Pop Troy`s Anthology

Pop Troy’s Anthology
Troy Robert Brady
Edited By
Elizabeth Thrash Brady
1992
Digitally Converted By
Robert Martin Brady
2003
1
PREFACE
After my wife published her book, "Reclaimed Memories," last year she insisted that we
take "my writings" and other pertinent materials, from my files and incorporate them in
book form. You now hold in your hand the printed copy of this miscellaneous
assortment, which is now firmly encased in her computer.
My endeavors in writing have been sporadic. Probably the first thing to be preserved in
written form, with the youthful exception of a few entries in the "Diary," is the sermon
published in the Elkins, West Virginia, daily newspaper in .947. I was pastor of the First
United Brethren Church in that city at the time and a sermon for publication was
requested by the editor. Almost all the poetry section was written during the decade of
the 40's; much of it inspired by the Second World War.
It was never my practice to write out my sermons. My pastors' record shows that I
preached over 5000 times and the only ones I typed are to be printed in this book. My
notes for each sermon were printed on half a typing sheet of paper, which fit inside the
Bible I carried. Most of these fifteen were done after my first light stroke in the late 60's.
It was at the request of my son, Marion, that I typed my memoirs, which comprise a large
section at the front of this book. It is quite a bit different from what Elizabeth has
written, although we recounted some of the same incidents. I wrote mine almost ten
years earlier than she did hers. The manuscript was placed in my files and we both had
completely forgotten that I had produced about forty typewritten pages. My wife was
overjoyed when she discovered them while
searching for materials for this book.
I appreciate the many hours my wife and my son, Howard, have spent compiling this
book. Elizabeth assures me that it has been a labor of love and a partial payment for the
isolation I endured while she was writing her book. This year it has been my turn to feel
guilty because of the long hours she has spent in front of her computer, on my behalf.
My prayer is that our combined efforts may offer some pleasure to our family members
and to any friends who might read all, or a part of, this book in years to come.
T. R. B.
2
Introduction
By Elizabeth Thrash Brady
I feel that I should add a page to Troy's manuscript. I believe a few reminiscences and
explanations, from my point of view, might be helpful to any who might read this book.
As I typed his work into the computer I recalled vividly many things that we experienced
together.
A quick examination of his book will show the reader that it is divided into distinct
sections, which are not related in any way. The first section entitled "Pioneers" is partly
fiction, as he explains in the body of the work. Troy has a real talent in writing "word
pictures," partly due to his imagination and partly to his study of maps of all
descriptions. The first four and one-half pages are certainly not to be taken as authentic
materials for a genealogical study, but as interesting reading, with a background of
tradition. After his note on page five, the names and dates he gives have been researched
by us, and are from my "Kinfolk" book.
I enter the picture in his "Life Changes" section and some of the events he relates are
incidents that I recorded in my "Reclaimed Memories." Some of these we both recall
because they were so funny and some because they had a great impact on our lives.
I thing my favorite section is the "Poetry and Song" section. I have always loved poetry
and Troy's musical ability was what attracted me in the beginning.
We had a good time reviewing his "Diary," and laughing at some of the entries. I began to
make use of it during our first pastorate in Cairo, West Virginia As you can understand
from this reading, I was a very happy mother of two sons and I just HAD to preserve a
record of some of their early accomplishments. I make no apologies for this; it is easily
understood by any doting mother!
Although Troy preached considerably more than 5000 sermons, only a record of fifteen
remain. I think this was probably all that he ever typed. Some of them I remember
vividly. Of course many of his outlines were used several times, especially in revivals. He
was a good evangelist and held many revivals in West Virginia, Ohio and Virginia. While
president of Shenandoah College and Conservatory of Music he preached in all but three
or four churches of the Evangelical United Brethren Denomination, of the entire Virginia
Conference. He preached somewhere practically every Sunday! Those four years were the
hardest of our entire ministry. It is a source of satisfaction now to receive literature from
the school, and to know it is growing and progressing in every way, in its Winchester
location. It is now Shenandoah University and received one gift of more than $3,000,000
from a single supporter last year.
I think the last three sections, Joshua Green, Holy Hilarity and Fifty Years Ago, would be
interesting to anyone who reads for enjoyment. They show Troy's ability to paint “word
pictures."
3
Table Of Contents
PREFACE..............................................................................................................................2
Introduction .........................................................................................................................3
PIONEERS ............................................................................................................................6
RICH MOUNTAIN ..............................................................................................................14
STORIES ABOUT RICH MOUNTAIN ........................................................................... 15
MY EARLY LIFE.................................................................................................................18
A CIVIL WAR STORY, as told me by my Grandfather Knaggs:............................................ 18
JUNIOR, WEST VIRGINIA................................................................................................24
LIFE CHANGES .................................................................................................................27
SEMINARY AND MINISTRY BEGINNINGS....................................................................32
BACK TO SCHOOL ...........................................................................................................36
ELKINS AND SHENANDOAH ..........................................................................................39
FLORIDA AND SINGERS GLEN YEARS ........................................................................44
POEMS & MUSIC ..............................................................................................................55
MY RICH MOUNTAIN HOME .................................................................................... 55
EMMANUEL ........................................................................................................ 56
IF I WERE GOD .................................................................................................... 57
EUCHARIST ........................................................................................................ 57
"QUEST FOR GOD?" .............................................................................................. 58
ADOBE .............................................................................................................. 58
METAMORPHOSIS ................................................................................................ 59
THE CHILDREN PLAYED ........................................................................................ 60
THANKS GIVING................................................................................................... 60
TRUE RICHES ..................................................................................................... 61
CONSECRATION................................................................................................... 61
LOOK UP! ........................................................................................................... 61
WHO ARE GOD'S SONS? ........................................................................................ 62
ORCHESTRA ....................................................................................................... 63
THE THREE MARYS .............................................................................................. 64
THE TRAGEDY OF DREAMING ................................................................................. 65
RAIN WITCHES .................................................................................................... 67
THE NECESSITY OF POETRY................................................................................... 68
WISHING BRIDE................................................................................................... 69
CRIMSON MIRROR................................................................................................ 70
BREATH OF DESTINY ............................................................................................ 71
THREE VOICES CRY ............................................................................................. 72
MISERERE FINI.................................................................................................... 73
AUTUMN REVISITED ............................................................................................. 74
MORNING WATCH ................................................................................................ 75
A MAP IS A THING OF MAGIC .................................................................................. 76
RELATIVITY ........................................................................................................ 77
CONQUEROR OF THE YEARS .................................................................................. 78
ACCUSER VS. ADVOCATE ...................................................................................... 79
HISTORY ............................................................................................................ 79
SEDITION ........................................................................................................... 80
4
THE THREE REBELS ............................................................................................. 81
STRANGE GIFT .................................................................................................... 83
THE HORRIBLE PIT ............................................................................................... 84
ROOMS .............................................................................................................. 85
PRE-HISTORIC MONSTER ...................................................................................... 85
MUSIC
Early In The Morning ..............................................................................................................86
Emmanuel..............................................................................................................................87
Back Home In West Virginia ....................................................................................................88
For Ev-Un-Breth Acres ............................................................................................................90
TROY'S DIARY ...................................................................................................................91
SERMONS ..........................................................................................................................98
ARE CHRISTIANS NORMAL PEOPLE? ......................................................................................98
GOD'S DEATH--A FALSE REPORT ......................................................................................... 101
GOD'S LOVING FAMILY ........................................................................................................ 105
COMMUNISM -THE IMITATION OF FAITH.............................................................................. 107
COMMUNISM IN CONTRASTS ............................................................................................... 110
COMMUNISM-CAPITALISM-WAYS THAT FAIL ........................................................................ 113
CASSADEGA CHALLENGE .................................................................................................... 120
COURAGE FOR THE COMING CRISIS.................................................................................... 122
THE ONE TRUE CHURCH ..................................................................................................... 124
TWO WRONG WAYS AND A RIGHT WAY ................................................................................ 127
WHEN OUR MINDS LIE TO OUR SOULS ................................................................................ 129
LOOKING IN THE WRONG MIRROR ....................................................................................... 132
WHAT IN THE WORLD IS THE CHURCH SUPPOSED TO DO ................................................... 134
ADULTERY IS STILL A SIN .................................................................................................... 137
Radio Meditations ........................................................................................................... 140
Biblical Terms.................................................................................................................. 151
PEARLS OF GREAT PRICE .................................................................................................................. 151
BIBLE TERMS FOR PLACES OF THE AFTER LIFE ......................................................................... 152
CAN A CHRISTIAN COMMIT SINS?.................................................................................................... 153
JUDGMENT FOR SIN AND REWARDS FOR GOOD DEEDS .......................................................... 155
THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN ......................................................... 156
Joshua Green, Freedman .............................................................................................. 157
Holy Hilarity..................................................................................................................... 174
From Rowtown to Junior ............................................................................................... 181
Fifty Years Ago................................................................................................................. 186
Afterword by Robert Martin Brady.................................................................. 189
5
PIONEERS
Things were getting much too close for comfort in the cottage. Even the rooms he added
didn't make the house in the glade below the high moor large enough for his growing
family. And now, with the older sons wanting to marry, and with not enough land to
divide again, it was time for a decision.
The offer of the British crown lands in Eire's windy Ulster County was more and more
attractive. Plenty of acreage and a lease of ninety-nine years! In three generations,
perhaps the crown would deed the land to successful immigrants from Protestant
Scotland. Yes, Shaun MacBraiahde would do it! He would take the government’s offer
and move to North Ireland.
*****************
It didn't matter any longer that their ancestors came from the tiny village of Braiahde.
Nobody in Ulster cared, and the Gaelic spelling was awkward enough. Most of the
neighbors called them just plain 'Brady" at any rate, and it was much easier to write it
that way.
*****************
The closing out of the leases was just a matter of time now. The notices on the board at
the Enniskillen town hall decreed it. And the prices they were asking for that poor and
rocky soil! He didn't have the heart to try again at any rate. The hard freezes had ruined
their crop of 'taties the last few seasons, and added to this, as it had been in the old
home in Scotland the house and the neighborhood were both getting crowded. Hugh
Brady felt that he was being hemmed in. The new land of America was calling!
*****************
(1733) The North Atlantic crossing had been a bit wild. Twice they had thought the fourmasted schooner wouldn't make it, but the near-hurricane weather eased, and they
rounded the south Jersey cape without too much damage to the ship. Now the
passengers felt both reasonably safe and uneasy at the same time. The uneasiness came
because the shores of this new and strange land promised unforeseen dangers and trials.
But when the port of Philadelphia hove into sight at the mouth of the Delaware River, a
general feeling of ease had come to all of their tensions.
With the tardy and slipshod offices of the customs behind them, Brady and his ScotchIrish neighbors who had ventured with them to America moved on. They journeyed by
flatboat up the Delaware to farms they had purchased along its low shores.
Their experiences during the first years, raising pole cabins, and later, low houses, were
no different from those of many hundreds of the immigrant families coming to this new
country in the early 1700s.
*****************
That 'crowded' feeling was upon him again! His near neighbors were increasing with the
population of the Delaware valley at a new high. He was sick of the monstrous "Jersey"
mosquitoes, and besides, he missed the hills. Wild game was getting scarce, with all
those townspeople coming out to shoot deer and squirrels to add to their meager larders.
He had learned of the rich limestone soils of the Cumberland Valley to the southwest.
6
Here there was larger acreage and less crowded conditions. Hugh Brady was moving
again.
*****************
Their new home was near the little village of Shippensburg, and their new neighbors were
the 'Pennsylvania Dutch'--misnamed Palatinate Germans who had come to the shores of
America to find peace after the ravages of the Thirty Years War in their homeland.
Altho' Hugh Brady could scarcely understand their broken English, and didn't savor
their Lutheran religion, he lived out the rest of his life there. Here the remainder of their
nine children were Mom, and here Hugh and Hannah are buried, near Middle Spring
Presbyterian Church, about seven miles from Shippensburg.
It wasn't really wanderlust. It just seemed that the Bradys couldn't stand to be
crowded! More and more Germans were coming on every boat, and they preferred to be
near their own people. The blue Appalachian ridges rose invitingly in the distance, and
led the Brady boys to move on. They sold their farms to the "Pennsylvania Dutch" and
migrated up the Susquehanna some ninety or a hundred miles to where the river made
its great bend to the southwest, after a whitewater plunge out of the mountains, around
the shoulder of Bald Eagle Mountain. The village was called Muncy, and is about ten
miles east of the present city of Williamsport.
The men of the settlement built a fort of heavy logs, with palisades of timbers set on end
against the bands of marauding Indians. They then set about the task of building their
own homes. Each family had purchased enough land so that when their sons married
they could divide with them and still not feel crowded.
The sons and grandsons of old Hugh Brady were wise in the ways of wilderness warfare.
They had observed the Indian's methods, and had stalked the wild animals for food. This
made them effective in both defending their homes and in making forays against the
wandering tribes that menaced their valley from the west. During the French and Indian
Wars their skill was much in demand for waging the wilderness battles against the
Indians and their allies from Canada on the North.
*****************
The British and Colonials had hardly won their border warfare when the trouble began
between the Colonies and the mother country. By tradition, the Scotch-Irish had little
love for their English cousins, and after the battles of Lexington and Concord, the Brady
men lost little time in joining the Colonials against the British. Just about the whole
Brady clan began enlisting in the Colonial Army. Their father was too old to go, but the
boys all felt the call to rebel against British tyranny. John (I). Samuel, Hugh (II), William
and James marched to New England and were at the Battle of Boston. Young John (II)
was a bit too youthful as yet, but he later volunteered, and was wounded at the Battle of
Brandywine in 1777.
Three of the sons of old Hugh became officers in the Revolution. John (I) and Samuel
became captains and Hugh (II) a general. When the younger John recovered from his
wounds, he again enlisted and was killed in a battle with the Indians in 1779, (now allied
with the British against the Colonials).
But there was still another John Brady (III), born in 1773. One of the sons of old Hugh
had named his boy for his brother.
7
Samuel and James soon left the regular Continental army, and were commissioned to
carry on the fight against the Indians on the western frontier.
James (Jim Brady to his contemporaries) had beautiful fiery red hair, which he wore very
long as a kind of badge. His neighbors joshed him about it, and on one occasion, when a
woman of the community washed and groomed it for him, she remarked that the savages
would delight in collecting his scalp. Jim replied that it could give them "a mighty bright
light to escape by." Later, the Indians did scalp him, leaving him for dead but he lived
long enough to be carried home in delirium.
Jim lasted five days after his scalp was taken. Tradition says that it was Chief Bald Eagle
who scalped him, but it has been proven that this old chief was either on his way down
the Ohio River, or was dead himself at the hands of Jim's brother Samuel before James
lost his life.
Sam Brady moved west after the Revolution, locating near New Cumberland (now Va.) in
the `panhandle' between the Ohio river and the Pennsylvania border. He married a Van
Landingham, and has descendants in that area, and in much of northern Ohio.
*****************
The Revolution, over after seven long and weary years, left John (III) Brady restless and
eager to get away from the crowded and civilized country. He had inherited his family's
aversion to near neighbors. He and his wife Jane (?) sold their nearly 4000 acres of
Pennsylvania land Courthouse records, Williamsport), and with one child began a
journey to the higher and less crowded mountain lands in the distant South.
After several days travel they crossed the Potomac River, and journeyed up the South
Branch of that stream, by way of the Old Fields Settlement. Near the small village of
Moorefield, Va. (now W.Va.), they turned left up the narrow South Fork Valley. After
continuing upstream, they came to the site of abandoned Ft. Seybert. This log fort had
been burned by the Indians, and most of its defenders killed. Here, on the northwest side
of Shenandoah Mountain, Brady bought a tract of land from J. Fisher.* The boundary of
this land began along the top of the mountain, continued from ridgetop to ridgetop down
Fishers Run to the Brandywine-Moore-field Trail. About a mile up the run from the river
was a wide, shelf-like flat, large enough for a garden, orchard and a small meadow. Here
John built a substantial log house.** The area of this tract of land has ever since been
known as "Brady Hollow." The main bridle trail over the Mountain wound its way down
Dry River to Brock's Gap on the north fork of Shenandoah River.
A very few years later, in the new log house, John's wife died in childbirth. Her passing
seemed more than the bereaved husband could stand and after determining that the
older children could care for themselves, farming the land and killing small game, Brady
took the youngest child whom he had named Samuel for his illustrious uncle, and
departed on horseback. (Samuel was born January 27, 1803--by his tombstone at
Mingo, W. Va.) He began a hundred mile trek into the west, riding down to the river, and
upstream to the area of Oak Flat, then turned west across South Mountain to the county
seat town of Franklin. This village had only recently acquired its title, with the forming of
J. Fisher is buried in Old Bethel Cemetery, about a mile below the Brady cabin.
Some 70 years later, John's grandson, Isaac Brady, would tear down the old house and
build a frame house on the site. (It is still standing, 1982.) There is evidence that Isaac
was the son of Sarah Brady Towberman, and received the land by will from her. Her
husband, a much older man, died in 1827, and is buried in the old Brady graveyard,
across Fishers Run from the cabin site.
*
**
8
Pendleton County, in 1787. Stopping at the little wood frame building dignified by the
name "Court House", he made and recorded a deed to his farm to his children. (These
records were later burned in a court house fire.) He then went by the little general store
and purchased some flour and salt pork to supplement their diet of small game, which
he would shoot in the forest.
From Franklin, the trail led across steep and rocky North Mountain, and down into the
narrow trough called Germany Valley (Named for the Hessians who had deserted from
King George's troops and settled there.) Threading a rock-walled pass through the west
wall of that vale, he came to North Fork River. Traveling down that stream, he came to
the mouth of Seneca Creek, where the Seneca Indian Trail came out of the west. Here
Brady gazed upon the highest ledge of rock he had ever seen, almost 1000 feet above the
valley floor.
Turning left along the much better path of the old Seneca Indian Trail, they followed the
stream to its junction with Long Run, then across a low pass over the Allegheny
Mountain.
Two days later they had traveled over four more high mountain ridges,
crossing Cheat Mountain near where the village of Bemis now stands. Once over that
barrier, they entered a wide valley, with much cleared farming land interspersed with
virgin forests.
Coming to the village of Beverly, the oldest settlement west of the Alleghenies in what is
now West Virginia, John found a general store, and a small tavern. He allowed himself
the questionable privilege of a meal at the tavern, and with his small son shared a corn
shuck mattress with the bedbugs for one night.
At the store he learned of open lands to the south, not far from where the Mingo Indian
tribe had their summer hunting camp. Another day's journey up the valley, named
Tygarts for two brothers who explored it in the early 1700s, brought them to where the
encroaching hills narrowed the flat lands to a mountain hollow. Turning right up a small
stream called Elkwater Run, Brady soon recognized, from the many sinkholes and stony
outcrops, the fertile soil of limestone ledges. Here he built a small lean-to shelter for
himself and his son.
(NOTE: Up to this point the story has been a mixture of tradition, fiction,
and conjecture. With the exception of the first name given, Shaun
MacBraighde, all names are authentic, the dates are fairly accurate and
places reliable. The details of travel are imagined, but are based on a
careful study of maps. Revolutionary historical accounts and details about
the Brady family movements are based on facts. John Brady's story after
his move to Ft. Seybert area is based on family tradition. It is unfortunate
that the Franklin Court House records were burned.)
John Brady's nearest neighbors were a family named Ware. They had a daughter named
Susanna. After a reasonable time of grieving over the death of his first wife, who lay
buried in Brady Hollow, John began to pay court to the Ware daughter. according to
Marriage Record book No. 1, Page 14, in the Randolph Co. Court House, Elkins, W. Va.,
John Brady and Susanna Ware were married on March 12, 1808, by Robert Maxwell, a
local Justice.
Susanna bore John two sons and five daughters. Their names were Allen, Christian (m.
Alkire), Ellen (m. Coburn), Nancy (m. Elias Simon, 1831), Ruth (m. John W, Abbott),
Sarah (m. Eliah Butcher), and William Sherman.
9
William Sherman Brady
This last named son is the progenitor of the Bradys with whom we are especially
concerned. He met and married Frances Jane Lemons in 1942. He and his sister Ruth
were licensed at the same time, at Philippi, Barbour Co., in 1842, and were married in a
double wedding ceremony. Frances Jane was the daughter of James and Elizabeth
Jackson Lemons, from Bath Co., Virginia. (Marriage bond, Bath Co,, "James Lemmons
and Betsey (sic) Jackson." (Betsey was a first cousin to the famous "Stonewall" Jackson,
Confederate General in the Civil War.)
William S. and Frances Jane first settled on Dumpling Run, on land they bought from a
Mr. Henderson.* They sold this small acreage and bought about 300 acres on Grand
Camp of French Creek. Upshot County history gives the date of 1837. He "teas a farmer
and had fifteen children." (Ibid) The deed for the 300 acres is dated September 19, 1868.
He paid for the land in full in two years from the date of the deed.
The names of the Brady children and their spouses are given in the above history as
follows:
10
1. Selina B. ("Aunt line") 1843-1917 m. Lemuel R. Cutright. 1850-1928
2. Delilah J. ("Aunt Lile") 1845-1935 m. John W. Loudin (Bro. to Sam # 6)
1853-1921
3. Caswell E. ("Uncle Cas") " m. Martha Phillips.
4. Allen Ware ("Uncle Bo") 1849-1921 m. Ellen E. Perry (d.3-31-1882), Celia Burr
(d._____), Mary Nixon, 11-6-1849 to 5-23-1928 ("Mollie")
5. Granville Bland ("Uncle Gran") 11-22-1852 to 8-22-1898, m. Mary Elizabeth
Row, of Barbour County.
6. Lucretia E. ("Aunt Crete") 1856-1914 m. Samuel W. Loudin 1851-1930
7. James D. ("Uncle Jim") m. Bertha Gould.
8. Loyal Newton ("Uncle Lock") (8-20-1860) m. Sarah Crites,(d. Jan. 1914) (Moved to
Canton, Herrick, Belmont, Ohio) m. Emma McKean.
9. Martha S. ("Aunt Mat") 1863-1941 m. Sidney Perry 1863-1944
10. William Tecumseh Sherman ("Uncle Sherm") 1865-1938 m. Hattie Tharp
1864-1944.
11. Idella Alice ("Aunt Dell") 1867-1926 m. Ward Phillips (Divorced) m. Henry
Alestock 1869-1949
12. John Calvin ("Uncle Cal*) 1-13-1851--1924 m. Melissa E. Phillips (1851-1925)
13. Perry ("Uncle Ped") Simon Brady m. Ollie Phillips.
(Two of the children probably died in infancy.)
Frances Jane (Lemons) Brady died Oct. 26, 1882. Her tombstone reads "Aged 57 years.
10 mos. 25 ds." This means she was born in December of 1824. Her Spouse, Wm. S.
Brady, died July 22, 1889. He was born at Brady Gate, Randolph County, W.) Va. in
1816 (C. H. Records, Buckhannon). The information was supplied by his son, Wm. T. S.
Brady. Both Frances J. and Wm. S. are buried in an abandoned cemetery at the site of
old Laurel Fork Methodist Church, about a mile below the present Laurel Fork U. M.
Church, and not far from the Adrian-Evergreen Road. Wm. S. had only a fieldstone at his
grave, but Frances had a large thin marble one broken, and repaired by T. R. Brady). A
new headstone for both is now in place (1980).
How wonderful it would be if we had only possessed a little foresight in our earlier years!
I (Troy R. Brady, the writer) knew my grandmother, Mary Row Brady so well, having
made my home with her during and after my senior year in high school. How I wish I had
asked her more about her earlier life and experiences. As it is, I do not know how or
where she met and married my grandfather, Granville B. Brady, fifth in the list of
children above. But meet they did though their homes were over 40 miles apart, with
roads almost impassable at times. One tradition is that the Andrew Jackson Row family,
being deeply interested in religion, made a pilgrimage to Indian Camp Rock, a few miles
from the Brady home. This rock was a great overhanging cliff of the Homewood
sandstone, which made up most of the high cliffs and semi-caverns of Randolph,
11
Barbour and Upshot Counties. The rock was named so because of the remains of many
campfires and the smoke-darkened stone roof, presumably left by the primitive tribes
living under it. The overhanging stone shelter was capable of sheltering a hundred or so
people, and was used for revival-type "camp meetings" by United Brethren and Methodist
people of the area. A grove of great oak trees surrounded the rock, and the worshippers
would come in their covered wagons and camp in the grove, often for weeks at a time.
The A. J. Row family were of the Church of the Brethren (Dunker) faith, but
denominational lines were often crossed at such large community services as the Indian
Camp Revivals.
My grandmother was Mary Elizabeth Row (pronounced like the original German spelling
"Rau"). Her father was of German descent, the son of Benjamin and Sarah "Sally"
Rinehart Row. The Row family came to Barbour County by way of the Valley of Virginia.
Benny and Sallie were married on March 4th, 1830. (Marriage Register, Shenandoah Co.,
1772-1853, p. 343.) They bought a farm and mill at Newport, now in Page County, Va.,
from Benjamin Strickler. Discouraged by a flood which destroyed the mill, they sold their
holdings to Reuben Foltz, and traveled some 140 miles west to a site on the Tygarts
Valley River, near what is now Junior, W. Va. The Foltz family still own the land and mill
site. We met a descendant of Reuben Foltz, 82 years old who lived on part of the farm in
1977. The deed from Row to Foltz is dated 2-18-1843, For c. 250 acres, price $2000.
(Deed book E, p. 291, Page Co. C. H., Luray, Va.)
Benjamin Row built a new mill on the Tygarts Valley river. It was a type known as
"Undershot", meaning that the water ran in a flume under the mill wheel, instead of a
trough from a high dam over the wheel. Rocks making a part of the flume could still be
seen the river at the east end of the bridge at Junior when I was a young man.
When they were first married Granville and Mary Brady moved to Buckhannon, W. Va.
so that the young husband could work at his chosen trade, stonemasonry. He helped to
build at least one of the cut stone buildings at the State Hospital for the Insane at
Weston, W. Va., 16 miles west of their home. A loose board in a scaffold caused him to
fall from the third floor level to the second, where he landed across a joist, breaking
several ribs. While living in Upshur Co., at least three of their nine children were born,
including my father, Walter Parley Brady, on Feb. 1, 1880. Granville and Mary were
married on Dec. 25, 1874.. Walter was their third child.
**********************
Returning to the area of Mary's home, they purchased land adjoining her Father's farm
on the south, an area which now includes the entire upper part of the town of Junior,
then called "Rowtown." The mill, store and post office were operated by Mary's father. A
large vein of coal was discovered outcropping along the river just below the mill, and in
the early 1880s a railroad was built from Elkins down the river to connect with the
Baltimore and Ohio R. R. branch coming up the river from Grafton, W. Va. to Belington.
Senator Henry G. Davis, the railroad magnate, then renamed the town for his son, Henry
G. Davis, Junior. He arbitrarily did this to many towns in the area, naming them for his
family members and business associates, and for himself. (Note the names of Elkins,
Davis, Gormania, Dobbin, Henry, Gassaway, etc.)
12
Granville Bland Brady (1), born 11-221852. Killed in a rock quarry accident,
near Junior, W. Va. He married Mary
Elisabeth Row, born 5-9-1858, died 322-1927. Both are buried in the
Brethren Cemetery, one mile north of
Junior, on the west side of the river.
Mary E Brady, 1913, Junior, W. Va.
An enlargement from the group
picture of the family.
My father, Walter Parley Brady
(Photo about 1900)
13
Since "Grandpa" Row and my Grandfather Brady owned all of the area of the town and
mine site, they wisely refused to sell any of the surface land except for the coal tipple site
itself They sold instead to relatives and to people of the area who wanted to work at the
mines. This is why the town escaped the blighted and regimented look of the typical
mining town.
RICH MOUNTAIN
A family trait of the old Bradys seemed to come out again in my Grandfather. When the
town of Junior began to grow, he felt crowded and restrained. With a neighbor, he sold
out and went 15 miles south, buying together 165 acres on the west side of Rich
Mountain, on the waters of Cassity Creek Grandfather took 110 acres, deeding 55 acres
to the neighbor who came with him (who incidentally never paid a cent of the money
Grandfather advanced for the land.)
When my father was a small boy, they moved to the mountain farm. Until their log house
was built, they lived in a rented shanty belonging to a black family. The wife was the
daughter of a slave family who lived nearby. Her name was Victoria, and her parents
were Jerry and Mandy Baxter.
Deed to the Brady Rich Mountain Land; Recorded in Deed Book "Q" Page 497 (Randolph
County, W.Va.)
This deed made this 6th day of February, 1890 between Chas. M. Frasure and G. A.
Frasure, his wife, parties of the first part, the County of Randolph and the State of
W. Va. and G. B. Brady of the County of Barbour and State above, and Ft. W. Corley of
the County of Randolph and state above, of the second part. Witnesseth that for and to
consideration of the sum of $350.00, Sixty-five in hand paid the receipt whereof is
hereby acknowledged, $285.00 to be paid on or about Nov. 1st, 1890, for which the
parties of the second part has assigned a note to the parties of the first part,
executed by W. A. Simon to Grant William, for $175.00 with interest amounting to ten
dollars on same, due about Nov. 1st, 1890. The parties of the first part do grant,
bargain, sell and convey with covenants of General Warranty unto the parties of the
second part, the following tract of 171 acres of land more or less, Situated in the
County of Randolph on the were, of Cassiday’s Fork and bounded as follows. 'Beginning
at a Birch and Chestnut on top of Briggs Sugar Camp ridge, the beginning corner of a
survey of 125 Acres of land made for Jonathan Arnold now owned by Patrick Crickard,
thence with two lines thereof N 85-1/2° W--148 poles to two small hicories (sic) and
two maples, a corner thereof, S. 81° W 155 poles to White Oaks in a line of land run
and sold by David Goff, Commissioner for forfeited and delinquent lands in the year
1840 thence with said line 1 variation S 50° E 95 poles to birch and White Oak on the
back of Said Cassiday's fork, corner of survey of 108 Acres of land made for William
Armstrong, thence with a line thereof S 87-1/4°
E 208 Poles to a leaning Hickory,
corner thereof, also a corner of survey of 84 Acres of land made for said Armstrong,
thence with a line of the last mentioned survey S 87-3/4° E 120 Poles to a White Oak
with pointers in line of a survey of 150 Acres, of land made for Allen J. Currence and
W. B. Currence, thence with said line due North to two small Spanish Oaks on top of
said Sugar Camp Ridge, a corner of said 150 Acres, thence with another line thereof N
60° W 104 Poles to 2 beginning corners thereof also a corner of the 125 Acre survey,
thence with a line of the last named survey S 20° W 7 Poles to the beginning, with its
appurtenances and a vendor’s lean is hereby retained on the above described property
to secure the deferred payments. Witness the following signatures and seal.
C. M. Frasure
G. A. Frasure
When Grandfather bought the land, he was told that it was so free of rocks there
wouldn’t be enough to build a chimney. This was partly true, for the rocks were too small
for that purpose. The ground was almost literally covered with small stones, from 1 to 10
14
inches across, and about an inch thick. Later, when my dad tried to farm it, with my
brother, sister and myself helping, he told us that if we could strike a hoe down without
hitting a stone, he would give us a dollar bill. His money was safe!
Three or four of my father's younger brothers end sisters were born in the one and onehalf-story log house he and his neighbors raised. Much later, when I was six months old
(about March 30, 1907) my parents moved into that same house, moving back to town
briefly, then again to the mountain place, leaving finally when I was eleven years old.
My father, Walter P. Brady, spent the happiest years of his life on the "mountain place"
as he called it. He and his brother Charlie, roamed the virgin forests with their dogs,
"Rob" and "Old Boss". There were still bears and panthers in the woods then, and my dad
told many interesting tales of their encounters with them. Dad inherited the Brady
aversion to living with near neighbors, and I believe he spent the balance of his years still
searching for the home of his boyhood. Even after I was grown and married, he moved
back again to the area, with a dream of rebuilding the old home, which had been torn
down many years before. His dream was never realized. On the following pages I will
recount some of the stories he told me about his earlier experiences in the woods of that
rocky mountainside.
STORIES ABOUT RICH MOUNTAIN
(As told to me by my father, Walter P. Brady)
One evening Charlie and I went to bring the cows home for milking. We walked down the
county road to the foot of Jerry Ridge, then south down the hollow to Chestnut Lick. As
we turned east up the creek, we noticed the dogs growling low and cowering close to us.
When we found the cows and started back down the path, the cattle acted frightened.
Just then we looked up on a rock ledge to our left, and there was a panther lying flat on
his belly and wringing his tail!
The cows started to run, and I hollered for Charlie to grab one of our young heifers by the
tail while I grabbed another. They took us down the creek at about 15 feet to the jump,
then up the hill, the cowbells ringing like crazy!
When we got to the head of the lane, there was our Dad, with a big "two-hander" switch!
"I told you boys about running those cows," he said. We told him about the panther, and
he held off the whipping. That night some of the neighbor's sheep were killed. The dogs
trailed the panther to a cave. One of the neighbors, named Marshal Scott, was a fearless
man, and knew a lot about animals. One of the men went for a lantern, and Mr. Scott
then asked someone to go with him into the cave. All the men were afraid to go in.
All right, I'll do in myself, then," he said. When inside, he called out, "Boys, when I hold
the lantern over my head, I can see eyes. If one of you will come in and hold the light up
high, I'll shoot him." Nobody would go in.
"Look out, then, he's coming out." He held the lantern in front of him and advanced
toward the panther. Afraid of the light, it crawled along a ledge above Mr. Scott and ran
outside, where one of the men shot him.
****************
One moonlit night, Charlie and I were up at the Wes' Pingley place. The Pingleys lived at
the top of the mountain, about two miles from us. We had just passed the 'Kiah
15
(Hezekiah) Corley place, half way home, when we came around a bend and there in the
road was the biggest bear you ever saw, standing on his hind legs. He was almost on us!
All we thought about was getting home, and since the road was wide there, we ran by
him like a couple of deer. When we came to the rail fence about 50 yards above the
house, (it was nine rails high!) I jumped it without touching a rail. Charlie was fat, and
he hit the top rail on his stomach, and you could have heard him grunt all the way to the
house. When we got to the house, I stopped outside, and Charlie just fell through the
door on the floor.
We had company that evening. Dad said "What's the matter, Charlie?" He was so out of
breath he couldn't tell him, so I went inside and told him about the bear.
The next morning Dad took us up to where we had seen the bear, and sure enough,
there were these monstrous tracks in the road, plain as day!
****************
I had heard about the Snake Den Rocks, but had never been there before. One warm day
in the spring, I walked out on top of the bluff and looked down below me. There was a
pile of snakes that looked to me like it was four feet high, lying in the sun! The stench of
them made me dizzy, and I almost fell off the cliff into them.
There was a big rock on top of the cliff, as much as I could do to roll it. I "rasseled" it over
to the edge, and aimed it at the pile of snakes. I didn't stay to see what happened, but
you never heard such rattlin' in your life as they did!
****************
Another time, me and Charlie were out sangin' (digging ginseng) and we were wading
through a patch of fern, when we heard a rattlesnake right near our feet. Charlie ran
back out of the fern patch, and I jumped up on a big flat rock.
I had a rifle, and started shooting snakes. They kept coming out from under that rock,
and I killed 22 rattlers before I got 'em all.
****************
We didn't have much trouble with snakes when we had the dogs along. They would
plunge at the snake, get it to strike, and when it was full length, would grab it near the
head and shake it so hard it would fly in two. Rich mountain had a lot less snakes when
we moved away from there!
****************
Grandfather managed to eke out a living from his rocky acres on the ridge above
“Painter” (Panther) fork of Cassity Creek until his youngest child was born. Perhaps the
best place to list his children, their birth dates, the persons they married, and the dates
of their deaths:
1. Celia Rosella, (10-9-1876--3-3-1936) m. Wm. Cox, divorced. (4 children) m.
Charles Alford (6 children)
2. Charles Benjamin, (7-29-1878--11-19-1953) m. Rachel E. Moore (8 Children)
16
3. Walter Parley, (2-1-1880--9-1-1959) m. Bergia Knaggs. (5 Children) (2) m.
Virginia Simmons (1 Child) (3) m. Lina Hannah
4. Maud Virginia, (10-27-1882--2-28-1940) m. Homer Harvey, (5 children)
5. Glen Harrison, (4-17-1884--6-3-1968) m. Grace Campbell, (5 Children)
6. Lulu Elizabeth (10-20-1887--1-18-1968) m. Ford Valentine. (4 children.)
7. Pearl May, (7-6-1891--9-4-1969) m. Frank Matthews. (3 children) (Matthews-mother's first cousin) (Died) m. ? Bales, m. Jack De Sau.
8. Oscar Dayton, (5-17-1895--2-5-1980) m. Belva Poling. (1 Child)
9. Francis Granville, (4-3-1896--12-8-1973) m. Bena Crivella (2 children?), m.
Nevada Phillips
(Names in bold are my parents.)
Grandfather moved his family back to the town of Junior about 1896, rented a house,
and began working at his old trade of stonemasonry. (Evidently his money was all used
up on the old farm.) There is a very high cliff of the Roaring Creek (Homewood) sandstone
about two miles upriver from the town, and he began working at the quarry there, getting
out the stone for both the Henry G. Davis mansion at Elkins and the culverts for the
Western Maryland railroad. On August 22, 1898, he reported for work, and was asked to
labor under a large, loose stone, hanging precariously above him. It weighed about two
tons. He told the foreman that he was afraid the stone would fall. The 'boss" then
inserted a pick in the crack move the rock and pried at the hanging piece. He then said,
"Go on under it, it's perfectly safe." Grandfather had worked only a few minutes when the
stone fell, crushing him to death instantly. He was only 45-3/4 years of age, and left
seven of his nine children at home. My father Walter was the oldest, and he was 16 at
the time. Francis G. was a toddler just past two years. Mary Row Brady was left with the
task of providing for her family. This she did by working as a midwife, delivering most of
the babies in the town and surrounding area.
I was born in the village of Junior, W. Va. on September 30, 1906. The attending
physician was J. W. Strother, M. D. My father had married Sarah Bergia Knaggs on Oct.
30, 1904. She was the daughter of John Robert and Mary Jane (Mathews) Knaggs.
"Bobby" Knaggs was the son of John and Susan Odell Knaggs. His grandfather (my greatgreat-grandfather) was also John Knaggs, who brought his two sons, John and George,
to America from England. Tradition says they came to what is now Page County, Va.
John II (1822-1897) and Susan Odell were married Sept. 22,1842, Susan was 23 at the
time. They lived near Martinsburg, (W.)Va, The 1860 census listed them as John and
Susan Nags (sic). Their children were Anna (Maxwell), Sarah (Turner), Kathryn (Martin),
Ella (Martin, Phillips), William,(-Springfield, Ohio), Joseph Odell (m. Rankin),
Martinsburg, W. Va. and John Robert, my Grandfather. He was only 4' 10" tall and
weighed about 95 pounds.
17
My father and mother,
Walter Parley Brady and
Sarah Bergia Knaggs Brady
Mary Jane Mathews Knaggs was the daughter of Benjamin F. Mathews and Sally
Squires, from Clarksburg, W. Va. Sally had at least two sons, my great uncles, Andrew
Jackson "Uncle Jack" and Asa L., who ran a general store in the town of Junior for many
years, then moved to Clarksburg.
MY EARLY LIFE
Granddad was affectionately known as "Bobby" in the town of Junior. He moved there
from Rehoboth, (near New Lexington) Ohio, in 1900, with his children. They were George
M. (m. Hester More), B. Franklin (m. Bessie Newton) Sarah Bergia, (1383-1921) Wm.
Andrew (m. Camilla Kathryn Wilfong) and Elizabeth Loula (m. Eli H. Phillips) (18921974). My mother was born at Irondale furnace, Taylor Co. (not on the map, 1982). Her
father was a coal miner by occupation. He was known or his devout Christian life, and
was often moved to tears when the service was 4eeply emotional, as it often was in the
Methodist Church at Junior, in which he was a charter member.
*************************
A CIVIL WAR STORY, as told me by my Grandfather Knaggs:
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“When the war started, my father and older brother joined the Confederate army.
However, as my second brother (17 years old) and I grew older, we were swayed by the
speeches of President Lincoln and our personal feeling for the negro slaves, so my
brother, who was just older than I, enlisted on the Union side. I tried to enlist, but was
too short to see over the trenches. (4' 6") 1 did get a job carrying messages for the army
as a scout.
“One day I was running along the top of a ridge, with a message written on rice paper so
I could swallow it if caught. I came to a rail fence which had been partly laid down where
the path crossed it. I jumped the fence, and landed between two Confederate pickets! I
popped the message in my mouth and swallowed it. The soldiers took me down the hill to
their camp, and the officer there tried to get me to tell what was in the message. I
purposely hadn't read it, so I couldn't tell.
"They put a rope around my neck and threw the other end over the limb of a tree, pulling
it tight. Then they asked me where the Union forces were, and I refused to te11 them.
Two or three times they pulled the rope tight, but I still refused.
“About that time, there was much rifle fire starting up the hollow, and the Confederates
grabbed their guns and started running in the direction of the gunfire. They seemed to
forget me, so I took off the noose and got out of there in a hurry! I am still thankful for
that rifle fire."
“I heard my brother say many times that he would often have the sights of his rifle on a
Confederate soldier, and would drop the gun barrel because the man looked so much like
his father or brother."
John Robert Knaggs, born 9-29-1850, in
Mary Jane (Matthews) Knaggs, born 7-9-
19
Winchester, Va. Died 9-30-1927, in Junior,
W. Va. Buried in Mt. View Cemetery on the
hill above that town. His wife was Mary
Jane Mathews.
1857, died 4-10-1939. Born in Phillipi and
died in Douglas, W. Va. Buried in Mt. View
Cemetery, Junior, W. Va.
****************************
There were no high schools in the area of Ohio where my mother grew up, but she
continued to attend school, taking advanced classes, including algebra and English,
using Ray's advanced arithmetic and McGuffey's readers. She also studied music, and
after moving to Junior, gave lessons in piano and the reed organ. She and my father both
sang in the choir at the Methodist Church.
My Dad remained a doubter in religious matters until he was converted at age 60, in a
meeting I was holding at the United Brethren Church at Churchville, near Weston, W.
Va.
****************************
As soon as my father married, his old dream of an idyllic childhood came to him again.
He and his brother, Charles, went back and repaired the old log home on Rich Mountain,
built on a lean-to kitchen, and when I was six months old, took my mother and me back
there to live. Our nearest neighbors were a black family named Green. They lived about a
mile away, down off the ridge. They were fine Christian people. Their teen-age girls
helped my mother with the housework. "My mother was not a healthy person, and died
when I was fourteen, She studied the Bible faithfully, but had nobody to discuss theology
with her. Consequently, she had some mildly unorthodox ideas. We had a book made up
of copies of a Presbyterian Sunday School weekly, called the "Sunbeam." Many of my
early ideas about religion came from this book.
Their second child, my sister Zylpha, was born while we lived there, 'tho my mother went
back to Junior, to stay with Grandma Brady for the “birthing"
During this period also, when I was about two and one-half years old, our neighbor
Joshua Green was buried in a white coffin and his hair was snow-white. Years later, I
asked my mother if I had ever seen a black face surrounded by white. She was amazed
that I remembered it, and told me that when she held me up to look at the face of the
black man, I became frightened, and screamed so that she had to take me out of the
house. It was my very first memory.
In September, 1910, just before my brother Bland was born, we moved back to Junior. In
the three years before We moved back to Rich Mountain, we lived in at least five houses,
including a very brief time in a mining village named Teter, in Upshur County. It was
during these years that my sister Blossom was born, and also when the large group
picture was taken of Grandma Brady's Family, There had not been a death in the Brady
family since that of Grandpa in 1898, and all of her children lived in Junior at that time.
In October, 1913 we moved back to Rich Mountain. We went by train to Coalton, Va.
where Dad met us with the horse and buggy. The train ride made me horribly ill. It was
dark when we forded a stream called Roaring Creek. Dad stopped in midstream to let the
horse drink, and when I looked down and saw the star's wavering reflection in the water,
I began to vomit. I don't recall much of the trip from then on to the home of Bolivar
Phillips, where we stayed overnight. (It was their son, Eli, who married my mother's only
sister.) It was my very first experience sleeping on a feather tick.
20
Next morning I was well again, and I awakened to a glorious autumn world. Sister and I
walked the two miles to our old log home. I was unbelievably happy! Two more things I
recall from that morning: I awakened to an unusual sound, and was told that it was the
cry of a bird called a Guinea fowl, It was also my first taste of biscuits made with home
ground flour. Delicious!
I remember especially the bright October day and the falling leaves, the singing waters of
Cassity Creek and the final mile up the hill to where the old home came into sight. Even
after three years, I recalled how the house looked when we left. Then began three of the
happiest years of my youth.
Back Row (L to R): Chas. M. Alford, Walter P. Brady (Troy’s Dad), Glen H. Brady, O. Dayton (“Big Nose”)
Brady, Lulu Brady, Francis G. (“Shake”) Brady, Frank A. Matthews, Homer Harvey, Chas. B. (“King”) Brady.
Third Row (Women): Anna Cox, Verl Cox, Celia Alford, Bergia Brady, Grace Brady, M ary E. (Row) Brady, Pearl
Matthews, Maud Harvey, Rachel Brady.
Children On Laps (second row): Lonnie Alford, G. Bland Brady (standing), Blossom Brady, Coral Brady, Agnes
Mathews, Elizabeth Matthews, Paul Harvey, Madge Harvey, Milda May Brady.
Front Row (On Ground): Earl Cox, Murl Alford, Francis Alford, Granville Cox, Zylpha Brady, Troy Brady,
Lillian Brady, Lelah Brady, Carl Brady, Ray Brady, Mary Brady, Ruhl Brady, Mabel Brady, Wilma Brady, Mellie
Brady. (Grandfather, Granville Bland Brady, killed 1898. All these persons were living in Junior, W. Va.; no
children or grandchildren had died.)
21
Blossom, Zylpha, Bland & Troy Brady
22
My Rich Mountain Home, painted from memory.
The next spring, just before World War I began, was a hard time financially for us. I
clearly recall the morning in May when Dad took a screwdriver to our piggy bank and
removed the last 35 pennies we had in the world. He was going to walk the five miles to
town and buy a small sack of corn meal. When that would be gone, he had no other
plans. After Dad left, a very tearful mother took her Bible from the stand and went to her
room, closing the door after her. We children instinctively kept very quiet.
In a little while, Mommy came out of her room, tears gone, and a light which could only
have been from Heaven shining on her face! In that moment, a yearning began in my
heart to find that kind of radiance for myself.
When Dad came home, we not only had the corn meal, but also two letters. One was
from Great Uncle 'Lock' Brady. He was ill, and wanted to come and spend the summer
with us, and take treatments from my dad, who was a chiropractor. (Outlawed in 1912,
through a M. D.-sponsored bill.) The other letter was from a Mr. Zigafoose, county road
supervisor, asking my Dad to contract repairing the dirt road for a total of four miles
from the Cassity Road to the top of Rich Mountain. Mommy prayed through to a
victorious answer! Uncle Lock came, and brought his son Dale, who was my age. Dale's
mother had died the previous January, and the task of raising Dale was left to Uncle.
Every Sunday during that summer, we gathered in the living room to sing hymns from
two dog-eared old hymnals. In spite of the extra work, my mother seemed especially
happy. I'm sure it was because she had a spiritual ally in the kind old uncle. Uncle soon
recovered from his illness, and was able to help repair the road. Dale and I helped all we
could for seven-year olds.
Another memory of that 1914 summer was the arrival of the Wheeling Intelligencer, a
daily newspaper Uncle had sent to him. It brought us the news of the beginnings of
World War I. In that summer also, I saw my first aeroplane. It was a small biplane, which
passed over our house. We children ran into the house and crawled under the bed. We
were sure the plane would drop a bomb on us.
Picking berries seemed almost a daily task that summer. First was strawberries--tiny
ones about the size of the end of a finger. Our backs were tired long before we had
enough for a delicious shortcake. In July, it was blackberries, of which we picked and
canned over 60 half-gallon green glass Mason jars. (Dad said they would taste better
than snowballs in the winter time! Our faithful dog always explored the patch before we
went in, and on two occasions, his excited bark revealed large rattle-snakes, which Dad
promptly killed.
We had a very large garden, with a row of currants and gooseberries down the middle. All
kinds of vegetables and fruits were canned 365 half-gallons in all. Beans and apple 'snitz'
were dried over the kitchen stove (Indianola No. 8 wood range) after being strung on
lengths of twine string. Our apple trees bore profusely that year. Frost killed all of the
fruit in the valleys, but our 2900 foot elevation meant warm nights in the still air. Our
apples were in high demand, and at a good price. Since work was scarce, Dad traded
apples for groceries, and we ate well that winter.
On Christmas eve, Dad came back from town with a troubled look on his face. The house
at the Green Farm was occupied that year by a ne’er-do-well family of white people
named Amos. Dad had stopped there on his way home, and they were their evening
meal. It consisted of corn bread made of only meal, salt and water. A dish of hot water
was in the center of the table. The father would break the hard corn pone over the edge
23
of the table, and the children, seven girls, would dip the bread in the water to make it
soft enough to eat. I remember well the tears in Dad's eyes as he told us about it.
Christmas morning dawned clear and bitterly Dad harnessed the horse to the sled, lined
the box body with gunny sacks, then loaded two bushels of potatoes, two of apples, and
about 20 jars of canned foods, then wrapped everything in blankets against the belowzero cold and delivered it to the hungry family. When he came back his happiness was
contagious as he told how the children jumped with joy at the sight of the wonderful
provisions.
1915 was an especially memorable year. Dad was determined to make the old farm
provide for his family, so plowed all of the orchard with his `hillside plow and planted it
in corn, and part of the meadow in front of the house in potatoes. (On a trip to the site of
the old cabin with my brother in 1950, I found the point of the plow in the leaves of the
forest now grown over the old farm. I have that point hung in my shop.) Sister Zylpha
and I would take a row to hoe, and Dad would hoe his row and help my four-year-old
brother Bland keep up with his. In July, the third and last hoeing came, and I will never
forget mom blowing the old conch shell for dinner (12 o'clock) and the feast before us;
new green beans, cooked with the bone a large ham, sliced tomatoes, early apple sauce,
and home made bread.
An accident with our home-made coasting sled bruised my right ankle and shin bone,
and in late November, I developed a bone abscess (osteomyelitis). For two weeks I was
delirious with a high fever, and neighbors advised amputating my limb. Mother decided
against it, saying she would pray, and Dad could treat the leg with poultices and hot
baths. Just before Christmas, the skin broke open, and over a quart of fluid was drained.
The fever broke immediately and seven pieces of the shin bone worked their way through
the flesh. It was over a year before I could walk.
On January 21st, 1916, my sister Rosalyn was born. (She died Dec. 19, 1951.) Grandma
Brady came to help with the work, then took me home with her for one month. I attended
my very first school session then. My cousin, Carl Brady lived with Grandma, and he
would take me to school on his sled, and carry me into the schoolroom. My mother
always had regular school sessions for us children at home during the winter, so I
advanced rapidly. I spent only one day in the first grade (my Aunt, Lulu Brady, was the
teacher.) One week was spent in the second grade, where Miss Belva Poling (later to
became my Uncle Dayton's wife) was the teacher. The third grade was taught by Dessie
Gall, who later married my Dad's first cousin, Stacy Row. Tests rated me 4th grade in
most subjects, 5th in geography (my favorite) but only 3rd grade in arithmetic. It was
always my most difficult subject.
Dad came for me in late March with the horse and buggy. By this time I was very
homesick. We drove home through snow thawing in a bright sun, arriving home after
dark. What a time of joy for me! Uncle Lock's girl, Lelah, was there when I arrived. Her
daughter, Gwendolyn, was born at our house.
JUNIOR, WEST VIRGINIA
In the fall of 1917, my parents decided that the children should be in school, so we
reluctantly left the home where we had been so happy and moved to Junior. Here I
completed grade school, taking the state examination at the end of the seventh grade,
skipping the 8th. I made the second highest grade in the county, and my cousin, Stark
Shomo, made the highest. Our scores were 89.6 and 91.8% . We had moved again, living
in the house just behind the school, a six room, eight-grade institution. It was to this
24
house, while a freshman at Belington High School, that I was called home to find my
mother dead. It was on March 29th, 1921. She had been seriously ill since Christmas,
and died just four days before her 38th birthday. I was the oldest of five children, left
motherless in my 14th year. Sister Rosalyn, the youngest, was just past four.
The law forbidding the practice of chiropractic was repealed in 1920, so Dad began his
work again. His method was to travel from house to house, so that his patients could
rest after treatment. This kept him away from home from 9 a.m. until about 8 p.m. The
second year in high school was a distressing one for me, with poorly prepared meals and
unkempt clothing. Sister Zylpha, only 13, was in charge of the household. The high
school was at Belington, four miles from our house. The first year, four of us, cousins,
walked each way. By the second year, two of the boys, brothers, were able to afford an
old Model T Ford. I and the other cousin paid 20 cents a day for transportation. I made
mostly only B and C grades, distracted by Mother's death, home conditions, and in my
last two years, by my interest in girls.
In my junior year, my stepmother came. She had a violent temper, and we soon dashed. I
left home about September first of my senior year. Too proud to ask for help, I slept in
the band practice hall, on the floor in front of the gas heater. My cousin, Stark Shomo,
discovered this by accident, and made me go home with him. We told my dad, and it was
arranged for me to go to Grandma Brady's for the winter. I was given work on the coke
ovens at Gage mine on Saturdays. I made five dollars a day for shoveling coke from
under the coke screen. This I gave to Grandma to help buy the groceries. She kept my
clothing much more presentable, and I had a good diet. On May 28, 1924, 1 graduated
from Belington High School.
Uncle “Shake” (Francis) Brady was out of work that summer, and staying with Grandma.
He and I painted houses for an income. Dad had wrecked his Model T Ford, and we
bought it for ten dollars and remodeled it into a 'runabout' to haul our ladders. We made
one trip to Morgantown to try to find work, and had to rework a connecting rod bearing
five times in the 180 mile trip, over mostly dirt roads.
I received an offer to work on the grounds of Davis and Elkins College in return for part
of my college expenses, so I enrolled there. Failing to get a personal loan for the balance
because I couldn't pass a physical examination for insurance, I had to leave after one
month. I was able to get a job breaking stone on a local road job. I had to walk seven
miles each way, and work ten hours for $3.00.
When a Mr. James Bennett offered to get me an insurance loan of $200.00 and enroll me
at Mountain State Business College, in Parkersburg, W. Va., I was glad to get away from
the 'slave' labor on the road. Grandma Brady co-signed my note for the $200 and I left on
November 17th, 1924 on what proved to be a move of destiny.
Now, since I am leaving the town of Junior permanently it seems to be a good time to tell
something of that town. It was in many ways an unusual place.
In 1920, while we were living in my Uncle Glen Brady's house on the hill by the town
reservoir, my mother and dad reviewed the population of around 700 in Junior, and
found that we were related to every family there, by blood or marriage, except three.
These later became related by marriage.
I have noted that great-grandfather Row and Grandfather Brady had owned all of the
land on which the town was located. The streets were surfaced with cinders from the
coke ovens, a long row of which paralleled Main Street. In 1925, a concrete road was
25
completed from Elkins to join the four miles of bituminous cement connecting our town
to Belington, which had been completed in 1919. It now U. S. 250.
I am sure that every male in the place was nicknamed. There were four men named
Charley Bennett: "Long Charley," "Short Charley," "Mountain Charley" and "Post Office
Charley." The last one was so named because he was in love with Birdie Lee, the
postmistress, and had to be elbowed away from the window in order for anyone else to
ask for the mail. He later married her. My uncles were "King" Brady, "Big Nose" and
"Shakespeare" (later shortened to "Shake"). The last named because he was always
writing rhymes in school.
The Midnight Gang" was a group of fellows who stole chickens from the local coops and
roasted them over the coke ovens. One of them was 'Cateye' because he could see so well
in the dark inside the chicken coops. His brother was 'Weasel' because he could crawl
through such a small hole to get inside the coops. One irate West Junior resident,
awakened by squawking chickens, caught one of the gang going over the fence and filled
his backside with birdshot.
Other nicknames were "Pigtail" Corley, "Tater Digger" McDonald, who had boasted how
many potatoes he had dug in a day, and "Knothole" Daniels, who bad cried when
someone told him his father had fallen and ran a knothole in his eye.
One young lad, reading in class about an Irishman's shillelagh, had called it a shilololly,"
and his nickname was sealed by that mistake for the rest of his life. I'll always remember
him for one incident: One warm day his father had told him not go swimming, but the
boys talked him into going along to the river. All were in the water in 'birthday' suits
when someone saw his father coming. He managed to get his trousers on before his dad
caught him and began to paddle him with a board. The boy had his hip pocket full of
kitchen matches (for smoking cornsilk) and they caught fire the second lick of the
paddle. 'Shilolly' began to yell "Ouch! Pa, Fire! "I'll give ye fire, you little devil!" Then a
patch of brown appeared on the trousers and smoke began to roll. "I God, ye are afire!"
the old man cried, and shoved the boy off his knee into the water.
One woman in our town loved to hear gossip. She would not repeat what she heard, but
relished every scandal. She had heard that the local policeman was visiting another
woman when her husband was away. When she saw the man coming down the sidewalk,
she went out and leaned on the gatepost with one elbow. When he was near enough, she
said, "Is it so that you have been going to see _ when her man is away?"
"Who told you that?" he blustered.
"Well, I heard it, and I thought if anybody ought to know, you would."
A maiden lady operated the local millinery and dry goods store in the village. She ate her
meals at a boarding house next door to her store. The local bank cashier was new in
town, and came in to dinner. He sat down by the old maid. His sleeves were rolled up,
and he had very hairy arms. She looked at his arms and said, "My Gawd, man! Ye must
be part hawg!"
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LIFE CHANGES
To get back to my story: I traveled by train to Parkersburg with Mr. Bennett, and stayed
overnight at his home. On the way from the depot to his house, I rode on my first street
car.
The next morning I enrolled at the business college. They sent me to the R. A. Wyatt
residence for a room, at 521 Ann St. I lived there until I left Parkersburg for Elkins, W.
Va. on March 10, 1926. I worked the last eight months before I left town, for the State
Road Commission, in the old city building on Fifth Street.
It was during the last ten days in Parkersburg that I met someone who was to influence
the rest of my life. It was Sunday, Feb. 29th, I was bored, with nothing to do. I knew a
family named Ireland who lived on Seventh St. and had several stringed instruments. I
was there, playing the guitar, when a neighbor girl came in to ask if the daughter could
go roller skating with her, (It was the only time she had ever been in their house!) I was
introduced to the girl, who appeared to be about 15 years old. She was very beautiful,
and in spite of her apparent age, I was immediately interested in her. The interest must
have been mutual, because she stayed on while I played a few tunes on the guitar.
Someone suggested that we go car riding, and I was paired with the new girl. I brought
her coat from the back room, and was helping her on with it. I put my arms around her
from the back, and kissed her on the cheek. Her quick reaction was to slap me soundly!
This made me even more interested. She kept me at arm's length in the car, but agreed
to let me come to her house to see her that evening. I was there every night for the next
ten days, and before I left town, we were really interested in each other. Incidentally, she
was actually eighteen and a senior in high school when we met. Her name was Elizabeth
Thrash.
I had a temporary job at Elkins, W. Va. in a restaurant, and worked there until about
April 20th, when a bookkeeping position opened at the Kendall Lumber Co. mill office.
The address was Cheat Haven, Pa. R. F. D. While there, I boarded with a Pennsylvania
German family named Spacht, I attended church and Sunday school at two nearby
country churches, where I met a girl named Helen Bowers. She would later marry James
Smith. After a chance meeting 29 years later, Helen and Jim became our good friends.
We were to try to comfort her at Jim's death in 1974, and in October, 1979 at the
passing of her son, James, Jr. of cancer at age 49.
(We learned at Christmas time in 1991 that Helen had died in May of that year. E. T. B.)
Elizabeth and I were to be married that fall, but kept setting the date ahead. When I
visited her on May 30th, we finally determined on July 4th for our wedding. The
intoxicated boss at the mill quarreled with me, and I resigned just four days before I was
to marry. I left Morgantown, W. Va. on July third arriving in Parkersburg at 9 p.m. The
next day was the 150th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence of our country.
Our wedding was scheduled for 2 p.m., but the minister was late, and it was nearer three
o'clock. The minister at First Methodist Church was on vacation, so we settled for the
Rev. J. L. West, pastor of Stephenson M. E. Church, South. 'Best Man' who stood beside
me was Holly C. Newell, a friend from a small dance band I played in. Maid of Honor was
Cosie Whipkey, from Elizabeth, W. Va., the town where my bride had lived before moving
to Parkersburg. Elizabeth had graduated from Parkersburg High School on the 28th day
of May before our wedding.
That evening we baby-sat for Elizabeth's older brother, Gotthart, and his wife Edna, with
their baby daughter, Juanita, while they went to the movies. We then spent the night
27
with them. The next day was a legal holiday, and we walked out to the City Park to see
the fireworks display. I was supposed to report for work as a waiter at Colebank's
Restaurant in Elkins on Wednesday, so we left at 9:10 p.m. on the B. & O. Passenger
train for Junior, changing trains at Grafton. The tracks of the valley route were where the
Grafton Dam now covers them at several feet deep. Heavy rains upstream had made high
water in the Tygarts Valley River, and it was beautiful and impressive to watch the water
from the train window.
We arrived in Junior at 6:05 a.m. and walked to my dad's home. I was so proud of my
beautiful wife, and introduced her to everyone on the street. She said later that she knew
I was related to everybody in town, from the introductions.
The next day we went to my Uncle Frank Knaggs' in Elkins, found a room at the Goley
residence, 315 Randolph Ave. After paying our room rent, we had just nine pennies left
in the world. We still have those pennies!
On my 20th birthday, I had an argument with the proprietor where I worked, and left my
job there. We took the train that same night for Parkersburg. I tried to find work in an
office, but had to settle for a job polishing Parker Pen bases at the Vitrolite Co., an
opaque glass manufacturing plant, at Vienna, W. Va. After three months riding the
interurban cars at 28 cents a day, we decided to move to Vienna. (That 28 cents was a
big to us at that time as was the road toll of around $3.00 Grandson Drew paid to get to
his position in Orlando from Titusville, some 60 years later. Added by E. T B. Jan. 1992)
This move proved to be a part of my destiny also. We first had rooms at a Mrs. Ayers,
then moved to Mrs. Amelia Wilson's, on Williams Ave. Here our son, Granville Marion
was born, on May 24th, 1927, at 6:40 a.m.
****************************
The Holy Spirit just wouldn't let me alone!
My mother lived one of the most beautiful Christian lives I have ever known. Dad's
unbelief was certainly in no way caused by a lack of holy example on her part. Left alone
with only her children for companionship much of the seven years she lived in the Rich
Mountain home, and denied the help of the family of God in the church, she had to rely
on her own spiritual resources. I never saw her really angry, and my father often said the
same of her. Brought up by a sincere Christian father and a somewhat pharisaical
mother, she was completely honest in her faith, She lived in a period of strong
denominational rivalries, but didn't believe in passing one church to attend another. We
respected this belief even at her death, holding her funeral in the Junior United Brethren
Church, a block from our house, even though she was a member of the Methodist
Episcopal congregation.
My father's people were all members of the Church of the Brethren (Dunkards, they were
called, from their practice of baptism by 'Trine Immersion,'--three times under the water,
face foremost.) Grandma Brady seldom attended church, having to cook for a houseful of
boarders. However, her kindness and compassion toward the unfortunate marked her as
a godly person. She took two orphan Italian boys into her home when their parents died,
raising them to manhood, and helped to raise three of her grandchildren, after having
nine of her own family.
Mother taught us to pray at a very early age, and was often with her Bible, in spite of her
health, and the care of five children. Her daily life was a holy inspiration.
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One Sunday when I was about twelve years old just as I was going into the Methodist
Church, I looked at the pastor in the pulpit, and an almost audible voice spoke to me
and said 'That will be your life's work."
Later, although deeply grieved by my mother's death, the spiritual implications of that
event did not weigh on my mind. In my 16th year, a teen-age girl singer was featured in a
revival at the Methodist Church. She was very beautiful, and when she came back to
invite the young men personally, very few of us could resist her. I went forward and knelt
at the altar rail for a long time. Nobody gave me any instructions or counseled with me.
After a while, two women who had known my mother well, knelt beside me and said,
"Son, you are all right. Get up now. Your mother raised you right and you are a good
boy." How little they knew of my transgressions and feelings of guilt. Such ignorant
persons should never be allowed to instruct anyone on his knees, trying to find
forgiveness and peace! I tried to live perfectly for a week, and failed miserably. If that was
the Christian life, it was not for me! I felt occasional brief stirrings of the Spirit, but they
did not mean much to me.
When my young wife and I were approached about joining the United Brethren Church
at Vienna, the pastor, the Rev. Harry Miller, counseled with us. My companion had been
converted as a child and I told the pastor I had "gone to the altar" at sixteen. We were
received into the church on Easter Sunday, 1927. Personally I was ignorant of what it all
meant, but vividly recalled the voice I had heard at the age of twelve. I told the minister
of this, and was duly licensed as a Quarterly Conference minister in June after we had
joined the Church.
****************************
In September of that year, we were persuaded by a relative to move with them to Akron,
Ohio. Being deeply convicted of my hypocrisy, I felt relieved to escape my obligations at
the Vienna Church. Discouraged at failing to find adequate work, and ill from poor
working conditions at a factory, I went back to my father's home in Mabie, W. Va. in late
October. My little family stayed in Akron with her folks, who had moved there in the
meantime. I worked with my dad and brother, making crossties for a lumber railroad.
Our income, in those early depression years, was at a bare subsistence level. In March,
1928 I started to hitch-hike back to Parkersburg. I became ill when I stopped at my
cousin Cad Brady's home, and was in bed for a week. When I left, he gave me one of the
last two dollars he had.
In Parkersburg, I was able to get work at the Baldwin Tool Works for a short time before I
was rehired at my old job at the Vitrolite Co., with a promotion and a raise. My family
was reunited, and a little later, we began payments on a little home about four blocks
from the church to which we belonged. We were able to get day care for our infant son,
and Elizabeth went to work at the Viscose Co., a new rayon fibre plant in South
Parkersburg. Our destiny was shaping up again, even though we didn't go to church
then. I was still a doubting and rebellious person as far as religion was concerned.
Reverting to my old life, I began playing with a small dance band in road houses. In bad
company, and subject to all kinds of temptations, loss of sleep, etc., I lived a very
careless life for the next two years. I can recall cursing the Rev. Harry Miller when the
church bell awakened me on Sunday mornings after I had been out very late the night
before. Our home life was far from happy, and a divorce seemed imminent for us. Once,
when Pastor Miller remonstrated with me about my road house dance band activity, I
said "If you are going to be that narrow-minded you can take your old church and go to
hell with it!"
29
Here I want to relate a story Mother Brady told me when I lived with them. During
the times mentioned above, as Pop Troy was living a hapless lifestyle, he would
often drink a lot, coming home rather inebriated. He also smoked heavily. Mother
Brady finally put her foot down and told him that if he ever came home drunk again,
she would pack it up and leave him. Well, he got it in himself one day to pull a prank
on her. Just before arriving home, he swished some vinegar and splashed some on
his shirt. He came in the door, staggering and talking like he was smashed. Mother
didn’t say a word. She walked into the bedroom and began packing her bags. She
wasn’t kidding about leaving! She said it took Pop Troy about two hours, begging
and pleading, to convince her that he truly had not been drinking and not to leave
him! The joke was almost on him! RMB
Concerned church members called on us to no avail. One deeply Christian brother, T. R.
Hudson, brought milk to our door from his home dairy each morning. One day, as I
reached for the bottle, he said, 'Brady, it hurts me to see you outside the church!" There
were tears in his eyes as he said it. I was deeply convicted by his words, and felt that he
truly cared for me.
My cousin, Stark A. Shomo, had moved to Vienna in the meantime, and had joined the
Baptist Church. He had been my best friend through high school, and was concerned
about the way I was living. His church was having a revival in March, 1930. On
Saturday, March 28th, he came to our house to ask me to sing with a quartette that
night. I consented if I could get away in time to play for a dance that night at a hall in
downtown Parkersburg. The hall had earned the nickname "Blood and Thunder." The
church service didn't mean much to me, but my wife, who had gone along, renewed her
covenant with God. My cousin hadn't given up. The next day he came to ask me to
practice and sing again that night. I cannot recall the name of the visiting evangelist from
Marietta, Ohio. However, it seemed to me that someone must have told him all about me.
His sermon described me exactly! At it's close, Stark laid his hand on my shoulder and
said, "How about it, Brady?" I went down from the choir loft, took the preacher's hand
and said "Whatever it takes to find God, I'm going to do it." I never was more sincere.
Walking home from church, I had to go by Pastor Miller's house. As I came near, words
that I had long ago read in the Bible came to me: "If thou bringest thy gift to the altar,
and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee, go first and be
reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift." I knew that I could not pass
that house! The interurban tracks seemed knee-high as I slowly made my way across
them and up to the door of the Vienna U. B. Parsonage. The night was cold, with flakes
of snow blowing in a stiff breeze. I rang the doorbell, and Harry Miller came to the door.
Then I hesitated in a kind of daze. Harry said, come on in, Brady. You're freezing us." I
remarked about the snow, and then said "I didn't come here to talk about the weather."
Harry said, "Yes, I know."
After greeting me, his wife excused herself, seemingly to go to bed. Harry and I talked
and prayed until about three o'clock in the morning. He gave me the counsel I needed,
and I finally said, "It's just a little clearer to me now." Mrs. Miller came back into the
room, fully dressed. She had spent the almost five hours in prayer for me! Harry said
"The revival is over at the Baptist Church. Why don't you go home and pray about this,
and come to prayer meeting Wednesday and tell us how you feel?"
I started home in the dim light of the moon showing through the clouds. About a block
away, I met the devil. He said, "You are not going to be silly enough to tell your wife
about this, are you? You'll he out with the boys at the Wildwood Inn, playing for the
dance tonight" My reply was quickly given, "Let me alone, Devil! I'll not only tell my wife,
but I'll tell everybody I meet!" Suddenly all that I had ever heard about joy came to me. I
30
was just gloriously saved! I felt that I could reach down and touch the tops of the houses
with my toes! I recall my hand on the doorknob, and then awakening "Betty" and my
sister Blossom, who was staying with us, keeping our son and doing the cooking while
we both worked. We didn't bother to go to bed but just stayed up and rejoiced the rest of
the night!
I was afraid the people at the office (I had been promoted from the factory) would give me
a hard time because of my decision. I went to the office about seven o'clock, to pray for
help until the others came at 8:30 a.m. As I prayed with bowed head at my desk, there
was suddenly a bright light, with the sense of a Presence, just across the desk to my
right. I was afraid to look directly at the light, and tried to tell myself it wasn't real. Then
I went behind the desk to the window, to see if the sun was shining. It was a dull, cloudy
morning. I sat down at my desk, over-whelmed. Suddenly a voice spoke, Lo, I am with
you always, even to the end of the world." The light and the Presence went away.
Incidentally, the office crowd never did give me a difficult time in my new-found life.
On Wednesday we went to prayer service. Vienna Church had a great midweek service,
with an average of over 100 attending. A time of witnessing was always a part of the
hour. When I finally found courage to stand, I could do nothing but weep and smile.
Many gathered around me, shaking my hand and embracing me. I found that night that
more than 30 people had my name on their prayer lists. No wonder I couldn't sleep at
night! Often I would come home from a dance, and read the Bible my wife had hopefully
given me for an anniversary present. I was trying to find a way to peace without going by
the 'Way of the Cross.' I would usually end up in tears.
During that summer, I often failed in my Christian life, but always came back to a
renewed effort. In November, the church was in a revival. One night my wife stayed home
with Marion and I attended services alone. When I returned, I said "Something is wrong
with me. Everybody else is having such a good time at church, and I am miserable!"
Betty said, "Troy, I know what is wrong with you. God wants you to preach and you are
not willing to answer the call"
I asked "Betty, if I entered the ministry would you go with me?"
"Of course I would! Didn't I promise when I married you that I would always go where
you went?" she replied.
In that moment, full surrender came. The flood tides of joy overwhelmed me! The Holy
Spirit took control of my life then and there! The way seemed plain ahead, and I received
the gift of prophecy. That gift is not one for foretelling the future, but for 'telling forth' the
message of God. The word comes from the Greek term 'Prophetos,' which means to speak
out God's message. This experience was my receiving the fullness of the Holy Spirit. This
doesn't mean that I couldn't sin, or fail in my daily life. I often did. But it did mean that I
couldn't do it and escape being miserable for it!
I was elected Class Leader for the church, which meant that I was responsible to lead the
mid-week service each Wednesday night. This helped me to "grow in grace and the
knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." My license to preach, which had been granted to an
unconverted sinner three years before, was renewed. I began to think of how I would
prepare and train to be a minister. Robert Evans, who was licensed at the same June
1927 Quarterly Conference in which I was given mine, was graduating from Seminary in
May, 1931. I had to work, but Betty went to Dayton, Ohio with Pastor Miller for Bob's
graduation. She returned with the news that President Harris had encouraged us to
come on to school in September, regardless of our lack of finances.
31
I gave notice of my intention to leave my work at the Vitrolite Co. The Superintendent J.
P. Lindsey, of that plant, advised me not to take the poorest churches when I graduated,
but to demand more money. (He was a Roman Catholic.) As it turned out, I actually did
take the poorest charge in the W. Va. Conference upon graduating in 1934.
The W. Va. Annual Conference, United Brethren in Christ Church, meeting that year at
Salem, W. Va., voted to grant my Annual Conference license to preach, and I received my
certificate on September 6th, 1931. The service was in the chapel at Salem College. What
a memorable day for me!
Pastor Miller had gone to conference earlier in the week, and I was left to conduct the
mid-week service. Still testing my call to preach, I went early to the church, and spent
the time on my knees, praying for proof, as a kind of "Gideon's fleece." I asked that if my
call was real, that we have two conversions in the prayer service. (It was not unusual to
have just one.) After a seemingly ordinary service, one young woman came forward. Her
seat companion stood back, weeping. I went back to speak to her, and she came forward
without my saying a word to her. God had given me the proof my doubting soul needed.
SEMINARY AND MINISTRY BEGINNINGS
On Sunday evening, September 13th, 1931, we drove out of Vienna in a 1919 Model T
Ford Car we had purchased for $25. We were on our way to Dayton. We stopped
overnight at Sedalia, Ohio, where we stayed with Aunt Amanda and Uncle John V.
Tenney. They were wealthy farmers who had left W. Va. about the turn of the century.
Aunt Amanda was Betty's mother's sister. We left after lunch on Monday, drove in to the
back circle at the Seminary dormitory, and unloaded our trunk and suitcases.
We were to stay at the school, and I had work as a night watchman at the Dayton
Malleable Iron Co., working three nights a week from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. My companion
did washing and ironing for single men students to help with expenses. Since we could
use the same textbooks, and tuition was only $100.00 extra for my wife, both of us
enrolled in classes. Our son, Marion, just past four, was left asleep, his breakfast on the
desk, and upon awakening played with other children in the dormitory until classes were
out at 12:30 p.m.
I can recall one time when we were completely out of money, and began to pray together
for help. The next morning a letter came from our home church, with the funds we
needed. "My God shall supply all your needs," the word of God promises!
At the end of the first year's sessions, we found ourselves uncomfortably in debt. We
decided to literally "camp out" for the summer. We borrowed a tent and a large canvas
fly, and were allowed to set it up on Harvey Comer's farm, about five miles southeast of
Dayton, off Germantown Road.
Young people from Olivet Church which we attended, would come out in the evenings
and bring food, and share with us at picnic meals. Some seminary students also came
out, and one friend, David Lloyd Ringland, spent several nights with us, sleeping in his
car, His sister and brother-in-law, the Ed Griffith family, were good friends and student
pastors at Antioch Church, some ten miles northwest, on the Wolf Creek Pike.
Soon after my conversion, I read a book called "The Victory of Mary Christopher" which
revealed the joys of sharing one-tenth of one's income with God, for his work. We
32
committed ourselves to do this, and were faithful tithers. I did not work at the night
watchman's job in the summer. Our only income was from being a "branch manager" for
the Dayton Daily News. I was to receive $7.00 per week if I collected all that was coming
from the carrier boys. For two weeks I collected only enough to allow me $2.50. I
reasoned that God wouldn't expect me to give Him 25 cents of this, so for two weeks I
wasn't a tither. Thursday night of the second week, Betty said "We have two small
cantaloupes and a half dozen ears of sweet corn left to eat. It will last until noon
tomorrow." I went up the creek, knelt down beside a log, and promised God that if He
would supply our need I would never again fail to pay the tithe. For the first time,
someone on the hill above me began to play an old reed organ. The tune was "Jesus
Savior, Pilot Me." I literally ran down the creek bank to the tent, rejoicing!
We ate our food the next day, and 1 drove to work in the afternoon. On that day, I
collected more from the carriers than I had ever received. On the way home, as I drove by
the house of the lay leader at our church, a Mr. Elliott, was setting by the curb, a market
basket full of groceries by his side. He stopped me and said, "Last night about eight
o'clock, I was praying, and the Lord told me to give you these." Eight o'clock was the time
I was praying down by that log!
When school began, we arranged to stay in the basement of the home of the Palmer
family, the Sunday School superintendent at our church. This was not very satisfactory,
since the basement was cold and damp, so we moved out after Christmas, to a small
two-room shell of a house on the back lot of a Christianson family. Our heat was from a
small oil cook stove, and we were often cold at night. In the spring, a young mother from
our church died. Her husband, Roy Weatherly, needed someone to cook for him and care
for his son, who was our boy's age. We moved into his comfortable home until after our
graduation from Seminary.
We both did well in school, receiving two of the highest grade averages in our class. A
earful of folks from our church in Vienna came over for our commencement. Pastor
Miller, Frieda Newlon, my sister Blossom, Betty's sister Ruby, and her brother Ted came.
They had fun having their pictures taken in our academic robes. They brought a nice gift
from our Vienna Congregation. (Some cash and "Pastor's Life Record" book E.T.B.)
Remembering our pleasant camping experience in the summer of 1932, we decided to do
it again after graduation. I built a small camping trailer of plywood, and we parked it
along the bank of Wolf Creek, on the farm of Mr. Seybold near Antioch Church, where
our friends the Griffiths had been pastor. That summer I worked full time at the night
watching job, taking the place of a student who had gone home after commencement. It
was a very dry but pleasant summer. My wife's niece, Lonald Belt, spent some time with
us.
Our seminary experience was during the heart of the Great Depression, in the years
1931-34. This made God's provision for us all the more a miracle.
We had given our Model T to John Mills, my wife's brother-in-law, and bought a 1929
Model A. We drove this car back to W. Va. and attended Annual Conference sessions at
the Weekley Memorial Church in Charleston, W. Va., where I was ordained on September
6th, 1934. I was assigned to the Cairo Circuit, 58 miles around to all churches, at a
salary of $340 for the year.
The stationing committee had a rough time finding a pastor that Huntington First
Church would accept, finally sending our old pastor, Harry Miller there. we sang until
late afternoon, waiting for them to agree. One old song I will never forget was repeated
over and over:
33
"O how sweet it will be, in that beautiful Land,
So free from all sorrow and pain;
With songs on our lips and with harps in our hands,
To greet one another again."
A Mrs. Neece, from Terra Alta, rejoiced with long and loud shouting, as she walked the
aisles. One old pastor, when I told him I was assigned to the Cairo Circuit, said, 'They'll
starve you to death out there. They'll starve you to death."
Dr. F. H. Capehart was our Superintendent. He and his wife were our personal friends.
The day after conference, which was Monday, they took us out to see our new home. The
parsonage was only partly finished, and had not been lived in for four years. One church
had held a "pie social" in it, and some exuberant soul had thrown pies at the walls and
ceiling. Wallpaper hung in great ribbons from the walls. Betty walked into the kitchen,
sat down on an old bench and wept. "I don't believe the Lord would expect us to live in a
dump like this!" she cried. Mrs. Capehart berated her husband for sending us there. (We
found out later that a man in Dayton, Ohio, who didn't like my plain preaching, lied
about me, saying I was a "holy roller." He told the Bishop of that area, who passed the
word on to Bishop Batdorf. He in turn said that I should have the poorest circuit in the
conference. He had ordained me the day before we saw the old parsonage!)
Dr. Capehart said to his wife, "Now, mama, we'll find some way." One of the trustees, a
Mrs. McKeown, owned a house nearby which was empty, and she let us live there until
the parsonage was remodeled and repaired. It was after Thanksgiving, 1934, when we
finally moved into a partially completed home.
The men of the churches, who were working part time for the WPA, a relief work force
spawned by the Great Depression, gathered on off days to work on the parsonage. The
unfinished top floor was sawed off and the roof lowered. The central hallway and old
stairwell were widened into a living room, with a small bedroom on either side. A
breakfast room and larger bedroom were added. Men from our home church at Vienna
came out one Saturday and wired the house for electrical current, which had never been
done. Our old friend, Jim Reed, who later also entered the ministry, led the crew.
In those days, the "new" preacher was supposed to ‘preach around' at each of the
churches, to give them a sample sermon. The Conference Superintendent would then
hold the Quarterly Conference, formally hire the pastor, and set the salary for the coming
year. At that meeting, a layman who wanted the old pastor back, said, 'We don't want
any little greenhorn out of the seminary for our preacher!" In spite of that, I was hired,
and the salary set for the year, $340.00. From this sum I had to buy food and gas and oil
to drive over 12,000 miles. Fortunately, each of the churches held regular "poundings' for
us, at which the people brought groceries, produce, canned goods and meat. Otherwise
we would have gone hungry. We were overpaid seven dollars for the year. We were not
alone in our poverty. Eighty of the around 100 families in our churches were on WPA
(government relief) jobs at 535.50 per month, which was only $9.50 more than we were
being paid.
A part of my work was to hold at least two weeks evangelistic meetings in each church.
Our first was scheduled for Big Run Church, nearest the parsonage, Oct. 28 to Nov. 13,
1934. I spent the weeks before the meeting calling at every home within a 5-mile radius
of the church. Many of these had never had a minister in their house.
34
The meetings began with an almost visual struggle with Satan! Two families in the
congregation had not spoken to each other for five years. I was led to do some plain
preaching about forgiveness and reconciliation. On Friday night of the first week, the two
women met at the altar and settled their differences. Six young people from those two
families made their decisions for Christ the same night. My text was Matthew 5:28-29-the one that led me to pastor Miller for reconciliation some four and one-half years
before!
Our second meeting series began at Davisson Chapel ("Low Gap") on Nov. 18th. It proved
to be the "great awakening" for that congregation. The house was crowded night after
night, as beautiful fall weather prevailed. Results led us to protract the meetings for five
extra nights, until December 7th. There were 78 decisions, the most in one series of
services in my whole ministry. The congregation has been spiritually alive ever since that
memorable series. At least one minister has been called from that congregation. He
married the teacher from the local school, who was converted in those meetings. She had
claimed to be an atheist, and came to hear the sermon to determine whether I used good
English before her pupils!
Poor as we were, we still wanted another child, and were delighted to find that Elizabeth
was "expecting" early in 1935. Our second child was born on October 24, 1935, and
proved to be the joy of our lives in those often discouraging times. We named him
Howard Landis Brady, for two of our favorite professors in the seminary. We were sent
back for the second year to Cairo, and received a raise of salary to $450, and were
overpaid $35.
My father's second wife deserted him, leaving him with a twelve year old daughter, my
half sister Lois. He was only 55 years old, but was almost blind with cataracts and an
eye injury. They had no place to go, so I went to Coalton, W. Va. and brought the two of
them to our house, just two weeks from the day of Howard's birth. They stayed until
March, and Dad's family and I managed somehow to have one of Dad's eyes operated on,
giving him good vision. He was able to drive a car, and resume his work.
Dr. Capehart was determined to promote us to a better paying charge, and in spite of the
Cairo request for us to return for the third year, we were moved to the Union circuit, near
New Haven, W. Va. They promised to pay us $850 per year, and we felt rich! I had
convictions against the use of commercial means of raising money for the church, and
made the mistake of stating in my first sermon at one church that I would not accept
money raised in that manner on my salary. The "Ladies' Aid" president sat just in front of
my wife, and she overheard these words, "Just let him whistle for his salary." Well,
whistle or not, in the three years I served that church, they never did pay my salary in
full.
We had a gracious revival at old Union Church (The oldest one on W. Va. conference,
founded 1835) with 71 decisions. The services started the night we returned home after
being kept away by the 1937 Ohio River flood for two weeks. We had gone to our home
church at Vienna, for the dedication of the new educational unit, and the flood waters
came up while we were there.
Dr. Ray N. Shaffer became our superintendent while we were at Union, and he planned
to move us to the Broad St. Church in Weston, W. Va. at the Conference of 1939.
However, an older pastor was given preference, and we were moved to the Freemansburg
Charge, with the parsonage at Pricetown, four miles west of the town of Weston. Our
salary here was $900 per year. While in a good series of meetings at Churchville, my
father came to visit us, and made his first public confession of Christ there. When that
happened they told me that I shouted aloud. I wasn't conscious of the fact that I did it!
35
On Sunday, May 4th,. 1980, I had the joy of bringing the message at the 100th
Anniversary of the Churchville congregation. It was blessed to recall the wonderful times
we had shared together in the Lord.
BACK TO SCHOOL
In 1942, Annual Conference met at our home church, Vienna, W. Va. I was returned to
the Freemansburg Charge, but was struggling with the conviction that I needed more
education. I had asked about a student pastorate in the Southeast Ohio Conference, so
that I could attend Otterbein College, at Westerville. One month after Conference, I
received a wire offering me the Harrisburg-Pleasant Corners charge, 31 miles from the
college. After much prayer, we were led to accept the offer, and resigned reluctantly from
a happy pastorate to return to school after eight years as full time pastor.
Memories of the Freemansburg Charge include the Sunday morning, Dec. 7th, 1941. 1
went to the door at the close of the service, and Ernest King, who had baby-sat with the
children while his wife came to church, came running across the street and told me that
the Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbor. When Elizabeth heard the news, she went
around to the back of the church and shed a few tears.
Even though it was a student work, I received $100 more salary than the work at
Freemansburg paid me. I arranged my classes to attend college on a MondayWednesday-Friday schedule. I stayed at home the other three weekdays, spending them
in study. I did my pastoral calling and sermon preparation in the evenings. Our son,
Marion, had to change schools for the last year of high school, attending at Grove City.
Howard was in second grade, and had only to walk next door to the schoolhouse in
Harrisburg.
Gasoline was rationed in those war years, and I was allowed only a "C" ration card. Many
times it would not last for the 186 miles I had to drive weekly. It was necessary to catch
the bus at 5:30 a.m., change buses in Columbus for Westerville, arriving just in time for
7:30 classes. In spite of my heavy schedule, and having been out of school for so long, I
managed an "A" in all subjects except one. This was French II, making a "B" in that one
for the first semester only, then bringing it up to an "A" and graduating magna cum
laude.
Since I had only 3 semester hours to complete for the A. B. degree in June, 1944, I
enrolled at Ohio State University in the Political Science Department for the fall term,
completing the 3 hours at Otterbein by writing a thesis for honors, using the subject,
"The Jews, and Their Prospects for a Just and Durable Peace." So I had the unusual
experience of getting two degrees in three months, getting the A. B. at Otterbein in June,
and the M. A. in Political Science in August of the same year.
Elizabeth was a loyal and a devoted wife during these busy years, working full time to
help us pay expenses. The first year, she worked at J. C. Penneys in Columbus in dress
sales; the second year as sales person for the National Biscuit Company. The next year
they reverted to their pre-war practice of using only men for this work, so she taught first
and second grades boys, from 6 to 15 year-olds, at the Orient School for the feebleminded. This year was interrupted by the necessity for a serious operation in February.
I had preached for a revival meeting in the United Brethren Church in Elkins, W. Va. (my
home community) in 1941. 1 felt a definite leading from the Holy Spirit to go to that very
small congregation to lead them in the building of a new house of worship to replace
36
their very dilapidated one. I wrote of this feeling to Dr. T. L Miles, the conference
superintendent. He and the Bishop concurred, and assigned us there at conference time
in September, 1945.
It was an eventful year for us, since our older son, Marion, after finishing high school
and one year along with me at Otterbein and working one year at the Goodrich Tire and
Rubber Co. in Akron, Ohio, had joined the navy, and was sent to do submarine patrol
duty on the North Atlantic. This added to our very heavy burden of the graduating year,
the new assignment and the move from Ohio back to West Virginia.
Since I am leaving Ohio, this is a good time to divert to a more humorous vein. I found a
strong contempt among native Ohioans for my home state, especially on the part of those
who had never visited that state.
My French teacher, Dr. Gilbert Mills, was from Buckhannon, W. Va. Once, while
studying a French play, an old French king had a court maiden come to him on the
throne, and gave her a pinch of snuff from his gold snuff box. One of the girls in the class
said, (in English) "Dr. Mills, they still rub snuff down in West Virginia." Professor Mills
said to me, 'They have us there, don't they Brady?" A student who worked in a local
grocery said, "You'd be surprised how much snuff we sell right here in Westerville at the
local grocery store." Several girls spoke up simultaneously, "Oh-h-h no! Not in
Westerville!"
Prof. 'Buckeye' Altman stated in my English class: "People still live in log houses with dirt
floors over in West Virginia." He had never been there. I can state positively that
conditions are no more primitive in West Virginia than in southern Ohio. In fact, the
dirtiest home I was ever in was on the highway, 13 miles southwest of Columbus. I was
asked to visit a sick man in that house, and found a dying man, lying in a bed with two
hens roosting on the head of his bed. Chicken lice were so thick that I had to keep
stamping my feet to keep them front crawling up my shoes to my body. I never saw
anything that bad in my home state!
Once I did have a similar experience, but not quite so dirty, I went home with some
young folks to stay all night during a revival. We were seated around a stove in the living
room, when I distinctly heard a pig grunt. When I looked up inquiringly, the father said,
"Oh, you're lookin' for Samantha. She's layin here by my chair. She grunts when I
scratch her back." When bedtime came, I followed two big teen-age sons between two
beds in a tiny room, to a ladder nailed to the back wall, We climbed to the high loft, and I
went to bed in a sagging mattress between the two boys. It was in March, and snow was
blowing in where the mud had fallen out of the 'chinks' between the logs in the wall. We
had only one old World War I army blanket over us. In spite of their body odor, I was glad
for the heat of the two bodies before morning!
Another experience was unforgettable. I had been warned not to go home with one
family, but one night during a revival, we had a very heavy rain. Besides myself, only one
other person showed up at the church, a young man from that home. I read a scripture
lesson, and had prayer before the young man said, "Now, Preacher, you have to go home
with me tonight. There is nobody else here." Well, we walked for a mile up a steep hill in
the red mud.
I had been warned. The odor was almost unbearable! The boy hung up his lantern and
said, "Hey, Paw, guess what we have for breakfast? Preacher!" "Put him in your bed. You
can sleep on the cot," said 'Paw. Man and wife were in a bed in the 'front' room. (The
woman weighed over 400 pounds. She wanted to be baptized by immersion, but the
pastors were all afraid to try to lift her out of the water.)
37
The son picked up the oil lamp from the table and led the way up a steep stairway to the
second floor. It was a "story and a half house, with the sloping ceilings common to such.
These were four teenage daughters, lying in two double beds in a room without
partitions. The boy put down the lamp, took off all his clothes, and lay down on the cot.
"You can have my bed there," he said, indicating another double bed.
"Do you blow out this lamp?" I asked.
"Hope, we leave her burn," he replied
What was I to do? I had to get into my pajamas in some way, and while the girls all had
their eyes closed, I had no way of knowing if they were asleep, or "playing 'possum."
Because of the slope of the ceiling, the bed would go no closer than three feet to the wall.
I bent over, after having turned the lamp down as low as I dared crawled back in the
space behind the head of the bed, and changed my clothes. I came out, turned up the
lamp, put my shirt over the dirty pillow, and crawled into the filthy sheets. In a few
minutes, I felt something crawling on my back. I caught the insect and crushed it
between my finger and thumb, and from earlier experiences, knew from the odor that I
had caught a bedbug. I fought those bugs all night until about 4:30, when the early June
daylight gave me relief. When I threw back the covers, A whole battalion of bedbugs
scurried for cover into a hole in the old straw mattress.
At six o'clock, the alarm sounded downstairs, the old man's feet hit the floor, and he
began to sing, "Going Up to Jerusalem, Just Like John." One of the girls said, "Let's get
up and go downstairs, maybe he'll shut up." I politely turned my back, but could have
saved the energy, for when I went downstairs, I knew that all of the girls had slept in
their clothes, from the many wrinkles.
"Well, I sung the cooks up; now I'll sing the preacher up." the father said. He sang all the
way out to feed the pigs.
The girls called, "Breakfast!" and we sat down to biscuits, sorghum molasses, fat-back
pork warmed until it was just quivery, and black postum. (The father said drinking coffee
was a sin.)
I thought, "I like sorghum, so I'll eat some on a biscuit and wash it down with postum." I
asked a hypocritical blessing on the food and picked up a biscuit. I tried to break it open,
but my fingers slipped off. On the third try, the gummy interior finally strung out and it
broke open, and inside was curled a long black hair. I said, "You'll have to excuse me. I
didn't sleep well last night, and I don't feel well this morning." It was every word true!
I went out behind the barn and lost even my dinner from the night before.
I drove the 26 miles back home that night after church. When I told Elizabeth at the door
about the bedbugs, she made me take off all my clothes on the front porch. I even had to
leave my suitcase outside. Needless to say, I never went back to that house to eat or
sleep again!
Such are the fortunes of those who would serve the Lord in West Virginia in the earlier
days. I found that conditions were worse near the Ohio River than in the mountain areas
of the state.
38
ELKINS AND SHENANDOAH
The Elkins Church had two major problems: (1) A small, sway-backed and poorly
constructed church building, on a 40 x 100 foot lot, with no parking space, and (2) it was
tied by tradition to a small rural church six miles away. This church gave very little
financial support, yet required services twice a month. We began with the second
problem. There was great demand for more rural churches in the area, so I began
preaching in abandoned church buildings and school houses in the afternoon on
Sundays. The next step was to employ a college student to provide more services in the
rural areas, and to help with visitation.
The need for a new building was almost unanimously recognized, so in 1948 we began to
raise funds for it. Another problem was location. A new flood control project made south
Elkins a more desirable place to build, and in 1950 we were able to buy two lots, 50 x
250 feet, at the corner of Eleventh Street and South Davis Avenue. We broke ground in
late September, on the Sunday when we had the famous "blue sun" from great forest
fires in the northwest. We moved into an incomplete building in September, 1951.
Elizabeth and I were very tired and overworked. I had supervised the work on the new
building, after doing most of the designing, with a few suggestions from the Board of
Trustees. I spent ten hours a day on the job, starting with prayer each morning with the
workmen. One day I was away, and didn't pray with them. That day the scaffold fell, and
the bricklayers barely escaped injury. They were not devout men, but were superstitious
enough to refuse to work after that until someone came and had prayer. Our lay leader,
A. J. McQuain, filled in at this duty the day or two I had to be away after that. Bishop
David T. Gregory dedicated the new building on May 4th, 1952. Indebtedness on the
building was $25,000 and the total cost, not including hundreds of hours of donated
labor, was $51,000 in 1952 dollars. Today that church building could not be duplicated
for less than $300,000. The debt was financed by a loan from the Bank of West Union,
W. Va. on a ten-year note, but was fully paid in seven years. (Troy wrote this in 1982.
Now, ten years later that church building would cost a million to build.)
In the meantime, a new charge had been created, made up of the new Wayside Church,
completed in 1950, Coffman Chapel, Sully, and one or more schoolhouse appointments.
Elkins Church became a station appointment. We were at Elkins for seven years, and in
that time, the budget increased from $2880, in 1944-45, to $29,300 in 1951-52. On my
last Sunday there, I asked about the sacrifices the people had made to make that kind of
giving possible. Bro. McQuain, our lay leader, finally said, "That's just it, Preacher. We all
gave more and we all had more!" In the seven years we were there, membership
increased over 200.
****************************
As early as 1950, some of the trustees of Shenandoah College and Conservatory of
Music, located then at Dayton, Virginia, had approached me about accepting the
presidency of that school. I was busy on the Elkins project, and gave it very little
thought. When Bishop Gregory dedicated the new building. he asked that I meet with the
trustees in late May, to discuss the matter further. As a result, after much agonizing
prayer, I accepted the invitation to preside over what was considered by many to be a
dying institution. My work there began on July 1, 1952. We had 95 students and were
$97,000 in debt.
39
Shenandoah College
Has New President
Rev. Troy R. Brady has been named president of
SHENANDOAH COLLEGE and Conservatory of
Music, Dayton, Virginia. He comes to the presidency
from the active ministry, having served at Elkins, W.
Va., for the past seven years. During this time the
church increased 56 percent in its membership, a
new church building was dedicated this June and a
new parsonage built.
President Brady received his B.A. degree from
OTTERBEIN COLLEGE, magna cum laude, and his
M.A. degree from OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY.
Mrs. Brady has specialized in Children’s Work and
for the past six years has been minister of the
Children’s Church at Elkins. She is a graduate of
BONEBRAKE SEMINARY. They have two sons,
Marion and Howard.
President Brady is endeavoring to appeal to
students of the area with these four statements:
1. A new emphasis upon the spiritual.
2. A new emphasis upon Christian education for
life.
3. A new approach to college evangelism.
4. A new vitality in relationship to the church.
In early May of that next year, we faced threatening suits, and possible bankruptcy. We
needed $10,000 by Monday, and it was Friday! We called a prayer meeting at the
president's home, and when Monday came, we had $13,000. God had provided in the
emergency, but I went to bed that night with the conviction that our solution was only
temporary. We were the smallest of four colleges in a six mile radius, and the only junior
college. I lay in deep and earnest prayer until three a.m., when sleep finally came. I
awakened promptly at seven o'clock, and the answer had come in my sleep! Out of a
clear sky with no previous thought, the solution was there! Move the College to
Winchester, Va., 67 miles northeast. It was the largest area in Virginia without a college.
Nobody had ever thought of such a move until that early morning revelation to me.
I called Senator Harry Byrd, Sr. in Washington, D. C. and got an appointment to see him
the next day at 11:00 a. m. We prepared a brief brochure, and Elizabeth and I went to
Washington. With the Senator's blessing, we went to Winchester, and after contacting
our pastor there, the Rev. Carl Hiser, then went to see Harry Byrd, Jr. and one other
business man. By five o'clock, we had a meeting with 12 other leaders of the town, and a
liaison person was appointed to work with us and the Chamber of Commerce.
To All Shenandoah friends . . . .
SHENANDOAH'S NEW PRESIDENT
40
Shenandoah takes pride in presenting to you our
new president, the Rev. Mr. Brady who was
appointed at a meeting of the Executive Committee of
the Board of Trustees, on .June 10, 1952, upon the
resignation of Dr. L. P. Hill. to the office of President
of
Shenandoah
College
and
Shenandoah
Conservatory of Music.
Mr. Brady is a native of West Virginia and a
member of West Virginia Conference of the
Evangelical United Brethren Church. He comes to the
presidency from the active ministry, having served as
pastor in Elkins, West Virginia, for the past seven
years.
During his Elkins pastorate, a new church
buildingand new parsonage were built. Membership
in the church there increased 56% under Mr. Brady's
leadership.
Mr. Brady flax also served churches at Cairo,
Union, and Freemansburg in the West Virginia
Conference, and at Harrisburg, Ohio. He was
ordained in 1934, at Charleston, West Virginia, by
Bishop G. D. Batdorf, following his completion of work in the Diploma School at
Bonebrake Theological Seminary, Dayton, Ohio.
Otterbein College granted Mr. Brady the B. A. Degree in 1945, with Magna
Cum Laude. In the same year, he received the M. A. Degree in Political Science
from Ohio State University. The subject of his thesis was "The International
Control of Freedom of Worship."
The new President is a member of Pi Sigma Alpha, Omicron Chapter
(national political science honorary fraternity).
Mrs. Brady is the former Elizabeth Thrash, of Parkersburg, West Virginia. She
has also completed work at Bonebrake Theological Seminary, attending with Mr.
Brady. She has specialized in Children's Work in the local church, and has for six
years been minister of the Children's Church at Elkins.
The Bradys have two children, Marion, of Akron, Ohio, and Howard at home.
A Message From The President:
Dear Friend of Shenandoah:
I hope that you are asking questions about the new president of your school! "What does he have to
say?" "What are his purposes and policies?" Here are some of the answers:
•
"SOMETHING OLD"
Shenandoah has honored traditions. Seventy-seven years of history could not help but
produce them. I am determined that these traditions shall be respected.
Shenandoah has good scholastic standards. Our Conservatory graduates are in demand.
Our Junior College is accredited, and our graduates acceptable to other schools. The good must be
made better here!
41
Shenandoah is a church-related college. Her most glorious achievements have been in the
consciousness of this relationship. She must never become "a distant relative" of the church!
Shenandoah has moral standards. Some of them are listed in the catalog. These, and others
determined by the church and the trustees are binding upon the administration, the faculty, and the
student body. We intend to stand by the rules!
•
"SOMETHING NEW"
1. A new emphasis upon the spiritual. A right relationship to God is imperative to
successful living. We believe that right relationship can only be accomplished by an experiential,
practical application of faith.
2.
A new emphasis upon Christian education for life. A college graduate should be
especially valuable as a layman in the local church. The stewardship of time, abilities and
possessions is especially- important here. By utilizing present courses, or by introducing. new ones,
Shenandoah is now committed to producing good churchmen.
3. A new approach to college evangelism. In this case, it will be new because it returns to
the old. “Religious Emphasis Week” will be expanded to a full two week, evangelistic effort, with
personal evangelism, counseling on spiritual problems, and campus-wide open meetings. Sane,
competent and well-trained workers will be secured.
4. A new vitality: In her relationship to the Virginia Conference, to the local churches, in
the financial problems, in educational advance in every proper field, we are committed to give new
life and energy to Shenandoah. Our new purpose is to move out of convalenscence and in to health.
5. Some new slogans:
"Shenandoah-mortal enemy of intellectual bigotry."
"Shenandoah-where dependable faith and honest scholarship are inseparable."
"Shenandoah-God's mountain-top in the valley."
May everyone who knows our school soon be able to say "you can
depend on Shenandoah!"
Sincerely,
TROY R. BRADY
President
There was a problem for Winchester. They had just completed a new hospital, and were
involved in paying for it, but in February, 1955, a letter from the liaison man informed us
that they were ready to consider our cause. They were having a banquet at the George
Washington Hotel on March 17th, inviting the school representatives to entertain with
musicians from the Conservatory, and I was to speak to the group, explaining what the
school could offer the city, and what the city could do for the school. A vote at the close
of the meeting was unanimous to support the move. The city would donate the new site
for the campus, 45 acres, and raise $350,000 for the first building.
After some bitter opposition from a few members of the Virginia Conference, that body
finally voted on June 28, 1956, to relocate the College in Winchester.
****************************
My personal health had deteriorated under the heavy load I was carrying, and Elizabeth,
who had always felt that we should not be out of the pastorate, was urging me to resign.
42
Anticipating this, we followed an urge to find a place in the Shenandoah Valley in which
to retire. I had a personal longing to find a place in Singers Glen. We asked the Rev. Wm.
Wolfe, the pastor in that village, to help us find a place. The church there had, in buying
adjoining houses and lots for expansion, acquired 3.15 Acres of land on the southeast
side of the community, and a house that had to be moved so the church could have more
parking.
We bought the land for $2000 and the house, which had been the first schoolhouse in
"The Glen," for $500. We had the house moved to the 3.15 acres for $900 and began a
long labor of love in remodeling and upgrading the house, which was built in 1882. The
house is now a very comfortable and attractive home, at current (1982) prices, worth at
least $45,000. (Added: We sold it for $65,000 in 1989. We had sold four lots earlier from
the original three plus acres. E.T.B.)
I resigned as president, effective July 1, 1956, just four years to he day from the time I
began my term. I was in the hospital during the regular session of Virginia Conference in
early September. Forrest Racey, who had been business manager, was elected president
in my place. He led in moving the college to the new location in 1960.
****************************
In the meantime, Elizabeth had not been idle. She completed her junior college studies at
Shenandoah, and I personally awarded her diploma in early June, 1953. After two years
at Madison College (now James Madison University) she received her B. S. in Education,
and for two years, 1955-57, taught the fourth grade at W. H. Keister School in
Harrisonburg. Her income kept us until January 1st, 1957, when I started as supply
pastor at Waynesboro, Va., after the Rev. Glovier retired with a heart attack. The church
unanimously asked for my return, but the superintendent, angered because I had
successfully led in the decision to relocate the college, refused to even consider it. He had
wanted to close the school altogether.
43
FLORIDA AND SINGERS GLEN YEARS
My home conference, West Virginia, had so many moves at the 1956 session that there
were no openings in 1957. The Rev. R. L. Brill, who had helped in bringing me to
Shenandoah and who had been my Field Agent for the School in 1952-53, was forced to
44
move to Florida for his health, wrote to me in early June, asking me to come to
Bradenton, Florida as pastor. After a trip there, we decided that God wanted us there to
lead in the building of a new house of worship.
Elizabeth had a teaching position at Bradenton, so went early to attend pre-school
meetings. In the meantime, my Dad's health was so poor that my stepmother could not
care for him alone. The only solution was to take them both to Florida with me. We
arrived there on August 23rd, 1957. At our first service there, we had only 57 people
present.
My Dad was more and more dissatisfied, complaining that even "The trees don't look like
trees!" (Palms and long needled pines) In less than four months he was so homesick for
W. Va. that I took them home, leaving December 13th. Quite a heartache for me! I left
them at Lois' in Coalton until I could get the house opened and warmed up. From that
time I paid the neighbor living next door to take care of the coal furnace for them.
On the third Sunday night I preached at Bradenton, our Sunday School Superintendent,
Eugene Clouse, came forward and was truly converted. We made other spiritual progress
there, but had little encouragement to build a new house of worship, in spite of no
parking room, and a building practically destroyed by termites. A barely 55% favored the
project. However, by 1962, sentiment had grown, and so had the crowds. We found five
acres, three miles southwest, at Cortez Road and 51st Street, West. In 1964 we
completed a fellowship hall and six separate classrooms, sold the old location to the City
of Bradenton for $40,000, and moved to our new building. Our highest attendance in the
new location was 636. I was pastor there for almost 11 years, my longest, and we lived all
these years at 1505 29th Street West. (The "almost" was caused by the change in the
conference year, due to the union of our denomination with the Methodist Church.)
The original E.U.B Church
in Bradenton
NINTH AVENUE AT FIFTEENTH STREET
(Mailing Address: 908 - 14th St. Court, W.)
PHONE 6-1650
45
(The article above appeared in the St. Petersburg Times on February 22, 1965.
CHURCH BUILDING DEDICATED – The Emmanuel Evangelical United Brethren Church in Bradenton dedicated its
new building in special services yesterday afternoon. Above is a view toward the sanctuary of the church. The service
was held in what will be the fellowship hall. Long range plans call for construction of a completely new building on the
same property. At left is an outside view of the new church which is at 5115 Cortez Road.
Staff Photos by Dan Millott
46
Elizabeth taught those eleven years, ten of them at the new Orange Ridge School. The
pastor who followed me led in dividing the church and building an independent
congregation. He later failed morally and left the state. It took Bradenton Emmanuel
Church a full ten years to recover from his defection, in both attendance and finances.
I overlooked one important event in those years. I was planning to celebrate my 25th year
of ordination on September 6th, 1959. On the First of the month my brother Bland called
me to say that Dad had died. He was in his 79th year. I had my first commercial air flight
back to W. Va. for his funeral.
****************************
In 1968, the year the E. U. B. Church united with the Methodists, I asked for and
received a smaller assignment. The visitation load was too much for my advancing years.
I was sent to St. Andrews Church, Winter Park for my last three years before retirement.
While there, we led in the construction of four new classrooms for our growing Sunday
School. When me moved there, there were only eight houses in sight of the church. The
first year we were there, 550 new apartments were built across the street from us. We
had a happy and successful ministry at Winter Park.
****************************
I had been Director of Evangelism for the Florida Conference, EUB, and was made
Recording Secretary of the Board of Evangelism of the united conferences in 1968. Other
conference positions I held were Director of Stewardship, Conference Trustee, Director of
Youth Work for the West Virginia Conference five years, a trustee of the conference camp,
EvUnBreth Acres, and helped to purchase the site and plan the layout of the grounds.
Since it was former EUB, the former Methodists determined to sell it. This was done in
1982.
Florida Conference granted me three months sabbatical leave (until my 65th birthday)
and retirement as of September 30th, 1971, on May 30th we left our Florida Home on
Loch I.omond Drive and drove to our home we had purchased in Singers Glen, Virginia,
15 years before. In the 11 years we have been retired, we have made many more
improvements on it.
We didn't linger long at Singers Glen, for we had planned for years to go on a retirement
trip to the west and northwest. We left on July 3rd, drove 13,000 miles in about 32
states, rode about 1000 miles on ferries and steamers, slept, ate and lived in our
Volkswagen camper, saw wonderful scenery, and in all spent less that $1000.
****************************
For the next two years, I held several evangelistic meetings, mowed my lawn, raised a
large garden, loafed and traveled. Then in 1973, the District Superintendent asked me to
take the Mountain Valley Church, about 15 miles from our home, as a retired supply. I
accepted for I love to preach God's Word! I was to preach on Sunday mornings only, and
visit the sick for $2800 per year. I just couldn't limit myself in that way! I held prayer
and Bible study each Wednesday, and visited every home in the community.
When the congregation asked me to return for the second year, I replied that I would if
they would build a parsonage so that they could ask for a resident pastor. They had
student supply preachers for 25 years. They then agreed to begin to build after they had
raised $20,000. This they did in less than a year. They built and paid for an 8-room brick
parsonage within two years. Their average attendance is now more than triple that first
47
Sunday I preached there, with attendance as high as 223. Their budget is now more than
$23,000 per year.
It was during our pastorate there that we were able to realize a dream of over seven
years. We went to the Near East, visiting eight countries. They included Greece, Egypt,
Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, Italy and Switzerland. We were gone more than three
weeks, at a cost of over $3000. We traveled with a group of 28 Mennonites, 4 Baptists,
with ourselves being the only United Methodists. To me, our experience at Gordon's
Calvary and the adjoining tomb were worth the whole trip! We flew by '747' Jetliner from
New York to Athens, Greece.
****************************
Since both of our sons live on the east coast of Florida, one at Cocoa and the other at
Melbourne, and I have no regular work in the pastorate, we have been spending five
months each winter in Florida since 1976. Our son, Marion and his wife, Joy, owns two
duplexes, and we rent one of his apartments. We have completely furnished and
reconditioned this part-time home in the meantime. We usually are there from about
November first to March 31st.In November, 1981, I suffered severe angina pains. An
angiogram revealed severe blockage of coronary arteries. On Dec. 18th, I received three
bypass artery replacements. I recovered remarkably, thanks to clean living and literally
hundreds of people praying for me.
I recently did a survey of my ministry of and found that almost 4500 people had come
forward to receive Christ, or to renew their dedication to him, under my preaching. For
this I give God all the glory and rejoice in their salvation! I have been pastor of 29
churches in four different conferences and a college president for four years. If the Lord
had not found me that night in March 1930 I might be dead, or at least a jailbird by this
time. Praise the Lord!
We have purchased two gravesites in Singers Glen, Virginia, cemetery and it is my wish
to be buried there, so that if any relatives or friends visit the site they will be able to see
to the southeast, the mountains I have always loved.
****************************
And so, I bring to an end my memoirs, with some historical and traditional background. I
have made few confessions to my many failures and sins, all forgiven by God's grace! My
great desire here is to preach the unsearchable riches of the Good News of Christ as
many times as possible before the Lord calls me home.
Our plans for the future are simple. If we keep our health we will continue to live as we
have in the last five years. If we should not be able to care for our place in Virginia we
plan to move to our apartment in Florida and finish out our days there.
God's grace is sufficient for me!
****************************
P. S. Since my husband wrote his memoirs in 1982 our plans for our latter years have
changed. Instead of spending our last days at Singers Glen, or in one of Marion and Joy's
apartments, we built a home on the lot in Sharpes, Florida, which we had purchased in
1975. When it become apparent a few years later that we should live nearer our family we
sold our home in Virginia and in August of 1989 moved permanently to Florida.
We
48
turned the cemetery lots back to the trustees with the request that they be sold and the
money given to the United Methodist Church in Singers Glen. (E. T B.)
Winter Park, Florida
Rev. Troy R. Brady and wife on the
Porch of the new parsonage, 1950.
49
50
The above letter, written to Florida’s Governor Leroy Collins, in March, 22, 1960, is concerning the issues of racism taking place during
those trying times. The letter reads:
Dear Governor Collins, May I express my personal commendation of your stand on the moral issue involved in the present crisis
concerning segregation in department store lunch counters. While we may not agree on all the issues involved, I believe that you have
evidenced your ability to think clearly in this specific statement. If the proprietors of such businesses decide to close down the lunch
counters, it will but further prove your point that their only interest is in profits, and that they do not care at all about any of the
principles involved. As soon as we have time to consider it, a further statement of commendation will be forthcoming from our entire
congregation. You are in a difficult position, and in such you are conducting yourself in a very commendable manner. May our Lord
continue to give you wisdom and courage.
51
52
53
Bradys Return
To Elkins for Revival
REV.. AND MRS. TROY BRADY
The Rev. and Mrs. Troy Brady of Singers Glen, Va., will return
to Elkins on Saturday to begin an eight-day revival at Wayside
United Methodist Church.
The Rev. Brady will deliver his first sermon al the 11 a.m.
worship service Sunday. He will be the guest speaker each evening
through Saturday. Oct. 2, at 7 :30 pm. and will conclude on
Sunday, Oct. 24, with the morning worship service.
The Brady's spent many years in Elkins. Under their ministry,
the Otterbein Church was built as well as the parsonage located
next to the church. It was also under their ministry that the first
phase of the Wayside Church was built.
After leaving Elkins, the Rev. Brady served as president of
Shenandoah College in Virginia. From there they moved to
Bradenton. Fla.. where he pastored a church before retiring in
Singers Glen.
The Rev. Charles Daniels, pastor of the Elkins Circuit East
consisting of Wayside, Job and Whitmer churches, invites
everyone to attend the services and to get re acquainted with the
Brady's. Special singing events are planned and will be announced
during the week of the services. All singers and church choirs are
welcome.
54
Poems and Music
MY RICH MOUNTAIN HOME
When it's autumn time in old Rich Mountain
And the summer leaves begin to fall,
With every gentle breeze
Softly falling from the trees,
With their voices low and sweet I hear them call.
Sweet and low their gentle voices calling,
Pleading that I never more shall roam,
And before the autumn leaves
All are fallen from the trees,
I'll be going back to my old cabin home.
I'm sure there must be mountains up in heaven,
In that land where we will all be free from care.
With a cabin for my home
I would never care to roam.
Twould be heaven for me with my mother there.
Sweet and low I hear the mountains calling,
Pleading that I never more shall roam,
When I see those rugged hills
Then my heart with rapture thrills,
For I know I soon shall see my dear old home.
When its twilight time in old Rich Mountain
And the shades of night fall 'round the cabin door,
I can see my mother's face,
Standing by the window place,
Calling to us as she did in days of yore.
Sweet and low her gentle voice is calling,
Pleading that I never more shall roam.
Mother I can hear your call,
And I'm homesick for you all
So I'm coming back to my old cabin home.
But there came a parting time in old Rich Mountain
And the shades of death upon my mother fell.
But I still can see her there,
Just within the portals fair,
Calling to the dear ones here she loved so well.
55
Sweet and low her gentle voice is calling,
Pleading that we never more shall roam.
O'er and o'er the words repeat,
"Won't you kneel at Jesus' feet?
He'll forgive your sins and bring you safely home."
There'll be other parting times in old Rich Mountain,
For the shades of death on all of us must fall.
I can hear another voice
Saying, "Will you make the choice?"
'Tis the Saviour, Will you heed his gentle call?
Sweet and low his gentle voice is calling,
Pleading that I never more shall roam.
I can hear his voice of love
Calling to me from above
And a broken-hearted boy is coming home.
(1933)
EMMANUEL
As the lowly-shepherds watched their flocks by night
In the darkness never dreaming of the light,
Suddenly the brightness of the Lord came down!
Angels sang of peace, and glory shone around.
Glory! Glory! Christ Emmanuel!
God is with us, all is well!
In an upper chamber, blinded by their fear,
In the darkness never dreaming God was near,
Suddenly upon them came their soul's desire,
Burning through the dark with flaming tongues of fire!
Glory! Glory! Christ Emmanuel!
God is with us, all is well!
In this age of sorrow, blinded by our tears,
In the darkness never dreaming Christ draws near!
Suddenly the heavens burst with blinding light!
At His glorious coming he shall end all night!
Glory! Glory! Christ Emmanuel!
God is with us, all is well!
(Christmas, 1943)
56
IF I WERE GOD
If I were God I know I'd be too free!
I'd want to cherish all the things I seeI'd fondle planets like a child at play,
And run my fingers through the milky way,
And stars and suns would suffer at my touchIf I were God I know I'd move too much.
If I were God I know I'd be too strong!
I'd want to hurry every world along,
And crush a few together for a testMake great experiments with all the rest.
I'm much too curious about the end;
If I were God, the world would need a friend!
If I were God I know I'd be too wise!
I couldn't stand the hurt in human eyes.
I'd take down all the barriers, right the wrongs,
And make the path so easy for the throngs
That men would grow up soft, and easy prey
To evil. It's much better done his way!
EUCHARIST
For I could wish my hands were scarred
My face would shine with holy light;
--Not that for fame would I be marred,
Or for myself be glorified-But that to you I might reveal
'Tis Christ, who for you all hath died,
Invites you to this holy meal,
Who stands before you now as then
And bids you eat and drink by me.
Oh, could I suffer so that when
I break this bread you all shall see
My Saviour's face!
57
"QUEST FOR GOD?"
Why do they call it a quest,
This vivid consciousness This white-hot flame?
Why do they call it a quest?
Do they go seeking in the black
As a lost child gropes the forest track
And vainly call his name?
While I bow down and hate myself
For lust of flesh and love of self
And weep with heart exposed!
(O shame! to know "The Way,"
To walk in light of truth's full day
And despise such light disclosed!)
Why do they call it a quest,
This vivid consciousness
Of peace so sweet.
For me it is no quest;
Not sought, but found, his glorious face
I drink its light - devour its grace
As a hungry man eats meat!
These are wiser far than I,
Why are they so blind of eye?
Why do they call it a quest?
Haven't they found rest?
ADOBE
I saw a worker build a wall today,
Unfriendly, bare, and lifted up.
And of the selfsame clay
I saw another make a cup Three fingers high To slake the thirst of every passer-by.
58
METAMORPHOSIS
Once, long ago, I was a child.
I lived on pure things: Bread
White and fine,
Dipped in red The red of new wine
Sweet and mild.
But I had always a desire It burned like fire!
And flamed each hour afresh.
I wanted meat Some solid thing to eat.
My soul would live on flesh!
So I forgot the pure,
And sunk my talons strong and sure
Into the flesh of THINGS.
Gorged my soul and gave it wings!
I lived where eagles lived, ate eagle's fare.
But all at once the air
Was putrid with the stench of death!
I reeked with carrion, and my breath
Was as a new tomb opened wide.
And something died
Within me!
O God! How?
Once I was a child, but now
Now
I
am
a
vulture!
- The progress of spiritual decay from the
Communion table to companionship with maggots.
59
THE CHILDREN PLAYED
The children played with toys;
Sticks, and clubs, and stones,
Little girls and boys
Of cave men. Then anger came
And fighting; bruised heads and broken bones
And children bloody, screaming, lame!
Their fathers came correcting,
Chastising every child,
Uncivilized and wild,
But still in love directing.
The children played
With complicated toys These modem girls and boys And in their playing, strayed;
Misused machines of evil dread;
In anger turned the atom into fear, And in a modern year
Left one another bleeding, bruised and dead.
Their Father from above
Also chastised
These highly civilized
Children, broken-hearted in His love.
(1950)
THANKS GIVING
Our blessed Savior bowed his head
To thank God for five loaves of bread
And when they shared the bread he blessed,
There was enough for all the rest
-and even more!
Teach us, 0 Lord, in this good land
Of bounty from thine own great hand That only as we bless and share
Will there be bread enough to spare
-and even more!"
- Amen
-
(1950)
60
TRUE RICHES
That is not treasure which is hoarded as a miser
grasps his gold;
But only that which, like the widow's cruse of old,
Increases as 'tis given and poured forth to meet
the need
Of a hungry heart, and emptied, fills indeed.
(Of the lines that I have written the above are my favorite ones. I
strive to make them my true philosophy of life.)
CONSECRATION
My hands and my feet shall sing praises to God,
My pick and my plow, as I turn the deep sod!
My lips, and my heart, every pan of my frame,
With all I possess, shall exalt his dear name!
LOOK UP!
Christ wore the curse of sorrow to the grace
Leaving it there, full dead, within the cave;
Casting it off, like grave-clothes when he came
Triumphant forth to meet the light again.
Dead souls may haunt His burial place,
But living ones look UP to see His face.
And so I lay my SORROW 'neath the sod;
But HOPE and JOY look upward, unto God.
-
Published in "Religious Telescope" 1942
61
How strongly we are tempted to take the easy way! How
simple it is to proclaim the "Fatherhood of God" and ignore
the words of the "Son of God" himself! Jesus' every word and
parable, indeed his very coming to earth in itself, is for the
purpose of saving man from the family of Satan and bring
him into the Father's household.
WHO ARE GOD'S SONS?
Who are the sons of God?
Are all men such?
Does every rebel dare
To claim so much?
What is the filthy clod
Without his touch?
Who are the sons of God
His armies tramp
'Gainst sons of Satan, led
By hell's red lamp.
They march on bloody sod
To take that camp!
Who are the sons of God?
These men of lust
W'ho drag divine creation
In the dust?
Have they been born again?
Christ said, "Ye must!"
Who are the sons of God?
Let Jesus say!
'Twas not the multitude
He taught to pray
"Our Father --;" but disciples
Of "The Way."
(1943)
These lines came to me after a speaker in college chapel service, by his
rash declaration that, "Jesus came into the world to prove that all men are
the children of God," had led a fine young football player to refuse Christ
as his Saviour, saying, "I am a child of God as well as you. I don't need
your salvation!"
62
ORCHESTRA
The skies shall sing and play to me
Tonight, a glorious symphony.
The stars shall be the timbrel bells
And clouds resound the organ swells.
The rolling thunder-drums shall beat
To time the rain's swift, marching feet
(Like thoughts across a fevered brain
That march, and wheel, and march again.)
Roaring winds and lightning flashes
Flames of sound, like cymbal crashes!
Chinese cymbals, hammered brass
Tinkling cymbals, made of glass.
Now the forte of storm is past;
Comes the velvet calm at last.
Nightingale, upon a limb,
Sings a dulcet nocturne hymn.
Moonlight beams on rippling streams Shepherd's pipes to play my dreams.
Tiny flute, and clarinet,
Trumpet clear, and castanet.
Whispering breeze, and night-bird's call
Upon the silent shadows fall.
My heart joins in the blessed strain
Of the earth's age-old refrain,
And all of nature's voices raise
In the anthem to God's praise.
Now quiet rest joins in the theme
And peacefulness fulfils my dream.
Soft comes the sweet "Amen" of sleep,
And makes my symphony complete.
-(1939)
Published in "Quiz and Quill," Otterbein College,
December, 1942. First prize, Burkhart Poetry
Contest
63
THE THREE MARYS
We three to the garden went
Early in the morning.
We three to the garden went
With dawn the skies adorning.
Myrrh and aloes took we there
To anoint his body fair.
We three in the garden were -Early in the morning.
We three in the garden were
Early in the morning.
But our Master was not there
So early in the morning.
An angel came at break of day
And he rolled the stone away
Peace to you, he then did say
Early in the morning.
We three from the garden came
Early in the morning
But our hearts were not the same,
Great joy in place of mourning.
Angels on their harps now play
"Christ the Lord is risen," they say.
Joy in earth and heaven today
This glad Easter morning.
(Easter, 1935)
64
THE TRAGEDY OF DREAMING
Why do I not laugh?
Why am I not exultant - all afire?
Here is the flesh and blood,
The warm breath of my full desire!
And yet I stand - unmoved
- As though I were unloved.
How can I stem the flood
Of ecstasy rampant within?
Such indifference is sin!
Long ago
This dream did come alive,
And ecstasy did thrive
Within me! I put forth my hand
and touched - fondled - reveled'.
Now the flame is gone - you understand?
The hills of fire are leveled
Nor left a single height
No gleam to pierce the night
Within me. Love is old
Not living now - but cold.
Alas! I DREAM!
Why do I not weep?
My love is not asleep She is dead! Hard-hearted fool'
My tears should form a pool,
An overwhelming flood
To mingle with her blood,
To purge my mind!
Besides that - tears would blind.
The walls were stone
And there I stood, alone!
Sobbing, screaming in the night,
Too frightened yet for flight!
For I have watched her die
Too many times! Now I
Can only stand, and seem
Hard-hearted. You see - I DREAM.
Why am I not ill?
Why do not my nostrils quake
With violent nausea at this lake
Of blood? From afar
I heard the guns of war.
And now I see, and feel,
65
I know it's real!
Against my will
I breathe its fetid breath,
Yet I do not retch up
The very odor of this carnal cup!
Why am I not ill to death?
In time of peace I saw
This crimson maw This filthy death - this reeking cairn This stew of entrails, seasoned well
With shrapnel from the pepper-pot of hell!
A thousand times I sickened on this mess
Within my inner consciousness.
My heart drew pictures far too real
Anticipating. Now, I cannot feel!
For dreamers, there is nothing new.
Alas! I dream - DO YOU?
(1945)
(The curse of imagination is its power to steal the emotion from all
new experiences. It leaves all adventure flat with the stale taste of
deja va.)
66
RAIN WITCHES
Oft when the comfort of the rain has ceased
Upon the hills but for a little while,
From out the leafy aisle
And rock-rimmed glen arise
Mist forms, from mystic depths released,
lift metaplasmic fingers to the skies.
Weird father has the storm become to these
Rain-witches, borne elusive from the trees;
As some generative finger, reaching low
To touch the mother earth, had caused to grow
These frail ghost-children, forth to spring afresh
From every spot the lightning touched her flesh.
The magic of your finger tips is such
That strange wish-children rise at every touch.
But when I would enfold them to my heart,
They drift apart.
(1944)
My mother named them "rain witches," these wavering wisps of vapor which
climb the invisible stairs of barometric pressure in the forests of Monongahela.
"When you see them," she said, "it will always rain again before the storm is
over." I have never known her observation to fail.
Older weather prophets rhymed:
"Fog on the hills,
Water for the mills."
67
THE NECESSITY OF POETRY
Whatever man sees of beauty
that overwhelms the eye,
Or what he feels of ecstasy
That fills too full his soul,
And all he knows of duty
Which drives him on to die;
When man has dreams of fantasy,
Or reaches high for a goal,
He must speak in rhyme and beauty of word
And of phrase and rhythm, or he cannot be heard.
When a man looks deep in a woman's eyes
Or a sleeping baby's face,
When the strength of love lifts far above
The evil, the flesh and the clod,
When he lifts his eyes to the mystic skies
And ponders on time and space,
And by fancy deep in infinity roves
To humbly rub shoulders with God,
He must lift up his voice in the rhyming art,
For only a poet can speak for the heart.
(1956)
68
WISHING BRIDE
(To Betty)
I shall not leave you lonely
But in the night I shall be near
When you sit alone with cares and fear.
Hands shall reach across the night
- Too firm for unreality, yet too light
To be real flesh - shall touch your finger-tips,
Turn again the golden band
Upon your finger - lift your hand
And draw it to my lips.
I shall not leave you lonely
But in the bright new courage of the dawn
My arms shall find you - half unwilling, half asleep
And caress you wide awake to morning's light.
Together we shall find the end of night.
You shall be drawn
By phantom arms more real, by love more deep
Than ever living flesh be giving
Or human heart express, and go on living.
I shall not leave you lonely But in the day's full power
Firm lips shall press upon your yielding ones.
And on a dream-road wildly beautiful, alone,
We shall stop, and for an hour
The world shall cease to be, and only
Your eyes shall be real - two living pools,
Dew-dim with tears - within whose depths,
o'erfull,
I plunge, and try in vain to drown my love.
The true lover is never so far from his beloved but he can return in
moments of powerful thought and be almost real. Almost? Yes, even
more than real! There really is such a thing as teleportation!
69
CRIMSON MIRROR
I went into the woods again today
To let their quiet drive my cares away.
I saw the sunrise - like a crimson flood,
Reminder of grim Eastern fields of blood.
A dove's low moaning in a red-bud tree
The cry of wounded men became to me.
And what I thought were bluebirds in the sky
Were really bombers passing, flying high.
At evening time the sky again was red A mute dispatch to tell of Western dead.
O God of merry! Can the sunlight fall
On red-stained German fields, and cast a pall
Of crimson on a dawn so far away?
Does that same sun reflect, at close of day
Upon Pacific waters red with gore
And write upon our sunset, "Nevermore"?
Such angle of reflection could not be
As mirrored that mirage of death to me;
But laws of light and physics fall apart
When shining through a broken human heart.
I went into the woods again today I wish I'd stayed away.
(1945)
(This and the next four poems are out of the tragic years of World
War II.)
70
BREATH OF DESTINY
What wind of mischief! What malicious gale
Now rends with talon'd feet this tranquil vale
Where beauty reigned, and yearning hovered o'er?
What souls are those caught in its hungry roar Dragged helplessly by mad, cyclonic breath,
Together driven into its cavernous death?
The livid lightning of its living eyes
Illuminates the ragged, rending rise
Of vortex to the angry clouds above,
Reveals the barren earth devoid of love.
Yet in its fire that barreness is warm,
And gathers insane glory from the storm!
No masters, we! The storm controls our fate Once caught within its charms, 'tis far too late
To miss its destiny! So yield thy rebel flesh
And know the mad adventure all afresh.
And do not tremble as a child in fricht 'Tis simple yielding brings the sweet delight!
(Faced with nuclear destruction, today's youth often resort to this crisis
philosophy: "Live each day to the full - there may be no tomorrow." This attempts
to explain them. Perhaps some may feel it even defends them.)
71
THREE VOICES CRY
High is the cry of the warriors Strong and high!
But it comes o'er the noise of battle
Faint as a sigh.
Like the cry of little children
About to die.
Low is the cry of the wounded Softly they moan.
Lending to war's dread music
A minor tone;
And the human heart can hear it
By love alone.
Loud is the cry of the dead ones
Prone on the sod.
Out of the maddening silence
Still hearts, o'ertrod,
Cry for the end of all battles.
One hears - even God!
(1944)
I wish I could set these words to funeral music and have them
chanted in low tone to all the leaders of the nations, unceasingly.
72
MISERERE FINI
One whose lips seemed moved by rare delight,
As though her dwelling were the verge of bright
New visions; told of wandering in a dream
Of transient beauty by an unquiet stream
To hear an oriole sing.
In simple words almost akin to sighing
She said: "He wasn't singing, he was crying."
Then like a hot, barbed arrow came the thought:
Can it be this sombre mood has caught
In every living thing?
Are even singing birds, then, ill at ease?
Does human sorrow rise, engulf the trees
As some dread force invisible, to clasp
The whole of nature in its sickening grasp
of melancholy blight?
" phe whole creation groaneth as in pain -"
My dirge began. With radiant joy again
The maiden spoke. Me oriole soared above
The shadow of the mom, and found his love
Within the higher light."
(1944)
73
AUTUMN REVISITED
I had forgotten
Cathedral silences of forest halls at mom,
And smell of fallen leaves in autumn rain;
The jewelled glory of a frosty moonlit night;
The hard blue brilliance of October days,
And the ways
Of cackling tours of southbound birds in flight;
Pathetic wings of butterflies late- born
All vainly hailing summer back again.
I had forgotten these
And many other poignant memories
That now come rushing back at every brown
Leaf that drifts on autumn's fitful breeze.
But now I have them here all written down,
I'll not again forget, tho' ne'er again
Will I behold my hills at this blest time
Of year. I cannot capture in one rhyme
Forest odors, frost, and sun and rain.
No, I will not forget
For I have had a promise from my Lord
That Paradise shall come - He gave his word,
And I shall enter heaven even yet!
For what is heaven but the having, at long last,
Of all the perfect things from out the past?
I had forgotten, yes. But after all life's pain
Is over, I shall have them back again.
--- And love, if this is true,
Shall I not also have you, too?
(October, 1959)
74
MORNING WATCH
Morning!
Sunlight pours!
Blinding crashes burst the doors
Of night.
Swords of light
Put the black-robed shades to flight.
Wild voices
Of the spaces
Chant the victory song of light.
Trees lift limbs in worship far and near.
Hills and valleys clap their hands and cheer,
And morning-glory trumpets sound so clear
I have to put my finger in my ear.
Even the soft south wind
Storms my heart like a cavalry charge:
How can I worship in this din
Of nature's shouting in a sanctuary so large?
Please forgive me, Lord,
If I confuse thy written and thy new-created word
Haven't you heard?
It is morning!
75
A MAP IS A THING OF MAGIC
Across the vale
Outside my window to the west arises
A mountain wall
Sinister against the sunset, tall
And part of all
That time and space so cruelly comprises
For my heart a jail.
And I recall
That eastward from your window, too,
Is lifted high
A mountain by a lake, in crimson hue
From sunset sky.
I am reminded - hills imprison you!
Your soul, too, has a wall.
Then, like a part
Of some weird conjure, there is lying
Within my hand
A map - a thing of magic - and I span
The intervening reaches. All the land
Between us melts, and miles decrying
I hold you to my heart!
(To Betty)
- (October, 1955)
(Written while I was at Shenandoah and too busy to take vacation
trips. Not wishing to deprive my wife I insisted that she take the
western trip with her sister, Elma, and her niece Annis, which she
was invited to take.)
76
RELATIVITY
I waited alone in the darkness,
And my yearning was like pain!
I longed for you in the darkness,
But my longing was in vain!
Though I could hear our breathing,
You were never so far away,
And the long, long night was lonely,
And I wept, and prayed for the day.
The few short steps between us
Were wide as the gulf of space!
And I learned that doors that are open,
Not closed ones, prison a place!
But tonight there are miles between us
Yet I hold you close to my heart,
And I know now that often you're nearest,
When we are farthest apart.
So I doubt the nature of distance
When it keeps me from your charms.
For when you are near, you're far away
- Except when you're in my arms.
I think I have learned a secret
Not opened by science or art.
The hands reach out as the arms are long,
But a heart reaches out to a heart!
(For Betty) 1956
(Written when Betty was on a Canadian trip with her
sister, Elma Bornstein.)
77
CONQUEROR OF THE YEARS
I found a chimney-stone among the grasses
And reverently turned it over with my hands,
And - quick as thought - the fleeting present passes
For scenes more real! The past before me stands!
A house is there, with every chink and cranny
And mark of axe, and weatherbeaten stain.
But reason, cruel-hearted, wise uncanny,
Cries out, "These things shall never be again."
I feel a breeze with tang of wood-smoke laden;
Incense divine! So rare it has no name And see once more my firelit forest haven
Where green-cut oak lies seething in the flame;
Hold out my hands and watch the smoke uprising
While fire-born wild flame-dancers leap and start;
Hold out my soul, to thaw within their blazing
The frozen memory-chambers of my heart.
I hear a voice familiar to my teardrops,
But laughter makes a rainbow of my tears,
For fancy loans its magic to the moment
And cancels all the intervening years.
To make untrue the charge that childhood's laughter
Must wait to ring again in courts above.
What has been, and shall be hereafter
Is now, by every law of yearning love.
(1944)
(Only those whose childhood home was a log cabin in the Appalachians
will catch all the nostalgia of these homesick lines. Nothing assails the
sense of smell so strongly with memories as smoke from a green oak fire!)
78
ACCUSER VS. ADVOCATE
("And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by
the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives
unto death."
- Rev. 12:11)
To cause to faint the weakest saint
The demons all engage,
To stem the flood of Jesus' blood
All hell is in a rage!
See Satan stand at God's left handAccuser of us all!
Opponent of the Son, whose love
Redeemed us from the fall.
"Your sins," he cries. The Blood replies,
"There is no sin."
He screams, "The past!" and to the last
The blood, above his din,
Speaks out alone there at the throne,
"There is no past."
'Til Satan, prone, must leave alone,
And we are free at last!
(8-3-1961)
HISTORY
Men, money, politics, God
Almighty dollar, sacred sod,
Die for your country, feed the poor,
Love one another, blood on the floor.
Men, money, politics, - No!
How can that other word be so?
Cut out the heart of this civilized clod
All you have left is "Men" and "God."
(There is no illness quite like the nausea created by demagogues.)
79
SEDITION
My soul cries out!
Things are not good enough!
I am not satisfied with democracy
The democracy of nineteen hundred
Forty-five
Woe to you who sit
Complacent - who
Wildly acclaim the status quo Woe!
Because you hold no honor,
No high exalting of justice,
No dream of a more excellent way,
Higher!
Have you let vision fade
In blind indolence?
Do you see no violation in this day This day when men
Become as dust,
The dust of atoms?
My soul cries out!
I am not just sounding brass,
I know a better tune.
Its grandeur is the march of ages.
I am not satisfied
With democracy!
I have seen a Kingdom.
I have seen peace, plenty, purity!
I have seen God!
(1945)
(In this year many looked to the United Nations as the very
"Kingdom of God." This idol, too has feet of clay!)
80
THE THREE REBELS
See, in the waning light!
There - there dwells humanity.
Scarce a third of the way to the height!
Content in mediocrity.
High are the legal walls
Of their cultural halls,
And of gates well-guarded - three.
Rebel the First
Solemn and sure the clan's decree:
"None shall go back into that vale
Whence all of us have come."
Thus Virtue declared beyond the pale
The black enigma of this blacker sea.
But there was one
Who looked with curious eyes upon its edge;
And from the curious turned to keen desire,
Catching the lure that drifted to the ledge
Where dwelt the tribe in restless decency.
Feeling within the burning of a fire,
With lowered eyes the beast that lay within
Plotted and planned - began to rebel,
Clamored for freedom - raised such noisy din
That to remain would be a greater hell.
And so she scaled the wall;
And gossips mouthed the morsel of her fall.
Days hence, the story goes, upon the sand
There washed the fragment of a human hand
With such a stench upon it, so they say,
As spoke of more than ordinary decay.
Rebel the Second
About the village wall, to left and right
A forest grew - a place of strange delight!
Where pleasures were legitimate and high;
For it was growing at the self-same height
Upon which all mankind shall live and die.
But in its leafy aisles dwelt other men
Who lived not like the dwellers in the walls
But stood within the forest, made low calls
To those whose lives were prisoned in
The more monotonous walls of legal sin.
Men called to maids. Both were exceeding fair.
Yet there was not the same full shade of skin,
Nor yet a similar texture to the hair.
Strong guards stood at the forest gates and barred
The way with signs that read, "Tabu.'
81
But one bright maid within whose heart there warred
A rebel love, with strong defiance eyed
The sign which told her what she dared not do,
Climbed with agile hands the foolish wall;
Answered with eyes aglow, her lover's call.
The woman that was in her found a mate,
So cheerfully she faced an outcast's fate.
Too soon there came to dwell outside the town
A couple in whose unequal yoke no word
Was spoken. Hate passed between them like a sword,
To pierce the very soul, and shatter down
Their love for that which love had given - a third
So like them both - and yet so unlike each
That fellowship was stolen from their reach.
Rebel the Third
In close-walled streets men whispered of the trail
which led to higher levels--pierced the veil
That lay above their prison; challenged all
who dared the only gate within the wall
which had no guard, but stood with doors unbarred
(Except by that poor envy of low minds
who in their misery have forever warred
Against the souls which glorious courage find
To leave their prison in the world's half night
And climb the crags upon a path of light.)
But there is one whose heart within her sings
That God has come to dwell within her breast!
And in rebel stirrings of divine unrest Held back by doubt - half-anxious questionings,
She breaks the gasp of ordinary things
And gives herself to climb, with feet like wings
Upon a path of dreams. By faith made fleet
She treads in ecstasy the very clouds of air
As dust beneath her feet.
Those she left below her in the place
where dwell self-blinded men in groping night,
Gaze wistfully upon her face
Glowing through the mist with heavenly light.
****************
Three human hearts with rebel spirits burned.
Two returned!
(1945)
(Rebel minds are common in college; rebel acts less so. Here is the
allegory of three I knew who defied convention.)
82
STRANGE GIFT
There's a gift the Father gave us
Beyond the power that others share
In this strange and vivid nearness
We keep with us everywhere.
Gifts that makes the miles between us
Just as the' they were not there!
Blessed gift that lets me hold you
When you're burdened down with care.
And my arms in love enfold you,
When you have no help elsewhere.
So I share in your distresses,
And you have a comfort sure
From this wondrous gift that blesses.
I can help you to endure.
So, with all the deep devotion
That a husband ever gave
I will come in each commotion,
As your lover, friend and slave.
All I ask you in return, dear,
When my road of life is long,
And my sky is dark with storm clouds,
And its hard to find a song-Then, please use the gift God gave you!
Come and hold me to your heart!
Then my joy will know no ending,
And my heartache will depart.
So our gift will be a blessing,
And a solace for each day
Through the comfort of caressing,
Till God gives a better way.
In the meantime when a moment
Comes when we two are alone,
Shall our arms not find each other,
And our two hearts beat as one?
Shall our lips meet without fear, love?
Shall we say "Yes" to our heart?
We should have, when we are close, love,
What is ours when we're apart.
February 1975
83
THE HORRIBLE PIT
I crept to the edge of passion's brim,
And gazed below as the fearful din
Of souls all twisted and torn with sin-All seared by a flaming hell within,
-tortured and screaming.
I saw the dragon there, within his den,
And watched him feed on the souls of men,
Devouring--and spewing them out again.
Disgorging them--putrid with filthy stain,
-his lurid eye gleaming.
I saw a youth and a maiden fair,
With frozen and fascinated stare
Trapped with the beast in his filthy lair,
Enwrapt in his coils and beyond all care,
-for virtue's gladness.
A miser was there, all shrunken and old,
With a skin like the master to whom he was sold;
Distended with gorging on silver and gold
'Til his clanking, metal-fed body grows cold,
-in his grasping madness.
And there is the wandering, pleasure-mad throng
Like fire-driven demons they hurry along,
With shouting and stomping, sorrow and song,
They vainly endeavor to silence the gong
-of death resounding.
The dreary and drunken disciple of greed
Is plunging along on a fire-breathing steed.
The chimera of lust is demanding his feed!
Then hurry, fool, hurry! 'is no time to heed
-The death-drums pounding.
And lo! as I shudder and gaze in the pit,
It seems--am I dreaming? -to brighten a bit,
And then, with quick splendor and beauty all lit,
A miracle gleams in the midst of it-a presence glorious!
He crushed the beast beneath his heel,
And the filth is consumed by his flaming zeal
And jubilant victims in rapture all kneel,
Full well in his radiant power to heal,
-by Light victorious!
84
February 1975)
ROOMS
In that room I shall be sedate,
And you shall a lady be.
Even the cat
Walks like a queen in state.
In a room like that
We can't be free!
Here it is warmer and sunny.
You shall converse with me-And we shall laugh and play,
And be amused and funny.
In this room, you see,
It has a friendly way.
In there?! No! We must not go!
We do not dare,
And you are so unfair,
To pull my hand and to entice me so!
The pink! The perfume! Intimate walls!
To crush our wills. There--man falls.
PRE-HISTORIC MONSTER
Little North Mountain, rocky and steep,
Like a giant earth dragon, lying asleep;
Nose in the river at rough Brocks Gap,
Never to awaken from his age-long nap.
8-26-1981
85
Early In The Morning
86
Emmanuel
87
Back Home In West Virginia
88
89
For Ev-Un-Breth Acres
90
TROY'S DIARY
(Jan. 28, 1992)
In going through a large box of memorabilia last week I picked up a
five year diary which had been given to Troy, by his high school sweetheart. On the front
flyleaf is written,
"Presented to Troy R Brady--by--Vada I. Elder--Christmas Eve1924." On the opposite side of the flyleaf Troy had written, "Words are words, and
likewise thoughts are thoughts. When writing in this book write only thoughts, not
words." We both had a good laugh over that. No doubt his teenage wisdom told him that
was a very profound statement. Now he can't imagine what he was thinking at the time.
What he probably meant to say was, that his thoughts were recorded in the diary and
they were to be secret.
Troy's memory is that the diary was given to him when he was a senior in high school
and Vada a junior, but if so the date should be 1923, instead of 1924, for he graduated
on May 8, 1924. I think his fast entry must have been made on November 18, 1924,
when he wrote, "First day in school at M. S. B. C. Room at Bob Wyatts, 521 Ann Street."
(Parkersburg, West Virginia)
The first entry in the front of the book is dated Jan. 1, 1924. His entries for over a month
are dated 1924, but we know from what he has written that he was in Mountain State
Business College in Parkersburg and working at a quick food restaurant at that time. He
did not go to Parkersburg until November of 1924 so his first entries have to be dated
incorrectly.
We both read the diary through about every ten years, as we do our love letters, but I do
not remember ever noticing the confusion in his dating of the entries. I think we just
gave it a casual reading until I decided that I wanted to preserve some of the comments
in the book, since it is going to pieces and probably should be discarded when we are
through with it.
Troy wrote only a few weeks in his diary at the beginning of the year, then occasional
entries were made during the rest of 1925 and in 1926 They are the usual things a late
teenager would probably write concerning school, work, letters received and written, etc.
He frequently mentioned Vada. One letter he received from her scolded him for not writing
to his grandmother, with whom he had lived before going to Parkersburg. Another entry
indicated that he and Vada had an "understanding" before he left for Parkersburg. I think
it was probably one of those "engaged to be engaged arrangements," which proved not too
binding. But I heard a lot about Vada after we were married. I think here I should quote
essentially two paragraphs from my book, "Reclaimed Memories," concerning this
relationship.
''Troy's girl friend in high school was the principal's daughter, Vada Elder.
We have a kodak picture of the two of them. After our marriage he often
mentioned her. Her dad would tease him by calling him "son-in-law." I
think he liked her parents as much as he did Vada. Vada later married a
man by the name of "Haun," and they lived in Grafton, W. Va., in 1937.
The Grafton church had the only lady pastor in the United Brethren
Church in the conference, Lois Luzader. The denomination's annual
Missionary Convention was being held in this church in 1937 and Troy
and I attended it. As soon as we went into the church Mrs. Luzader said,
"Rev. Brady, Mrs. Haun has called two or three times to ask if you had
arrived." I'm sure Troy felt gratified that his high school sweetheart was
inquiring about him and I felt gratified that at long last I would be able to
meet this paragon of perfection before we left the city.
91
We were assigned to the home of a family by the name of Sloan, for
lodging and breakfasts during the convention. Mr. Sloan and Vada's
husband taught in the same high school. We inquired about them and
told the Sloans and another couple who were staying there, that Troy and
Vada were high school friends and we were anxious to see her. Mr. Sloan
looked at me and said, "Mrs. Brady, you do not need to go with him to see
Mrs. Haun. When he comes back he will put his arms around you and
say, 'Honey, I sure am glad I married you."' I understood what he meant
when we visited her the next day. She was a short woman almost as broad
as she was tall. But I liked her and enjoyed the visit. After we had gone a
little distance from her home on our way back to the church Troy put his
arm around my waist and said, "Honey, I sure am glad I married you!"
There are a number of entries in the fall of 1925 that show he did not lack for a social life.
Several girls are mentioned that probably added interest to his business college days. He
played with "The Nightingales" for several dances and once wrote, "I danced with a hot
mama with glasses." "At Irelands. Met "Betty" Thrash. (?) Got a date for Wed. nite. She
seems very modest." (A little addition at this late date about the said "Betty" Thrash. My
name was not Betty, but Elizabeth. He said, "Elizabeth is too long. I am going to call you
"Betty" and Betty I became to so many people who came to know us well When I sign
letters, to some (sign as Betty and to some as Elizabeth. Perhaps the "modest" note was
prompted because I slapped him when he kissed me without my permission. The question
mark after "Thrash" was because he was not sure of the spelling.)
Four days later he wrote, "In Love. Work today. Betty's at 8:00 pm. She dances very well.
Either very green or very good. Probably both." (I object! Not green, but knew how I
wanted to be treated.)
Troy was an excellent dancer.The Charleston was the rage at that time and he could do all
those intricate steps that won him first place in a dance contest at the Hippodrome Theater
before we met. His musical ability and his dancing really impressed me. I laved to dance
so that is the way we enjoyed our dates.
July 4, 1926. Betty and I make the big plunge. Holly and Cosie help us. Rev. West put on
the "glue."
The following statistics were entered at the end of July, for Troy.
5 feet 6-12 inches. Shoe size 6-1/2 wide.
Weight 120 lbs. Height
Betty: weight 103 lbs. Height 5 feet 3 inches. Waist 23 inches. Hips 33 inches. Shoe size
4. (No mention of bust. The Thrash sisters were a little ashamed of their rather large
breasts. Flat and boyish was the style in the 20's. My feet really grew two or three sizes!)
Troy's diary was laid aside after our marriage in 1926 until after Howard's birth. We were
living in Cairo, West Virginia and serving our fast pastorate when we started to jot down
incidents which I think will be of interest to our sons and our grandchildren if I record
them.
There are exactly eight years and five months difference in Marion and Howard's ages and
we were so happy when Howard arrived The children provided so much joy to our lives
that we wanted to record some of those events, and the diary seemed a good permanent
place to preserve the little incidents that gave us pride and joy. I am going to go through the
book and just type some of the entries and the dates when recorded. (Most of the later
entries were made by me, the proud mother of two sons!)
92
Jan. 25, 1936. Howard laughed time after time today, when I played with him. Surely is
lively for three months.
When Howard was two weeks old Troy's dad and half sister, Lois, came to live with us.
Dad was a chiropractor, but the practice had been outlawed in West Virginia, due to the
lobby of the A.MA. and he was so near blind with cataracts that he could not work Lois
was twelve years old and her mother had deserted the two of them for another man. They
had to have help and we seemed thrones to give it at this time. They remained with us for
exactly twenty weeks. While there Dad got the medical attention he needed.
Feb. 5, 1936. Drove to Parkersburg today. Dad Brady had his teeth pulled and we had
the baby's picture taken at Dills.
Feb. 17th. Howard's picture came today. His daddy declares that it looks just like his
baby picture! It surely looks just like Howard to me!
Feb. 19, 1936. Marion brought his report card home today. Every grade an "A." We are
proud of our fine little lad. Hope he turns out as good a man as he is a student.
Feb. 23, 1936. Ted Blossom, Ruth, Ralph and Ann Hopkins were here for supper this
evening and stayed until 10:00 o'clock. It isn't long till March 15th. (Ted and Blossom
were to be married then.) Marion played the uke, clarinet and chorded a little on the
guitar for them. They gave him enough money, with what he had saved to buy his music
rack.
Feb. 24, 1936. Howard is four months old today. He weighs 14 pounds and is such a
sweet little fellow. Laughs all the time and can almost sit alone. His grandpa has taught
him to blow through his lips. He doesn't always make the noise, but does manage to spit
all over himself.
A hectic morning. Miss Kellar (Marion's teacher) told Marion at school today that he made
the best average in the county on his monthly tests. Average of ninety-nine and a half.
March 4, 1936. Dad operated on at 9:30 a. m.
Dr. Hartman removed cataracts.
Appears successful. Dad on his back for 20 hours. (How very different from a cataract
operation today. Troy had to stay awake all night to see that his dad did not move his
head. Troy returned home the next day. His dad did not get home until March 10th. (On
that day Troy and Blossom signed a note for $55.00 to Dr. Hartman.)
March 14, 1936. Marion got a painful injury to his am. Think a bone maybe broken.
Beulah, Buddy and little Teddy stay all night. (Relatives) Beulah and Ruth have a good
time with Howard. He does several cute tricks now. Shakes hands like a Methodist.
March 15, 1936. Blossom and Ted married today. Troy tied the knot. There were 23
guests present. Included were the Clintons, Hinkles, Ruth, Dad, Lois, and our family. It
was in Ruby's home in Parkersburg.
March 18th. Miss Daubenspeck and Miss Kellar, Lois and Marion's teachers, were here
for dinner this evening. Miss Kellar said that Marion and Carolyn Moyers each made an
average of 99 percent on the county tests for the month, the highest in the county. Miss
Kellar also said that it was an honor to make the highest grade average in her room, as
she had several exceptionally bright children.
93
All we have heard over the radio today is flood news. Johnstown and Pittsburgh
especially are in a crisis. Fire, famine and a shortage of drinking water feared. Ibis was
the greatest flood in the history of the state. Pittsburgh's "Golden Triangle" under 18 feet
of water.
March 20, 1936. the flood crested in Parkersburg at 48 feet. Not as severe as the 1913
flood which crested at 58-feet. Blossom and Ted returned from honeymoon. Here tonight.
March 24th. Howard is five months old today and his first tooth is just through the gum.
He is beginning to sit alone. Never still a minute. Stiffens his little back and scoots off
our laps to the floor like a two year old.
March 28, 1936. Dad and Lois went to Rosalyn's today. Blossom and Ted took them,
along with Dad's two dogs. Troy and I had a little cry after they left. Dad hated so to leave
the baby, and who wouldn't!
April 10, 1936. Miss Kellar gave the children their county test results for last month.
Marion's again was the highest, with an average of 97 and Caroline Moyers was second
with a 95.
April 18, 1936. Troy came home today from Huntington. (He held a revival there.) Think
he was glad to get home and we were surely happy to see him! Brought all of us gifts.
Howard a rubber kitty and a jumping Micky Mouse; Marion a New testament, a Swiss
Family Robinson, a ball and a bow and arrow, and for me a real pretty pink, crepe dress.
Marion said, "He is the best daddy in the world."
April 20, 1936. Both boys have the whooping cough.
April 21, 1936. Marion is home from school to stay until he gets over the whooping
cough, or everyone else gets it. I went to school for his books. Miss Kellar wants him
back so badly. She had him entered in three of the district tests; reading, writing and
spelling. He was the only one entered for more than one contest.
April 24, 1936. Howard six months old today. He pulls himself to a standing position and
hangs on to the side of his bed.
April 30, 1936. Howard now crawls and walks around his bed.
May 24, 1936. Marion's ninth birthday. We could not give him much, except our love and
the book "Robinson Crusoe." Ruby Clayton gave him a nice box containing souvenirs
from different places, also pencil sharpener, crayons and marbles.
Howard crawls everywhere and climbs anything. Has to be watched every second.
Rev. and Mrs. Capehart, Paul, Ann and Billy here for dinner today.
(As I go through this diary and see how many visitors we had for meals and to stay
overnight I wonder how in the world we ever fed them adequate meals, while we were
living in Cairo. Later we were not so poverty stricken.)
May 26, 1936. Howard learned to patty-cake and say, "Mama" today.
June 14, 1936 Howard gets sweeter every day. Claps his hands every time we say pattycake. Marion is so good and patient with the baby. Don't think he would raise any
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objection regardless of how the baby treated him. He hides and Howard will look
everywhere for him, then laughs or squeals when he finds him.
June 15, 1936. We took seven young people as delegates to the Christian Endeavor
Training School in Huntington. Went in an old Dodge truck. Left Marion with Blossom
and Ted in Parkersburg.
June 19, 1936. Home again and glad to be here. So glad to see Marion. Howard made a
big fuss over him when he got in the truck. Patted his face and squaled. Marion said he
had had a good time but was glad to see us. We are dead tired.
June 20, 1936. Marion and Howard had a big game of hide and seek today. There was
not much catsup left and Marion put the bottle on his chair until he had his potatoes on
his plate, then emptied the bottle over his potatoes. I said, "Marion, you should be
ashamed to think more of yourself than you do of Mother and Daddy." He said "I do not
think more of myself. I just think more of catsup."
June 27, 1936. Howard took two steps alone today.
Sept. 2, 1936. Conference begins today. I wonder if we will go to Union. (We did.)
Sept. 17, 1936. (Troy made this entry) "Moved to Union Charge. Three ladies cleaned the
parsonage. Our furniture dusty." (Our furniture was moved by truck In the United
Brethren Church the parsonages were not furnished, as they are in the United Methodist
Church.) The next day Troy wrote, "A hard day unpacking. A surprise shower from the
Union Church. They brought about $10. worth of groceries." (Those groceries would have
cost at least $50. at today's prices.)
Oct. 2, 1936. Our new living room furniture and rug came today. Our house begins to
look like a home.
Oct. 30, 1936. A piece of glass worked out of Howard's foot today. Been in there over four
months. No wonder he quit trying to walk! He was taking steps alone in June.
Nov. 16, 1936. Marion made his decision for Christ tonight. We are all very happy!
Nov. 17, 1936. Marion testified for the first time tonight at the prayer service in the
Union Church. Howard did his best to follow his example.
Nov. 24, 1936. Howard is thirteen months old today. He understands almost everything
said to him and talks a lot for his age. He puts two and three words together and just
about expresses what he wants to say. He tries to say almost everything we ask him to
say.
Nov. 29, 1936. Howard got into the coal bucket and looked like "Little Eppie" when I
discovered him. Less than an hour after I cleaned him up he got into the cupboard and
washed himself from the eyes down in strawberry jam. He always enjoys himself whether
we do or not!
(Another year in Troy's Diary, 1937)
Jan. 13, 1937. (At Union) Howard took the silverware out of the drawer while I was
preparing breakfast this morning, laid them on the table, looked up and said "Thank
YOU."
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A couple made arrangements to be married this evening. They later remembered that it
was the 13th and asked if Troy would wait until after midnight to perform the ceremony.
Jan. 16, 1937. Went to Vienna for the dedication of the new Sunday School addition. (We
were caught in the big flood of 1937. Could not get home for two weeks. Spent most of that
time in Cairo with the Claytons. Had to wash every day because of the baby. We were the
first vehicle to cross the bridge at Pomroy, Ohio, on our way home. We waited there for an
hour or two before we were allowed to cross. The folks at Union carried on the evening
service that Sunday. They all cheered when we walked in the door of the church on
Sunday evening. They were not any happier to see us than we were to see them! Home
never looked so good!)
May 30, 1937. Howard's prayer was so sweet this morning. "Bess me, bess Mane, bess
Daddy, bess Momie. Amen."
Ruby, Ruth, Ralph, Opal, Bodford. Jo, Ted and Blossom all here for dinner today.
(All relatives)
June 16th. Buddy, Beulah, David, Teddy and Blossom here today. Left the next day
taking Marion with them. We miss him so much! (All relatives)
June 24, 1937. Howard is 20 months old today. He can just about carry his side of a
conversation. He's such a darling! Almost everyone thinks he looks like Marion did at his
age. Heard from Marion. He seems to be having a good time. He went up in a plane
Sunday. (Ted and Blossom always saw that he had a good time. Guess that contributed to
his feeling of closeness to them over the years.)
Blossom and Zylpha are visiting us at this time (2-24-1992) and I just gave her a copy of
this transcript to read and she told me about the plane ride. It was a little open affair
taking passengers for rides. Ted refused to go up in it and Blossom and Marion called him
Uncle Panty Waist. When Marion returned home he sent a "Thank You" card which was
mostly pictures to illustrate the things he had enjoyed. He would write a few words then
draw a picture. They were amused because he wrote "Uncle" then followed that with a
picture of a pantie and a waist. When the pilot teamed that it was their first time up he
gave them some thrills, which were not too much appreciated by Blossom.)
Jess and Faye Simmermon were with us in Union for the camp meeting, arriving July 19,
1937. less was one of our classmates in the seminary and was the evangelist for the
services our first two years on the Union Circuit. I well remember that they enjoyed both
Howard and Marion so much. An entry on Aug. 2nd says, "We were sorry to see the
Simmermans leave. We had a grand time while they were here. We asked Howard where
they had gone. He said, 'Aunt Faye go by-by in chine (machine). Unkie Yess go he home.'
He certainly talks well for 21 months."
Sept. 10, 1937. Troy took Howard with him to Browns to get apples today. When they
started Howard said, "Goodby, Momie. Be a good boy, Momie." He tells his name, age and
how much he loves.
10-24-37. Howard is two today and is he sweet! Ruth and Ralph (E.T.B.'s sister and her
husband) Ruby and Roscoe (E.T.B.'s sister and Ruby's son.) First time we have seen
Roscoe in over six years. (Ruby and her husband were divorced She had custody of the
two children but Ross persuaded her to let Roscoe live with him and his wife for a few
weeks. He promised faithfully to bring him back from Kansas in time to start school in the
fall Instead they moved to California, taking seven year old Roscoe with them. Ruby
grieved for those years until she was financially able to go to California and get him.)
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10-31-1937. Sunday. Our faithful old Lizzie wrecked today. Roscoe went through the
windshield, (Roscoe was again visiting us at Union. He had a few cuts; nothing serious. A
sixteen year old boy driving his brother's car came around a turn too fast and ran into
Troy's car. Troy was over ors his side of the highway as far as he could get, due to a high
bank Neither car was insured so it was just counted as an accident. Troy took care of his
parish by bicycle until we could scrape up a down payment on a second hand car)
12-21-1937. Bought a '33 Chevrolet today. Paid $100. down. Hope we can meet the
payments.
12-26-1937. The folks at Vernon Church gave us $36.50 today to help on car payment.
We are so thankful for the help.
(There were a few entries during the first half of 1938, but nothing of much interest to the
family They dealt mostly with events in the different churches on the Union Circuit and of
the visits of relatives. We had a lot of family visitors; many of whom have since passed
away; others so widely separated by miles that we seldom see them.)
In the back of the diary, under "Memoranda" Troy had written several entries as soon as
he received the book as a gift. Two were in French, so I could not interpret them, but the
others were: "When life is spent we still have the memory." (In 1924 he probably thought
life would be spent before the age of thirty.)
"Make each day twice as great as the one before it."
"A careless word may tear a heart, a home, or a nation to shreds."
"Hearts may be broken, but the tried steel of true love defies all the blows of life."
'The bridge of love crosses rivers wider than the world."
'The lips tell the mind, the eyes the soul."
"Two lies do not mean more than one, nor less than a thousand. One, two or a
thousand, they are all one--untruth."
The last two entries were made January 16, 1924, which show that the date entry on the
front flyleaf should show that he received the diary Christmas Eve, 1923, not 1924.
(So many entries about "love" and we had not even met! How sad for me. E.T B.)
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SERMONS
The following sermon was delivered October 19th, 1947, in the Evangelical United Brethren
Church in Elkins, West Virginia. I feel sure that it was one which was printed in the Elkins'
Intermountain. It was their policy to print one full sermon a week from a pastor in Elkins. It
was not Troy's policy, at that early date to write or type a sermon, unless it was far
publication.
ARE CHRISTIANS NORMAL PEOPLE?
Text: "And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your
mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God."
Romans 12:2.
There is a force in the world today called "public opinion." It is a force that can do - and
has done - a lot of good. It has corrected abuses in public office; it has demanded and
received, reforms in obviously evil matters. But public opinion is not a safe guide for the
moral conduct of a Christian.
A Bible believing Christian will always find himself at cross purposes with the World. By
the word "World" we Christians do not mean the globe on which we live. This globe, or
earth, is usually referred to as "the world" by the inhabitants living on this sphere. We
use the term as Jesus did - to refer to the group of humanity outside the true church,
and opposed to it. Jesus said, "If you were of the world the world would love its own, but
because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world therefore the
world hateth you." John 15:19.
It has been brought to my attention that some of you, especially the young people of our
church, have been criticized because of the stand you and your pastor have taken, in
regard to moral issues. Let me say that you have no cause to apologize for belonging to a
church that believes the word of God and upholds higher standards than the common
mob. You ought rather to ask that those who persecute you explain how they can claim
to be followers of Jesus can do otherwise in these matters! You who stand fast under
these persecutions are to be highly commended. May God bless you.
TWO STANDARDS--There are two standards for living upheld in the earth today. One of
them is the standard of the world. Popular opinion has built an ideal person. This ideal
person is one who is agreeable; one who will conform to the average of those about him;
one who will not create disturbances by pointing out the evils around him! He will be a
"good fellow" with the crowd! He may not indulge in their lusts and pleasures, but he will
not object to others doing as they please.
Of course, this popular ideal has not been influenced very much by the word of God.
Why not? One reason is that the world knows very little about the scriptures. If you do
not believe this just have a Bible quiz, even among church people and discover the
meager knowledge of the average person concerning the Word. Certainly the Holy Spirit
does not enter into the formation of this ideal! He is unknown to the unsaved world,
except as he convinces them of sin as they hear the
word of God. No, it is other forces that enter into the world's ideal personality. It is the
likes and dislikes, the pleasures and the passions of men and women; not the will of God
that make up the molding forces in the world's ideal!
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The second standard of life today is the standard of God's word. Here, brethren, new
terms enter in; terms that the world knows little about, even ridicules! There is the word
"holiness". Not long ago I actually heard a ministerial student making light of that word!
He did so in complete ignorance of the fact that the word of God says, "Without which
(holiness) no man shall see the Lord." We ridicule the word of God when we make fun of
Bible holiness. Scriptural holiness is as sacred, both in doctrine and in experience, as is
salvation. Let us be careful that in our zeal to avoid fanaticism we do not set at nought
the word of God.
There is another term that enters into the Bible standard of an ideal man. How long has
it been since you have heard the word "righteous" used to describe any person in the
church or community? People today seem to have lost the value of that term. Is it
possible that none live close enough to Almighty God to earn that adjective?
If
that
be true, then certainly the world knows nothing of the term "Christlikeness." Here indeed
is a word to challenge the church today! Do we dare to uphold such a standard by our
daily living, in a world poisoned by liberalism? (Or is the word "libertinism?")
New negatives enter into the heavenly pattern. We hear much today about the "futility of
negative preaching!" What is meant is that many ministers are afraid to condemn sin as
such! No battery will work if it has only a positive pole! A minister that is not against
anything isn't for anything! Our negatives are worldliness, carnality, fleshly and sinful!
They are all good words because they are upheld by God's word.
New forces also influence the standard of the Word. Here the Bible is the determining
factor. Its high standards in motive and act are final to the Christian! The Holy Spirit
adds his light and flame to the authority of a man of God. No wonder the world cannot
understand our morals! They do not have the "spirit of understanding." Christians are
also limited and guided by their regard for the church. A church member who will
disgrace himself in the community by conduct unbecoming a Christian is placing an
even greater disgrace upon his church. He proves his unworthiness and his lack of grace.
There is another great force determining the Christian's standard. It is the welfare of
others. A sinner can possibly excuse his disregard for others in his pursuit of greed, lust
or pleasure, but a true Bible Christian - never! Some of you have wondered why I am so
bitterly opposed to whiskey, wine and beer. I'll tell you why! It is because I care for what
happens to others! Especially do I care about the children! If beer becomes so common it
is sold in every grocery store it will poison the minds and the bodies of our children and
young people! We will soon be a nation of Falstaff, ready to be duped as were the
Germans by Hitler and Stalin, or any other false leader who happens along.
A new pattern becomes ours with the acceptance of the new standard. It is no longer the
ideal man of the World but the "measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." The
Holy Spirit holds up this pattern as in a mirror. "We are changed into the same image,
from glory to glory." (II Corinthians 3:18)
This brings us to a new transfigured life. A
life different from the people of the World. A normal life as against the life of the World
around us.
TWO ATTITUDES:
Our attitude concerning two standards will be determined by which of the standards we
accept as normal. If we accept the world's standard we will look upon the higher
standard of the Scriptures as abnormal. Those who see the standard of the "Word" as
inescapable, because it comes from God, will naturally hold that of the world's standards
as too low.
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Robert L. Ripley in his "Believe It Or Not" tells about a small village in the Alps, in which
all the people, because of some trick of nature, have six fingers on each hand and six
toes on each foot. If outsiders come to the village the children become excited and
curious when they discover these abnormal people who have only five digits on each
limb. Need I make the application? Is it strange then, that in a world of abnormal morals
that God's normal men and women should be looked upon as "freaks?"
But the question before us this morning must be settled! Which of the two standards
should we accept? If the word of God is to be accepted and followed then my text from
Romans 12:2 is enough!
It is perfectly clear! "Be not conformed" - that is do not
mould yourself after the pattern of this world. In England the churches which will not
accept the ritual of the Church of England are called "non-conformist." We know from
this text that every true Christian must be a non-conformist in the manner of his moral
conduct. The exhortation here is, "Be ye transformed," rather than conformed."
Many sermons have been preached from this one word "transformed." It is the same
Greek work used to describe Jesus on the Mount with the three disciples. "He was
transfigured before them." It is the word used in the verse we gave from II Corinthians
3:18, "We---are changed." It contains in its glorious possibilities no less than a complete
metamorphosis. This transformation must come by a renewing of our minds. This is a
word which means, not just a repairing of our minds, but a complete making new of our
minds. It signifies a complete change of the very nature of our minds. There is also a
richer meaning that comes from a study of the exact word used for "mind." This is no
mere intellectual mind. It has to do with a contrast between the intellectual judgment of
good and evil, and the spiritual judgment of these things. Christians must rely on the
revealing of the Spirit, as well as common sense, in the judgment of that which is right
and wrong.
TWO RESULTS:
There is no such thing as decision without consequences. If we accept either of these
standards we will reap the results of our decision. If we determine to become '\world
conformers" then the future for us is of our own choosing. Men pleasers cannot be God
pleasers, "You cannot serve God and mammon." - "If any man love the world the love of
the Father is not in him." If we cannot sever ourselves from the standard of the "fleshly"
life then we must suffer the verdict of the Scriptures which says, "To be carnally minded
is death." Of course the whisper of Satan is immediately heard, "You shall not surely
die." But God's children hear Jesus say, "He is a liar!" We then go our way confident in
the truth.
To the transformed the future is clear. The "World" will hate us, but we remember that
Jesus warned us of this and says to us, "Remember that it hated me before it hated you."
Over against the hate of this world we know that God loves us! It is better to walk alone
with God than to go along with the world. If we pay the price to be non-conformists to the
world God will honor our consecration with answered prayer, with spiritual blessings and
with eternal life. If you approve of things as they are, then you will probably favor the
"standard of the world." If you are dissatisfied with this present evil world you will choose
God's way. Remember the choice is not to be lightly made! It will bring either life or
death! Only you can decide which choice you will make!
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SERMON PREACHED BY TROY AT EMMANUEL UNITED BRETHREN CHURCH,
BRADENTON, FLORIDA, FEBRUARY 13, 1966.
GOD'S DEATH - A FALSE REPORT
Text: "God liveth forever and ever." (Revelation 15:7b)
I seldom yield to the temptation to preach about current events. Sunday morning
worship should furnish relief from such a steady diet! However, the news this week is
exceptional. It concerns all of us very much. You have heard about it and read about it this sensational statement that "God is dead!" All kinds of comments from disgust, anger,
awe and even fear has resulted! Many jokes and puns have made their appearance on
the subject. It is impossible not to think of Mark Twain's personal note in the newspaper,
after a rumor of his decease had been circulated. The note read: "The reports of my death
are greatly exaggerated." Signed Mark Twain.
Some have suggested that these theologians (?) are victims of a hoax and that they
attended, what was supposed to be, God's funeral but someone had facetiously placed a
mirror in the empty casket. What they saw was their own image!
I have been listening and reading to learn who these men are and what they believe. They
are reportedly teachers of theology. The dictionary defines theology as, "The study of God
and the relation between God and the universe." It is from the Greek word " theologia"
which, simply translated means, "wise words about God." But it is obvious that the
statement, "God is dead" does not belong to theologia! This is more what St. Paul calls
"morologia." (Eph. 5:4)
What are these men seeking? Could it be notoriety? Are they, like small spoiled children,
determined to get attention at any cost? Are they using this phrase for its shock value?
Are they not crying, "Look at us!"
We know that such a sensational matter will soon die from the front pages of newspapers
and from the screens of our TV's. But how long will it live on the campuses of the schools
of America, to poison the minds of our gullible youth?
These university professors seem to be saying, "We have outgrown the God of the Old
Testament. We do not like His stern judgments; his strict rules of conduct. We could add,
from the common attitude of our culture, especially those bothersome "Ten
Commandments." That persistent Decalogue is continually spoiling the smooth flow of
both profits and pleasure in people's lives today. What a nuisance to have the command,
w1bou shalt not steal," suddenly push up from the sub-conscious as the result of some
long forgotten childhood memory in Sunday School or catechism class! Why should we
let God interfere with our business dealings? "After all we have to fight competition!
Whose business is it if we gamble a bit; or if we get "our share" of the split from the latest
political steal from public funds?" How the publishers of pornographic magazines must
hate God for saying, "Thou shalt not commit adultery!"
The professors say that men no longer respect his laws so "God is dead" to a lawless
generation. These same men do not respect the laws of the state, but the law is not dead!
If you think so just ignore a few traffic lights. But men think they can ignore God's laws
and nothing will happen. Every week the minister, the social worker and families must
review an endless procession of broken hearts and broken homes, wrecked minds and
ruined health, all because someone thought, "God is dead." His rules do not matter!
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In spite of this, these impractical, ivory tower professors say, "The God of the Old
Testament is no longer acceptable to modem day culture. Let Him die! We prefer a more
modem, easy going God who is a bit more soft on the actions of men."
How is it that men of such intelligence can come to believe such absurd statements as
"God is dead?" If you will follow closely I believe that you will see that this is to be
expected today. It is the natural product of the so-called "new" liberal theology. Let's
examine the progress of these ideas!
1. The first step in their descending path is to try to discredit the Bible, as the
dependable word of God. Their claim is that it only contains the word of God. This
leaves the Bible open to denial and refusal, for who is to say which parts are or
aren't his word! Every little "two bit" self styled "thinker" can say about any part
of God's word "It doesn't suit my way of thinking! It has to be nothing but myth
and fable!"
2. While denying certain sections of the Bible as being contrary to common sense
and scientific fact, these men are perfectly willing to accept as irrefutable truth
almost any untried unproven, scientific theory! To them "science says" is higher
authority by far than, "Thus saith the Lord!" This is true in spite of the vacillating
variations in these theories!
But while being so scientifically gullible, men of this bent seem unwilling to test for
themselves the promises of the word of God. In contrast to this is the example of the
minister who was casually examining a Bible at the bedside of an invalid saint. At many
places along the margin of the pages he found penciled in the letters "T and P." He asked
their meaning and was told , “Those are at verses containing God's promises. They mark
the ones I have tried and found to be true. the letters stand for, "Tested and Proven."
Having taken such a position regarding the Bible, the next step in the "new" theology is
to destroy the identity of God To understand better how this is being attempted let's try
to visualize, by the use of a symbolic diagram. We will use the very meaningful one for
the Holy Trinity. which is the three interlocking circles. We will let the first circle
represent God, the Father; the second God the Holy Spirit; the third God, the Son. If we
question these liberal "theologians" about the Holy Spirit their answers vary from a vague
benevolent influence" to "emotionalism" and "sheer superstition." To thus deny the
presence of this helper, who lives within every true Christian, is to leave their lives wide
open to the other spiritual presence spoken of in Ephesians the second chapter, "the
spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience." And not only this, but they are
in direct denial of God's word in Romans 8:9, "If anyone does not possess the Spirit of
Christ he does not belong to Him." In other words he is not a Christian!
We see now that to make our symbol properly represent the position of these liberals, we
must remove one of the circles; the one standing for the Holy Spirit. This leaves us but
two circles.
Their second step then is to deny the position of Christ in the Godhead. This they have
undertaken to do by denying, or ignoring the pre-existence of Christ. One lecturer said in
my presence, "John's gospel is unreliable, altered to try to prove early dogma of the
Church Fathers." By ridiculing the Bible teachings of the virgin birth of Christ, they have
further revealed their humanistic goals. They will praise Jesus of Nazareth as "supreme
man" - "greatest teacher" - or even call him "Lord," but even a perfunctory reading of
their related material soon exposes that he is "Lord" to them only as "Lord Buddha" is to
the yellow robed priests of the Orient. In other words he is the "master teacher." Thus
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our symbol must again be changed. Jesus is no longer the "only begotten of the Father,"
but just Jesus, a son among many other sons.
(I remember this Sunday morning sermon well It was much like a teaching lecture. Troy
used a chalkboard to illustrate the circles as he talked The benediction was not
pronounced until after twelve o'clock This was against his usual custom. -- E T. B.)
But they are not yet satisfied! Certain of the Gospel accounts, such as His miracles, they
say are explainable by natural phenomenon, or they are a part of the myth aura built up
around Jesus by early writers! Thus they have arbitrarily sliced out, like a generous
serving of pie, the power of Christ over nature. This leaves the circle of Christ no longer a
circle. It now is a reduced circle with a large wedge removed. (HERE HE ILLUSTRATED
THE SHAPE ON THE CHALKBOARD.) But these butchers of the identity of God do not
stop here. Another segment of his record insults their intelligence! These are His
teachings concerning the end of the age and "last things." His eschatology. Now our circle
has another segment removed and looks like this. "(HE AGAIN ILLUSTRATES.)
What is left? Only His teachings on moral and sociological subjects, which they bend to
suit the latest fads of Fabian Socialism. They ignore the fact that all human teachings
and systems fall and fail, when broken on the hard stone of unregenerate human nature!
The teachings of Jesus are useless without His divine atonement, and his power to
transform men into spiritual sons of God.
These men have sought to eliminate all the "embarrassing" things he taught! The lecturer
quoted went on to say, "After all He was limited to the knowledge of his day." So out with
these ideas of judgment, hell, of last days! Away with prophecies of Anti-Christ and the
physical phenomena of "the wrath of God," often spoken of in the Bible. All such ideas as
sin, personal responsibility, holiness of life are all outworn, ancient creeds! They have,
according to our liberal contemporaries, been proven false by progressive thinking!
We should not be surprised to have these men pronounce the death sentence on God!
They do not even say, "The Father is dead -long live the Son! No, just, "God is dead!" And
nothing is left except man! No help for crime-ridden, sin-blighted, guilt-laden man! Just
man alone, headed for self-destruction or over-populated starvation.
How can these "Morticians of Divinity" come to learn the truth? It will not be easy! They
have destroyed the ladder by which they can escape the pit of their spiritual ignorance!
What can be the steps into life for these and all spiritually dead men?
1. "They must let the Holy Spirit convict and convince them of their need for a Savior
from their sins. But how can they when they reject the very idea of God and the Holy
Spirit? It is as a local retiree said to me the other day, "'What do we need with God?
We have social security and medicare now!"
2. They must come as a child to God, for the forgiveness they need. But how - if God is
dead?
3. They must, by depending upon the Son of God, ask and receive pardon for their sins.
How can they, when they do not believe in the concept of sin, but call it "social
abberations caused by an imperfect environment?
4. They must let Christ come in and dwell in their hearts by faith, through his Spirit in
the inner man. But how can they? Jesus is only an exalted human to them; and the
Spirit is only emotional excitement," or "a superstition!"
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5.
They must confess Jesus Christ before men to be their Savior and their master!
Impossible! They say man must save himself by right conduct and brotherly love.
And that thus we are our own masters.
Impossible - did I say. Well, it won't be easy! Satan fights for every inch he loses! But you
may say, "I do not believe in a Devil." Very well! You probably think you are doing your
own fighting against these ancient and antiquated ideas, and you may think you have
won. But you are wrong on both counts, and if you win you lose - forever!
Pray that you lose the fight against God now! Go his way! In the 17th verse of the 7th
chapter of John we read these words, "IF ANY MAN WILL DO HIS WILL (THE FATHER'S),
HE SHALL KNOW THE DOCTRINE, WHETHER IT BE OF GOD." You will know! And it
will be positive knowledge, real and assuring!
No, dear friends, God is not dead! But many men are dead to God, and that by their own
choice! The text today should warn us. It is the very last of many references in the Holy
Word to God's deathlessness! It is spoken by God's messenger in the same breath with
the poured out "Wrath of God!" What a surprise is coming to those who think that the
long suffering of God indicates that he no longer exists! There is an end, even to the
patience of God! Behold you despisers and wonder! But please do not perish!
The steps of faith I have given today will bring dead men to life! I beg you to try them!
A story, possibly too good to be true, coming from one of the schools involved in the "God
is dead" sensation tells a vital truth. Supposedly a student approached a very earnest
Christian professor and said, "Dr. Jones, Professor Smith just told us that God is dead."
'Now that is strange!" said Dr. Jones. "f just had a long conversation with God this
morning. In fact I was speaking to Him about Professor Smith and his strange ideas!"
"What did he say?" asked the student.
Dr. Jones replied, "God said that he did not know and had never known Professor
Smith."
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GOD'S LOVING FAMILY
Text: "Beloved, now are we God's children." I John 3:2
INTRODUCTION
(Troy's notes on the introduction of this message are just phrases of what he said.)
IF OUR HOME LIFE WAS NORMAL WHOEVER CALLED HEAVEN "HOME" KNEW HOW
TO MAKE IT DESIRABLE.
---What a precious fireside! What tender memories!
---There are few to whom "home" could mean more than to me.
---That old log house 2900 feet above sea level on Rich Mountain in West
Virginia.
---When I think of "Homecoming" I can't help but think of heaven as being
something like that was; a loving, intimate family.
I. LOVE AND FELLOWSHIP IN GOD'S FAMILY
The New Testament word for "fellowship" means sharing lovingly and joyfully together. It
is enjoying the presence of God together as a family. Verse 1 of I John 3 tells us, " Look
everybody at the amazing kind of love our Father has given us.
Who are included in this shared love and joy? First: It is a happy dwelling together with
God himself. Truly our fellowship is with the Father. (I John 1:3) That same verse tells
us, "and with his son, Jesus Christ" 1 Corinthians 1:9 makes it certain when we are told,
"Called into fellowship with Jesus." What a joyful walk we have! Philippians 2:1 further
assures us of, "Fellowship of the Spirit." The Holy Spirit is the person who brings joy and
love to our togetherness! Joy, love and peace are named "Fruits of the Spirit" The fourth
fellowship is in the "Gospel" we are told in Philippians 1:5. This is how we extend the
"Right hand of fellowship." And the Apostle John is here too! He says, "That ye may also
have fellowship with us." (I John 1:3)
Once you experience this wonderful fellowship you will never forget it! How could you
forget that wonderful joy that comes when we sing, "Blest be the tie that binds our hearts
in Christian love?" Friend, as you listen are you puzzled? Do you understand? If not,
then you had better find out now what it means! Only then can you experience true
"homecoming."
II. IF LOVE AND FELLOWSHIP IS MISSING, WHY?
It could be because you are spiritually dead. You have never been 'born again." You have
never experienced the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.
If so, then you joined
the church as you would any club or society. There was no true reality in it for you!
Perhaps you do not have true fellowship because of doctrinal differences. This is Satan's
sharp-edged tool to sever our fellowship and our joy. Like the old fable about the blind
men who went to see the elephant. One fell against the beast's side and said, "The
elephant is very like a wail." Another threw his arms around one of its leg and declared
"The elephant is very like a tree." A third blind man caught hold of its tail and
proclaimed, "The elephant is exactly like a rope." All three were right and at the same
time all three were wrong.
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There is a story of the men who was cured of blindness by our Lord Jesus. It seems they
were having a convention and were drawing up resolutions. One said, "Jesus healed me
by putting mud on my eyes." Another said "He just touched my eyes and I could see."
The third cried, No that isn't the way he heals! He just says the word and you can see."
They finally came out with the following resolution, Resolved: "Whereas we were blind
now we see."
Another reason true fellowship is destroyed is PRIDE. Old "self' wants the credit and
glory! As Jesus said in John 12:43, "They loved the praise of men rather than the praise
of God." They want to be church dictator and run thing. Or they think their program or
plan is the only one that is important.
But the greatest cause of broken fellowship is simply SIN! Sin is the cause of all broken
fellowship. It takes in all the other reasons. It brings a feeling of guilt--a violated
conscience. We may try to excuse our sin, but we cannot ignore broken fellowship! It is
easy to find an excuse for a sin we may enjoy, but no matter how much we may enjoy it,
sin is sin!
III. LOSS OF FELLOWHIP IS THE GREATEST TRAGEDY.
First: It is the greatest tragedy to those who break that fellowship. They left our Lord
Jesus. They have the horrible uneasiness of walking alone. They first lost the joy in the
Lord; then their peace of mind and finally, their assurance of salvation. Then follows
criticism of others, distrust and finally indifference.
The second tragedy of broken fellowship is that the church, which is the "Body of Christ"
is wounded. A member of that body has been cut off--amputated! The nerve lines of
sharing and communion are broken. My cousin's husband had his back broken in an
accident. He never walked again as long as he lived. A weakened and crippled body of the
church cannot go anywhere; cannot win souls for Christ! And all because of sin!
(This seems unfinished, but this is all I found in the ides.-- E.T.B.)
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(This is the first sermon in a series of four that Troy prepared and preached at the Winter
Park (St. Andrews) United Methodist Church in Winter Park, Florida. The date
was October 19, 1969. It is hard to comprehend now (1992) the uncertainty and
uneasiness everyone felt, at that time, concerning the Soviet Union. -- E. T B.)
COMMUNISM -THE IMITATION OF FAITH
(Luke 16:8) "The children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of
light."
In perhaps the strangest paradox of this age many Americans seem to actually want to
be ignorant about communism! Could this be a sleeping pill of Satan? Are these people
saying, "Don't disturb us in our dreams?" They seem to be so busy enjoying their
comforts and indulging their pleasures that they do not want to be bothered with the
disturbing thoughts of our dangers! Even the wildly growing use of alcohol and drugs
seem but mere symptoms, among many others, of the refusal to face reality. Whatever
the cause we can rest assured that this sleepy indifference just suits the communists.
I. THE COMMUNIST GOALS
In the parable which precedes the text for today, Jesus is teaching one truth along with
others. This is - don't try to outdo the worldly in scheming. They are wiser, more
prudent, shrewd and skillful in planning - "these sons of this age" - than are we, "the
children of light."
A friend of mine used to say, "One trouble of fighting the Devil is that he will stoop to
means we would not dare to use." The shrewdness of the "sons of this age" is to their
advantage. They are the chief exponents of the doctrine of "the end justifies the means."
The communists are truly masters of deceit. They have developed the use of twisted
definitions into an art - the diabolic art of the brainwashers! To them the truth is
anything, even the vilest lie if it will advance their world dream of a sensual Utopia.
Peace is any act, including war and murder, which will forward their world aims. This is
the destruction of capitalism and of God himself Any act which favors capitalism, even
feeding the poor, is labeled 'war" by them!
Their's is the enthusiasm of a misguided zeal, the fervor of the "not quite sure."
Just as Paul said of the Jews, "I bear witness that they have a zeal--."
(Rom. 10:2)
It is this desperate earnestness of the uncertain mind which is so evident in religious
cults also. Use them, they have "no witness of the spirit." They have left the solid ground
of the real, the proven, the true. They risk all on the unknown. They feel they have to be
right, for they have no refuge elsewhere. Theirs is truly "the point of no return." Their
zeal is not according to knowledge!
But make no mistake - they are sincere! They act on a desperate and therefore a strong
faith. They will sacrifice, suffer, even die for that faith. They are true believers in
communist's goals. They cry, "We are making a new world - a world forever free of want,
of selfishness, of war!" And they believe it!
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II. THEIR CONFLICT WITH GOD
But the wiseness of those "sons of this age" is a limited wisdom. The Amplified version of
the New Testament says, "in their generation - or in relation to their own kind - breed."
To them everything is material, natural. They admit no supernatural of any kind--God or
Devil-benevolent or evil. To them man must be his own savior, since there is no other.
Their conviction is that it is up to us to remake our own world.
Their zeal then is not according to true knowledge. It will not stand the final test of
reality. Men may cry, "black is white" until they are blue in the face, and still it is only a
lie! Only a fool would stand with is hand in the fire and cry, "It feels wonderful."
"Why do the pagans gather in anger, and crowds of men imagine foolishness?" This
question is asked in Psalm 2:1. "It is not by might (the strength of armies and
munitions), nor by power (the dictates of authoritarian rulers), but by my Spirit saith the
Lord of Hosts." Zach. 4:6.
In John 8:32 we read these words, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make
you free." The children of light do not” walk in darkness! This is real knowledge! This is
God's word! This is truth!
The communists prove themselves "children of Satan," just as Jesus said of the
Pharisees, "You are the children of your father, the Devil." (John 6:44) Jesus said of
Satan, "He is a liar, and the father of it," meaning the father of all untruth. (John 8:44)
The communists are truly anti-Christ by their own admission. They say they cannot ever
coexist with Christians. That would be literally impossible.
III. THEIR CONTRAST WITH THE CHURCH
Communism is not like the church! In some things it is much superior to our modem
church. In many ways they put us to shame! Two of the ways are in interest and
concern.
We build one type of "fallout shelter" extremely well! Ours is a shelter for our minds. It is
called "indifference." We seem to say, "let's just ignore it and maybe it will go away." Ours
seems to be a Pollyanna attitude of everything is lovely! What takes the attention of most
American minds? It is: my pleasures, my sport, my family, my property. Don't annoy me
with your panic about communism! It can't happen here! And while we sleep the
communists are awake, alert, informed of our weakness and our failures.
Another way the communists put the church to shame is in zeal and action. Let's look at
the differences.
We support an institution. They are slaves to a cause!
We are missionaries - evangelist by proxy. They in person.
We stay home and look to our comfort. They go out and lose themselves to a
cause.
Next to the Christian way communism may be the best way yet shown to man. Just as
the Devil has some of the attributes of God, so communism has some of the attributes of
Christianity. It is Satan's substitute for the Kingdom of God! Which will you have? We
must all make up our minds. In the coming years many of us could leave our print on
the pages of history. Some of that imprint may be made in blood!
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When the test comes here in America only the so called fanatical Christians will stand
firm to the death. Our forefathers, against a far less terrible tyranny, pledged, as they
wrote, "Our lives, Our fortunes, our sacred honor." What will we pledge today? Jesus
speaks, "Lovest thou me more than these?" Choose this day whom you will serve.
The people of this age are much more shrewd in dealing with their kind than are the
people of light, so Jesus admonished us to make worldly, unrighteous wealth to be our
friend! Then when it gives out you will be welcomed into the eternal home, which is true
riches.
Whoever is faithful in small matters, such as handling money, will be faithful in the
larger ones. If you haven't been faithful in your handling of worldly wealth, how can you
be trusted with real riches? And if you can't be trusted with what belong to someone else,
who will give you what might belong to you?
No servant can be the slave of two masters. He will either hate the one and love the
other, or he will be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and
money. (LUKE 16:8-13)
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This is the second sermon in a series of four Troy preached at St. Andrews Church. This
one, Sunday morning, October 26, 1969)
COMMUNISM IN CONTRASTS
Text: Psalm 1:6 "For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous, but the way of the
ungodly shall perish."
In any kind of progress toward the better, one simple rule must be followed This rule is:
Find out where you are, decide where you ought to be, then get going! The whole trouble
today is the confusion about where we ought to be. Some say we should go to a
communist economy, some to socialism; others say that where we are is good enough.
Some people think that we should go back to the past! If we are truly Christian we
believe that we should go forward into the Kingdom of God.
But, most important of all we must discover the right way of thinking! Nothing can be
accomplished without this. Proverbs tells us in the 23rd chapter and the 7th verse that,
"As a man thinketh in his heart so is he." The truth is often discovered by contrasts.
I. CONTRAST IN POLITICAL IDEAS
The thought of the "ideal state" is ever philosopher's dream and every statesman's defeat.
Many and varied are such dreams; as varied as the names of such a state. Utopia,
Erehwon , (nowhere spelled backwards) Socialism, Communism, The City of God and the
Bible term Kingdom of God are some of the many terms for this future state.
How one thinks of this state depends very much on who is doing the theorizing. As
Christians, we believe that the Old Testament prophets were the first to discern its true
nature. We think that this was a revelation from God. Perhaps the most concise
summary is found in Micah 4:3-5. This is quoted verbatim from Isaiah 2:4. The prophets
saw this ideal state as having three aspects:
1. PEACE: "They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into
pruning hooks. Nations shall not lift sword against nation, neither shall they
study war any more."
2. SECURITY: "But they shall sit every man under his vine and his fig tree; and
none shall make them afraid." This certainly predicts a time of "freedom from
want and from fear."
3 GODLINESS: "We will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and for
ever."
Communism being purely atheistic believes only in the first two. Any ideas of
righteousness, purity or holiness are totally foreign to them. Their ideal is a sensual
"Paradise on Earth." In America we give lip-service only to the "godliness" ideal and we
include the first aspect, "peace," only if it is convenient to our economic welfare.
We mostly care only about money and security.
While we all hope for the coming of this ideal state, there is a vast difference in the
proposed ways to bring it about. From some long forgotten source I learned this
comparison.
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Socialism would pass laws that, by majority vote of the people, would make it illegal for
them to go only in one direction; that is toward the ideal state. In democracy we embrace
pretty much this same concept, especially in the social gospel."
Communism, and fascism also, would herd men toward this "Utopia" like "dumb, driven
cattle" whether we want to go or not. Some churchmen are in agreement.
Capitalism, the purely laissez-faire kind says, "To heck with the common herd! I live on
beef and I am already in Utopia."
Christianity just does not fit into any of these categories! We are men, not cattle, and we
believe that God will eventually answer the prayer that for almost 2000 years has gone
up to him every day. "Thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."
II. CONTRASTS IN IDEAS ABOUT PROPERTY
Perhaps the major issue between East and West today is the contrasting answers to the
question, "Who owns things?"
The communists answer is that the state owns everything. Private ownership of property,
they say, is the cause of selfishness and the curse of capitalism. In Russia the whole
state belongs to the communists. The communist party is only a small percentage of the
total population, yet they and they alone, control what they claim belongs to the state.
Isn't that really ownership?
Capitalism, to the contrary, holds that the state should possess nothing except what is
necessary to protect and serve the people. The national government must protect its
citizens from outside enemies and function as a referee to see that various segments of
society "fight fair." All other properties than this, they say, belongs to individuals, to do
with as they please. Sharp lines of distinction are drawn between "thine" and "mine."
What most people do not realize is that the Christian viewpoint is in sharp contrast to
both capitalism and communism at this point. In fact, not many Christians are aware of
the Bible teachings in this matter. It is not at all a popular one and has been by-passed
by great segments of the church. However, the true Christian teaching about property is
that it belongs to God. We who possess property are only temporary managers for Him!
Most of us know the scriptural proof of this, but we usually choose to ignore its true
implications. Many of us glibly quote Psalms 24:1, "The earth is the Lord's and the
fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell therein" We are also familiar with other
such proofs of God's ownership; "the land is mine--saith the Lord." (Lev. 25:23) "The
silver and the gold are mine." (Haggai 2:8) "And the cattle on a thousand hills are mine--"
(Psalm 50:10) Although most Christians are aware of these teachings we are not yet
converted to the meanings that the terms convey. Too many of us are still capitalists at
heart. Our concern about the advance of communism is often more motivated by
property rights than by freedom of worship.
III. CONTRASTS IN IDEAS ABOUT PERSONS
One of the greatest differences between all other systems and the Christian faith has to
do with the worth of an individual. Communism and fascism teach that the state is first
and all. The individual is of value only as he can be used to carry out the goals of the
government. Capitalism professes to believe in the individual, but often places personal
gain far above people. This is the case in vast war profits.
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On the other hand, the Christian faith holds, from the very words of God himself, that
every soul is precious to Him. "We are of more value than many sparrows and God even
cares for them." (Matt. 10:31) We believe further that the government exists only to help
and protect its people; that every person has a right to live in peace and safety. God is
indeed concerned about the least of these as is taught in Matthew 25:40.
Much of this teaching has been mouthed by capitalists, but too many times only selfishly
and superficially. The truth is that there will be continual conflict between true Christian
living and the profit and loss system. Selfishness shows its ugly face in all walks of life
today. In government, labor, capital, politics, social movements - yes, even in the church
the attitude of selfishness come to the fore. It says the individual does not matter - only
our cause matters - or our money - or our pleasures or our race; yes, even our own
church.
The totalitarian program is always the same! Convert 'em or kill'em! Love has no place at
all in such a system! Yet love is the one true test of any real philosophy or system.
Satan's program has always been, "recant or die." This will be true until the end.
Revelation tells us that in the end time we will either wear the mark of the beast or we
will die for our faith. In these days the politicians cry, "peace and plenty." But we can
never have either without purity in Christ.
Only God has the right to rule body, mind and spirit and only God will rule completely
and unselfishly. Only Christ can be "King of kings and Lord of lords forever and forever."
But He will not be your king unless you surrender willingly to Him. He is love! He will not
force you to yield to Him!
Will you surrender to him now, voluntarily? Will you give up yourself and all that you
have? He is a tender and loving ruler!
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COMMUNISM-CAPITALISM-WAYS THAT FAIL
(Third in series on Communism--St. Andrews--November 2. 1969)
Text: (There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of
death." (Proverbs 14:12)
Before Christians were known as Christians they were called 'he People of the Way." That
was a good designation, for that is exactly what we are! We have found the way. There is
no other way, for this is God's way. Let's look now at the two ways of men and see how
they have failed, how they are still failing and will fail in the end
CAPITALISM IS NOT "THE WAY."
Capitalism has some weaknesses and failures which mark it as not only inadequate to
solve the world's problems, but also show it to be basically anti-Christian.
First, it is a selfish system. Listen to the words in a report from the National Association
of Manufactures. "Profit is no sin! Profit is the motive of capitalism." Here at its very core
nestles the seeds of its own destruction! Here is the old cry. "Every man for himself, and
the Devil take the hindmost"
Under capitalism both labor and management jockey and juggle. They strike and fight for
higher wages and profits. So we have a never ending spiral of inflation. I am afraid that
this struggle will continue until the unnatural air-castle of false prosperity falls about
our ears in another Great Depression. This capital-labor getting-spree reminds me of the
prophecy in Proverbs 30:15, "The horseleech hath two daughters, crying give, give."
Capitalism is also basically anti-Christian. It is not, as many would have us believe,
identical with Christianity. Its philosophy is selfish when compared to the philosophy of
unselfish Christian love. It also disputes God's claim to ownership of all property and it
sometimes tends to use religion as a cloak of decency under which to hide its evils.
Capitalism is not an adequate answer to man's problems because it has nothing to offer
for the deep hunger of the soul. It has no answer for the great questions of our hearts. It
has lied to millions, saying, "Get rich and you will be happy." Millions have proven this to
be a lie.
But Capitalism does have some redeeming features. It has some qualities which save it
from the far worse falsehoods of Communism. But I must repeat that while it tries to
identify itself as closely as possible with Christianity, it is not the Christian way. At times
it tries to use religion against the Communists. There are a few points of agreement
between Capitalism and Christianity. These help it to be more acceptable than
Communism.
1.
Both Capitalism and Christianity demand individual rights and that
government respect those rights.
2.
Both require personal liberty and its twin, individual responsibility.
3.
Capitalists can be Christian, and vice versa, Christians can be
Capitalists.
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But the latter is dangerous for Christians. Profits can easily become "god" and then we
become idolaters! But with Marxian Communists this would be impossible! How could a
Christian be an atheist - an anti-Christ? This is one of the reasons the church can
prosper under Capitalism, but cannot under Communism.
But let us not forget that Christianity was here before our modem Capitalist system, and
it will still be here when it is gone! It will go, for one day this greedy "Babylon" of
commercialism will fall. (Rev. 18) At that time God's people will rejoice. It must fall before
the "Reign of God" can truly begin on earth.
No, Capitalism is not the answer; it is not "the way." It is not God's answer to the world's
problems. It can never answer our prayer, " Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth
as it is in heaven."
II. COMMUNISM IS NOT "THE WAY."
Although Capitalism is not the way to the Kingdom, Communism is even less so - much
less! Here are its prime failures.
1. It destroys personal initiative among common people. They have little incentive to
work, for they are just working for the state and not to better their lives and that
of their children.
For the motive of personal initiative Communism tries to substitute a kind of mass zeal;
a world-wide mob spirit. Their cry is, "We are building a new world." This vision was
stolen from the Christians and modified to suit their own diabolical ends. They leave for
their citizens two main motivations. For the masses it is fear and for the elite it is party
promotion. Remember for them "Paradise" is a purely material and sensual concept. It
presupposes that if man has all his animal urges satisfied he will be supremely happy.
But we know that the soul has hungers also. Without
soul-food life on earth can be a hell and not a Paradise.
2. Secondly, Communism has solved no real problems for the Russians in the /52
years of its history there. It is true that some have somewhat better housing than
before. Few families have automobiles and television sets, but Americans have
fared much better under Capitalism.
By living on black bread and beet soup the Soviets have built a superior war machine.
But socially and spiritually they have failed! Their government is a robot without a heart.
They have built a super-state, depending for its existence upon lies, betrayals, bloodpurges, slave camps, broken treaties and shattered promises! Just as the decay of the
French monarchy in the 18th century led to the "Guillotine government" of a godless
republic, so Communism is the poisonous toadstool which today is growing on the
rotting stench of their modem, secular society.
3. Like Capitalism it has nothing to offer for the deep hungers of mankind
Communism has no forgiveness - no answer for guilt, but punishment. Without
God's grace fallible man can have only hopelessness, unhappiness and death. It
has no word to offer the dying and no comfort for those loved ones who are left.
There is no gleam of light in the darkness or in any other heart-breaking
experience. He who knows a true believing communist knows the perfect example
of St. Paul's prophecy that, "In the last days men shall be without natural
affection." (II Timothy 3:3)
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Communism has no redeemer, no comforter! Yet it has become a religion. Its gods are
Marx and Lenin; its temporary saints Stalin and his successors - Mao and Ho Chi Minh.
Its shrines are the tombs of its dead "gods," and its temples are their structures of
material science.
The final note of Communism for the individual is despair, always despair! Why?
Augustine answers in his prayer to God, "Thou last made us for thyself and our souls are
restless until they rest in Then"
Somewhere, as a child, I read of a king who had inscribed near his throne a constant
reminder; a simple but terrible sentence, "This, too, shall pass away." More than any age
of the past this one needs the continual nagging statement of this hard truth! It ought to
be on every deed, every pay check, every stock certificate or legal paper. It should be
inscribed on every great building; every humble home!
In contrast, there should always stand the words of Jesus, "My words shall not pass
away." (Matt. 24:35) In the light of these truths and that of the text today, we can see
clearly the failure of any human system to bring the final answer to the great problems of
the world today.
And through all this, the Christian Way remains the untried answer. Economically,
politically, socially, morally and above all spiritually, we have yet to see the day that it
will be taken seriously as a solution to the ills of the world.
But it will be tried! It has been tried already by millions down through the almost 2000
years, and found to be "The Way." It does not fail those who really try it. It has
forgiveness. a Redeemer, a Comforter, a hope for earth's future and eternal life. It is the
Kingdom of God!
Will you take the only way into life and peace? Will you take that way now? Will you
accept Christ and receive all those gifts now? For God's way is not only the best way - it
is the only way.
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Fourth in series on communism, November 9, 1969 at St Andrews church, Winter Park,
Florida. (This morning, April 17, 1992, when I read the column by Cal Thomas, in the
Orlando Sentinel, I had my feeling confirmed that Troy was a right good prophet, when
preparing and delivering these four messages on communism. --E. T. B.)
THE CHRISTIAN ANSWER TO COMMUNISM
Teat: "And He that sat upon the throne said: "Behold I make all things new."
A careful study of God's word will not only give us a clear vision of what the coming
Kingdom Age will be Like, but will also plainly show that our present Capitalistic
Democracy will never lead us into such a future. And surely no one in his right mind
would even suggest that an atheistic Communism could bring us to the "Reign of God"
Both of these systems are essentially selfish, ruthless and man-made. Without control
they would bring nothing but chaos or dictatorship. What then is the hope of the earth
for the future? We believe that only the Bible has the answer. Let's look at three central
truths of that solution.
I. THE CHRISTIANS' POSSESSIONS: MAN'S RESPONSIBILITY
What kind of economic system will we have in this new rule of Christ? It will be a kind of
Capitalism, with the greed removed! A socialism with the irresponsible laziness removed
A divine Communism, with the Anti-Christ removed to the Lake of Fire! Its principles will
be faith and love instead of force and lust.
Its basic principle will be Psalms 24:1. "The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof."
All property, all abilities, all skills, all hours of every day will be His, without question
and not ours! We will not own, but only manage our possessions for His glory. The early
church discovered this principle very soon after Pentecost. "And none of them said that
aught of the things he possessed was his own." (Acts 4:32)
But like so many today, they made the wrong application of the principle. They began to
give away and divide what they had They became bureaucrats -spenders instead of
stewards. They were not good managers, but Christian socialists! This system soon
failed, because the emphasis was on spending, not responsible stewardship.
The reason for their failure was that they did not apply the second principle. That is
responsible management under the constant gaze of the true owner. Some of us today
have applied that principle. We are conscious that He is continually watching us.
1. We are responsible to Him for how we get our possessions. They cannot come by graft,
cheating, theft, gambling, etc. They cannot be 'blood-money" gained by the suffering of
others, whether by unfair labor practices, or by profits from such killers as alcohol, illicit
drugs or tobacco.
2. We are responsible to him for how we spend our money. This rules out waste! What a
blow for government spenders. It also rules out selfish or lustful use of money.
3. We are responsible to him for how we share our possessions. If we all adhered to this
principle there would be no hunger, need, poverty or depression in this age; as there will
not be in the age to come.
4. We are responsible to him for returning a fair share to the owner. A fair percentage?
He asks so little that it seems unfair to Him. In spite of the fact that it all belongs to him,
he only asks that a tenth, called a tithe in the Bible, be returned to him.
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We know that this "Kingdom Finance System" works, even in this age. Thousands have
tried it. I need only name men like Colgate, Kraft, and LaTourneau as examples of good
managers for God. In Malachi 3:10 is the promise, "Bring ye the whole tithe into the
storehouse, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of Hosts, if I will not pour you
out a blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it!" In Lev. 27:30-33 this
claim of God is emphasized, "The tithe is mine, saith the Lord; it is holy unto me."
If we all met our responsibilities at the four points above Communism could not come to
America. But we will not meet our responsibility! So we must be on our guard that
Communism does not overtake us before Christ comes to destroy the Anti-Christ and the
evil systems of the world.
II. THE CHRIST OF POWER - MESSIAH'S REIGN
What kind of government does God intend for this coming Age of Glory? Deep in our
hearts we already know, but we so often forget the meaning of our own prayers. We say
as does every Christian, "Thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."
This is the prayer our Lord taught his disciples. Is it to be branded a heresy or is it our
hone. We do not pray, "Thy democracy come," or "Thy Communist System come." In
truth, every time we pray the Lord's prayer we are asking for the end of earthly systems
of government, including our own. If this makes me a traitor, then I thank God that I am
a traitor!
Please do not misunderstand me. I do believe in our Capitalistic Democracy. It has
worked in America, under the restraint of Christian conscience. So far, it is the best form
of government ever devised by the minds of men. But fewer and fewer people have the
restraints of a Christian conscience. Our gods have become money and pleasure! We in
America are selling our souls for profit and thrills. If earth has no future, other than the
money-mad, sin-crazed society in which we live today, then we had better pray for the
return of Christ and his kingdom to come on earth! But, praise the Lord, there is a better
age coming! An age ruled over by the King of kings and the Lord of lords!
By pure reason the early Greek philosophers saw the perfect government. They said,
"Government by the wisest, purest and best men is the best government.
****************************
Government by one perfect man would be the perfect government. But he would have to
be a god, and we know that this is impossible."
Him of whom the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, is now available as that one perfect
man! The prophets promised, "Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the
government shall be upon his shoulders." (Isaiah 9:6) And again, "The kingdoms of this
world are become the Kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever
and ever." (Rev. 11:15) At that time the earth shall have a new capital - Jerusalem - and
a new king, the Son of God from heaven!
III. THE CHRISTLIKE POPULACE: MEN REGENERATED
The prime need of that day is a new people for the new government. Will we be among
those new people?
The most evident fact of today's society is the failure of unregenerate humanity. Dr.
Edmund Dwight Coker, an eminent political scientist, said in a lecture at Ohio State
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University in 1945, "Every scheme for Utopia ever devised by the mind of man has been
spoiled by that ugly, uncontrollable factor called "human nature."
Today our leaders are saying, "Man must change, or he will destroy himself from the face
of the earth." The scientist, Steinmets, said, "Man's next mutation will be spiritual." He
was almost 2000 years behind the times! That final mutation has already started. The
first to experience it was a-little band of people in an upper room on a day called
Pentecost, about the year of 30 A.D.
Is such a transformation in human nature needed? The Russian Communists are
puzzled. They do not understand why the Russian people, living in what they consider a
virtual Utopia, should keep on being selfish, getting drunk, committing suicide. High on
the agenda of Communist leaders meetings now is the subject of "how to develop new
Russian leaders for the New Russia." Yes, the need is clear!
Apart from human transformation, which we know can only come through the work of
God's Holy Spirit in the new birth, man is headed for sure and certain self-destruction!
The only hope is in what a few people, who are willing to submit themselves for the
experiment, have undergone right here on earth. Jesus said it plainly! "Ye must be born
again!" The hope of mankind to be part of that coming Kingdom of God lies alone in the
regeneration of human nature by the power of God!
What happens when a person is really born again? God's word says, "If any man be in
Christ he is a new creation. Old things are passed away for him. Look! Everything
becomes new." (II Cor.5:17) Again the Bible says, "Don't be conformed (molded to fit) this
world, but be transformed (made over completely) by the renewing of (making new) your
mind---" (Rom 12:2)
In a class in political theory I was asked to tell the difference in major political systems. I
used a homely illustration, saying, "On the farm as a boy, we used to raise pigs. We had
some old-fashioned Capitalist pigs. They would get in the feed-trough with all four feet
and try to keep the other pigs out. Some were Socialist pigs. They would move over and
let the other pigs share the swill. We had no Communist pigs for none of ours said,
"You'll eat our brand of slop or we will kill you..
A young woman in the class was a member of the Young Communist League. She said,
with a sneer, "I suppose you Christians would make angels out of the pigs." I replied "I
thank you for the thought. You are not far wrong."
What kind of men will populate the New Earth?
Transformed
men!
Men
like
Augustine, Savonarola, Jan Huss, Martin Luther, Calvin, John Knox, John Wesley,
William Otterbein, Billy Sunday, Billy Graham. People like many of you. People who have
become new creatures in Christ Jesus.
There are at least a dozen problems with us today which, if left unsolved, will bring an
end to civilization; or even of people on earth. They are problems which we cannot or will
not solve. It seems to me that the only way they will be solved will be with the return of
Christ. This is the belief of much of the Christian world today.
In the first chapter and the 11th verse of the Gospel of Luke we have this promise given
to those who saw Jesus ascend into heaven, "This same Jesus, which you see going up
into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go." With his return we
will have the reign of Christ, and our prayer will be answered, "Thy kingdom come thy
will be done on earth as it is in heaven."
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But each of us must choose whether we will be a part of that wonderful age. We must
make up our minds whether the wealth and pleasures of this world are more important
to us than being alive in that coming blessed day. How will you choose? Will you take
Jesus to be your Savior now? Today?
****************************
These messages were brought with a fourfold purpose:
1. That our church might better understand Christianity's greatest enemy and rival
today, Mandan Communism.
2. That we might see clearly that Capitalism is not identical with Christianity, but that in
reality it too is a rival.
3. That we might know that Jesus is coming again!
4. Above all, they were given in the hope that people in the church and out of it accept
Jesus as their personal Savior.
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Most of the people living in Florida have heard of, or visited the small town of Cassadega
located near the center of the state. Occasionally some columnist will write an interesting
article about the place and its inhabitants, which seem to have been drawn together by
their mutual beliefs concerning spirits. Troy preached this sermon at the St. Andrew's
United Methodist Church in Winter Park Florida, on Dec. 14, 1969. Everyone was
interested in the subject.
CASSADEGA CHALLENGE
(Text--I Timothy 4:1) 'Now the Holy Spirit says clearly that, in the latter times, some shall
abandon the true faith, obeying lying spirits and the teachings of demons."
It is usually in times of crises or uncertainty that people turn to the occult and magic for
help. During and right after World Wars I and H and during the Great Depression of the
1930 interest was especially high. Now in these "latter times" that interest seems to be
resurrecting. I believe this is due to our times of confusion and unbelief. People have
turned more and more to consulting mediums and fortune tellers, astrology and ouija
boards. A friend of mine who has done considerable research in this subject says that
spiritualism is 95% parlor magic and 5% straight from the devil. It is one of today's
biggest religious rackets and, along with astrology, bleeds millions from the pockets of
gullible people.
The Bible, God's word, speaks plainly about this kind of practice. In our text today it is
called "seducing spirits."
I. SEDUCING SPIRITS
When we study God's word we find that the term "familiar spirit" is used 16 times in the
Bible. It is always pictured in an unfavorable light. Davis Bible Dictionary says that the
term means, "Mediums claiming ability to talk with the spirits of the dead." A standard
dictionary says, "A necromancer. One who foretells the future by talking to the dead." It
is significant that it is associated in the Bible in one place with ventriloquism and in
others with demon possession. Jesus was accused by his enemies of having a "familiar
spirit or demon." (Matt. 12:24, John 8:48)
We can see plainly that Almighty God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, is openly
opposed to all such practices. It is plainly apostasy from God to Satan, "the god of this
age." If they claim help from supernatural sources, this is the God who helps them! In
Lev. 19:31 the scripture tells us not to even look in their direction. This is the very first
reference to mediums in the Bible. In Acts 13:6-10 it tells of one who called himself "BarJesus (son of Jesus), a sorcerer or medium. He is called a "false prophet." He was
stricken blind by the apostle Paul for opposing the gospel of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Paul
called him "Thou child of the Devil, thou enemy of righteousness." In Old Testament
times the punishment for this was death by stoning.
This punishment applied not
only for mediums but for those who consulted them. "The soul that turneth after those
who have a familiar spirit shall be put to death. Lev. 20:6-9, 27. You can believe that
those people should be glad that we live under New Testament days of grace!
II. SAUL AND THE SORCERER
An interesting story is recorded in I Samuel the 28th chapter. King Saul of Israel had
already decreed death to all spirit mediums in the land Yet he called a servant and
ordered him to find him a medium because he said, "God refuses to hear me or answer
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me." Israel's enemies, the Philistines, were in position ready to attack. Saul was deathly
afraid! He disguised himself and went to a place called Endor, to consul a medium.
Swearing that she would come to no harm he asked her to bring up the spirit of Samuel.
She may have planned to bring up a demon, who would pose as Samuel. When Samuel
appeared she was in mortal fear. God, not the medium, raised up Samuel.
In the consultation which followed Samuel said "why have you disturbed my rest?" Saul
replied "The Philistines are ready to attack! God has left me, He won't answer me."
Samuel then told him, "You will lose the battle and tomorrow you and your sons will be
killed." He told him that God would give his kingdom to his servant, David. Saul's
consultation with the medium ended in death for him and his sons.
III. SEDUCING LIES vs SCRIPTURAL TRUTH
"Spiritualist" is really a misleading term for these people. Their practice is spiritism." The
false teaching of some of the leaders of this group are many. They teach that "God is
impersonal; that to say that the Bible is inspired is a gross outrage; that Christ was just
a medium of high order; that the teachings of the spirits is an advance over Christianity."
They also say that Jesus never claimed to be God in the flesh. How would we interpret
John 14:9 where Jesus says, "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father," if this were
true.
The spiritists teach that, 'There are many spirits-but no Holy Spirit" That "The Holy Spirit
is not personal." Jesus himself says as recorded in John 14:26, "when He, the spirit of
truth is come, He will teach you all things." One of their teachings state, "There is no
atoning value in the death of Jesus Christ." God's word says, "The blood of Jesus Christ
cleanses us from all sin." (I John 1:7)
Here are some more of their blasphemies: "Man is his own savior." "There is no devil, no
bell, no resurrection and no judgment." "You can talk to your dead loved ones."
The truth is that our saved loved ones are "dead in Christ," "Asleep in Jesus." (I Thess,
4;16; 4:14) They shall arise only at our Lord's call! (I Thess. 4:16) In the story of the rich
man and Lazarus, Jesus says that the rich man begged for Lazarus to be sent back from
the dead to warn his brothers, but this was impossible. (Luke 16:26)
The mediums say that the spirits float in space. The Bible says that the spirits of our
saved loved ones are "in Paradise--with Christ, which is far better than being in this
world (Luke 23:43; II Cor. 12:4; Phil. 1:23)
On the other hand the Christ rejecting sinner, who refuses God's free grace are in Hades,
awaiting the day of judgment and their condemnation to the lake of fire.
We see then that God and his word, the Bible, are totally against the work of spirit
mediums. They do not accept the Bible as the word of God! Their so-called "church" is a
false church, and is therefore a "church of Satan."
In these uncertain days the only safe place to be is to be in Jesus! The only place to go
for spiritual truth is to the Bible, the word of God. The only true church is the assembly
of born- again Christians; the household of faith; the family of God; the body of Christ.
Will you now repent of your sins, believe in Jesus' atoning blood and receive him as Lord
into your life to become your Savior?
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COURAGE FOR THE COMING CRISIS
This sermon could have been a logical fifth one in the series on communism. March 8,
1970-St. Andrews United Methodist Church-Winter Park, FL.
Text: "And they overcame him by the blood of the Iamb, and by the word of their
testimony, and they loved not their lives unto the death." (Revelation 12:11)
The church in America has had it too easy. We have developed a generation of soft, mildmannered, respectable Sunday morning sermon tasters. Our Christianity has become a
kind of "Churchanity." It is something we do on Sunday mornings, instead of a way to
live every day of the week Have we had it too easy? Some even say, "We have had it,
period!"
One thing is sure! The days of "Pollyanna Progressivism" are over. The times that try
men's souls are upon us! We must now begin to teach our young people "Spiritual
Survival Methods. "In the jungle of sin, secularism, socialism and sex which surround
us, this is imperative! Some of our youth sitting here today will not survive. Our very own
boys and girls will become victims of unbelief and eternal loss! What can we do about
this? Can we find help in the text for today? Let's try.
I. THEIR ARMOR IS OUR ARMOR - IT IS IN THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB.
What is the nature of this armor? The purpose of armor is to cover the weak spots; to
protect us where we are vulnerable. Whether we are willing to admit it or not, we all
know what our weak spots are. We all know the areas where we are most likely to sin.
How Satan uses our weaknesses! If we ever needed a protective covering it is in those
vulnerable, easy to pierce spots.
The Old Testament had a remedy for guiltiness. It was a priest, a lamb and a knife. A
remedy? Yes, for that ancient offering points a finger of hope to the "Lamb of God, who
takes away the sin of the world" The cross and its burden of death are an eternal reality!
Yes, this is a strange armor! What is its power?
The proof of the strength of that armor is that it will stand against Satan's "guns of
accusation." In the 10th verse of this chapter a loud voice is heard speaking from heaven
saying, "The accuser of our brethren is cast down." If we go to the book of Job we will
find our accuser named. (Job 1:9-11) It is Satan himself?
To cause to faint the weakest saint, the demons all engage.
To stem the flood of Jesus blood, all Hell is in a rage!
See Satan stand at God's right hand, accuser of us all.
Opponents of the Son, whose love redeemed us from the fall.
"Your sins," he cries, The Blood replies, "There is no sin!"
He screams, 'he past," and to the last, the Blood above his din,
Speaks out alone, there on the throne, "There is no past."
'Til Satan, prone, must leave alone and we are free at last.
Now we know what the words "The speaking blood" mean in the old hymn, "The
Cleansing Stream." His blood is an unfailing armor against "all the fiery darts of the
wicked one!" "And they overcame him, (meaning Satan) by the blood of the Iamb." If we
want to survive, along with our children, in this jungle of sin, this is the way.
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II. THEIR WEAPON IS OURS - IT IS "THE WORD OF THEIR TESTIMONY."
And how can the "word" be a weapon? You must admit that words are the chief weapon
of the "cold war" between the United States and the Soviet Union today. "Radio Free
Europe" is all the proof of that we need It is the word of preaching which gives victory
over unbelief. "It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe."
(I Cor. 1:21)
Some of us need to be reminded that it is not the preaching that saves the sinner, but it
is the "word" of confession - I believe -that brings to each of us the victory of salvation! It
was the word of God that lifted the universe out of nothing! "Through faith we
understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are
seen were not made of things which do appear." (Heb. 11:3) It is "The word out of the
mouth of the Son of God" which will be that great final weapon, the two-edged sword of
ultimate victory.
(Troy either did not finish typing this sermon or the rest of k was lost. All of this was
crowded on one sheet of typing paper in a loose leaf notebook, along with the rest of the
sermons in this book)
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THE ONE TRUE CHURCH
(Sermon delivered May 24, 1970, at St. Andrews United Methodist Church, Winter Park,
Florida.)
Text: "That they may be one - in us." John 17:21
"That ye may have fellowship with us," I John 1:3.
INTRODUCTION
The Devil has a new trick--he is trying to destroy our faith in words! A confused young
seminary student recently said to me, "A professor says that truth is a very different
thing for each person. He said that it is all a matter of "Your frame of reference." He used
a big word for it--semantics. But how can we learn about the word of God unless we use
words? Let's take a word this morning-- the word "fellowship," meaning the experiencing
of spiritual joy together. It is a translation of the Greek word, "koinonia." Now all of us
who have had this experience know what it means. Surely if we all fall into the lake, we
all know it, we all feel it, and we all know exactly what we mean when we talk about it. It
is this "fellowship of kindred minds" which is true Christian unity. It is the joy of
knowing and loving the Lord Jesus together. It is our common experience of the love of
Christ--the Holy Spirit!
I. IS THIS FELLOWSHIP IMPORTANT?
It is a difficult thing for us to realize--especially Americans. We are proud of our splendid
"isolation!" We boast of our "independence." Many times we fall out with our fellowChristians. We refuse to go and be reconciled to "our brother." (Matt. 5:24) We go out and
start a new congregation or a new denomination. I once talked to a minister who had
fallen out with the Wesleyan Methodist and had started a new group he called the
Reformed Wesleyan Methodist Church. When I asked him if he could not have found a
group with which he agreed, he replied, 'No sir, Brother! We've got the truth!"
In my home state a man by the name of "Jackson" became convinced that
denominationalism was a sin. He began to preach this in his home. His followers
increased and he moved to a schoolhouse for his meetings. Later he moved into other
communities and started groups who believed as he did. Then the neighbors needed a
name to distinguish these people and they called them "Jacksonites." Thus, this man
who preached against denominations, calling them sinful, was guilty of starting another
denomination. The word "denomination" means "a name that distinguishes." We will
have them in spite of all! Every one of us belongs to a denomination, even if it is "The
Association of Atheists."
But although denominations are not sinful in themselves, most are guilty of sin! Some of
these sins ought to concern us deeply. Let's look at three of the worst!
(1) INSTITUTIONALISM -The promotion of our congregation, our group, at the
expense of the Kingdom of God. These often are "Madison Avenue" techniques to promote
their attendance, membership or finances. They are in jealous competition with other
local churches, denominations , or even other congregations of the same group.
(2) ECCLESIOLATRY--The worship of a church or denomination instead of God.
This is a form of idolatry. It exalts the body instead of the head--Christ. It promotes the
organization instead of the organism. People who are guilty of this usually declare that
their group is the only one which will be saved.
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(3) THE PERSONALITY CULT-This is the sin that the Dr. Billy Graham must
strive so hard to avoid. Some popular preachers yield to the temptation to build around
themselves, instead of around Christ. like Diotrephes (III John 9) who "loved to have the
preeminence among them," they become enamored with their ability to lead, or to preach,
and so mislead many. They forget that the Word of God says, "Christ, who alone shall
have the preeminence!" (Col. 1:15)
I once knew such a person. He was a gifted speaker and his wife was overly ambitious for
him. He was promoted too rapidly and at age 43 had become pastor of one of the largest
churches in his conference. He saw no place to go, except down and his ego would not
permit that. He decided to take all his flock who would go and build a tabernacle just
four blocks from the last church he had served. Within a year he was dead and the
tabernacle was then used for a warehouse! It is significant that he named the tabernacle
for himself!
THE ECUMENICAL MOVEMENT-Coming partly as a reaction to these "sins" is the so
called ecumenical movement. The term itself is not a wholesome one, theologically
speaking. Its root meaning is "the whole wide world" Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of
this world." To many it is a genuine protest against the scandal of divisions in the face of
our Lord's prayer in John 17, "that they all may be one." In these days of growing
Communism part of this background is fear. It is part of the "safety in numbers" idea.
However, if the thought is to create an ecclesiastical cadaver bigger than the Communist
robot, a dead monster is harmless.
The word "Ambition" cannot be left out in explaining the idea of "Ecumenism." Some of
its leaders envision "One great World Wide Institution." Shades of the Beast and the false
Prophet!!
III. WHAT DOES TRUE FELLOWSHIP IMPLY? (I John 1:3)
What really is our Lord's concern when he prays this prayer;
when five tines in four short verses he repeats this thought in the midst of his agony in
the Garden? What is his true desire? It is so easy for us to forget that conditioning
clause, "One as we are one." This means the closest possible spiritual. sympathetic,
relationship. Here is no yearning for organizational solidarity and unity! But rather
spiritual union in organic oneness! Not secular political association, but rather sacred
spiritual plasma! "Unless our union is spiritual, it is spurious," says Dr. E. Stanley
Jones. This is the deeper meaning of our text "that they all may be one, as we are one."
This spiritual union is not intended as an end in itself, but as a means of evangelism. It
is in order "that the world may believe that you sent me, and that you, Father, love
them." Only the bond of love can make these living stones into the one new temple in the
Lord. (Eph. 2:21) This is the only way that the world will be convinced that Jesus is the
"Savior sent from God." Hear him say it itself in John 17:21. "That they all may be one,-that the world may believe that thou hast sent me."
Jesus did not pray for a union that ignores heresy, either in doctrine or conduct. He was
not praying for a union of expediency or convenience. He was not asking for a union of
humanistic good- will, nor for a union of fear against a common foe. He was rather
pleading for a Christ-centered , Holy Spirit oneness, "as we are one." This kind of unity
can exist without organizational union,-- indeed it must, or there is no hope! Our Lord
wept in Gethsemane for one spiritual body!
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Jesus wants above everything "that the world may believe." The reason it does not believe
is that his followers do not love one another. I have experienced this "koinonia" this holy
fellowship with Roman Catholics when we shared our mutual love for the Lord Jesus. I
have felt the same spirit cut in two in a small group of ministers of the same
denomination, by selfishness, jealousy or ambition!
Brethren, Jesus "sweat as it were great drops of blood" as he prayed for our spirits to be
one in holy love! Will it ever be? YES-- TO THE DEGREE THAT WE SURRENDER OUR
WILLS TO THE HOLY SPIRIT!
WILL YOU MAKE THAT SURRENDER NOW?
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TWO WRONG WAYS AND A RIGHT WAY
St. Andrews United Methodist Church, Winter Park Florida -- November 8, 1970.
Occasionally you will hear someone say, 'I guess I know my own mind" Most of us think
we do, but we don't always know it. We never know all of it! In the last two Sundays we
have seen how we excuse ourselves by giving the wrong reasons for our actions. We call
this rationalization. We pointed out how we see our own faults in others without being
aware that they are our faults. Today our Lord wants us to know how we often push
down any bad thoughts or experiences we may have into the limbo of our sub-conscious
minds and try to forget them. This trait is called repression by those who study the
human mind, This is just another way our minds and emotions, called our hearts in the
Bible will betray us. We do this by:
I. REPRESSION OR REJECTING THE UNPLEASANT
The dictionary tells us that those words mean, 'To conceal things in the subconscious
mind." Things happen to us which are bad, unpleasant or painful - or things of which we
are ashamed. The memory of them brings us mental pain or anguish. The result often is
that we deliberately try to forget them. In other words we choose not to remember them!
We push them down into our metal garbage cans the sub-conscious. We are not then
really conscious of it, but our subconscious minds do not forget - not ever!
A minister tells about a man who occasionally broke out with hives. After much
questioning and study it was found that this happened every time his mother-in-law
came for a visit. He secretly disliked her so much that it caused this affliction.
King David, when the Prophet Nathan came to him and preached a private sermon to
him, about a rich man who stole a poor man's lamb, was very indignant. David cried out
for justice for the poor man. I believe that he knew in his heart that the message was for
him before Nathan proclaimed, "Thou art the man." The message hit home, but he chose
in his sub-conscious mind not to listen! After the wrong was laid squarely on his
shoulders David faced himself with his sin! Some cynic has said that, "Most clear
consciences were due to faulty memories." This is not true! Conscience does not forget.
We just shove it down into our mental garbage cans, our sub-conscious, and try to forget
it. King David, in his distress, "Remembered God and was troubled." (Psalms 77:3)
II. REFUSING TO FACE THE PAST - RESISTING
Very often the unconscious sets a guard at the door of the conscious. Here we must
compare the sub-conscious to a garbage can. Here we note that having hidden some bad
or unpleasant thing there, we deliberately sit on the lid. The mean trick of our minds
here is that we just as often do not realize what we have done.
Doctors can sometimes make us "face the music" by the use of drugs or by hypnosis,
even though our conscious minds have rejected the whole experience! This repression
does not in any way get rid of it. It is still there in our mental garbage ans! It usually
shows up in mental disorder, or in physical discomfort, such as hives.
Discomfort is apparent when someone else brings up the subject; there is a certain
uneasiness! Why do some people squirm in the pews when the pastor is preaching along
certain lines. When someone gets too near the nest of a ground-nesting mother bird she
will often hobble away and pretend she has a broken leg or wing, to draw them away
from her nest.
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Very often people, in this matter of resistance, will come up squarely against God's
psychiatry. Saul of Tarsus, before he became Paul the apostle, tried to hide his own deep
need behind a zeal of Jewish orthodoxy. (Acts 8:3) The Bible says of him, "He made havoc
of the church." In spite of the good they do, we are made to wonder if this explains the
zeal of men like Carl McIntire and Billy J. Hargis!
Many times a conviction of our own need in the sub-conscious makes us very critical of
the church or of the preacher. Jesus explained it this way, "Men love darkness rather
than light bemuse their deeds are evil." (John 3:19)
III. THE REMEDY FOR THE CONDITION - REPENTANCE
First of all, like other problems mentioned in previous messages, this one requires
absolute self-honesty! We must take the lid off those mental garbage cans Only if we are
determined to find out the truth about ourselves can we do this! And then only by the
help of the word and the Spirit of God. Truly "the word of God is ---a discerner of the
thoughts and intents of the heart."
(Heb. 4:12) "The Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God." (I Cor. 2:10) In
Psalms 90:8 David cries out, "Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, and our secret
sins in the light of thy countenance."
Sometimes we may need the help of a counselor to face our need. "Open confession" is
indeed good for the soul! The way out is by self-honesty and self-emptying - never by selfexcuse! Let the cry of our hearts be, "Search me, O God, and know my thoughts, and see
if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." (Psalms 139:23)
When we discover our mental garbage cans the only way they can be emptied is by
repentance. For not only is the visible life changed by true repentance, but the inner self
is transformed also! The Greek word translated "repentance" is "metanoia." This means
"to have another mind - a completely new mind." When we "come clean" with God he
gives us a new mind Even the subconscious mind is transformed!
By repentance, plus faith, we come into Christ!
When we are truly "in Christ"
everything changes for us.
"If any man be in Christ he is a new creation. Old things
are passed away; behold, all things are become new." (II Cor. 5:17) Even the old mind is
gone, with its underworld, - our mental garbage cans.
A WRONG AND A RIGHT BURIAL PLACE
The right place to bury your fears, your hang-ups, your hates, your failures, your sins is
never in the subconscious! If you try to bury them there they will only come back to
haunt you in a case of nerves or illnesses or breakdowns. The right place to bury your
past is under the blo2-4 of Jesus Christ. He paid the full price to remove your guilt and
fear! If you a,-e to the cross of Christ and there lay down your sins, he has promised that
God 'ui'l remember them against you no more forever." (Jer. 31:34)
To try to put your past down into the "Mental Garbage Can" of your own forgetfulness, is
but to put them in the Devil's Graveyard! They will not stay buried there! Only in "The
sea of God's forgetfulness" will they be forever removed!
"The dying thief rejoiced to see - That fountain in his day;
And there may 1, though vile as he, - wash all my sins away!"
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WHEN OUR MINDS LIE TO OUR SOULS
St. Andrews United Methodist Church, Winter Park, Florida, January 17, 1971.
Text: "The word of God is---a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." Hebrews
4:12
Today we will look at some of the things the Bible tells us about our minds - perhaps
some things we would rather not learn. The Bible is the first and best book on
psychology ever written. The text this morning tells why. Jesus, God's son, knew what
was in man. (John 2:25) In the Old Testament book of I Samuel, in the 16th chapter and
the 2nd verse we learn, "That the Lord looketh upon the heart." The word of God exposes
our human nature in order to drive us to seek His divine nature. It shows up our
weaknesses that we might turn to his strength. Among other truths, it reveals that the
mind of man is basically dishonest.
THE RARITY OF SELF-HONESTY
In Luke 10:25-29 Jesus meets a young "expert" in Jewish law, who asks the way into
eternal life. Jesus asks him a question in return, "What does the law say?" The young
man then quotes the greatest of all commandments, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God
with all thy heart, soul, strength and mind, and thy neighbor as thyself." Jesus said, "Do
this and you will live." Then the young man tries to do what all of us try to do, except
when Jesus convinces us o£ a better way! "He, seeking to justify himself, said, 'Who is
my neighbor?"
This young man was fortunate, in that his attitude was known and open. Ours are not
always so. We have a self-deception that goes deeper - even into the sub-conscious mind!
Often, even when we try to be honest, our minds will lie to our souls! Self honesty is one
of the most difficult things we try to do.
The man named Nicodemus in the third chapter of the Gospel of John instead of facing
his own need wanted to talk about theology. Jesus told him to look at his own heart.
"You need to be born again," Jesus told him.
The woman of Samaria, in John 4:5-26, wanted to change the subject and talk about the
proper place to worship. Jesus the same as said to her, "Examine your low morals.
You're living with a man who is not your husband. You need the water of life! You are
spiritually dead"
David had the courage to fight the giant, Goliath, but couldn't face up to his own guilt in
committing adultery with Bath-Sheba and planning the death of her husband God's
man, Nathan, had to openly accuse him saying, "You are the man I mean!" before David
would face his sin and be honest with himself.
Saul of Tarsus had to be stricken blind, on the way to do the Devil's errand, before he
would stop to examine his own pharisaical self-righteous heart and life. The 9th chapter
tells us this story.
Indeed, self-honesty is a rare and difficult thing.
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THE REASONS FOR SELF-JUSTIFICATION
First of all, after we have done something we feel that we have to defend our own actions.
Jesus said that in the Day of Judgment, "Many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, have we not
prophesied in thy name? And in thy name cast out demons?' Then I will profess unto
them, I never knew you." These men will certainly be sincere men! But the sad thing will
be that they never knew Jesus. They were successful in thinking that profession was as
good as possession! Jesus will tell them, "You knew my name, but you never knew me."
The alcoholic will give you many reasons as to why he drinks, but he will never give you
the right one because he is lying to himself'. The unfaithful husband will give the excuse,
"My wife doesn't understand me!" That excuse is as old as the human race! If the pastor
speaks to a parishioner about his social drinking, he will give him a dozen reason why it
is OX, but they are all weak ones. Yes, we all feel that we must defend our actions. It
does not matter that they are illogical or how wrong they may be!
Closely related to the defense of our own actions is the desire to conceal our own faults.
Often we get a glimpse of what kind of person we really are, and we don't like what we
see! The urge to defend our own actions is a strong one! But, again, God says, "The heart
is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked" (Jet. 17:9)
The desire to appear good in our own eyes is so strong that a man will often lie, even to
himself, about his own motives! "Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the
Lord pondereth the heart." (Prov. 21:2) God knows the real reason for our actions.
THE RATIONALIZING OF SELF-EXCUSES
Psychologists have a new term for an old trick! They call such attempts to excuse
ourselves for our sins and errors rationalizing. Authorities say that such devious
thinking must always ignore the real reasons for our actions. They further point out that
this is "reason surrendered to wishful thinking, the process of hiding wrong actions
behind accepted motives; an exercise in self-deception."
Self-excuse always involves some very neat tricks at twisting the truth! We often hear, "I
did it, but I had good reasons," or "my motives were good" "I couldn't help myself," or "He
had it coming to him!" People will compromise truth in order to gain approval of others or
to escape the consequences of our own actions. This is when the mind lies to the soul,
and the soul accepts the lie. At least it does so on the surface. There is every indication
that deep in our hearts we know when we are doing wrong, but our attempts at selfdeception is the cause of much mental illness and most spiritual disease.
WHAT IS THE REMEDY FOR THIS CONDITION?
The only hope is through Divine Investigation. This involves five steps.
1.
We must be merciless with ourselves. and die out both the fault and the excuse.
2.
Seek and find the mercy of God in forgiveness through the blood of Jesus Christ.
3.
If we have blamed others confess openly, and ask pardon of them.
4.
Seek with all your hearts the complete unselfishness of a surrendered life.
5.
Seek with all your heart the complete unselfishness of the surrendered life.
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These are the steps in "Divine Investigation." We must never forget that our Lord Jesus
knows what is in man. "There is nothing hid that shall not be revealed!" It must come out
now or in the judgment. Then it will be too late to seek forgiveness.
Come every soul by sin oppressed there's merry with the Lord,
And he will surely give you rest, by trusting in his word.
Only trust him; Only trust him; Only trust him now.
He will save you; He will save you; He will save you now.
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LOOKING IN THE WRONG MIRROR
St. Andrews United Methodist Church, Winter Park, Florida, January 24, 1971.
Text: "When you sit in judgment against someone else, you condemn yourself." (Romans
2:1)
The man of God has a threefold duty. First: To reach the lost man with the good news
that God has a way for his salvation. Second: To comfort the troubled and concerned.
Third: To stir the sleepy saints that they grow and go and glow! It is in this third area
that we have labored the last three Sundays.
Last week we were concerned with self-examination. We discussed the matter of
"rationalizing" - excusing ourselves for our wrong actions. Today we will try to see what
the Bible has to say about another trick of our minds and it is a mean trick!
Psychologists call it "projecting." It is the way we tend to blame others for our faults and
to see our own weaknesses in the lives of others. The meanness in this trick of our minds
is the way we do it without being conscious of it!
A professor in Asbury College once defined "projecting" as "the process of unknowingly
attributing our traits and attitudes to others." Unwilling to look at the faults in our own
souls, we believe that we see them in others. This is a very common thing, occurring
every day, in every area of life. Most of us start very early to see ourselves mirrored in the
lives of others.
The Bible teaching concerning this is summed up in the word translated "judging." The
term "to judge" (Greek-krino) means the process of forming and expressing an opinion of
others; especially without good, firm evidence of its truth. This is the reason for most
cases of jealousy. The jealous person reasons, "I know they did wrong." The reason he or
she is so sure of this is because that is what they would have done under the same
circumstances. This is not spoken or even realized by the jealous person, unless he or
she has developed the habit of extreme self-honesty.
Someone sent me a cartoon strip showing a young couple on the porch and the father
appearing at frequent intervals. It ends by the father saying, "Sure I was young once
myself'. Why do you think I keep coming out here to check on you."
The problem here is that we keep confusing the word "judge" with courtroom language.
The judge at the trial hears all the evidence and then passes judgment. But the Bible
means to form an opinion without evidence, The text this morning is saying, "How else
can you understand someone else's act except by your own motives? When you pass
such an opinion you are only describing your own guilty thoughts. You are condemning
your own sin! Don't judge or you will be judged. (Matthew 7:1)
II. LET'S LOOK AT SOME EXAMPLES OF ITS WORKING.
First: Let us see how it works in modem life. Dr. Mavis, of Asbury College, gives us
several examples of this.
1. The selfish man sees his own grasping spirit reflected in his associates in an
exaggerated form. He'll see them as extremely stingy.
2. The vain person will magnify the vanity of others.
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3. The ambitious minister will see others ministers as striving for the leading church or
to be elevated to a higher position in his conference or denomination.
4. The drinking man, feeling guilt for his alcoholic compulsion, will blame others or
society as a whole, or he will excuse himself by saying, "Everybody drinks a lot these
days." etc.
5. The dishonest man, feeling guilty about his dishonesty, may say, "You can't trust
anybody these days."
(Oh Boy, Troy! I have been guilty of saying this! Your loving wife. 'E.T.B.')
6. The sexually immoral person, even though he may be conscience stricken, sees
everyone as indulging in this sin.
7. Then there is the age-old practice of blaming the Devil. This is clearly reflected in the
first sin of the human race. "The serpent beguiled me and I did eat" (Genesis 3:13)
Now let's look at some examples given in the Bible.
Why did Jacob run from Esau? He reasoned, "Esau has murder in his heart. At least,
that is how I would feel if I were in his place." That is why he had to wrestle with God by
the brook, Peniel. (Genesis: 27:41-45 and 32:24-32)
Why did Mary and Joseph, returning to Galilee from Jerusalem, go a whole day's journey
supposing that Jesus was in the crowd? Because that is the way they would have acted
in the same circumstances. (Luke 2:41-50)
Why did the jailer at Philippi suppose that the prisoners had tied, when he found the
prison doors open and was on the verge of killing himself? Simply because that is what
he would have done under the circumstances.
(Acts: 16:25-34)
But in spite of our weaknesses, the mirror of someone else's life simply cannot reflect our
conduct or reactions! If we try to see ourselves in others, what we behold will be a
twisted, perverted image of ourselves! The trouble is that we are looking in the wrong
mirror! There is only one reliable way of seeing ourselves as God sees us, and that is by
looking into the word of God! James in the first chapter, and the 22nd to the 24th verses
of his epistle says, "But be ye doers of the word and not hearers only, ---For if any man
be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like a man beholding his natural face in a
glass---he straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was." The Bible is the only true
mirror of our ego, our true inner self.
Jesus gives us the cure for judging. He says plainly, "You fraud! Take the plank out of
your own eye first, then you may be able to see to take the speck out of your brother's
eye." (Matt. 7:5)
So self-examination, honestly done, is the first necessity. Then we must come to Christ
for forgiveness, through his blood on the cross for the things that are wrong in our lives.
Second Corinthians 13:5 says, "Examine your selves, --- put yourselves to the test. First
John 1:9 tells us that, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our
sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." What a wonderful promise! But this
will only happen if you use the right mirror, the word of God!
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The following is a sermon Troy prepared after our retirement. He has the following note at
the end of his manuscript. "From a sermon preached several times lately, but never written
out until May 25, 1980." His sermons were never written out before he gave them, but
preached from a brief outline on one side of a five and a half by eight and a half sheet of
paper, but this typed copy was as near like it was preached as he could remember.
WHAT IN THE WORLD IS THE CHURCH SUPPOSED TO DO
(The Scripture for this sermon-study is John 4:31-38.)
Text: Lift up your eyes and look on the fields, for they are ripe already to harvest. John
4:35.
Jesus said the words of this text. It is important to remember when and where he said
them. He had just led an immoral woman to have faith in Him. She had returned to her
village to lead others to hear and believe in him. Meanwhile his disciples were concerned
about food. They came saying, "Master, eat!"
In my home town there was a Methodist Episcopal Church. The name was abbreviated to
M. E. Local folks jokingly said the initials meant "meet and eat."
A pastor was trying to reconcile two men who were angry at one another. One of the men
said to the pastor, "That guy can go to hell for all I care." "Shocking," you say. Which is
worse, to say it or to act it? Millions of church members, by their unconcern, are saying
by their actions, "My neighbors can go to hell as far as I am concerned." Many of them
are concerned with social action. Which is more important, their neighbors' earthly
welfare or their eternal welfare? Let Jesus say-"What good does it do you to gain the
whole world, if you lose your own soul?" Matthew 16:26. This brings us face to face with
three questions.
1. WHY MUST THE CHURCH PUT EVANGELISM FIRST?
People are lost unless they find the way in Christ. Every quietly frustrated life is
whispering, "I'm lost." Every headline of crime or hate is shouting, "Lost." Every ragged
hippie-type soul, destroying his life with drink, sex and drugs, is singing softly as he
strums his guitar, "Lost! Lost!" Every alcoholic in home, bar or gutter is lisping, "Lost".
Every church member who is trusting in false hopes or good works to save them are
crying under their breath, "I'm lost!" Evangelist Dr. Ray Upson, standing at the door of
Dayton, Ohio, First United Brethren Church, as the congregation filed out after his
message asked each person as he shook hands, "Are you a Christian?" Just ahead of me
was a tiny, gray-haired woman. When he questioned her she indignantly replied, "Why,
Dr. Upson! I've been a member of this church since I was a little girl, and my father and
mother were members of this church!" Dr. Upson said quietly, "I did not ask you if you
were a church member. I asked if you were a Christian." She angrily turned on her heel
and left the church.
2. ABOVE EVERYTHING ELSE GOD WANTS PEOPLE TO BE SAVED.
"As I live, saith the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked," Ezekiel 33:11.
"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." II
Peter 3:9. God loves lost men! The Golden Text of the New Testament, John 3:16,
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declares it! Calvary proves it! "God commends his love for us, in that while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8.)
3. GOD HAS A PURPOSE AND PLAN FOR EACH AND EVERY LIFE.
God's purpose and plan is that all people live and work with Him forever. People are
missing God's plan if they do not accept Jesus as Savior. The most precious thing in the
world is a human soul.
A disgusted youth said to the pastor. "These Christians make me sick! They say they
have the greatest news in the world, but they don't tell it!"
II. UPON WHOM DOES GOD DEPEND TO DO THE WORK OF EVANGELISM?
A World War I poster, which I vividly remember from my boyhood, was resurrected again
during World War II. The poster pictured Uncle Sam, in characteristic dress, looking
directly at the viewer and pointing his finger. It was captioned, "Uncle Sam needs you!"
Christian, the finger of God is pointing directly at each of us and he is saying, "I need
you!"
Why were you saved? Was it just to lead a good life and to eventually get to heaven? Well,
the good life and heaven both demand that we serve God. What does serving God mean?
Just imagine that you invite me to your house for a meal, which is unlikely in these
days. But suppose that I sit at your table and help myself to the fried chicken, green
beans, potatoes and gravy, com bread and dessert and you say to me, "What are you
doing, pastor?" Suppose I reply, "Brother, I am helping you!" If you are honest you will
say, "You're crazy! You are helping yourself!"
Well, why in the world will people sit down in God's house and partake of spiritual food-to bread and wine, to prayer and the Holy Spirit's joy; then go out and never try to see
that others come and also feast at God's table; then think that they are serving the Lord?
They are not serving God. They are serving themselves! Praying, reading the Bible, going
to church is serving the Lord by your example, but they are more activities which serve
you and feed your own soul. You can serve the Lord even better by helping others to
know Him. The best way to help others is to help them find Jesus.
Besides this, there is just no one else on earth to do his work, except his children. An old
retired minister stood up in a mid-week service and read Ephesians 4:8-10. He then said,
"Our Lord Jesus has gone everywhere in the whole universe, except where we are
expected to take him - into the hearts and homes of the unconverted and the
unchurched.
"How shall they believe in whom they have not heard? How shall they hear unless
someone goes and tell them?' The unconcerned will not go to church today! The pastor
could never get into all those homes! So unless you, the LAY PEOPLE of the congregation
help in this task they hill never be saved and brought into the church.
WHAT REWARD WILL YOU GET IF YOU DO GO AND TELL?
We are all so selfish! We expect to get paid for what we do, even for God. Jesus answers
us even before we ask! "He that reapeth receiveth wages---" "What wages?" you might
ask. Well, there is JOY! How long has it been since you "Rejoiced in the Lord"? I realize
that such joy is not quite "proper" today. I once heard a story of a little, old mountain
woman who went to Dayton, Ohio, to visit her daughter. When Sunday came she wanted
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to go to church and since she was a United Brethren, she wanted to go to a U. B.
Church. Her daughter took her to the big "First United Brethren Church" in downtown
Dayton. The little lady endured, for her, the extreme formality of the worship service. The
pastor was warm-hearted and fervent in his preaching and when he said something that
she recognized as true, she said a rather loud "Amen." An usher leaned over her and
said, "Sh-h-sh," with a finger to his lips. Again the pastor said something that warmed
her heart and she exclaimed, "Praise tha Lord." The usher shook her shoulder and
commanded her to be quiet. For a while she was quiet, but then the pastor said
something that really touched her heart and she cried, "Hallelujah!" This time the usher
led her out into the nartthex and said, what's wrong with you anyhow? Can't you be
quiet?" The tiny lady replied, "Why, there's nothing wrong with me! I've just got the old
time religion!" "Well, you didn't get it here!" the usher said indignantly.
Yes, joy will be a part of our payday. But, too many of us confuse Christianity with
respectability t The pay is more than joy. It is a deeper fellowship with God and our
fellow Christians. It means a closer walk with our Lord, power in prayer, a stronger faith
and victorious Christian living! All these are a part of God's "Pay Day!" God freely gives if
we freely serve Him and share the "Good News" with those who do not know Jesus.
However, our reward is much more than wages here! Jesus adds to his promise. "And
gathereth fruit unto eternal life." What does this mean? What else but that we joyfully
recognize in the heavenlies all those we helped to lead to Christ. Paul called his converts
"my dearly beloved, my joy and my crown." (Phip. 4:1) I believe with all my heart that this
will be a part of our joyful reward in eternity, as we share His glory!
Even in the Old Testament there is a strangely wonderful relationship between rejoicing
and soul winning. Psalm 126:6 says, "He that goeth forth with weeping, bearing precious
seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bearing his sheaves with him."
In only one place in the Bible does it tell of Jesus being spiritually happy. When He sent
"The Seventy" out to share the 'Good News" of the kingdom and they returned to tell of
their victories, the scriptures tell us that "Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit"
ONE MORE PRECIOUS PROMISE IS GIVEN US HERE.
Jesus says, "--that he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together." You say
that in our church some of the sowers may be dead before the coming of the reapers.
Exactly! But they rejoice together! The saints in glory rejoice when souls are saved! My
own mother sowed the seeds of my faith and she had been dead just nine years and one
day on the date I was saved Jesus has told me that she knew it and was gloriously happy
in the presence of the Lord the day I was saved. The scripture tells us, "There is joy in
the presence of the angels over one sinner that repenteth." It doesn't say that the angels
rejoice, but those in the presence of the angels rejoice.
My Christian friends, if we want to make all heaven rejoice then we will try to be soul
winners!
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ADULTERY IS STILL A SIN
St. Andrews United Methodist Church, ii inter Park, Florida, in 1971.
Texts: "Thou shalt not commit adultery." (Exodus 20:14)
"Fornication---let it not be once named among you," (Eph.5:3)
Let us, right now, get rid of a lie which is almost commonly accepted, even by some who
believe that they are Christians. It is this - if an evil is common and widely practiced it is
no longer evil! This is a lie which popular opinion has caused to be accepted as true.
Satan whispers, "It couldn't be so bad, since so many people do it and get by!" And such
good people, too! They are not "good" people. They may be nice - compassionate -well
liked -but in the case of adultery, and in God's sight, they are not good. They may not
realize it but they are not getting by!
1. Let's first of all consider the meaning of adultery.
Adultery is derived from a latin term, which means to make inferior, impure, etc. by
adding a poor or improper substance which contaminates. It thus comes to mean to
make cheap by changing or mixing the false with the true. The word adultery in English
means the act of sexual unfaithfulness. Davis' Bible Dictionary says, "that as interpreted
by our Lord in the Sermon On the Mount, it means all sexual impurity in thought, word
and deed." (Matthew 5:27-28)
Now let's look at some illustrations and associations. Specifically adultery is a profaning
of the marriage vow, which clearly states: "Will you keep yourself to her/him only, so
long as you both shall live?" This is a vow sacred and holy before God! In spite of this so
called modern literature and most of the movies, picture adultery as being romantic and
lovely! Any pastor knows the heartache and heartbreak and misery it causes, even in the
lives of children. The picture painted by Satan is just not true! All the experience of
mankind prove that adultery is a dirty, evil, guilty, defiling sin!
The New Testament introduces a different term, one that is more inclusive. Jesus taught
that fornication is wrong in the sight of God. He knew that a person who is promiscuous
before marriage will be much more likely to be unfaithful after marriage.
A friend of mine had a lady professor who advocated free love before marriage. My friend
said openly in class, "If I were your husband I would watch you very carefully!" In less
than a year from that time that woman was sued for divorce by her husband. The
grounds? You've guessed it! Adultery!
II. LET'S NOW ADMIT THAT ADULTERY IS VERY COMMON TODAY
And I do not mean the adultery which is the result of two people becoming enamored one
of another. God knows this is much too common. No, I am referring to deliberate,
planned sex, purely for pleasure, with someone else's mate. Very often in these days of
godlessness it is done with the consent of the spouse, usually to feel less guilty about
their own unfaithfulness.
I am not talking about love. The Bible has a whole set of rules for that! No, I am talking
about the practice of exchanging wives; of the notorious, hell-inspired "Key Clubs" - of
the practice of men having a "kept woman" etc. Such people are not only adulterers, but
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are also liars, cheats and thieves! They must lie to protect themselves, cheat on their own
mates and steal affections that rightly belongs to someone else.
Such people are making a frontal attack upon the American home! We know that, not
only the church, but also the nation cannot exist without good, strong, loving homes!
Furthermore, I accuse and indict the so-called New Youth Movement -the group that
says, "Only social problems count. Sex is a private matter between individuals. It is our
business!" This group is also launching an attack upon the American home, and thus
upon our churches and our nation! These words of condemnation are often heard,
"He/she broke up my home!"
It should be no surprise to us that alcohol plays a major factor in all this. After a few
drinks together people will do things they never would have permitted themselves to do
otherwise!
Now we must face up to the matter of legalized adultery - the case of modem divorce. In
80% of the cases this is only what someone has labeled serial polygamy. Instead of
prayerfully seeking God's way in marriage difficulties, most couples just take the easy
way out, and defy the laws of God. Jesus gives us only one ground for divorce, and that
is adultery! Most people use others as an excuse to turn to a way of life that is not right
in God's eyes. This way is not even respectable when viewed in true Christian
perspective.
The new Testament analysis of sexual sin clearly points to purpose and motive. The
words of Jesus are: "Whoever looks on a woman to lust after her, has committed adultery
with her in his heart." (Matt. 5:28) 1 think the emphasis here should be placed on the
interpretation of the word, lust." It would be almost impossible for the average, virile man
to control his every thought along this line. But I believe thoughts become lust when he
entertains and nourishes those thoughts. It is important that all attitudes of thoughts,
words and even dress, which create wrong desires, are to be shunned! How happy we all
should be that the mini-skirt is going out! (They are back with a vengeance in 1992!
E.T.B.)
We must inevitably conclude that in Jesus' analysis of sex sin, all those people who go to
"Topless Bars" and restaurants, attend X-rated movies or read pornographic literature,
study pornographic pictures, are guilty of adultery or fornication! Sometimes the clergy is
involved in this! It is a blow to the entire Christian Church when this becomes public and
it happens more than we like to admit. It is said of one pastor and his wife that, "They
love a dirty joke." They don't joke about Holy Communion, so why should they joke about
sex, which is also sacred?
III. But now we come to the part that we are happy to tell! There is merry and forgiveness
for adulterers; a cure for sex sinners. This sin, too, is covered by the blood of Jesus! It is
as freely covered by Christ as the sin of lying, swearing or violating any of the other ten
commandments!
Dr. Clovis Chappell tells of a young woman who left a suicide note, after discovering that
she would have a child out of wedlock and that she was suffering from a venereal
disease. "The note said, I thought the Ten Commandments were just silly rules, but I
have found that 'The wages of sin is death." If she had only known the scriptures better
she might not have been in such despair! In the first chapter and the 7th verse of the
first epistle of John we read, "The blood of Jesus Christ, His (God's) son cleanses us from
all sin!"
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Not only is the sin covered but the sinner can be converted! I once counseled a couple
who had both been guilty of adultery. They both received Christ into their hearts and
now live in complete trust of one another. Under the grace of God divorce is permitted
under these circumstances, but how much better is forgiveness! This is God's way of
solving the problem! "But God who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved
us, even when we were dead in sins, hath made us alive together with Christ,--By grace
you are saved, through faith,"---(Eph. 2:4-5, 8) To the woman "taken in the very act of
adultery," Jesus said "Neither do I condemn you. Go, and sin no more."
Even the Old Testament teaches that adultery is pardonable. Most of us know David's
experience with Bath-Sheba. When he saw his sin as God saw it he cried "Have merry
upon me, O God according to thy loving kindness." (Psalms 51:1) Afterwards he could
say in confidence, "He restoreth my soul!" (Psalms 23-3)
Yes, adultery is a common, grievous and fearful sin! But it is pardonable! We can cry
with the writer of the hymn, "Calvary covers it all, - my sin with its guilt and fear! My
guilt and despair Jesus took with him there; and Calvary covers it all!"
Truly we can say, "Grace that is greater than all our sins." Will you accept that grace
today, now? Not only this sin but all sin, is covered by Jesus Jesus' precious blood! All
that is required is true belief and true repentance!
CHRIST DIED,--THAT IS HISTORY.
CHRIST DIED FOR ME---THAT IS SALVATION.
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Radio Meditations
The following were meditations for the opening of the daily program of one of the radio
stations in Bradenton, Florida. Different ministers were asked to do these over a week, or
even a month's time. Troy did these for the whole month of October one year, but neither
of us can remember the year. His notes show that he was there for these early morning
meditations at other times. (E.T.B.)
****************************
Are you afraid in these days? Someone has said, "Our greatest enemy is fear. If Russia
moves in it will not be by power but by panic. Fear, not force, is Communism's greatest
weapon." However this may be true in the international world, it proves right every day in
our personal lives. Our enemy is not the fear of a momentary alarm--what a boy once
called, "just plain old scared." That is not our problem! It is rather that nameless,
nagging inner panic that is constantly with us. It is like a cancer on our minds; a knife
blade in our nerves! Fear is an emotion. To rid ourselves of it we must use another
emotion, either anger or love. God wants us to use love. He tells us that "perfect love
casts out fear." (I John 4:18)
Father in heaven, help us to love you beyond the power of any force to make us afraid.
Amen.
****************************
Are you afraid of losing your possessions? It is a common problem today. It is caused
either by depending too much on things for your security, or by a sadly misplaced love
for possessions. This last can be a form of idol-worship. All of us desire a freedom from
want. Security is a wonderful help to happiness. But we Americans are over doing it!
Things have become the very center of our lives. We would panic more quickly at losing
them than for any other reason. Our homes, our jobs, our daily bread, our bank
accounts and especially our comfort! To paraphrase
what Jesus said in Luke 12:15, "A man's real life has nothing to do with how much he
possesses."
Help us, Lord, to know the worthlessness of just "things" alone. Amen.
****************************
How can we lose the fear of having our possessions taken from us? One way that really
helps is to give them back to the one who really owns them-To God. Make yourself just
the "manager in the "partnership of God and L" Face the truth that you are not sole
owner and proprietor of what you possess. Take God as your partner and be will help
you to depend on the owner, not on the size of the inventory. Jesus said, 'Whosoever he
be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple." (luke 14:33)
Save us, Lord, from worshiping what we possess. May we not bow down to deeds and
notes, to coin-idols and the images of our paper money. Let us worship thee and thee
alone. Amen.
****************************
Love is the powerful force which alone can drive out fear from our hearts. Love for God is
learned through love for his son, our Lord. To know him is to always love him. To know
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him better meet him often in the Bible, the word of God. Talk to him in prayer. Walk with
him in helping others. See him in the lives of other people of God. More knowledge of him
means more love for him. The more we love him the more we will trust him. He that
fearest not is made perfect in love. (I John 4:18)
Dear Father, thou whom we often call Divine Providence, teach us confidence in thee
alone. Help us to become fully acquainted with thee, that we may also love thee.
****************************
In Matt. 16:18 we find these words, "Upon this rock I will build my church and the gates
of hell shall not prevail against it." A recent magazine article infers that the church has
failed. Many people today have the same idea. It is based upon a misunderstanding of
what the church is intended to do in this age. Jesus commanded us to, "Preach the
gospel to every creature," but he did not indicate that all would accept it. Indeed, in the
parable of the sower he taught that only one in four hearers would become a true and
faithful follower. The work of the church is to bear witness to God's love and grace. The
results are altogether another matter. Let us make this our prayer:
Help us, oh God, to be faithful to our work of giving a good testimony concerning thee.
By our words and our deeds may-men about us know that we have been with Jesus and
have learned of him. Amen.
****************************
From John 17:6 we read these words, "I have manifested thy name to the men thou hast
given me out of the world." God has not indicated that the church is to, "convert the
world," but that we are instead to convert people from the world into Christ. The New
Testament word for world is "kosmos." This does not mean the earth, or globe, on which
we live. It means the great mass of unbelieving lost people, who prefer the evil, godless
way of life. That is why we speak of them as "worldly." Many of them may even join the
church for false or mistaken reasons. Thus we prey:
Our Father, God of truth, grant that our witness to thy saving grace may be heard and
believed by those who are in the world May they hear thy call and come forth out of the
world and into thy family of believers, for Christ's sake we pray. Amen.
****************************
In the third verse of the third chapter of John we read these words, "Except a man be
born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." Just as we must enter this life by being
born into it, so we also enter the new life in God's family by a "new birth."
This is an experience of faith which makes us alive to God--a spiritual rebirth. Jesus
said, "Ye must be born again." Man was created a threefold person; body, mind and
spirit. Sin killed our spiritual natures and the only way we can become full and complete
personalities is through the experience of being born of the Spirit. Will you pray with me?
Almighty God, if I am only two-thirds alive help me to know it and to come alive to thee,
at whatever cost to myself, I ask in Jesus' name. Amen.
****************************
"They went out from us but were not of us." We find these words in the 19th verse of the
first epistle of John. Let us think about this question, "Has the church failed?" No, the
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church has not failed, but individuals identified with the church have failed. Some fail
because they are "in the church," but not "of the church." They are members in name
only; not knowing God, or his will for their lives, they do not live or act as Christians
should.
So they bring reproach upon the church. Many of them are ignorant of their spiritual
blindness. Let us pray for them.
Our Lord, thou who has opened the eyes of the blind, grant that we may find ways to
open the eyes of those who are nominally a part of the church but are living in spiritual
darkness. Amen.
,
****************************
In II Peter 3:18 we find these words, "But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord
and Savior, Jesus Christ."
Sometimes the church seems to fail because of individuals who are truly a part of the
church. These people are Christians, but their problem is one of growth. For some reason
they have failed to develop properly, and so they remain spiritual babies. Their conduct
and their reactions are not those of mature followers of Christ. They are spiritually
retarded. They are not really hypocrites, but are hindered someway in their growth in
grace. We need to pray for them.
Our Father we pray for all those who are 'babes in Christ.' Especially do we pray for
those who have been infants too long. Help us to find a way to bring them into spiritual
maturity.
For our Savior's sake. Amen.
****************************
Are you afraid of your enemies? Perhaps you do not have enemies. An old man was heard
to say, "I do not have a living enemy. All the dirty so-and-sos are dead. I outlived them
all!" Hate is a poisonous thing! A famous doctor once said in a New Year's address,
"Many people will die this year because of last year's grudges." Hatred, malice, envy,
jealousy--these can be very real causes of disease. Arthritis, allergies, skin trouble, heart
attacks, stomach ulcers, nervous disorders, insanity, etc. etc. all have been a possible
cause of hate. When forgiveness comes the disorder disappears. Christian people--true
Christians-- are generally more healthy than those who are not. Not "an apple a day," but
"the Christian way," really "keeps the doctor away."
Dear Lord, bring so much love into our hearts that there will be no room for the poison of
hate. Amen.
What causes us to hate people? Psychologists tell us there is a basic law of the emotions
here. We hate only those we fear. If you hate someone whom you think is your enemy
you are afraid of that person. John says, "Perfect love casts out fear." No wonder love is
the opposite of hate! For "fear is torture," is another rule of the law of love. Fear is love's
opposite. "There is no fear in love." (I John 4:18)
Lord Jesus, you were able to pray for those who nailed you to the cross, and to say,
"Father, forgive them." Teach us how to pray for our enemies. Amen.
****************************
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How can we overcome the fear of our enemies? Here are three ways: Love your enemies!
But you say, "I cannot" That is true, but God in you can love them through you. Let self
die and let God live in you, for "God is love." Second: Destroy your enemies! How! By the
surest way--make friends of them. If thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst give him
drink. Every unhappy and dissatisfied person in the world is hungry and thirsty for
something, most of them for bread. Christ said, "I am the bread of life." If we can find a
way to feed that hunger and satisfy that thirst he will no longer be our enemy! Third:
Pray for your enemy, then he will no longer be your enemy. Christ said, 'bless them that
persecute you and pray for them that despitefully use you." It is impossible for us to pray
for an enemy very long! He will become our friend.
God of love, come into our lives and possess us, that we may have nothing within our
hearts, but love! Amen.
It is now more than fifteen years since man invented a flame hotter than anything we
have ever known on earth. That searing light burned a new kind of fear in every heart.
Are you not afraid of a nuclear war? Atomic energy is not new. It is simply the energy
used in creation. It is God's finger-tips! Nuclear fission and fusion are God's tools to
make the stars. There are atomic explosions far out in space that makes our bombs like
pikers! But they are out there in the safe distances of light years. God is with holding
them for his own judgment time. This is an old power put to a new use. Man put his sinstained hands upon it and made it a KILLER! The champion killer of all! Man has dared
to take the tools of Almighty God and make them his playthings; the playthings of war! A
college girl said, "If they say atomic bomb one more time I will scream." But we must say
it! There hangs a flaming "Sward of Damocles" suspended on the horse-hair of
international diplomacy! We are afraid and "fear hath torment. I John 4:18.
Almighty God, help all of us find what many others have found, the loss of the fear of
death. Amen.
****************************
The fear of atomic destruction is almost universal. It is more than a normal fear. Added
to the dread of pain, suffering and destruction and death, there is another fear. This is a
dread of the unknown. That mushroom-shaped cloud over the western Pacific Ocean has
spread a shadow of terror over every home and heart that can comprehend it! Every one?
Yes, all except those people who have nothing to fear. Our Lord has given us our cue,
"Fear not them who can destroy the body only." (Matt. 10:28)
God of the atom, the galaxy, the universe--help us again to hear thy son say, "Not a
sparrow falls to the earth, but your Father makes note of it!" Give us grace and courage
to know that we are of more worth to you than a sparrow. Amen.
****************************
How can I overcome my fear of a nuclear war? Here are three ways.
First: Place more value on eternal life, and less on the few short years lived in this one.
All this gabbing and hoarding, fighting and weeping would all stop if we mortals could
just remember our mortality!
Second: Place your life in God's hands. He will keep you safely through all things; even
through '"The valley of the shadow of death."
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Third: Remember--death is only a gate! Atomic destruction of the old can only be the
beginning of the new for all true Christians. "A new heaven and a new earth, wherein
dwelleth righteousness."
Our Father, who art in heaven help us to comprehend a little of how much longer we will
live in our mansions there with thee, than we will in these poor houses upon the earth.
Amen.
****************************
Are you afraid of death? Perhaps this is the most common fear of all. Not many of us are
like the minister at a church picnic who became ill from overeating. He said, "Brethren, I
think I am going to die!" Someone said, "Pastor, you wouldn't be afraid to die, would
you?" He replied, "No, but I would be awfully ashamed to right now." What is this fear?
Sometimes it helps to analyze our fears. It is partly the fear of the agonies of death. Most
of us fear severe pain. Much of it is the fear of approaching the unknown. This is one of
the bits of garbage left over from our paganism. We feel we know what is beyond death,
for Jesus told us, "I go to prepare a place for you." (John 14:3) Our fear is mostly of what
will follow death; ghostly echoes of our own guiltiness and ignorance of the forgiving
grace of God.
Lord of life and of death, help us to know that the hand that raised Jesus from the dead
will also quicken our mortal bodies. Amen.
****************************
How can we overcome the fear of death? First, let's make the unknown known. We do not
know much about death. We have a book written under the influence of the Holy Spirit.
Death is an open book to those who prayerfully read the New Testament. The worst
suffering is bearable if God is with us. Only those who go alone are lost in suffering. Then
remember the gate! Death opens on a better life.
But you may say, "That gate is locked against me!" Jesus said, "Fear not, for I have the
keys of death." Finally --let love be your lamp. When you pass through the "Valley of the
Shadow of Death" that love will light your way with heavenly brilliance! Death will open
your soul's eyes so that you can see Jesus, who said, "Perfect love casts out fear." (John
4:18)
Lord Jesus, conqueror of the grave and of death, help us conquer our fears of such
enemies as this. We want to live. Lead each one who hears into a knowledge that death is
the gate to real living! Amen.
****************************
Are you afraid of judgment? I once knew a mother who would not take her children to
church because she was afraid they might hear something there that would disturb
them. She was just confessing her own fear of judgment! Fear of judgment is the most
justifiable of all our fears. It springs from right concepts. We know the pure holiness of
God, the stem justice of God and our own guiltiness of sin. We are sure there must be a
time of evening the score, when we all get what we deserve. We feel there is a
punishment for all sin. To ignore this belief is to destroy all others. From Moscow to
Manatee County, form Bradenton to Baghdad those who do not believe in judgment
ignore all the laws of decency. Crooked business, lies, scandal, drunkenness, greed,
gambling and unfaithfulness to vows should bring men to a fear of judgment! A fear of
judgment turn men to God!
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Thou art just, O Lord May we not defy thee. Thou art merciful. May we seek and find that
mercy in Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
****************************
How can I be free from my fear of judgment? Judgment suggests legal terms. We will use
them here, They may seem a bit irreverent, but I assure you that they are not! First: You
can have a free pardon for your past! Jesus said, "Thy sins be forgiven thee." In I John
1:17 we read, "The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin." You can have a
heavenly attorney. The Scriptures tell us, "We have an advocate with the Father, even the
son, Jesus Christ, the righteous." Who could better plead our case? He is the son of the
judge, his Father! Lastly: The judge will adopt you into his family. "Ye have not received
the spirit of bandage again to fear, but the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, "Abba
Father!" When we accept Christ we are the children of God! (Read Romans 8)
Heavenly Father, help us to put all our trust in thy son, Jesus Christ, our savior, for we
can never defend ourselves. We are guilty, but we remember the death of Jesus on the
cross. He became the Iamb of sacrifice for our sins. "The Lord laid on him the iniquity of
us all." Amen.
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The following five meditations were given in one week's time. Troy did not note the date
and I wondered why he did not close with prayer, as he usually did.
Good morning. Do you need anything this morning? Most of you will say, "I surely do,"
and you might start naming your needs. It is a fair chance that your list will begin with
money. But money is not our basic need. What all of us want most is happiness. We
imagine that money would supply that happiness. All about us today are worried people-fearful people. Many of us act as though we were being followed by something. There is
a nameless fear. There is but one cure for our fear - one answer to our need for
happiness! It is a RIGHT RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD. The only people you know who are
truly at peace within themselves are the ones who are sure in this relationship! Could
this be your way out?
****************************
Where do you go when you need help? If true happiness only comes with a right
relationship with God, then it is only sensible to go to God for the help we need All of us
are invited to come. Jesus said, "Come unto me all you who labor and are heavy laden
and I will give you rest." If you have any doubt that you will be heard, or that you are too
unworthy to be received, then remember that Jesus also said, "He that cometh unto me I
will in no wise cast out."
****************************
What are you going to do about your past? Without exception every one of us has a past.
We bear no shame for the good and the beautiful in our past, but again, every one of us
have some things in our past that are ugly and evil. There is but one thing any man can
do about his past. Confess it to God. If we do this, and are truly sorry for the wrong, God
can, and will cancel out all our past. "If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to
forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
****************************
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Who lives in your house today? A foolish question? No, not really. for I mean the house
within you, which is the real you. This is the house of your heart. An empty house is a
sorry, forlorn thing, even if it is clean and in good repair. Your inner life could be clean
and orderly, but what if it is empty? It need not be, for there is one who says to you,
"Behold I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice, and open the door, I
will come in to him." The friend who wants into the house of your heart is Jesus. Will you
open the door and invite him in?
****************************
Whose side are you on? In any controversy, struggle or war of any kind, men insist that
we identify ourselves. There is a great struggle stirring the whole earth today. It is the
struggle between good and evil. Jesus Christ leads the forces for right and good. Are you
on his side? Yes, but do others know that? "With the heart man believeth unto
righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." Jesus said,
"Whosoever shall confess me before men, him will I confess before my Father, who is in
heaven."
****************************
"So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue you out of my
mouth." (Rev. 3:16) The church is often spoken of as "two in one." The world sees the
church as an "organization." This is the visible church. The true church however, is not a
visible organization but rather a living organism. The visible church has often failed. It
will fail again, and in the end fail completely. The true church, however, is the living body
of Christ and it cannot possibly fail.
Therefore let us pray:
O Lord, thou who art the great head of the church, help us to know beyond doubt that
we are part of thy living body, the true church. Amen.
****************************
"If the salt have lost its savor it is henceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and
trodden under the foot of man." {Matt. 5:13)
We speak of the "Church Universal," which includes all true believers. Again we may
mean by "The Church," the local congregation. The local church can fail, just as well as
some day the whole organization man call "The Church" will fail. One reason for failure
can be the loss of the sense of being "a called out people." The best translation of the
word translated "Church" is out of evil. We are "called" out of the "world." We are called
to be a peculiar people! This world is not our home. That is why we pray:
Savior, may we hear thy call; give our hearts to thy obedience; serve and love thee best of
all. Amen.
****************************
"Wherefore come out from among them, and be you separate, saith the Lord." II Cor. 6:17
A church fails when its members no longer feel that they are a separate and holy people.
Many church members are not--but the true church is! The world hates the idea of
godliness. It seeks a common level for all. However the church must stay above that
level, far above it! Let us pray:
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Help thy church, O Lord, to be aware of its separation from the world. Help us to see that
her purity is the source of her strength. In Jesus name. Amen.
****************************
"Holy Father, keep through thy own name those whom thou hast given me, that they
may be one as we are one." John 17:11
The local church can fail when it loses its sense of unity. God intended the church to be
a loving family, spiritually one with each other. In the old-fashioned church they spoke of
'brothers' and "sisters." This is a very real thing in the true church. The Holy Spirit
makes it real. Let is plead with God in prayer.
Heavenly Father, make us to love you so much that we will all be on common ground.
Make us truly one family in thy holy church. Amen.
"But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness." Matt. 6:33. The local
church can fail when it loses its sense of the primacy of the kingdom of God. If any other
cause is more important to us than the church; if Christ is anything but first, we will fail!
God does not play "second fiddle." We need then to pray after this manner:
Dearest Lord Jesus, help us to see that thou will be Lord of all, or thou will not be Lord
at all. Teach us to put thy kingdom first. Amen.
"What man of you having a hundred sheep if he lose one of them, doth not leave the
ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost until he find it." Luke
15:4
Whenever the church loses its personal concern for lost men, that church will fail! It is
not popular today to bother too much about our neighbors. In the old time church men
spoke of a burden for souls. Jesus wept over a lost Jerusalem. Paul wished that he might
be accursed from Christ if that would save his brothers! If we were more like Jesus, we
too would care more. Men are lost without Christ. Let us pray:
Lord, help me to live from day to day in such a self-forgetful way, that even when I kneel
to pray, my prayer shall be for others. Amen.
"For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." Phil. 1:21
Some people have wrong ideas about Christianity. They are well meaning, but they are
not wise! Some make the church to be a kind of glorified "don't" society. Others think of
it as being cold and dead, conforming to a written creed. Others make it out as being the
acting out of certain postures of body and mind. It is true these things are part of the
church, but they are the dead part. They are the shell. True Christianity is a living
adventure. The most glorious adventure possible in this life! This is why we pray:
O Lord, make us alive! Wonderfully, thrillingly awake to the glory of living with Jesus! In
his name we pray. Amen.
****************************
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"I have sinned." Luke 15:21
Here are three of the rarest words in the Bible. This phrase is used only seven times in
the entire book. In some case men had to be forced to say them! In spite of God's word
which says, "All have sinned only seven men in the whole Bible admitted it. The world
has one problem today. It is the inability to admit the word "sin." That is why we pray:
Heavenly Father, help us and all who listen, to know that we are sinners and that Jesus
Christ is the only answer to the sin problem. In his name we pray. Amen.
"So that they are without excuse." Romans 1:20
It is a common trait, this business of trying to excuse ourselves. Of the seven men in the
Bible who confessed, "I have sinned," two hardened their hearts; two blamed others; one
pleaded ignorance; two confessed too late. They only confessed after they were caught!
We may seek to excuse ourselves, but in the end, either here or hereafter, we must
confess, "I have sinned."
Let us pray.
Heavenly Father, I see my sins; help me to see my Savior. Amen.
****************************
"For I acknowledge my transgression, and my sin is ever before me." Psalm 51:3.
The phrase, "under conviction for sin" is almost forgotten in these days. Conviction is
defined as a "strong feeling of personal sin, an anxiety over one's fate because of this
belief." It can come in several ways. We may be accused to our faces, as was David, or
see the fearful result of our sin; as did Pharaoh and Judas. However, under grace it
usually comes through the words of God, or by the prayers of God's people. So we pray:
Oh Lord, our God help men to know their guilt of sin and help them also to turn
to Christ as their only hope. Amen.
****************************
"Have merry upon me 0 Lord according to thy loving kindness." Psalm 51:1
Friend, how do you plead? Do you say, "I am not guilty of sin?" If so, you claim perfect
innocence and innocent perfection, too! However if you plead "guilty" you ask for God's
grace. Grace is merry extended to those who deserve no mercy. How do you plead? Won't
you pray with me?
Merciful Father, against thee and thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight.
Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. In Jesus precious blood. Amen.
****************************
"Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me." Psalm 51:10
Repentance is not a popular word. However, it is absolutely necessary if we are to find
forgiveness. It means many things. It means hatred of sin; it means forsaking sin; it
means a determination not to repeat sin. A person does not caress the rattlesnake that
bit him. If you still love sin you have not repented! Your sorrow is not "Godly sorrow."
Anyone is sorry when he is caught. Repentance is sorrow for the act. Let us pray.
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Holy Spirit of God lead us into true repentance. Destroy the serpent of sin from within
us. In the name of our Savior. Amen.
****************************
"Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance." Matt. 3:8
Repentance, then, is a kind of tree which bears fruit. This fruit is threefold: It is a
rejection of evil; it is being reconciled to our enemies. This second element may take
some genuine work on our part, but if we are sincere we can accomplish it. Finally, it
means to repair any wrong we have done to others. Zacchaeus truly repented! He
promised to restore four-fold all that he had taken wrongfully. Jesus replied to him,
'17his day is salvation come to this house," Our prayer is simple:
Dear Father, help us truly to repent--so that we bear the fruits of repentance, for Jesus
sake. Amen.
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"If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive our sins, and to cleanse us from
all unrighteousness." I John 1:9.
There is a divine order in this matter of salvation from sin.
First: The Holy Spirit convicts us and we repent and believe; then Jesus the Son cleanses
us by his blood. God the Father judges us clean and adopts us into his family. Again the
Holy Spirit comes into our lives and gives us joyous assurance! Our prayer is one of joy.
We thank thee, Father, for cleansing us from our sins and for assuring us of our
salvation! For Jesus sake. Amen.
"Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures." I Cor. 15:3.
There are two sights that will save anyone. First, we must look within, at our own sinstained life. Secondly, we must look to Jesus and his death on the cross. The first is the
cause, the second is the effect. There were four people who were once alive who knew
perfectly how this works. Four chaplains on a sinking ship during World War II, who
gave up their life preservers and went down with the ship. Four men died that four
others might live! Our prayer:
Lord Jesus, you are our eternal life preserver. We thank you. Amen.
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"Beloved, let us love one another." I John 4:7.
The Bible has many names for the local church. It is called "The Body of Christ; the Bride
of Christ; the Household of Faith; the People of the Way. The most meaningful
designation for the church is probably the Family of God. It is called this last name in
Ephesians 2:19. When we are forgiven of sin and experience the new birth, we come into
the family of God. Let us pray for one another as members of one family.
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Our Heavenly Father and Jesus our elder Brother, make us to be one in thee and with all
those who are truly part of your family, for the sake of thy body, the church we pray.
Amen.
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"Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be; but
we know that, when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is."
"And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure." I John
3:2-3.
The church is sometimes called the bride of Christ. Let us think for a moment of a new
bride. She may not look very presentable much of the day, but as the afternoon
progresses she begins to think of the return home of the groom from work. She want to
look her best and she makes the necessary preparations. That is exactly what the Bible
says in I John 3:3.
We have the hope of seeing Jesus. That is why we make ourselves
clean. Shall we pray together?
Heavenly Father, it may be about time for Jesus to return again to earth. Help us that we
might be ready for his coming, "as a bride adorned for her husband." Amen.
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Biblical Terms
Some of our church members wished to study some biblical terms often used in the
scriptures and Troy conducted several studies on these, either at the Sunday night
service or at the mid-week one. Neither of us can now remember just when, but we know
it was at the Winter Park church.
I think the following is a continuation of a previous study, but there is nothing to
indicate a specific title for this segment--or when or where it was given. Since Troy did
not write or type many sermons or bible study lessons I felt this should be preserved For
it to have a name I call it:
PEARLS OF GREAT PRICE
Last Sunday's lesson brought up difficulty that may concern you, as it did me in my
earlier days of Christian life. I was trying to excuse myself for not being concerned about
a family in the community. They were especially vile and evil people. In my own attempt
to feel above them I said to my pastor, "I do not feel that we should waste time talking
with them. After all, the Bible says not "to cast your pearls before swine."
In his deeper spiritual insight and wisdom my pastor quickly set my thinking straight
about this matter. He said, "That is not at all what Jesus meant when he spoke those
words. The gospel of Christ is not in any way your pearls. It is his treasure. I am sure he
would not call the lowest man who ever lived "swine."
He is talking about something else here. (Matt. 7:6) He is saying that we must not take
the precious pearls of our talents, or our lives, or the hours of our lives and throw them
before the swine of self-indulgence or of evil, or of any of Satan's horde of evil things."
The forces of evil can take the precious things of our lives and "trample them under their
feet," and then turn and attack us. They can also destroy our talents and our
possessions. The man who gives his body and mental health to drink, or his passions to
over-indulgence, - he is the one who "throws his pearls before swine."
We need never to be afraid to tell the sweet story of the gospel of Christ to the lowest of
men. They may never accept it. They may indeed "trample it under their feet!" They may
even, as the scriptures say, "trample under foot the son of God himself." They may
"crucify the Son of God again, and put him to open shame," but that will not destroy
God's love for them. Neither will it cause our Lord Jesus to withdraw his offer of
salvation. Nor will they who have heard the gospel from us "turn and rend us." They may
truly hurt our bodies, but that is something not to be feared. Jesus does not wam us to
flee from the danger of experiencing it. He rather tells us that such persecution for
righteousness sake will bring us greater joy. (Matt. 5:10-11)
The truth of this word in Matt. 7:6 is this:
Do not throw the precious pearls of time, talents and possessions which God has given
you to the swine of sinful living, self-indulgence and evil ways. Don't ever give the "dogs"
of rottenness and filthy ways the holy things which God intended you to use for his glory.
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BIBLE TERMS FOR PLACES OF THE AFTER LIFE
There is much confusion about the meaning of the word "hell" as used in the King James
Version of the Bible. This needs careful clearing in our thinking. We must not be
confused by over-zealous teachers of false doctrine. The following will help us know the
truth, but should be followed by the actual reading of the references themselves., so that
we will have the actual quotations and their respective backgrounds.
1. SHEOL. This is a Hebrew word used 65 times in the Old Testament. (Bear in
mind that the Old Testament was written in Hebrew and that the New Testament
was written in the Greek language.)
31 times it is translated as "hell" in the King James.
31 times it is translated "the grave."
3 times it is translated "the pit."
2. HADES. This is a Greek word used 11 tunes in the New Testament. It has exactly
the same meaning as the Hebrew word "Sheol" above.
Neither of these words are ever used to denote the place of final punishment for
the wicked. Nor are they ever used to denote the place where the physical body is
put after-death, nor for the mere state of death for the body. Nor are they ever
used to describe the "pit" or "abyss" as such.
SHEOL and HADES are the Bible names for the place in the unseen world where
departed spirits dwell, or "the place of departed spirits." It is the general
receptacle of the soul after it has left the body. This place is obviously a divided
one, with a "great gulf fixed" between the two.
The place called in Hebrew, "Abaddon" or in Greek "Apollyon" is where the spirits
of evil men are held captive until the time of the final judgment at "The Great
White Throne" described in the 20th chapter of Revelation.
We know from the story of Lazarus and the rich man that these souls are
conscious and that they are fearful of their final destiny; that they converse with
the souls of the righteous on the other side of the " nlf." We know they are
tormented "in flames" while waiting judgment. Some Bible students think that
these are the flames of remorse and fear and some hold that this is just a parable
only. However, Jesus definitely said "There was a certain rich man---etc."
PARADISE, called ABRAHAM'S BOSOM by the Jewish Rabbis, is the place where
the righteous souls await judgment and rewards. But it is a state of rest, rather
than one of torment. Jesus, our Lord, visited all of Hades preaching the gospel to
the spirits in prison and "led captivity captive" by breaking down the gates of Hell
and taking all the righteous dead to be with the Lord. (Note: The word translated
"hell" should have been "Hades." 'The gates of Hades shall not prevail against it."
(the church) Also: "O death, where is the sting? O Hades, where is the victory?" I
Cor. 15:55; 1 Peter 3:18-19; Ephesians 4:8.)
3. TOPHET---- This Hebrew word is used 9 times in the Old Testament. (II Kings
23:10; Isaiah 30:33; Jeremiah 7:31 and 32; Jeremiah 19: 6, 11, 12, 13, 14; In the
King James translation it is not translated from the original Hebrew, but is
spelled in two different ways. Topheth is defined as "a place in the Valley of Hint
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on where sacrifices were made and dead bodies burned. It is identical with the
Greek word Gehenna.
4. GEHENNA--or Ge-enna. This word is derived from the Hebrew "Jah" (God) and
"Hinnom" (literally God's garbage dump) It is used several times in the New
Testament. (Matt. 5:22, 29, 30; 10:28; 18:9, 23:15, 33; Luke 12:5; James 3:6.) It
is exactly the same as the terms "Lake of Fire," "Perdition" and "second death."
No one, as yet, is in this Lake of Fire. The "BEAST" and the "FALSE PROPHET'
will be the first ones consigned there. This is described in Revelation 19. At the
end of the Millenium period (1000 years) Satan will be cast also into the Lake of
Fire.
CAN A CHRISTIAN COMMIT SINS?
One of the most precious books of the Bible is I John. It has only five short chapters. It is
full of wonderful words of assurance for the children of God. It has been of comfort to
most of us who have come to know our Lord as Savior, perhaps more than any other
book in the Bible.
However, right in the middle of this little epistle, in chapter 3 verse 9, there is a most
disturbing expression! After assuring us that, "If we say we have no sin, we deceive
ourselves, and the truth is not in us," and also, If we say that we have not sinned, we
make him a liar, and his word is not in us." John then proceeds to tell us what appears
to be a contradictory statement, denying all the others.
It must be said at the very beginning that John does not contradict himself! If our
understanding of what is taught in one verse of the epistle (letter) seems to oppose what
is taught in another verse, then our understanding is wrong or there has been some
error in the translation from the Greek into English. This is the first rule of Bible
interpretation. Minor incidents may vary between writers, but there is nothing that
should cause us too much difficulty if we clearly understand what is being taught.
Obviously then, if we are led to believe that I John 3:9 teaches sinless perfection, then we
have the wrong understanding. We must then go back to the verse itself and try to find
its exact meaning.
Now let's look at the statement itself. "Wbosoever is born of God does not commit sin."
The King James version is seemingly plain of meaning. In our present concepts of
meaning it does teach sinlessness. But we must go back to the original language to find
out exactly what the words mean. No word in the sentence is in anyway poorly
translated, except one. That is the word rendered "commit" in the common King James
version. In the Greek it is "poiei," which is a form of the Greek verb "to make." The verb
has in it the sense of continual doing, or doing by habit, or to "make a practice of sin."
It must follow from this that the Christian does not continue in the habitual daily
indulgence of sin. It is not a part of his new and true nature. It is now foreign to him and
if it comes into his life is a thing out of place.
Now let us see how this works out in daily experience. Almost every Christian will
witness that after his conversion, he will come to hate some of the things he loved before.
These are the things he specifically knew to be sin in his life before conversion; those in
which he indulged, and had to be converted "from."
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Now he is a new creature in Christ Jesus and those things which condemned him so,
and made his life a misery of conviction, he now despises for the evil they were to him.
He may, because of momentary weakness, or ignorance, or by exceedingly strong
temptation fall back into some former evil practice. But, what is his attitude when he
knows he has failed? Where once he loved this sin and sought out opportunity to do the
thing over and over again, now he is grief stricken. He is driven to his knees in
repentance for the very sin he once delighted in. Far from practicing sin, he abhors it and
regrets the very failure or weakness that led him to fall. If he is properly led, his
repentance will bring forgiveness. This will result in new attempts to conquer that sin
and also with a stronger will to avoid it.
Many, however, fail to know the "right way." Satan often takes advantage of that failure
to say to the Christian, "Now you have done it! What's the use to keep trying? You have
failed! Why don't you quit? You don't want to go back to your Christian friends under
these conditions!" Many years of sad and sorrowful backsliding often result from
listening to these whispers of our old demonic enemy.
There is another problem, however, which we must face and which is more often the
cause of defeat than the above. What about the person who has a basic, and especially
strong temptation, with a corresponding weakness of his flesh for a certain sin? He may
be genuinely distressed about his failures, and make all efforts to repent, yet is brought
back time and again to the same failure? Is that person a Christian? Is his failure a mark
of a false professor, who has only a pretense of faith? If so, than God help us! There are
more of these then we ever admit and many of God's professing children are false!
If we would admit it most of us have one besetting sin which annoys us with its strength
and returns to haunt us with the continual worry of doubt. Usually this sin comes as a
result of a weakness which seems to be a basic part of character. Often it is associated
with some emotion or attitude, which in itself is both high and clean, but borders on the
area of our weakness. It can be either a natural or acquired appetite. For some it is in the
area of language. The scriptures say that "the tongue can no man tame." For others it is
alcohol. Who knows the sharpness of this thirst but the one who has acquired it? For
others it may be in the area of sex. The natural drives may be over stimulated in this
modern age of advertising and the feeling that there is an attitude of permissiveness in
this regard.
Are these unfortunate people to be condemned as never having known God? Is he, or
she, to be abandoned to sin as a hypocrite? Are they to be driven out of the church for
the weakness that brought them low? So Satan would have it! He wants the return of
every one of these born again children of God back to his own evil fold. How then shall
we face this dilemma?
First: Let us face it from our own experience. How many of us, after having wrestled in
failure for years with some such problem, found that at last, with the help of God, prayer
and persevering love, we have conquered. Oh wonderful triumph of victory! We ere so
overjoyed that we look upon it as almost equal to our conversion experience.
There may be others still fighting their problem who feel like giving up now. They may
feel that they are hypocrites and have never truly known God! But they cry from the
depth of their hearts, "Don't abandon us, please! Our will is weak, but we do love our
Lord Jesus and our desire is to conquer this tormenting thing. Certainly it would be
easier for us to give up if we are only pretending! What profit this continual buffeting of
ourselves, this inner conflict, this war within, this night long wrestling? Shall we be
denied to lift our eyes to the cross of Calvary and believe in our forgiveness? Shall those
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who are stronger than we, sneer at our failure? Did not many of you have the same
struggle into victory? Shall not we who are weak also ultimately find our strength in
Christ?"
Quite often those who are weak in one area are able to help their critics, who are weak in
another area. So we help each other, for we all have weaknesses in some area.
Those who keep trying and fail time after time, are not trying in vain! I perceive for them
the ultimate victory! They do not truly "make a practice of sinning." They rather make a
practice of repenting! I know that if they keep trying they will ultimately find the sorrow
stronger than the sin, and thus will no longer fail!
Finally: Does God not love the poor and the sickly ones of his flock as well as those who
are strong? And if one of the strong ones be crippled in some part of his life, shall God
despise him for his weakness? Take heart, those of you who try and fail. Our Lord says
there is forgiveness! If we are to forgive seventy times seven, which is 490 times in one
day, will not our Father do likewise?
Sincerity! That is the key! Our sincerity is proven by our actions. Do we seek ways to
avoid our weakness; to escape repeated temptation? Or do we rather delight in our
failures and make no effort to escape temptations? If we do the first we are children of
God, though weak ones. If the latter, there is no doubt of it, we are not God's children!
JUDGMENT FOR SIN AND REWARDS FOR GOOD DEEDS
There is so much misunderstanding in this whole area that hours could be spent in
explaining. I will try to make this as concise and clear as possible.
You must first understand that there are two judgments. At the one, while our deeds are
reviewed out of the books of record, they are not our means of escape from judgment. We
pass that judgment, not because we have been "good" for Romans 3:23 tells us that, "all
have sinned and come short of the glory of God." It is rather because our names are
written in the "Book of Life." To have our names written in that book simply means that
by Jesus' blood our sins are forgiven, when we accept him as our Savior. Therefore our
records in the "books" are canceled. Thus we are not guilty, because Jesus took our sins
upon himself - he died in our place!
Please note carefully that verse 20 in Revelation 20 says, '"The books" were opened and
another book was opened which was "The Book of Life." Note also that the spiritually
dead are judged according to the deeds done in the flesh. These are recorded in the
"books." But if you have accepted Christ, you are a Christian and Jesus has paid the
price for your sins and there is no record against you in the "books." Instead, we who are
Christians, have accepted Christ's blood to cover our sins - to blot out our records! Our
names have been written in his "Book of Life."
But there is another judgment, as recorded in II Corinthians 5:10. This is not the "Great
White Throne Judgment" This is called "The Judgment Seat of Christ." This is the time
when those saved from the above judgment, described in the 20th chapter of Revelation
stand before Christ as his own. It is a kind of "Family Affair." Here you and 1, and every
Christian, will stand Nothing can be hidden from those around us, "for the things done
in secret shall be shouted from the housetop." The only escape from our sin and our
shame will be to either ask and accept the forgiveness, in this life, of our Lord Jesus for
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all the sins of the past, or we must stand in that day and have our sins exposed before
the whole family of God.
This is the explanation for I Corinthians 3:14-15, in which we are saved but some of our
works are burned. We lose our rewards, but we ourselves are to be saved "So as by fire."
So if we accept forgiveness and obtain victory over our sins in this life, we can settle it
between ourselves and Christ alone. Otherwise we must face our Christian friends and
loved ones who are saved. They will then know everything that we have done since we
were saved. But they will also understand why we have done these things, for they, even
as we, will then "know, even as we are known." So we must find our answer before we
die, or face all before God's family at the "judgment seat of Christ" We must find our
solution now!
THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
All the universe was once the kingdom of God. Every star, every planet, every being
spiritual or physical - all were God's, for he created them - and called his creation "good."
He gave his angels charge over every heavenly body. The morning stars sang together for
joy to be a part of this perfect universe.
But there was one of God's most favored beings who became unhappy with all this. He
was jealous of all the glories of the universe belonging to God, the creator of it all. He
became proud and cried, "I will be God!" This beings name was Lucifer. He, along with
Michael, were the beings nearest to God, The wings of these two touched across the pure,
white flame of the presence of God upon the "Ark of Presence." (Ezekiel 28:14-15) In his
jealousy and pride he entered God's perfect universe for the first time.
(Isaiah 14:9-17)
Many Bible students think that this "earth" was the special realm given to Lucifer, whose
name means "Day-star," and that after his rebellion (Revelation 12:3-9) God took "earth"
away from Lucifer and gave it to Adam and thus to all people.
After the fall of Adam, sin came into this "earth" and it ceased to be a part of "The
Kingdom of God." All of God's efforts since that time has been to regain, through
redemption and love, that which Satan (once Lucifer) has stolen from God through sinful
people.
This special campaign is in charge of God's only begotten son, Jesus Christ. He will
eventually set up his kingdom upon this earth. It will then be called `The Kingdom of
Heaven." By his death on the cross he made it possible for sinful people to become a part
of this Kingdom. Or rather for this kingdom to come into the hearts of sinners. Jesus
said "The Kingdom of Heaven is within you."
The Kingdom of Heaven is a mixture of good and evil, the pure and the impure, the true
and the false. This is true because Satan tries and often succeeds in infiltrating the
forces of Christ upon the earth. This explains the parable in Matthew 13, in which we see
both the good and the evil together in the Kingdom of Heaven. This is never true in
explaining the parables of the Kingdom of God."
In the end of the age, judgment shall separate the 'wheat and the tares." The good will
then become a part of the great coming "Kingdom of God" brought back to the earth, to
take up once more all that was once a part of it.
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Because the Kingdom of God is spiritual it is entered only by the "new birth." (John 3:3)
The Kingdom of Heaven is inclusive , even of property and of possessions. Anything on
earth that is in the hands of Christians should be thought of as belonging to God. We,
his children, are just managers of what others may regard as our possessions.
At the end of earth's Glory Age, called "The Millennium," Christ will have everything
under his control. All sin will have been abolished from the universe. At that time there
will be no mixing of good and evil, or pure and impure. This glory age will last 1000 years
and Christ will be the ruler here on this earth, At the end of the 1000 year period of the
Millennium, Christ will present the earth and all its creatures, both spiritual and
physical, back to his Father. At this time the
Kingdom of Heaven will become once more a part of the great universal Kingdom of God.
Revelation 11:15 tells of the time when Christ shall take over the worldly kingdoms of the
earth and shall make them his own. I Cor. 1524-28 tells of the time later, when the Son
shall deliver all things over to the Father. The Kingdom of Heaven will then become a
part of the greater "Kingdom of God."
Joshua Green, Freedman
(A story based on fact.)
In the summer of 1980, my wife and 1, my brother and my sister, Rosalyn, climbed into
a four-wheel drive jeep driven by my nephew, David, and made a sentimental journey up
to the area of the scenes of my childhood. We drove up a rocky primitive road on the
western side of the last ridge of the Alleghenies to about the 3,000 foot level. In the late
1800's and early part of the present century, the area had been the home of about a
dozen families. Now there is not a single log left of the dwellings they had built, and
nothing left at all of the hundred or so acres they had cleared from the virgin forest.
About a mile below my boyhood homesite, we passed the place where the first of these
mountaineers lived. I recalled again the stories my parents had told me about this black
man, a former slave. Today I begin a recounting of these stories, an undertaking I have
always wanted to do.
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"Joshua, you'd best go north and find work. I know now that your Mas'r won't come back
from the war. There's hardly food left for me, and no money, so you'd better go."
"But Missis, what'll you do?"
"Oh, I'll go to my daughter's in Richmond. The land can rest till later. Maybe I'll sell it, if
anybody has money left to buy it. You're a good boy, Joshua, and a good worker.
Somebody can use you. You'd starve here. I'm giving you Mas'rs good suit. You're about
his size, and a good appearance will help you find work. There's an old duffel bag, and
I've put you some food in a sack. It'll last a day or so."
"But I hates to leave you, ma'am. You sure you'll be all right?"
"Don't worry about me, Joshua. I'll be all right. I'll do fine."
"If you says so, I'll go first thing in the mornin , ma'am."
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Dust hot on thin shoe soles; July sun hot on his back. Cold glances and sneers from
white farmers in the wide valley. He had only a piece of corn pone left of the food Missis
had given, and not a dime to buy food in the town he was approaching, a place named
Staunton.
There were few people in the summer streets, mostly white folks on some urgent errand.
They ignored him completely. A few sad-looking blacks moved in the narrow alleys off the
main street. Some spoke, some didn't. One boy even grunted at him. He could feel no
welcome in this town. He walked as though for a single purpose--to get as far away from
the valley as possible. High ridges lay ahead of him, and the turnpike under his feet of
uneven Macadam, with many stones loose and scattered by neglect. Even the roads
seemed war-worn and paved with weariness.
The sun fell rapidly below the mountain ridges. The valley he traversed now was very
narrow, the corn much shorter in the rows and the houses smaller and poorly kept. No
slave quarters, and workers in the fields were mostly women and children. How many
homes were fatherless from the war, he wondered?
The road led to the foot of a long hill, then wound its way to the top. From observation
and boyhood experience, Joshua knew he would find more leaves on the east side of the
crest. He climbed a rail fence, crept through the bushes till he was away from the road
sat down on a convenient stone and ate the cold pone. With his spread fingers he raked
the leaves into a pile, then in the growing darkness, stretched his young body upon the
improvised mattress. He slept soundly, but awakened once in the night, chilly in the
mountain air, and raked some of the leaves over him.
Singing birds awakened him, and he lay for awhile, thinking. He was free! Free as the
birds singing in the tops of the scrub oaks on the hilltop! But he was also hungry;
hungry as only a late teen-age boy could be who had only a bite of bread for supper. He
sat up for a moment, then remembered he hadn't prayed. The primitive black preacher
whose simple gospel Joshua had believed and accepted was able to show him the kind
love revealed in the story of Jesus, and a child-like prayer for forgiveness had given him
peace. To the other blacks on the plantation, he simply said, "Jesus is my friend."
"Thank you, Jesus, for walkin' with me. Help me today. Like you prayed 'give me daily
bread' Amen." He arose from his knees, parted the bushes and re-entered the road,
cooled now, and without the track of a single traveler through the night. With the sun
warming his back, he descended to a mountain hollow, and a log cabin on the edge of a
tiny stream. He knocked timidly on the rough door, and a slatternly woman opened it.
"Ma'am, could I chop ye some wood for a bite of bread?"
"Got no bread for niggers. Now git!" The door slammed shut.
He wasted no time getting away from that house. At the next dwelling, a mile or so down
the road, he was driven away by two snarling dogs without a soul in sight. Plodding on,
he passed an old battlefield on the left of the road the trenches already falling away and
grass growing on the dirt behind the decaying logs of the old embankments.
Crossing a swift river he came to a small settlement, the village of McDowell, with some
signs of a bit more prosperity. He deliberately passed by two pretentious homes, then
walked up a path bordered by summer flowers and knocked on a cottage door. A tiny
older woman came to answer his knock, and smilingly said "Good morning."
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"Lady, do you have some work I could do for a bite of bread?"
"Well, no, I just don't have a thing that isn't done, but if you are hungry, I can let you
have some bread and milk, and there's plenty of apples on that early harvest tree in the
back yard Just help yourself. I'll get you a bowl for the milk. You can cat on the back
porch. Lord knows there's plenty of hungry folks around these days. I'm just glad the
Lord provides me a little to share."
Joshua walked around the little home, and found a chair pulled up to a small stand,
with a generous dish of fresh milk and several slices of white bread alongside. As the
woman watched, he sat down and bowed his head.
"Thank you, Lord, for hearing my prayer, and for this good woman, and this food" The
woman added a hearty "Amen."
Having eaten well, he helped himself to some of the many apples on the ground under
the trees. The woman wished him a good journey and he walked out to the village street,
feeling unusually happy, and somehow with a deeper faith in his fellow-man.
Through the late morning and the hot afternoon he continued onward and over two more
mountain ridges, each higher than the ones he had passed. A faded sign on the last
summit indicated only a few miles to the next town, Monterey.
As he descended the mountain ridge and came around the last sharp bend in the road,
he saw a man sitting on a fallen tree trunk,4us horse tied nearby. The man was wearing
a badge. When Joshua was within a few yards, the man stood. "Where ya goin, nigger?"
"I wanted to cross the mountains," Joshua replied.
"I'm here to see that ya keep movin . We got enough niggers of our own to bother with."
The town marshal mounted his horse, allowing Joshua to walk a few steps ahead of him.
Joined by a few jeering boys and several barking dogs, the singular parade continued by
the harness shop, a general store and a small courthouse, then on by several dwellings,
up the western mountainside to the town limits.
"Keep a'goin you black bastard, and don't stop till ya cross the state line, if you know
what's good for ye!"
Joshua needed no further encouragement, as his strong young legs carried him rapidly
up the long and crooked road to the top of the mountain. It was growing late as he
descended the western slope and made out a very small village in the mountain valley.
Dreading what he might experience there, he nevertheless continued on. Nearing the first
house, he saw an old black man lead a horse into a field and close the gate.
'Evenin', brother," the old man said.
"Evenini to you brother," Joshua replied. "You s'pose a man could find a bite to eat and a
place to sleep somewhere near?"
"Might be. Old woman an' me ain't got much, but we might spare a little. The boys took
off for Ohio. You could lay in their bunk."
As they continued walking, turning down a path by a neat dwelling and on to what had
been slave cabins, Joshua learned something of the local situation. The old man and his
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"woman" had felt too aged to start out on their own, and their former owner, being a
charitable man, had agreed to an arrangement, not much above slavery, in which the
blacks could work on the farm for their rent and "keep," which was mostly corn bread
and beans, and such fruit as they could glean from old trees. This was supplemented by
wild berries and nuts which grew in profusion on the mountain sides.
"We sometimes gits extra when the neighbors hires us. They gives us twenty-five cents a
day," the old man explained. The woman seemed glad for a little company, and put an
extra tin plate on the sideboard for their guest. The food though plain, was satisfying.
Joshua's voluntary grace before the two meals he ate with them, and his morning prayer
were evidently not customary in the household.
Joshua left early, before the farm owner was stirring. He felt a deep warmth in his heart
for the two ancients, and was a bit reluctant to leave. His road continued upward from
the village to a very high ridge, which he later learned was called the "High Allegheny" by
the natives. A newly erected sign said simply "W. Va. State Line." A few miles further on,
he entered another village, Durbin, and was given a back door handout of corn bread
and "fatback."
Late afternoon found him on a very high plateau, with no houses along the unusually
straight highway. An abandoned Federal Camp, "Old White Top," lay on the left of the
road. It bore signs of a rather long occupancy. After making a supper of wild raspberries
growing nearby, he decided to stay in one of the abandoned shelters at the old camp.
Night temperatures were very cool at that altitude, and Joshua had to open the little
valise and take out the almost new coat to the suit belonging to his former master. In
spite of the coat he was chilled during the night, and was almost glad to be on his way
without breakfast. Later he would pick some more berries to partially satisfy the gnawing
hunger he felt.
The plateau was wide, and it was late morning when the road led down the western slope
and along a mountain hollow out onto the valley floor. At several places, coming down
the mountain, he had sighted the valley farms as his gaze led to the northeast, where the
flat and fertile soil continued until hid in the blue atmosphere of the mountains on either
side.
He left the foothills and traversed the level valley toward a village on the western edge,
the town of Huttonsville. On the right side of the road, two men were busy building a rail
fence. From their resemblance he judged them to be father and son. As he came near,
they sat down on the log on which they were working.
"Do you know where I could do some work and earn a bite to eat?" He asked.
The older man replied "No, I don't, sonny. But I'll tell you what. Were having some
trouble splitting this log because of a big knot. If you'll help us do the job, I'll give you a
sandwich out of our dinner bucket. Ma always gives us too much," he explained to the
son.
A slender pole lay by the side of the log, and the older man took another limb from the
downed oak and tapered the end with his axe. Then, using a sledge, he drove the iron
wedge into the split in the log, opening a crack about two inches. Into this opening they
inserted the two poles, and with the son on one side and Joshua on the other, they pried
the opening much wider. The man used the axe to chop away at the knot, and with a
loud report, the log split open completely. Using the same procedure, it was easy to split
each half of the log, about 18 inches thick, into three rails.
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The older man picked up the pail from under a nearby tree, and the three of them sat
down in its shade. A sandwich with a generous slice of fried ham was passed to each.
"You mind if I pray?" asked Joshua.
"Not a bit, sonny. S'pose we all ought to be more thankful for what we got."
A jelly sandwich and a ripe tomato completed the meal. Joshua thanked them heartily,
then continued on his way. The road continued into the town, then headed northeast
down the valley. It was getting very cloudy as he passed through two more villages, and
black clouds in the northwest brought a summer thunderstorm. A haystack in a nearby
meadow had been eaten away by cattle in the field. An overhang of about two feet
promised shelter on the side away from the storm, and Joshua hurried under this refuge.
He concealed his duffel bag in the loose hay, and leaned back close to the base of the
stack. The storm lasted about an hour, and it seemed best to remain in the shelter for
the night, rather than walk through the wet grass and on the muddy road. He was used
to going without meals, and as dark approached, he dug out a hollow in the hay and had
a comfortable bed for the night.
The morning dawned brightly, and the promise was for a warm July day. Joshua decided
it was time he had a bath. A double row of sycamore trees about a hundred yards to the
east marked the course of the river. Retrieving his bag, he walked to the line of trees, and
finding a place where the river stood in a deep pool, he stripped and plunged into the
cool water, soaking off the grime and stain of the miles since leaving the small plantation
in southern Virginia.
After washing his shirt and meager undergarment, he stretched them on a nearby bush
and laid down on the yellow sand at the river's edge. When his clothes were dry, he put
them on and opened the bag, taking out the suit he had been given. Greatly improved in
appearance, he walked the three or four miles into the town that was to be a part of his
destiny. The name of the village was Beverly.
The first man he accosted ignored him, but the second told him that he might earn a
meal at the tavern, which was located where the turnpike left the main street to make its
way over the last range of the Alleghenies. Knocking at the back door, (as a black man,
he knew better than to go to the front, or enter the tavern.) A teen-age girl, with brown
hair and blue eyes, came to the open door. He asked his usual question, and the girl
called out, "Pa."
After a delay, the tavern-keeper came to the door. His first impulse was to refuse the
request for work, then he reconsidered, being impressed by the black's neat appearance
and clean-cut features, marking the man as being quite intelligent. His business had
been improving since the war, and some new people had come to town, including a
couple of lawyers hoping for business from the courthouse. "Maybe I could use you, boy.
We'll try you out and see. I need someone to cut wood and to clean up around the place.
Nancy, give him something to eat if there's anything left from breakfast." The girl served
him some thick bacon, some leftover slices of bread and a cup of black coffee.
He had hardly finished the meal when the tavern-keeper came back to the kitchen. '7
want the floors swept, and you can take the spittoons down to the river and wash them.
Then there's fresh sawdust in the shed back of the kitchen to spread on the floors. Then
you can cut and carry in some firewood for the kitchen."
The girl, Nancy, gave him the broom and showed him where the sawdust was stored.
Joshua was clean and thorough by nature, and hoping for a more or less steady
employment, he swept out all the comers, moving the home-made ladder-back chairs
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and tall bar stools. The old sawdust he swept out the front door and off the cut stone
stoop, where it added to that of many such sweepings.
The spittoons were next. They were solid brass, and quite heavy, so he made two trips,
carrying them to the river's edge, just below the covered bridge across the stream. He
took a moment to admire the well-arranged heavy timbers of the bridge. Later he learned
that the man's name who had built it was Chenoweth, not a certified engineer, but a
practical one, and judging by his work an excellent one. Joshua emptied and washed the
spittoons thoroughly, and taking some sand from the river shore, scoured and polished
them till they shone brightly. Carrying them back to the tavern, he first got a pail of
sawdust and sprinkled it from his hand over the floors, including the kitchen. He then
placed the cuspidors in their usual places. Nancy was serving some customers at the
bar. Her father came in, and glancing approvingly around at the room said "You can cut
the wood now."
When evening came, he was given a good meal, with beef and boiled potatoes, summer
vegetables and more black coffee. His employer told him he could sleep in the barn, and
since there was plenty of hay there, he slept quite comfortably. He was awakened in the
morning by Nancy's mother, coming to milk the two cows. She was a quiet woman,
seemingly only willing to speak when spoken to. Joshua cleaned the stable area and
spread fresh straw without being told to do so. He was careful to clean his shoes
thoroughly, so as not to carry the odor from the stable into the kitchen when he went for
his breakfast.
Nancy, her two younger brothers and her parents ate out in the dining room across from
the bar. Joshua kept his proper place at the small table in the kitchen. The routine for
his work was much the same as yesterday, except that he was asked to take a scythe
and cut some weeds around the tavern, especially in the comers of the fence along the
side yard.
****************************
Summer continued into fall, and nothing was said about Joshua leaving. His work
seemed very satisfactory, and when there was little to do, he was even allowed to work a
few hours for farmers at the edge of town, earning a few meager dollars which he
hoarded carefully against times of greater need. The stagecoach arrived twice a week
from the west, and twice from the east, and if there were no overnight passengers for the
rooms upstairs, the work was easier, and Joshua could earn more from outside work.
The men in town who frequented the bar all came to know and like the pleasant young
black. One group seemed to hang around the bar almost continually. They were five
young Confederate soldiers, mostly from farts homes in the valley." They spent most of
their time, especially when her father was out, in conversing and flirting with Nancy. She
was very friendly and, Joshua felt, a very gullible person. On some days, when her father
was away at his mountain farm and her mother upstairs sewing or mending, Joshua
noticed that she and one of the boys slipped furtively into a back room, while the other
four kept watch. He shook his head sadly at what he was very certain was dangerous
conduct for the girl.
As winter came on, Joshua was permitted to partition off a small room in the barn, into
which he built a bunk, a wall seat and a tiny desk. He had been taught the rudiments of
reading by his mother, a partially educated "house wench." Knowing his devoutness,
Nancy's mother gave him an old Bible, dog-eared and with torn pages. This he cherished
far above his other meager possessions. On quiet winter days she also told him to bring
his Bible to the kitchen, and she would help him to better tears to read.
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As the long winter came to a close and the windy March weather ended, it became visibly
evident that Nancy's indiscretions with the five rebel ex-soldiers had their inevitable
result; she was going to have a child. Her mother noticed it first, as mothers always do.
"Nancy, you've been fooling around with one of those boys, haven't you?"
The girl began to cry, and the mother's heart went out to her. 'Never mind that. Just tell
me about it. Which one was it?"
"Ma, I don't know, honest I don't! I---I--just did it with all of them! I didn't know-- a baby
-- nobody told me---."
'Nancy, don't cry so. We won't tell Pa yet. Maybe he won't notice."
"But Ma, he'll find out! He has to! Then what?"
"Well---, I just don't know. But stop crying. Crying won't help."
'The valley had strong ties to old Virginia, and the people were mostly sympathetic to the
South.
It happened one April day. He came from the bar into the kitchen unexpectedly, and
Nancy was standing in the light from the window. He exploded in hot anger.
"Girl, what s.o.b. got you in the family way? Tell me, now! I'll beat his brains out!" He
grasped her shoulders and shook her. "Who did it? Tell me! Tell me, or I'll whip it out of
ye with a buggy whip!" His voice was wild with desperate anger. It carried out into the
bar, where the young men were loafing. One of them came to the kitchen door. "Sir,
could I have a word with you?"
He turned in confused anger and followed the other out of the room.
"We think we better tell you what we saw. You ought to know. Well, we saw Nancy going
out to the barn several times, and we got suspicious, so we went behind it where that
puncheon board is loose. We looked through the crack and saw 'em, her and Josh, rollin'
in the hay."
The father ran back into the kitchen. "Nancy! You and that black bastard--I'll kill him! I'll
beat you to death!"
"Pa, Pa, it wasn't him! They're lyin', honest it wasn't him!"
"Listen to the girl, Pa, she's tellin' the truth," the mother cried out.
'No! They all saw it. They all wouldn't lie! Boys, come in here. Are you tellin' me the
truth? Did you see 'em'?"
"Yes sir, we did," they all declared, "We'll swear it on the Bible it's true."
He ran to the back door and threw it open. "Josh, Josh you black nigger devil! Come out
of there! Come out, or I'll come and get ye!"
"But Pa, he ain't there. He went to cut brush for Crawford," his wife said.
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By the time Joshua came back, the boys had all gone home, and the tavern-keeper's
anger had cooled down a bit. Perhaps a tiny whisper of suspicion had entered his heart.
At any rate, as Joshua came around the barn, he heard the harsh voice of his employer
demanding his presence.
"Josh, you black son of Satan, you got my girl fixed up. I ought to kill you!"
"Honest, sir, I wouldn't do that to Miss Nancy, I wouldn't hurt her! Besides, she wouldn't-She wouldn't even touch me! Lord bein' my witness, I wouldn't do a thing like that!"
"Don't lie to me! All five of them boys saw you, they swore to it. You take that slut and
git! Git out of my house, git off my place, and don't you ever come back!"
By this time, both mother and daughter were weeping aloud, and great tears were rolling
from Joshua's eyes.
"Pa, it's almost dark, they can't go now. They can't even see the road. Don't make 'ern go
tonight, please!"
"All right, she can stay the night.
But you, Josh, git the hell out of ny sight!" And with
these words, he plunged into the barroom, and pulling a quart of rye whiskey off the
back bar, he poured himself a water glass full, and drank it down almost without a
pause for breath.
"Nancy, your Pa won't listen to reason. There's no way hell take yours and Joshua's word
against them five boys. It breaks my heart, but you'll have to go."
Both mother and daughter went upstairs, and started making preparations. "You can
take all of your clothes, Nancy. He won't want to see them hangin' around. Lord knows
you'll need 'em. She began rolling the clothing into a bundle. She wrapped the clothing in
two heavy quilts, dampening the roll with her tears, while Nancy lay sobbing on the bed.
Meanwhile, the father had poured himself another glass from the quart of rye, and was
rapidly drinking himself into a stupor. As luck would have it, nobody came that night to
buy drinks, and they had no out-of-town guests. He didn't even bother to light the
kerosene lamps. After a while, he went to the back room, and lay across the bed that had
been the couch of his daughter's misconduct.
It was hardly a night for Joshua to rest. Sleep was fitful, interspersed with prayer for
help and guidance. The boys had said nothing to anyone of the scene in the kitchen, so
the community had no word of it yet. As soon as the general store opened, Joshua had
gone there and purchased an axe with some of his few hoarded dollars. Some sulphur
matches and a waterproof box for them, and five pounds of salt, completed his
purchases, and he hurried out the door.
Back at the barn, he gathered his duffel bag and the two old comforters given him by
Nancy's mother, and went to the back door of the house, where he found the girl and her
mother waiting.
"Nancy, you can't go out in them mountains without a gun. There's bears and panthers
out there. You can take the little muzzle-loader; it's yours anyway, Pa gave it to you. He
always uses the big one." She took the rifle from the gun rack on the kitchen wall and
handed it to Joshua, along with a little cloth bag of bullets and a horn full of powder. I'll
feel better for you with that gun," she said quietly. "Josh, you take good care of my little
girl," she said, and began again to mingle her sobs with Nancy's. She seemed to be
unwilling to let the girl out of her arms.
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"You can trust me to do that," said Joshua as he shouldered Nancy's generous bundle on
top of his own. He gave his little valise to the girl, who wouldn't even look at him as they
started away. A few steps away, she ran back again to her mother's arms, crying aloud.
The village was beginning to stir as they crossed the covered bridge on their way. Nancy's
father would sleep for several hours, wearing off his hangover.
Joshua had the feeling that they should not stay on the main road, since the difference
in their skin color was so obvious. When, about a half-mile from the ridge, a trail led off
to the southwest along a stream, they turned left along a narrow valley. Nancy was still
very quiet, only occasionally sniffling back the tears. She walked a few steps back of
Joshua, feeling a dignity of race that she would later lose. She considered Joshua a good
friend, but too much beneath her for even a hint of intimacy.
In late April there were no berries to assuage the noon-time hunger, but his boyhood
experiences came to their rescue. He raked under a large chestnut tree, and found
several nuts beneath the leaves. Nancy spoke her first words then. "I didn't think the
squirrels would leave any." she said.
"Guess there's just too many," Joshua replied
After drinking from a little spring by the roadside, they plodded on. He had hoped to
shoot a squirrel or rabbit for their supper, but saw no living thing except some small
birds. In mid-afternoon they came to the head of the stream, gushing from an unusually
large opening in the limestone rock. Drinking here again, they began a steep climb up
the mountainside to the west, reaching the top a little before sundown. The wind was
quiet, and Joshua knew that it would be several degrees warmer at the top than in the
valley. Down the western slope they found a very large log had fallen in the forest. There
Joshua built a fire about ten feet from the log, and began to pile up the leaves by the tree
side of the fire for Nancy a bed. She began unrolling the covers from the clothing.
"Oh, look, Josh, Ma put in some meat and bread and a jar of jelly!" Her voice had a little
lilt of happiness. She was very hungry by this time, and the food lifted her spirits. Her
mother had been so confused and preoccupied that she could think no further than a
picnic lunch for her daughter and her black protector. Nancy gave Joshua a sandwich of
the meat and bread then ate ravenously of her portion. They finished the meat by eating
some of the jelly on bread. Joshua did not forget to offer thanks to God for the food the
good weather, and His care. Tears came to Nancy's eyes as he prayed.
Nancy, after the sleepless night before, snored lightly through the whole time of
darkness. Joshua, wrapped in the old quilt, on the other side of the fire, stirred several
times in the night to replenish the blaze.
Morning found them both hungry and thirsty, since they had no water on the mountain
top. They hurriedly rewrapped their bundles and continued west down the slope. They
very quickly came to a small stream, and eagerly drank their fill. Continuing down the
wooded valley, Joshua turned to Nancy with his fingers to his lips. Slowly he lifted the
rifle and fired. A wild turkey that had been scratching in the leaves flopped to the ground
and Joshua ran quickly forward catching it while it thrashed in the leaves, then
decapitating it with the axe.
A mile or so beyond, the mountain hollow widened and a nearly level shelf lay on the east
side of the little stream, some fifty yards wide. From the profuse growth, Joshua
surmised that the soil here was rich. While the hills were steep immediately on the left
and right, the land seemed to level off directly ahead.
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'Nancy, I have a feelin' this is a good place to stay."
Nancy didn't answer, but set her bundle down on the leaves, and found a seat on a small
log. With his pocket knife, Joshua split the turkey open and removed the entrails,
hanging the bird on a small branch he had broken nearby. He then built a fire, and went
to the edge of the embankment to the stream, where he found a yellow clay outcrop. He
gathered a double handful of this, wetting it in the creek, then climbed back up the bank
and proceeded to rub the pasty clay into the feathers of the bird. Using a forked bush
nearby and a small pole with one end stuck in the ground, he improvised a spit over the
fire and impaled the turkey by the feet over the flames.
"Josh, you can do 'most everything, can't you?" Nancy exclaimed "Poor folks have to
make do," he replied, putting more wood on the fire. In about two hours they were dining
on roast turkey, salted from Joshua's sack he had foresightedly purchased the morning
before. One slice of the bread was left from the night before, and some of the jelly.
Joshua refused any of it, insisting that Nancy eat it.
After the meal, Joshua took the axe and cut two forked sticks about six feet long and
drove them into the ground about eight feet apart. He then cut a pole and laid it in the
forks, placing other longer poles with one end on the ground and the other on the
elevated pole. He had sighted some hemlock trees a few yards down the creek, and he cut
a generous supply of branches and placed them on the frame of poles as a shelter. More
hemlock branches were used as a floor under the shed This would be their temporary
home.
Leaving Nancy by the fire, he scouted the area, to see if he could find more food. His first
find was a lily-like plant growing through the leaves. He pulled one, finding a small,
onion-like bulb. It had a rather rank smell. Joshua knew he had found ramps, a food
considered a delicacy by the mountain people. Marking the place, he continued to the
more level area to the south. There he found a swampy place, with a generous supply of
cattails. Joshua knew that the bulbous roots made a good substitute for potatoes, and
the young shoots tasted like asparagus. He gathered some of each, and returning by the
ramp patch took a few of these also. The turkey had some pleasant supplements for the
evening meal.
The next morning saw the beginning of a small pole cabin with one end open for a fire.
Much later, Joshua would build a conventional hewed log house of yellow poplar near
where the lean-to now was.
In a couple of weeks, Joshua knew he would have to go back to the town for supplies.
They had not provided for cooking utensils or dishes, and both he and Nancy were
hungry for bread of some kind. He dreaded what be might experience in going back to
the scene of their recent sorrow. He loaded the gun for Nancy. She was somewhat skilled
in shooting it, and he didn't want to leave her defenseless in his absence. He started at
daylight, and by early noon reached the settlement. Events were not nearly as bad as he
had imagined. One of the five young men had made the mistake of telling boastfully how
they had victimized Joshua and shamed Nancy, and someone told the tavern-keeper
about it. Fearing his wrath, the five had left the community. Sentiment for Nancy was
rather deep, and pity for both her and Joshua modified the attitude of the whole town.
Nancy's father had nothing to say about either of them, and the quiet mother grieved in
silence. As the young black passed the tavern, Nancy's younger brothers had seen him,
and saying nothing to their father, had followed him to the general store, where he was
purchasing his needs with what was left of his meager savings.
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"Josh, how's Nancy? Where's she at? You bring her with you?" The boys questions were
eager. "I'm glad to see you, boys. Me and Nancy are livin' over the mountain."
"Can we go back with you? We want to see Nancy."
"What'll your Pa say?"
"Oh, he won't know it. We'll ask Ma. She won't care; she'll be glad. Pa'll think we went
night-huntin'." They dashed off to whisper the news to Nancy's mother and get her
consent for the trip.
The men in the store, while not overly friendly, were not hostile. Joshua made his
purchases and started back. He was joined by the boys as he reached the other side of
the bridge. They helped him carry his load and they reached the lean-to about dark.
Nancy's joy at seeing her brothers was a delight for Joshua to see. The boys stayed
overnight, sleeping in the leaves on the ground. The next day they helped Joshua lift the
poles to the higher levels of the cabin walls, and then left for home.
"We'll be back. We had fun!" they said.
****************************
"Josh, what'll we do when the baby comes?" asked Nancy a few days later.
"I'll guess we'll make out," Joshua replied. "I've helped birth some pigs and cows, and
helped Ma when one of the girls on the plantation had a baby." In mid-July the child was
born, with Joshua the only help she had. She had cried out a few times, and had acted
very embarrassed that Joshua had to see her so intimately. The child was, naturally all
white, with very blond hair. Up until he did the necessary ministrations, Joshua had not
even touched Nancy in any way. But when the birth was over, a new bond of trust
seemed to build between him and the girl. He washed the baby, wrapped it in an old
dress of Nancy's and placed it in her arms. It was evidently not well, perhaps suffering
from Nancy's poor diet.
Joshua had completed the three-sided cabin before the birth of the baby. He laid poles
across the single-slope shed roof. He found a small sapling with a large knot near the
ground. He cut the white oak off under the knot, then left three feet of the pole at the top
for a handle, making a serviceable maul. With this, he was able to use the axe as a
wedge and split off enough puncheon boards to cover the roof. Having no nails, he laid
heavy poles on these to hold them in place. The child's birth was a kind of celebration of
finished work.
The next week, Nancy's brothers came again, and were shown the tiny baby. They were
so excited that they rushed home and blurted out before their dad, "Nancy had her baby,
and it is white!" The man began again cursing the five boys who had sworn to a lie.
One night a little later, Nancy called out to Joshua, "The baby can't get its breath! Ma
always put lamp oil and turpentine in boiling water and let the baby breathe the fumes,
but we don't have any. They could only hold the child in their arms and watch it die.
Nancy was almost hysterical with grief, and Joshua wept, mostly for her. In the morning,
he used his axe again and shaped a crude shovel. A few hundred yards up the hollow, he
found a level place in the forest, trimmed away the brush, and dug a tiny gave in the
rocky soil. He had to give up digging when he struck the clay sub-soil, at about three
feet. Using a board left from the cabin roof, he cut six lengths as a rough casket. He
gathered soft leaves and covered the bottom board, and laid the last one aside for a
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cover. Nancy sat on a nearby log, holding the dead baby and weeping. Joshua tenderly
took the child from her and laid it in the grave. Then, lifting his face toward the sky, he
prayed: "Dear Lord, we give this little child to you. You know best why she had to die.
Help Nancy believe it is for the best. Amen."
Placing the last board over the body, he began filling up the gave. When all the soil was
mounded up over it, he gathered stones and piled them over the dirt. When it was
finished, Nancy threw herself on the pile of rocks and cried "My baby! My baby!" Joshua
lifted her up, and for the first time, she threw her arms around his neck, weeping aloud.
He led her, sobbing and crying, back to the cabin, and placed her on the bunk he had
built across the back of the one room. She refused the leg of squirrel meat he had
warmed for her supper.
Finally, completely exhausted she drifted off to sleep. Joshua sat down on the log seat he
had hewed and placed along the wall near the open end of the room, by the dying embers
of the supper fire. He sensed strongly the crisis they were approaching in their
relationship. Nancy was not a pretty girl, but she had regular features, a bit more rugged
than many women. He knew what was happening to him in his heart, and it frightened
him. He knew that state law would not let them marry and that if they stayed together
she would always carry the double stigma of living with a black man and in what the
community labeled fornication. He sat in agony for hours, then began to pray. Very late
in the night, it suddenly came to him: They could be married in the sight of God, without
a license or clergyman! If he guessed rightly, Nancy would soon be seeking an answer to
the same problem he had faced. At the first opportunity, he would offer her the solution
he had found in the night.
Nancy awakened early, and lay on the rough bed, thinking. She recalled the comfort of
Joshua's arms at the grave and during the walk back to the cabin. She had a deep
respect for his religious faith, but could only guess what he felt for her. She could walk
away from him, hoping somehow to return to the good gates of her father, or perhaps go
elsewhere, hoping to find work for her keep with some prosperous family. But as she
considered that step, she realized that she didn't want to leave Joshua.
Awakening in his bed on the dirt floor, Joshua arose and went to Nancy's bed to inquire
how she felt. Lying there awake, she suddenly smiled at him and reached out to take his
hand. "Josh, you're so good to me!" she spoke softly. He knelt by the bunk, and she
reached out to him with both arms. "Oh, Josh, what'll we do?" she cried.
'Nancy, do you care for me?" His voice trembled a bit as he spoke.
'Josh, I've been lyin' here thinkin'. Yes, I do. I thought about leavin' here, but I know I
don't want to."
"I don't want you to leave, Nancy, God help me, I've come to love you!" 'But we can't go on
living together like this, can we?"
"Nancy, the law says I can't marry you. But there's nothing in God's law says we can't
marry! Get up and eat something now, and we'll talk about it some more."
He stood and pulled her to her feet, and again her arms went around his neck, and he
pulled her to him with a stronger emotion than he had dared let himself feel before. They
ate breakfast, corn bread and hot water flavored with teaberry leaves, and some wild
plums they had found growing on the ridge above the cabin.
168
"Nancy, we can marry each other, and we don't even need a preacher. I'll think of the
words to say to you before God, and you can say the same things to me. The Lord won't
hold it against us if there's no preacher."
"Let me think about it awhile," Nancy said
"Take all the time you want!" That night he left her in the cabin and walked for hours in the moonlight, rehearsing
what he would say, praying for help that he might restrain himself in his desire for her.
When he had the words, he went back, and found Nancy asleep. He was thankful for
this, and slept fitfully through the few hours till daylight.
****************************
"Nancy, 'fore Almighty God, I take you for my wife. I promise to love you and take care of
you till we die, and be faithful to you."
"Joshua, I promise to do the same, and I take you for my husband."
"Lord, You heard these promises we made to each other. We made them before you, and
we ask you to help us be faithful to each other. We do thank you we got each other, and
our good health. Watch over us, Lord, we pray. Amen."
****************************
Joshua's time was spent weatherproofing the cabin. He filled the chinks between the
poles with moss from logs in the forest, binding it with clay from the creek bank. Using
the same yellow clay, he laid up a stone fireplace. The mud would dry in the heat and
make a good mortar. Using poles, he enclosed the opening on one side of the fireplace,
leaving the other side open for a door. He chopped out an opening in the south for a
window, hewing out a slab from the same log he had used for shingles to close the
opening in cold weather. Later he would kill a bear, and hang the cured skin over the
door.
Nancy's brothers came over later in the autumn and carried back the news of the baby's
death to her parents. They both felt a secret relief. A white child in a black household
would bring questions.
The first child came early the next summer. They named him Richard.
The previous fall, a lone hunter from the west side of the mountain stopped at the cabin.
From him they learned of a tiny village just four miles from them with a small store. The
storekeeper also bought furs, so Joshua found a new source of cash in the hides of wild
animals he would kill during the winter. From a ten-foot section of a large yellow poplar
tree, he hewed a deep trough which he placed along the wall of the cabin. When the
weather turned cool, he shot a deer and a fat bear, and salted down enough meat in the
trough for the entire winter. They dried wild fruit and gathered nuts also. The furs he
sold to the storekeeper brought enough cash for the flour, meal, sugar and other
supplies.
After their son was born, Joshua began to think of the future. What about the land
where the cabin stood? Could he be evicted from it? He had cleared enough space for a
garden, and planted vegetables, but he also wanted pasture for cows and sheep. They
knew that Nancy had a first cousin who kept records at the courthouse. The Homestead
169
Act had just been passed by Congress, and when Joshua walked the 13 miles once more
to inquire about the land, he was delighted at the good news. With the clerk's help he
filed for 300 acres on the east side of the small stream to the top of the ridge extending
southwest to include some of the level land where Joshua had found the cattail pond.
Nancy's cousin knew the whole story about the couple, and was sympathetic to them. He
said nothing to Joshua about the small filing fee, but paid it himself.
About a half mile up the hollow from the cabin was a large grove of great sugar maples.
Joshua had learned from white neighbors west of his place that the sweet sap of these
trees could be made into syrup and sugar. He asked about the method of collecting the
sap, secured a T-augur at the general store, and was ready when mid-March sunshine
called up the sap from the maple roots. Since it was such a large grove, he developed it
into what would be his main cash source. His maple sugar was in high demand because
the people knew that he didn't add white sugar to dilute his product.
Another boy was born to Nancy and Joshua, and they named him Commodore. Two girls,
Belle and Delphia, and then a boy, Bernard completed their family.
With land in the valleys being rapidly taken, white families began to settle on the rocky
ridges. Four families built log homes on the ridge up the mountain from Joshua's home.
Having completed his own large log house, he helped them build their homes in the same
method and pattern. His nearest white neighbors were named Brady.
****************************
Money from the maple sugar kept coming in, and Joshua saved it, dreaming of the day
when his children might go away to school. When four more black families came to the
hollow, Joshua sold them land and began, with their help, to build a log school house,
and began a "subscription" school. The white families, spurred on by this action, also
started a school just across the road and black and white children played together at
noon and recess times."
Joshua also realized another dream, and organized a small Methodist class of blacks.
The white people did not follow this example, but when the blacks had revivals in the
school building, the whites would attend.
When the boy, Commodore, had finished the grades in the little schoolhouse, he was
sent to the black school at Institute, W. Va. where he finished high school and a year or
two of college. There he met and married a mulatto girl, and moved back to the new
county seat town which was rapidly building along the new railroad, six miles north of
the old courthouse.
The oldest son, Dick, married a black girl from the valley. Joshua helped him build a
home just below the sugar camp. Dick contracted pneumonia while still a young man,
and died. Joshua took on the added responsibility of his son's household.
When an occasional traveler came up the mountain road, Joshua would always insist
that he stay for a meal. He would take a pan of water and some soap and wash his
hands in the presence of the visitor, saying "You see, we's clean folks. The black won't
wash off."
****************************
170
One incident will reveal something of Joshua's faith. The second Brady son (my father)
was sent down the hill to get Joshua to help with some heavy task. Nancy told the boy
that he was up at the cornfield. Arriving at the field he stood behind the rail fence,
waiting till the old man reached the end of the com row. Every few yards Joshua would
stop, lean on his hoe handle, raise his face to the sky, his lips moving silently. A smile lit
his black face.
"Who ya talkin' to, Josh," my Dad asked
Startled the man answered "Huh? Oh, bless God, jes' talkin' to my Saviour."
Some fifty years later, Joshua's shining witness would help my father to believe in that
same Saviour, and to become a Christian.
My father, Walter P. Brady finished the four grades in the white school on the mountain.
When he was grown and married, he moved back to the Brady house on the hill. I was
the oldest child, just six months of age. My mother was in poor health. Joshua would
often say to his daughters, Belle and Delphia, "Girls, go up and clean Mrs. Brady's house
for her, and do her washin’. She's not well." When that work was done, the girls would
often take me back with them, keeping me the rest of the day, while my mother rested
When I was two years old Joshua died Mother took me to the funeral, and held me in her
arms as she looked down into the white casket. The sight of that black face, surrounded
by white suit and on a white pillow, burned itself into my memory. The weeping, and the
tenseness frightened me, and I began to scream, and Mother had to carry me outside.
Years later, she was amazed to have me ask, "Mommy, did I ever see a black face with
white all around it?" It was my earliest memory.
All the other families, both black and white, had moved away from the poor mountain
farms to find employment in the valley. The railroad had brought coal mining and other
industries, and work was plentiful.
Joshua's youngest son, Bernard developed cancer of the face, and died soon after his
father, with his features horribly disfigured
The girls, left alone with nobody to care for the stock or make the maple sugar, moved to
the city. My family was the last one left of the settlement, finally leaving there about nine
years later.
Joshua had several grandchildren. Two of them became teachers, one in a college and
the other in a large university. Another grandson became a physician.
****************************
That summer day in 1980, as we drove back down the hill by Joshua's old homesite, we
could see only a few square yards of weedy grass left near the cold stream that flowed
from the spring at the edge of the old clearing. Trees, some over two feet across, grew in
the old fields.
And what of the graves where Joshua, Nancy, Dick, Bernard several black children, and
one tiny white baby are buried?. The tombstones are toppled, and almost buried in the
leaves and rotting forest debris. They will probably never be located or visited again.
****************************
171
Should you reach Heaven some day, you will surely see a black face, shining with holy
joy, gazing at the one who said "I am the light," and if you ask, "Who are you looking at,
Josh?" We know his reply, "Oh, bless God, just lookin' at my Saviour."
172
WEST VIRGINIA
DEPARTMENT OF CULTURE AND HISTORY
J O H N D . J O H N D . R O C KE F E L LE R IV , G O V ER N O R
NORMAN L. FAGAN, COMMISSIONER
March 17, 1982
Mr. Troy R. Brady
P. 0. Box 5
Singers Glen, VA 22850
Dear Mr. Brady:
Thank you for sending the "Joshua Green" manuscript. I thoroughly
enjoyed it, but unfortunately will be unable to publish it, at least
in its present form. Although I'm tempted to throw rules aside in a
case like this, your fictionalization will not fit well in our nonfiction format.
However, you do have a powerful story which I'd like to see in GOLDENSEAL,
one way or another. Can you adapt it, dropping some of the more obviously
fictional elements - the reconstruction of dialogue, in particular? I assume
the story is based closely on local legend and family lore, and you might
want to rely on this in rewriting - for example, attributing important points
to legend rather than conveying them through invented conversation.
I think you will find that much of your writing can stand as it is, although
the piece will necessarily get shorter as you telescope conversations down to
a paragraph or two each. This is fine, for our ideal length is about 20
pages. Some parts are already perfect for our purposes, such as the
introduction and the last few pages, where you bring your own family directly
into the story.
This adaptation would not preclude your publication of the fictionalized
version in some other publication, of course.
Thanks also for the 510 contribution, which will certainly place your
name on our mailing list. And do let me know what you think about a
re-write.
Sincerely,
KEN SULLIVAN
Editor,
GOLDENSEAL
KS:ms
THE CULTURAL CENTER / CAPITOL COMPLEX / CHARLESTON, WEST VIRGINIA / 25305 / 304•348•0220
173
Holy Hilarity
Spring, 1983
I hope God has a sense of humor.
There have been hundreds of theological giggles and ecclesiastical belly-laughs to color
the years I pent have spent in the Christian ministry. Some of them came out of my own
experiences; many more were told to me by other pastors. Some of the stories could have
happened to any one in my calling, while others came out of the Appalachian folk stories
of the hill country.
I have often thought of writing down these tales and incidents, but seemingly more
important matters took my time. Now I am convinced that we are living in such times of
tension that demand humor as a basic need
The untimely death of the Rev. Grady Neff, purveyor of the brand of humor I speak
about, and popular with "Hillbilly" fans of "Hee Haw" on television, makes it more
important that some of these stories be set down. I have heard him tell some tales which
started about some of my own acquaintances in the hills of Virginia and West Virginia.
No doubt some of these stories were invented "out of whole cloth" by folk who just
enjoyed "getting one" on the preacher. However, many more of them have a strictly
factual basis.
There will be no strict order in the telling of these anecdotes. Perhaps a kind of historical
order would be appropriate. The Gospel came to the mountain people by many and
devious ways. Some of the earliest came by horseback, riding the steep mountain trails.
The Presbyterians sent out many missionaries to the backwoods, to isolated cabins up
the `cricks and hollers' of my home state. It is told of one such, that he rode up to a
trappers shack, and from the safety of the top of his horse, called out in the manner of
the day: "Hello, the house." A slatternly woman came to the door and called "light,
stranger, and come on in." Once inside, he introduced himself and said, "I'm a
Presbyterian missionary."
"Never heered of one of them."
"Do you have a Bible?" he inquired
"What's that?"
"Well, it's a book. I have some in my saddlebags. I'll give you one."
'Ain't no use. I can't read."
"Are there any Presbyterians about here?"
"Not as I know of. But my man's a trapper, an' if there's any hereabouts, he's probably
caught one. You kin look out on the back of the cabin. He's got all kinds of hides out
that."
Desperately now, "Lady have you never heard of God?"
174
'Hope, can't say as I have. Now, wait a minute. I b'leeve I heard my husband mention
him. Is his last name 'Damn'?"
That is the earliest story as far as history is concerned. My Father told it to me.
"Preacher Bob" was one of the earliest I remember. He had my mother's funeral, in 1921.
He often told of the first time he saw his wife. She came riding up to his father's home,
and called out "Hello." Bob was converted from a wayward life, and that afternoon, he
was lying in the hayloft, well under the influence of alcohol. When his bride-to-be called
out "Hello," he answered back "Hell high!"
I was not a converted Christian myself until I was past 23 years old. My first pastor was
Harry Miller. He told me some of his earlier experiences as a circuit rider. He drove a
two-horse rig, so he could give rides to people walking to his churches. As he drove up to
one home, a small boy said, "Preacher, is both of them horses yours?" "Yes, sonny," he
replied. "That's funny," said the boy. "My Pap said you was just a one-horse preacher."
One Sunday after morning services, he was asked to go home with a family for dinner.
On the way, the man said: "We're having chicken for dinner." Brother Miller boasted
several times about how he liked chicken. When they arrived at the house, the farmer
went to put the horse and buggy away. The pastor took his small son by the hand and
walked out to inspect the place. One of the chickens in the yard staggered and fell, and
then another. Brother Miller said, "Your chickens are sick, aren't they, son?"
"Yep. One died this morning. Ma cooked it for dinner. Pap said the preacher wouldn't
know the difference."
At the table, the father passed the plate of chicken, saying, "Help yourself, preacher.
We've had chicken so much we're tired of it, so eat all you want."
To the man's amazement, the pastor said, "No, thank you. I don't care for chicken."
At another church across the mountain, he used the story as an illustration. He didn't
know that the family who had the sick chickens also had an aunt who was in the
audience, and knew about the pastors refusal. She told that family how he knew, and
the father whipped the boy for telling. Bro. Miller said, "I had a notion to go over there
and whip the father!"
****************************
Brother Miller was noted for his plain speech. When one of his members started keeping
his store open on Sundays, the pastor visited him.
"Well, Brother Miller, you know what the Bible says about the ox falling in the ditch."
"Yes, but if I had an ox that fell in the ditch every Sunday, I'd either shoot the ox or fill
up the ditch, one or the other!"
****************************
One saintly man of God of our Conference was Dr. 7. M. Knight. He was from Tennessee,
and while in college, had a student appointment to preach in a tiny mountain church in
east Tennessee. He reached his appointment by riding the train to Elizabethton. On his
first trip there, a number of students from another college rode with him. One girl
especially interested Dr. Knight, and he conversed with her until they reached the depot
175
in Elizabethton. When he descended the steps, he met an overgrown teen-ager in a straw
hat, too-short overalls and a blue denim shirt. The boy was barefoot. He said, "Be you
the preacher?"
Dr. Knight hustled him around the corner before the students on the coach got sight of
him. The boy led him to a little burro with a saddle, and said, "You ride. I'll lead."
Knowing what a yell would go up from his new friends on the train if he rode from behind
the station on the burro, he kept delaying, hoping the train would pull out. Finally, the
boy said, "We better go, Preacher. We'll be late for church."
Reluctantly he climbed aboard the burro, asked the boy to hand up his suitcase, which
he placed on the horn of the saddle in front of him. He then opened his umbrella and
pulled it down over his ears, hoping he could hide from the group on the train. The boy
led the procession out into the street. The engine was taking on water, and remained
stationary. When the college crowd saw the odd parade, a loud yell and cheer went up
from the coach!
He was led down the long street toward the river. It was Sunday afternoon, and families
were sitting on their front porches, some laughing openly at the sight. When they finally
reached the river, the boy said, "I be lost! I didn't come in this way." and turning back,
they went back up the long street to more laughs from the folk on their porch swings and
rockers.
Dr. Knight knew what humiliation meant.
In those early days, the churches held revivals in the summer time, since the roads were
too muddy in the winter. Dr. Knight started a series of meetings at his little country
church, so small it didn't have side aisles, but pushed the homemade benches against
the wall, leaving a small center aisle. The offering was received in a velvet bag, on a small
hoop on the end of a long pole.
One evening, just in time for the service, a very tall, skinny mountaineer and his
companion came in. The church was almost full, so they were seated on the front pew.
The almost seven-foot man had a large chew of tobacco in his jaw. When offering time
came, the usher started at the back of the room. The young preacher waited in dread
anticipation. When the little velvet bag was thrust under the man's nose, he said, very
loudly: "N--no, thanks, b'leeve I kin holder till I git outside."
Later in the services, the lanky man came forward and knelt at the old-fashioned
mourner's bench. In the congregation was a blind man who had great power in prayer.
He was led up to kneel beside the barefoot fellow to pray for him. He placed his hand on
the seeker's head while he prayed. The amt tired, and he lowered it, encountering the two
bare heels of the seeker. He prayed that the Lord would bless the two "little fellers" who
had come along to the altar with the mountaineer.
****************************
One of the older ministers of the Conference was noted as a glutton. He would eat three
times as much as an ordinary man. At an "All-day meetin' and dinner-on-the-ground," he
ate too much and became deathly ill. He went inside the church building and laid down
on one of the pews. As the men gathered around him, he said, "Brethren, I think I'm
going to die."
"Brother S--, you wouldn't be afraid to die, would you?"
176
"He replied, 'No, but I would be awfully ashamed to!"
****************************
I was pastor of one little chapel at the foot of a mountain. One man, who lived on the top
of the mountain, was an unbeliever. He couldn't talk plainly. He and his wife, Dora,
whom he called "Dodie," never missed a service of a revival. The people at the tiny church
had a childlike faith. I called on one of the brethren to pray, and he prayed, "O Lord take
the Devil out of our community. Take him clean up to the top of Laurel Mountain."
The other man was listening carefully, and he cried out, "Oh, my Dod, don't do dat! Dat's
where me and Dodie wives!"
****************************
The Rev. Millard Floyd tells of a man from the French Creek area of West Virginia, who
was noted for telling funny stories. His name was Dan Jones, a teacher and principal of
high schools. One day he was telling a good one, and his wife said "What do you suppose
the Lord will say to you in heaven with you telling all these stories?"
Dan replied, "Well, I hope he says, "Dan, have you heard any good ones lately?"
Dr. F. H. Capehart was my first Conference Superintendent. He had served on poor
country circuits, where the people would supplement the meager salaries by having
"pound parties" for the pastor's family. My First charge was one of five churches, 58
miles around the circuit. The salary was $340.00 per year, in the hardest years of the
depression.
Dr. Capehart was holding our Quarterly Meeting, and knew of our desperate need of
food. He said "You people get busy and have some pound parties for the preacher." Then,
remembering some of his earlier experiences, he said, "And don't bring him any old
mouldy apple butter, either!"
****************************
Some of the spiritual food Dr. Capehart dished out didn't agree with his congregation,
and he knew it. He illustrated it with a note about one of their own babies, whose
formula made the child ill. Dr. C. said, "I carried that baby for nine months, night and
day."
After the service, his wife said "I'll have you know that I had something to do with
carrying that baby for nine months!"
****************************
The Rev. R. L Clark was our neighboring pastor on the old Harrisville Charge. He was
called upon to preach the funeral sermon for a man who came to one of his churches.
The man was a very evil person, who had no relatives and few friends.
Brother Clark chose as his text Ecclesiastes 8:10: "And I saw the wicked buried, who had
come and gone from the place of the holy, and they were forgotten in the city where they
had so done: this is also vanity."
****************************
177
Another excellent story-teller was the Rev. O. H. Carder. He told of one mother who had
read one morning about a child who had stuffed a bean up its nose and had to have a
doctor extract it. A little later, she told her children, Now, kids, I have to go to the store
for a few minutes. You kids be good and don't stuff any beans up your noses." I hardly
need tell you what happened in her short absence!
****************************
A mentally retarded boy in Carder’s church was often hired to do work about the church
and parsonage. The boy was learning to smoke cigarettes, and they were discouraging it.
A movie show was almost 'tabu' for ministers in those days, but Carder had heard of a
good one, and attended it.
One morning the boy came over and asked if there was any work he could do. The
preacher said "If we pay you, you'll just go buy cigarettes."
The boy replied "I'll smoke cigarettes just as long as the preacher goes to movie shows."
(Not so retarded after all.)
****************************
My good friend the Rev. R. L Brill, of the Virginia Conference, told me several anecdotes
of that area. One had to do with a Brethren preacher from West Virginia who came from
that area to attend a yearly meeting at Elkton, Va. The Brethren practice "Trine
Immersion," baptizing by thrusting the candidate into the water three times.
While the yearly meeting proceeded a heavy rain caused the South River to rise. When
the preacher and his wife tried to ford the stream in their buggy, the current swept them
down river, lodging them against the N. & W. Railroad bridge abutment. A man rode his
horse into the river to rescue them. When he came near, the preacher cried out, "Take
me first! Take me first! I'm afraid of water!"
His wife said disgustedly, "Josiah, you, a Brethren preacher, afraid of water!"
****************************
The Virginia Conference, United Brethren, had one minister who was a tiny man with a
high, squeaky voice. He was sent to Highland County to serve the few rural churches
there. One church had a very high and wide pulpit. The first morning for the new
preacher, he came very early, and sat down behind the big pulpit. Nobody knew he was
there. When time came for the service, he stood on tiptoe behind that big desk and spoke
the words of his biblical text dramatically: 'It is I, be not afraid."
****************************
Bishop W. M. Weekley, a native West Virginian, wrote a small book entitled Twenty Years
on Horseback, or Itinerating in West Virginia. In it he tells many amusing stories. Here is
one he didn't include:
One of the Bishop's early appointments was the old Union Circuit, in Mason County.
Bro. Daniel Hart, a member of Union Church, the oldest church in the Conference, told
his pastor he felt called to preach. Bro. Weekley said "Very well. I am to preach at Vernon
next Sunday night. I may not make it there, or will be very late, so you preach for me."
178
Sunday night, Brother Hart led the service, and then came to the sermon. His text was
Matt. 19:25: "Who then can be saved?" Just as he was ready to read it, his pastor came
in the door at the rear, and stood near the wall. Brother Hart read his text, "Who then
can be saved?" Waiting a little, he read it again, and the third time, "Who then can be
saved?" He stood there, unable to think of a word to say. Finally he said, Brother
Weekley, come up here and tell them about this text. You know more about it than I do!"
Years later, Bishop Weekley was to preach at Union Camp ground, and drove by Dan
Hart's home. Uncle Dan, almost blind, sat in a chair on his lawn. The Bishop called out
from his automobile, "Who then can be saved?"
The aged Daniel Hart answered, "Hello there, Brother Weekley."
****************************
The Rev. H. L Koontz was my predecessor as pastor in Elkins, W. Va. One of his favorite
stories was about a farmer who had been convinced that a prophecy about the Lord's
return was true. When the day came for our Lord's return, the farmer wrapped a white
sheet about him for a robe, climbed the highest hill on his farm to await the Lord's
coming at midnight. To be a bit closer to heaven, the true believer climbed atop a
strawstack on the hill. After an all night vigil, he was very sleepy. Some mischievous boys
had followed the man to the hilltop. When the sun arose, and shone warmly on the
watcher, he fell asleep. The boys set fire to the strawstack.
Upon awakening the farmer cried, "Judgment Da-a-a-y! And me in Hell, just as I
expected!"
****************************
The parsonage at Elkins was near the court house, so ministers living there were often
called upon for weddings. One older man, who had lived with a woman for years and had
several children, stopped to ask if the Rev. Koontz would marry him to the woman, which
he did a few days later.
One day about a year later, Koontz saw the man on the street and asked about the
marriage, which had been forced by their asking for Social Security benefits. The man
said, "I divorced her."
When the minister expressed surprise, the old man said, "She was a damn good woman
till I married her."
****************************
Bro. Koontz was often called upon to conduct funerals for unsavory characters. One
such was for a man who had married, had two children, and then left them for a woman
the Rev. Koontz called a "floozy." The "floozy" infected him with syphilis, and the man
died of it. At the rural chapel, both his wife and the "girl friend" were present.
After the sermon, the wife insisted that the casket be opened, lifted the body in her arms,
and wailed long and loud. The "Floozy" came up and said, "You've had him long enough!
Let me have him a while!"
****************************
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My good friend, the Rev. James Reed, tells of a man who was noted for his stubbornness
and bad temper. He would not go to church, but would take his wife in the buggy and
return for her. One morning he had difficulty hitching the horse to the buggy, grabbed an
axe, and proceeded to cut the spokes out of the buggy wheels. When he was through, his
wife took the axe and did the same thing to his farm wagon. He said, "Why did you do
that?"
She answered, "Same reason you cut down the buggy wheels." It almost cured him. He
kept his temper for almost six months.
He had planted a small patch of oats, and when he cut the oats, it rained an them every
time they were ready to take in. Finally, when they were dry enough, and had blackened
with mildew, he and the boys got them on the wagon, and were ready to start to the
shed. The old man heard it thunder and said, "Huh! Brewin' for another oats patch, are
ye? I'll just fix ye." He struck a match and set fire to the oats, burning up wagon and all.
The boys unhitched the mules from the wagon in time to prevented complete disaster.
He was looking for his hatchet, which the boys had loaned to a neighbor. The more he
looked, the more angry he became. When he was boiling mad, the neighbor boy brought
back the hatchet. He had a 35-foot well, and threw the hatchet down the well, saying,
"Now, damn ya, next time I want ya I'll know where to find ya."
One winter morning he got out of bed barefoot, and was stirring the ashes out of the old
Burnside stove. A red-hot coal rolled out of the stove and lodged between his big toe and
the second one. He just set his foot up on the hearth rim of the stove and said, "Fry, dadbum ye, fry!"
****************************
One story I forgot to include came from the Rev. O. H. Carder. He told me of one wouldbe preacher whose ideas about moving were quite up-to-date. When he was assigned to
the Ben's Run Circuit, second poorest in the state, from the very poorest one, Carder was
curious about his mode of transportation. He could have gone in those days by wagon,
railroad or steamboat. To Bro. Carder's question about how he had moved the man said:
'I didn't have any movin' plunder. Just tied the hounds on behind the buggy and drove
through."
****************************
When Carder was moved from a country circuit to a small station charge, he said "They
thought they were promoting me, but I preached to about four times as many people on
the circuit!"
The folks on the circuit had a farewell party for him. As they were passing in line to
shake his hand and tell him goodbye, one dear sister very tearfully said "Brother Carder,
we hate to see you go.You can't preach a lick, but me love you just the same!"
While in seminary, we had rooms at a home in which the wife was a member of a sect
which taught that a person could be saved, sanctified, and after that experience, could
not possibly sin. But when she became angry at a neighbor, she told her, "I can just lay
my religion down, give you a good going over, and then pick my religion up and put it
back on again!
I was working nights as a watchman at an iron foundry. An old black gentleman worked
there as a janitor. When I told him about what the woman said, he replied, "You know
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what kind of religion I call that. That is "spiggot" religion. You can turn it on and off
whenever you want to."
From Rowtown to Junior
By Troy R. Brady
(From Goldenseal, West Virginia Traditional Life, Volume 10 Number 1, Spring 1984, pp
28-33)
(Someone in Junior told us that this article of Troy's increased the subscription list for the
Goldenseal magazine; that all of the town subscribed for the paper because they wanted
the article. -- E. T. B.)
It all began because of a mid-19th century flood in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. As
tragic as this event was, it had the good effect of sending a strong German family across
the mountains into what later became West Virginia. They put down deep roots there,
and the story of the Row family has been intertwined with the history of the Barbour
County town of Junior ever since.
I learned the early part of the story while my wife and I searched courthouse records for
information about my ancestors. In the town of Woodstock, Virginia, I found the names
of Benjamin Row and Sarah Rinehart in marriage records dated March 4, 1830.
Information is sketchy about the first years of their marriage, but by 1840 they had
acquired four children and about 350 acres of hillside on the South Fork of the
Shenandoah River. The place included a mill and mill dam. The Rows seem to have been
well settled and might have stayed there, had not disaster struck.
It was sometime in the early 1840's that flood waters swept away the mill and dam. The
disheartened Rows sold their land and prepared to move away. Looking for high ground,
"Benny" Row set his eyes on the mountains to the westward. He moved his family across
to the Tygarts Valley and bought about the same amount of acreage in the extreme
southern end of newly created Barbour County.
Benny Row--the old German name was Rau--built a new mill on his new land. Having
seen enough high water, this time he chose to construct an undershot mill which did not
require a large dam; a low wall and mill race directed the water under the wheel.
Benny and Sarah's only son, Andrew Jackson Row, and three sisters grew up in a log
house not far from the mill. Through some whimsy, the Rows had chosen to name their
daughters Julia Ann, Polly Ann, and Mary Ann.
The Rows lived together in the log house they'd built until the children started moving
away. Two left on Christmas Day, 1855, when Andrew Jackson and his sister Julia Ann
were married in a double wedding ceremony to a brother and sister by the name of
Williams. Mary Ann married a Viquesney, from one of three French Huguenot families
who had settled in the growing village. (The other Huguenot families, bearing the names
Elbon and Shomo--the latter from the French "de Chaumont"-later married into the Row
family, as well.) Polly Ann Row married "Uncle Sammy" Latham, an immigrant
Englishman who was noted for his unusually slow manner of speech.
As the only son, Andrew Jackson inherited his father's land and seems to have been the
family leader in the second generation. "A. J." Row was an enterprising man. He started a
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general store in connection with the mill and soon a post office was opened in the store
building. it bore the name "Rowtown," with A. J. Row as first postmaster.
With his father dead and his sisters married, A. J. Row was left to perpetuate the family
name. He had no trouble. He and his first wife, Delilah Williams, produced seven
children. The oldest was a son, William Alva, and the second a daughter, Mary Elizabeth.
She became my grandmother after her marriage to Granville B. Brady of Upshur County.
Delilah Row died in childbirth in 1873, and A. J. later remarried, to a Fitzgerald. They
had three daughters before Row's death in 1905.
The major property again went to the eldest son, with William Alva Row taking over the
family general store upon his fathers death. William Alva's brother, James Benjamin,
also settled in Rowtown. The mill was sold to William Simon, a cousin by his marriage to
one of the Viquesney daughters. Simon moved the mill about a mile up Tygarts Valley
River, to the mouth of Beaver Creek. The family had apparently forgotten old Benny
Row's fear of high water, and a regular mill dam was constructed. Simon operated the
mill at the new site until the 1920's.
Rowtown people were from a mixed religious and ethnic heritage-by the surnames, they
were German, Protestant French, Welsh, English, and Scotch-Irish--but one church
served them all. Called the Coffman Church, it stood on a high sandstone cliff near the
main community. The church was abandoned in the early 1900's and the building
destroyed. Only a well-filled graveyard marks the place today.
The cliff at Coffman Church itself became an important site in the community as a major
regional quarry. The cliff was an outcropping of the Homewood (locally called "Roaring
Creek") sandstone, the hard geologic stratum which makes up most of the canyons and
plateaus of the western Allegheny area. Stone was quarried there for the Randolph
Comity courthouse, for U. S. Senator Henry Gassaway Davis' "Graceland" mansion in
Elkins, and for the culverts on the Western Maryland Railroad My grandfather Brady was
killed in a rock fall at the quarry in 1898.
Quarrying continued as a local industry until about 1900, but was surpassed in
economic importance by the opening of coal mines in the area. Outcroppings of the
Middle and Lower Kittanning coal veins were discovered in the early 1890's. Although the
coal surfaced just below the Row store and post office the family received no direct gain
from mining, for mineral rights had been sold to Senator Davis and associates in old
Benny Row's lifetime. The rights reportedly brought from $5 to $15 per acre. This was an
excellent price at the time, presumably reflecting the fact that Benny Row also gave up
surface land for a coal tipple, coke ovens, and railroad station. He also ceded right-ofway to the new railroad being built down the Tygarts Valley from Elkins to connect with
the Baltimore & Ohio line pushing upriver from Grafton to Belington.
Senator Davis and his partner, son-in-law, and eventual successor in the Senate,
Stephen B. Elkins, owned the railroad as well as the mines, and Rowtown was pulled
closer into the orbit of that powerful industrial family. Davis and Elkins did not own
much of the community itself, however, for Benny Row had shrewdly reserved most of
the surface land. The land was passed on within the family or sold in small parcels to
individuals who would build their own houses and businesses. Thus Rowtown avoided
the uniform drabness of a company town, although it did become an important mining
center.
Rowtown retained its independence during industrialization, but it did lose its name. It
was renamed, in a curious way, for Henry Gassaway Davis, Jr. Young "Harry" Davis, as
the Senator's son and presumed heir, had been put in charge. of the local mines.
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According to a 1964 article in the Charleston Sunday Gazette-Mail, he seems to have
preferred to spend his time elsewhere. "Young Davis did not stay around Rowtown very
long," the article says. "He liked to travel, and in May, 1896, was swept from a ship and
drowned in a storm off the African coast. His body was lost at sea. Rowtown was
renamed in his honor, incorporated as Junior in 1897." According to current Junior
resident Alva Row II, this was at the specific request of the influential elder Davis.
The name change made little practical difference, of course, and the community
continued to prosper in a modest way. A clipping from an unidentified magazine,
datelined "Elkins, West Virginia, November, Nineteen Hundred Six," describes the local
coal operation a little less than a decade after Rowtown became Junior. "The Junior mine
is located within three miles of Harding," the unknown author wrote. "There are 51 coke
ovens with a daily capacity of 100 tons of coke. The mine capacity is 600 tons daily. 100
men are employed and eleven mules are used."
The company, known in 1906 as the Davis Colliery Company, had earlier been called the
Junior Coal Company and--at some intermediate time--the West Virginia Coal & Coke
Company. Benny-Row's land dealings had kept his village from ever becoming a company
town, but there was nothing to prevent the opening of a company store. The mine
operators did just that, putting their Junior Mercantile Company store into direct
competition with the old Row family general store and other local businesses.
Junior reached its zenith during and immediately after World War I. There were seven
grocery and general stores in town at that time, along with two banks. There was also a
millinery and clothing store, operated by a maiden lady named Mary Jane Booth. She
became a legendary character, noted for her blunt speech. Junior was at its most
populous then, and my own earliest memories of the place were formed during these
years.
The Viquesney family ran a bowling alley, which was off limits to many of us, and a
roller-skating rink. The skating rink doubled as a basketball court, and the town had an
excellent team from about 1918 to 1922. Belington High School, some four miles away,
also used this court, since they had no gymnasium until much later.
Junior supported two doctors in its heyday, with Dr. Nelson B. Michaels spending most
of his active life there. The other physician, a Dr. Davis, was there only during the boom
years. My grandmother Mary Elizabeth, the widow of Granville Brady, was the local
midwife, delivering most of the babies in and around town. She called in a doctor only if
the birth didn't go well.
The early families continued to be important in the town's life. For many years all of
Grandma Brady's children lived in Junior. A 1913 photograph shows more than 40 of
them proudly gathered around her. I can recall my parents going down the list of over
700 residents in 1920, and finding that all but three families were related to us by blood
or marriage. In later years those three also intermarried with descendants of Benjamin
Row I.
These people enjoyed the prosperity of a boom town, but they paid a price, as well. Some
suffered industrial accidents, the same as my Grandfather Brady had a generation
before. One of my earliest recollections is of standing above the mine opening as the body
of Benny Row III was hauled out on a mule car. He had been killed in a slate fall.
Prosperity brought other problems, fortunately of a less serious nature. We had our petty
criminal youth, known as the "Midnight Gang." They enjoyed stealing chickens for
roasting over the coke ovens. One member was known as "Cateye," because he could see
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so well inside dark chicken coops, and "Weasel" could slip through small holes when that
skill was called for. Their nighttime work was not always without its pains. One of the
gang caught a load of birdshot in his fleshy backside while going over a fence in West
Junior one night. Dr. Michaels had the job of picking it all out.
Junior was a "dry" town, even before Prohibition and down to the advent of 3.2 beer in
the early 1930's. The thirsty never suffered, however, for the town of Weaver, two miles
east, at one time had as many as seven saloons. The imbibers had to climb a high
intervening ridge, and sometimes came back across in worse shape than when they had
set out.
The drinkers occasionally got into trouble on their way home, and one gang of young
fellows provoked an incident still remembered locally as the "war with Italy." About a mile
east of Junior they had to pass the home of an Italian immigrant family, a farmhouse
surrounded by a waist-high rock wall. Several people inside, doing their own drinking
more quietly at home, were aroused when one of the high spirited young men passing by
discharged his revolver. The immigrants imagined they were being attacked and returned
fire.
About dawn the Italian flag was defiantly raised over the farmhouse, and the boys from
Junior sent for reinforcements. Up to that time the standoff had been more comical than
serious, but events took a tragic turn when one of the besiegers stood up from the back
side of the stone wall to receive a shotgun blast in the face. Doc Michaels had another
job picking shot that day, and the wounded fellow carried the scars for life. With a
casualty on the field, the others sobered up enough to decide they had had enough war
and headed for home.
I'll mention no names in connection with these shenanigans, although a few people may
still remember who Cateye and Weasel really were. Maybe not, since nicknames were so
common in Junior. We generally used them not to conceal identity, but merely to
distinguish among the many people bearing the same or similar names. We had four
Charlie Bennets, I remember, and they became Long Charlie, Short Charlie, Mountain
Charlie, and Post Office Charlie. There were also Knothole Daniels, Pigtail Corley, Taterdigger McDonald, Shilally Moore, Domineck Row, Gig Moore, Fido Moore, Organ Stool
Moore, P. I. Davy Moore, Chumhead Coy, Bevo England, Grinny Cooper, Thistle Thom,
Big Nose Brady, King Brady, and Shakespeare Brady, just to name some of the more
colorful ones.
Mostly, Junior was a peaceful place, with life revolving around the familiar institutions of
small towns anywhere. The old Coffman Church stood to the south of town, and the first
school was a log building on a hill to the east. Its single room was soon overcrowded, and
Barbour County was persuaded to build a two-room school inside town. In 1912 this too
was replaced, by a six-room building which served all eight grades until junior high
students were moved to Belington.
The old names turned up in education as in other areas of community life. Charles
Sbomo was the first teacher at the log school. When the new two-room building was
opened, the Reverend W. J. "Jack" Row was brought on as the second teacher, He was
the grandson of patriarch Benny Row.
Today, Junior has still another school. The last frame schoolhouse has been torn down,
and a new masonry building erected across the river in West Junior. Technically a
separate community until recently, West Junior was once served by its own railroad, but
the old Coal & Coke tracks have been abandoned and taken up. Junior proper is still on
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a rail line, and in more prosperous days as many as seven passenger trains stopped daily
at the Western Maryland depot.
Like the schools, the church moved around, too. The original location was inconvenient
to some worshippers. Spot Williams, great-grandson of Benny Row and keeper of his old
millstones, recounts his own family's experience in this regard. "My mother's first
husband was Grant Williams," Mr. Williams says, "He was a musician and played the
organ at the old church. My mother told me that before the bridge was built, he used to
have to cross the river in a rowboat to come to church." After Grant Williams died, his
widow married his brother, William. They purchased land at the south end of Junior,
across the river.
In 1900, the church itself moved north, into town. The new structure was built on Row
Avenue, Juniors main street. It was intended for a union church for both the Methodists
and United Brethren, but for some reason the deed was registered to the Methodists
alone. Years of bitterness ensued and in 1905 the United Brethren built their own new
house of worship across from the school. Even after the national uniting of the two
denominations in 1965 the two groups still worship separately in Junior, although both
are served by the same pastor. Nowadays the Valley River Church of the Brethren is
located inside Junior, in a church building constructed in 1942. The Row family were all
originally Brethren. The denomination bore the nickname "Dunkards" because they
practiced "Trine" immersion--baptizing by dunking three times, face forward.
In later years, many of the Rows became preachers. One of Benny Row's grandsons and
five great-grandsons took up the ministry. All of them grew up in and around Junior, an
area reputed to' have produced more ministers per square mile than any other place in
the country. Local people had an explanation for it, according to a popular anecdote. A
researcher from West Virginia University asked an area farmer about it, as the story
goes. He caught the farmer working the yellow clay of his field, and the old-timer had a
ready answer for him. "Huh," he is supposed to have said, "Our soil is so durn poor it
won't grow anything but preachers!"
Actually, there were always plenty of others to carry on with more worldly affairs. One of
Mary Row Brady's sons built a waterworks for the village just before World War I,
constructing a large reservoir and burying water mains along most streets. The G. H.
Brady Water Company operated for years before the utility was sold to Frank "Squib"
Shomo, a son-in-law of old Andrew Jackson Row, and G. Frank Row, a grandson. The
mainline pipes were made of wood, unfortunately, which eventually rotted and permitted
pollution of the water supply. For a long time signs at each end of town proclaimed "City
Water Unsafe."
In 1950 Junior and West Junior were incorporated as one town. Decline bad set in after
the mines worked out, in the 1930's. Families had moved away and houses deteriorated,
some to be torn down and others boarded up. But things began to look up with the new
incorporation. A volunteer fire department was formed in 1961, and later that decade
federal funds provided a new water system. The new system was dedicated in June 1970,
with an elaborate funeral for the Unsafe Water signs. Senator Randolph, Congressman
Staggers, and the Elkins Highlanders band were on hand to assist Mayor Bobby
Channell in the procession and burial. Junior was also proud of a new sewer system,
and the community generally had a more prosperous air about it.
The real wealth of a community lies in the perseverance of its people, and in these terms
Junior is rich. The old names are still there. A. J. Row was the first postmaster; his
grandson G. Frank Row held the position for 28 years; and a great-grandson, Eldon
Shomo, is now in the job. Alva Row II now has charge of the family store's original sign. It
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bears the message "Rowtown Store, A J. Row," and less prominently the name of its sign
painter, "Viquesney." These and other families have invested nearly a century and a half
in the town, and as long as they're there the community will survive.
A flood drove the first settlers across the mountains from old Virginia, and it is
significant that their descendants have since survived trials by high water. A major test
came in March 1913 when Junior, like much of West Virginia, suffered a disastrous
flood. It was at the end of winter, and I can recall seeing great chunks of ice coming down
Tygarts Valley River. This time there was no selling out and moving on. Anchoring the
bridge with steel cables and blasting a threatening ice jam with dynamite, the people
stood their ground until the floodwaters had passed. Maybe they were tougher than old
Benny Row in this regard, but that's doubtful. More likely, they just liked the spot he
had picked for them.
Fifty Years Ago
"Mommy, what's a wedding?" "
In the past few weeks I had heard that word "wedding" from adult lips until my curiosity
was beyond control. My mother looked up from busy hands to reply to my question. She
was never too occupied nor too tired to answer a curious child. Her wise and quiet
counsel came to my ears often.
"A wedding, Troy, is what happens when two people like Aunt Loula and her beau decide
to get married. They love each other very much, and they want to have a home of their
own, just like Mama and Papa." A boy of five could find in these few words food for hours
of childish thinking. I went away to ponder their mysterious meanings.
At last the morning came when we were to go to the wedding. Along with sister, who was
three, and "Buster," my year-old brother, I was scrubbed, rubbed and dressed in my very
best. No boy of five ever really enjoyed being bathed and groomed in such a thorough
manner, the one and only time when my mother was not gentle beyond all other women
was when she washed my ears with that awful rough cloth and bittersweet soap! (I still
don't care for 'Palmolive!")
At last we are all ready, and the march "up town" on the cinder sidewalks of a mining
village, breathing air flavored with smoke from manifold coke ovens, takes us to an area
of buildings with false fronts and wide "Store Porches" of heavy planks. Every step of
gritty and noisy progress was painful to me, for I had on my new shoes for this formal
occasion. "Knee pants" which buckled about the leg above the joints they honored with
steel buckles and strips of cloth, were so tight that circulation was even hindered. They
were "bloused" down over the tops of black ribbed cotton stockings. A 'Buster Brown"
collar and loosely tied flowing tie of black sateen completed my torture outfit, and helped
to indelibly fix this wedding of fifty years ago in my mind.
Crossing the long bridge over the river was always an unparalleled adventure. Crossing
the tracks past the railroad station, where Western Maryland engines, puffing and
hissing menacing white steam, discharging passengers and packages, and receiving
daring adventurers aboard, we finally came to the bridge. What fun to step carefully over
inch-wide cracks in the plank floor! After all, one just might slip through in spite of all
Mommy's reassurances. The water, some fifteen feet below, was a poisonous red from
sulphur discharged from the mines, gradually clearing as we approached the western
side, where upstream flow prevailed. Another railroad crossing, the "Coal and Coke" and
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we were at the foot of the long hill straight ahead up Bridge Street to the very end. Even
this was not too tiring today! Sharp sun and burning blue of mid-autumn in the
Alleghenies made any hour of that October day an adventure to a boy of five years.
This must really be an occasion! Mommy is leading the way to the front gate in the
whitewashed paling fence around Grampa's yard. On ordinary visits here we went in at
the side gate, and up to the kitchen door. I could never understand why Grampa had
such heavy weights on the yard gates! They came shut with a sharp snap, almost like a
small firecracker, and woe to the heels of a small boy who did not move quickly inside to
escape the malicious jaws of this sinister trap, erected by unfeeling adults!
Up the front steps to the veranda with its amazingly round posts--"Jus' like a tree, on'ey
rounder!"-and painted a powdery white which always came off on the dark clothes of
unwary little boys dressed in their Sunday best. How I loved to lock my fingers around
their slippery sides and swing back at arm's length! And what dreaded scoldings that
white paint chalk had brought in times past!
Inside now, to Gramma's parlor, with its fancy printed carpet, (How very rich Grampa
must be!) and with walls hung about with deep dark frames fencing the stern visages of
sundry ancestors. These anguished souls, their lips compressed in the agony of "posing
for a picture", never failed to give the child a feeling of strange pity! How strictly those
post-bellum artists of the black cloth and flash powder era must have required suffering
to be registered on the faces of every subject they portrayed!
Lots of people here! There's Uncle Andy! (Wonder why some people call him "Bill Nye"?
Wish I knew why.) There's some of Great Uncle Asie's family from over at the Big Store in
town ("A. L. Matthews & Son, Gen. Mdse.") Some strange people here too! Suddenly selfconsciousness overcomes me so strongly it is actually painful! ("Don't be bashful, little
boy, what's your name? What d'you call him, Bergia? And the baby? You mean he's
actually a year old, and you haven't named him yet?")
Suddenly the "Preacher" is in the room, and all is hushed and still. I am very quiet, too
awed by my very first real life look at striped trousers and Prince Albert mat! (Jus' like on
Louie Thornhill's tobacco cans. Louie lives at my other Gramma's house.) Doubly
familiar, too, from the pages of our carefully cherished "Gummery Ward Catalog."
I was seated by fate for this austere occasion. It was on an old fashioned footstool or
hassock, a black and slippery hilltop of patent leather. It had springs so firm that I
couldn't possibly dent them to make a secure seat for my tiny backside. Each moment on
this precarious perch became one of mortal dread! "What if I slide oft?" My feet barely
touched the floor. With hands tightly pressed to the slippery sides, I strained desperately
to prevent tiny, yet to me tragic toboggan down one or the other sides of my treacherous
throne of torture!"
"What a long wedding! Wish I was outside!" Suddenly there came an awareness which
made my misery manifold! The urgency of that moment brought cold sweat to an
unusually warm brow. Head and eyes dropped in an agony of anticipation. "I jus' have to!
I gotta go! I can't wait! I know I'll wet my pants! Why don't they hurry? Do I dare to slip
out right now?"
Even in my misery I am awed at what happens next. There are tiny sighs, cleared
throats, and even a suppressed giggle from one of Uncle Asie's girls. I lift my eyes, and
even I know it isn't proper for Aunt Loula to be kissing that man right before all those
people!
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Finally there is blessed confusion! Someone sobs gently, there is much kissing and
hugging, to my disgust, and some handshaking among the men. In the wake of this
melee', I escape to the kitchen and out the door. I moved quickly down the steps past the
wash house to the flagstone walk under the grape arbor. But it's such a long way out to
the little building we call "The Closet"! I realize that I will never get that far without
tragedy, so I do the forbidden thing! I slipped through the vines to the back of the wash
house and found timely relief! Looking up into the vines, I saw the purple gleam of a few
leftover Concord grapes missed in the September gathering. Their sweet juices added
another unforgotten memory to a day "fifty years ago."
I came to one deliberate and weighty conclusion while there by the grape arbor:
weddings are pretty dull affairs!
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Afterword
In Loving Memory of My Grandparents
Just a quick note to all –
The three books, what I affectionately refer to as “The Brady Trilogies”, which are titled
“Reclaimed Memories”, “Kinfolk” and this book, “Pop Troy’s Anthology”, are as close to
the originals as I could make them. Please note that some of the page numbers referred
to may not coincide with the page numbers in this document.
What inspired me to do this came about as I was taking my part in remembering Mother
Brady, during her Memorial Service, but doing so from California. Last year, when I
learned that she was failing in health, and it looked like she wouldn’t be with us much
longer, I made a decision.
I knew that my next return trip to Florida would be for her, so I decided that instead of
returning for a funeral, I returned to spend a week seeing her for the last time. And I was
able to spend her 95th birthday with her, and all of our family as well. That was in
September last year.
Back in California, during her memorial service taking place in Florida, I picked up her
book, “Reclaimed Memories” and started to read it from the beginning. Not having done
so before, I became so engrossed, simply because I had been to many of the places
spoken of, and I have the special memories of having lived with them during my early
teenage years (13-14) in Singer’s Glen. I read non-stop to the end of the book. That took
two days.
That is when I decided to start this project.
Those memories are some of the most cherished memories of my life. As a belated gift to
them, I have decided to convert all of the books to digital format, since only a few actual
copies were printed. Now these works can be passed down for eternity. I will be
publishing this on CDrom, hopefully by Xmas of this year (2003).
Some parts, like this one, will be published on the Internet.
The final works will probably be in a “Web” browser format, with enhancements and
links to other cross-references and photos of the many “monuments, landmarks and
beautiful countryside” spoken of that are not contained in the original works. This is for
those that have not had the chance to visit these places, and to add to the experience of
being with them in spirit.
I hope you enjoy this, and the following books when I am finished. It is a walk down
memory lane........
Robert Martin Brady
Son of Howard Landis, Grandson of Troy Robert & Elizabeth Thrash Brady
If you have any comments, questions, etc., or would like to receive a copy of the
CDrom when its finished, email me at: [email protected] or write to me at,
38545 35th Street E, Palmdale, CA 93550
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