Here I am at graduation ceremonies two years back. It's hard to believe that it was over 30 years ago that I would sit in a little church in Sand Beach PA ( a little burg near Hummelstown - I don't even know if Sand Beach was even considered a town in itself) and hear an evangelist named Jim Woods come and speak the words of the Lord in a distinct Kentucky-cured dialect that stuck with me for weeks on end.
I don't know what ever happened to that preacher who reminded me so much of Abe LIncoln. He had the height, the dark hair, and the gaunt features of Abe. But Mr. Woods could lay out a clear plan of Scriptural truth in a way I loved: unadorned yet loving. Interesting but not fanciful. Thought-provoking but not anecdotal.
I remember making a decision under his preaching. I believe it was for a committed life to serving the Lord with more zeal and purpose... a serious thing for a boy not yet in his teens.
What did I love about his speaking? The bare-faced honesty about it.
During the shock of divorce and the shame that I felt when friends were starting to keep their distance ( a child of divorce was a pretty embarrassing thing in the 60s in the classrooms I attended), it was wonderful to hear and feel the energetic exuberant love of God from a simple backwoods preacher who would stop by on occasion to present God's Word.
I'll always remember the blessing of Jim Woods.
