My Story #80 -- Four Pastorates

 

My Story #80

Four Pastorates

I have been pastor of only four churches in my ministry. My work in ministry began with traveling with the Lexington Baptist College Trio and Quartet, later nick named The Bluegrass Boys. Those beginning years were wonderful yet challenging.

I was pastor, first, at Ephesus Baptist Church in Crab Orchard, Kentucky, for about two years. I resigned after I moved to live with my mother in 1970 after my father died, but the distance was too far to drive each weekend to try to pastor.

Second, I was pastor of Riverview Baptist Church in Berry, Kentucky (not where Bro. Carl Morton pastors) for two years. While there, I married, and our first child was six months old when we moved to Clarksville, Tennessee, where I helped in the works of Bible Baptist Church, Bro. Elton Wilson, pastor. I was there five years but not pastor.

I was called from there to Chesapeake, Ohio, at Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church, where I was pastor for three years at which time I was called to First Baptist Church in Harrison, Ohio. On August 2 of this year (2022), I will have been pastor for 40 years.

God has been good to me, and I am surprised that the people here still want me to be pastor. I am praying for a few more years of pastorate here. May God be pleased in whatever happens!

 

My Story #79 - "Do You Want That"?

 

My Story #79

DO YOU WANT THAT?

In the beginning of our singing group, we were called the Lexington Baptist College Trio made up of Bob Jones, Robert Carpenter, Ronnie Wolfe (pianist), and Demas Brubacker.

We had some wonderful trips, going on some very long ones and returning home in the wee hours of the morning. Once we reached home just in time to go to our first college class at 7:00 AM. These trips were very tiring but were good experience for each one of us. We also met some pretty amazing people as we traveled.

On these trips, along the way, we would stop to eat. We enjoyed some wonderful meals and had some fun and weird experiences on our "lunch hour."

It was a custom that, as we were eating, Bro. Demas Brubacher would usually finish eating first; and, when he finished, he would sit there at the table and look at everyone else's plate to see if there might be a morsel left so he could help himself to it.

After watching for a few moments, Demas would take his fork, point it over an item of someone else's plate and say "Do you want that"? Sometimes he would say "Are you going to eat that"? We usually would acquiesce to his desire and give him whatever he wanted.

Just another day on another trip for our singing group. They were great!

 

My Story #78 -- "I Almost Died"

 

My Story #78

I ALMOST DIED

I wish I could remember all the times that I almost died. I actually cannot know how one almost dies, but I think I did it a few times.

I was told by my mother that, when I was two years old, I drank turpentine and almost died.Later my brother explained it in more detail, because he remembered the event. He said that I turned blue, because I could not breathe. Well, God took good care of me.

When I was two years old, I contacted the Polio virus, and many people died as a result of that virus. Fortunately, I did not die. I remember the iron lungs, but I did not need to be in one. God took good care of me. I still have the scars from that virus.

Once I and two of my brothers were swimming in our pond, and I was floating on an inner tube, and my two brothers were at the edge of the pond fighting about something (or playing; I am not sure). I turned around and slipped off the inner tube, which popped into the air and was thrown away from me. I sank to the bottom of the pond, pushed with my only working foot on the bottom to push myself to the top of the water. I called to my brothers, but they seemed too busy to hear me. I went down for the "third time" and wondered if I would be able to come up again. My brothers at last saw me and rescued me. Maybe I almost died that time.

I was going to cross the railroad track at Morgan, Kentucky, on my way home from work at Griffin Industries (1970's). The train came and went, but the lights were still flashing. I decided that the train was already gone by, so before the lights stopped flashing, I drove across the track and got to the other side safe. Just as I cleared the track, a train came from the opposite direction going very fast. My heart went into my head, and I probably almost died that day. The Lord took care of me.

Now here I am nearly 78 years old. I no longer drink turpentine, swim in ponds, or cross railroad tracks while the lights are still flashing. WHEW! I almost died.

 

My Story #77 -- Swimming Hole

 

My Story #77

SWIMMING HOLE

When I was young, my siblings and I would go to the creek, and there was a small pool of water that was always there both winter and summer, even when the weather was dry. We would go there to swim, but the first thing we had to do was to throw rocks in the little pool to scare out all of the water snakes (and there were plenty).

Once, while we were in the water, I came out and noticed that, on the surgery that I had had some time before, one of the stitches had scabbed over, because they did not get the stitch all the way out. The scab broke off, and I remember that I could see inside of my leg. It was "gross." Fortunately, I did not get infection from it. God has always been good to me in that way, for which I am thankful.