Life Continues Take Funny Turns

Tuesday morning at the 2011 Alabama Baptist State Convention, my thoughts went back over thirty-eight years to place now gone.  I hope you know by now that I do have an attention deficit disorder, and my mind goes on a tangent.  On this occasion, Dr. David Potts was giving the annual Judson College report.  He had invited two of his students to share how Judson College was changing their lives.  They were part of the team from Judson that serves donuts and coffee to visitors to the Judson College exhibit. No, I know what you are thinking.  I did not eat any of those “hot” Krispy Kreme Donuts.  Shame on you for having those thoughts when I sacrificed by not having any.  See, I suffered a little ADD for a moment.

As Dr. Potts introduced this beautiful student, her last name was Davenport, and I noticed she looked familiar.  He said that she was from Jemison, my hometown, and her was church Mineral Springs, my brother is music director there.  I realized that I did know her.  That is what took me back thirty-eight plus years.

The place was concrete tables, underneath oak trees, behind Union Springs Baptist Church, my home church, which is located between Jemison and Randolph, Alabama.  I was talking to James Earl Davenport.  Up home, a lot of boys and men have Earl for their middle name.  At Jemison High School, there was Dudley Earl Burnette, Rickey Earl Coles, Maston Earl Martin Jr., Ricky Earl Posey, and Bobby Earl Hopper in my senior class.  I do not know for whom we are named, but Earl must have been popular in the early 1950’s.  Oops, I went ADD again.

James Earl was six years older than I was.  He already had a small son and daughter.  We were having a church get together for young married couples.  We were talking hot topics of that time.  James Earl was worried about life and the terrible shape of our nation and world.  “End times” were hot topics of that era and everyone was talking about Hal Lindsey’s book The Late Great Planet Earth.  I had a copy at the time.  We were sure that the Lord would return any day because times were so terrible.  When I think of that time, I never imagined that things would be as they are currently.

That evening, James Earl said that if he had it to do again, he would not have had children.  He feared bringing children into such a horrible environment.  I remember when our older two children were small that I would hear their weeping at night fearing some foreign power would take Andy and Angel from us.  I would remind her that if we taught them God’s Word, they could be another Daniel or Joseph of the Old Testament.

A few years down the road after that cement table conversation, I had the privilege of teaching James Earl’s son.  He was a polite and teachable.  He became a good student and had a scholarship offer to play football at Troy University.  During the summers, he would work with his dad and me at the cement plant.

He married another one of our co-workers' daughters and they had two girls and adopted a couple of children after their daughters were teenagers.  One daughter and I did a wedding together in Springville.  I did the ceremony, and the daughter played the violin.  She also plays violin with a Christian ensemble with my nephew.  That nephew is the son of my music director brother at Mineral Springs.

I did recognize that student from Judson who was devoting her life to ministry.  She is the sister to the violinist, daughter of the young boy I taught in Sunday School, and the granddaughter of the one who had second thoughts about bringing up children in a cruel world.  Life takes funny turns.

I still feel the same about children today.  I wanted our children to make a Christian difference in life.  The Word of God reminds us to be fruitful and replenish the earth.  It is God’s way of having His people be salt and light in a decaying world.

When I had an opportunity, I visited the Judson Exhibit.  There behind the fresh hot crème covered donuts was James Earl and Ann Davenport’s daughter. Now, she is a spokesperson for Judson College at the Alabama Baptist State Convention at Dauphin Way Baptist in Mobile.  Standing before a couple of thousand believers, she encouraged us with how God was using her and how Judson was preparing her for ministry.

Some things are hard to envision.  That evening the two Earls, James and Bobby, never imagined that the horrific world of that time would be so anti-Christian, atrocious, and repulsive today.  God continues to call people into His fields.  The darker the days ahead, the brighter the light of God’s people shines.  I can’t wait to talk to James Earl.

O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.  O fear the Lord, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him.  Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord (Psalm 34:8-9, 11 KJV).

Good Old Common Sense

 

For several years I had a segment on Moody Radio with John Rogers and Martin Houston in the morning.  Martin was former running back with the University of Alabama and is a Baptist preacher.

That morning we talked about common sense or the lack thereof.  I really feel that people are losing the ability to have common sense.   For instance, did you hear about the man who visited a psychiatrist?   He told the doctor that he was stressed and could not sleep.  After a few questions, the doctor suggested that the man take a few weeks vacation.  The man said that he and his family had just returned from two weeks in the Bahamas.

The doctor then suggested that the man might need to buy a new automobile or truck.  The man responded by saying he just bought a new sports Mercedes convertible.  The doctor suggested that he might change locations and build a new house.  The man said I just built a million-dollar house at the country club.

The psychiatrist was bewildered because the man had everything a person could have.  The psychiatrist asked, “If you have and do all these things, why are you so stressed?”  The man replied, “I make only $250 dollars a week.”

Common sense says that one cannot spend more than one makes.  Unfortunately, we as a nation do the opposite and are part of an unbelievable national debt.  We are a credit card society that wants it now.

After the radio program, I ventured to an event at Judson College.  The guest was Dr. Timothy George, Dean of the Beeson School of Divinity at Samford University.  I had Dr. George for a class when I attended Beeson.  He asked where I was serving and I told him Bethel Baptist Association.  For several years I was the only Beeson graduate serving as a Director of Missions.  Beeson, or should I say, a few professors were proud of that.

Dr. George asked, where is Bethel saying that the last time we talked he said you were near Calera.  Being we were in the auditorium of Judson College in Marion I thought that telling him about 40 miles southwest of here would do.  He responded, “Is that near Tuscaloosa?”  I said that it was about 75 miles south of Tuscaloosa and a good bit north of Mobile on the US Highway 43 corridor.  I realized that my commonsense approach to the very intellectual Dr. George was not communicating.  It is almost like the old saying, “You can’t get there from here.”  What throws people for a loop is I say Bethel Baptist Association and they automatically try to remember their Alabama history and geography realizing that Bethel is not one of the sixty-seven counties.

I felt like I was playing the “hot or cold” game with him.  Every time he would name a town, he was way off base and I was trying get him closer.  He finally said, “Then, you are near Meridian, MS?”  I said that I was closer to Meridian than Tuscaloosa.

We broke for delicious dinner.  I cannot remember how the table conversation about Nanafalia came up, but a couple of pastors at my table said they did not know how to pronounce Nanafalia.  I said it was an Indian name.  All these men were of my generation so understood that “Injun” was what is the politically correct call Native American and not an owner of a service station or a motel. I told them that Nanafalia means long hill.  One of the preachers asked where it was.  I said on Alabama highway 10 between Sweet Water and Butler.  Most had a puzzled look.  I said Nanafalia is across the Tombigbee River from Ezell’s.  Ezell’s catfish restaurant is famous throughout Alabama.

Someone said, “Then Ezell’s is in Nanafalia?”  I said do not make that mistake because it is in Lavacoa in Choctaw County next to the Nanafalia Bridge.

So, I have had a day of Common Sense, Intellectual Conversation, Political Correctness, and Politics.  The event at Judson was about God, the Church, and Politics.  I realized that politics and common sense go together like oil and water.  The event was good and helped me with my responsibility as Christian citizen.  I left the meeting realizing that Romans Chapter 13 and Acts Chapter 4 are not contrary to each other when dealing with powers ordained by God, but reminds the reader that God owns everything.  Common sense says that there are moral laws that govern society.  These moral laws come from God.  If government breaks moral laws, then we must obey God.

Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God . . . (Romans 13:1ff KJV)

And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.  But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye . . . (Acts 4:18-19ff KJV)