Heroes of the Past
Jack Hyles
1926 - 2001
When the path ahead is crooked and the road's too rough to tread, When the best upon the table is replaced by sorrow's bread, When you've crossed some troubled waters, yet a Marah's just ahead, DON'T QUIT! - (Excerpt from Dr. Jack Hyles' poem "Don't Quit")
Born in Italy , Texas on September 25, 1926, Jack Hyles began preaching at nineteen years of age.
After brief pastorates at Marris Chapel Baptist Church in Bogata , Texas , Grange Hall Baptist Church in Marshall , Texas and Southside Baptist Church in Henderson , Texas , he became widely known as the pastor of Miller Road Baptist Church in Garland , Texas . Through his leadership and zealous soul winning, Miller Road reached a membership of four thousand in seven years.
In August 1959, he became pastor of First Baptist Church of Hammond, Indiana. In a few years' time, the church built the largest Sunday school in the world, with attendances on big days topping twenty-five thousand. The annual pastors' school stirred many preachers to do greater works in their churches and towns.
In 1972, he founded Hyles-Anderson College.
Harold B. Sightler
1914 - 1995
"The church should not have a missionary society; it should be a missionary society. * * * * * When I walk through the Eastern Gate, I want to be able to hold my head up...look Jesus Christ my Lord in the face and declare that I remained true, by saying, 'I yet believe the Book. I yet believe in Jesus. I yet believe in the church.' ""
Harold Bennett Sightler was born May 15, 1914 in the lower part of his beloved South Carolina-the state where he lived his whole 81 years and ministered faithfully 55 of those years.
He often preached on the importance of Christian training in a child's life and praised God for his own Bible-believing heritage: "Among my earliest recollections is an old grandmother with God's Word in her lap reading the story of Jesus and His love."
After brief pastorates in Mauldin and Pelham , South Carolina , he founded the Tabernacle Baptist Church on White Horse Road in Greenville in 1952 and was the pastor for 42 years and 2 months until his death in September of 1995.
During his years at Tabernacle, Dr. Sightler founded a children's home, the Tabernacle Baptist Bible College , a Christian school, the Helen Grace Sightler Widow's Apartments, a day-care center, and two radio stations. The church gives $10,000 per week to foreign missions.
In addition to preaching at Tabernacle, Dr. Sightler held revival meetings nationally and international. From 1948 to 1984 he preached an average of 40 revivals per year.
In 1943 he founded his daily radio ministry, the Bright Spot Hour, which is still heard on 45 radio stations across America.
He was an author from whose pen had come more than 70 books and booklets, including 11 Bible commentaries. A pioneer of independent Baptists in the Carolinas , he was highly respected with independent Baptists nationwide.
Lester Roloff
1914 - 1982
"The world's greatest need is preaching preachers. The Gospel is our emancipation proclamation: let's take it to the slaves of sin."
Lester Roloff was born in Dawson , Texas , in 1914. His conversion at the age of fourteen came during a revival meeting when a godly Sunday school teacher urged him to give his heart to Christ.
He received his education at Baylor University , taking his Jersey cow, "Marie," along with him and paying for his room and board with four gallons of milk per day.
After finishing school, "Brother Roloff" conducted a work of ministry both as a pastor and as an evangelist in his own inimitable style. His ministry touched the lives of millions of people throughout the USA and in many foreign countries.
Roloff was never shy about voicing his convictions. He opposed Baylor University 's plan to grant an honorary degree to President Harry Truman because of his frequent use of profanity. In 1950, he separated from the Southern Baptist Convention.
In 1969 Roloff became pastor of the People's Church in Corpus Christi , Texas . Under his leadership, the church began an outreach ministry to troubled teens and adults under the blanket name, "The City of Refuge."
Roloff's homes included: Rebecca Home for Girls, Anchor Home for Boys, Lighthouse for Men and Boys, and the Jubilee Home for Women.
Bob Jones, Sr.
1883 - 1968
"The test of your character is what it takes to stop you."
Robert Reynolds Jones, best known as Dr. Bob Jones, Sr., was born October 30, 1883, the eleventh of twelve children, in Skipperville , Alabama . Converted at age 11, he was a Sunday school superintendent at 12 and ordained to the ministry by the Methodist church at 15.
"Dr. Bob" was a Christ-exalting, sin-condemning preacher who first began preaching in the cotton fields, in country churches and in brush arbors. Later he held huge campaigns in American cities large and small and preached around the world. Billy Sunday called him the greatest evangelist of all time, saying, "He has the wit of Sam Jones, the homely philosophy of George Stuart, the eloquence of Sam Small and the spiritual fervency of Dwight L. Moody."
He saw crowds up to 10,000 in his meetings, with many thousands finding Christ in one single campaign. But Dr. Jones was more than an evangelist. As a pioneer in the field of Christian education, he founded Bob Jones University in 1927.
Behind every man's ministry is a philosophy. Dr. Jones's was spelled out in the sentence sermons to his "preacher boys" in chapels at the college. Who in Christian circles has not heard or read some of these: "Duties never conflict!"; "It is a sin to do less than your best."; "The greatest ability is dependability."; "It is never right to do wrong in order to get a chance to do right." "DO RIGHT!" It was the philosophy that motivated his ministry, saturated his sermons and spearheaded his school.
His voice was silenced by death January 16, 1968. His influence lives on today, and Christians will for generations to come be challenged, as he said, to "DO RIGHT IF THE STARS FALL!"
