Portland observer., January 25, 1995, Page 29, Image 29

a lot of time away from my family. So what
I have chosen to do—and I feel like the Lord
has led me to do this—is to empower my
people through preaching and teaching.”
But how did Dr. Martin come to
Portland? What’s the link between a young
man growing up in Bluefield. West Virginia
and Mt. Olivet Baptist Church? That link
lies in a relationship Dr. Martin established
with Dr. Curtis Mitchel during their years of
study together at Trinity Evangelical
Seminary in Newberg. Illinois. It was Dr.
Mitchel who carried the message that Mt.
Olivet was looking for a pastor and encour­
aged Dr. Martin to apply for the position. He
the internal convictions that ate away at Dr.
Martin during these days. Life’s pressures
and the pressure of the Holy Spirit began to
simmer Dr. Martin’s soul.
“One night I almost committed suicide.
One night 1 was so upset; so lonely and
depressed. Even though 1 had a car [and] I
had a house. I pulled out my service
revolver and I was going to kill myself.
Something said to me, ‘You dummy! Don’t
you know the answer is Jesus?’
“1 went to church that next Sunday,”
continued Dr. Martin, “two days later. I
walked up to the pastor after the service was
over. I told the pastor, ‘1 want to make a re­
dedication.' Man! It was like everybody
knew this was going to happen. When I said
that, may pastor started hollering! People
started looking and saying, ‘I know what
happened; Jimmy done repented!’ Mother
was crying and hollering and shouting and I
felt like someone just poured Clorox in my
life. Everything was clean.”
At this point in our conversation, my
heart filled with calm. The anxieties and
troubles of my work day were gone—gone
as it they were blown away by the soft
breeze of the fan in Dr. Martin’s office. Then
it was time to talk about the church, about
Mt. Olivet, its history, and Dr. Martin’s call
to serve as a minister of God’s Word.
What constitutes a call to ministry is
the subject of may debates and testimonials.
Dr. Martin’s call came through a dream in
1978. In this dream, he saw himself
enveloped in a white light. “I remember that
thing so clearly,” he says. “ A white light
shining over my head, down onto an open
Bible and a voice saying leave all these
friends and go.” His mother confirmed his
calling along with his pastor. His mother
knew that he had the call long before the
dream. But. trusting in the Lord, she never
said anything to him, not wanting to put
anything in his head. She wanted the Holy
Spirit to speak when the time was right.
Today, when Dr. Martin preaches, he
promotes the truths of his favorite verse, II
Timothy 2:2: “And the things which you
have heard from me in the presence of many
witnesses, these entrust to faithful men, who
will be able to teach others also.” He wrote
these words on the platform at the front of
the church before the carpet was installed. It
is his goal that people will take the princi­
ples they hear from the pulpit and go out to
their schools, their jobs, and their homes and
apply them to their lives.
Social issues are not the thrust of his
preaching. “The pulpit is my main power. I
don't think that as a pastor I can influence
society by serving on a lot of committees. It
takes a lot of time away from my studies and
i
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sent his portfolio to the Mt. Olivet pulpit
committee and. after the interview process,
was asked to come serve as pastor.
Upon accepting the position and expe­
riencing congregational growth. Dr. Martin
brought his particular vision to bear on the
expansion plans for Mt. Olivet. The old
church, founded in the 1890’s, or in 1907
(there is some debate over the exact date),
had reached its seating limit. It is said that
the original founders of the church used to
gather together in a house and were spon­
sored by the First Baptist Church in down­
town Portland. One of Mt. Olivet’s stranger
anecdotes recounts that a local branch of the
KKK donated lumber to have the church
built on the east side of the Willamette
River.
Working with his board at Mt. Olive,.
Dr. Martin pursued a vision for the best
location for expansion and growth. Dr.
Martin describes the search:
J
a n u a r y
/F
ebruary
1995
“I called a couple of realtors and asked
them to drive me around to look at some
places. They showed me places that were
either too far out in the suburbs, or the build­
ing was too small, or without enough park­
ing.” After much driving around. Dr. Martin
asked his secretary if she knew any realtors.
She introduced him to her realtor.
Dr. Martin continues, “He showed me
an old Jehovah's Witness building and I
said, 'No, it’s too small. It’s got two stories.
I don't want steps." Then the realtor says, “I
have one more place I think you might like.”
So he drove me out to North Chautauqua,
where we are located now. We were going
down the road, and when he got to the place,
here was this old rundown supermarket—a
junk building. The realtor said. ‘This is it.’
But when he showed it to me. it was like this
big explosion of light came into my mind
and I thought. ‘That’s it!”' Here Dr. Martin
pauses for a moment, the excitement of tha,
moment dancing in his eyes.
“And I said out loud. That’s it!" And it
had a For Sale sign on it. It had plenty of
parking space. I started thinking about what
you could do with that thing. I came back
and presented it to the building committee
and they said. ‘No way!' But you know, they
tried everything to find pieces of land and
other buildings. And everything they found
that looked like it was possible, the Lord
would shut the door. And they ’d have to go
back to that building. And they didn't want
to go back. They'd start looking at some­
thing else and the Lord would shut the
door.”
“So. finally, after months wrangling,
they said. We ll try to buy this building.'
And so we went through the legal maneu­
vers and finally got it,” Dr. Martin con­
cludes with a laugh.
Architects were set to work on the
building and soon construction was under
way. Today, the building stands as a testa­
ment to God’s faithfulness. There is a lo,
more work to be done to complete all the
parts of the Mt. Olive, “edifice.” and yet. as
I sit in the building on this Sunday Morning
and hear the singing and hear the word
preached, 1 think of how God takes every
thread of people's lives and weaves them m
His way: sometimes weaving them even
when we are wandering from His way.
Again I think. This is it! The hair rises on
my neck and I realize again how faithful
God has been to me. I thank God that we
have hope in our Ixird and His Word. Thank
God that we have the testimonies of others,
like Dr. Martin, to keep us focused on God's
goodness and His faithfulness.
Thank God that we have the testimonies. ■
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