Yesterday, I had the privilege of preaching for Pastor Paul Calaway at the Fundamental Baptist Church in Alvarado, Texas. God blessed us with an amazing day. Pastor Calaway planned a special day that he called, “Friend Sunday.” He was going to give out a large trophy to the person who brought the most friends. We had a total of 24 visitors for the day. Pastor Calaway’s young boy brought 10 of those visitors. It is always encouraging to see the youth excited about bringing people to church. We had one saved, and the LORD blessed with the altars filled.
One special blessing was meeting Mrs. Sue Garner. Mrs. Garner, as a child, was a member of the First Baptist Church where J. Frank Norris pastored. She told me she still has the graduation certificate that he signed when she graduated from one Sunday school class to another. She also told me some wonderful stories about J. Frank Norris and his influence on her young life. That influence caused her to serve the LORD and eventually marry a man who would pastor for many years before the LORD took him to Heaven. What encouraged me about Mrs. Garner was that she is still serving the LORD after all of these years. Her standards have not dropped and her spirit of serving the LORD is contagious. What a great lady! What an example to all of us that our influence can live on many years after we are gone.
I want to thank Pastor Calaway and the great people of this church for making me feel at home while I was with them. I certainly expect to see great things coming from this church. It’s good to see that soul winning, old fashioned preaching and standards still make an influence in our day.