Who Are You Influencing?

WHO ARE YOU INFLUENCING

Don Keller is with the Lord today. I first met him in 1975. He had just gone through a divorce he didn't want, and he was a single parent to two boys. Don had a wonderful heart for the Lord and for other people. He worked for Drakes Cakes for years; he was the resident junk food salesman in our church.

Shortly after I became the pastor of Berean Baptist Church in Magnolia, NJ, Don and his boys began attending the church and joined a few months later. The church owned an old school bus, and Don asked if he could try to build a bus route. The keys were in his pocket in short order.

Don went door to door every Saturday looking for people who might like to ride the bus to Bible School and church. He worked in the heat and the cold. He worked when the sun was shining and when it rained. He gave people his phone number and told them to call him if they needed anything. To a whole neighborhood he became "Uncle Don."

No one but the Lord knows how much money he spent from his own pocket in ministering to the families on the bus route. He never asked for reimbursement; it was just his ministry to the Lord. His sacrifices went unnoticed to most people since he refused to talk about them.

"Uncle Don" had one goal in all he did. He wanted to see children and their parents come to the Lord. He believed God could save anyone, and he wasn't shy about sharing his faith. People mattered enough that he had to share; he didn't think he had a choice.

I learned from Don's example. For almost eight years that I served that church, Don modeled faithfulness, humility and sacrifice. His gracious spirit shone through in all he did. In all his ministry, Don made a point of encouraging me anyway he could. He loved Jesus. He loved people. He loved me. Don is in Heaven today, but my life is richer for the years I got to serve God with him.

Someday I'll be in heaven. I pray that someone will sense the same benefit from my life that I sense from knowing and serving with Don Keller. Does your influence in the people around you draw them to Jesus? May God give you and me that kind of influence!

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who sins souls is wise. (Proverbs 11:30) (Pastor John Strain - First Baptist Toms River)

Great Quote: Words are also actions and actions are kind of words. -- Quotation from the Great Hall of the Library of Congress

The fall semester of the KESWICK INSTITUTE OF BIBLICAL STUDIES is about to begin. It's not too late to register. Check out information on our
website: www.americaskeswick.org. Pastor John will be teaching a course on the book of Proverbs.