November 18, 1951, I united with Lakewood Baptist Church, Garland, Texas upon profession of faith and for baptism. I grew up a Methodist, but the Lord had gloriously saved me in August 1950. I spent a year discovering God's direction for my life attending Dallas Bible Institute. Billie and I had begun dating in February and I was filled with so many questions that I had become a thorn to my Sunday School teacher and to my Pastor. They suggested that I not spend so much time reading the Bible.
One Sunday I was at Billie’s house for dinner and her pastor was there, at her suggestion I shot my questions to him and he gave me chapter and verse for answers. That was what I was looking for, so when I fully determined that God was calling me to preach, that was the Sunday I joined Lakewood. I won’t go into details as to how my family received the news, I can do that later.
When Brother Alford baptized me that night, while in the baptistry he asked the church to license me to preach and on November 25, 1951, I preached my first sermon. Took as my text Isaiah 53, “The Suffering Servant.” That is all that I can remember of the sermon layout, just knew that the Lord Jesus was who Isaiah was talking about and that that same Jesus had become my savior.
Crossed a few rivers, climbed a mountain or two, spent more time in the valley than I wanted, but it has been a wonderful pilgrimage. Learned more in the valleys than I did on the mountains.
God has blessed me with SO MANY great friends along the way. The Lord blessed Billie and me with so many fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters along the way. We were privileged to laugh and cry with them. Enjoyed wonderful fellowship, spent many hours in their homes, with them in the hospitals, rejoiced with them when they married and babies came along, stood and wept with them at gravesites. We experienced the whole gamut of life with them as dear loved ones.
So young when we went to Black Jack Baptist Church as pastor, only 19 years old, didn’t know (as we say in East Texas) beans, other than I had a message burning in my heart. Those dear people loved us and were fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters to us. God blessed even in my ignorance with souls saved and lives changed. Precious memories!!! According to them, every sermon was the best they had heard, of course, I knew that couldn’t be true, but it was sure an encouragement to this kid preacher.
I think I will leave this for now and add to it later, so, if you are reading this and you are one of those with whom I have shared ministry, I want to THANK YOU for what you have meant to my life. If you don’t really know me I want to THANK YOU for taking the time to read these ramblings.
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