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When I was in bible college I had a professor who used to say, “God made all of us originals, but we do our best to die a carbon copy.” When I went to Bible College I had only been a Christian a very short time and I was very insecure about myself. I wanted desperately to be like so many of the others that I looked up to. In many ways I tried my best to become someone that I was not. In reality I was trying to loose my individuality, to become a copy. What helped me with this struggle more than anything else was the exposure to a lot of different preachers that came through at the various conferences, chapels, and special meetings. I began to see that the men that I loved and admired the most were the ones that were the most unique. I saw many who were copies. In many cases this was quite laughable. At any rate, I came away with a great appreciation for those with the courage to be the original individuals that God created them to be. The Bible says that John was the “voice of one.” In I Kings, 22:8, we read that Micaiah, was “yet one man” whom the King Israel hated because he would not prophecy like the rest of the Prophets. Thank God for originals.

In this issue of the Trumpet we are honoring a man who has had the courage to be the original that God made him. Anyone who knows Dennis Carter or who has ever read after him knows that he is not a copy of someone else. His originality puts me in mind of Lester Roloff or Fred Brown. Men like this are distinct. Some would say peculiar. Yet it is men like this who make the most lasting impressions on the lives of those that they touch.

The originality that I speak of is not fleshly, rather it is something that is shaped by the desire to be filled with and led by the Holy Ghost. Read John 3:8, “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.” The spirit led child of God is an enigma to many. His “ways” drive many crazy because you can’t figure them out.

People who know those with the courage to be originals always have great stories to tell about them. I love the story about Bro. Carter leaving a revival meeting he was preaching after the first night when it was clear that no one in the church wanted revival. Let’s face it, most people are copies of someone else because it would cost too much to be an individual. Many just don’t have the courage to be an original. I’ll always remember Bro. Carter as someone who was like no other. He is an original who has made a lasting mark..

Pastor Steven E. Mays – Trumpet Editor
BroMays@FaithBaptistTrumpet.org