Landstuhl (Part of the K-Town Mil Community)

A lot of what I posted about LBM.BBChLandstuhl was from memory, which, in my case was/is very faulty. I was only 2-4 YO as a Christian; in fact, April 23 is my 55th REbirthday. The LBM I knew was very small in number, but that didn't bother me too much. As I mentioned, when Jerry Briggs was pastor he also was very young, but at least IMHO he did all he could to keep us together. Was he always 110+% perfect? Of course not...we never will be in this life. He dealt with all sorts of problems & attitudes that were as various as the stars in the sky, due in part that it was a military-type environment in which he faced people with different views on "ALL the above." I too was a church clerk for this struggling mission/church whose members knew that they'd only have 1-2 years there anyway as opposed to what it's like in civilian life here in the states. Personally I'd not wish that on any pastor/missionary/lay person, but he seldom every expressed what had to be tremendous pressures from all sides. I was & am not a person who was/is "called to preach." But just as a very young Christian, I learned the hard way to appreciate all of the pastors I had/have now, "Where Could I Go, But to the Lord" would be a rather appropriate theme song for ALL of them. It's one thing to differ on some fine points of theology (and I welcome the diversity I see here on BB), but the name-calling & charges of heresy I hate to see & I don't believe Christ is honored in this kind of display of child-like down-right selfishness that sometimes shows itself in forums where one doesn't see another physically. How the BB Administrators put up with it is beyond me...and I'm not telling you as one of them anything you don't already know.. Sure, we are not always going to see eye-to-eye on certain things, but as people who say they are born-again children of "Our Father Who Art in Heaven," at times reveal an attitude of "It's MY doctrine or the highway!!" It grieves me when we realize how Satan must feel: "Ah ha, as long as there're going 'Knock down, drag out' among themselves....I WIN!! When we have soooo much in common as brothers & sisters washed by the BLOOD of the Lamb, you'd think that a person who's lost would say to himself, "Wow, if that's how Christians act amongst themselves, WHY should I ever want to be one of them??" I'm not proposing we lay aside our "convictions" on things, but we shouldn't have to resort to acting like CONVICTs over them. I probably would disagree with some points that our forefathers in the faith might have, but am I going to pour gas on the fire that's consuming them when they're dying at the stake? I would hope not. Of course we'll sometimes differ on some matters....I differ on a lot of things that my 3 siblings do, but am I going to stop loving them in the Spirit of Christ that I claim to have as my guiding principle for my own conduct? God help me if I do. It's one thing to disagree on matters, but in so doing, we don't have a right to come off as disagreeable. I'll get down from my BB pulpit now...better yet, maybe it's time I get down on my knees instead. Selah. PS--Although my home down here is in Antioch TN--a suburb of Nashville's SE side, I can't wait to walk down that street that has solid gold for its paving material....No pot holes up there!!

 

Can't say that I recall that person's name. About all that I do remember about BBCofL's connection w/ Z's presence was of some of Pastor Briggs' (Since we were very close to each other in both age & the location of our hometowns, we'd use the first letter of our last names when we'd talk to each other. Hence, he was "Brother B" & his wife was "Sister B." Yours truly was "Brother K.") Since in those days we had such little contact with state-side Baptists other than the papers to which we'd get (Usually they were torn to pieces after having gone through "Who knows how many 'Snail-mail'-sorting' APO grinders!") and arrived about 2 - 3 months later than their publication date, we share papers like "The Sword of the Lord," [Never realizing then that 30 yrs in my future moves I'd be only 20 or so miles from its HQs....] or other ones that'd keep us "Up-to-Date" with state-side goings-on. John of Japan, are you taking notes? This doesn't mean that we always were in lock-step agreement with every single article we'd come across, and I'm sure some publications we received would probably see some things differently from time to time, but then starving kids don't always get to pick and choose the menus of those who at least were kind enough to feed us. There I go again Bugs Bunny....get back in your hole & stop bugging us Fudd Fellows!! So yes, we could learn some things from good old Bro Rice or whoever that paper's editor may be. One incident I still re-call over which I still laugh was that of a paper that was printed in KY [Not knowing that one day KY would be my neighbor to the north!!]. The ed's last name began with G, so we'd call him Bro B G. This visitor from my PA heard us talking about him, but never did seem to make the connection of his paper & the disco group from Aussie-land called the Bee Gees!! These are just a few incidents I still have in my lack-of-memory bank & I hope they not be robbed by some outsider. Yes, often I've learned from these people, most of whom are now rejoicing in heaven, but still, as a now 55 YO brother, to them, I'll join with the late Bob Hope and sing to our Father, "Thanks for the Memories." Each one had a part of my "Still-Under-Construction" spiritual life. Mine may be (and probably is) different from other Brothers & Sisters of the Holy Spirit, but, as I posted just previous to this one, as Rodney King once asked, "Can't we all just 'Get Along'?" Selah (From a vet who was a Break Away from YOUR(!!) US Army & did serve in the US Air Farce!! !!!) My "Life's Passage" is that of Lamentations 3:19-27.

 

I like to hear my pastor say that too....only now about at least 75% of the congregates have to be told to "Open up your phones to the Bible app"!!

 

Mine was (as best I can recall!!): Wm "Bill" Bowler, pastor of Metropolitans retirement
BC; (2) David C Auckland, pastor of FaithBC; (3) Elton Wilson, pastor of BibleBC in Clarksville, TN; (4) Assistant Pastor who assumed BBC's pastor upon pastor Wilson's retiring due to medical issues, Bob Jones [From Gold Bug, KY, not the other BJ.]; (5) Emmitt Sexton when BJ left to return to being an Evangelist; (6) Bryan Baggett, who took over as pastor upon pastor Sexton's death from cancer; (7) Al Henson, founding pastor of what then was referred to as Lighthouse Baptist Church, Antioch, TN. Starting in Jan 2009, LBC merged with another church called Hope Christian Fellowship. "Bro Al" was trying to recover from a form of Parkinson's Disease which left him unable to stand for very long + his sensing to become director of Compassionate Hope Foundation www.compassionatehope.org whose primary goal was to minister to the needs of Christians in South East Asia & the Philippines. (8) Pastor John Yancey, who was serving as pastor at Hope Christian Fellowship. www.lighthousenashville.org will show you the church of which I've been a member for over 25 years.