Pastoral Memories:

By: Pastor Benny Bagwell

 

The Beginnings

 

Over the years many people have come to Victory Baptist Church.  Many, if not all, do not know of the many things that have happened here in this ministry and to me personally.  I want to share some wonderful and sometimes humorous incidents from the first fifteen years of my ministry with the hope that it will encourage us as we look to the future.

 

My first contact with Victory Baptist Church came in 1982 when I hired Tammy (McMahan) Morgan to teach first grade at Oakwood Christian School in Anderson, South Carolina.  The next year I hired Mary (McMahan) Frampton to teach the second grade.  It was through working with these two ladies that I learned of a little mountain church on Cowee Mountain in Jackson County, North Carolina.  I first came to preach at the church in April, 1987, for a Youth Revival.  For three nights I preached and God really blessed.  The first notable decision that I remember was a young man named John Ridley coming to get right with the Lord.

 

About one year later, the church was without a Pastor.  Brother Corsey McMahan asked me if I would consider coming as the pastor. At that  time I had already made  a commitment  to  be  principal  at Oakwood for one more year; so I told him that I could not do it.  The church, however, waited until I was almost finished with my work at Oakwood and then asked if I was still interested. After a few weeks of prayer and counsel, my pastor at Oakwood, Russell Rice, agreed to let me start traveling up on the week-ends, and so I began my ministry at Victory Baptist Church on the second Sunday of March of 1989.

 

Upon our arrival on the Saturday before, my nervousness about what to expect from the first service was not helped upon learning that one family had experienced a great tragedy.  This was certain to affect attendance.  The day dawned beautifully and ninety-two attendees seemed a great number.  One young lady joined the church that first service.  Little did I know that she would be the first of many who would join over the next fifteen years.

 

After the morning service, we had a dinner at the Pumpkintown Community Building.  One memory I have was that Clifton Franks, who was the object of much prayer as he was a well-known unsaved man, came that day and stayed for the meal. 

 

Those first few weeks as pastor were very hectic.  I was working five days a week as principal in South Carolina and traveled up each Saturday and pastored on weekends.  For the first few weeks, our housing was at the City Motel (Days Inn) in Franklin.  Afterwards we moved to a house in the Pumpkintown Community which would become our home for the next eighteen months.  God put us in Pumpkintown so that we could get better acquainted with the community and become more accepted.  It was definitely, how-ever, a change for us:  no street lights, little TV reception, a dirt road, and thirteen miles to the nearest town.  We adapted and grew to love the community and its people.  Our nearest neighbors were Mac and Edna Bingham and Barry and Brenda Bateman.  Don’t let the names fool you.  It was all one family.  As I was soon to find out, most everybody in Pumpkintown was related in some way.  It paid to be very careful about what was said!!

 

At one end of the road were the Franks families.  At the other end was Lester Woodard, his mother and sister, and Howard McFalls. Around the corner was a house and family that occupied much of my attention--the Will Ridley home.  And yes--in some way---they were all related.  In fact, I later learned that almost everybody at the church that first Sunday was some-how related.

 

The church I came to pastor was not large. About forty to fifty people came on a regular basis. There were no babies, no nursery, no choir, and no contacts from missionaries wanting to present their ministry at our little church.  But the debt free church had some praying people who believed that God was going to move in our community.  The first year saw slow but steady growth at the church.  I spent part of the first summer building two bathrooms downstairs in the church building so that we could operate a school that fall.  During that first few months, I met and became the Pastor of my first “Florida” people--the Mike Fitzgerald family, the Joe Christy family, and the Bob Seaton family.  Several people were saved.

 

One of the changes that we had to adapt to was mountain weather.  During my first October, it snowed enough to cover the ground on the twentieth while the leaves were at their peak.  My first Christmas Eve was on a Sunday and the morning temperature was -4 F.  Neither of my cars would start.  So I walked down the road to a house where I knew the folk did not go to church, and the man graciously loaned me his green Nova for us to use that day.  Some of my other fond weather memories was in May, 1992 when there was an all day snow but no accumulation with a 35 F temperature.  In March of 1993 a blizzard left two feet of snow with fierce winds and loss of power.  I learned then how much melted snow it takes to flush a toilet!!  It took us four days to dig our way out to the highway.  At the height of the blizzard, one of our faithful men, Cliff Cyphers, had a major stroke and was hospitalized in Franklin.  It was four days before I could see him.  January, 1996 it snowed twelve inches and eight inches three days later. 

 

More Adjustments

A real blessing occurred when a young man named Ed Frampton started visiting on the weekends to see Mary McMahan.  He would play the organ and do about anything he could to help.  A few months later he proposed after a Sunday night service.  I had told him that night as he left the service not to do anything foolish while I was away in Texas to see my in-laws.  Thirty minutes later he was engaged!!  Needless to say, Brother Ed  became  my  partner  in  ministry,  my associate for ten years, and my dear friend.

 

It was also at the end of my first year that I had my first funerals in the mountains.  A brother and sister, Will Ridley and Lula Young died four days apart.  Huge crowds came to both funerals.  As I sat on the platform, Brother Eddie Stillwell said to me, “Wouldn’t it be wonderful if this church could be this full for regular church services?”  Little did I know that the Lord was going to do that very thing in a short time.

 

When I came to the mountains I was ignorant of many mountain things. Two stand out in my mind.  The Sunday of Memorial Day people gather at the cemeteries to honor and remember the dearly departed loved ones.  I did not know what to do.  On that morning Sam McMahan told me that I needed to conduct a Decoration Day ceremony.   He told me just to read some Scripture and pray.  That I could do.  And I have done it ever since.  And then there were the Ramp Suppers.  Someone asked me if I was going to the Ramp Supper at the fire station.  I did not have a clue!  I later learned that ramps are wild onions with a very strong odor and that people eat them with potatoes and beans and ham, etc.  Another lesson learned, I go to the Ramp Dinner every year.

 

Another mountain tradition is baptism in the creek.  I have baptized nearly three hundred people in the creek over the years.  The water flows down from two springs and does not see sunlight until it is almost at the baptizing spot.  Snakes have been killed right before the baptism.  The extremely cold water causes people to be real serious about baptism in order to get into the water.  I have baptized as late as December on a forty-two degree day.  I have never gotten sick because of the cold water.  Praise the Lord!!

 

I am a believer in radio.  In May of 1990, I began a fifteen minute program live every Sunday morning on WFSC in Franklin.  The program was a blessing to many.  The Fletchers first heard about Victory Baptist Church through the program.  After two months, I received a phone call from a retired school teacher who lived down Route 441 towards Sylva.  He said that he had been listening but had trouble receiving the signal.  He asked me to go to the Sylva station--WRGC--and see if they had any time available on Sunday morning and to let him know.  I got the information and went back to see the man.  He gave me a check that day for the first year of broadcast on the Sylva station.   We have been on both stations ever since without missing one Sunday.  I constantly meet people who are helped and blessed through the ministry of “Victory For Today.” 

 

Family reunions are big in the mountains.  I made it a practice to attend every one that I could so that I could get to know the people better.  It is a practice that I do not regret.

 

Growth

As the years went by, the church and school both grew at a rapid pace.  New buildings were needed.  The church voted to build a house for the Pastor in 1990.  Brother Cliff Cyphers volunteered to oversee the project and on Christmas Eve, 1990, we moved in.  Most of the labor was done by the men of the church.  The construction time was about fourteen weeks.         Several names come to mind concerning the house.  One was Henry Wilhoit--a man in his 80's but still very active.  He volunteered much of his time.  He had been a contractor for years.  He even got up on the roof with Ray Shepherd and roofed the house.  While I am thinking of Henry Wilhoit, let me relate two other stories.  On a Wednesday night, we voted to increase our missions giving by a substantial amount.  Henry was in the service and asked to speak with me after the service.  He then told me that he had figured out the amount it would take to cover the increase for the first year.  He then said that he would give that amount.  He also said that Victory Baptist Church would be blessed by the Lord if we continue to make missions a priority.   Several years later, Henry’s wife (Lilly) was very sick and in the hospital in Vero Beach, Florida.  He called me and asked me if I would fly down and spend some time with her.  He felt that if she saw me then she would feel better.  He said that he would pay for all of my expenses if I would do so.  So I flew down and spent two days with them.  When I arrived he asked me for my plane ticket receipt.  He then went looking throughout the house and came back with over $600 in cash to cover my expenses.  He was indeed a unique man. 

 

In 1992, the school desperately needed more space.  Sam McMahan was the principal.  He drew up the basic plan for what we now know as Building “A”.  The men of the church did most of the work.  One man who volunteered, although he had just started visiting the church, was Everett Driggers, who was in his 70's.  He showed up many nights and helped us finish the building.  At one point in the construction of building “A”, we were almost out of money.  We had deter-mined that we would “pay as we go.”  Before church one night, a dear member came to me with a generous check and said, “Keep on building, Preacher.” So we did.  At another point in the construction, the money was running low. After a school PTO meeting, a grand- parent came to me with a check for five thousand dollars to keep us building.  So we did.  We moved into the building in late fall of 1992.

 

In 1993, a dear couple met with me and a few other of our leaders.  They said that they wanted to help us build a gym so that the school children would have a place to play during the cold winter months.   They offered to match $15,000 if the church could come up with that amount in thirty days.  The church came up with $16,500. I went to see the couple and gave them the news. Sitting at a restaurant table, they wrote a check for $16,500 to help start the gym construction.  So we had $33,000 for the project without a contractor or a plan. Eventually, a plan and a contractor was in place and the work began.  One Saturday night, a young couple knocked on my door.  They came in and visited for a while.  Before they left they expressed their desire to help with the gym construction and handed me a check. I put it in my pocket and they left.  As I went to the bedroom to empty my pockets, I looked at the check in amazement.  I called for my wife to look at it with me for I was in shock.  The check was for $5,000.  A few days later, a lady visited the church for the first time.  On the way out the door, she shook my hand and made the following statement:  “My son (the $5,000 donor) told me that you’re building a gym.  I want to help.  Please use this.”  She handed me a check which I put in my pocket. While walking up to the parsonage with Beth, I pulled the check out of my pocket and looked at it with amazement-$5,000.   GOD IS AMAZING!!   But I am  not  through yet.  I was teaching one of five classes one day when someone knocked on my door.  A man, who I barely knew, told me that he had to leave town but that he wanted to help us with the gym construction.  He handed me a check for $3,000!!

 

The gym was finished in February, 1994.  It has been the most used building on the property during the last ten years with church services, Awanas, dinners, and ball games.  It is ironic that during this time of amazing blessings in the gym project, I was personally having a very trying year.  Brother Frampton had gone to Bob Jones to begin work on a Master’s Degree and was only here on the weekends.  A man we had hired to be the Assistant Principal and to teach much in the High School quit after only three weeks.  I ended up teaching five classes a day besides all of my pastoral duties.  I was making about three trips a week to Asheville because one of our ladies was in very bad shape at the hospital.  She was hospitalized for months.  My wife would drive me so that I could work on sermons, make out test, etc.  Also, a lady we had hired to teach Science classes had to have cancer surgery and missed many months.  All the while, God gave the grace and strength and the work continued to prosper.

 

One of the more interesting people I got to know was Bert Webb.  He was the father of one of our ladies and was well-known in the community as a singer and fisherman.  He spent his 100^th birthday at our church and tried to sing his favorite song:  “What Will I Leave Behind.”  I visited with him at Britthaven Nursing Home on many occasions.  On one such visit, we talked for about one hour.  He could talk about Babe Ruth, World War I., etc.  I am a history student and was fascinated to talk with a man who was born in 1891.  As I got ready to leave, I stood and had prayer with him, then he said, “Now who did you say you are?”  I then reminded him that I was Ethel and Corsey’s Pastor.  I had the privilege of helping to conduct his funeral a few months later.

 

Another interesting man I got to know was Robert Franks.  He did not attend our church but lived in our community.  I remember seeing him on his 100^th birthday.  He was  sitting  on a milk crate  at  the local store eating  his  lunch  which  consisted of a  bologna sandwich and some chips.  He was the very picture of contentment.  He lived to be 103.

 

In the spring of 1996, a man asked to take me out to lunch.  As we sat in the restaurant, he asked me what the school needed.  I told him that we needed a place for the kids to eat lunch.  He started scribbling on a napkin.  What started as a lunchroom ended up being a two story building consisting of a dining room, fully furnished kitchen, two regular classrooms, and  a furnished computer lab.  And the majority of the cost was paid for by that one man.  The building (building “B”) was finished in 1996.

 

Many other things have occurred facility wise during these years.  The parking lot has been paved, sidewalks have been poured and covered with awnings.  Two things come to mind.  We had to construct a new driveway entrance in order to build the gym.  We hired some men to do this with the promise that we would be able to use the new driveway on the next Sunday.  BUT,  it  was  not  done  and  the  old  one  had  been excavated!! So we posted a sign and a deaon at the 441 turnoff and directed the traffic down to Pumpkintown Road and up Perley Hyatt Road,  behind  the church. Then the traffic went up the parsonage driveway, turned around on the patio, and drove across the front yard to the church.  Where there’s a will there’s a way!!!

 

One Sunday in 1994, I stood before the congregation with a proposal.  We needed air conditioning in the auditorium in the worst way.  We were packed into the little building and the heat and humidity were stifling.  I asked all who would donate to this need to place a slip of paper with an amount in a cardboard box at the evening service.  That morning as I was shaking hands on the porch, a man (Methodist) who visited our church regularly spoke to me concerning the air conditioning.  He  said  that  he  would  put  the  air conditioning  in the  building  and that  we should  just send the bill to him!!!  I stood before the church that night and told them to “keep their slips” and that God had met the need!!!   By the next Sunday, the air con-ditioning was in. 

 

Spiritual Growth

There have been many spiritual blessings and victories.  I will relate a few.  Clifton Franks was a well-known man in our community.  Most people knew that he did not really care for church or preachers.  He had “run a few off” in his time.  I met him early on and we took a “liking” to each other.  I visited with him and became his friend.  He came to church quite often.  One of his brothers died suddenly and unexpectedly.  Clifton asked me to conduct his funeral.  Later, his dear mother died and he asked me to conduct her funeral.  One Saturday I was out visiting.  I came across Clifton and his five sons painting a fence on one of his properties.  I was not dressed to paint but the boys kidded me about being a preacher and not getting dirty.  I jumped in my car and took off to the house, changed clothes, and returned.  To their surprise, I took a brush and helped finish the fence.  As we were cleaning up, Clifton made an announcement to his sons, “Boys, any preacher who helps us paint  a fence  deserves  our attention.  We’re going to church tomorrow morning.”  The next morning, Clifton, his wife, and four of his sons came to church!!  A few months later, I received a phone call early in the morning from one of his sons.  He said  that  Clifton  wanted  to  see  me  because  he wanted to get saved!!  I rushed to the Sylva hospital only to discover that a good preacher friend of mine, Eddie Stillwell, had stopped by the room before I got there and led him to the Lord!!   When I got there, Clifton looked at me and said, “Preacher, I want you to meet the NEW Clifton Franks!!”  We rejoiced together that day.  Over the next few days, Clifton took a turn for the worse.  Six days later I went to see him at the hospital in Asheville. During my visit, he suddenly passed away.  Since that time, I have shared with this family some deep sorrows.  I have preached the funeral of three of his sons (ages 39, 46, and 41).  His dear wife Cil is a member of our church.  I have a special friendship with this dear lady and her family.

 

I met Bob Morgan because Bob Holbrooks (who I was witnessing to) took me to meet Helen Morgan.  She told me about her grandson (little Bob).  She said he needed the Lord.  She told me that he played golf, one of my hobbies.  I eventually met him and golfed with him many times.  I kept inviting him to church and he finally came a few times.  On one Sunday morning before Christmas, I gave the invitation and Bob raised his hand for prayer.  During the invitation, he gripped the pew.  Bill Howell asked him if he could go with him to get saved.  Bob said that he wanted to wait for his grandmother to be there.  Bill told him that he might not have that opportunity.  Bob immediately left his place and came to Christ.

 

Keith McFalls is another wonderful story.  Ed Frampton had witnessed to him.  He had come to church several times but had not accepted Christ.  One Saturday, after conducting the wedding of Chris and Rachel VanHorn, I had an unusual burden to go see Keith.  After visiting in his home for about one hour, I walked out on the porch.  His wife, Barbara, asked me how a person could join the church.  I told her that one must be saved and baptized in order to be a member.  She gave me her testimony of having done both.  I then turned to Keith and asked, “Have you ever been saved?”  He said, “No, but I sure would like to!”  I got so excited.  I ran to my car to get my New Testament.  Little did I know that it was in my pants pocket all along.  I sat  on  the front  porch  between  Keith  and Barbara  and led  him to  the Lord.   He was baptized shortly thereafter.  He became a faithful member even going out with me to visit some of his old friends who were not saved.

 

One Sunday morning, a dear lady stepped out and came down the aisle at the invitation.  I do not remember her name.  She had come to church with Bill and Miriam Howell.  As she got to the altar she reached out her hand and said to me: “Father, I need to be saved.”  I have never been called that as a preacher.  She was coming from a Roman Catholic background and addressed me in the only way she knew how.  My wife led her to the Lord that morning. 

 

Our church is located twelve miles from Western Carolina University.  A  couple  (Bennie  and  Emily Pokemire) had come to our church because he was working  on  an  art  degree at  Western  Carolina University.  One Sunday they brought a student with them whose name was Maria.  She was from the Netherlands.  She had never heard the gospel.  After coming several times, she accepted the Lord as her Savior.   Later, I had the privilege of baptizing her.  After finishing her school work, she returned to the Netherlands.  Later, she sent our church a gift of art work which still hangs on the back wall of the old auditorium.

 

Margaret Rish came with her small children to Vacation Bible School every night in 1993.  I had been to her house many times to witness to her husband but not to her.  I told Elizabeth Johnson to be sure to invite Margaret to church the following Sunday because Tom Farrell would be preaching here for the first time.  She came, Brother Farrell preached and I stood at the altar as a teary-eyed Margaret came down the aisle and to the Lord.  She is now one of our faithful workers.

 

Nancy Hammerly had a burden for her mother to be saved.  She brought her to church on a Sunday morning in 1995 when Brother Farrell was here to preach again. Mrs. Hammerly came to Christ that morning.   Little did I know that six weeks later she would be on her death bed in the Sylva hospital.  As I visited with her on the day before her death, she asked me a question, “Preacher; I have not been baptized yet.  Can we do it here?”  I explained to her that true Biblical baptism could not be done in the ICU BUT that she was sure of Heaven because of her faith in the work of Christ on the cross.  She died that night with that assurance.

One Sunday morning in 1998, I preached on “One Way”  --a message  that  I  had  thrown  in  the garbage can and retrieved after the Lord dealt with me about preaching it.  In the service that morning was a young man named Kirk McPhail (eighteen years old).  He came to church with a young lady he had been dating.  Another side to this story is that I had met his grandparents and his mother through the tragic loss of their house to an arsonist’s fire.  They had been attending our church for several months. That morning, Kirk stepped out at the invitation and accepted Christ.  He had been one of Jackson County’s leading “party animals.”  His life had been one of much alcohol and drug abuse.  The Lord really moved into Kirk’s life.  Dr. Ron Comfort came to preach a revival at Victory about two months later.  Kirk became familiar with Ambassador Baptist College.  I took him for a visit in November and he enrolled in January, 1999.  He is still studying there and preparing for the work that the Lord has for him.

 

I met Glen and Debbie Robinson because Arlene Davis was looking after their children after school until they got home from work.  Debbie and the kids started coming to church and were saved and baptized. However, Glen did not come except on rare occasions.  I spent a lot of time with him.  He told me that he had been saved as a teen but had strayed away for years.  In September, 2000, we had a Revival Meeting with Tom Farrell.  Many of us were deeply burdened for Glen. Much prayer was offered. On Friday after-noon of that week, Glen called me about 1:00 PM and asked me to come to his house.  He said that he needed to talk with me real bad.  I put down my lunch and went to his house.  Glen was a broken man.  He wanted to come back to the Lord and  he did  that afternoon at his house.  That night, I called Glen to the platform at the close of the service and shared with the church what had happened that afternoon.  There was much rejoicing in the gym that night.  Glen and his family faithfully attend our church today.

 

I met Larry Cabe because Sandra McMahan’s sister was married to him.  He started visiting the church on occasion.  When his dad died, he asked me to preach the funeral and I did.  A few days later I went to his house to witness to him.  I sat at his kitchen table and presented the gospel to him.  He did not accept Christ that night but was under conviction.  A few months later at the same revival meeting in September, 2000, on that same Friday night, Larry raised and waved his hand for prayer at the invitation time.  And when the invitation started, he almost ran to the altar to trust Christ.  I later baptized him and he is a faithful member of Victory today.

 

I met Warren Buchannan because his wife and daughter came to our church and joined.  Warren did not know the Lord.  I visited with him on many occasions.  He is a shy mountain man.  One Friday night he and I sat on his front porch and talked.  I described Hell to him and told him that if he did not come to Christ that he would spend eternity there. He did not get saved that night.  BUT, the following Sunday was “Old-Fashioned Day.”  I preached in my overalls and gave the invitation. Warren was escorted by his wife, Nancy, to the altar and there accepted Christ.  He told me later that it was what I told him that night on his porch that brought him to the Lord.  Warren and his wife and daughter and two grandsons still attend our church today.

 

Mike LaVigne was the father of a young man named Jason LaVigne, who had been led to the Lord by Sam McMahan.  Mike was not saved.  I visited him several times.  In September, 2001, we had a Revival Meeting with Ron Bishop.  I knew that on Monday night Brother Ron would preach “He will Set Your Fields on Fire.”  Mike came to church that night and was saved at the close of the service.  He faithfully attends Victory today with his family.

 

Corey Boone was a teenager working at Roses.  One  of  our  ladies,  Evelyn  McMahan,  constantly witnessed  to  him and  invited him  to  church.  One Sunday in March on my anniversary at the church, Cory lingered on the front porch until I finished shaking hands. While the rest of the crowd went to the gym for a dinner, Corey asked me about getting saved. I took him up to the office and he got saved that day.  I then took him to the gym and introduced him to everyone as a new believer.  I later baptized him.  He is now the pastor of a Baptist church in Jackson County.

 

Dale Ridley was a burden to my heart for several years.  I went to his house almost weekly to shoot pool with him and talk to him about the Lord  and  church.  He came to church occasionally.  I was severely injured in a 4-wheeler accident in August, 1996.  I was in ICU for ten days at the Angel Hospital in Franklin.  A planned Revival meeting with Brother Tom Farrell went on as scheduled.  On the first Sunday morning of the meeting, Dale accepted the Lord.  I heard about it in the hospital and sent for Dale and his wife, Joyce, to come and see me.  They came that night after church and we rejoiced over what the Lord had done.  He was soon baptized and he and his wife are faithful members of Victory today.

 

Charles Nichols works as a probation officer in Macon County.  I met him because his step-daughter had gotten saved at Victory.  He started visiting our church. On one “Old-Fashioned Day” he stepped down the aisle at the invitation.  He told me that he had been baptized as a boy but did not know Jesus Christ.  He got saved that day and is a faithful member of our church today.

 

Barbara Nichols is Charles’ wife.  I met her because her daughter had gotten saved at our church.  She was a bitter person because of many things in her past.  My wife and I went to visit her one day.  We talked with her about her bitterness and her unwilling-ness to forgive. After we prayed with her we left.  Later that day she called me.  She said that she was working at forgiving. She had been walking in her garden and pulling up a weed every time she forgave someone.  She said that her problem was that she had “run out of weeds” and wasn’t through forgiving yet!! Today, in spite of incredible physical sufferings and hardships, she is one of the sweetest ladies at Victory with a real testimony for the Lord.

 

Grant Jones is a real “mountain man.”  I met him because his daughter-Elizabeth Johnson-was one of our faithful workers.  I and several other men visited Grant many times trying to get him to church.  He was saved but backslidden.  Then a tragedy came to his family as his sweet daughter--Linda Franks--died after a long bout with cancer at the age of forty-one.  On the day of the funeral, Grant and I sat at the Macon Funeral Home waiting our time of departure to our church for the service.  He told me that he had no excuse for being out of church and that starting next Sunday he would be there on a regular basis.  That has been over seven years ago and he has kept his promise.

 

Derek Zullo was a young man I had known since his elementary school days.  His father (Ken) had gotten saved and baptized and his mother (Leigh) had gotten baptized at Victory.  Derek had also been saved and baptized at our church. I had spent much time with him over the years--especially at church camp.  On the last Sunday of February of 1998, I preached a message on “The Fear of the Lord” using the story of Annanias and Sapphira.  The following Tuesday night I received a call from Brother Frampton telling me that we needed to go to the Zullo home and that something tragic may have happened.  Derek had left home in rebellion and had been living out of his car for about two weeks.  A body had been found in Haywood County and the law officers believed that it might be Derek.  I did not want Ken and Leigh to have to go and check it out.   So Brother Ed and I rode in a car with two law officers to Waynesville.  It was a cold snowy night.  I had to go into the morgue alone with one officer.  I had never done this before.  After several minutes of examining a body, I determined that it was Derek.  He had been brutally murdered.   The ride back to the house was filled with much dread and prayer.  Along with the Jackson County Sherriff, I told the Zullos that it was indeed Derek that had been murdered. He was eighteen.  Ed and I spent the rest of the night at the house talking with the Zullos.  The next few days were a  blur of  phone calls, TV interviews,  newspaper writers,  helping  the  family  and  our  grief-stricken students, and preparing for the funeral.  I saw the grace of God at work in the lives of people like never before.  The funeral was held in our gym and attended by over four hundred people.  If I live to be a hundred, I will never forget that tragedy.

 

Julie Horne is the daughter-in-law of one of our faithful couples--Tim and Elaine Case.  I met her in the spring of 2003 when she and her husband, Tom, and their six precious girls, moved from Florida to North Carolina.  My wife and I made several visits to get to know them.  During the summer of 2003, our church   sponsored “Neighborhood Bible Time.”  I brought the six girls to church each night and got to know the family well.  Two of the girls got saved that week.  A few weeks later Julie came to church and was saved at the close of the service.  A short time later, she and the girls were baptized.

 

Tom and Barbara Boylston had been long time friends of some of our seasonal friends--the Hartwigs. Tom is a Gentile and Barbara is Jewish.  They did not know the Lord. They started visiting the church services in the late summer of 2003.  But they did not accept the Lord.  October came and they were about to leave for the winter.   They waited here to come to our annual “Old-Fashioned Day” on the last Sunday in October.  I preached that day and they sat on the second row.  Barbara has a hearing impairment and reads my lips as I preach.  When I gave the invitation, Tom stepped out immediately and said that he needed to be saved.  What he did not know was that his wife had stepped out right behind him and wanted to accept the Lord.  They were both gloriously saved that day.

 

More Joys

One of the joys of this ministry has been to see God call people out of the church and to the mission field.  In February, 2001, my dear associate--Brother Ed Frampton and his family left to do the work of the Lord in South Africa.  How I miss them but how I rejoice in how God is using them!

 

Brother Ted DeHart and his wife, Dawn, went on a missions trip to Mexico in 1998.  God dealt with their hearts then about how they could be used of the Lord as “Lay-missionaries.”   As a result of their surrendering to do the Lord’s will, they are now missionaries in Durango, Mexico, assisting Brother Robert Hawke in his ministry.

 

Another one of our fine workers, Arlene Davis, has surrendered to do whatever the Lord desires and is currently in Israel serving the Lord.

Funerals and weddings provide settings for unusual things to occur.   I have preached funerals which were well attended--hundreds of people, and funerals with only ten to fifteen people present.

One time I was asked to conduct  a funeral service for a non-member.  I had visited the man in the hospital several times and had met some of the family.  I was glad to help.  When I arrived at the funeral home that day the director met me outside.  He told me that the family was meeting in the back room and discus-sing a very important issue--where the deceased was to be buried!!!  It was 1:15 PM and the funeral was to begin at 2:00 PM.   The argument had come about because the man had been divorced and had “two families.”  Well, the argument was settled and the funeral went off without any problems.  After the funeral, I went outside to wait on the family and the casket.  A weeping man met me outside and began to thank me for what I had said about his friend.  He reached into his pocket and gave me two “$20" bills.  I tried to refuse but he insisted that I take them.  I put them in my pocket and he kept on talking and crying.  He then reached into his pocket and pulled out two more “$20" bills and gave them to me.  By then the family and the casket had arrived and our conversation ended.  I went to the cemetery and conducted the service.  As I was about to leave, a member of the family came to me with an envelope and a thank you.  Inside the card was a “$50" bill.  I left the cemetery that day with $130 that I did  not  expect.   Please understand that I do not charge for funerals or wed-dings.  But sometimes the Lord does some mysterious things!!

 

Two wedding incidents stand out in my memory.  One was when we were at the church and about to start the ceremony when we realized that nobody had the rings.  Someone had to make about an hour roundtrip to get them.  I went to the house and told them to come and get me when they were ready.  The 2:00 PM ceremony did not start until after 3:00 PM.  The couple got married and are happily married today.

 

Another time I was to conduct a wedding ceremony at another church of another denomination.  The wedding was set for 3:00 PM.  It was 2:50 PM and there was no groom.  Everyone was very nervous.  At 3:00 PM I told Brother Frampton (who was playing the organ) to keep on playing.  At 3:15 PM the groom arrived claiming he had car trouble.  I let the bride and the groom talk for a few minutes in private.  I then went to them and asked them if they still wanted to go through with the ceremony.  They said “yes” although the bride did not smile much during the ceremony.

 

Some things defy explanation.  I was sitting at the church office one Saturday afternoon counseling a young couple about marriage.  The phone rang and I answered.  A man, who I knew somewhat, asked me if I was free that afternoon.  I told him that I would be in about an hour or so.  I called him when I finished the counseling and he asked me if I could meet him at a men’s clothing store in Franklin.  So I did.  Before we went into the store, he told me that we were going on a shopping trip and for me to not be concerned with price tags!!  Please understand…I am not much of a shopper, especially for clothes.  I have worn the same suits for many years.  Well--the shopping trip began.  What I did not know was that he had called ahead and told the store owner what he was up to.  They started bringing out suits and ties and sport jackets for me to try on.  When all was said and done, I walked out of that exclusive store with 3 suits, 1 sport jacket and matching pants, 5 dress shirts, 11 ties, and 2 belts.  The total bill was around $2,200.00.  The man paid the bill and we walked out of the store.  Then he said, “I understand you have some company coming in tonight.  You’ll need to feed them.  Take this.”  He gave me $80 to take them out.   I was in shock.   This man did not attend my church and was not even a Baptist!!  I went home and shared all of these blessings with my wife and son.   Once our company came, we went to a restaurant.  I saw one of our fine couples eating there.  I went over to their table and picked up their ticket and told them it was on me.  They were shocked.  I told them that I had had a “real good day” and that I just wanted to do something for someone.  That was one day that I did not want to end!!!

 

Sometimes the Lord does something special for you when you are simply doing your work.  One of our men asked me to go to the hospital and see a friend of his who had had a heart attack.   I went and had a pleasant visit.  The man asked me if I liked college football.  I told him of my loyalty to Clemson.  He told me that he was an Alabama man.  He asked me if I had plans for that coming Saturday.  I told him that I had nothing unusual planned.  He asked me if I would like to attend the Alabama-Auburn game on that day.  He had two tickets and would not be able to go because of his heart attack.   Well, Ben and I went and had  the time of our lives as we are both huge college football fans and that particular game is one of the top games in the country every year. Ain’t God good!!!