"Greats" Memories
- Thread starter Vince Massi
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Shortly after being saved, while still a student in Catholic high school, I had to read Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. One of the characters was a corrupt monk who preached a dynamic sermon as a joke, just to prove that he could fake it.
Knowing that the sermon was fake, I was still blessed by it. I realized that the ability to preach a great sermon is not proof of Godliness; but once I got to HAC, I threw that lesson away.
Knowing that the sermon was fake, I was still blessed by it. I realized that the ability to preach a great sermon is not proof of Godliness; but once I got to HAC, I threw that lesson away.
no value said:
Never heard him in person
Never heard him in person
Heard him a lot due to involvement in a HAC church. Never understood what all of the hoopla was about.
Heard him several times; mostly positive recollections.
I don't recall ever having heard him
Heard him once back in 1987. He seemed old then, and I remember him singing and he did well.
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Nels Ferre preached a vibrant, happy Christianity that rejected Christ. A powerful and successful modernist who was despised by John R. Rice, Ferre was a scheduled speaker at a conference on how to get fundamentalists to join the ecumenical movement. In a story that I cannot verify, John R. Rice reported that Ferre was found dead in his motel room from a drug overdose.
It was Christmastime at a genuine Christian conference, and the speakers agreed to exchange gifts they did not want. Brother Hyles received a book of sermons by Nels Ferre. Curious to know what a successful, unsaved preacher would say, he read Ferre's sermon "He Made the Stars Also."
Our astounded pastor bluntly told us the story in chapel, and then he preached the sermon. It was certainly one of the best messages I ever heard, in which Ferre taught that God called some men to pastor small churches, and these men were not failures. Despite its blatant contradiction to what we were being taught, Hyles believed it.
It was Christmastime at a genuine Christian conference, and the speakers agreed to exchange gifts they did not want. Brother Hyles received a book of sermons by Nels Ferre. Curious to know what a successful, unsaved preacher would say, he read Ferre's sermon "He Made the Stars Also."
Our astounded pastor bluntly told us the story in chapel, and then he preached the sermon. It was certainly one of the best messages I ever heard, in which Ferre taught that God called some men to pastor small churches, and these men were not failures. Despite its blatant contradiction to what we were being taught, Hyles believed it.
In 1977, I had completed my first year at HAC and was home for the summer. I heard that Lester Roloff was going to be preaching at a church about thirty minutes from where I lived. My dad and I went to this church, which wasn't even an IFB church, but Lester was there with a singing quartet of girls from his home. After the service, we introduced ourselves and during the conversation he told us that his plane was at an airfield that was about ten minutes from our house. My dad asked if we could give him a ride, and he said, "the girls have to ride on a bus but I hate riding in busses. Are you sure it wouldn't be any trouble?" My dad said, "of course not." So, off we went to the small air strip with Lester in the back seat.
I was a little surprised by the exchange, because I always though that Lester was a guy built for hardship and that a little bus ride would be nothing for him.
It was about an half hour ride and I asked him what was the very most important thing for a Christian to do, and I still remember him saying, "to keep yourself pure and unspotted from the world!"
When we got to the air field, he went to his plane and took out a box of Bibles and without asking told me to sell them and send him the money. I thought I would never get those things sold! The girls came in about ten minutes later, they loaded up and were gone in minutes! Five years later he died in a plane crash and I always wondered if that was the plane he died in.
I was a little surprised by the exchange, because I always though that Lester was a guy built for hardship and that a little bus ride would be nothing for him.
It was about an half hour ride and I asked him what was the very most important thing for a Christian to do, and I still remember him saying, "to keep yourself pure and unspotted from the world!"
When we got to the air field, he went to his plane and took out a box of Bibles and without asking told me to sell them and send him the money. I thought I would never get those things sold! The girls came in about ten minutes later, they loaded up and were gone in minutes! Five years later he died in a plane crash and I always wondered if that was the plane he died in.
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I never knew John Rice, though I did hear him preach a number of times. I did have a dear friend when I was young that knew the Rices very well and traveled with them some.. They said Mrs. Rice would often say "John what are you mumbling about and he would say i'm not talking to you honey. In the car, in the store, in the park and even around the house Dr. Rice would just talk to the Lord like a friend who hand come to visit.
This person said Dr. and Mrs. Rice lived what they believed and what he preached more than any couple they had ever known.
I didn’t know the Rices but always felt that they walked the walk.
I remember Adrian Rogers saying, "There are things it doesn't pay to be dogmatic about but there are other things am going to be BULL-dogmatic about." I can still hear his baritone voice stressing the word "BULL".
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I only heard Dr. Rice preach in the last five years of his life. He was almost completely deaf and even though he wore hearing aids, couldn't really hear what he was saying. That was why it was hard to follow him.
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