What a difference a few decades make. I have realized that 2026 is a milestone year in the shaping of my life and faith. I shared Sunday morning that 1956 was the year I prayed for Jesus to become my Lord and Savior. He answered that prayer with a sense of peace and assurance. Our pastor shared with my Sunday School class what it meant to become a Christian in the deepest sense. He talked of God’s love and forgiveness and sin. I already knew what sin and guilt looked and felt like. He talked of God’s forgiveness, not just when we got in trouble. He talked of prayer and trust and everlasting love. I opened my heart to God and prayed. What a meaningful life these 70 years of walking with Jesus has provided me.
On May 15, 1966, I was Licensed to the Gospel Ministry by the Northwest Baptist Church in Miami, Florida. Our pastor was Homer G. Lindsay, Jr. Becoming a Licensed Minister meant I was recognized by the church to preach and lead the church ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper. It also meant I am legally certified to officiate at weddings. Sixty years ago this week, I completed my freshman year of junior college. I spent the rest of the 1960’s at Samford University, the Baptist college in Birmingham, Alabama. I regularly was called upon to travel early on Sunday mornings to preach at various, mostly rural, churches around the state. I also spent a couple of years, when needed, as a revival song leader for the full-time evangelist, Bob Posey.
During my seminary days in Ft. Worth, Texas, I chose to join a very good church and become a fifth-grade boys Sunday School teacher. I wanted to experience the inside of a serving church for a few years before one day becoming a pastor. I also wanted to share the story of God’s love with those boys just like my pastor did with us. Dorothy and I met and married at that church. We sang in the choir and taught the junior high youth on Sunday nights. Then one day in 1973, the Lord called us here to Tulsa, where we have witnessed the difference God makes in the lives of those who trust Him.
Keep healthy. Pray mightily. Enjoy your life today. Open your heart. And let’s experience the love and power of God together.
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