By Brian Koonce<\/p>\n
Staff Writer<\/p>\n
VIENNA \u2013 If anyone has ever earned retirement, it\u2019s Cellis Crum. But don\u2019t tell him that.<\/p>\n
\u201cA winner never quits and a quitter never wins,\u201d he said. \u201cI believe that. Well, the Lord called me to preach, he didn\u2019t tell me I was to one day retire. It makes me sick when I hear people talking about retiring from the ministry.\u201d<\/p>\n
At 83 years old, Crum has been preaching for 65 years \u2013 longer than many pastors have been alive. Crum has been the pastor of Spring Valley Baptist Church in Henley for 35 years, but his health makes the hour-long drive from his home in Vienna difficult.<\/p>\n
He was diagnosed with cancer in 1985, and told he had two to three years to live. Twenty-four years later, he is battling a new round of prostate cancer that is taking more of a toll on him. Over the past three years, he\u2019s had 42 radiation treatments.<\/p>\n
Various preachers have been filling in for Crum at Spring Valley, but when he learned the pastor of Little Flock Baptist in Vienna was going to be gone Dec. 13, he was eager to step behind the pulpit less than three miles from his home, even though he was feeling a little bit dizzy that morning and asked two deacons to sit behind him just in case.<\/p>\n
Little Flock is Crum\u2019s home church. It was here that Crum preached his first sermon in 1943 at 17 years old. It was at Little Flock that his alcoholic father came to Jesus. He was saved at 12 years old at a brush arbor meeting not far from here and was called to preach at 13, but said he ran from that call.<\/p>\n
When he finally relented and stepped behind the pulpit for the first time at Little Flock, his first sermon was from Luke 15, the prodigal son.<\/p>\n
\u201cI ran from God until I was 17,\u201d Crum said. \u201cI wasn\u2019t really bad or nothing. I was a good boy, but I was still running from the Lord. Then one day I was plowing the fields and felt God speaking to me. I stopped the team, sat down on the plow beam and started reading the New Testament. I knew I\u2019d never be happy unless I obeyed. You can preach and preach and preach on the prodigal son.\u201d<\/p>\n
From there, he sold a few cattle to get some money, then hitchhiked around Missouri preaching wherever he could.<\/p>\n
Crum met his future wife, Edith, a school teacher, in Bolivar at an association meeting. As of Dec. 22, they have been married 64 years. Together they\u2019ve ministered in several churches throughout Missouri. They have two daughters and a son who pastors in Virginia. Crum worked for Union Electric at Bagnell Dam for 33 years running jackhammer and climbing polls, which would make him a bi-vocational pastor, a title he didn\u2019t even know he had until someone told him 12 years ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t need a fancy title. I\u2019m just doing what God told me to do,\u201d he said. \u201cHard work never hurt anybody.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe just a good old country preacher,\u201d said Dennis Manley, director of missions for Miller County Baptist Association. \u201cFolks love him, and he loves them. You just can\u2019t help but love him. Give him some bib overalls and a Bible and he\u2019s all set.\u201d<\/p>\n
What\u2019s his secret? Besides \u201cquitters never win\u201d? Crum said it\u2019s keeping the message simple.<\/p>\n
\u201cToo many people have programs going but they just don\u2019t get out there and tell people about Jesus,\u201d he said. \u201cMy message is always going to be Jesus. He\u2019s the same Jesus that saved me back then that He is today. If the church forgets its mission, it\u2019s just like the leaves falling off of a tree. It\u2019ll just wither away to nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe shares Jesus with everyone he meets,\u201d said Carl Shelton, a member at Spring Valley. \u201cMost of all, he shows a lot of love toward everyone he meets. Both he and Edith do that. He tells everyone he meets about God and His love. Even when he\u2019s at the doctor\u2019s office, he\u2019s sharing about Jesus. That\u2019s the way he\u2019d like to die.\u201d<\/p>\n
Back at Little Flock, the pianist asked Cellis if he had any particular hymn he\u2019d like the congregation to sing before preaching.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll Work \u2018Til Jesus Comes\u201d was his immediate reply.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know how much longer I\u2019m going to be living,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I\u2019m going to be working \u2018til Jesus comes.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Brian Koonce Staff Writer VIENNA \u2013 If anyone has ever earned retirement, it\u2019s Cellis Crum. But don\u2019t tell him that. \u201cA winner never quits and a quitter never wins,\u201d he said. \u201cI believe that. Well, the Lord called me to preach, he didn\u2019t tell me I was to one day retire. It makes me […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":"","_wpscp_schedule_draft_date":"","_wpscp_schedule_republish_date":"","_wpscppro_advance_schedule":false,"_wpscppro_advance_schedule_date":"","_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_selected_social_profile":[]},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n