I Do Remember

I Do Remember

By Al Stoner

“For ye remember, brethren, our labour and travail: for labouring night and day, because we would not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God” (I Thess. 2:9).

• I remember with great indebtedness and gratitude Brother Given O. Blakely.
• (For the sake of our readers, I would like clarify that Brother Given, now living in Joplin, Missouri, has been in extremely frail health in recent months and years.  Our purpose here in this edition of The Banner of Truth is to minister encouragement, as he has been such an integral part of this ministry.)
• I remember, in that twenty plus year duration of time when he was with us here in Indiana, being more impressed with the Word of God itself, than with Brother Given’s person.  He was not promoting himself.  And I would also like to say by all these remarks, that my purpose, here at the outset, is not to “promote” Brother Given, but rather to give honor where honor is due, and perhaps, where the honor is now long overdue.  Thus, we take this opportunity to say things that should have been said long ago.
• I remember every Lord’s Day, and every time of gathering of the saints, being profitable and substantive for the nurture of faith.
• I remember the very thorough verse-by-verse ministrations from Romans, from Hebrews, from the Revelation, from Habakkuk, Nehemiah, Daniel, and several others.  I remember being brought into acquaintance with all of Scripture, not just certain parts of it.
• I remember being brought into familiarity with such vitally-substantive concepts in the Word of God such as “new” and “old”, “first” and “last”, “first”and “second”, and “the right hand of God”.  New covenant, old covenant, new man, old man, new heavens and new earth, first heavens and first earth, the first man Adam, Christ, the Last Adam, the first covenant, the second covenant, first resurrection, second death, etc.
• I remember in that time being brought into acquaintance with both “the goodness and the severity of God” (Rom. 11:22), and with serving “God acceptably with reverence and godly fear” (Heb. 12:28). 
• I remember during that time being deeply and increasingly impressed by the importance and centrality of the New Covenant (Jer. 31:31-34; II Cor. 3, Gal. 3; Heb. 8, 10, etc.), with the truth of justification by faith in Christ, and with the reality of the Romans 7 conflict.
• I recall being often admonished about Babylon the great, the mother of harlots, and abominations of the earth, of the significance of the two beasts in Revelation 13, and of religion that has a form of godliness, but denies the power thereof.
• I remember being regularly instructed, and put earnestly in mind of, the coming of the Lord, and of the preeminent need for being ready for Christ’s appearing.
• As I look back on those years, I can say one of the foremost benefits that Brother Given gave to me through his ministry was the ability to minister the Word of God, without feeling like I was imitating or quoting Brother Given.
• I call to mind that, in the entire extended time (twenty plus years) that Brother Given was with us, there were only one or two “outbreaks” of iniquity in the assembly.  “All the counsel of God” (Acts 20:27) was being regularly declared, and this served, among many other things, to culture among those regularly attending an appetite for righteousness and truth, and to suppress such “outbreaks”. 
• I remember the assembly being itself being, as it were, an environment of focus on the Father, the Son, the Word of God, and the purpose of God in Christ Jesus.  It was a place of men and women being cultured for the world to come.
• I remember being duly impressed with the all sufficiency of God’s Word for all things pertaining to life and godliness.  While others were clamoring over “seminars” to be a better “this” or a better “that”, I was enabled to see the inferiority and shallowness and falsity of such approaches to living godly.
• I have in my memory extended times when there was a houseful of us, and other times when there was but a handful of us.  I know this had to weigh heavily on Brother Given’s spirit, but it did not affect his faithfulness in ministering.
• I have in my recollection Tuesday night meetings when there was hardly enough room for everyone in the room where the meeting was held.  Oftentimes, in the course of the lesson for that evening, someone would ask a question about the Scriptures, and the remainder of the time would be devoted to dealing with the question that was asked in a way that would be profitable to all.
• I remember particularly his message on Romans 16 at the end of one his series in the book of Romans.  After ministering on such ones as Rufus, Apelles, Urbane, Philologus, Tryphena, and Tryphosa, to name a few, Brother Given addressed each member present there in the assembly, and had a word of encouragement that was especially tailored for them.
• I remember that there were times when I would go home from the meeting being wounded in spirit, but yet in those same wounds I sensed that God was talking to me.  In those times I learned, that if the Word of God chafes against me, not to be offended by the speaker, or take it personally. And in those times I was given to learn about “the peaceable fruit of righteousness” that was the blessed fruitage of such wounds.
• I can recall specific messages, and series of messages, that Brother Given preached years ago, and yet they are still very clear and distinct in my mind.  In many instances I can call to remembrance specific things that were said, because they were well said, and worth remembering.
• I remember seasons of spiritual exhilaration directly associated with the preaching of the Word of God, where it seemed that I was “caught away”.
• I also remember seasons of exceedingly hard trial and casting down where the Word preached was my only stay, as well as the means for coming out of trouble.
• I remember well the Men’s Fellowship meetings led by Brother Given.  I remember early on going through John 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17 verse-by-verse, Matthew 24, Daniel, and Romans, just to name a few.
• I remember Brother Given’s manner and conduct consistently being instructive in itself.  Whether he preached, or ministered at the Lord’s Table, or gave words of instruction at baptisms, or weddings, or funerals, something profitable for faith was always to be gleaned by the believer.  Nothing was ever done by him perfunctorily.
• I remember that everyone who had any ability to speak in the assembly was given a regular opportunity to minister, and was encouraged to develop and enlarge their kingdom abilities.  Though Brother Given was fully capable of doing everything by himself, he always insisted that everyone that was capable would have a part.
• I remember visits to our assembly from such ones as Jonathan Kwon, of South Korea, Abraham Samuel, of India, Doug Willis, of Australia, Jack and Mary Hendrickson, of Illinois, of Clayton Bowman, of Florida, and later of Illinois.  All of these associations had been made because of Brother Given’s focus on the Word of God, and the God of the Scriptures.
• I remember the debates centered around various issues related to the faith, and also the trips to India, to preach there, and the radio ministries from Chicago and Crown Point.
• I remember Project Plus 60, inaugurated by Brother Given to reenlist “retired” ministers who had been “pushed out to pasture” from the circles where they used to regularly minister.  Brother Given had a great burden to tap the resources of godly men as Seth Wilson, Harold Key, Roy Key, Don DeWelt, Charles Gresham, and several others. 
• Project Plus 60 soon became The Refreshing Waters Renewal, an annual preaching conference, held in various locations, for the purpose of enlarging upon central scriptural themes.
• I remember that Brother Given had a full time job at Lever Brothers, where he was promoted to one of the top positions in the company.  And yet his earthly vocation always remained, as it were, his “avocation”, compared to his labors in the kingdom of God.
• I remember that, in the whole course of time that Brother Given was with us, there was only one message on tithing, or offerings, and it was for the purpose of instruction, not because the people weren’t giving enough.  All of the regular attendees regularly gave because they wanted to.  I credit this to the fact that the focus was always upon the Word of God.
• I remember in that entire time that Brother Given was with us, he received a $100.00 a month salary from the assembly, but had it deposited in The Word of Truth account.  He never used it for himself, or even for his family.
• I remember Sister Adanna, Brother Given’s first wife. I remember her zeal and godly character, and her contagiously joyful spirit.
• I remember that after it became known that Sister Adanna had Lou Gehrig’s disease, upwards of twenty brethren were summoned to the Blakely home in Cedar Lake to make a special request to the Lord for her recovery, and to anoint her with oil.  The Lord graciously said “no” to our request, not audibly, of course, but in the subsequent rapid decline of her health.
• I remember that Sister Adanna was taken from us on January 1st, 1979, at 1:40 a.m. 
• I remember that when Sister Adanna died that several people were offended that God would take her, and they stopped coming to the assembly, and in some cases, they stopped attending anywhere at all.
• I here call to remembrance that in the weeks and months following that Brother Given was greatly and tenderly affected by Sister Adanna’s departure.  In the evening service, before his message, he would take his guitar and sing songs like, “Give me a Song to Sing at Midnight,” and “Gathering Flowers for the Master’s Bouquet,” and “We Shall Shine as the Stars of the Morning.”  He would sing them to comfort us, as well as himself.
• I remember the meetings Brother Given held at The Light of the World Tabernacle in New Port Richey, Florida.  Some meetings were held prior to Sister Adanna’s death, and some were held after. 
• I remember a particular sister that attended there, named June Ellen, who stood out from among all the rest in her godly character and manner.
• I remember that not long after this a courtship between Brother Given and Sister June ensued, and that they were married in Florida in the summer of 1980.  My wife, Sara, and I had the privilege of being present there at the wedding.
• I remember the great help that Sister June proved to be to Brother Given in the months and years following their marriage. 
• I remember how that Sister June was able to step in and lead the Ladies’ Fellowship meetings in a very profitable manner.
• I remember Sister June’s humble and cheerful manner, coupled together with her great zeal for the truth.  I remember the wonderful ministry that Sister June had with our young people while she was still with us here in Indiana. 
• And I remember very well the time when the sad news came that Brother Given and Sister June were moving to Joplin.  It was difficult for us, but it was difficulty that was coupled together with profitability not yet perceived at that time.  There was no thought of looking for another minister, for the Lord had raised up ministers in our very midst during Brother Given’s time with us. It was difficult for us, but it seems that the Lord was saying to Brother Given, with regard to Joplin, “I have much people in this city,” and “lo, the fields are white unto the harvest.”
• These remembrances and recountings only go up until the year 1992 when the Blakelys moved to Joplin.  Another major part of this story yet remains to be told pertaining to the last eighteen years.
• And yes, I do indeed, with great thankfulness to God, remember. --Al Stoner