“A friend loveth at all times….” Proverbs 17:17
February 13, 2017 - Delman Rogers is one of my best friends…ever. We met at ETBU when we were freshmen there. He was there on a full basketball scholarship having played on Coach Cotton Robinson’s Buna, Texas State Championship team. Delman and I both served small church pastorates during our college days. He also worked part-time selling shoes for Sears, in Marshall, Texas. He loaned me a dollar for gas many, many times to get to my student pastorate. Gas was around 20 cents a gallon back then and a dollar’s worth could get me to and from my church in Patroon, Texas.
We went in together to buy a haircutting kit to cut each other’s hair. The day after I cut his, Delman said his church members wanted to know what all those white spots were on his scalp.
I never saw Delman mad….except once. I had caught a 5 lb. bass at T & P Lake and gave it to Mr. Stinson, ETBU’s Business Manager. I was behind on my college debt and had to have Mr. Stinson’s permission to take the semester tests. Delman and I loved to catch…and eat… fish.
In later years, I conducted Revival Services in several of Delman’s churches…Darco Mission in Marshall, Texas, Cowden Street Baptist Church in Fort Worth, First Baptist Church of Arnett, Oklahoma and Magnolia Baptist Church of Mansfield, Louisiana. Delman is 80 years old now (2016), lives in Mansfield, Louisiana and preaches every Sunday.
I called him yesterday and asked if he still owns his farm near Logansport, Louisiana. He does….and he and his son Bruce raise blueberries there every year… and many other vegetables.
It’s good to be in touch with my “blood brother” again.
