Reflections From a Life of Ministry

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Unlike many preachers, I didn’t go to Bible college right out of high school. In fact, I was not converted until I was thirty-one years of age, following military service, a couple of secular jobs, and a wife and two sons. As a result, I did not have professors and older preachers as mentors. I learned much from others who were near my own age. 

For example, from Dean Mills I learned multi-tasking was necessary to earn the right to be heard. I recall a conversation we had one time after hearing a speaker. I had stated I thought it was a good sermon, well-organized, and well-delivered. In reply he said, “I like to see something from a man when he’s not in the pulpit as well as when he is preaching.” That was a thought-provoking statement for me, one that made sense, and on which I have reflected many times. 

George Faull was another in my age group from whom I learned. As I listened and conversed with him it became apparent he wasn’t satisfied with the surface meaning of a text. In his preaching, he always shared things missed by most others. He would go deep and dig out the nuggets of truth missed by many who were merely looking for a sermon outline. That caused me to dig deeper myself. Again, I learned a lot from one of my peers. 

As I said before, I came to Christ as a married man with two sons. Glen Wheeler baptized me, and within a month or so of my becoming a Christian, an elder, Joe Shenault, created a defining moment in my new life. He taught a men’s class called “Everyman’s Bible Class.” At the close of his lesson one Lord’s Day, he said, “We will have a guest teacher next week; Denny Coburn will be teaching.” My mind visited planets that had not yet been discovered! When I went to him to beg off, he would have none of it. He handed me a lesson book and told me to read a certain chapter and come back the next week and tell the men what I learned. Then he simply walked off. 

That began my teaching experience, and in less than a year they made me Sunday School Superintendent. I didn’t know what one of those was supposed do. When I asked the elders what my responsibilities were, I was simply told, “Develop a Sunday School program; you’ll figure it out.” I was beginning to think Christianity consisted of causing new converts to have heart attacks! Looking back, it appears that the uncomfortable times in life are defining moments. Right away I was experiencing the reality that Jesus didn’t call us to easement.  

Glen began to “farm me out” to congregations whose preachers were on vacation. The first time I told him, “I can’t preach,” he replied, “You do it every Sunday morning as you open the Sunday School. When you are supposed to make announcements, you start preaching.” He was referring to my need to share what I was learning about Christ. As the Director of KYOVA Evangelistic Association, he recommended me to be the founding minister of a new church in Gallipolis, OH. As a result of being thrust into ministry so quickly after my salvation, I made many mistakes, too many to list here. However, I spent twenty-nine years there as the “interim preacher.” I grew as the congregation grew. 

I didn’t know anything about sermon development, and preaching twice every week was difficult, so I bought a book entitled Preaching without Notes. I forgot the author’s name and have since lost the book, but it helped a lot in showing how to organize a sermon.i However, I still use notes because these days I can hardly remember my home address! It helps to read books pertaining to preaching, because regardless of how long a person has preached, there is still much to learn. 

Looking back at a few of my mistakes, I can see I was too legalistic on things that didn’t matter in the long run, and I spent too little time on things that affected the church over time. I guess maybe I was trying to get people to “clean up” their lives before coming to Jesus, rather than allowing Jesus to do the cleaning. Any Bible student knows that is backwards, but I was still learning at the time. Over the years, I have learned to be more patient, allowing others to get to know and enjoy God’s saving grace for themselves. My responsibility was to teach it, not to enforce it. 

I’m glad I came to the saving knowledge of Christ in a Restoration Movement congregation. Later in my ministry, I was given the privilege of teaching at the Tristate Preachers Meeting. I taught the principles of the movement. At the end one of the preachers asked, “Just what is the difference between John Calvin and Alexander Campbell? They both started movements.” I was happy to reply it was John Calvin who wrote a five-volume set called The Institutes in which he taught what the readers should believe, such as that man is totally depraved; there are no conditions for salvation, which is limited by predestination; salvation can’t be resisted; and that one cannot be lost. I was able to add that, on the contrary, Alexander Campbell taught simply to read the Bible to form our faith, which contradicts all Calvin had to say. 

I love all the Word of God, but one of my most encouraging New Testament passages is Romans 7:15ff where I learned two things from the Apostle Paul. One is that, even as an apostle, he still had as his greatest struggle the battle against sin, and secondly, that if we are not struggling with sin, perhaps we have made peace with it. It is comforting to know that fighting against sin is a good thing and to not struggle is an indication of surrender to it. 

It is a privilege to be a preacher of the Gospel, and I can honestly say I have never taken for granted the privilege I have to do that. To me, preachers, even if unappreciated, still have the highest calling in the world. My thoughts are the same as that of the preacher/president James A. Garfield, who after being elected President of the United States, said he had “stepped down from the pulpit to the presidency.” I believe every preacher and congregation should have this high opinion of this honored station in life of helping themselves and others prepare for the next life.