July 22, 2021 (Thursday)
I enrolled in East Texas Baptist College in the fall of 1949, but after nine weeks as a student, had missed so many classes because of allergies and asthma in Marshall, that I withdrew and enrolled for the winter quarter at Baylor University in Waco, where my health improved dramatically. During my days at ETBC, I met some people who are my friends to this day. One of those people was Merrell Brooks.
Merrell was pastor of the Morton Baptist Church. He was the only pastor the church had ever had, and had baptized nearly all the members himself. He had gone to the community, which had no church, without a car and wearing overalls, strung up some lights and started preaching. By the time I met him, he had been pastor there for about two years, I think. I asked him if I could go with him on Sunday and try my hand at leading the singing for him, and we hitched a ride with another preacher boy and went to Morton for church services. I continued to go with him as long as I was a student at ETBC.
When the folks there invited their pastor to lunch, they pulled out all the stops and put so much delicious food on the table, there was hardly room enough for it all. There was chicken, beef, pork, home-grown and homecooked vegetables, desserts of every kind .. my, oh my! When I got back to the dorm after my first meal out there, and told the boys in my room about it, they wouldn’t believe me and teased me about my gross exaggerations for days and days. But, I’m here to tell you, that’s the way it was. The people of the church sacrificed and provided elaborate Sunday meals for their pastor because they loved him so much.
He was just a boy, but all his members called him, “Brother Brooks,” and I was impressed immediately by the high respect the people had for him. On one Sunday, we had lunch with one of the deacons who had been won to the Lord by Merrell. The deacon’s family had accepted Christ and plans were made to baptize them, but the deacon, who at the time was not a believer, told the young preacher boy that he would kill him if he tried to baptise his family. Merrell went ahead with the baptism, with the future deacon standing there holding his rifle. No shots were fired, but a heart was broken, and the man came to Christ. I’ve never met a man with a sweeter spirit than that deacon.
That experience typified Merrell’s ministry. He was always busy for the Lord. Later in his life he started another church in Longview with nothing but a dream to drive him forward. It became a wonderful church. I’ll always be thankful for Merrell Brooks and the influence he had on my life. He’s with the Lord today. I’m sure the Lord has made arrangements for him to keep preaching in Heaven. He wouldn’t be happy any other way.
