John H. Bradley

Associate Professor of MIS
Decision Sciences Department
School of Business
East Carolina University

I hope you will read my story.  It is brief but meaningful, especially to a college-aged man or woman.  I was in college when I was confronted with the most important decision of my life and I blew it!  By God’s grace, I got a second chance.

I always wondered if things would have been different if a professor had directed me to a web page like this one.  Maybe I would have listened and save myself a lot of pain and wasted time.  This is one of the reasons I became a professor, to be here for you.

Biographical Information

I was born and raised in Monroe, LA. After receiving a BS in Accounting from Louisiana State University, I worked as an accountant and later as a computer information systems analyst in Dallas, TX.  While in Dallas,  I decided to devote my life to serving the Lord.  He immediately called me into a Bible teaching ministry.  I then received an MA in Theology from the Criswell Bible Institute, and an MBA and PhD in Management Information Systems from the University of Texas at Arlington.

Upon graduation, I  came here to East Carolina University in Greenville, NC. I became the faculty advisor for the ECU Campus Crusade for Christ student ministry.  I tried to develop a faculty ministry in 1998-1999, but was not successful.  In 2002, the Lord brought a group of faculty together by giving us a vision for faculty ministry.

My Personal Story

I grew up in a Christian home and felt God’s call in my heart at the age of eight so I asked Him to come into my heart.  After graduating from high school, I attended college briefly then entered the military.

During this period when I was away from home, I wanted to be my own boss and to enjoy my new-found freedom.  I told Jesus to leave me alone – I didn’t need Him telling me what to do.  These years were full of frustration because no matter what I tried, nothing brought the happiness and satisfaction I was searching for.

After too many years, I knelt down by my bed one night and told Jesus to either strike me dead or take me and do whatever He wanted to with me.  I surrendered to His authority in my life.  The next day, He began a rebuilding process that will last through eternity!

This was the place my life truly changed.  I’ll never be the same again because now I’ve tasted the joy and fulfillment of being a servant of God.  Being used by Him and knowing His approval is bringing the satisfaction and joy I’ve searched for.  I began to realize that He created me, so He knows how to bless me much more than I know how to make myself happy.

I learned to trust His judgment and to question my own perceptions — I am not infallible!  I realized that Satan really wanted me to live a selfish, empty life.  The Bible has been a great help as His Spirit shows me His truth more clearly through these written words than in any other way.  My feelings are not always reliable, but His words are.

As a college student, it can be easy to believe:

• that happiness and fulfillment can be found in the physical world;
• that money can buy an easy life;
• that living together out side of marriage will bring the same satisfaction that living together under the life-long commitment of marriage will bring;
• that there are many ways to give purpose to your life.

The truth is that striving for something worthwhile, that living for something beyond yourself, brings more satisfaction than spending your life trying to avoid trouble.

The only worthy purpose for your life is found in bringing a smile to the face of the Most High God.  Trust Jesus with your life today!