Larry

Good Morning!

A few weeks ago I shared with you some memories of my good friend Scrap Wheeler. Our pastor at First Baptist Red Oak was Larry Stewart. I remember him as a bigger than life man. He had an easy going nature that just won people over … and he had a voice that wouldn’t quit. I still have the recording he made back in the late sixties – good old Southern Gospel tunes that complemented his rich baritone voice.

Larry passed away on May 2, 1981 from heart attack. I think he was forty seven at the time … but I may be wrong about that. Anyway, he was too young – or at least it seemed that way to me. So as I begin this morning, I am thinking about my pastor and my friend Larry Stewart. One of the songs he sang was “Until Then”. Here is the lyric:

(Stuart Hamblen)

(Until the day God calls me home)

My heart can sing when I pause to remember
A heartache here is but a stepping stone
Along a path that's winding always upward
This troubled world is not my final home.

But until then my heart will go on singing
Until then with joy I'll carry on
Until the day my eyes behold my Saviour
Until the day God calls me home.

The things of earth will dim and lose their value
If we recall they're borrowed for a while
And things of earth that cause this heart to tremble
Remember there will only bring a smile.

But until then my heart will go on singing
Until then with joy I'll carry on
Until the day my eyes behold my Saviour
Until the day God calls me home

You know, we all know that the time will come when God does call us home. Some of us will go early – like Larry. Some of us will hang around for a good long while. But our ultimate destination is home – where Jesus is. I imagine the song will be on my mind all day today. I will hear Larry singing it … and remember him fondly.

I trust you will have a good Monday.

Agape’


Mr. Jim