A Tribute to the late Dr. Claude McGhee--God's Man for My Maturity

I attended the visitation for Dr. McGhee yesterday, driving two hours to pay respects to someone who God used to help me mature as a Christian and pastor.  As in any school of higher learning, the selection of an instructor requires a review of the academic qualifications of the candidate.  However, in God's school of learning, God gives and adds qualities to those he will use to train younger Christians to accomplish his purpose.  The following is a list of some of "Doc's" qualities which were beneficial for my personal growth.

I never called him anything but Doc.  He had worked hard all his life leaving the rural Wayne County to attain a position as professor at West Virginia University.  Along the way he taught high school students as well as educators.  At the visitation I asked one of his former students who was now retired if Doc ever graded on the curve.  He gave me a strange look which spoke volumes.  However, a former high school student who is older than my fifty-three years of age told a story that Doc carried his high school students on his back.  Doc expected excellence in those he worked with because he expected excellence in himself.  He was honored as Outstanding Teacher at WVU.  His other awards spoke of his hard work and yet, he was also compassionate when compassion was required.  He taught me the pursuit of excellence in ministry was not about perfection because that goal is unobtainable.  Excellence meant you used all the gifts and abilities for God for he is worthy of the attempt. 

Doc's passion outside of his faith was agriculture.  This was evident by the nearly 1/4 acre of ground he farmed behind his house in Kingwood.  Even at ninety years of age, Doc roto-tilled, planted, tended, and harvested this garden like the first farmer, Adam tilled Eden.  Bowed over by age, Doc lumbered in the garden with physical infirmities, and with his crop in hand would deliver the produce of his hands for others to enjoy.  Doc called it "feeding the pigs" and one time, I saw him walking up our steps at the parsonage on bad knees so we could enjoy this bounty all summer. With both education and expertise in farming, he taught me patience.  A farmer knows the day you plant is not the day you harvest.  Farmers also have to place their faith in the benevolence of God for rain and sun.  Patience does not mean laying back and waiting for God to act or the attitude of "what will be will be."  Patience means continuing the work God has called you to do until he is ready to move you.  This served me well years later in a difficult ministry in which leaving would have been easier, but patience brought about a resolution of a generational problem in that church. 

Doc and Mildred, his wife of 67 years had a sense of humor which served them well in life.  Their own life was filled with trials they undertook with Mountaineer pride.  They lost their only son years before and took to raising their grandchildren for a time.  I cannot imagine the pain of a parent concerning their child but their humor was often stated in such a way you found yourself in the story until the punch line and Doc's laughter mean he had pulled you into the joke.  One time Mildred came to me and said, "Pastor, do you want to know how we managed to stay married as long as we did, I will tell you."  Expecting to get a lesson I could use to share with couples seeking to get married, I encouraged her to continue.  She said, "Years ago we made a decision to go out twice a week."  Nodding my head and listening intently, she continued.  "Yes, I go out on Tuesdays and Mac goes out on Thursdays."  In Proverbs 17:22 the Bible says "a cheerful heart is good medicine...".  When Doc was taking Mildred to Wayne County for the first time, they traveled down the road and off in the back woods.  As the road became more narrow, Mildred asked him if he was taking her to the ends of the earth.  Doc said, "No, but you will be able to see it from there."  Humor helps in difficult times of ministry because the end of the same verse says, "but a crushed spirit dries up the bones."  In ministry, laughter has helped me cope with tough times. 

I spoke of compassion as one of Doc's traits.  The end of my ministry at Kingwood followed the pattern of many brother pastors who left with pain and hurts.  At an associational meeting at another church we received a call stating Vicki's uncle had passed away and we needed to leave.  As we got into our car Doc walked up and motioned for us to roll down the window.  Doc, bent over by years of pain, both physical and emotional, hobbled over to door and leaning in patted Vicki's arm.  She had also been hurt at the church but his touch, and saying, "We miss you" came from his heart.  Doc did not mince words when he spoke.  There was no religious double-speak.  If Doc didn't like something, he would say it.  He was never crude nor crass and was still able to get his point across.  You could trust his words.  I learned the best way to speak was calmly and directly without allowing anger to mix with my words.  When years later a member of the church came into my office and began using offensive language toward me, I calmly remained in my office chair and pointing a finger at him said, "You will not talk to me in that tone of voice."  This man immedicately changed his attitude.  In years gone by other pastors would be provoked into joining this man and all that happened was they came down to his level.

There is now a vacant seat in the sanctuary of Kingwood Baptist Church.  The home stands empty except for the memories.  The field is now filled in with grass and weeds unattended for the last two years.  However, a saint has moved on.  Doc, there are no boards or committees to sit on in heaven.  There are no fields to attend.  There are no more students to teach or teachers to train.  You now get to rest and fortunately for you, God has given you an eternity to learn how.  God bless you, Doc. 

Watching and Waiting for God's Call Home

Sitting with a family watching time pass and awaiting the death of a loved one can be both a blessing and a faith growing situation.  Whether someone is a believer or not, rich or poor, educated or not, death is the equalizer of them all.  The blessing of sitting with the family comes in the hours and moments as a chance to speak of God's authority over death thanks to Christ's death and resurrection.

As I sat yesterday and listened to the life stories of the family, I saw good times and bad.  I heard stories of sacrifice and service and was amazed at the life of a little Italian lady from the Pittsburgh area.  I saw family coming together in the days before hand as they rallied together and forgetting past differences, laboring together as a living example of the Ecclesiastes passage of two walking together.  Death can be used by God, who also uses Satan, to accomplish his plan of glorifying His Son. 

A friend sitting with a grieving friend can bring peace and comfort in a very difficult time.  Jesus brought comfort to the sisters of Lazarus by his presence.  While they wanted a healing, Jesus used the event to speak of his resurrection.  A believing friend can also use the same time to speak of the resurrection.  I have learned I cannot preach the dead into heaven, but I can take the opportunity to reveal Jesus.

Life review, anticipatory grief, helping with coping skills are tasks for the Chaplain.  Speaking of God's defeat of death and the grave is the task of a preacher.  Walking beside the dying person and the family is not a task but a blessing. 

Figures Can Fool You

I heard in a few year China will become the economic superpower and America's reign as the #1 will be over.  That is, until you come to the per capita figure which is the total number of goods and services created divided by people and we are far greater than China.  Numbers can be confusing for a purpose.  If I go to buy a dress for my wife, I know to get a size 10 which has no real relationship to weight.  Men buy pants based upon two measures: waist and inseam.  I wonder if marketing for women's clothes came up with that idea.  I wish men's clothing stores would do the same so I might be able to buy pants with, say, a 16 verses my waist size. 

Another number which is flashed around during religious holidays is 96% of Americans believe in God. Any higher power according to AA is the first step to sobriety.  It does not have to be the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  It could be a stone or tree or anything for that matter.  I know many who also believe in aliens and UFOs, but their belief does not mean they exist.

Existence is not measured by what someone believes about it, but upon several factors.  In Genesis, we are told God breathed into the nostrils of Adam and he lived.  We see Jesus breathe over his disciples to receive the Holy Spirit.  Scriptures are God-breathed and are living.  Breathing, or should I say the lack of it is a marker for death.  Though God is spirit, He allowed man to write his scriptures so we could understand he is a living and breating God. 

While the statistic of Americans believing in God seems high, you have to remember even the demons believe in God and they have a response to that belief-fear and trembling. Do the 96% of Americans quoted tremble at the thought of God?  Do we treat the needy as needy or a nusiance?  Do we obey his commands and refrain from evil?  Do we receive His offer of forgiveness and then offer this same forgiveness to one who has done harm to you?

I knew my parents existed.  They were there doing what they did and I obeyed them or suffered the consequence.  I must realize the statistic will persuade many that we are a good and godly nation.  We cannot rely on figures from man because they can be deceiving based on their agenda.  God has no agenda when he says there is no one righteous--not one. 

Once I was told by another minister when I went to Massachusetts to plant a church in a small town "We don't need another church in this town."  I told him with respect that until everyone in this town was in church we need another church in this town.  Church is not the answser to America's moral decay--it is our believing in a God and then disregarding that belief.  Our decline will not cease until we stop, drop, and pray and repent over this nation. 

To Who Did You Say "Happy Easter"

The other day I saw a special needs adult who lives in our apartment complex and was reminded of a man I knew twenty years ago.  Teddy was a homeless man in Providence, RI and you could find him often in one of the many downtown alleys asleep.  On cold New England nights he would try to sneak into the Biltmore Plaza where I worked night audit.  Myself and a security officer would have to escort Teddy back into sub-zero weather.  There were shelters but he would not have any part of them.  A few years later Teddy would be murdered on those same cold and lonely streets.

There is a theory of communications called the "I-It, I-You and I-Thou" which speaks of the levels and means of communications between individuals.  The young person who works at the take-out window of a fast food restaurant is considered an "It" because we see them as someone who we need only to accomplish a task.  A co-worker might be a "You" and a spouse or loved one would be a "Thou".  As this Easter season passed, I wondered how many of us took the time to say to the "Its" we met "Happy Easter"?  Our church gave us candy to pass out to those people who had to work on Easter and I gave mine to the local police officer sitting on the highway. 

The real fact is, Jesus died for the "Its" of this world.  He ate with tax collectors and lowly fishermen.  His band of followers included a zealot who would even commit murder to rid the nation of Rome.  He spoke to a Samaritan woman and loved on children.  These were the "its" to the religious of Israel.  They saw them as a nusiance and he saw them as sheepherdless sheep. 

A game children play is called tag.  They run around and chase one another and when they tag the other child, the say, "Tag, your It!"  Well, a few years ago Jesus came up to me and said, "Tag, you are no longer an "it" you are my "Thou".  It is nice to know I am considered a person of value and not one just to do a task for God, but one whom God loved so much he gave me his son.  Thank You God.