by Pastor Jack Hyles (1926-2001)
THEIR CHILDREN ATTENDED THEIR WEDDING
One Saturday in a little country church outside of Marshall, Texas, I was cleaning the baptistry. (Yes, I did most everything. I turned the lights on, turned the lights off, turned the fire on, turned the fire off, cooked the bread for the Lord's Supper, filled up the glasses, and then cleaned up the mess.) This particular day I was cleaning the baptistry so I could fill it. We didn't have any running water or modern facilities, so I had to get a long water hose, hook it up to a hydrant that was quite a distance from the church, and run it many feet up into the baptistry. Yes, it was all cold water; there was no hot water at all!
I had the baptistry almost cleaned when someone came in the back door of the church building.
"Is the Reverend here?"
I said, "I am the Reverend." I had on tennis shoes, an old pair of trousers, and a T-shirt!
He said, "Well, you're mighty young."
"Yes." (I think I was 22 at the time.)
"We want to get married."
I said, "Well, I don't marry people on the spur of the moment like this and besides, look at me, I'm a sight! When do you want to marry?"
"Now," he said.
"No, I couldn't marry you now, not at all. I don't believe in that."
"Pastor, would you like to meet our children.
I said, "Your what?"
"Our children." There were six children with the couple.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
The man said, "We were married to each other and had six children but we weren't saved. We separated and divorced. Both of us got saved and now we want to get married again."
Well, who would turn down that! I put my broom down, stuck my old dirty rag in my back pocket, and with a T-shirt, an old pair of trousers, and a pair of tennis shoes on I said, "Dearly beloved, we are gathered in the sight of God and these assembled witnesses to unite this man and this woman in holy matrimony..." The angels in Heaven bent low and turned their attention from the big cathedrals of the world to a little country Baptist Church.
After the wedding, I led several of the children to Jesus.
