"Old Dry Johnson"
As I look back on it, I think my classroom instructors made the strongest impression on me. In the next few post I want to remember some of them.
During my first semester at ACC, I took an Old Testament survey class. After I had been in class a few days, a young man with a flat top haircut walked up to me and said, “Are you Bales?” I pleaded guilty. His name was Bennie Paul Ener. He was from Pineland, Texas and was a friend of the Berrymans in Clyde. That was the beginning of a friendship that would last until Bennie’s death about ten years ago.
Our teacher was Dr. Robert Johnson. He was a Michigander, who had been transplanted to Texas. He was a World War II veteran, and I remember him as a man with dark brown hair always combed neatly straight back. He wore sharp looking dark suits, and spoke softly in a deep baritone voice. Maybe that’s why Bennie and I called him, “Old Dry Johnson.” He was really anything but “dry.” His tone might have been soft, but he had a tremendous enthusiasm for the Old Testament. I love the Old Testament, and I’m greatly indebted to him for that love. I can still remember things like his description of Jehu, the world’s first fast driver, the guy whom the Old Testament describes as one who “drove furiously along.”
Most of the time he was soft spoken, and avoided all forms of radicalism, but he had one subject that really got under his skin. He didn’t believe in “luck.” In his mind nothing ever happened because of luck. It either happened because of a person’s activity or lack thereof, or because of God’s guidance. For him there is no such thing as “the luck of the draw.” Bennie and I took it upon ourselves to bait him, knowing we could get him going on that subject. One day Bennie said something like this. “What about the breaks in a football game?” We knew he watched football. We had seen him at the games. Bennie said, “Wouldn’t you call that luck?” Dr. Johnson stood his ground. He said, “You make your breaks.” I don’t think Bennie took it any farther than that, but if he had gone on to ask, “How about the ball that takes a crazy bounce and favors one team or the other at the end of a punt?” I know how Dr. Johnson would have responded. He would have said that the ball bounced the way it did because of the way the punter’s toe struck the ball, not because of luck.
To tell you the truth, I don’t much believe in luck myself, and Dr. Johnson is one of the reasons why. He was a humble man, who loved his students and I’m glad to spent some time in his presence. I never had him after my Freshman year, but I’ll always remember him kindly. As an added bonus, there were times when he had to be absent from the classroom. He always brought in the same substitute – R. C. Bell. R. C. Bell was a man who was rare for his time. He strongly defended the premise that we are saved by God’s grace, and not by human effort. I’ve profited from his instruction, primarily through his writings. I’m glad I had the opportunity to be exposed to the teaching of this great man.
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