Twenty Five Years of
Preaching (1)
Every five years I
like to write about my experiences in preaching the Gospel. May of this year
marked by twenty fifth year of preaching. What does twenty five years of
preaching mean? It means I must be getting older. As a young boy I remember
hearing Ken Green tell the audience the number of years he had been preaching
and I thought that he must really be old.
I obeyed the Gospel
in July of 1974. The following summer I gave my first invitation. You have to
understand that I was scared to death of getting up in front of people. Public
speaking has never been easy for me as I used to get nervous to the point of
being sick. That first invitation was at
Antioch
church
of
Christ
in
Ohio
County
. My anxiety made everybody else nervous. However, I and the audience survived
my first attempt. Later on I preached my first “sermon”
at
Antioch
.
While attending
Valley Station
church
of
Christ
in
Louisville
I did scripture readings, lead in prayer, and gave a Wednesday night
invitation. The elders there asked me to take part in a training class they were
about to conduct. At the end of the training session, five men were to preach
one night each in a 5 day Gospel Meeting in January. My lesson dealt with the
church at Thessalonica. My parents were moving to
Macon
,
Georgia
. They arranged it so I would give my lesson the day before we were to leave
Louisville
. As it turned out we had a big snow and only a handful of people could make it
to the building.
Later on I moved back
to
Kentucky
and attended a series of classes conducted by the
Danville
church
of
Christ
. My education consisted of a Bachelor in Business Administration and Accounting
from the
University
of
Kentucky
. Preaching was not in my plans at that point in my life. While at
Danville
I filled in at a number of congregations in the area.
In April of 1983 I
heard that the Northeast congregation in
Gainesville
,
Florida
was looking for a “young man” to work in a training program. After writing
a letter to them I was invited to come and work in that program. Carl McMurray
was the preacher at Northeast and for the next eighteen months I had the
privilege of working with Mac. One valuable lesson he taught me was that of
being able to laugh at your mistakes. While there Mac conducted an informal
discussion with the Crossroads congregation over the differences between the two
congregations. For that reason I never returned to
Danville
to attend classes.
Northeast was a very
good congregation. A number of families took me under their wing and made me
feel at home. Attendance averaged
160 at first, but grew to over 200. Eventually they built a new building. About
twenty college students were attending there and a rather large number of young
families were also a part of the congregation.
Eventually I moved to
Shoals,
Indiana
. The
Main Street
congregation had not been in existent for very long. It was comprised of a
number of young families that had studied their way out of the Christian Church.
They studied their way out of the false practices and into the Lord’s church.
I appreciated their fervor and zeal. We had to deal with issues such as
fellowship, marriage/divorce/remarriage, and some others. One of the funniest
Sunday’s was during that first winter. We had about a foot of snow on the
ground when it started to warm up. The snow melted and began to gush through the
back door into the auditorium. The men got up to move the pews and get out of
way of the flood. All the while, I kept on preaching. I do not remember the
lesson of that day. I do not suppose
anybody in that auditorium remembers either.
One other note worthy
event happen in Shoals. One Sunday Regena Thompson came in with her grandmother,
I.O. Crim. Sister Crim had been a member at Shoals, but due to her failing
health been forced to live with some of her children. She wanted to come back to
the home place during the summer and Regena came with her. Monday I receive a
phone call telling me that sister Crim wanted to talk with me. I came out for
dinner that night and Regena was there. I don’t recall having that
conversation with grandma. After a few days Regena invited me to come to
Owasso
,
OK
for a visit. I recall J. T. Smith
saying, “You will chase her until she catches you!” It happened that way. We
met in July and married in February. I can honestly say the folks in Shoals
became like family. My total time in Shoals was only two and half years but they
were good years.
Due to my dependence
upon outside support, I decided to move from Shoals.
Trenton
,
Florida
, was my next full time work. We faced many difficult issues. Some brethren were
teaching the Olin Hicks doctrine on marriage and divorce, others had a divisive
attitude and at times, I even wondered at times if I would have a job the next
Sunday. However, many of the brethren were sincere in their desire to do God’s
will. Over the 4 and ˝ years at
Trenton
, we baptized 48 people and restored about that number. It was the hardest but
also the most productive work I have been associated. While at
Trenton
, we had Eli and Hope.
In December 1991, we
moved to
Wilburton
,
Oklahoma
. Regena’s father, Fred Thompson, was fighting prostate cancer. If our
children were going to know their grandfather this would be the time. December
19th, 1992 Fred Thompson left this world to face God on the Day of Judgment. He
was a good husband, father, and Christian. I am thankful for the time we had
together to talk about the Bible. Noah was born January 13, 1993.
Wilburton
,
OK
was discouraging for me. Looking back I realize it was partly due to the
growth and unrealistic expectations I had after
Trenton
,
Florida
and partly due to having three young children. I remember talking to Eli before
the birth of Noah and telling him how we needed him to do more things. He was
almost four when Noah was born, so I was expecting too much out of him.
At that time I
decided to quit preaching and find other work. We moved to my parent’s
basement and I started working at a factory in
Leitchfield
,
Kentucky
. Afterward I got on permanently with a factory in
Bowling Green
. My time out of the pulpit lasted for about one Sunday. Flatwood
church
of
Christ
had about eight members and wanted to know if I would preach some for them.
From that time on ward I preached every Sunday and worked during the week at the
factory. If it had not been for my feet and having to stand on concrete for 10
to 12 hours a day I may still be working in
Bowling Green
. The experience at Flatwood encouraged me to preach more. The year we spent in
Kentucky
allowed our children to get a year older and have family around us. I will
always be thankful for that year. However, I soon lost the feeling in my toes
and realized I had to do something else.
July 1, 1996 we moved
to
Tuckerman
,
Arkansas
. How did I get to Tuckerman from
Kentucky
? I saw an ad in one of the magazines and decided to write to them. They invited
me out to “try out.” I was slightly surprised when they asked me to come.
Later on, I found out they were impressed with one of the preachers I used as a
reference. Raymond Harris is a preacher I know but they thought I was talking
about Raymond Harville. However, it worked out fine. While at Tuckerman I did a
thirty-minute radio program, a thirty-minute television program, wrote a weekly
adult bulletin, and started a weekly children’s bulletin. We had numerous
baptisms and restorations.
June 1, 2002 we moved
to
Jonesboro
, to work with the
Stone Street
congregation. Our children enjoyed the schools at
Jonesboro
. Unfortunately a series of events made it necessary for us to leave. My
father’s health was deteriorating and some doctrinal issues
encouraged us to leaven.
We some times speak
of how God works through divine providence. All I can say is that if every there
was a time that was happening it was June and July of 2006. I came home early
one day and received a phone call from Tom Blackford. My name had been mentioned
as someone that may be interested in moving. I remember Tom telling me that a
group of men were getting names together and they would have to decide who to
invite. I told Tom that if I was to move it would have to be before school
stated in August. At that time I thought there would be no way we would be able
to do that. However, Tom called Thursday and asked if I could preach that
Sunday. It just so happened that I had already taken vacation time to be in
Kentucky
for the 4th of July. After preaching that Sunday, Tom called a few days later
and said the men wanted us to come. Even at that we had to find a place to live
and be able to move before school started. Regena and the children moved here
one day before school started.
I have been thankful
to all the brethren here since our move. You have treated our children with
kindness. We were able to be close to family during my father’s illness and
passing. My surgery had hindered me over the last four months and you have not
complained. Thank you. Dennis Tucker
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