Joined Manley Staff: March 18, 1979
Family: Wife – Faye, Children: Jennifer Poling (Alex, Victoria, Neva), David and Jane Dillin (Sarah), Joseph and Kris Emmert (Jordyn, Taylor, Cole and Makenzie), David and Natalie King (Casey, Ethan and Amelia)
Salvation story (quick version): I attended Vacation Bible School when I was 12 years old. As a result of the clear Biblical teaching of the Gospel by dedicated teachers, I decided to give my heart and life to Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord the following Sunday morning .
Previous Lines of Work: Professional Baseball
Best Thing Someone Said to You: A 5 year old told her mother something that blessed me at the time and still does today. I had helped the 5 year old and her two siblings get their seat belts on and settled in their van after they attended a meeting at the church. The mother told me later that when I left the van, the 5 year old spoke up and asked her if that was Jesus who helped them.
Life Motto: Mission Statement: “To glorify God by building the church through preaching, teaching and multiplying leaders.”
Three People I’d like to Meet: Abraham Lincoln, Fanny Crosby and George Mueller
My Hero: Outside of Jesus Christ, my children – Jennifer, Jane, Joseph and Natalie
Most People Don’t Know This About Me: As a junior in high school, I was expelled three days by the principal
FAVORITE
Book: Biographies of Godly saints
Food: Fresh fruit and vegetables
Snack Food: Peanut butter and whole wheat bread/crackers
Movie: Schindler’s List
TV Show: Andy of Mayberry
Time of Day: Morning
Season: Spring
Place in the World: The mountains
Place to Pray: The mountains
Recreational Activities/Hobbies: Golf and walks
Scripture: The Book of Philippians
Sports Team: Carson Newman – I pull for coaches who love Jesus
Sport: Golf
Sound: My family laughing together – also, the sound of rain in the heat of summer
Thing to Do: Share the love of God
LEAST FAVORITE
Food: Brussels sprouts
Time of Day: Mid afternoon
Season: Winter
Sport: Lacrosse
Thing to Do: Milk cows
Sound: The cries of a broken heart
One of My Greatest Experiences with God: Several years ago, I was alone at home on a Thursday afternoon studying for a sermon. In conjunction with the sermon on Sunday morning I was planning to use a video clip from the movie, “Schindler’s List.”
The movie is about Oskar Schindler, a German businessman who saved the lives of more than a thousand Polish Jewish refugees during the Holocaust by employing them in his factories. In order to keep his factory workers alive, he spends much of his fortune bribing Nazi officials. Later, he surprises his wife while she is in the village church during mass, and tells her that she will now be the only woman in his life, a concession he had refused to grant previously. She goes with him to the factory to assist him. He runs out of money just as the Wehrmachtsurrenders, ending the war in Europe. He had saved some 1100 Jews from death in the concentration camps.
As a Nazi Party member and a self-described “profiteer of slave labor”, in 1945 Schindler must flee the advancing Red Army. Although the SS guards have been ordered to “liquidate” the Jews of Brinnlitz, Schindler persuades them to return to their families as men and not as murderers. In the aftermath, he packs a car in the night, and bids farewell to his workers. They give him a letter explaining he is not a criminal to them, together with a ring secretly made from a worker’s gold dental bridge and engraved with a Talmudic quotation, “Whoever saves one life saves the world entire.”
Schindler is touched but deeply ashamed, feeling he could have done more to save many more lives. He looks at his expensive car and says, “Ten more.” He begins to weep and says again, “I could have gotten ten more. Why did I keep this car?” He pulls a gold pendant from his lapel as he weeps and says, “Two more.” He falls on the back of the car weeping as the large crowd of people is in awe of his compassion. Several people run to him, consoling him as he weeps bitterly. For me, it was the most moving scene in the entire movie.
I could not hold back the tears and the emotions inside of me as I thought how many people could come to know Christ as Lord if I took reaching them as seriously as Oskar Schindler took saving the Polish Jews. It was if God, Himself, was there teaching me a life-changing message. I wept so loud it frightened me – I was embarrassed but quickly remembered I was alone. In that freedom of the moment I wept with loud groaning that could be heard beyond the walls of the house. It seems I could not stop weeping. I stopped the movie and waited for my mind to absorb all that had happened. God met me that afternoon and I have seen my life and all entrusted to me so differently since then.
Contact: remmert@manleybaptist.org