I went to the funeral of my friend Bill Lynch on Tuesday. He was my friend… and my pastor when God called me to the ministry. The funeral was held at Lovings Baptist Church(Oklahoma) were Bill had been pastor until illness caused him to discontinue his preaching duties. Lovings Baptist Church and several other churches had been the recipient of Bill’s preaching/teaching ministry for many years. He was a man who walked with God… and God walked with Him. He had a great wife in Rosie who kept him straight and partnered with him in ministry.
Bro. Bill was there for me especially in the early years of my ministry. He didn’t have any degrees from a college or seminary but was about the smartest man in the Bible I knew! I could ask him anything about the Bible, the Church or Pastoring people and he would always give me a good word of wisdom. This wisdom he shared came from hours and hours of studying God’s Word and Prayer.
It was good to hear the testimony’s of several people at the service as to Bill’s investment in their lives. I’m sure Bill would have been proud of his three sons leading the service. Bill’s life as a pastor touched 1000’s of lives directly… and now ten’s of thousands through his preacher boys.
I remember when I surrendered to the ministry and he told me to get a sermon together as soon as I could. Several weeks later I was ready and he had me preach. After I finished preaching that message (The Rich Man and Lazarus) he sat there on the front pew crying. I thought by his actions that was probably my first and last time to preach… but those were tears of joy as he confided with me that he sensed God’s hand and Spirit on me to His Call. Bill helped me to get my first church as a pastor… encouraged me about once a month when I would see him and would get happy when we would drop in on him while we vacationed from our own church.
I’ll miss Bill. However, I am and will be a better person and pastor because of his influence. I hope to finish the race as well as he did. He was my Elijah and I his Elisha! I can’t wait for the reunion…
Jeff Beshears
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