YOU and GOD

For almost 250 years, Americans have enjoyed freedom: freedom of speech, worship, work, and the pursuit of happiness. These freedoms are guaranteed to America’s citizens in the US Constitution; and the three branches of government—executive, legislative and judicial—work together to certify that daily life in America can be pursued by its citizens without fear of oppression by those who rule over us.

Many, maybe most, of the world’s population, both past and present, have never enjoyed such privileges. Because of the inherent sin nature of mankind, warped and oppressive systems of government, foisted upon the masses and enforced by might, have too often ruled the day.

America has been an oasis of freedom. This is not to say that there are not those—some in high places—who have bought into the falsehoods known commonly as “socialism,” “communism,” and “totalitarianism,” who are working feverishly to replace free enterprise, capitalism, and a constitutional republic with their own devilish and despotic versions of “the good life.”

As part of my ministry while serving as “senior pastor,” I made several trips to various countries, either to visit missionaries that our church supported or to conduct limited evangelistic campaigns.

First, in 1989, it was my privilege to visit, with Natasha Vins conducting our itinerary, the Soviet Union—specifically Russia, beginning in Moscow, then to parts of what is now Ukraine, including Kiev,  Kharkov, and finally St. Petersburg, formerly Leningrad.  Natasha’s father, Georgi Vins, and many of her friends had spent years in Soviet concentration camps, simply for their faith in Jesus Christ and for their unwillingness to cease preaching the gospel.

The purpose of our trip was to visit churches whose members, and often pastors, had suffered severe persecution under the rule of communists. Dr. Ed Nelson, now with the Lord, was the other pastor on this trip, and he met often with these pastors, encouraging them in the faith. After that two- or three-week trip, Dr. Nelson initiated a project of getting Strong’s Concordance of the Bible translated into Russian, so that it could be distributed to as many pastors as possible in the now former Soviet Union. Shortly after that trip, the “iron curtain” came down, and visits to Russia and Ukraine by westerners became more common. I remember well, though, when we were visiting in 1989, the Russian believers often shared their belief with us that the “freedoms” they were then experiencing on a limited basis would not last indefinitely. And, today, those “freedoms” in Russia are non-existent.

So, since it is not uncommon to hear from some that what we need in our nation today is “more government controls and regulations,” I simply want to share a few things that I observed when visiting three of the countries that have been for decades under what is generally characterized as “communism.”

First, Russia. Early on in our visit, in Moscow, some Americans who had been living there, doing studies, invited us to visit a “supermarket” with them. It was an astonishing sight, more like visiting a food pantry here. There were not many shelves. Different items were in stacks on the floor. The warehouse-like facility was not very big; yet our hosts said this was the best, if not the largest, “supermarket” in Moscow.

After a couple of days there, it was not a stretch to observe that living in Moscow then, in the late 80s, would be like turning the page back to what it was like in America five decades earlier. It would not be a happy exchange. To say nothing of the freedom issues, life in Russia, under decades of communism, was not even comparable to life in a country that enjoyed freedom. One of our Russian hosts, who himself had been imprisoned in St. Petersburg for his faith, shared with us a “joke” that the Russian people passed around amongst themselves: “We pretend to work, and they (the government) pretend to pay us.” I asked a young adult in Kiev if he would like to come to America sometime. His answer: “Everyone in Russia would like to come to America.” So much for the benefits of living under communism.

The second country I want to speak briefly about is Cuba. In the late 1990s, my friend, Pastor Collins Glenn, now with the Lord, and I teamed up with an evangelistic team led by Evangelist Mike Crain, to visit the island that had  been controlled by the Castro communists for almost 50 years. We were blessed to visit some groups of believers who, though not operating with uninhibited freedoms, were tolerated by the Castro regime. These precious folk were rejoicing in their walk with Christ. They exuded in their singing the joy of the Lord. They spoke, when asked, of the limitations there; such as the rationing of food—maybe an egg a month if available—per family. No one drove any car that was manufactured later that the mid-fifties. A rural family had Pastor Glenn and me for a Sunday dinner. The house was pretty much a shack. The wife served us what appeared to be the scrawniest broiled chicken we had ever seen. It was hard to keep the tears back as, not wanting to be ungrateful, we ate a piece of that chicken, which was no doubt the best meal that family would look forward to for months to come. So, people who shout the praises of communism, where everyone is fed by the government, should visit Cuba and just take a look around. We did very much enjoy our time with the churches that we visited there, and I could never forget the worship services where people lifted their hearts up in unabashed praises to their great God and Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Third, China. Ellen and I visited Beijing in 2016 with missionary Ron White. We could feel the oppression. Every time we left our motel room, there was a man standing in the hallway who, after a while, we assumed was keeping tabs on us. We lost any internet connection soon after checking into our room. But, we visited on Sunday a missionary who led a congregation of 100 believers, meeting in the second story of a high-rise apartment, occupying all the space of that second story. They met for worship in one bigger room, then had a meal together in another adjacent room. The members witnessed by passing out tracts on the street. They sang great hymns of the faith with exuberance, and told us that at one time they could not sing these songs out loud for fear of government oversight, so they “lipped” the words. It was a vibrant church; the missionary family provided a Christian school for the youngsters, much like a home-school here. Well, we were not surprised when we read, not too long after our visit there, that this missionary had been expelled from China.

So, I must conclude. Nothing in this post should be considered political. I write, though, as one who has observed the lives of believers in three different countries in widely differing parts of our world, which have lived and are living where the freedoms we enjoy, especially freedom to worship, are denied or severely restricted. Please do not be confused by anyone who says that what our country needs is more government regulation.

“When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.” (Provs. 29:2)

Just before Jesus ascended back into the heavens, forty days after His resurrection from the tomb, He instructed a handful of His disciples: “Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the world.” (Acts 1:8) We have not reached the uttermost part of the world yet; His commission is still in effect for all of His followers.

As a youngster, Robert Louis Stevenson, looked upon a dark street in Edinburgh and suddenly cried out, “I see something wonderful; I see a man coming up the street, and he is poking holes in the darkness!” It was, of course, the lamplighter who was lighting the gas lamps on the dark streets. What that lamplighter was doing with a lamp lighter, each believer ought to be doing with the gospel of Jesus Christ: poking holes in the darkness with the message of the Light of the world.

We are, Paul says, “ambassadors” for our Lord and Savior.” (II Cor. 5:20) There is a story told of an old preacher who walked up to a lady on the mezzanine floor of a hotel and said, “Lady, Lady! Are you saved?” The startled lady began to cry as he quoted a scripture verse and walked away. When her husband came and found her crying, he asked, “Dear, what is the matter with you?” “Oh,” she said, “a man walked up to me a few minutes ago and asked me if I were saved.” Her husband then said, “Why didn’t you tell him to mind his own business?” To which the shaken wife said, “Oh, but dear, if you had seen him, you would have thought he was minding his own business.”

“A college professor who was noted among his fellow-teachers for his habit of addressing young men upon their personal relations to Christ, was asked by one of his fellow professors, ‘Do they not resent your appeals as an impertinence?’ He replied, ‘No! Nothing is of such interest to any man as his own soul and its condition. He will never resent words of warning or comfort if they are prompted by genuine feeling. When I was a young man, I felt as you do. My wife’s cousin, a young fellow not yet of age, lived in our house for six months. My dread of meddling was such that I never asked him to be present at family worship, or spoke to him on the subject of religion. He fell into the company of a wild set, and was rapidly going to the bad. When I reasoned with him of Christ, he said, ‘Do you call yourself a Christian,’ assuming an astonishing look. ‘I hope so,’ I replied. ‘But you are not. If you were, He must be your best Friend. Yet I have lived in your home for six months, and you have never once named His name to me; no, He is nothing to you!’ I have never forgotten that rebuke.” (copied, Epworth Era)

I have a cousin who was reared in a home where the father was an alcoholic. Jimmy, as I called him when we were children, sadly, grew up to follow in the steps of his father. Jim had a bright mind but largely wasted it; and, due to his addiction, he lost at least one wife, as well as many good jobs in the publishing business. He finally did come to know Christ as his Lord and Savior, and his story has been broadcast on the Moody network in their series of programs called “Unshackled.”

“Before Jim’s conversion, and even some times after—as Jim was still struggling—my oldest sister often kept Jim in her home. Mary Ann and her husband, Tom, as they did for so many, even to some strangers, offered Jim kindness, hospitality, grace, and, of course, the gospel. When Jim, later in life, heard of the passing of my father, Jim’s uncle, he wrote the following (unedited):

“Thank you for letting me know about your Dad. I understand your supernatural sorrow, but thankfully I also understand the supernatural comfort that can only come from the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

And while I know it cannot replace the sense of loss, his earthly legacy will not be forgotten soon. Your Dad is one of a very few people in this world that I don’t believe I have ever heard anyone speak unkindly about. His love of the Lord and his outlook on life made him a joy to be around. I tell the story often that while I was staying in your home 15 years ago, when he and your mother would come to visit, I would say, ‘How are you doing this morning, Uncle Ted?’ He would smile and reply, ‘Well, Jim, I woke up this morning, and I knew I was off to a good start.’ [Dad lived to be 94 years old.]

He was the first person to share the gospel with me, and while I was stiff-necked and impenitent for so many years, it was those seeds that eventually took root and produced fruit for the Lord. And I feel certain that if it were possible to compile a list of all the people who had been so influenced by your father in his lifetime, the Lord would have to tarry long before we would have time to finish reading it.”

Dad never taught a Sunday School class. Never sang in a choir. Never attended Bible college or a seminar on how to witness for Christ. A factory worker most of his life, he spoke few words. But he did let his light so shine before men, as Jesus encouraged all of us to do, that men glorified God because of his witness.

How are you doing, Mr. or Ms. Ambassador?

“Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.” (2 Cor.5:20)

(The following is a testimony of God’s saving grace shared by our nephew, Aaron Bridges, who now pastors in Western North Carolina. Aaron is the son of Ellen’s sister, June, and June’s husband, Ed):

“I am so thankful that God called me to preach the Word and allows me to serve in any capacity in His kingdom! If there’s anyone who was ever undeserving, it’s me.

This time 20 years ago, in 2004, I had just come out of an oxycontin overdose a few weeks prior and was in a secular rehab facility in Boca Raton, Florida. Doctors had told my parents I would be brain dead if I lived, and, at best, a vegetable due to my being without oxygen for so long. But, people around the country prayed for me and I eventually woke up and left the hospital after about a week. Unfortunately, I didn’t wake up from my spiritual blindness for quite some time.

My life was an absolute wreck. A few weeks after the overdose, I got my first DWI (yes, the first…not the last) after wrecking my car; and I was arrested for that charge, along with two drug-possession charges for marijuana and Xanax. Hence, the trip to rehab, which was truly just an attempt at lowering my charges when I went to court. The following two years of my life were an absolute disaster and train wreck, with a continual descent into alcoholism. In my mind, I reasoned that alcohol wouldn’t be as bad as drugs because it was ‘legal’ (more lies and deception).

However, God began working on me. My coworker and boss at the time, Scotty Briggs, invited me to church with him at Faith Christian Assembly of God in Wilkesboro, NC, on a Wednesday night in October of 2006. That night, Pastor Eric Jones preached out of the book of Ephesians, and the Lord was working on my soul the entire time. On the way out, Pastor Jones asked me how I was doing, and immediately I broke down into tears and told him I needed to be saved. My life changed instantly that night, and he prayed with me until I “prayed through” and was born again.

When I got home, I had to empty out my house and my cabinets (and closet too) of the things that had been a snare in my life for far too long. That’s what “works of repentance” means. God changed me that night, and although I’ve had times of failure since then, everything was different from that point on.

A few weeks later, God called me to preach in a revival service at that same church, and I surrendered to that call and stepped out in faith, leaving my job and my home in Wilkes County to go off to Holmes Bible College in Greenville, SC. Fast forward 17 years or so, and I couldn’t be more thankful for all that God has blessed me with. A beautiful and amazing wife, the opportunity to serve the best church in Western North Carolina (Cartoogechaye Church of God), a family that is loving and caring, a nice home in the hills of Macon County, and on and on.

It pays to serve God. His dividends are out of this world. Get serious about your relationship with God because He’s about to wrap this thing up, y’all. And never forget there’s a God in heaven that is merciful and patient with you. No matter how far away from Him you are right now, He’s only a prayer away!”

“And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry. Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious; but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly. And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief.” (I Tim. 1:12-15)

Note:  Aaron’s parents, June and Eddie Bridges, love God and have served him faithfully all of their married life. They had their family in church regularly, and their children attended Sunday School, VBS, and all the church activities. Aaron’s sister lives in South Carolina, and she and her husband have reared their children in church faithfully. In my opinion, Aaron’s grandpa, a faithful man of God and pastor, prayed Aaron to Calvary, and June and Eddie loved Aaron into the arms of Jesus—never giving up on him or the grace of God. Aaron’s grandpa—June and Ellen’s father—never lived to see his prayers answered, but Aaron’s Godly parents have watched the spiritual transformation from a front-row seat, as it were. Eddie is battling cancer at this time. Never give up. Never stop hoping and praying. God still hears and answers prayers, and He is still in the soul-saving business!

By the way, there is an excellent book by John Elmore that I have used in counseling and have found  very helpful: “Freedom Starts Today: Overcoming Struggles and Addictions One Day at a Time.”

Thank you, Pastor Aaron Bridges, for sharing your powerful story with “You and God” readers.

Since yesterday marked the 59^th anniversary of our wedding date, I would like to reflect a bit on the past six decades of our journey as husband and wife, and as a “team” in ministry. I hope you will indulge me the few minutes it will take you to read the following.

Ellen and I met as students at Bob Jones University, when I was a junior and she was a first-year student. Her major was accounting and I was in the BJU ministerial class. She was from North Carolina, having been reared in a pastor’s home; I was from Iowa and my father was employed by John Deere. I was called to preach while attending another college in Iowa, preparing, I thought, to eventually become a lawyer. Ellen enrolled in BJU, thinking she was heading for a business profession, with a resolve that marrying a preacher was not in her future plans. The Lord brought us together in the fall of 1963 when, assigned in the large Dixon-McKenzie BJU dining hall to spend three weeks at Table T-1, we met. I was not thinking of meeting a girl for the purpose of an ongoing relationship; nor was she thinking of meeting a young man at that particular time, to whom she would become engaged and married in August of 1965. But God…

I have said many times that it had to have been God’s leading in my life, for I surely was not smart enough—or wise enough—at that time in my maturing as a young adult to discern that Ellen would make the perfect wife for this pastor-in-the-making. God knew exactly what and whom each of us needed though, and I have never forgotten to thank Him for that “chance” table assignment that brought us together for a family-style meal three times a day for three (or maybe six, I can’t remember) weeks.

In the 1960s, the way couples communicated with each other at Bob Jones U. was the “note system.” At 10 p.m. each night, a “delivery” team would pick up mail written in the girls’ dorms and deliver it to the addresses in the guys’ dorms; and vice-versa. My first attempt at asking Ellen for a date was a note I wrote her through this note system, asking her for a date to one of the campus Thanksgiving Day activities. Sadly, she had already been “asked” for; so I “got in line” and kept trying until finally, for me, it was “pay-day!” The rest is history. We became engaged in the summer of 1964. I was working in an Indiana youth camp that summer, and the way people communicated long distance then in rural Indiana was on a “party-line” phone. There were always “clicks” heard down the line when you got a call from someone, so there was a “party” on the line—of who knows how many folk—listening in. Needless to say, we did not call each other that summer, but picked up our romance when school began again in the fall.

Our August wedding was held in Ellen’s home church, a beautiful, small chapel in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina. My family came down from Iowa; and one of my sisters, Mary Ann, and her children, coming to our wedding from Denver, were swept off the highway by one of those Nebraska summer storms, ejecting Mary Ann and her boys out of the VW bug in which they were traveling. The car was demolished, but a family friend, a pilot from Denver, came to the rescue, flying them all to Wilkes County, NC, in time for the Saturday evening wedding. It was a striking demonstration of the grace and goodness of God that a funeral did not have to be planned after the wedding.

We spent a couple of weeks on our honeymoon, visiting National and State parks, traveling in a small trailer that my parents loaned us, pulled by my Dad’s ’64 Impala as I recall.

In late August/early September, we pulled a 4×6 trailer jam-packed with all of our earthly goods, behind the ’64 VW Beetle that I owned, to Minneapolis, where I was enrolled in Central Baptist Theological Seminary. We did not know anyone there, did not have a place to live, did not have a job lined up; but we had each other, with hearts full of love and confidence through faith that God was leading us, and that He would provide for us. We spent one night in the attic of the Minnesota Baptist Convention house, thanks to the goodness of Dr. Arthur Allen. I went job hunting the next day and was hired at the Pako Corporation, the first stop on my list, where I worked for four years—until the day we left Minneapolis for Dallas, Texas, where I was accepted into a graduate program at Dallas Theological Seminary. We lived all our time in Minneapolis in a fully-furnished house that a widow who had just died left in an estate. Our “rent” was $50 a month, and the house was a block from the seminary. When we left the Twin Cities, we had two children, Sandra and Marti, and a thousand dollars in the bank, with all bills paid in full! Driving our U-Haul to Dallas, we were mindful that we knew only one family in Dallas, had no job lined up, and did not know where we would live when we got there. But God….

So, to wrap this up, after Dallas (’69-’71) we lived in Kansas for eight years, where I pastored two churches, then accepted the call to pastor Thompson Road Baptist Church in Indianapolis, where I would be privileged to serve as pastor for the next 40 years. We have been in the “retirement” mode for five years now, still attending TRBC and preaching and helping out at the Pleasant View Baptist Church in Noblesville, IN, a couple Sundays a month. I am serving as part of the Interim Pastor program of Gospel Fellowship Association, directed by Dr. Marshall Fant.

God has been so marvelously good to Ellen, myself, and our three children (yes, our boy, Theo, was born at Baylor U. Hospital in Dallas!) these past 59 years. We would not, if we could, rewrite the script in any way. There were, and still are, challenging times to be sure; but the grace and kindness of our great God has never been absent. I have had my own personal accountant-wife all of these years; and Ellen, never intending to marry a preacher, has had her own personal pastor for most all of these years. It’s been a fulfilling 59 years, and every day we face the “home stretch” with thanksgiving, joy, peace—and, always, expectation!

“Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it….” (Ps.127:1)

What would you think if I introduced you to a man of whom I said the following: “He has been married to at least eight women. He has several children, including one who is a murderer, one a rapist, one a seditionist, and one a womanizer. He has a history filled with tragedy. On one occasion he had an affair with a married neighbor, then tried to cover it up by having her husband killed when he learned that a child was due to be born as a result of their tryst.”

Sounds pretty sordid doesn’t it? What if I were to add: “This man is a man after God’s own heart!”

You’d probably think I had flipped! How absurd to think that a polygamist adulterer who had committed murder could ever be called a man after God’s own heart! Though most of us are not from Missouri, we’re maybe mule-headed enough that we’d have to see it to believe it on this one.

Well, here is a New Testament commentary on the life of the man I just described: “And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom he gave testimony and said, ‘I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfill my will.’” (Acts 13:22)

What Paul said in his sermon in a synagogue in Antioch of Pisidia was just a verse from I Samuel 13:14, when the prophet/judge Samuel said to Saul, in announcing that God would set Saul aside from being king because of his disobedience: “But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the Lord hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the Lord hath commanded him to be captain over his people because thou hast not kept that which the Lord commanded thee.”

Do not think, however, that David got a pass for all of his gross transgressions of the law. He paid an awful price as a husband, father, and leader/king, a price that was crushing to his heart and soul. But, God saw in David, flawed as he was, a man who had a heart for God—for many reasons, I think, including the following:

1.  David was a man of courage:  “What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.” (Ps.56:3) He had squared off with the Devil face to face in the person of Goliath. But he would testify that “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty…Thou shalt not be afraid of the terror by night, nor for the arrow that flieth by day, nor for the pestilence that walketh In darkness…A thousand shall fall at thy side and 10,000 at thy right hand…for He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.” (Ps.91:1ff.)

• David was a man of compliance to the Word of God. When God’s prophet rebuked the king for his sin, David’s immediate response was “I have sinned against the Lord.” (II Sam. 12:1,2) He would later testify, “I delight to do thy will, O my God,” and “I have chosen the way of truth,” and “I have refrained my feet from every evil way,” praying “Order my steps in Thy word.” (Ps.40:8; Ps.119:30; Ps.119:101; Ps.119:133)

• David was a man of compassion. His worthy watchfulness over the surviving descendent of Jonathan, Mephibosheth, to fulfill a promise, put his compassionate heart on display. (2 Sam.9:1ff)

• David was a man of contrition, as evidence by his broken heart, soul and spirit—seen in his anguish in Ps.51. He acknowledged that his sin was against God, v. 4; that he himself had a sin nature, v. 5; that he had grieved God’s Holy Spirit, v.11; and that his sin had caused his worship of God to be hindered, v. 19.

David was the second king over Israel. He was anything but perfect, and his administration was full of tragedies. In many respects, he failed God. But of him it was said, “He was a man after God’s own heart.”

If you are saved, you too are a “king.” (Rev.5:10) God calls you that. Yet, since your salvation, you too have failed God many times. Tragedy may have blotted your record and marred your testimony. Like David, though, it can be said of you: “There is a person after God’s own heart.”

Do you have courage in God’s power? Are your compliant to His Word? Do you have a compassionate heart? When confronted by God with your sin, are you contrite and penitent?

“Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile…I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.” (David, Psalm 32:2,5)

The last words of Revelation 20 are “…the lake of fire.” The first words of the next verse, Rev.21:1 are “…a new heaven and a new earth.” There could not be two places that are more extremely opposite than those two places. The lake of fire will be the eternal abode of the false prophet, the beast and the Devil, (Rev.19:20; 20:10) as well as all those who, when living upon this earth, did not accept Jesus Christ as their savior thus assuring that their names would not be found written in the book of life out of which the resurrected unbelieving dead of all ages will be judged by God at the Great White Throne judgment. (Rev.20:11-15)

An eternity in a “lake of fire burning with brimstone” is too awful to think about except in snatches of time; but that is not the subject of this blog, but rather, the eternal habitation of the saved, those who, when living on this earth, did place their faith in God by believing in His Son, Jesus Christ, and confessing Him as their Lord and Savior. Theirs will be “a new heaven and new earth” for eternity. Unlike the abode of the eternally damned, one can think about heaven and never exhaust the pleasure of what awaits the redeemed of all ages there.

In fact, C.S. Lewis, in Mere Christianity, said that the Christians who did the most for the present world were those who thought most of the next. He cites the apostles themselves, then the Reformers of the Middle Ages, followed by the English evangelicals who abolished the slave trade…all men and women who left their mark on earth, Lewis said, because their minds were occupied with heaven.

If you have read recent installments of “You and God,” you are probably aware that at least three dear friends and co-workers in our local church have gone on to be with the Lord in the past few weeks. They are not yet in that “new heaven and new earth,” but they are at Home where He is, and their final destination will be that place described in Revelation 21 and 22, a place that defies description with our limited vocabularies.

I read once of William Montague Dyke who became blind at the age of ten. Despite the handicap, he was very bright, witty and handsome. While attending graduate school in England he met the daughter of an English admiral with whom he fell in love and became engaged to be married. Though having never seen his fiancé, he loved her dearly. Just before the wedding, at the insistence of the bride’s father, William submitted to a special treatment for his eyes. Hoping against hope, William wanted the gauze from his eyes to be cut during the ceremony. He wanted the first thing he ever saw to be his wife’s face. As she came down the aisle during the wedding, William’s father started unwinding the gauze around from his head and eyes—still not knowing whether the operation was successful. With the unwrapping of the last bit of gauze, William looked into the face of his new bride for the first time. “You are more beautiful than I ever imagined,” he said. And so it is with those who die “in the Lord;” we shall behold Him who loved us so much that he was wounded and smitten in bearing our iniquities. Heaven will be indescribably beautiful—more than we ever could imagine—but, Oh, the face of our Savior who loved us and gave Himself for us; that will be what captivates us first, no doubt, in heaven!

In World War I the American 308th regiment was surrounded by enemy forces and under mortar and machine gun fire. Casualties were mounting, and the situation deteriorated when American forces began shelling the sector where the 308th had dug in. The only communication was by carrier pigeon. In a last desperate move, a sergeant released the regiment’s last bird with a note pleading for the Americans to hold their fire.

As soon as the pigeon lifted off, a stray bullet grazed the side of his head and tore his left eye out. Then a piece of shrapnel hit his chest, shattering his breastbone. But with a strong homing instinct, the bird struggled onward. Somewhere in flight another piece of shrapnel tore off his left leg, leaving the message cannister dangling from torn ligaments. The pigeon made it to his loft, however, and the order went out immediately to stop shelling. The 308th survived. When I read that story, I could not help but think of that “great cloud of witnesses” who have gone on before us; many who were battered, beaten and even beheaded, but all who having put their trust in Christ experienced a “safe landing” on heaven’s shores—in the arms of Jesus! (story copied, source unknown)

John W. Peterson, when he first started writing gospel melodies and lyrics, submitted a good many songs that were rejected by publishers. One such song was “Over the Sunset Mountain,” which went: “Over the sunset mountain, someday I’ll safely go; Into the arms of Jesus, He who has loved me so.” And the chorus goes, “Over the sunset mountain, Heaven awaits for me; over the sunset mountain, Jesus my Savior I’ll see.” An early publisher rejected this song with a note that read, “Take out the name Jesus and focus more on Heaven.” Of course Peterson reasoned that to take out the name Jesus would be unthinkable! A bit later another song came from his heart through his pen which was his response: “I have no song to sing, but that of Christ my King; to Him my praise I’ll bring forevermore! His love beyond degree, His death that ransomed me, now and eternally, I’ll sing it o’er!” Amen. There is no heaven without Jesus!

“And they shall see His face; and His name shall be in their foreheads.” (Rev.22:4)

It’s always time for a teacher to teach, and once again mothers are watching and waving to their children as they jump into cars or onto busses and trek off to school to begin another year of studies; teachers awaiting the cars and busses to unload their precious cargo are saying, “Here they come; oh, help me, Dear God, to be a teacher that can teach and that can mold the lives of these dear students into trophies of Your grace for time and eternity.”

Teaching is an unspeakable privilege—at any level. To pour one’s self into the soil of another soul so that a character is shaped for a destiny is an opportunity that is of inestimable worth.

Listen to a world-renowned teacher speak admirably in memory of a teacher– who made an indelible mark upon his mind and heart– in memorializing Dr. Howard Hendricks, who for sixty years taught pastors-in-training at Dallas Theological Seminary: “To us he was a hero we looked up to, a model we watched and studied. While none of us would say he was flawless, all of us would say he was authentic, and, in addition to that, he was a lot of fun to spend time with…we learned his unique secrets on how to mine the soil of the scriptures, which enabled us to discover the golden nuggets and the silver strands of truth, and then to mint all of that into valuable coins of communication that we could spend on others for the rest of our lives in order to reach out to those who were hungry, and to win the souls of those who had lost their way. There simply aren’t many people on this planet like Howie Hendricks.” (Part of the memorial service for Howard Hendricks, delivered by Chuck Swindoll, Chancellor of Dallas Theological Seminary, March 2, 2013)

The legacy of this man who was mostly known simply as “Prof:” “For more than sixty years Prof served on the faculty of Dallas Theological Seminary, where he taught more than ten thousand students. He also ministered in person in more than eighty countries. Through speaking engagements, radio, tapes, films, the sixteen books he authored, his service on numerous boards, and his work as chaplain to the Dallas Cowboys, (1976-84), his reach was worldwide. Holding large audiences enthralled at venues…or…stadium rallies, Prof would confide, ‘It’s wonderful to be here with you, but I have a group of delicious students waiting for me back at the seminary.’”

Had anyone noticed Howard Hendricks as a youngster on the inner-city streets of Philadelphia where he grew up, it would probably have been unimaginable that “the kid” would grow up to be a teacher of teachers. Listen to how he got “hooked” in his own words: “Walt found me playing marbles on the street. That Sunday School teacher got involved with me and beat me in every game we played. I lost my marbles early in life: but when we were through, I wanted to follow him anywhere he went! He found eleven of us on the street. Nine of us are in full-time Christian service today. He never got past the sixth grade. I couldn’t tell you one thing he said. But I know this: he loved me!”

This Sunday School teacher who never made it past the sixth grade so touched the life of a child’s soul that the child would go on to become a teacher of ten thousand students most of whom would become pastors and teachers who would, in turn, touch the lives of untold numbers of souls, many of whom would become teachers of teachers. (This writer was privileged to sit under the teaching of Prof in the early 70’s at DTS, and I in turn for 50 years have tried to implement the principles he taught our class in the course “Advanced Methods of Teaching,” in teaching other teachers—I still have his class notes in my files!) And “the beat goes on!”

Speaking of teachers who have mentored and molded disciples to serve the Master Teacher, I know some who read this article could testify how the late Dr. Lee Roberson, founder of Tennessee Temple University and pastor of Highland Park Baptist Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee, when that church and college/seminary was one of the 20^th century’s eminent strongholds for the propagation of the gospel, missionary ministries and the planting of Bible peaching churches–both at home and abroad–had a very simple outline that he shared with students and pastors who were desirous of learning what made this great teacher tick. He called them “7 Essentials for Building a Great_______.” (often the blank was filled in with the words “Sunday School,” but Dr. Roberson would also fill it in with “Church,” “Class,” or other endeavor for Christ. Here is his simple outline: 1. Faith in the Word of God; 2. A Burden for Souls; 3. Standards for teachers; 4. Weekly Teachers and Officers Meetings; 5. A Weekly Visitation Program; 6. A Consistent Teaching Program; 7. Goals!

I have just been thinking about schools starting up again, teachers sharpening up their teaching tools, and students whose lives will be touched for greatness, goodness and hopefully for God through the faithful ministry of the teacher. I suppose almost every person who is reading this is at some level a “teacher,” one who is, as Dr. Hendricks defined the teacher, consumed with the “art of teaching (which) is the art of getting excited about the right thing.” So, teachers, get excited about making the art of teaching your passion for His Kingdom’s sake!

“And the things that thou hast learned of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.” (2 Tim.2:2)

As a church, we have been gathered here today to mark the passing of a loved one and co-laborer for the third time just in recent weeks: First, Mrs. Betty Blythe; then Richard Hall, and now, Brenda Harris, all who have been for decades “pillars” of Thompson Road Baptist Church.

Though this is a day and meeting we would not have chosen just now; we acknowledge it has been ordained in God’s wise providences; and, though we grieve the sudden departure from our midst of this dear family member and member of the family of the faithful here at TRBC for the past half-century, we rejoice that on Thursday last (July 25, 2024) Brenda was released from her earthly tabernacle, so wracked with pain, and graduated to her abode above, instantly– when the breathe of life departed from her—as Paul the Apostle put it: “absent from the body, present with the Lord.” (2 Cor.5:8)  

What I am going to say about Brenda in this brief eulogy is going to be said as one who was her pastor for 40 years. Each of us who knew Brenda related to her from different perspectives; mine is from the perspective of a dear friend that she always was to Ellen, myself and our family; and a faithful, exemplary member of the local church to which she had attached herself early in her adulthood and to which she remained steadfast, unmovable, and always abounding in the work of the Lord.

In the course of 40 years, a church is bound to be called to navigate some choppy waters. Jesus Christ is the Head, but He has as members of His body, the redeemed–yet not fully sanctified– to serve as His hands and feet, advancing the work of His kingdom. There is, in His body, no perfect church and certainly no perfect pastor.  I wanted to preface my following remarks with that introductory statement: “In all the years that I served TRBC, there was not a single instance when Brenda Harris ever called me to reprimand me, to lecture me, to scold me, or to even say that she differed with me on anything that I can remember. I know she no doubt did not agree with every decision I made or every message I preached; but I honestly never heard the first word out of her mouth that suggested so. She was totally loyal to her Lord, to His Church, to the pastor of the flock that God had sent this way.  I hasten to say that in this world today—a world of flux, fuming, fighting and too often fleeing, that is a church member extraordinaire!”

Brenda was a devoted wife, and her spiritual gift was teaching. She taught hundreds of students in the Baptist Academy, students who would praise her for her patience and persistence in teaching them reading, writing (but NOT arithmetic—which she left to the math teacher). She was a consummate teacher, both in the classroom and out. At church, for many years she had a women’s Sunday School class that she taught. Before we built the multi-purpose building in the year 2000, her class was stuck into about any smaller space available; I think for a long time the class met in my office; no complaints were heard, but it was a joy when, at long last, Brenda and her class finally enjoyed a spacious, beautiful new room in which she continued to teach for many years until her failing health finally forced her to give that assignment up.

I think Brenda Harris can best be described by what and whom she loved. Anyone that knew her would agree without hesitation that her first love was her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ: His Word and His Church. She loved her family unequivocally; she loved teaching; she loved missions and missionaries; she loved to cook and was an excellent cook; she worked—up till just the last few weeks—at canning fruits and vegetables which she could lay up for the winter months. She loved to read and she loved to hear the preaching and teaching of God’s Word.

She was first a loving and devoted wife; a grandmother that always gave good counsel replete with assurances of her love; a keeper of a home that was a welcoming place where visitors were encouraged to sit a spell and share some conversation.

Well, I think I have given you a fairly complete view of Brenda Harris from the perspective of her pastor and one of her many friends. I know each of you share a special insight and view into her life and labors of love. I do not mean to suggest that Brenda was in any way perfect; she was still in the body and no doubt struggled every day with the world, the flesh and the Devil. But in spite of great trials–with emotional and physical and spiritual times of agonizing pain—Brenda’s life was a life of overcoming through faith all that was thrown at her from a world at war with God. She lived and she died with her faith in tact, with her love abounding, and with her labors following her: “And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth; Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them.”(Rev. 14:13) Read some of the many tributes from former students of Brenda Harris:

“I have such wonderful memories of her—she really impacted my life during the most influential time of my youth.” (Missionary to Dubai)

“She was a wonderful lady and a great teacher. I will never forget the things she taught us.” (Factory worker)

“Her consistency in teaching me and expecting excellence is one of the reasons I am (able) to do what I do today in ministry.” (Sr. Pastor)