Sometime during the early morning hours of Thursday, November 9, Homer Hailey fell asleep in Jesus, peacefully in his bed at home in Tucson, Arizona. Although 97 years old, he continued to study and to write until the very end. Hailey is known worldwide for his commentaries on the Minor Prophets, the Gospel of John and other biblical books, and he lives on in the hearts of tens of thousands who studied Bible at his feet from 1934-1973 at Abilene Christian University and Florida (Christian) College. One of my own greatest blessings was studying under Brother Hailey for three years at Florida … [Read more...]
‘LITTLE GRANNY’ GOES HOME
It was an eventful year, 1912. The Titanic sank, New Mexico and Arizona joined the Union, Juliette G. Low founded the Girl Scouts of America, Woodrow Wilson was elected President of the United States. And in Wartrace, Tennessee, Kate and Frank Taylor welcomed their firstborn -- a daughter they named Celia Baldwin Taylor. She grew up to marry Jamie Locke of Leiper's Fork, Tennessee, to whom she gave a daughter, Sara Faye, now my wife of 42 years. As mother, grandmother and mother-in-law, Celia was surely among the best anywhere. We called her "little Granny." She lived 97 years, three months … [Read more...]
ROBERT SHANK (1918-2006)
I have just learned of the passing of Robert Shank, 88, who died peacefully at his home in Mount Vernon, Missouri on October 16, 2006, ten days after suffering a debilitating stroke. His death concluded an earthly pilgrimage of humble conviction and quiet scholarship, bringing to an end more than 60 years of faithful ministry as a Christian pastor, preacher, author, lecturer and teacher. Following in the footsteps of his Baptist minister father, Shank himself began pastoring Southern Baptist churches in 1941, also serving as teacher and president of a Bible academy. The same year marked his … [Read more...]
LIFE NOW AND FOREVER
This final week of 2004 has seen what is perhaps the largest natural disaster in the world's history, following an earthquake under the Indian Ocean more than 740 miles long and having the force of a million atomic bombs. The quake, which jolted the earth's rotation, spawned monster waves called tsunamis which swept across the Indian Ocean, killing (says the Associated Press) more than 44,000 people in eleven countries from Thailand to Somalia. Human life is fragile and precious, in the big picture and in our individual cases. Immortality is Christ's accomplishment and the Christian's hope. … [Read more...]
BILL LOVE — ASLEEP IN JESUS
Bill Love, known to many gracEmail subscribers around the world, died peacefully in his bed on Friday, April 30, 2004, following about two weeks of hospitalization and hospice care at home. Bill was preaching minister at the Bering Drive Church of Christ in Houston, Texas from 1974-1996 where he was my family's preacher and dear friend from 1982 onward. Bill suffered a stroke in 1998 that left him paralyzed on one side and unable to speak or to write. He also suffered for many years from congestive heart failure. Despite these infirmities, Bill set a valiant example of courage and faith, … [Read more...]
DEATH, BE NOT PROUD
(This gracEmail summarizes remarks I gave on March 26, 2002 at Mason {Ohio} Christian Village Chapel at the memorial service for my stepfather, Joseph Dewhirst of Morrow, Ohio. These thoughts come from the story in John 11 of Jesus raising his friend Lazarus from the dead.) 1. Death is inevitable. Mary and Martha both tell Jesus, "If you had been here, my brother would not have died" (v. 21, 32). The truth is that Lazarus might not have died then, but he would have died sometime. Ecclesiastes tells us that there is a time to be born and a time to die. From the moment we are born, we are … [Read more...]
