It has been a bittersweet
day for those who knew sister Jane McWhorter. I learned this morning that she passed
on from this world to her reward in Heaven. Sister McWhorter was a woman who strove
to please the Lord by using the many talents she possessed. The use of these
talents touched many lives and today as I scroll through the updates of my
Facebook friends, I am witnessing only a small percentage of the reach her life
had.
Sister McWhorter was an
excellent example of the influence we are able to have on others. One of my
favorite illustrations when discussing influence is the story written by
brother Nichols. I know I have shared it with you before but I hope you will
indulge me and read it again. It is such an excellent reminder of the reach our
own lives have…
During the War Between
the States, a young woman learned the truth and obeyed the gospel. Her
sweetheart, J.H. Halbrook, was a confederate soldier. He was captured by the
union army and kept a prisoner in Michigan until the war was over. After the
war, he returned to Centerville and married his sweetheart. His wife studied
the Bible with him, and he soon became a Christian. He thought the truth was so
good and so simple that he began to teach and baptize many of his friends and
neighbors. He began to preach, but he recognized his need for more training, so
he went to the original Mars Hill Bible School, taught by T.B. Larimore. Upon completing his studies there, instead of
going back to Tennessee, they moved farther south, coming into Walker, Marion,
Fayette, and Lamar counties in Alabama. One of J.H. Halbrook’s many converts
was Charley Alexander Wheeler. Along with his wife, C.A. Wheeler obeyed the
gospel and soon began preaching to others. He started more than 100
congregations and baptized more than 6,000 people. One of those 6,000 was my father, the late Gus
Nichols. And twelve thousand were baptized under his preaching. Among those baptized by Gus Nichols, no one knows,
nor can know, how many began to preach "the glorious gospel of
Christ" -2Cor. 4:3,4; but I personally know several. I, Flavil Nichols, am
ONE whom he baptized and whom he encouraged to preach the truth. And under my
preaching, about 3,000 have been baptized. A few among them preach the gospel
also! Only eternity can reveal the total results of the conversion of that one
young lady nearly 150 years ago. The results are not yet all in! But this shows
that TWENTY-ONE THOUSAND people have become Christians through this single thread
in the fabric of her influence.
-Flavil Nichols
Huntsville, AL
-From The Winfield Newsletter, Vol. 21, No. 14
-From The Winfield Newsletter, Vol. 21, No. 14
I am so encouraged by the many people writing
how Ms. Jane (along with her late
husband, Don) influenced and
encouraged them. I am reminded by her passing that this only our temporary
home. While we struggle with the economy and day-to-day living we must keep in
mind that this is only our temporary home. I am encouraged by the unity I feel
as we all grieve for and with sister McWhorter’s physical family, but most of
all I am encouraged knowing she is in a place so wonderful, words simply do not
do it justice and we have the opportunity to be there with her one day. Cindy
Colley said it beautifully today, “Praise God for the hope of heaven. Praise
Him for the angels who came this morning to take Mrs. Jane home.”
“In my Father's house are
many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a
place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and
receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”
John 14:2-3