Remembering Wendell Winkler (originally published October 24)
As most have heard by now, brother Wendell Winkler left this world around 2 AM Sunday morning, October 23, after a prolonged battle with his health. As a faithful Christian man, we realize that he is where he has always wanted to be–waiting to enjoy the treasures of Heaven.
It is ironic that Friday I was scheduled to speak on our local radio program for fifteen minutes. As I have done many times, I turned to an article written by brother Winkler. The ironic part, however, was the subject matter. I used an article written for the July 1998 issue of The Spiritual Sword. The theme of the issue was simply “great Bible chapters.” Brother Winkler’s article discussed Revelation 22, and the first point of the lesson was “Revelation 22 gives us an insight to heaven, the city of God” (45). He ended that point of the lesson with words you have no doubt heard him say. If you ever heard brother Winkler preach about heaven, he would nearly always use the title to the grand old hymn, “How Beautiful Heaven Must Be.” Today, brother Winkler knows he is nearer than ever before to that great dwelling-place of God.
As a young man and a young preacher, I have been blessed by God to be around many great men and preachers. My dad, Jim Faughn, is, of course, the greatest preacher I know. He has so much influence upon me that he will never recognize all of it. God truly blessed me with a great father–who just happened to be a preacher. My coworker at 9th Avenue, brother Andy Kizer, also has a great influence on me as a preacher. I don’t know of too many men who enjoy the study of God’s Word more than brother Kizer. He is such a great encourager of young preachers, too, and that is a source of great help to me.
It should come as no surprise that both my dad and brother Kizer looked up to brother Wendell Winkler. My dad used to be amazed as the knowledge brother Winkler had and could speak of him as a friend and helper. He has told me that there were several times he needed advice and brother Winkler was always willing to listen and help. Brother Kizer has a longstanding relationship with brother Winkler. He served as dean of students at the Brown Trail School of Preaching while brother Winkler was the president of that school.
I’m not sure if any other preacher I’ve ever known did more to encourage young men to preach as did brother Wendell Winkler. Besides the wonderful books he wrote, articles he penned and sermons he so powerfully proclaimed, his legacy is the literally hundreds of young (and some not-so-young) men he trained or encouraged to stand before a lost and dying world and preach boldly from God’s Word. May those of us who were influenced by him in any way have the strength, courage, determination and work ethic he possessed.
His wife, Betty, as well as his three sons, Dan, Mike and Tim need and deserve our prayers in this difficult time. The Northport (Alabama) church of Christ has lost a very influential member and needs our prayers as well. To be frank, the entire brotherhood should mourn this loss. To use the words of brother Todd Clippard, “A prince and great man has fallen in spiritual Israel this day.”
For brother Winkler we are so thankful to God. Now may we attempt to carry on his legacy so that we can see him again–in a perfect body–one day.
Comment originally published by Andy Kizer on October 24:
What a well written article. No one could have given a better tribute to a great man. I know of hundreds of gospel preachers trained, encouraged, and helped by Wendell Winkler. When I moved my family to Fort Worth to attend Brown Trail School of Preaching, brother Winkler was in the pulpit there. I listened to him preach, and he fired me up. During the time he was preaching for the Brown Trail church, he was also teaching courses in the School of Preaching, including “Homiletics” and “A Preacher’s Life and Work.” In those classes I was a student as were so many men before me. When he became the Director of the school in 1979, he immediately recruited twenty-five good Christian men to be students. That was the biggest single enrollment in Brown Trail history. Leaving Brown Trail, brother Winkler went to Faulkner University in Montgomery, Alabama, to chair the Bible Department. Again, he trained scores of men to preach. Many of them valiantly fill pulpits today. In addition to these good works, the “preacher’s preacher” trained others in “Polishing the Pulpit” series and lecture series. Brother Winkler was a mentor and friend. I enjoyed taking fellow gospel preachers to his home in Northport for counseling, encouragement, fellowship, and fun. He will be greatly missed by all of us who were taught by him, encouraged by him, and loved by him. I will miss him dearly, but I am so happy that he is enjoying the bliss of Paradise. I would not call him back if I could. I just pray that his powerful influence for good will live on and on and on.
