The No Kool Aid Zone

By now, most of you are “in the loop” on the passing of Dr. Lee Roberson on Sunday morning at 4:45 A. M.

For those who can’t make it to Chattanooga for the Memorial Service, you can hear the event on the internet via WDYN/89.7 allFM’s website (wdyn.com). It will be broadcast live at 1:00 PM on Thursday. For any who may be traveling to Choo-Choo town, let us know as we prayerfully consider this opportunity. Jerry Barber (Senior Pastor at HCC) and I are attempting to arrange our schedules in order to make the trip to attend the service ourselves.

As we all reflect on the homegoing of this famous HPBC/TTU leader at the age of 97, here are some personal thoughts using the first stanza of our alma mater as a reference point:

Dr. Roberson’s passing takes many of us back to our formative days at Tennessee Temple (can you hear his famous accent when pronouncing the name of the school that he founded?). I happen to be a third generation Crusader, with my great-uncle (Jack Hudson) and father (Don Kisiah) having preceded me on campus in the 1950′s and 1960′s respectively. After his three years in Chattanooga, Uncle Jack came back to his hometown of Charlotte, NC to start Northside Baptist in 1954. His ministry was modeled after HPBC, as with many other Temple grads. He became one of the more high-profile “branches” of the Lee Roberson ministry “tree.”

In the early years of NBC, my own father came under the power of the gospel and accepted Christ as a 26-year old on the 1st Saturday night in August of 1956. After 7 years of experiencing growth as a layman at Northside, he was invited by Uncle Jack to become the song leader at a branch church, Belmont Park Baptist. This congregation was led by Gene Cole, who had just completed his training at Temple Baptist Seminary, and was being sent out by NBC. On August 31, 1964, I accepted Christ as my personal Savior during a BPBC Sunday morning service. Lee Roberson’s “gospel dynamite” influence was already being sensed in our immediate family.

During my dad’s time of service at this NBC church plant, he sensed a calling into vocational ministry. Our family moved to Chattanooga in the summer of 1965. I was enrolled at Highland Park Elementary, where I would spend my 3rd-5th grade years. Tennessee Temple Academy wasn’t an option back in those days. As an elementary child, I began to be heavily influenced by the ministry of HPBC/TTU. As a youngster, I was able to meet Dr. Charles Weigle and hear him sing in person. M. R. DeHaan, J. Vernon McGee, Hyman Appleman & R. G. Lee spoke at Highland Park, though I was not fully aware of their nationally-known ministries.

HPBC had a large chapel ministry (branch churches), in which “preacher boys” from Temple would be sent for on-the-job training. My dad pastored Pleasant Grove Baptist Church in Cloudland, GA for 18 months. I still have vivid memories of God reaching out to some underprivileged “mountain folk” and perform a work of His saving grace. My mother served as the President of the Temple Wives’ Association during that era. We lived at 1808 Vance Avenue, where the TTA gym is presently located. For family entertainment, we would attend Temple basketball games and watch Bobby Murr, “Ronnie” Bishop, Dan Sherman, Dan Manley, Dwayne Glasscock (before he became more familiarly known as “Lefty”) and other Crusaders play Lee College (the Viking men wore capri-type pants in those days instead of regular basketball shorts!) and others under the basketball tutelage of Bruce Foster.

At one of my father’s ministry posts, I was greatly influenced by a youth pastor (Larry Wiedenbenner) who was also a Temple Seminary grad. His discipleship efforts were appreciated during my Jr. High & High school days in Statesville, North Carolina.

Upon graduation from Myers Park High School a decade later, I was then privileged to be a member of the largest freshman class (1400+) in the history of Tennessee Temple upon enrolling in the fall of 1975. Guys from around the country who had a heart for God provided a compelling example, especially my roommate (James Sanders from Mesquite, Texas). He and other fellow Crusaders assisted in my own spiritual development while at TTU, observing God at work in their lives. I will always value their friendship and mentoring. They, also, were drawn to Chattanooga (from local churches around the country) as a part of the Lee Roberson legacy.

“…hear the Savior’s Call…”

Whether it was during a regular HPBC service (“Three to Thrive”), a TTU Chapel, Bible Conference (Warren Wiersbe/Lehmann Strauss/Fred Brown/Don Jennings), Missionary Conference (Wendell Kempton/etc.), Mid-Winter Revival (various speakers) or in the classes of our professors (Wymal Porter/Paul Martin/Ted Martin/etc.), many of us received promptings into vocational ministry through such Chattanooga venues. We arrived on campus in the early stages of our spiritual development process. Throughout the subsequent semesters, we began to yield more and more of our lives to God. On-campus ministry outlets (like Jr. Boys Club for me) provided great apprenticeships for future ministry (Abb Thomas’ discipleship efforts with HPBC youth were some of the most “unsung” on campus during the late 1970′s!). While the equipping phase of our spiritual journeys has led many of us to drink from other ministry “wells” since under-graduate days, we can credit Temple with the early sense of the call of God upon our lives.

“send the gospel to all people”

Evangelism was at the forefront of what we experienced during our TTU days. Do you remember the HPBC slogan, “The Church of the Green Light?” How about the traffic light on the side of the HPBC building facing Bailey Avenue? For those who attended Thursday night visitation, do you remember what was placed at the top of each visitor’s card? (“A Soul For Whom Christ Died.”)

Do you fellow TTU grads remember the final tenet of our 7 declarations made every week in Chapel… “We believe in the everlasting conscious blessedness of the saved, and the everlasting conscious punishment of the lost.” Many of us have transitioned into a more comprehensive focus of biblical disciple-making since our days in Chattanooga. There was often too little emphasis on the discipleship component of the Great Commission during our college days. However, it is refreshing to reminesce about the “Sawdust Trail” from time to time to take us back to our roots (I would recommend Richard Mouw’s book, “The Smell of Sawdust” for your reading). I especially enjoyed a personal conversation with Dallas Willard (dwillard.org) about this very aspect during his TTU seminary lectures on campus in February of last year. He remarked about the significant impact of chapel speakers during his days at Temple (many people are unaware that he is a TTU grad). He marveled at their fervency for God, and how that influence has remained with him over these decades as a professor of Philosophy at Southern California. His comments provided a unique perspective as a leading influence of the discipleship movement.

“show them Christ is all”

In recent years, I have been inspired by Joe Stowell’s writings on the “Supremacy of Christ.” As with any Christian leader, our worship should be for God and God Alone. He is the only one “fit to take the universe’s throne.”

We pause this Thursday to bestow honor to one of His choice servants. It was my extreme privilege to be in attendance at the Bill Bright Memorial Service in June of 2003 in Orlando, Florida. On that day, a fitting tribute was given to the founder of Campus Crusade for Christ. A “Who’s Who of Evangelicalism” took turns offering commendation for “A Life Lived Well.”

I would submit that the above phrase of the TTU alma mater has been most epitomized by Dr. Roberson’s long-time Associate/Co-Pastor, Dr. J. R. Faulkner. What a wise choice to invite J. R. to join the pastoral staff at HPBC during the early days of ministry. Together, they made one of the most effective ministry teams of the 20th century. We were all privileged to observe them during the zenith of their ministry at Highland Park.

May we all strive to emulate the qualities of their lives that best represent the Kingdom. Most of all, may we remember to be ultimately molded and shaped into image of His son.

I trust the enclosed picture will allow Temple grads in this mailout to take a similar, reflective “walk down memory lane.”

A fellow Crusader,