A Dying Breed

For the past few weeks the FBC family has been praying for one of the pillars of our church, Jerry Frazier.  For many years Brother Jerry has battled C.O.P.D. and the past few weeks have been spent in hospitals, intensive care units and now, the hospice center.  It is very obvious that he has Heaven in view.  He is a very sick man.

Not only is Jerry Frazier a dying man, men like him are a dying breed.  Today is his 73rd birthday.  He is a part of that "greatest generation" we've heard so much about.  He is a man who loves his wife, cares for his children, is devoted to his church and serves his Lord.  When I left the hospice center a while ago he was surrounded by a family that obviously loves him deeply.  You might say he is a part of "middle class America."  He doesn't have alot of worldly goods, but what he has, he worked for.  No one gave him anything.  The disease that will eventually take his life is a result of his career.  He installed insulation.

For thirty-five years Jerry and his wife, Pam, worked a bus route at Fellowship Baptist Church.  Every Saturday they would go visit children in the Braggtown community of Durham and every Sunday they would load those children on the bus and bring them to church.  Did you catch that? I said, "Thirty-five years!" Thirty-five years on the same bus route, in the same community at the same church.

I have been his pastor for almost twenty-four years, and it bothers me greatly that Jerry Frazier is dying.  What bothers me more is that his "breed" is also dying.  Today, it's hard to get people to serve in the ministry.  It's almost impossible to get them to do so for the long haul.  Very few men are willing to just keep on going.  Too many fall by the wayside due to disappointments, hurt feelings, fatigue, weariness or unfulfilled expectations.

Churches like ours are built on men like Jerry Frazier.  Unfortunately, those men are quickly passing off the scene.  Who will stand in the gap?  Who will take up the torch?  Where are the young men who will lead our churches for the next 35 years?  If that breed of men dies and others don't step up to take their places, our churches die also.  I am bothered that Bro. Jerry will soon leave us, I am afraid of what will happen to us if others don't follow in his steps.