Well, thank you very much. It is good to be here for this occasion. I want to congratulate the graduates, and I thank God for Ambassador Baptist College. I think it's one of the greatest Christian colleges in the world. Say Amen right there. And I'm in agreement with the direction it's going, and thank God for this great school. And wasn't that a good meal tonight? I didn't eat much, I'll have to admit. I did pick around and part of the salad. I wanted to get up and preach. I didn't want to have to take a nap and lay out and rest after I eat a meal. I wanted to preach. But I didn't eat much. Remind me of the... I heard about a preacher. He went in to visit with a family before the service and the revival. And he just picked around and he said, He kept saying, I don't eat much before I preach. I don't eat much. And he didn't eat hardly anything. And he went and preached that night, and he struck out royally. And as the family went home that night, one of the young kids said, Mama, the preacher should have ate. So I should I get maybe after you'll think after the service tonight. But anyway, just you don't have to turn to it. You know it. Second Timothy four. First verse and part of the second verse, I charge thee therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom, preach the word. Let's bow our heads. Father, we thank you for this privilege of being here at this great school tonight, behind this great pulpit. Thank you, Lord, for what you've done on these grounds. Now, Lord, I want to be a blessing and a help and a challenge, especially to these graduates and to everyone here. The Lord anoint me, bless this service. Lord, I pray that, Lord, you'll help me to say something to encourage these young graduates as they go out to serve the Lord and have a ministry in the future, owned and blessed of God. Bless me now and help me, I pray in Jesus' name. Amen and amen. Well, about three weeks ago, Dr. Comfort held a Revival over Buffalo Ridge Baptist Church, and he relayed a request from dr. Bill that I speak tonight on my 46 year pastorate Buffalo Ridge Baptist Church and the blessings and the benefits of an extended ministry I don't know what all you want me to preach on but I'm gonna give something along that line Really? It's gonna be more of a testimony what God is able to do my life and in our church over the years A few years ago I read where Baptist preachers stay in the average church two and one half years. That's the average stay of the Baptist preacher. And the Methodist, not much better, their average Methodist preacher stays only three years. And as he held a copy of that book up, Jesus led me all the way that I wrote concerning the history of the 31st pastor just took over. And I have written a book about the history of those Buffalo Ridge Baptist, by the way, the oldest church in the state of Tennessee, organized in 1779. A question often asked me, preacher, lastly, are you the founder of Buffalo Ridge Baptist Church? And I always say, well, if I was, I'd be in heaven right now. And Apostle Paul said, which is far better. But when I was thinking about this message and the average stay of a Baptist preacher in a church, I thought, well, I'm going to do a study right quick of all the pastors in that book that I wrote about. And I found some interesting facts. Only seven of the 30 pastors in the 230 plus year history of our church served over five years, only seven. And two served over 40 years. The second pastor served 42 years from 1785 to 1826. That was more before most of you were born, I guess. And then I had the privilege of serving 46 years from 1963 to 2009. Brother Jody was born 15 years after I got to Buffalo Ridge Baptist Church, the pastor of the church now. And only 5 in the history of our church, 230 year history, only 5 served pastorates from 6 to 20 years. And 13 of the pastors, 13 of them served less than 2 years each pastor. And one dear pastor had all he could take of those feuding Baptists and threw in the towel in the 1890s after he'd been there only six months. He just couldn't take the pressure. Now back to my 46 years at Buffalo Ridge Baptist and some lessons from my extended ministry. I wanted to help you and especially you graduates, everyone tonight, as you go out to serve the Lord. And it's really my testimony of the goodness of God. to this one of his unworthy servants. And I want to give him the glory. Now, 46 years is a long time to be anywhere. But I want you to know that the 46 years it passed off just seemed like yesterday. You may have heard about a man who went to see his doctor, and he wasn't feeling too well. And the doctor gave him a thorough physical examination. And when he finished the examination, he said, I have some bad news to tell you. you have an incurable disease, and it's the fast moving kind, and you only have six months to live. And he was shocked when he heard that. And he said, well, Doc, do you have any advice for him? He said, yes, I do. And he said, sit down. And he said, first, marry you a widow with six children or eight children, and then buy you a farm with about 800 to 1,000 homes, and then third, pastor of Baptist Church. He said, well, Doc, why do you give me that kind of advice? He said, that will be the fastest six months you ever lived in your life. So these 46 years have been, it's been a privilege to serve the Lord and the great people of Buffalo Ridge Baptist Church. They did pass off quickly. But the Lord has been good to me. And one thing is that to have this urine, brother, he used me a little. And that's that's as you get on up yours to know the Lord, look back over your life and see the Lord used you just a little bit. And I'm thankful for that. The Lord's taught me a few simple things, and I'm a simple preacher anyway. And the Lord didn't call me to preach to his giraffes. He called me to preach to his sheep. And I want to help you as you leave this great institution and go out and serve the Lord. I want to be a help to you. Now, I'm assuming tonight that you've been born again, you graduates. I'm preaching to the graduates, but it's for everybody, too, though. First of all, you're born again. I mean, you've got to get born again if you're going to serve God. And then have the call of God on your life. those things are so I ran track in college and we had I don't know where they still hadn't been to track meet in years. Do they still have starting blocks? They do? Well I hadn't been to one. We had those we had two starting blocks. You'd get in there and I'd run the hundred and other but you'd get there and soon as the bell of the gun would go off you'd launch right out of those two starting blocks. And so a born again experience and the call of God are two starting blocks necessary before you can even begin to serve God and have a ministry in full-time Christian work. Now, let me give you... seven things after we assume those born-again experience of the call of God. There are seven things I found essential in my 46-year ministry at Buffalo Ridge Baptist Church. Now, I could mention having Sunday school campaigns. We had all kinds of special days and Sunday school campaigns and bus ministry and church financial programs and good org. I can mention all of those. Those are methods. You can get a book, get those. But there are some things I want to mention tonight are all important. Those are important. Now, don't get me wrong. Those are important. But I want to give you some things that will bring the blessing of God on your ministry. Now, programs and all that's good, but you got to have the blessing of God, the touch of God. That's what you need. First of all, is a divine call. I believe God calls a man to be a preacher. Then, I believe the Lord calls a man to a, or a woman. This lady is trying to overlook you tonight, I'm not trying to do it. But I'm telling about my, from my testimony of my church as a preacher. It applies to you. But I believe that the Lord then gives, calls a man to a specific church. Or to start a church in a certain location. And I'm convinced in my soul that the Lord God of heaven called me to Buffalo Ridge Baptist Church in 1963 and I was serving in Youth for Christ up in Illinois and had a great ministry but I started feeling like this out that the Lord wanted me in a in a Baptist local church situation in a Baptist And so, Buffalo, I preached a trial sermon to Buffalo Ridge Baptist Church, and they called, voted to call. And I was up in, before I left Illinois, I was up in the woods out by a creek, I'll never forget, after they called me to pastor Buffalo Ridge Baptist Church. And I didn't want to go down to Tennessee unless the Lord was leading. I didn't want to do it. and that already called me. I had to feel that God was calling me to that church. And I went out and in the woods by a creek, walked up and down by a creek, and I prayed and said, Lord, I wanna know that you're leading me to that church. And I started singing the unclouded day. And when I started singing the unclouded day, I felt peace come over my soul. That's where the Lord wanted me to go. Then, this is so important, graduates. This is so important too. You need to feel called. I mean, feel called to a certain place. Wait on God till you feel that call. And then, right before I left Illinois to come to Tennessee, I went out again in the woods behind our apartment, and I had the assurance that the Lord was leading me to Tennessee, but there was a hunger in my heart. that the presence and blessing of God would rest upon my service for him down in Tennessee. And so I went out in the woods again. I like to get in the woods and pray. I don't know what it is. It's something about getting in the woods alone, shutting everything out and getting alone with God. But anyway, I was praying. The Lord impressed me to turn to Exodus, the 33rd chapter, where Moses had the same struggle. He didn't want to leave the children of Israel out of Egypt, into the promised land, unless the Lord went with him. And let me pick up at 33, verse 14. And God said, he said, my presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. And he, Moses, said unto him, if thy presence go not with me, carry us up, not up hence. Wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? Is it not in that thou, young people, in thou goest with us? So shall we. And by the way, you are separated when God joins you from the Word. and I and thy people from all the people upon the face and the Lord said unto Moses I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken but thou hast found grace in my sight and I know thee by name now the Lord used that passage there and that struggle with Moses and God over the presence of God going with him And I said, I took that verse there that Moses said, Lord, if thy presence go not with me, carry up not a pence. And I said, Lord, I don't want to go down to Tennessee if you're not going with me. I want your presence to go with me. And young people, I'm here to testify tonight that the Lord promised me. I felt peace in my heart that I begged the Lord for his presence. Oh, we need the presence of the Lord. personality, education, plans, programs, all that's good. Nothing beats the presence, wonderful presence of the Lord in your life and in your ministry. And the Lord assured me when I said, Lord, I don't want to go down to Tennessee unless your presence goes with me. And every now and then for 46 years, I wanted to testify for the glory of God. Every now and then, the Lord reminded me that he's kept the promise. And you say, preacher, you feel the presence of the Lord? No, not all the time. I wish I did. But every now and then I felt the wonderful presence of the Lord in my ministry at Buffalo Ridge Baptist Church. And I believe the call of God and young people wait on God before you launch out into a ministry somewhere. So God's called you. And do you have assurance in your heart that the presence of God is going to go with you? I think that when you talk about programs, talk about All of this and that, but you need the presence of God. Then the second thing, I've given you a testimony. This is a testimony. They're simple, but it's a testimony of why I was able to stay at Buffalo Ridge Baptist Church and enjoy, experience the blessing of God over the years. A second thing is a love for God's word. Isaiah 40, verse eight says that, and I'm not talking about an intellectual knowledge of God's word. I'm talking about a heartfelt experience of meeting God in His Word. Nothing like it, nothing like it. Isaiah 40, verse 8 says, The grass withereth, and the flower fadeth, but the Word of our God shall stand forever. 1 Peter 2, 2, As newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the Word, that ye may grow thereby. Young people, fall in love with this old King James verse. all in love with. I say sometimes to my people, you ought to love this old book so much that every now and then you want to just put a little salt and pepper on it and take a big bite of it. And you ought to, one of the greatest things that ever happened to me next to my salvation was back when I was 15 years old and my Sunday school teacher, Miss Lovelady, challenged her Sunday school class to read the Bible through in one year. And in the grace of God, I accepted that challenge. She said, if you'll read three chapters a day, five on Sunday, you can read the Bible through in less than a year. And I don't know how many teens in my Sunday school class accepted that challenge. But young people, I want you to know, I did. And to the glory of God, for 63 years of my life, from age 15 on, I've read, hallelujah, I've read this old Bible. That's not much, that's not much, that's not much to brag about, but I'm thankful that God, I guess the reason he called me to preach, he saw old Gene, loved the word, I'm just gonna call him to preach. And so I'm no great scholar, and I'm no great preacher, I don't intend to impress you to be any of that. But I found out a long time ago, if I'd go to bed early, get up early every morning and read and meditate and pour my soul over the Word of God, that I found out the Lord would bless my life and my ministry. So you need to do that. You need to listen to this preacher. And you know, God has promised in his word that if you'll just spend time in the word, not just, not just in some intellect running and doing intellectual gymnastics through the word of God, or try to find sermons. But listen, if you, I promise you, I promise you, if you'll get yourself in the word of God every day, God's promised to bless you. Psalm, listen, you know, Psalm one, one, two, three. I sign that every Bible, Psalm one, one, two, three. Verse 1 says, blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of none, God, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scorn. First of all, he says, you'll be blessed if you come out of the Word. Separate yourself then, but there's got to be positive input there in your life. But his delight, verse 2, is in the law of the Lord. And in his law doth he meditate day and night. Now, how many of you believe God means what he says? Now here's what he says. He said, if you separate yourself from the world, go out and out for God, away from sin, world, and delight yourself in the law of the Lord and meditate on this old book day and night. Here's what he says. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth forth his fruit in his season. His leaf also shall not wither in whatsoever he does. Now, how many believe God's able to keep that promise? If you would separate yourself from the world and evil and delight yourself in the Word of God every day, God is able to bless you. He's promised that you'll have fruit and that whatever you do will prosper. If you want to prosper, if you want to prosper. Preacher, lastly, why has God blessed your life and ministry? Now, to the glory of God, I want to say for 63 long years, I got up early every morning and I got along with God in his word. And, you know, he's blessed me all of these. Hallelujah. He's blessed me all of these 63 years. And listen, you it won't take you over 30 or 40 to 45 minutes to do that every day. I sometimes I Lord speaks to me and I get blessed. I have to get out and pray a little bit and all that. And sometimes I'll spend an hour or two, but 30 to 45 minutes, you can read the word of God through. And if you do it every day, you can read it easy in one year. And listen, you will be a success. I'll guarantee you'll be a success in God's work if you love God's word and read it and meditate upon it the rest of your days on this earth. God promises he will. And if you neglect a daily diet of God's word, I'll guarantee you, you won't make it in the ministry. You can put it in a pipe. The old times used to say, put it in your pipe and smoke it. You won't make it. Now, third thing. Let me look at my time. I've still got about 30 minutes. But the third thing I've learned, if you're going to be a man of God, or young ladies, if you're going to be a handmaiden to the Lord, you need a prayer line. James 5, 15 says, effectual fervent, fervent, not dead cold prayer, effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Jeremiah 33, 3 says, call, not whisper. If you call unto me, I will answer thee. And I'm not just saying loud prayer, I'm talking about fervent, really hard, putting your heart into prayer. Call unto me and I'll answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things that I knowest not. I grew up around the old time religion. And I grew up around people who knew how to pray and get ahold of God. I'm glad. My Uncle Will was a lay preacher over in Southeast Tennessee. And one day he was years ago, he told me, I remember as a young boy, he told me this. He was walking down the road in Saudi Tennessee toward the river to pray. And he said, as I was going down there close to the hill there, A lady, Mrs. Bell, Ann Bell, I believe is her name. She ran out with her little, little child in her arm. And she said, Will, pray. My baby's dying. My baby's dying. And my Uncle Will dropped that down on his knees and started praying for that little child. He prayed and prayed and prayed that God would touch that child. And Uncle Will said, when I got up off my knees, the little child was playing around. Now, testimonies like that, and that I believe the Bible teaches that God's a prayer-hearing, a prayer-answering God. One, listen, I was around praying people, and the Bible does teach that God is a prayer-hearing and a prayer-answering God. But one of the greatest things, one of the, now, you listen to me right here. You're gonna have some problems in the future. If you get in these churches, I'll guarantee you, that's a guarantee right there. But of the one of them, I don't want to discourage you, but I want to help you right here. One of the greatest things that the Lord did for me in the 46 years I spent at Buffalo Ridge Baptist Church was to teach me how to pray. You know how he did it? He didn't get me to memorize and prayer verses. That's good. It's good. I recommend it, but he didn't get me to do that. He didn't teach me how to pray doing that. And I didn't attend a study course on or read a book on prayer. And I've read books on prayer that's been a blessing. And I've heard messages on prayer, but all that's good. But here's how the Lord taught me to pray. He sent trouble. He allowed trouble to come in my life. And when my back was to the wall and I had no one to turn to, I looked up to God. And young people, I was in that church 46 years, and somehow in all the trials and trouble and tribulation, and I don't want to discourage you, but you don't have to quit and run, stick your tail between your legs like a whipped dog and run. You can pray. And when I had absolutely no one to turn to, I looked up to the Lord God of heaven. Somehow, someway, he brought me through every time. Hallelujah. His old lady said, hold my baby while I shout here. You don't know what that shout is, do you? But now, when the first couple of years I was at Buffalo Ridge Baptist Church, right after I came there, we had nothing but growth and nothing but blessing. And somebody got saved. It's wonderful when somebody gets saved about every Sunday or get right with God. And we outgrew our building. We voted to relocate and to build a new building on a new location. And I'm here to tell you, that's when the first started flying. That's when the trouble started. Now, nobody told me at Bob Jones University or I went out to seminary in Texas that you don't relocate the oldest church in the state of Tennessee. And some of them didn't want to leave the old church. And we didn't own the graveyard behind the church. Some didn't want to leave the old graveyard. My life was threatened twice and they shot into the roof of my house. And they sent the volunteer fire department one night at midnight. I looked out my window and my wife, there was two or three fire engines outside of my house. I went down, that fire chief said, Preacher, you must have some enemies around here. And they got a petition up, circulated it to not move to the new church, the opposition, and most of them weren't even members that I hadn't even seen. And they were gonna run me off and run the song later on. And then, listen to this now, get this. I don't know, I'll just quit. You pull me on the coat when you're gonna be through here. I'll just say amen, we'll go home. But after we built the church, now listen, young people, I don't discourage you, but you better learn to pray. You better learn to pray. After we'd already built that church now, the opposition put it in the newspaper, we were gonna vote next Sunday over whether to go up to the church or not. And that Sunday morning they were supposed to, I tried to get the John City Press editor to not put it in the paper. He said, I can't get mixed up in a church squabble. So I only had the Lord to help me out then. And on Sunday morning, on Sunday morning, all the deacons met at our house. We were right by the old church then. My home was, it belonged to them. And we got on our knees, our deacons, I'd never seen some of them weep. I was weeping with them. I didn't, I thought, listen, I thought my ministry was over. And I had a wife and two little babies, two little children. And I thought, how am I going to take, if they run me off, how am I going to take care of my wife and my children? My back was to the wall. I didn't know what to do. But you know what? The Lord had me just where He wanted me. He was fixing to teach me a lesson that I needed for the rest of my 46 years there at Buffalo Ridge Baptist. He wanted to show a young preacher that there was a God. Listen, young preachers, there's a God in heaven that can help you and He can take care of you. He can take care of your mistakes, stupid mistakes. I'm glad of that. Aren't you? He could, like a man, a farmer out in the field. He, when he comes up to stump, he didn't plow through it. He plows around and keeps, that's the way of the Lord. That's the way of the Lord. He has a lot of ways he can help. And so, I forgot where I was now. But anyway, anyway, it came time, we met right before Sunday school. Then right before Sunday school, I said, man, you go over and get the, They were scared as I was. I didn't know what was going to happen. I didn't know if the church was going to blow up and we'd be fighting all over the church grounds and everything and all that. And I said, you all go over and get the church Sunday school started. And I'll go over on the lake two or three miles away and pray. And so I went over below the boondown, down there on Holston River. And during Sunday school, I prayed, and I couldn't get peace. But right before I thought Sunday School, I got to go and start that service and go and face all that crowd. It's going to run me off and vote not to go up to that new church. I said, Lord, you're going to have to help me, Lord. You're going to have to speak to me through your word and some verse that will speak to my heart. Lord, speak to me. And he turned to, showed me Isaiah 43. Listen to this. Isaiah 43 verse 1, But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, fear not, for I have redeemed thee. I have called thee by thy name. Thou art mine. Now listen to this. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee. And I was going through the waters. And through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the fire, I was going through the fire. Thou shall not be burned. The Lord is assuring me in my heart. A young preacher scared to death. He said, were you scared? Yes, I was. I didn't know what to do. And the Lord wanted me to pray and let him somehow help me through it. And neither shall the flame kindle upon thee, for I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Savior. I closed my Bible, got in my car and went over there. I didn't know what the Lord was going to do, but I knew somehow he was going to help me. Let me get back to my notes here. And I got back to the church. And during the song service, an elderly gentleman came up and was going to take over. And I said, brother, when I'm through today, you can have it. He said, OK, and went back and sat down. The Lord decided him to do that. If he had taken over service, we'd have had pandemonium at Buffalo Ridge Baptist Church. And then I got up and preached on the lame man at the gate beautiful in Acts 3. And when I gave the invitation, four adults came forward to get ready. I wouldn't, if I'd have been sitting right there, I wouldn't have come forward and moan and preach. But, but then I stood up and I said, folks, the lawyer for the construction company, the bonding company, three brothers and bonding construction insurance company talked to me last night over the phone. And he said that any action we'd take today would be null and void. He said, you have a legal obligation to move up to that church, pay for the church whether you move up there or not. And I said, so therefore, there not be a business meeting this Sunday morning or the next or the next. And then one of the deacons went over and stood with a piano player to guard her from keeping jumping. stood with the organist and all the rest of the deacons got around me and led me out of the church. And somehow the opposition was stunned. They didn't know what to do. And then the battle was over. But a sequence of that story is when we got outside of the church that morning, I broke loose with my deacons. One of our men was standing over there and I went over and I said, brother, how you doing today? He gave me a sheep eating grin and said, fine. And listen, About two or three years ago, I found out that man told somebody that he took a knife to knife preacher Lashley that day. So the Lord somehow, somehow wouldn't let him. And then one Sunday, he left the church. And then a few months he came back. One Sunday morning, he came forward and dealt at the mourner's bench. And I went down, put my arm around him. way well as he got back right with God. And the people knew I didn't hold any hard feelings toward him and they asked me to preach his funeral when he died. So I'm glad, I'm glad that when I was just a young preacher starting out in the ministry, not much older than some of you preachers, young preachers here in this graduating class, The Lord brought a crisis, experience, into my life to teach me we can pray and we can get a hold of God and somehow, some way, somehow, some way, God will see you through. And a preacher or a Christian worker will fail in the ministry only, listen to me, you will fail only if you fail to pray. And any successes Any successes that I've had at Buffalo Ridge Baptist Church in these 46 years are the result of spending time in prayer, spending time in prayer. All of my failures at Buffalo Ridge Baptist Church are the result of failure to pray. I haven't prayed near as much as I should have prayed over the years. But I know this, when a crisis came, I got on my knees. A lot of times I'd be on my face before God. I want to report this morning somehow some way this old Lord helped this old boy through every problem and trial that I faced for 46 years. So I don't know when to start. I'm just about ready to stop. Don't pull my coat yet. But so first of all, I'm giving you something. You need the blessing of God on your ministry. programs and plans and promotions. We'll discuss that later. You need the hardest thing is the blessing of God and a specific call. Don't take the church to get us. You feel God is leading you there and then don't move until you've gone before the Lord and said, Lord, I don't want to go there without you go with and get the insurance. The presence of God will be with you and But that's one of the first reasons for the blessings upon my ministry for 46 years. Then the second was the love for God's word. Getting up 3.30, 4 o'clock early every morning, 46 long years at Buffalo Ridge Baptist Church. I got up there and that's another reason, getting in the word, brother. And before God, and my soul feasting on the word of God. Let God speak to me. Preacher does God speak to you every morning? No, but I just keep reading anyway. But every now and then he does. And then the third, develop a prayer life. And I'm not a great preacher or a great theologian. But I found out that God would bless my feeble efforts if I would but pray and spend time pouring over the pages of God's precious word. Now, my time's gone. Let me just mention three or four more things, and I'll be through. I'm not going to even talk about them. First and next thing, you need Holy Ghost common sense in the church. Every man of God I know doing much for God has a bucket full of common sense. and pray for divine wisdom. Then next thing is a holy life. God says in 1 Peter 1, 16, be ye holy for I am holy. And now, when I first went to Buffalo Ridge, went over to ordination service at Fordtown Baptist Church, an old preacher got up and he told the young preacher he was ordaining, he said, two things you need to watch or you'll ruin your ministry. He said, keep your hands off the women, and keep your hands off the money. And the Lord spoke to me as a young preacher and said, Gene, that's for you too. For all these years, I'm glad I'm saved by the grace of God. Listen, you can't commit adultery if you keep your hands off the money. That's a great, deep statement, isn't it? That's the truth. And then I did not touch, I led the financial program, Buffalo Ridge of Adventures from 15,000 to over a million dollars. I never touched any of the money. I made somebody else count it, made somebody else give reports, made somebody else write the checks and I let it. And I left there, they gave us a good report on 46 years of the finances, Buffalo Ridge of Adventures. Now, let me give you, then another thing, let me give you a couple more lessons here and then we'll be through. I've already mentioned this, trials and tribulations will come to you along the way. And as I look back, it wasn't big crowds or big offerings or big altars. We had a lot of those. But that wasn't what increased my faith in God, made me more like Jesus. No, it was when my life was threatened or when the doctor called me up and said, Reverend Lashley, I hate to tell you, but you've got prostate cancer. Oh, listen. I found out that Jesus was an ever-present help in time of need. Hallelujah. And I hate to tell you this, God will never use any preacher until he puts them through the fire. If you don't have a preacher, if you don't have some tribulations and trials, you won't be worth shooting at sunrise. Unless you go through some trials and prove that God is able to help you. Remember God's burning the dross out of your life when trouble comes. Don't give up, don't quit. He's wanting to make you more like Jesus. And then I mean one other thing. We need a love for the souls of men. Love for the souls of men. And every soul that you preach to is gonna live somewhere forever. You know, ask God to give you a broken heart. where you can weep over souls, where you can weep. I rarely ever weep in a church service at Buffalo Ridge Baptist Church over all these years that I didn't see somebody get saved or somebody come forward and rededicate their life and get right with God. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart. Oh God, thou wilt not despise. I'll have heard it all start when I was saving this 13 years old. I started feeling called of God to preach, to be a preacher between my junior and senior years of high school, but I was, you wouldn't believe it, I was a shine bashful. that I just didn't think I could ever do it. I was captain of the football team. Hated to give a book report. Wouldn't even ask a girl for a date to poison. Get me a date. Come by and pick me up, pick her up. And I'd sit over on this side of the car. She'd sit over there. And the twain would never meet Mason Dixon lying down between us. I was scared of that thing sitting over there. But I wanted to preach. And God knew it. And I'm glad he was merciful to me. I'm glad he was merciful to me and led me on and on, but I just didn't think he could do it. So I had a football scholarship, went to play football down in Mississippi and played in the Sun Bowl January 1st, 1953 at Southern Mississippi during the spring football practice in spring of 1953, a long time ago, 58 years ago during football practice at midnight in the athletic dormitory. I woke up with a call of God on my heart. I'd been struggling with it for four long years. And I went out on the college golf course. And at midnight, I got down on my knees. And I said, Lord, the best I know how, I believe you're calling me to preach. And if I make the biggest flop that ever got behind a pulpit, yet I'm going to preach. And so I left the football field. never to return. And for 58 years, I've been in the greatest business in the world, preaching the gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And you might not think I can preach tonight. Y'all heard me when I first started trying to preach. But you know what? I found out that the Lord can help every one of us if we just, and he's been using me just a little bit for his glory. And he can help you. You'll seek his face, get in the word of God, and be called of God, God can use you. It all started, I got down on my knees and said, Lord, if I make a flop of myself, I'm gonna start preaching. And you know what? That was just what the Lord's waiting on me to say. And he started using me a little bit for his glory. So as we come to the close of this service tonight, I would like for all of you graduates to come and get down on your knees in the front here and say, Lord, I wanna go where you want me to go out of my life. The place you want me to go. The Lord, I'll go if you'll go with me. And tell him to fill you this spirit and ask for his sweet presence to go with you as you go out to serve him. Let's bow our heads and close our eyes. Let's sing all to Jesus, I surrender. All to him I freely give. Let's stand and sing. And you graduates, if you come, why don't you come. And the Lord met me at the place of surrender. His will for my life. Come and ask Him for His presence and His will to be done. Whatever the cost, be willing to pay it. God, I'll guarantee you, God, somebody else feel led to come and tell the Lord that time. You can slip down here, but I want these graduates Let's sing that. Pour your heart out to God.