OLBBT: New Song Remembering Dad's Ministry On This Day

The oldest man in America (second oldest in the world) celebrated his 111^th birthday this month. Especially significant to me about that is he was born in 1903, the same year my dad was born. It was also in this month (on the 20th) that Dad died 48 years ago at the age of 62.

Dad was an evangelist, but also pastored most of his 40 years in ministry. He won many people to Christ and also founded several churches in Virginia and North Carolina. I live about 25 miles from one of those churches, still very strong in its ministry to the community. I remember thinking as a child that no one could preach like Dad.

I dream about Dad occasionally and especially, it seems, as the dates of his birth and death near each year. Just a few days ago, I dreamed I was struggling to speak to a cold, dying church. My heart was very sad and burdened. At the end of my sermon, as the church stood for the benediction, I looked down to the front row of seats and saw my dad. He began to walk back and forth across the front of the sanctuary singing a song. The cold congregation slowly joined him, at first quietly, but then it became louder until it sounded like a roar in a stadium. In my dream, the church had come alive. 

I woke up, and remembering the song and melody Dad led the church to sing, I went to my computer and in about 30 minutes, it seems, I wrote this song.

O Let’s Be Blessed Today!

O let’s be blessed today!

O let’s be blessed today!

For Christ within

Fills us with him!      

O let’s be blessed today!

God gives his Grace to us

Through faith in Jesus Christ

To keep us strong

And for as long

As we wait on the Lord.

God calls us to know him

Through knowing Christ within

To keep us strong

And for as long

As we wait on the Lord.

His Life in us revealed 

Confirming Truth received

To keep us strong

And for as long

As we wait on the Lord.

We are therefore enriched

And lack no Spiritual Gift

To keep us strong

And for as long

As we wait on the Lord.

We wait upon the Lord

To be renewed in us

To keep us strong

And for as long

As we wait on the Lord.

O let’s be blessed today!

O let’s be blessed today!

For Christ within

Fills us with him!      

O let’s be blessed today!

Words and Melody, Don Whisnant 2014    

Adding more explanation, for several months before this dream, I had gone almost daily to 1 Corinthians 1:4-9 during my quiet time, being so much renewed by it each day that it’s message was continually in my heart.

Although, I do not believe God reveals Truth to us through dreams in this Age of Grace (but only through The Scripture), I know that Truth can be so alive in our hearts that it can manifest even in our dreams.

DonLoy Whisnant/Journey Notes 14B20

FOLLOW UP

NEW YORK (AP) — The world's oldest man, a retired chemist and parapsychologist, has died in New York City. Alexander Imich was 111. His niece, Karen Bogen of Providence, Rhode Island, says Imich died Sunday at his home in Manhattan. Bogen says she had visited Imich a day earlier. She says his health declined about two weeks ago and he didn't recognize her. Imich was born in 1903 in a town in Poland that was then part of Russia. He and his wife fled after the Nazis invaded in 1939. They eventually moved to the United States in 1951. His wife died in 1986.  In news reports, Imich said his good genes and a general healthy lifestyle contributed to his longevity. 

DonLoy Whisnant/Journey Notes 14FO9 

February 20: Honoring Dad’s Influence

 

Dad died on this day 47 years ago. In the 17 years he was in my life, I never saw him in a sweat shirt, jeans, shorts, athletic shoes, bedroom shoes, or without socks, and rarely without a tie. For casual I remember him wearing dress pants, an open collar, short sleeve dress shirt, and white top dress shoes. He worked hard, did not watch tv except a rare boxing match or baseball game, did not play cards or board games except checkers (I never beat him!), or partied.  

 

Dad was born in 1903. Of course, those times were different. I used to wonder why it seemed men in those days did not smile in family portraits (although Dad liked to laugh on appropriate occasions). I think I understand now that their faces were “set like a flint” because of their responsibilities and calling, including to take care of their families.

 

Mostly to honor Dad, he won many people to Christ and founded many churches, especially in the Carolinas and Virginia. Also, I am going to Heaven and in the ministry because of his influence.  

 

DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 13B20

Celebrating September 21: Thinking About Dad and Ministry Infuences

Dad was born on this date in 1903. His best ministry was over before I was born. He had a heart attack and several strokes during the several years before he died at age 62 in 1966. He tried to continue his work, but faltered terribly. Mom, my brother and sister, and I moved to Danville, Virginia where I was supported at the Baptist Tabernacle for experiencing God in a way I have never gotten over.

 

Other influences in my life that followed, including John Rice, John Rawlings, Lester Roloff, and Jerry Falwell, were significant in their own way. I also worked on staff with several leading pastors in the Baptist Bible Fellowship, but all were somewhat performance-driven. When I ended up in the pastorate I knew how to "grow a church," but I missed understanding how God relates to us through Christ in this age of grace (that it is organic) and ended up losing my family.

I learned, however, that God has a recovery plan, that he does not throw away the broken vessel but restores it again to usefulness in his own time and according to his purpose. Charles Stanley was my pastor for four years beginning in 1992. He was a welcomed and refreshing visual and teacher of God's grace. Last year my wife, Carole, and I began GracePoint to provide "faith-based counseling from a grace perspective to hurting people needing a new start in a new direction. We do not think too much in terms of to what extent God plans to use us, but have learned to be content in our service and leave the outcome to him.

 

DonLoy Whisnant/Journey Notes 12I21

22798 AND COUNTING: Learning and Living Out Lifestyle Choices for Health and Happiness and Longevity

My father lived 22,798 days, from September 21, 1903 until February 20, 1966. This morning, I am the same age, to the day and almost to the hour, that my dad was when he died.

I have thought about this day for several years. Dad died with broken health. He never drank or smoked or lived recklessly. Neither was he inactive or more than a few pounds overweight. He was also a former athlete, playing college baseball and tennis at Wake Forest. [According to my uncle, before going into ministry, Dad was signed to play pro ball with the Detroit Tigers by the same man who signed Ty Cobb (apologies for the name dropping)]. But he did not know about making Diet, Exercise, Lifestyle, and Supplementation choices for health. Also, although Dad was genetically at risk for high blood pressure and heart disease (his father died at 59, his grandfather at 61, and for at least eight generations, none of his forefathers had lived to be older than 68), he did not take time from his busy ministry schedule for annual checkups with a doctor. I celebrate my dad today because of the legacy of faith he left me, but I celebrate also the opportunity I have had through the years by the mercy of God to learn a little about sowing and reaping and the connection between wise choices and the good health, happiness, and longevity they produce.

“Blessed (healthy and happy) are they whose ways (goals and choices) are blameless (pure and perfect), who walk according to the law (instructions and enablement) of the Lord.” – Psalm 119:1

Don Loy Whisnant/Journey Notes 11C08

Whisnants Sometimes on the Wrong Side of a New Start Up

Thirty-five years ago, I was on staff of the largest Baptist church (at that time) in Arkansas. After about a year, I resigned to organize a Lifeline Home for Teenagers. The next Saturday morning, several key leaders of the church knocked on my door to ask if I would start up a new church, stating that they represented maybe as many as 300 who would follow them to join. I declined without a second thought about it. The church did not split and today continues to be strong.

But new startups are not always a bad idea. America actually was a new startup from an old country. However, I am told that my ancestors, the Whisenhunts, who came here from Germany in the early 1700's, were Loyalists to England, at least some of them were, and not Patriots. 

Thomas Road Baptist Church (Jerry Falwell) began in the mid 1950's as a split from a church which my dad had previously pastored. A year or so after Dad had resigned, Jerry was saved and called to the ministry in that church (Park Avenue Baptist Church). When the pastor (who had followed Dad) resigned, the church disagreed on whom to call as pastor. A small group that wanted Jerry to pastor (about 30 adults) quietly left the church to organize a new church in the old Donald Duck Bottling Company building on Thomas Road, and then called Jerry as their first pastor. My mother told me that Dad was not supportive of that action at first and did not believe God would bless it, but in time changed his mind and supported Jerry's ministry. Today, TRBC averages over 17,000 every Sunday.

Don Loy Whisnant/Journey Notes 10E07

Leaving a Worthy Legacy

Dad died 43 years ago on this date when I was a junior in high school. At his funeral, his brother, Uncle Murphy, told me he wanted me to know that my dad had won many souls to Christ, sometimes whole families, during his 40 years of ministry. I knew that was true because I had many memories during my growing up years of folks, who I later learned were dad's "converts," often dropping by to visit our home. Also of our spending nights in homes of good friends when we traveled throughout the Virginias and Carolinas.

What a legacy!

Don Loy Whisnant/Journey Notes 9B20

GracePoint Counseling

Wondering What's Up When We Dress Down

I heard my dad say "pishaw" one time. Other than that slip of the tongue, I never heard him utter a slang word, talk crude or common, or behave uncouth. Forget vulgar. Not in our home.

I also never saw my dad dressed down in his public life. Of course, he lived in a different era and was not a farmer or factory worker, but a pastor. Dad was always in a suit, taking off his coat and tie only at home, or maybe when traveling.

Beaver's dad, Ward Cleaver, comes to mind.

Don Loy Whisnant/Journey Notes 8J09

Celebrating Dad

Dad died 42 years ago on this date. He was a good man. A lot of people are in Heaven who he pointed to Christ. I do not fail to appreciate the legacy of faith and ministry he left behind. He could have made other choices for his life, and I could have been lost in a different world.