"Point Me To The Meanest Man In Town!"

A conversation with an old-fashioned evangelist.

by Hank Beymer

  The preacher rode into town that day, knowing that he was here on a mission. That mission? To preach the gospel, revive some dead hearts, and bring life to those who didn't know Jesus.

Was he determined? You betcha! He knew full well that God had promised in His Word that His Word would NOT return void, but would accomplish the purpose wherewith it was sent. He also knew that Gods Word was sharper than any two-edged sword, so he fully expected to see it split a few right down the middle...either they were gonna get right, or get left!!

He strode purposefully into the deacons meeting, and said "I want to know who the meanest, orneriest cuss in the county is, and where I can find him". The deacons cringed, and said "you don't want to know". "Yes I do," he replied. "Just point me to him".

The deacons allowed as how the meanest man they had ever known lived a few miles outside of town. He never had darkened the door of any church they had ever heard of, and legend had it that if you threw him in a pit with a bunch of rattlesnakes, the rattlesnakes would die of fright!

Undeterred by the wild stories, the preacher headed out of town, found the mans farm, and spied him out in the field. He strode boldly across the furrows, waved the man to a halt, and climbed up on the tractor, and said: "hi...I'm Leroy Smith, and I want you to know that God loves you, and He wants you to come to know Him before it's too late".

Several hours later, as he was getting ready to leave, the man told Leroy "you know...you're the first preacher that has ever come out to visit with me...I don't know why, but I really appreciate it. I'll see you in a day or so". Several days later, the man did show up at the crusade...and came to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Having walked on the "wild side" with the devil in his younger years, Leroy Smith was no stranger to the attitudes and ways of those still there, and God impressed on him to just "walk on in to that lion's den....and don't worry, 'cause I AM with you."

Today, many years, crusades, revivals and"tough guys" later, Leroy is still full of vim and vinegar. By his own admission, he's slowed down "just a little bit", but he still has a fire to spread the Gospel whenever and wherever he can. He knows that in Gods Kingdom, the retirement party comes later, so like the old song says, "we'll work, 'til Jesus comes....and then He'll take us home".

Leroys ministry has always been inter-denominational in nature, and his crusades have been"outside the camp", rather than in existing churches. He believes that his job is to preach the gospel, bring people to Jesus, and let the Holy Spirit place them in the local churches where He sees fit. Because of this, Leroy has conducted crusades in tents, open fields, rodeo arenas, barns, civic centers, parking lots, and just about anywhere an open space can be found.

Leroy loves to tell the story of a man he knew down in Corpus Christi, Texas, by the name of James Durik. James had long thought he was Christian. One day, about 12 years ago, James was on a fishing trip, and had a heart attack. He was taken to a hospital, where he remained in a coma for 12 days before dying. After being declared dead by the doctors, he was taken to a "prep" room to await transfer to a funeral home. His death certificate was signed, and dated. Just as they were about to wheel him out, he took a breath, then another, then sat bolt upright. Talk about some spooked hospital and funeral home people. Well, James recovered, and invited Leroy to Corpus to speak at his church. While there, James was baptized, and told his story...even displaying the signed death certificate. According to James, God kept him around so that he could tell others about not messing around with religion...get real, and get right.

Leroys ministry is New Birth Ministries, and still going strong from Texas to Kentucky, and points in between. Unlike so many of the current crop of televangelists and preachers who "preach what others want to hear" (that's the PC way of saying pillow prophets), Leroy believes in preaching what God says....hell is hot, eternity is forever, we're all sinners and Jesus saves. Leroy still does supply in the central Texas area, and is making plans to do another crusade here. Stay tuned...it ought to be a real snapper!