Dr. T.T. Crabtree, my pastor growing up, passed away Tuesday night. He was one of my mentors and heroes of the faith. Much like the Hall of Fame of Faith in Hebrews, he has been one of those “great cloud of witnesses” for me as a young pastor. He always used to call me or introduce me to other pastors as “his son in the ministry.” I’m sure that he said that with most all young pastors, but for me, it really made me feel good that he invested so much in my ministry.

Every time I would go and see him, I would leave his home office with at least 2 boxes of books that he had picked out for me. He would take a really long time and great care to tell me who each author was–most of which were his “dear friends.” He was a brilliant man and scholar. He could have very easily taught at a seminary full time, but loved to pastor in the local church. He is the author of the Zondervan’s Pastor’s Annual. It is sermons from years past compiled to help other pastors, especially bi-vocational guys, preach good biblical sermons. They are basically sermon outlines with “a little meat still left on the bones,” as my preaching prof. Grant Lovejoy said Joel Gregory used to say.

He was my pastor. . . baptized me when I was 12, was at my wedding, was at my licensing, and was on my ordaining council. He was always very supportive and saw that I could be a pastor someday. He always said that I was going to be a great pastor . . . and I always used to say, “a great youth pastor.” He saw the future probably more than I did and was always giving me pastoral care and theology books while I was a student pastor because “it doesn’t matter what capacity you are serving, you still need to ‘rightly divide the Word of Truth.'”

I will charge everyone what he would always say to me (and probably every other pastor.) David, when Jesus told Peter to “Feed my sheep,” he didn’t mean to feed them warmed-over mutten three times a day!! Really feed them with the whole council of the the Word of God. Preach the Word. Preach the Word. (He always used to repeat important things twice for emphasis, like “Tennessee, Tennessee” when he would talk about his beloved Volunteers who won the big game on Saturday. Always with a flip of his wrist into a semi pointing gesture. If you knew him, you know what I’m talking about.)

I interviewed him when I was a senior at SMSU and did a paper in a gerontology class on how to “age well.” Those 4 or 5 hours changed my life. I got to really see the real Dr. Crabtree. How he loved his family and wife. How he loved serving God with his whole heart. How not to get so wrapped up in the church that you don’t minister to the most important people–your family. Many wonderful words of advice came from that interview and paper.

Thank you Dr. Crabtree for loving me and encouraging me to be the best pastor I can be! I hope to make you proud someday! Thank you for a life spent serving your Lord as an example for all around you to hope to come close to imitating. We will see you again soon!