84 TH GRAND CHAPTER MEETING: FOUNDATION LUNCHEON SPEAKER
My Parents
joy—that was the first sign that God was moving me into a different place. A lack of joy is a sign that you are not where God wants you to be. While I was struggling with staying in the program, I was hanging with some divinity school students who attended the same church that I did at the time and they introduced me to Dr. Brother Samuel Proctor who was teaching at Duke at the time. I will never forget that conversation with one of the greatest preachers of our generation, and Laurel Wreath Laureate. Brother Proctor asked me why I was not going to seminary instead of medical school. After 30 minutes of sitting with him, I knew I was called to serve the Lord with my entire life and I decided to go to seminary. God used a good brother to help me recognize His calling on my life and my need to surrender. As I mentioned my parents were staunch advocates of education and not only pushed me to pursue higher education but also sacrificed and fully paid for my undergraduate education. I graduated Duke without a single cent of indebtedness. I have always loved learning and knew that to be the best I could be I had to commit myself to education. Seminary awakened my passion for biblical studies and African American religious history. I fell in love with thinking and exploring and research- ing and writing. This led me to pursue my Doctor of Ministry and now even my Ph.D. as I am part of the inaugural cohort of the Ph.D. program in African American preaching and sacred rhetoric. It was important for me to have the terminal degree on the wall and prepare myself to write, teach and be accepted in the academy. Pursuing Education
As I said, my dad was my greatest influence through his presence, his support, his friendship, his modeling, and his love. My mother prayed over me almost every night and my dad took me with him everywhere he went. Both of my parents became officers in the National Baptist Convention and traveling to those denominational meetings gave me great exposure to great preaching that I fell in love with. I would sit and be absolutely enthralled with some of the great- est preachers of the Baptist church and I desired to be like them. Also, because my dad was a respected pastor, other pastors gave me op- portunities to preach after I was called at 17. I look back now and realize the great gift that was, to be afforded opportunities to preach in high school almost 20-30 times a year which helped me grow in preaching because the only way to become a good preacher is to actu- ally preach. I am grateful to God for how my parents opened doors for me that started pointing me and preparing me for ultimately, I would become. My advice to brothers, and to members of my church, is to remember that gift does not excuse work, preparation and discipline. There is no expressway to prominence and no short cuts to sustained success. Mediocrity and laziness are the enemies of excellence and no matter how gifted one may be, gifts can never take you where laziness and lack of discipline will disqualify you. The struggle with being gifted and driven and ambitious is the frustra- tion that comes when that gift and drive and ambition do not lead to immediate success. Utilizing God’s Gifts
THE JOURNAL ♦ FALL 2019 | 57
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