Buggs Bugnon
Robert O. “Buggs” BUGNON
I never really thought of God in my growing up years. I knew there was a God, I just took Him for granted.
As a boy, I went to Sunday School and church with my mother. Through the years we tried out different churches. There was the church on the corner, and the little nondenominational church in the New Jersey woods, where my friends went. I remember a great Sunday School teacher I had in my teens. He was always planning excursions and things for us to do on Saturdays. In thinking back, he never once mentioned the “Good News”.
I was about 15 when my Dad first went to church with the family. We all began to enjoy the Little Church In the Woods. I become more involved. As an usher, I sang in the choir and attended Youth Fellowship, but still no one ever told me the “Good News” of the Gospel.
After Navy boot camp, I was stationed in Green Cove Springs, Florida. There I met a fellow who was different from the other young Navy men. He didn’t swear, or drink, or run after women. I thought all sailors did those things. I watched him. I wondered why he was so different. One Sunday evening, after returning from church, he explained the “Good News” to me. For the first time in my life I heard that God loved me so much that He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for me, and that if I believed on Him I would not perish, but have everlasting life. He explained John 3:16 to me. I was soon transferred and never heard from him again. It was to be over three years before I heard any more about Jesus Christ.
I married Kathy, started a family, completed my Navy enlistment, got a job with a major insurance company. Shortly after Kathy started working, her boss invited me to a Christian Business Men’s Committee (CBMC) dinner meeting. After a splendid meal, I heard the “Good News” again. It came in the form of a personal testimony from a very successful business man, Stanley Tam, of Lima, Ohio. He shared what Jesus Christ had done in his life and what Jesus would do for those of us who were listening. Right there, I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Saviour. I confessed my sins to Jesus and asked Him to come into my heart. I now had the “Good News” I was looking for. I called on the Lord in faith. I was born again.
That evening was a turning point in my life. I started attending church for fellowship with other Christians. I began reading my Bible and praying every day. As I became aware of the power of sin in my life, I tried to deal with it. Unfortunately, I tried to do it myself, and not through the power of the Lord Jesus. As I watched other Christians, I knew I should stop certain bad habits. I was glad to stop them, but I know now that I stopped most of those things because other people had done so and I was just following suit. As I look back on my life I see that I was living on other peoples’ convictions and not on my personal walk with the Lord.
It is true, “old things passed away and all things became new”, except my mind. The Bible also says to the committed Christian, “be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.” I let my mind stay as it had always been, and that got me into lots of trouble. If I had only asked Christ to change my mind through His Word and by hiding His Word in my heart, I would not have turned my back on Him when my time of testing came. Under heavy trials, I became discouraged and turned away from the Lord. I lost a home, two good jobs and almost my family. God was certainly doing His part. He was talking to me, but I was not listening.
Amidst the turmoil I reenlisted in the Navy and we started attending church on and off mostly off. Kathy and I put our marriage back together and began to enjoy an excellent relationship. We made plans to do a lot of things together, but within four months Kathy was killed an automobile accident; she was hit by a drunk driver. I felt my life had ended. God was speaking to me again; and again I did not listen. I continued to turn my back on Him. I felt I now had a good reason not to listen to God.
For the next fifteen years I continued to walk the way I wanted to walk. Not long after the tragedy I married Ann, who like myself had recently lost her mate. I had three daughters, ages six, five and four and she had a three year old son. We needed each other. Again my life was from day to day, making the best of what we had, never thinking of spiritual things. Finally, although everything in our family appeared to be normal, I informed Ann I was filing for divorce.
I told her I did not love her, and maybe I never did love her. We were separated for almost four months when I received the divorce papers in the mail. All I had to do was to sign them and mail them back to my attorney, and in ten days I would be divorced. I started thinking–there must be more to a marriage than getting married, having someone raise your children and then getting a divorce. I called Ann and asked to meet with her. We talked for almost the whole weekend. After the second weekend together, we decided to try to put our marriage back together.
In July ’84 I had burned out as a drug and alcohol counselor for the Navy and was sent to Jacksonville Alcohol Rehabilitation Center for outpatient therapy. The senior counselor confronted me and wanted to know what was going on in my life, what I needed, what I wanted and what he could do for me. I was the counselee instead of the counselor, and I was most uncomfortable. He reminded me of the third step in a twelve step recovery program, “make a decision to turn our will and our lives over to God as we understand Him.”
That evening I made the second most important decision in my life. I knew what God had wanted of me for a long time. I did it. I confessed my long list of sins and dedicated my life to Jesus Christ. I could have done that at any time those past fifteen years. What trouble and pain I could have avoided. It was I who had turned my back on Him. He was there, for me, all the time.
I am convinced that God worked with me through those trail years to teach me to trust Him. What a blessing. I know now that He wants me to share His “Good News” with family and friends and the entire world. Ann and I and our whole family are happy in the Lord. We now have a purpose in life, and it’s exciting to see what new things each day may bring.
Life gets better and better every day. I’m not saying I don’t have any more problems. I now have someone in my life I can talk to and turn those problems over to. What a joy it is, knowing “My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus”(Philippians 4:19).
Robert O. “Buggs” Bugnon. Bob has been in the Navy for 26 years. He is a Naval Aviation Ordnanceman and has served several years as a drug and alcohol rehabilitation counselor. He is now a logistics analyst for NADOC, NATC Patuxent River, MD. He is chairman of the Lexington Park Christian Business Men’s Committee (CBMC). He is very active in his home church as a Sunday School teacher and a home Bible Study Teacher.
Romans 3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God
Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin [is] death; but the gift of God [is] eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord
Romans 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us
Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved
Romans 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation
Romans 10:11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed
Romans 10:12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him
Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved
Revelation 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me