It's no secret that there are signs that the Lord is coming soon, but Christ Himself also said "Occupy until I come" which means stay busy in His service.
Before I enrolled at Southwestern in 1985, I heard someone say, "If I knew that the Lord would return in ten years, I would spend at least half that time at seminary because I would be more productive with the remainder of time by my time spent in seminary."
It is the same
principle found in the Bible: The Bible says, “If the iron be blunt, and he do
not whet the edge, then must he put to more strength: but wisdom is profitable
to direct.” – (Ecclesiastes 10:10).
Another adage
comes from a woodsman who was asked, “What would you do if you had just five
minutes to chop down a tree?” He answered, “I would spend the first two and a
half minutes sharpening my axe.”
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| Thomas Calvin and Laura Kuykendall |
He came to Christ
at the age of 21 and after reading the Bible for three days and nights he was
baptized. From then on, his life began to change. He was called to the ministry
and felt the need for an education more than ever. He enrolled in the THIRD
GRADE at Poolville schools, advancing rapidly and soon received his teaching
certificate. As my grandmother told it, he then taught some of the same kids
who first laughed at a grown man attending an elementary school.
He taught school
for many years in Wise and Parker Counties and eventually moved with his wife
and children to Waco where he attended Baylor University for theological
training. Unfortunately, his wife, pregnant with my grandmother, contracted
German measles and he was forced to return to Parker County in 1905, the same
year my grandmother, Murl Kurkendall, was born.
He became pastor
of Poolville Baptist Church and a year later, in 1906, he was elected
missionary of Parker, Palo Pinto, and Wise counties. During his ministry he
traveled rugged roads by buggy to little churches in the wildwoods. He was a
pioneer preacher and a home missionary.
Three years later, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary was birthed in Fort Worth. However, commuting to Fort Worth was obviously not as easy in those days, and with a full ministry and a full house, he was always an advocate for higher education, but unfortunately not a recipient.
He was well known
for his faithfulness in visiting the sick and dying in an era when they were
cared for in their own homes instead of hospitals. He also comforted families
in troubled times and helped collect money and provisions to aid those in need.
He conducted training sessions for Sunday school teachers, and church youth
leaders, and he held revival meetings under brush arbors dimly lit by little
more than the kerosene lamps he always carried.
He was a strong
advocate of education, serving on the board of trustees for Decatur Baptist
College, once housed in the county seat of Wise County and has now become
Dallas Baptist University. He often asked young men (and women, like my
grandmother and his other daughters), and especially those who were called into
ministry, two very wise questions:
"How old will
you be in five years?"
Regardless of
their answer, he would then ask,
"And how old
will you be in five years with an education and a degree? Wouldn't it be better
to get an education?" They inevitably got the point and enrolled in
school.
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| Article that appeared in the 1987 edition of the UMHB News |
Although my
great-grandfather died nearly three decades before I was born, my grandmother told me
that story after I graduated from Texas Tech University and had surrendered to
the gospel ministry. As a result, I enrolled in Southwestern Seminary in 1985,
young, married, and practically penniless, thanks in part to my grandmother who
allowed us to live with her in Weatherford.
I now have an
education and a degree and so thankful for the wisdom of my great-grandfather,
T.C., whose initials I bear, and for my grandmother who encouraged me to
"sharpen my axe."
