It was during the “war years” when a young boy, then a bit more than six years of age came to know Jesus Christ as his personal Savior. This writing is, in part, a tribute to all the Sunday School and Vacation Bible School teachers who tell and teach “the old, old story of Jesus and His Glory” In my case, her name is now known only to God, but the role she played in my life is as part of me as the blood in my veins.  In short, I can not say it was on that day and at that time and in the place I “found God”, because he wasn’t lost.  Rather, that a young boy “found out” about God” in a way, at a time and in a place I will always remember.

With loving parents, I lived at 1635 East Fourth Street in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  A very modest dwelling but one filled with a measure of love not nearly enough children today are fortunate enough to experience.  A few years later, my one and only sister was born and the four of us shared the three room side of a duplex which might still be standing. We were poor, but didn’t know it, because all of our family friends were in similar circumstances.  While we didn’t have much, we had something in our lives which provided hope as well as happiness, we had the love of one another and that of God Almighty..

Down the street and around the corner, about a city block away and well within walking distance was a church at the corner of third and Trenton streets, it was then a United Brethren Church. On important dates, my family attended services at church, but since my Dad worked long hours, Sundays were essentially the only time my parents had alone.  More often than not, I went with my pal from across the street, Tommy, to Sunday School, Church and, in the summer months, Vacation Bible School.  I’ll mention Tommy later as this story unfolds in greater detail, but for now, walking to “church” and to Jefferson Elementary School were part of the bonding process of two guys whose fathers worked at Continental Oil Company as truck drivers..

It was during a Vacation Bible School session, a volunteer teacher had each of the young people attending her class, to kneel down, in front of a folding chair, fold our hands and ask Jesus to “Come live in our hearts.”  We all knew the “Christmas Story” and also the “Easter Story” in the rather simple terms understandable by young children but the full impact of the significance of those events to each of us personally, really had not theretofore made a lot of sense.. We had learned John 3:16, but the full meaning was a bit beyond the grasp of little children....until that day, at that time, in that way and in that place, each of us had our own epiphany.  It was at the UB Church at third and Trenton streets, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, kneeling at a folding chair, asking Jesus Christ to come and live in my heart I came to know and fully understand what many years later I referred to as “Everlasting Life Assurance” and how it became the center of my life as a man, a husband, a father, a grandfather, a businessman and additionally as leader of men in the military.  Thanks be to God!.

A couple of months ago, while trolling the internet, I asked Google about the church mentioned above.  It is now referred to as The Church Studio.  You can see a picture of that place which later became the “Historic Recording Studio of Leon Russell” and one that played a significant role in American Music History. The story of how that structure sat empty for years after Russell’s death, how it was purchased by Teresa Knox, how it became a National Landmark and what is in store for the future of that special place can be found by logging onto The Church Studio on Facebook.  But like another Tulsa Central High School graduate many years before me - Paul Harvey would say at the close of his broadcasts, “And now you know, The Rest of The Story.”

One evening Ms. Knox was lamenting on the internet, how she could only find about the “church” as far back as the 1950s.  After sending her an email and letting her know I could fill in the blanks back to the early 1940, she call and we had a long and enjoyable telephone conversation.  I learned that Teresa and her associates were going to spend millions of dollars in turning The Church Studio into a “world class’ recording facility. In jest, I told her that, as a young boy I learned and sang many of our favorite hymns in that building and how ironic it would be if I could ever win the Lottery and afford to come back to that place and record some of those good old hymns while I still had a reasonably good voice. After laughing about winning the Lottery and putting the recording event in my “bucket list” Teresa made a statement to me which did something to me which seldom happens....she caught me speechless.  She told me that my sharing the history of that building with her that she now owns so far back in history, “made her day” and that when the recording studio was finished, I could come down and do recordings at no expense.  While I would never hold that sweet lady to her offer, if it still is open when the time comes, this old gaffer who grew up around the corner from that historic place as a little boy, will at least return for the dedication of its new life in music.  Something to dream about!  Thank you Teresa, and Thanks be to God for The Church, The Chair - from A Boy whose Prayer was most certainly answered.