Yesterday I had the opportunity to think about those who have had a profound impact on my life. This is what I concluded yesterday that I want to do in the future.

I want to become a person of greater gratitude and deeper appreciation for those who have blessed my life.

I determined to do this when I reflected on the tremendous contribution that Bobby and Dorothy Brown made to my life and my ministry.

When I was about 15 years old, Bobby Brown became pastor of the Brantley Baptist Church. His becoming pastor of the church helped me immensely.

Bobby Brown helped me with the tough decisions of life. As I struggled with what God wanted me to do with my future, he helped me to make the decision – the very tough decision – to tell God that I would do what he wanted me to do. That simple prayer became the opening that God used to call me into ministry.

Soon after I received and accepted the call to Christian ministry, Bobby Brown found a place for me to preach on a Wednesday night.

I spent about 20 hours getting ready for that first sermon. I can still remember it. I preached from the call of Abraham in Genesis chapter 12. After spending 20 hours preparing, I stood up on Wednesday night and gave them everything that I knew and everything I learned. It took eight minutes.

Later, he gave me opportunities to learn about other aspects of pastoral ministry. He let me help with funerals and he showed me the ropes about a number of things that pastor’s routinely do.

A few months later he found a place that needed a pastor. I suppose he basically told these folks “you need a pastor and he needs to learn to be a pastor. This is a perfect match.”

And, it was. The Searight Baptist Church blessed my life then and continues to do so now.

I thank God for Bobby Brown and how he helped teach me pastoral ministry. I particularly am thankful how he helped me learn to lead the church.

Bobby Brown prepared the field before he planted a crop. He worked to tell the story of what he believed to be God’s leadership for the church. He explained why it was a good idea and worked to get people on board.

In my years in the church, he was the most effective leader we had. I didn’t have a long history to compare him with, but my parents felt the same way. He got things done, and he led the church to work together.

Soon, I intend to give a full explanation of how this plan blesses the church.

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