He lived in the pulpit, he died in the pulpit

He lived in the pulpit, he died the way he lived!

Friday night, The Reverend David Brown, Jr. died.

The Reverend Brown was the pastor pastor of nine congregations in Louisiana and Mississippi, died Friday night during a religious service at the Calvary Baptist Church in West Monroe.

He was singing a song preparing for a sermon to be preached by another minister when he suddenly collapsed.

Last year Brown was featured nationally on the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) as one of the nations last surviving "circuit pastors." The broadcast, shown around the nation, featured Brown's role as a man who pastored multiple small congregations across Northeast Louisiana and in parts of Mississippi.

Brown was a self described country preacher who had a powerful pulpit delivery, some said that could have expanded his ministry beyond rural Louisiana if he wanted. However, Brown always explained that his mission was to bring the word of God to the area he was assigned by God to cover.

He remained faithful to that calling for over three decades.

He has officiated so many funerals and marriages that he couldn't count them, worn out two dozen cars, and preached thousands of sermons to "God's people in the rural."

"If everybody goes to the big city, who pastors the country folks?" Brown once said about his ministry. He died as he lived... in the pulpit.

This passage from Revelation says it all, Revelation 2:10 "... be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life."

So we live on earth, so we continue to live with Him.

Grits in one minute, what about an 8 minute sermon?

One minute grits, now the 8 minute sermon!

I was really amused to read that the Pope has recommended that all of the Catholic Church's priests and deacons shorten their sermons, called homilies, to 8 minutes. The Pope reasons that people have short attention spans, so priests should get to the point quickly. He made their job even harder because he also recommended that their sermons address the issues and concerns of the day; all in eight minutes.

One priest in Ireland took it one step further. He has cut the sermon out altogether. He offers his parishioners a full 15 minute worship, without the sermon; attendance doubled.

Eight minutes won't won't work among evangelicals. It certainly won't work among traditional Black Baptists like myself. It sometimes takes us 8 minutes to read the text and say, "The Lord has been good to us; better than we have been to ourselves."

An eight minute sermon? What will that do to the people who can only sleep at church? It will ruin their sleep! Those who send texts during the sermon won't have enough time to complete their conversations?

On the other hand those who actually come to hear a word from the Lord could be cheated. They blocked out several hours for their worship experience, the highlight of which is "A word from the Lord." Some drive long distances, wait in traffic and undergo severe weather for the expressed purpose of hearing "The Word." Obviously, there are times that they are relieved to receive a "quickie" but most prefer that their minister would give them a full serving.

In many black rural churches a deacon will yell out, "Take your time, Reverend, take your time."

Somehow the appeal of the 8 minute sermon is lost on those who truly want to hear an inspired message from heaven. These are the faithful who come to worship and praise, but dare not leave until they learn from God's watchman, the thoughts God has put on his heart for them; however long it takes.

They are like the people in Isaiah 21:11-12 who asked, "He calleth to me out of Seir, Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night? The watchman said, The morning cometh, and also the night: if ye will enquire, enquire ye: return, come."

We all want to hear from the watchman who stands on the wall of our future, what will the night bring; is there hope for the coming morning?

Wouldn't it be a shame if just before the pastor came to the part of the sermon that offered us hope and inspiration that he looked at his watch and said, "Sorry, 8 minutes have passed; that's it for today."

8 minutes sounds like a great idea, but on second thought won't serve any purpose whatsoever.

When the quickie becomes what's regular then the next alternative is to have no word at all.

Some would like that..

I wouldn't.