Baptismal Testimony of Jimmy Cabble (12/08/05)

This is the end of a journey that began for me over 20 years ago.  I do not remember a time when my family had a church affiliation.  So, as a teenager I began attending a small Baptist church in my hometown of Ashland, KY with a couple of buddies of mine.  Admittedly, I attended more to play basketball with my friends in the church league than I did to hear the sermons from the preacher, but God uses all kinds of instruments to bring us closer to Him- and for me it was basketball, my buddies and Mr. Sparks.  Mr. Sparks was an older gentleman, brave enough to teach the teens in Sunday school class at Unity Baptist.  Mr. Sparks would call each Saturday night and get a verbal commitment from every one of us that we would “be there tomorrow.”  Mr. Sparks was not just committed; he required a commitment of us as well

So, after giving my word I found myself showing up Sunday after Sunday, too afraid to let Mr. Sparks down and skip a class.  We would study a lesson, and always- without fail Mr. Sparks would relate the topic we just studied to UK basketball.   That is how he kept our attention- devoting the last part of class to a dissection of UK basketball- always a good topic among high school boys from Kentucky.  And finally one Sunday, in church, I felt the overwhelming desire to come forward.  I cannot recall the particular sermon or the reason for that decision, it just seemed like the time was right.  Not an easy decision for a shy teenage boy I assure you.  And the first person there to greet me “down front” was Mr. Sparks.  He was so happy for me.  I set up a time in the future to meet with the minister and schedule my Baptism.  But something very sad happened.  Mr. Sparks grew ill and died shortly after I had made my public profession of faith and without his phone calls each Saturday night requiring my commitment to attend, I began to miss church.  Pretty soon I found a job, discovered girls, graduated high school and left for college; all without ever getting baptized.  I have sporadically attended church since then but nothing has felt as right or moved me until a couple Sundays ago when I attended, knowing my wife was coming forward.  But the sermon seemed geared toward me.  Mark was talking about how it’s never to late and that God has plans for all of us and I thought this is it- this is the right time in the right place for me to finish what I started over 20 years ago.  And I know that my joining has been atypical and I would like to thank this congregation and Mark for being so flexible and allowing me to share today with my wife on such short notice.  And, I know this moment would make Mr. Sparks very, very happy.