SUNDAY, JUNE 18, 1972 New Pastor Ordained

New Pastor Ordained At Landis Baptist Pt Jimmy Joe Thompson, son of

Mr. and Mrs. K. B. Thompson, of China Grove, Rt. 3, has been ordained to preach by the Landis Baptist Church. Rev. Dolph Robinson, pastor

of the Landis Baptist Church, opened the June 3 ordination service with prayer and gave the charge to the members of the Rev. Mr. Thompson's church, and Rev. Eugene Goodman of Yadkinville gave the charge to the Rev. Mr. Thompson. A Bible was presented to the new min­ ister by Herman Rutledge of the Landis Church. Music for the service was provided by Mrs. Joel Threatt and Mrs. Arnold Abernethy. The Rev. Mr. Thompson, a na­

tive of Landis, attended the Landis Schools and the North­ side Bible Institute in Charlotte. A radio ministry, which he be­ gan in August 1971 features a program, "Gospel Time," each Sunday at 3 p.m. on station

SUNDAY, JUNE 18, 1972

WRKB. He is employed by Coca­ Cola Bottling Co. in Concord and is the father of two sons. In April, the Corriher Heights

Baptist Church, located one and one half miles west of Landis on Highway 153, called the Rev. Mr. Thompson as pastor. He was licensed to preach in Octo­ ber, 1968.

"'K;;;~~is l~depe~dent "t" K 1 nStO n F ree P' 1 ess

Lenoir News Topic Lexington Dispatch Lumberton: Robesonian Morganton News-Herald New Bern: Sun-Journal Raleigh: News & Observer Raleigh Times Reidsville Review Rockingham:

Richmond Co. Journal

eChina Grove Resident Accepts , Call To £?rriher ~~i~_hts_ ~hl1tch

LANI'.$IS - The Rev. Jimmy T< Roanoke Rapids Herald Joe Thompson, of Route 3, China ei Rocky Mount Telegram Grove has accepted the call to la Salisbury Post pastor the Corriher Heights Bap- w ~~,,:~~6s~a"/alo tist Church, a mile -and ~ gr St:tesville Record & Landmark west of Landis on Highway 153. Tarboro Southerner The Rev. Mr. Thompson son da Thomasville '!imes

' ~ Tryon Bulletin of Mr. and Mrs. K. B. Thompson er Washington DailY News of Route 3, China Grove, was lu Wilmington News recently ordained into the Chris- M Wilmington Star ti . . tr . . t Wilmington Star-News ran rmms y m a service a er wu osuv Times Landis Baptist Church. He was w:~~~n-Salem Jour!'al licensed to preach in October, 1\\ Winston-Salem Sentinel 1968. He attended the Landis d Winston-Salem-. 1 ~ . Journal-Sent1ne , schools, and for four years, at- ii y tended the Northside Bible In- JUN 2 1 1972 stitute, Charlotte. He began a radio ministry in August, 1971, over radio station WRKB, Kan­ napolis, called, "Gospel Time," at 3 p.m. each Sunday afternoon. He is employed by the Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of Concord ( for 15 years), and has two sons, Ronnie and Jeffrey Thompson. The Rev. Dolph Robinson of

Landis Baptist Church had charge of the ordination service, and led the opening prayer, and gave the charge to Mr. Thomp- , son 's church; The Rev. Eugene Goodman of Yadkinville, gave the charge to Mr. Thompson, and Herman Rutledge of the Landis church, presented Rev. Thompson a Bible. Providing music for the ser­

vice was Mrs. Joel Threatt and Mrs. Arnold Abernethy. Mr. Thompson closed the service with prayer. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Carl

Drye, Landis, was the setting for a cook-out Friday, for members of the Young Couples Sunday School class of Faith Evangeli­ cal Methodist Church. Visiting with the group were the pastor of the church, the Rev. Lester Al­ lman, and Mrs. Allman. Some 30 members and their families were .Ere~!:lll-

Power of prayer Leuk&ilt\ia couldn't stop preacher By Franklin Scarborough THE SALISBURY POST

I t's appointed unto man once to die. The Bible plainly says it in

Hebrews 9: 27. But for the Rev. Jimmy Joe

Thompson, pastor of Corriher Heights B(!E,tist Church in Landis, that appomtment w~ postponed for him through the Word of God. "I don't know how long God has

for me to be here, but he's already given me four more years on an extended life,'' the 56- year-old pastor says. Diagnosed with cancer in 1986,

and given little chance to live, he has survived the past four years and was back in the pulpit only seven months after doctors dis­ covered the malignancy. "I still make regular visits to

the doctor," he adds, "but my healing is all to the glory of God." Sitting in his small yellow

cement block house on Pethel Road, Thompson looks the pic­ ture of health as he tells of his experiences since the day in March 1986 when he visited his family doctor in China Grove. He began losing weight in

January and his appetite wasn't very good. He waited until March, when he went to Dr. Clyde Shinn, who found a little knot on the left side of his neck. Shinn immediately sent him to Piedmont Radiological As­ sociates in Salisbury. "He told me not to waste any

time, but to go right then."

Seriously ill Shinn got the X-ray results

from Piedmont Radiological and referred Thompson to Dr. Trent Busby. Busby started the con­ versation by telling Thompson that he had a serious problem and would need an operation. "I told him there was nothing

he, I and God could not help," Thompson says. After determining that it was a

malignant tumor, he was sent to Dr. Bill Black. On April 26, he started chemotherapy. During the months of treat­

ment, Thompson says he was drawn closer to the Lord. "I told the nurses that I felt that the Lord was going to heal me. All the time I was sick, I was running the word of God through my mind, thinking about illustrations of how the Lord had healed men." He quoted Paul in Romans

12:3: "Every man is given a

Page 38 Salisbury, N.C. Saturday, November 3, 1990

measure of faith." His treatments led to depress­

ing side effects, and his hair fell out. But he found lots of support that eased the pain. His friends sent cards, called and visited. About everybody brought him money to help pay the bills. "And I knew that a lot of people were praying for me," Thompson says. Then, one morning around 5

a.m., he was lying in bed. "And it seemed like the Holy Spirit just told me 'Jimmy, I'm going to heal you.' I turned a flip in my bed and just rejoiced. I wished somebody would come by so I could tell them that the Lord had touched me. "I believe that God touches

people. If there's any healing, God has to do it, man can't do it."

Prayer worked One night he was at home and

very sick. About 8 p.m. he felt better. About 9 p.m., his mother came by and asked how he felt. He told her that he had been sick but it seemed like the Lord just touched him and he had started feeling better. "We had special prayer for

you," his mother said. "About 8 o'clock?" he asked. She replied yes. "That's about the time I

started feeling better,'' he said. "So I know God hears prayers." Thompson points out that he's

been preaching for 20 years and was raised in church. "And I believe in James, Chapter 5," he exclaims. In verses 13-16 of Chapter 5, the

Book of James says: " ... Is any among you sick? Let him call on the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, -he will 'be for­ given. Therefore confess your sin:_!~.J?p~ another and pray for one another, that you may be healed." And so it was that Jimmy Joe

Thompson called on the deacons of his church to anoint him with oil and pray over him. A preacher friend also anointed him and prayed with him. "I believe that this was God's

prescription for spiritual people to receive their healing," he says. "I don't credit any individual. I acted on faith like the Bible

Changed life He admits, however, that there

was some change that had to come about in his life. One night he was listening to Dr. John W. Rawlings of Cincinnati, Ohio. Rawlings asked, "Do you know what America's number one sin is?" Thompson listened very closely

to this. "I wondered what the number one sin was that he was going to tell about."

· Then the preacher said: "America's number one sin is bitterness. "Christians have bit­ terness toward one another," he said. "And if you have bitterness toward one another, you'll never get well or you'll be blessed until you get it out." And Thompson knew right then

that "the Bible plainly teaches this. "Through that the Holy Spirit spoke to me, because I had some bitterness against some friends." He immediately got on the

telephone and called them. "I had to meet with them - about three of them - and I had to confess and get things right with them. Because I was going through 'a period of evaluation. I mean, God had a purpose in my sickness. He'll clean you up. He'll get your attention. "If you're his child, you have to

go by his word. And if we walk contrary to it, he's going to stop us and correct us." Thompson pointed to James,

Chapter 5, Verse 16, which says, "Confess your faults one to another."

Confessed and was healed "I confessed my thoughts and

got things right with my brothers and sisters- Then I got my healing.'' Through this sickness, Thomp­

son says he's learned a lot. One night he was lying in bed listening to Jerry Falwell tell about the chancellor at Liberty University having a five-pound tumor and how they prayed over it and God healed him to return him to work at the university. Thompson sent for one of the

tapes on "Coping with Cancer." One day he was talking with

another preacher friend Steve Hinson, who told him to 'read in Psalms. When he got to Psalm 118, verses 17 and 18 caught his eyes. This was at a time when he seemed to be "near death's

JAMES BARRINGER/THE SALISBURY POST

The Rev. Jimmy Joe Thompson says his faith in God has healed him of cancer

But through reading these Ps<ilms, God told him that he would not die. "I would live to declare the works of the Lord," Thompson says. "The Lord hath chastened me sore, but hath not given me over to death." Right then, and there, in the

house by himself, he claimed the two verses of scripture. "And after that I didn't worry what the doctors said about me because I wasn't just turning pages to find something. I was led to this and I've claimed it ever since. God says he's going to heal me to preach his word." In Chapter 8 of St. Luke, the

Bible tells of the woman that had

an "issue of blood 12 years and had spent all her living on physicians." When she touched the hem of Jesus' garment, she was immediately healed. Jesus told her that her faith had made her whole.

"So during all my sickness, I had faith that I was going to live regardless of what the doctor told me, or anybody said about me," Thompson says. The Bible is full of promises,

and it's for everybody, Thompson says. God has given doctors the knowledge and ability to help mankind, yet to the Christian, there's a higher power, he says.

Thompson points out God's healing of Hezekiah in Chapter 38 of Isaiah. Here Hezekiah is "sick unto death." God tells Isaiah to go to Hezekiah and say: "Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears; behold, I will add unto thy days 15 years." "You see, Thompson says, "I

don't know how many years God is going to give me in this life, because everybody that healed in the Bible eventually died. We all will die. But He has already given me four years. I thank God that he has spared me and prolonged me to preach his word."