I wish you could have known him. His name was William “Bill” Lambertson. He was born and raised in a small town amid the wheat fields of north central Kansas. Bill was a rare combination of athlete and musician. He lettered in several sports in school and could play about any instrument he could lay his hands on. He was also gifted with a winning personality, an extraordinarily kind spirit, and a great sense of humor.
Leaving the farm life behind, Bill entered the ministry and pastored churches in Kansas and Idaho. In between pastorates, he and his equally talented wife, June, and their two daughters traveled the evangelistic road as “The Musical Lambertsons.” I still have the publicity picture of this family surrounded by a dozen or more instruments, all of which they played in their services.
Eventually, the two daughters married and moved away. But Bill and June kept traveling and preaching and playing their music. They ministered mostly in small to mid-size churches. The size of the congregation didn’t matter. They faithfully served no matter how many people were in attendance.
Shortly before their deaths, I had the privilege of leading in prayer at the service honoring their fifty-year anniversary of ordination in the Assemblies of God (and that doesn’t include the years spent earlier in the Wesleyan denomination!) Then June quietly slipped away in 1997, and a few years later Bill made his journey to the home of the Lord.
I wish you could have known him. You would have liked him. I loved him because he was my grandfather and one of my heroes. Grandpa Bill was a hero to me not because he pastored a large church, or preached to massive crowds in evangelistic crusades, or wrote and recorded gospel music. He never did any of those things. But he was a hero to me all the same because of the person he was: loving, caring, kind, and faithful.
In May we are going through a series on heroes. We all have them. We all can be one. What may surprise you as we go through the series is how some of the most unlikely people in the Bible ended up being heroes. In light of that, I have named the series: Unlikely Heroes.
The series starts in May. In the meantime, why not write a letter or make a call to one of your heroes to thank them for the impact they’ve made on your life. And then live in such a way that others can look to you as a person who made a difference in their lives.
Pastor Todd Weston
Leaving the farm life behind, Bill entered the ministry and pastored churches in Kansas and Idaho. In between pastorates, he and his equally talented wife, June, and their two daughters traveled the evangelistic road as “The Musical Lambertsons.” I still have the publicity picture of this family surrounded by a dozen or more instruments, all of which they played in their services.
Eventually, the two daughters married and moved away. But Bill and June kept traveling and preaching and playing their music. They ministered mostly in small to mid-size churches. The size of the congregation didn’t matter. They faithfully served no matter how many people were in attendance.
Shortly before their deaths, I had the privilege of leading in prayer at the service honoring their fifty-year anniversary of ordination in the Assemblies of God (and that doesn’t include the years spent earlier in the Wesleyan denomination!) Then June quietly slipped away in 1997, and a few years later Bill made his journey to the home of the Lord.
I wish you could have known him. You would have liked him. I loved him because he was my grandfather and one of my heroes. Grandpa Bill was a hero to me not because he pastored a large church, or preached to massive crowds in evangelistic crusades, or wrote and recorded gospel music. He never did any of those things. But he was a hero to me all the same because of the person he was: loving, caring, kind, and faithful.
In May we are going through a series on heroes. We all have them. We all can be one. What may surprise you as we go through the series is how some of the most unlikely people in the Bible ended up being heroes. In light of that, I have named the series: Unlikely Heroes.
The series starts in May. In the meantime, why not write a letter or make a call to one of your heroes to thank them for the impact they’ve made on your life. And then live in such a way that others can look to you as a person who made a difference in their lives.
Pastor Todd Weston
