B. R. Lakin
1901 - 1984
"A person said to me, 'Why, Dr. Lakin, Jesus could not have
been born of a human mother without a human father.' Listen, I
would have you know that the first man who ever got in this
world got here without either.""
On June 5, 1901, a baby boy was born to Mr. and Mrs. Richard
Lakin in a farmhouse on Big Hurricane Creek in the hill
country of Wayne County, West Virginia. Mrs. Lakin had prayed
for a "preacher man" and had dedicated this baby to the Lord
even before he was born.
Lakin was converted in a revival meeting at age 18. Following
his conversion, he became a Baptist preacher. With a mule for
transportation, he preached in small country churches in the
mountains and hills of West Virginia and Kentucky. The
transportation changed as well as the size of his
congregations.
In 1939, he became associate pastor of Cadle Tabernacle,
Indianapolis, and upon the death of Founder Cadle, became
pastor of that once great edifice of evangelism that seated
10,000, and had a choir loft of 1,400. Lakin preached to over
5,000 on Sunday mornings and half that many on Sunday nights.
Cadle Tabernacle had no memberships. It was a radio-preaching
center broadcasting from coast to coast. In those thirteen
years there, Ray Lakin became a household word across America.
In 1952, he entered full-time evangelism. His ministry carried
him around the world, resulting in an estimated 100,000
conversions, and legion the number entering the ministry.
He was the preacher's friend, the church's helper, the common
man's leader, and for sixty-five years, God's mighty
messenger.
He was one of the most sought-after gospel preachers in
America. On March 15, 1984, the last of the old-time
evangelists took off for Glory. He would soon have been 83.
Audio Messages by B.R. Lakin |