September 5, 2016 (Monday)
This Labor Day weekend is the 68th anniversary of my first sermon, preached at the Liberty Road Baptist Church of Houston, Texas. My pastor, Richard E. Hunt, was on a brief vacation and he asked me to preach at the morning worship service. He asked David Foster to preach his first sermon at the evening worship service. There were six of us “preacher boys” in the church (Charles Fake, Maurice Smith, Herb Zimmerman, Townsend Taake, David Foster, and Troy Conner). I was the late comer and had been in church only two months after an absence of five years. Actually I was saved and baptized five years earlier, but had not attended the church. (Long story). My sermon was “Living as Jesus,” from the text, Philippians 2:5, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.”
Charles, Maurice, Herb, Townsend, David, Troy
It’s hard for me to believe that all those years have come and gone so quickly. As the saying goes, “a lot of water has run under the bridge.” I committed my life to the ministry in the summer of 1948, then participated in ministries with the other young people of the church in homes for the aged, a tuberculosis hospital, local churches, etc. Then, after a year, off to college where I went with student preachers to their churches and then became Associate Pastor at Groesbeck in the spring of 1950. I sang or preached in lots of revival meetings for several years, became pastor at Oletha, graduated from college, married, became pastor of a mission church in Lampasas, then back to Fort Worth where I had secular jobs while attending the seminary, started a family, pastored at Briar, Texas, then at Kosse, Texas, Dallas, Texas, and finally, Rockport, Texas, where I stayed until retirement in 1996. In the 20 years since retirement, I have continued to preach as supply preacher in a number of churches, pastor in Houston, and Interim pastor at Refugio, Rockport and Ingleside.
Singing at Groesbeck
I know many of you have heard all this many times, but bear with the nostalgic day dreams of an elderly guy. Just thinking back over 68 years of ministry. This is not the whole story. I guess you could say it’s the condensed version. Of those 6 “preacher boys” of 1948, three of us are still living and serving the Lord whenever possible. The bonds of love that tie our hearts together are eternal.