“You’re putting me on, right?”

“I’m telling you the truth. I want you to send out a letter to all the pastors telling them that from now on, I am their lord and I will give them instructions on how to do their job.”

“And how long have you had these delusions?”

“Ever since I got that letter from Pastor Sam Hickson over at Calvary-Industrial Church fussing at me because I was not at the community prayer walk he scheduled that Saturday a couple of weeks ago. He was really blistering.”

“Yeah. I thought it was a little over the top.”

“Over the top! He was banishing me to the nether regions because I didn’t buy into his agenda.”

“I don’t think it was that bad. And it wasn’t just you.”

“Well, I don’t mean I’m taking it personally, like he was attacking just me. I assume he sent the letter out to all the pastors.”

“You’re the third one this week who says he’s gotten the letter. The others feel about like you do.”

“So, what are you going to do about it? You’re the director of missions!”

“Let me make a note of that.”

“You know what I’m saying. You need to do something about Sam. He’s ruining the fellowship of the pastors and besides, think of the presumption of what he did–schedule an event and then make it a matter of loyalty whether we show up or not.”

“I don’t plan to do anything. I’m not his Lord. And, frankly, you’re not either. Let’s let the Lord take care of him.”

“Well. I guess so. It just ticked me off is all.”

“Bobby, do you have a few minutes?”

“Sure. What do you have in mind?”

“There’s another pastor in our association I’d like to get your input on.”

“Another loose cannon, huh? Shoot. What’s up with this one?”

Continue reading →

Gary Pearce was “the” personality on the campus of Mississippi College at Clinton, MS, in the early 1970s. He knew everyone’s name and never met a stranger. When he walked into a room, he filled it up–in every way conceivable. I was one of the ministers at his church, the First Baptist Church of Jackson, and that’s more or less how he became one of our sons.

During those three years, from 1971 through 1973, Margaret and I “adopted” four college students as our own. Three were boys–Bill Garrett of Harrisville (he used to say he was from “Hot Coffee”), Tom Hearon of Memphis, and Gary Pearce of Baton Rouge–but the fourth outshone them all: Mary Baronowski of Sardis. Looking back from this vantage point 35 years later, I wonder how we chose so well.

Bill Garrett went to Hollywood and did lots of things before dying of a heart attack in his 50s. Tom Hearon married Bonnie and they became Southern Baptist missionaries to Brazil and then Italy. These days, they work for the International Mission Board in the personnel department, based out of Nashville. More about Gary Pearce in a moment.

Mary Baronowski married Steve Smith and they became the kind of church members every pastor would give his right arm for. They belong to Istrouma Baptist Church in Baton Rouge, where she teaches college students, gives piano lessons, and serves as prayer leader for the association. I’ve told Tom and Gary–but don’t plan to tell Mary–that she is probably the finest Christian woman any of us will ever know. (We will now see if she reads this blog.)

Gary Pearce is married to Caty and they live in the Hammond-Independence area. Gary is the senior chaplain at the Dixon Correctional Institute in Jackson, Louisiana. He still has that infectious joy-in-the-Lord and the incredible attitude. Even when he went through a partial foot amputation from diabetes a couple of years ago, nothing slowed him down. He is so unbelievable.

And would you believe, Gary is a cartoonist. The newspaper in that part of the world–I’ve forgotten exactly which one–runs his drawings on a regular basis and soon they will be included in their on-line edition. He says he inherited it from his “dad.” I will happily take all the credit.

I had a letter from Gary this week, which prompted me to tell you about him. The letter was sent to the people on his mailing list because, frankly, he needs our help in his prison ministry.

Continue reading →

1) If you enjoy Bible study or will be teaching Romans anytime this year, we’d like to encourage you to stop by www.joemckeever.com and look at the three offerings inside the “Features” box: the cartoons on Romans, “10 Things to Know about Romans,” and a chapter-by-chapter analysis called “Getting a Handle on Romans.” You might find some help there.

Today, Wednesday, we put a few more cartoons in the mail to Marty who will be posting these with the Romans group. We plan to add some more in the next week or ten days, so stop by later to see if there’s anything you can use.

Also, as I learn more about Romans from continuing to study it and from teaching it, I’ll be coming back into these articles and tweaking them, adding insights, changing anything I’ve learned more about, and refining the English. (Not too much on that last point. Hey, I’m from off the farm in Alabama and you should expect only so much.)

So, where will I be teaching Romans? Here’s the schedule. You’re welcome to drop in for any that are near you.

Thursday, January 10 – We’ll do a two-hour preview of Romans twice at our Baptist Center, 2222 Lakeshore Drive, New Orleans. In the morning from 9 to 11 am and that evening at 6:30 pm. This is primarily for pastors, but anyone is welcome. (My cell phone is 504/615-0149. Call if you need directions.)

January 14-16, Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday mornings from 10 to noon at Oak Park Baptist Church, 1110 Kabel Drive, in the Algiers section of New Orleans. Pastor Bobby Stults says this is primarily for the senior adults who don’t like to get out at night, but you’ll surely be welcome.

January 18-19, Friday night (6:30 to 9 pm) and Saturday (8 am to noon), also at Oak Park Baptist Church. This is for everyone else.

January 20, Sunday, through Wednesday night, January 23, at Rocky Creek Baptist Church, Lucedale, Mississippi. Contact that church for the exact schedule. Note: We’ll not have a Tuesday night session; I’ll be speaking at the annual associational men’s banquet at the same church. Jimmy Holcomb is the Associational Director of Missions. He can give you directions or information: jimmy@ggbaptist.com.

2) We had gridlock in New Orleans today.

Continue reading →

Two or three years ago, having heard that my Dad needed a new large-print Bible, I drove across town to the Lifeway Christian Store and purchased him one. Of course, it was the King James Version, the only kind he had ever known.

I wrote his name in the front and added this: “In appreciation for the Bible you bought me for Christmas, 1948.”

In presenting it to him, I said, “Dad, I want you to do me a favor. Mark it up. When you read something you particularly like, underline it or write in the margin.” That was a new thought to him.

Dad grew up in the generation that was taught not to mark in Bibles. That’s why the Bible which belonged to his mother, my Grandma Bessie, who died in 1982, and which Bible I own, has very few notes in the margin. She was such a godly woman with excellent insights; I would have loved for her to have marked that Bible up.

On November 3, 2007, at the age of 95 years and 7 months, my dad went to Heaven. The next day, when I arrived, one of my sisters handed me the Bible. “Pop wanted you to have this back,” she said.

There on the presentation page where I had lettered his name and written my appreciation, he had added, “At death, give back to Joe.”

A word about his handwriting. For a man with only a 7th grade education, and a lifelong coal miner at that, Pop’s writing style was impressive. He used to tell us how the schools in his childhood taught classical penmanship to the students. He would hold the pen in a certain way and move his hand around in circles. “We practiced these exercises until we learned to write well,” he would say.

The other morning, two months after Dad’s death, when I remarked to Mom about his notes in this Bible, she said, “Even at the last, he still had this beautiful handwriting.”

Continue reading →