Remembering Frank

I had lunch today in a restaurant with Snow White.  Really.  I first saw her on the way back to the table from the water refill spot.   When I was seated, I asked my wife, "Did you see Snow White?"   Dressed in a perfect costume, there was no question in my mind about the identity of this young woman who was attracting the attention of every child who came along.  Some adults, too.  I watched as the kids saw her with eyes wide and mouths open.  Each one went to see her and Mommas had a field day with their telephone cameras.

 

After a moment, I found my mind going in a different direction as I thought, "I wonder what reaction folks would have if someone was seated there dressed like Jesus?"  And then, I remembered Frank Roughton Harvey.  He was a perfect Jesus look alike.  I first saw Frank when I was a teenager in Alamo and my Dad who was the pastor invited him to come do his Sermon on the Mount presentation.  Frank had on a robe that day, had a full beard, and hair that flowed down over his shoulders.  He made that sermon real for all of us.  When I became a pastor, I invited Frank on six different occasions to come and share his ministry with my congregations.  Dressed in Biblical costume, he dramatically opened the Bible for all of us to see and experience not only Jesus, but others like Peter, Pontius Pilate, Paul, and the Roman Centurion.  When Frank died in 2006, the church on earth lost a powerful messenger of Jesus Christ.

 

Frank would have attracted a crowd in a restaurant, too.  But, he would not have been content for it to be a picture taking moment.  He would not have missed the opportunity to say a word about Jesus.  Frank not only caused us to see a visual image of Jesus, but he also helped us see what a man looked like who was allowing the Holy Spirit to shape his heart into the spirit of Jesus.  May those like him increase in number and may you and I be one of them.