Old Dogs CAN Learn New Tricks!
By Karen Whisner
This is the story of a 69 year-old Black Sheep member who absolutely hated school and homework from kindergarten to the 12th grade. He went to college for a year and a half before he flunked out. When my husband was 62, we were at church when we heard an announcement that read: “School of Ministry: now accepting applications for a ten-month college level course taught by professors from Hope International University and Pastors.” When we got home, Steve told me that he wanted to go back to school after all of these years – and we knew there was going to be a lot of homework! Those two words, “school” and “homework” were just not a part of Steve’s vocabulary. He went to the first day of school and was put into one of several smaller classes. They were told the first night that they would have homework every week, including written and oral reports. To my surprise, Steve took to this class like a fish takes to water. He loved the homework and learning all that was required each week.
The teachers taught in depth about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the Old and New Testaments, and the original language of Greek. Steve came away from these classes a new man in Christ! He cam home every Monday night on fire, reporting to me what he had learned. It was awesome to see him so excited about the Lord. During that time, Steve had the opportunity to visit my friend’s mother who was dying. He kept telling me he wanted to go and talk to Nellie. I didn’t know what he wanted to talk to her about, but thought it was great that he wanted to visit with her. Steve told me he wanted to make sure Nellie knew the Lord before she passed away. He asked her if she knew Christ, that He had been crucified on the cross to save us from our sins, and that we would spend eternity in heaven with God because of this sacrifice. She told Stepohen whisnerteve she was a believer, but didn’t really like to talk about religion. Steven then asked her if he could pray for her and she said “yes.” The Holy Spirit gave Steve all of the right words that she needed to hear that day.
Steve has become an awesome prayer warrior. God has given him the knowledge of what to say and the love to care for people and to share what the Lord means to him. It doesn’t matter how old you are! You are never too old to learn the Word of God. Everyday is a new day in Christ if we listen and God always has something to teach us…even at age 62! Ten months is a long time for a class like this one and I am very proud of Steve who earned his “Certificate of Ministry.”
Editor’s Note: We included this story from Karen Whisner about her husband Steve to encourage everyone reading this to keep on learning! It’s not over until it’s over and as we continue to learn and grow, God will use those things in our efforts to serve Him and His kingdom.
