Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

I am most thankful to have had the opportunity to get a college and seminary education. There was a time in my younger life when I had a hard time seeing how any of that could ever be a possibility. My parents encouraged me to do well in school, but I was not encouraged to pursue an education past high school. They didn’t discourage such, and they weren’t necessarily opposed to higher education, it simply wasn’t a matter of great importance. That might be explained by the fact that neither of them attended beyond grade school. I am quite proud of the fact that in spite of that, three of my parents’ four children completed college degrees. I am the youngest of the four.

My dad passed away during my sophomore year in high school. Things were tough financially for my mom and me after that, so I knew she would not be able to send me to college. I am so grateful for Alabama’s community college system, or junior college, as they called it back then. I could afford $67.00 per quarter, so I enrolled at Northeast Alabama Junior College. At that same time, I also enrolled in Samford University’s Extension Program, which offered classes at DeKalb Baptist Association, in my hometown of Rainsville. My first-two classes there were with two of Samford’s best professors: Drs. Gilbert Guffin and Sigurd Bryan. Those two-godly men encouraged me to apply for admission to Samford when I finished my basics at Northeast. They told me about scholarships and grants that were available to help students like myself. By the time I was ready to attend Samford, I had a wife. You might think that only made it harder to go, but actually it made it easier. She and I took turns going to school. With those scholarships, grants, God’s grace, and Jean’s tireless help and support, I was a member of Samford University’s graduating class of 1978, with a B.A. degree in religion. Then with the help of the Cooperative Program of Southern Baptist, I was able to complete a master’s degree through New Orleans Baptist Seminary. Twelve-years later, I went back to school again at that seminary and earned a doctorate. When I wasn’t going to school, Jean was, and she earned three degrees of her own in elementary education and administration.

Please don’t get the idea that I am bragging. Honestly, I am quite humbled by the fact that I was afforded such opportunities to get a wonderful education. That only happened by the grace and power of God, and with much prayer and assistance from others. I am eternally grateful to Southern Baptist, Alabama Baptist, to all who endowed scholarships, and especially to my wife and soulmate of almost 50 years.

When I completed my last degree, 25 years ago, I thought that would be my last time to be in school. Then, last week, after all those years, I went back to college one more time. This time, I am standing behind the podium, rather than sitting in a desk in front of it. And, of all places, I have the privilege of teaching a class for my alma mater, Samford University, in one of their extension programs. It is almost like I am right back where I first started in those classes in Rainsville, Alabama, more than 50-years ago.  This quarter, I am teaching a class on the Pauline Epistles of the New Testament. Who knows, perhaps I will have the joy of encouraging some student’s further education, much like Dr. Guffin and Dr. Bryan did for me!