Pastor James Calvin “J.C.” Willard, Jr., age 69 of Meadows of Dan, passed away Saturday, January 8, 2022, at Northern Regional Hospital. He was born in Carroll County, Virginia to the late James Calvin Willard, Sr. and Ruby Lee Turman Willard. He had been the pastor of Lighthouse Baptist Church for over 30 years.
Pastor Willard is survived by his wife, Debra Lynn Bolt Willard of the home; three children, Karen Horton of Bryson City, North Carolina, Donnie Willard of Rocky Mount and Mary Gammon of Ararat; three step-children, Jason Pratt (Heather) of Willis, Michelle Mashburn (Jon) of Meadows of Dan and Kayla Ogle (Dereck) of Dugspur; sixteen grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; one brother, Ricky Willard (Sandra) of Meadows of Dan; two sisters, Barbara Wilson (Jerry) of Martinsville and Shirley Willard of Martinsville; one niece and one nephew; one great nephew; and a best friend, Robbie Yokum of Montvale.
Funeral services for Pastor Willard will be held on Friday, January 21, 2022 at 12:00 p.m. at Moody Funeral Home in Stuart with Pastor Jason Pratt officiating. Burial will follow in Alderman Family Cemetery in Willis. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service at the funeral home. Online condolences may be sent by visiting www.moodyfuneralservices.com.
August 23, 2022
Proverbs ch. 23 v. 13-14
13. Don’t fail to discipline your children. The rod of punishment won’t kill them.
14. Physical discipline may well save them from death.
I’ve said that I have spent more than a few years of my life behind bars. One of the best times we men have when we are sharing stories is about our fathers and that ass whooping he gave us. It’s something each man has. Because of that ass whooping we in jail can accept the fact that we deserve to be where we are at. We deserve to be punished. Not giving a young man an experience where he learns there will be consequences harsher than the loss of my cell phone for a time is in adequate when as an adult that same young man believes he should be able to say anything that comes to mind, with little to no consequence. So he ends up in the hospital because he never received real instruction of when to shut up. If you can’t take instruction from the human in front of you, the one you can physically see. Then what makes you believe you are able to take instruction from a God you can’t? Eggo maybe. I turned out bad by most standards, I agree. But I’ve never blamed the officer who’s job it was to arrest me. I’ve had strong emotions when I felt I received a harsher punishment than others. I’ve experienced being charged with a misdemeanor and when I got to court found out the prosecutor presented a piece of paper suggesting I be charged with felonies instead because I was a worse person than my crimes reflected. Please read this again. Essentially I was clocked going ten miles per hour over the posted speed limit but the prosecutor argued they knew I had gone, at times 40 miles per hour over the speed limit so they asked the judge to change the charges against me to driving 25 miles per hour over the speed limit instead of the ten I was clocked at. And the judge agreed. Every ass whooping I ever received was needed in order to make sense and keep my head facing something so insanely illegal. Innocent until found guilty. The world is never going to be fair. If Jesus wasn’t treated fairly what makes you special? Spare the rod and the kid might get shot. Spare the rod and they won’t understand God’s teachings. The worst mistake I ever made was to pray for wisdom so I could post discernment to an audience that never shows up. But I believe what God has put on my heart. That proverbs was meant to be the very possibly, the most vital book of the Bible. We get wisdom and knowledge by studying proverbs and find understanding in the other books of the Bible. Without the foundation the walls seem a little shaky. Studying proverbs with your child might just end up being what makes the difference between them sharing the ass whooping story in jail or teaching the youth discernment class.