“Every dog has its day."

“Every dog has its day." The meaning of the quote in our current era is simple. It means everyone gets a chance eventually; or that everyone is successful during some period in their life. Well, I'm here to tell you that this dog has probably had more than his share of being in the spotlight.

One of the things many friends find strange in me is that I have never been motivated by money. Now don't misunderstand. I did not say I did not want, need or seek financial gain. I did and still do. For good or ill money in many ways makes a large part of our world go round. Simply put, you need it to survive. You don't need as much as some folks seem to think and it is a poor measuring rod for a successful life unless you adhere to the philosophy that "he who die with the most toys (money) wins."

Let's take an aside here and affirm the truth of the Biblical statement, "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil" (I Tim 6:10). I do not suggest that all who make the goal of their lives the pursuit of wealth are in some way evil. That hinges largely on that for which they pursue the wealth. Is it so that they may have the means to in some way make the lives of less fortunate people better or is it to continually feather their own nest. I suggest that the former is an honorable pursuit of wealth while the later is fraught with danger easily leads to a wandering from the faith and piercing themselves with many griefs as well as those in need.

As I said, I was and still am not motivated by money. Truth be told, when I look back on my life it has been motivated by purposeful tasks . . . namely, the task at hand. I also believe that is what drives most people, even those who accumulate great wealth. Often that wealth is the byproducts of successfully completing a task. But not all of life's purposeful tasks give a monetary bonanza. Indeed, most of the things I invested my life in had absolutely no financial return for me.

In fact, there was so little monetary return in what I have invested my life that I might achieve Wesley's goal of  dying with leaving a pittance of coin behind. In 1744 Wesley wrote, "When I die, if I leave behind me ten pounds . . . you and all mankind [may]bear witness against me that I have lived and died a thief and a robber.”  I am in no danger here.

What I failed to notice until my life's pace slowed and I had the opportunity to be reflective was how long and wonderful a day this old dog has had. We sometimes get so wrapped-up in the Tapestry God is weaving that we forget to look a the images he has woven into our particular tapestry. We are so busy with His weaving that we, pardon the cliche, can't see the forest for the trees.

Many years ago I had a wonderful man who happened to be one of my Deacons in the very first church I pastored. His name was Howard Zimmerman and among his many virtues was the joy he got from using rocks to demonstrate that we all have an inner beauty that can only be seen when we go through life's trials. After demonstrating the ugliness of a whole Geode or rock he'd then produced one that had been cut in half revealing its inward beauty. He'd often do so while quoting the words to a  Bill Gaither song, "He'll make something beautiful of your life."  I believe that.

Now I look back at the journey I have been on and I rejoice in what the Lord has done. He took the son of an auto mechanic raised in a home that barely survived financially and He lifted him up higher than the mountains. He called my to labor in His vineyard and said trust me when I say the workman is worthy of his hire. Along the way as Andre Crouch would write we have had many tears and sorrows and there have been those days when we didn't know which way to turn or what to do. But we learned that in every single one of life's situations God gave grace and consolation that what we were doing was for His glory. Through it all, I've learned to trust in Jesus, I've learned to trust in God and I've learned to depend upon His Word.

This for me is so true that today even the darkest moments of my life bring joy to my heart as I reflect on how God has worked His will in my past life and in my present so that I have confidence in my future life. I have experienced what the Psalmist described when he said, "For he hath delivered me out of all trouble: and mine eye hath seen his desire upon mine enemies." But more than that he has filled my heart with unspeakable joy for the blessings of which He has allowed me to be a part and receive.  In many way He has made my crooked places straight and my rough places plain.

Who would have ever thought that the son of a auto mechanic would hold three advanced degrees including a terminal degree; to travel the world; meet and work with His people in far away places; be the under shepherd to his people for 34 years; and to preach His Gospel for almost 50 years now.

But the amazing thing is that while He was using all those experiences and people to weave the tapestry of my life He was at the same time using my life to weave the tapestry of the lives of those who touched my life at some point. Such an amazingly great God we serve.  Each of those lives, your, mine, all of us is amazingly similar but equally amazingly different.

Nothing in life has gripped me with greater joy than the truth that God loves to show his Godness by working for me and through me. Along the way he has taught me that not only that his working for me is always before and under and in any working I do for him. I also know that what He has done for me He not only can and will do in you but is doing so as you read this. 

Some of us have trials dark on every hand and find it hard to understand the path God has chosen for us as we travel to the promised land. Others seem to be blessed on every hand and are amazed at the path God has chosen for them. However, for most of us it is a mixture of joy and sadness; trail and triumph; stumbling along life's path and running with the wind; turmoil and peace; and gain and loss.  In every situation we often do not understand all the ways God would lead us to the blessed Promise Land.  But rest assured if we are faithful unto death what we may not understand now we will one day fully comprehend.

God is always faithful to you so be faithful to Him. He is doing something wonderful in your life through every experience and person who He brings into your life. I have come to see clearly, as only one who has lived long, just how true is Romans 8:28 where Scripture declares that, "We we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." I really do thank God for all those who have both supported me and those who have opposed me over the years. I appreciate the roll those who blessed my life have played as well as those who sought to hurt me played.  I give thanks for those who shared my visions and dreams and for those who didn't understand them or agree with them.  You see, they were the tools God has used to make me who I am and along the way I have been privileged to know some of the finest people in the world . . . . literally around the world.

 

I have said all this to say that as you pursue your life goals and seek to bring all your aspirations to fruition God is at work shaping your life and using it to touch others. John Donne got it so right when he said, "No man is an island entire of itself." Each life touches another and each life is changed by that touch. While all these touches have an impact to a greater or lessor degree on our lives there is one touch that is essential because it changes us at our core and that is the touch of the Master's (Jesus) hand.  As Bill Gaither said in his signature song, "Then the hand of Jesus touched me, and now I am no longer the same."

We are so blessed, by the gifts from Your hand
Just can't understand why You loved us so much.
We are so blessed, we just can't find a way or the words that can say
Thank You, Lord, for Your touch.

We are so blessed by the things You have done,
The vict'ries we've won and what You've brought us through.
We are so blessed, take what we have to bring,
Take it al everything, Lord, we bring it to You.

 

When we're empty You fill us 'til we overflow
When we're hungry You feed us, and cause us to know.
We are so blessed, take what we have to bring,
Take it all, everything, Lord, we love you so much.

 

 

 

The Battle is Over, The Victory is Won so Onward and Upward Christian Soldier: Clyde H. Thompson

These days I seem to be saying farewell to many of the people in my life who played a significant roll in shaping who I am both as a person and as a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This week I have said farewell to another, Clyde Thompson. 

If one is interested in his life you can read the summary found in his obituary.  Suffice it to say that in his 91 years he demonstrated himself to be a loving husband, caring father and committed Christian. Everything he undertook to do he did with faith and energy. No one felt joy as energetically as he and no one carried a burden with more grace. He became a part of our family through marriage and in our minds has been one of us ever since. 

In 91 years he accumulated so many life experience the telling of which are often legendary. His simple straightforward concern was genuine and heartfelt. He was touched by the needs people had both spiritually and physically. He often used a sack of groceries to open the door in a heart for the gospel.  

He was a patriot serving the country by helping man a PT boat during WWII. He could have and should have written his own “PT-109.”   

In forty years of full-time ministry he pastured only three churches. His first church was was FBC in Beasley, Texas. Then when the mission in Lomax was constituted as the First Baptist Church of Lomax he became its founding pastor. Finally he spent the last 24 years as pastor of the Garden Road Baptist Church in Pearland, Texas. I should note for accuracy that before the church moved to Pearland it was called the Minnetex Baptist Church. In a sense he ended his active ministry pretty much where it started at Lomax.

However, I digress from what I want to share about Clyde Thompson. I first met Clyde when I was a student at Pasadena High School shortly after I had surrendered to the preaching Ministry.  A group of us young preacher “going to be’s” had formed an informal school of prophets. We’d travel from church to church to hear some of the prominent preachers of our day or in support of one another when some pastor would let one of us fill their pulpit. 

Clyde often would use one of us to preach on a Sunday night when he was in Lomax. It was on one of these occasions in the early 1960’s that I met Clyde Thompson. And our journey together began.  

Clyde Thompson was a young preacher’s best friend. He not only gave us a chance to practice our preaching he was always encouraging and uplifting. In fact, his influence was such that when I was pastor of the Highland Park Baptist Church in Kilgore in the early 1970’s I invited Clyde to preach the first revival service I had while there.  In turn, I preached what might have been the first revival services that the Garden Road Baptist Church held in their first building when it was brand new. That revival led to me becoming the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Lomax in the mid 1970's.

My point is only this . . . many a young preacher owes Clyde Thompson a debt for allowing them to develop and hone their preaching skills in the churches where he served as pastor. I large part of his legacy is not just the people whose lives he touched as their pastor and friend. It also includes the hundreds and thousands of lives touched through the ministries of those of us who he gave the opportunity to learn, yes I said learn, the art of preaching by actually preaching a real sermon in a real worship service and extend a real invitation to receive Christ. He knew we were novices yet he took a chance and trusted his beloved church family to us so we could gain the experience we’d need in the days ahead as ministers in a Baptist church. Such was his love and faith.  

His obituary says, “His legacy of love is vast, and words are not enough to express all he did for his Lord, family, friends, and people in general” and that is certainly true but to those of us with whom he shared his pulpit his legacy is still being recorded as we continue.

There is so much more that I could say as the lives of the Thompson family and our family became intertwined over the years. There have been moments of joy and days of sorrow; there have been times of laughter and hours of weeping; and there have been days spiritual mountain tops and plenty of valleys.  I believe it can all be summed up in the words of Andre Crunch’s song “Through it All”  . . .  

I've had many tears and sorrows,
I've had questions for tomorrow,
there's been times I didn't know right from wrong.
But in every situation,
God gave me blessed consolation,
that my trials come to only make me strong.

I've been to lots of places,
I've seen a lot of faces,
there's been times I felt so all alone.
But in my lonely hours,
yes, those precious lonely hours,
Jesus lets me know that I was His own

I thank God for the mountains,
and I thank Him for the valleys,
I thank Him for the storms He brought me through.
For if I'd never had a problem,
I wouldn't know God could solve them,
I'd never know what faith in God could do

Chorus
Through it all,
through it all,
I've learned to trust in Jesus,
I've learned to trust in God.

Through it all,
through it all,
I've learned to depend upon His Word.