On July 15, 1991, in Fort Worth, Texas, I, along
with five other young preacher students, walked out of an air-conditioned
classroom onto the blazing asphalt that was the parking lot of
the Brown Trail church of Christ. "Walked" out, is to
put it mildly. The six of us were practically "running"
out. We were so excited we hardly noticed the heat searing through
our new Florsheims. In our minds we were about six inches off
the ground. Why the elation? Simple. The classroom from which
we had just emerged was that of Johnny Ramsey. Don't misunderstand.
We weren't thrilled to be out. We were thrilled we'd been in!
Johnny (as he preferred to be called, instead
of brother Ramsey) possessed an uncanny ability to instill in
a preacher student not just a desire to preach but an outright
craving! His love of preaching was contagious. If a preacher student
had a reasonable degree of body heat, that was sufficient for
Johnny to work with and get started. In a short time, Johnny could
take one of his "lads," squeeze out mediocrity and instill
excellence. It mattered not which book he taught you: Mark, Jeremiah,
Hebrews, or Haggai; when he was finished, you knew it, and you
knew you wanted to preach it. "The Walking Bible," a
moniker he wore modestly, made sure that when you left his classroom
you knew God's Word better than when you walked in. Not only did
you know it and want to preach it, but you also wanted to live
it. Johnny's classes were paradoxical in that you didn't want
them to end, yet you couldn't wait to get out and implement the
things he taught! Truly, this is a mark of a great teacher. Only
the Godhead knows how many men Johnny influenced to live and preach
Christ. When Johnny entered with his brisk clip and put chalk
to blackboard, it was apparent that he was there for one reason,
and that was to educate you in the Scriptures. After a ream of
paper and a dozen "fountain pens" were drained dry,
Johnny had done his job. With his "round table" discussions
coupled with his legendary book reviews in which he peppered his
students with rapid-fire questions, Johnny could unnerve even
the most stoic, but that was never his intention. His intention
was to teach you in fifty-five minutes as much of the Word of
God as was humanly possible. In the entire process he was patient
and gracious. Instead of marking your graded assignments with
red "X's," it was Johnny's kind habit to fill the margins
with words like "Tremendous!" "Amen!" and,
his highest accolade of all, the treasured, "Rich as cream!"
Shortly before graduation, on that same parking
lot, I recall making the remark to a colleague, "It will
be a sad day for the brotherhood when Johnny passes on."
That dreaded day finally arrived on October 6, 2006. How fitting
that in his final hours, even in his delirium, he was quoting
Scripture. Johnny was also overheard saying repeatedly, "Come
on boys, you can do it." This was no doubt a reference to
the scores of young men he inspired to preach, but Johnny accomplished
much more than just teaching young men how to preach. He instilled
in them a passion to preach. To me and countless others, he was
The Great Instiller. I will be forever grateful to have
been one of his "boys." 102 Laramie Rd., Marietta, OH
45750. jdconley@localnet.com