When Carol and I were in Los Alamos, N.M., recently, I called our long-time friend, Chuck McCullough, who has been pastor of White Rock Baptist Church for 28 years.
Dr. Charles McCullough is a graduate of John Brown University, and his brother, Dr. John McCullough, is a professor at JBU. John's wife, Judy, sings in the community JOY Choir with us, and Reece Watson, the music minister at the First Baptist Church is our JOY Choir director. And yes -- he is a JOYFULL choir director. But I digress.
Chuck and Karen, and Carol and I met in 1975 when Chuck and I were working at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Chuck left town in 1977 to pursue his MDiv and PhD at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and returned in 1986 to be senior pastor of White Rock Baptist Church. My family was living in Tulsa, Okla., in 1986, and I had no way of knowing we would become life-long friends with the McCulloughs. But what a JOY Chuck and Karen have become to Carol and me.
In April of 2004, Chuck and I began writing a weekly column for the Los Alamos Monitor (newspaper) titled "Bible Answers" and we alternated weeks for the writing. When we moved to Siloam Springs and began writing for the Herald-Leader, Chuck continued writing for the Monitor every week.
Now where was I? Oh yes ...
You never know what will happen during a church meeting. If you don't believe me, just attend church and find out. I remember on one of our trips to Los Alamos in 2013 I preached for Chuck, and the McCulloughs and Linzeys sang as a quartet. Brother Chuck even played a New Orleans-style interlude on his trombone during our quartet number. Church meetings can be interesting!
I don't think of Chuck as a "Baptist Pastor." Yes, he is a Baptist; but I assess him more as a Christ-centered Christian who is pastor of a Baptist Church; and he loves people. That properly describes brother Chuck.
On Sunday, October 26 of 2014 when we visited Chuck and White Rock Baptist Church again, another surprise awaited us. Chuck was passionately teaching about Christ and the church when, all of a sudden, the fire alarms began blaring!
Children, teens, and adults all poured out of every available door into the parking lot, and walked to the identified gathering area. It was a calm, deliberate event: there was no panic, but no one dawdled, either. At the gathering area, each teacher assured that all their charges were present, and the staff swept the building to assure that no one was left behind. Then the fire engines came rumbling into the parking lot.
But in the midst of all this, I conducted my own assessment. No smell of smoke; no cry of "fire" or other verbal alarm; outside there was no visible smoke; no flicker of flames. And more importantly: Pastor Chuck didn't appear surprised, and there were no sirens.
"Fire drill?" I asked. Chuck nodded. His staff had called the fire station 15 minutes earlier for a fire drill, but purposely didn't announce it to the congregation to see how they would respond. The people did a wonderful job evacuating the building in a timely and orderly manner; and the personnel from Fire Station One in White Rock arrived in a timely manner. They conducted their operation efficiently and quickly; and had there been an emergency, they would have handled it without a hitch. I honor them for their positive attitude and expertise.
What made the event even more beneficial to the church and community is that the firemen called the children around the truck and gave them a "show & tell" about fire engines.
As I observed the scene -- fire trucks, ambulance, firemen interacting with kids, and adults waiting to re-enter the safe building -- I was reminded of Jesus Christ our savior, and humanity for whom Jesus loves and died.
As fire drills teach us how to prepare for possible emergencies, learning to know God through Jesus Christ prepares us for an eventuality that visits every person on earth: death. Where will you go when you die? To heaven to be with God, or banished to "outer darkness" forever?
Your choice. But don't wait and be surprised by the unpredictable timing of death. Live for Jesus now while you have time to choose.
-- Gene Linzey is a speaker, author, and former pastor. Send comments and questions to [email protected]. The opinions expressed are those of the author.
Religion on 12/10/2014