Background: Dr. O. M. Seigler served as Interim Pastor at Pine Lake Baptist Church in 1974-75 and again in the early 1980’s. Dr. Seigler was an incredible man. A biography appropriately named “Who Said Quit!” by James Adams Lester was published in 1978. Dr. Seigler was in his late 80’s when he served our church the second time and had done 76 previous interim pastorate positions since his retirement. His wife was gravely ill during his second tenure as our interim pastor. But that did not keep Dr. Seigler from performing any of his duties. His first call was to his Lord and there was no question about it.

I’ll never forget what he told the Deacons when he was being “interviewed” as our potential Interim. He looked us square in the eye, broadened his shoulders and sternly asked if we were going to be busy helping him to do the work of the Lord or not. He quickly added that he knew that he didn’t have much time left on this earth and he had no time to waste … “if you don’t want to work … then don’t call me as your Interim Pastor.” He meant that with every fiber of his being. Actually, our Deacons were being interviewed by Dr. Seigler rather than the other way around. We were so impressed that we unanimously voted to recommend Dr. Seigler to the church.

What a blessing that decision turned out to be. Dr. Seigler accepted our call and immediately went to work in our community demonstrating his commitment to keeping his word and to God. He walked the streets of our nearby community and ultimately personally visited nearly every resident to share the gospel with them and invite them to our church. His commitment was infectious and our congregation joined in under his leadership. The church actually grew under his leadership over the next eight to ten months.

Reflection: Not only was Dr. Seigler a superb one on one witness for the Lord, he was a superb preacher. One Sunday he preached an unbelievable and fire filled sermon entitled “The Banquet of this World”. I wish I could find that cassette tape. I bet I listened to it ten times but have long since misplaced it. However, in my mind’s eye I can still see him in his short but sturdy stature lean forward after he had made an important point that he wanted to drive home. He would slap the pulpit, raise his voice and say “That’s a good place to say Amen!!!” And it always was a good place to do so. Today I can easily say the same. Dr. O. M. Seigler passed from this life on June 16, 1985, some eight months after his dear wife. When the gates of Heaven opened to accept his soul, I believe the angels in chorus could well have been singing “That’s a Good Place to Say Amen!”

Update 2018-08-27

My good friend Gene Johnson loaned me the copies of Dr. Seigler’s tapes that he had preserved over the years.  To listen to some of Dr. Seigler’s sermons follow this link.