Tremendous is in HEAVEN!

Good morning. The sunrise this morning is breathtaking. And it is only fitting that it would be so, as my dear friend and mentor, Mr. Charlie T. Jones, otherwise known as Mr. Charles Tremendous Jones, a few hours ago, entered into the presence of the Lord Jesus. He was so excited to see the Lord—a life well lived…he, through his weakness and love for a forgiving and faithful God, was able to literally influence the world.

 

Let me tell you why his nickname is tremendous. Well first let me tell you the story how I first met Charlie. I was twenty five years old and attending Pensacola Christian College for my Master’s in Administration. The guest speaker one morning was Charlie. I had just been humbled by the Lord through a teacher named Miss Rosanne Petermeyer. I was failing her class and asked her if I could do some extra work to get my grade up. I explained how I was a baby Christian and had an unfair disadvantage because I had not grown up in a Christian home nor had I ever heard of these Old Testament characters and facts that the others had learned prior to attending who were in the class. There were about seventy of us all together and I was the only one struggling. She proceeded to ask me if God had called me there and then let me know that I lacked the character to do what it would take to serve God in ministry. I proceeded to tell her that her school and her teaching methods reminded me more of communism than Christianity, and that I was done with her class and her school. She then let me know if I turned my back on this difficulty, that God would never use me in ministry. I then smiled and let her know that is was for this judgmental attitude that I was leaving.

 

So there I was. A baby Christian who had lacked the character in a difficult situation and I was running. And I knew that unless I went back that she was probably right. So I returned, knocked on her door and she let me know what I had to do…I had to get a hundred on the final exam and to start studying for the first time in my life! Well she didn’t know my well kept secret, that I had never read a book in my life, but I started to study. And to make a long story short, (I do wish I had time to tell you the whole of it), I did receive 100, and as a result I was invited to attend a seminar that morning where Mr. Charles Tremendous Jones was speaking.  There were about 3000 people and Debbie and I were sitting in the front. As Divine Providence would have it, Mr. Jones walked out into the crowd and chose me to come up on stage where he proceeded to ask me who my mentors were; what great Christian literature I had been reading, and what biographies were the best books I had ever read. He then rather energetically, to say the least, proceeded to shake me, as the crowd was laughing hysterically, and demanded that I tell him what was my favorite book last month, last week, and last night! And since The Cat in the Hat was the only book I could remember, and that words weren’t quite coming out of my mouth, he proceeded to let me know that he was see me afterward. I looked at him and told him that he would never see me again, all the while the crowd was laughing so hard that some were in tears, especially my wife…not because she felt sorry for me, but because she was laughing so hard!

            Three days later, after driving in a state of shock, from Florida to western NY, after a grueling summer of study, there was a special delivery box waiting for me on my door steps. It was a package from Mr. Jones. And there was no way I was opening it because I knew there must be a bomb in it…he was going to finish me off. As I opened the box I saw 12 biographies; the first was D.L. Moody, the Greatest Evangelist of the 19^th Century. And because it was only about 3/8^th inch thick, I gave it a try. Two and a half hours later I had read my very first book. The next was George Mueller, where I learned what D.L. Moody did on his feet, George Mueller accomplished on his knees.  And then Hudson Taylor, and Amy Carmichael, Gladys Alwardt, Abraham Lincoln and more. I was hooked…I couldn’t put them down and my life has never been the same. And as most of you know, Lamplighter Publishing and Ministries was birthed about ten years after that experience and God has done for me almost exactly what he did for Charlie. I am now walking in his footsteps doing almost the same.

            The reason he is called “Tremendous” is because if you have ever met Charlie, you would know that life is tremendous. His love for life and the Lord and others is beyond description or compare. If I told you all of the experiences between Charlie and me, it would literally be a book…so much to tell, like the time we spoke at the same convention, where I told him he looked the same as he looked twenty years ago…he slapped me on the forehead, and said, “be healed, you must be blind!” He was quite the character. I wish I could tell you about the party at his house where we all (the board of Executive Books) were given children’s musical instruments (like the ones we had when we were all children), and played while singing Christmas songs. I had the miniature xylophone with a small wooden mallet (I wanted the drum, but Bill wouldn’t share). Charlie had a children’s microphone where he would sing and put his arm around us and make us laugh and cry; we were having such a grand time. What he was actually doing, was helping us all, in our busy lives, to have a memory where we once again could feel what it was like to be a child. It is a memory I will never forget. Every summer Charlie would go to NY City and take a van full of kids back to his property and give them the time of their lives.

            There was never a time when I was with Charlie, when I didn’t see him telling someone about the Lord he loved so much. One time in particular, we were eating at the Hershey Hotel when Charlie and his wife Gloria (now I would have to write another book just for Gloria and her commitment that allowed Charlie do what he did), where he noticed an attractive lady, about in her fifties, leaning against a pillar. She seemed to be daydreaming and there was something missing in her spirit. You could tell that it had been a long time since joy was in her life. Charlie, immediately went up to her and whispered in her ear for the longest time. There was no doubt that he was telling her about a God who loved her and died for her. When he was finished, it was like life rushed back into her eyes and with a smile, she looked at Charlie, and said, “Thank you, kind sir.” Even as we were walking through the gardens at Hershey, Charlie would wander from us telling people, complete strangers about the God who made the flowers and a Savior who wore the thorns so we could have life. Oh, the stories are quite endless…once a good friend had a meeting near where Charlie lived, so I called Charlie and asked him if he would be willing to meet with her. He told me that he was extremely busy but he would give fifteen minutes. I think he actually gave an hour and that night my friend received Jesus as her Savior.

            I asked Charlie recently that after he talked to the Lord and met up with friends and family that he would seek out my dad out and tell him that I love him and that it won’t be long before I see him again. Until then, may I and you be found faithful as we have been given this precious life; a life that is tremendous! “Thank you Lord for allowing me the privilege of knowing and loving Charlie.”  Great job Charlie! You did it! My heart is broken to lose you, but I am more committed than ever to follow in your steps.