Dear Friends,
A few years ago, I attended the funeral of a dear friend of mine,
whose words back in 1969 forever changed the direction of my life and ministry.
Those words came from the lips of Dick Armstrong, who had been a professor at
Princeton Theological Seminary, and who had passed away at age 94.
Dick enjoyed a varied career in both the secular and religious
worlds. He was a professional baseball player, an accomplished pianist and
composer of music. He was the director of public relations for the Baltimore
Orioles baseball team, and the first person to introduce the idea of team
mascots to professional sports, his Mr. Oriole, being the first professional
team mascot to appear on the field. Dick, who had pastored one of the largest
churches in the Presbyterian denomination, was also a prolific writer who
authored seven books and had been working on three others at the time of his
death. Dick was the most amazing and multi gifted man I have ever met.
His obituary filled a full page of the Princeton newspaper.
I first met Dick while he was serving as President of the National
Trustee Board for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Our interests in
sports and faith brought us together, and thus began a friendship that we
maintained for almost 50 years. Whenever I visited him during the later
years of his life, I always left feeling encouraged and inspired to be a better
person and a better pastor.
But now about those words that changed the trajectory of my life
and ministry. Dick had been serving as interim pastor at the Cedar Park
Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, and one day he called and asked me if I
would be interested in considering becoming the pastor at Cedar Park.
Cedar Park was a predominately white church situated in a changing community
that had become 80 percent black, and the challenge facing the church was how
to reach the predominately black community with the gospel. At the time I
was serving a small church in Syracuse, New York. I knew little, if anything,
about urban ministry, and having grown up in a predominately white community in
Watertown, New York, I felt totally inadequate and unprepared for the kind of
ministry the church needed. Dick was persistent, however, and on two different
occasions he called and encouraged me to explore the possibility. Each
time I politely told him I was not interested.
After our third conversation, however, he closed with the
words that forever changed my ministry directions. Dick said, "Tom,
I believe You're the man for this ministry." Dick believed in me when I
didn't believe in myself. He had confidence in my abilities at a time when I
felt totally inadequate. I couldn't get those words out of my mind. "Dick
believes in me!"
Belief in someone is a powerful force in shaping his/her life, and
it was knowing that Dick believed in me, along with the power of the Holy Spirit
that made me overlook my limitations and inadequacies. I accepted Dick's
challenge, pursued the position, and soon after was called to become Cedar
Park's pastor. The next seven years of my ministry were life changing for me
and our family as our church became one of the few integrated churches in
Philadelphia. During that time, I was stretched and challenged in ways I never
could have imagined, but all the while I never forgot Dick’s words, "Tom,
You're the man for the ministry," and they encouraged me to persevere when
ministry challenges confronted me.
Encouraging words are powerful and life changing as Dick's words
were for me. They can become the 'positive push' that can alter the direction
of our lives. They can become "the wind beneath our wings"
that enable us to soar beyond the limits of our own abilities and expectations.
"There are high spots in all of our lives and most of them
have come about through the encouragement of someone else." George M.
Adams.
The Apostle Paul fully realized the power of the 'positive push'
when he exhorts us "To encourage one another and build each other up, just
as you are already doing " (1 Thess. 5:11).
Is there someone in your life who would benefit from your words of
encouragement? Why not drop them a note or pick up the phone and give them
a call. I promise you that you will be glad you did, and so will the person you
contact. Who knows but what your words might be as life changing as Dick's
words were for me?
Yours in faith and friendship
Pastor Tom
P.S. "People go further than they think they can when someone
else comes along and tells them that they think they can." John Maxwell
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