference for the God we have in common and the good of the ministry He has given us that is greater than ourselves.

Why is it important for your church to support the Cooperative Program?

We give through the Cooperative Program because though there may be things that don’t go exactly the way I would do it, I understand that together we can do abundantly more for God’s Kingdom than we ever could on our own. My goal in life to contribute all I can, wherever I can, however I can, for God’s Kingdom work.

How YOU can pray for Oklahoma pastors

1. Pray for his family.

Ask God to help him love and lead his family well, making the most of his time when at home. Ask the Lord to give him the courage to put off the trivial matters of ministry, so he’s fully engaged as the husband and father God calls him to be.

Ephesians 5:25 and Psalm 127:3-5

2. Pray for his walk with God.

Pray that he will devote himself to prayer and Bible reading first and foremost before he begins his day of ministry and family time.

Philippians 4:6 and Psalm 119:9

3. Pray for his schedule.

Pastors prepare engaging sermons, have people to visit in hospitals, worry home-bound members will fall through the cracks, and are attempting to follow up with visitors. Pray that God will help him manage his schedule well to spend time with his family and lead his church family.

Ephesians 5:15-17 and Psalm 90:12

4. Pray for his sermon preparation & delivery.

Pray that God gives him focus and perseverance in sermon prep, as well as clarity and wisdom as he aims to rightly handle the Word of God. Pray God will fill him with passion and conviction as he declares the Good News to encourage the saints and lead the lost to love and follow Jesus.

2 Timothy 2:15, Psalm 119:18,

Hebrews 4:12, & Mark 16:15

Research.lifeway.com/2022/01/04/5-ways-to-pray- for-your-pastor-to-start-the-new-year/