My Dad and Brother Goins
Raised in the mountains of Morgan County in East Tennessee, Coalfield to be exact, my eighty six year old dad has always fascinated me with boyhood tales and stories. I have always been especially interested in stories of old time preachers from his past.. We have had a running conversation for some time now. When we speak on the phone he refers to me as Brother Goins. A preacher he remembered growing up. He will ask me things like. "Brother Goins, where are you preaching this weekend?" "Are you getting there to set up the tent?" I often respond as if I am Brother Goins and Dad is a preacher as well. Sometimes I call him J. Bassel Mull of the Mull Singing Convention. We always have a good laugh.
This past week, February 8, 2023, Renee and I traveled to Lafollette, Tennessee to do the funeral of her Aunt, Barbara Ford. The Cross-Smith Funeral Home did a great job and it was a blessing to get to talk to Funeral Director Terry for a bit at the graveside. I shared with him that my parents were from Coalfield and I mentioned a former pastor and Evangelist Billy Edmunds and Terry replied, "He pastored right over there by the school." I even shared the story of Bro. Goins, and his response absolutely blew me away. "He is buried in this cemetery." Surely this is not the same one that dad has mentioned so many times? Yes it was! And his wife Maggie was even a Jackson! Bro. Goins passed away in 1973, yet his ministry still lives on, as our family is a testimony to it.
God is so good to show us things like this and how he placed us on a Jacksboro, Tennessee hillside and brought so many things together. I hope to meet him one day and thank him for having an impact on my dad.
