2016 Speaker Profile...Leroy Cole

In an effort to help you get to know our conference speakers, we share a Q&A profile on each of them. Up first is Leroy Cole.

What’s your wife’s name and how long have you been married?

• My wife Cora and I recently celebrated our 59th anniversary.

How many children do you have?

• We have four grown sons.

Share a little about your educational background.

• I am a graduate of Kearsley Hih School, class of 1957. I received my BD from Bible Baptist Seminary in 1967.

How long have you been in your current pastorate?

• I have been at Emmanuel Baptist Church on and off since 1967. I'm presently retired in place there. During most of the years I was not there, I served as a Ruling Elder at Calvary Presbyterian Church.

What have been some of the best lessons you’ve learned in your role as a pastor?

•   The sufficiency of Christ to know and bless his sheep through appointed shepherds.

What would you most like your church to be known for?

• I would like the church to be Christ-like minded in its life and love.

What books of the Bible have been most impactful on your personal growth and ministry?

• Having been in ministry for over half a century, it is hard to narrow in on a few books. Certainly Romans more than Jeremiah, Genesis over Revelation. In fact, Genesis and Romans are usually connected in my mind as I study the other 64 books.

Who are some of your greatest spiritual influences?

• Charles Spurgeon from the 19th century, D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones from the 20th and R.C. Sproul from the last 30 years.

• There have been so many people that have joined me for a segment of my pilgrimage and have enriched my journey and sharpened my sanctification! It would be impossible to number those blessed people. And it is ongoing.

Are there any books that you find yourself regularly re-reading?

• I seldom re-read an entire book, but Packer and Lloyd-Jones works seem to recycle across my desk more than others.

If you could spend an entire day with one person of your choosing from the Bible (not including Jesus), who would you choose and why?

• I should say Paul, but it would probably be Peter. Somehow I seem to relate to him and understand his actions.

If you could have been present at any event in the Bible, which event would you choose and why?

• I should say the crucifixion and/or the resurrection/empty tomb, but the Day of Pentecost would be my choice. However, the 40 days of the post-resurrection walk of Christ would have been like the pre-Fall Garden: the Son of God inhabiting His people without the persecution of man interrupting the fellowship.

What are some of your hobbies/interests apart from the Bible/theology?

• Automotive history, now fading into history. That's about all there is to me. Lloyd-Jones said in those dying weeks, "I am a forgiven sinner; that's all there is to me." And with one toe in the river, that's all that is really important.