One by one, death is
taking from us a generation of faithful gospel preachers. These older
brethren who are leaving us for their reward are men who through the gospel
have converted many of us. They are men who have fought various errors such
as premillennialism, institutionalism, worldliness, and a host of other
false doctrines and concepts that Satan has thrown at God's people. We are
now left to serve God without their wisdom and advice.
One such preacher is
my grandfather, Gardner Sewell Hall, Sr. (At the risk of being too personal,
I shall refer to him through the rest of this article as "my grandfather" or
"Papaw." It is difficult for me to be comfortable calling him Brother Hall.)
Background
Gardner S. Hall Sr.
was born in northwest Georgia on May 24, 1906. He died May 16, 1978 in
Athens, Alabama. His father, Flavil Hall, was widely known as a gospel
preacher and songwriter. His mother died when he was young. Later, his
father married Bertha Williams whom I remember as one of the sweetest,
godliest women I have ever known. She made a wonderful stepmother for my
grandfather and he was thoroughly devoted to her. She died recently in Awin,
Alabama, her home. Papaw had one brother, Leslie, and one sister Zellner.
They are still living near Trion, Georgia.
Early Meetings
As Timothy, my
grandfather was taught the Holy Scriptures as a child. He began preaching
soon after his obedience to the gospel. My grandmother tells me that by the
time he was 17 years old he was already holding meetings in Tennessee and
North Georgia.
Papaw liked to tell
me about gospel meetings during his early years as a preacher. Gospel
meetings in those days had no competition from television and little from
other social activities. A great number of non-Christian visitors from the
community could be expected each night. Papaw said that brethren then would
be disappointed if at the close of the meeting there were no more than 5
baptisms. Usually there were more than 10 responses, sometimes as many as 25
or 30.
Papaw liked to tell
about his experiences eating with the brethren during those early meetings.
The brethren who invited him home for meals were not always as careful to be
clean as Papaw would have liked for them to have been. At one home way back
in a hollow, my grandfather said the hogs lived underneath the floor of the
house. Of course their odor drifted upwards into the kitchen where the meal
was being served. To make matters worse the meal seemed enjoyable only to
the flies that buzzed joyously from dish to dish. Papaw said that he
struggled to get a few bites down but begged off from eating more, saying
that he would save room in his stomach for the raisin pie he saw on the
counter. "Oh that's not raisin pie," said the hostess getting up and walking
over to the counter, "that's coconut pie." Saying this, she waved her hand
over the pie and all the "raisins" flew away.
Family
In 1924 my
grandfather married "Mamaw," Gartrelle Mitchell, a young woman who was also
raised in northwest Georgia. She was a perfect mate for him, complimenting
him in his work and encouraging him to serve the Lord in whatever way
possible. Their faithfulness can be seen in their four children whom I feel
(speaking from a prejudicial viewpoint of course) are some of the finest
children produced by any home. Sewell (Gardner S. Hall, Jr., my father) is
currently preaching the gospel in southeastern England. Mary Faye (Headrick)
currently lives in Athens, Alabama and is the wife of faithful gospel
preacher, Lynn Headrick. Lillian (Perkins) lives in Huntsville, Texas and is
married to a godly man, Franklin Perkins. Bill, the youngest, preaches the
gospel in Chattanooga, Tennessee at the North Terrace church.
My grandfather and
grandmother have worked to preach the gospel in the following places: Rome,
Ga.; Anniston, Ala.; Alabama City, Ala.; Birmingham, Ala. ~1North Birmingham
church); Pensacola, Fla.; Tuscumbia, Ala.; Jackson, Miss.; Chattanooga,
Tenn.; Bessemer, Ala.; Port Arthur, Texas; Midfield, Ala.; and Athens, Ala.
(Corinth church).
Hatred For Evil
In 1963, my
grandfather almost died. He suffered an aneurism of the aorta and was taken
to Houston for surgery by the famous surgeon, Dr. Denton Cooley. During this
illness, my grandfather told his son Sewell that perhaps it would be best if
the Lord allowed him to die then because he had seen so many older
preachers, including some of his closest friends, begin to compromise the
truth in their later years. He certainly did not want to do that. The Lord
chose, however, to give him 15 more years of service on this earth. During
those last 15 years instead of compromising the truth as had some of his
friends, it has been said that he perhaps did his greatest work in defending
it and encouraging others to do the same.
The truth is that few
can imagine Gardner Hall, Sr. ever compromising the truth. In fact, perhaps
his greatest attribute was his hatred for evil. My father says he can
remember seeing his usually gentle father literally grit his teeth with rage
upon hearing of false doctrine or other types of sin. Perhaps Papaw
comprehended bether than some of the rest of us the terrible consequence of
sin, separation from God.
One thing that
grieved my grandfather in his last years was the tendency among some younger
preachers to try to excuse error and to give encouragement to those who
taught it. This attitude was unthinkable to one who loved the Lord and
therefore hated evil (Ps. 97:10). Just before his death, on the daily radio
program of the Corinth church my grandfather presented what some told me
were some of the best lessons that they had heard on the current
"fellowship" error. As a hater of evil, my grandfather could never
understand those who refused to take a stand against error, whether that
error be institutionalism, worldliness, or whatever. He was especially
concerned that some churches in Limestone County, Alabama, his last home,
seemed reluctant at times to take a solid stand for the truth against error.
Papaw was always
careful to use good grammar and to pronounce his words correctly. He had a
running skirmish on the radio program in Athens with a Baptist preacher whom
he called (with a bit of fondness I believe) Al. Al's Baptist church had a
radio program 30 minutes after the program of the Corinth church. Al tried
to appear as a suave, scholarly Baptist preacher. To try to impress the
radio audience, Al would talk about what happened while he was studying for
his Master's degree or, what happened at the seminary. Al's ignorance,
however, was quite obvious when he talked about unfringed (not unfeigned)
love that Peter said we ought to have in 1 Peter 1:22, or when he talked
about the Greek words which he pronounced "jenosis" (gnosis) and "panyuma" (pneuma),
forgetting that the p and g are silent. Papaw wanted so badly to point out
these errors of pure ignorance on the part of Al but for the longest time he
refrained because he said those grammatical errors had nothing to do with
Al's false doctrine. Finally, however, he could restrain himself no longer
and in one of his radio sermons he pointed out that anyone who had studied
for a Master's degree at the seminary should not be so ignorant as to
pronounce the g and p in gnostic and pneuma (pneumonia either), or to say
that we are to love each other with "unfringed" love (whatever that is) when
the word is unfeigned love. Just before Papaw's death, he remarked that he
would be ready to go if he could just convert his Baptist friend, Al.
Gentleness With
The Weak
Though my grandfather
hated evil, compromise, and half-hearted effort, there was never anyone more
patient with those who were giving their best efforts to serve the Lord. He
would spend hours in homes counseling and teaching the weak. He loved
children and young people. I can remember watching his classes for
youngsters at Corinth on Sunday evenings before the regular services. He
could tell (and act out) the story of David and Goliath so vividly to those
children that you could almost hear the thud when Goliath fell. The love
Papaw gave to children was always reciprocated. They loved him. I thought of
this as I watched the line of people pass by his casket at the funeral home.
One little, red-headed, freckled, farm boy about 10 years old seemed
especially sad as he walked past the body of my grandfather. He was weeping
silently yet with much sorrow. My grandmother told me that Papaw had bought
him a pitch pie and worked with him to teach him how to lead singing. I
wondered how many other little freckled boys and young men he had worked
with patiently to teach how to lead singing and make talks. I certainly can
remember his patient advice to me as a young preacher.
Though my grandfather
had perhaps fewer faults than any man I have known, he was a sinner in need
of God's grace. He accepted that grace and gave his life to telling others
about it. He was humble, having no desire for prominence. He loved to be
with God's people so much that he insisted on attending services at Corinth
in his emaciated condition up to only a few weeks before his death. I guess
he could simply be described as a simple, humble, old-fashioned, gospel
preacher who wanted more than anything to serve God.
He has finished his
work now and is resting. Others of his generation are rapidly leaving us. We
can never fill their shoes. We must simply work much harder to serve God as
we remember their examples.
Truth Magazine - August 3, 1978 |