Daniel John Yeary

Daniel John Yeary

1938 – 2020

It has been said that every person needs a Paul as a mentor, a Barnabas to encourage you, and a Timothy that you teach and mentor.  And sometimes you are blessed to have one person who fulfills more than one of those roles in your life.  Dan Yeary was one of those people for me.

Dan was the College Minister at First Baptist Church, Lubbock, when I was a student at Texas Tech University.  His desire was for every person to know and have a relationship with Jesus.  Dan pulled together a team of college teachers who also invested in, challenged, mentored, and taught us.  Mom and Pop White brought donuts and orange juice, every Sunday morning, to welcome the students.  To that end, we had Bible Study and Worship services on Sunday morning and College Forum, where we heard from different speakers of specific ways to grow and apply our faith, on Sunday evenings.  Monday night we ate dinner at the church and then fanned out over the campus to visit those who had come to church as a guest on Sunday.  During the week, we had the opportunity to participate in small Growth Groups and/or “E” (evangelism groups) where we learned to share our faith.  During these years, the 9:30 College worship service began with over 1,000 university students gathering to meet each week.  Robert Moore led the choir and music and Dan preached.  Because it was a college service, students took leadership in the music, collecting the offering, ushering, and anything else that was needed.  Knowing that Easter had the opportunity to encourage more students to attend, the decision was made to meet in the Lubbock Municipal Coliseum, located on the Tech campus, for the service.  There were over 2,000 students who worshiped that Sunday and in future services.  We also had the opportunity to participate in mission trips over Spring Break or at the conclusion of the school year.

The week before fall classes began, First Baptist took busloads of students to attend College Week at Glorieta in New Mexico.  Along with students from other universities, it was a great time to prioritize what needed to happen as you prepared for a new semester. Dan often led sessions during this week.  When back in Lubbock, students from First Baptist learned a musical, such as “Tech-a-lot,” to perform in the church gym to welcome the Tech students back for classes.  The week before the Spring Semester, First Baptist Lubbock rented out Glorieta for Mid-Winter Retreat.  It was one more opportunity to make sure we were looking to Jesus to lead and direct us during the coming days and months.  

Even though Dan provided amazing programs, opportunities, and fellowships, it was his lifestyle that made a difference.  He lived out what he taught.  He loved and served the Lord wholeheartedly and wanted others to have that relationship as well.  Dan constantly invested in, encouraged, and challenged those around him to be who God created them to be.  His sermons were well prepared, engaging, and offered a challenge for application.

Larry had the opportunity to serve alongside Dan as the Youth Minister at University Baptist Church in Coral Gables Florida for 2 ½ years.  Dan ministered as the pastor, but also invested his life in the community as he coached kids at the youth center across the street from the church.  Due to Dan’s influence, some of those kids, and their families, became believers and active at University Baptist Church.  Once again, Dan was willing to do whatever it took to introduce people to Jesus.

Whether it was in Ft. Worth, Texas; Kentucky; Lubbock, Texas; Houston, Texas; Coral Gables/Miami, Florida; Phoenix, Arizona; Waco, Texas; or back in Houston, Texas; Dan was a fully devoted follower of Christ who invited and encouraged others to be as well.  As recently as two months ago, Dan was strategizing ways he could minister to the people in the retirement center where he lived.

A few of the lessons I learned during college days and beyond:

* Don’t mess with or treat lightly things that are precious to you.

* Live with an attitude of gratitude.

* Take the time to encourage others with words of affirmation, spoken and written.

* Get ready and come prepared to worship.

* Expect God to teach and move every time you come to worship.  And then expect God to do the same every day of the week.

* Find out where God is working and join him.

* Every season of life has ways you can serve the Lord. 

* You never retire from God’s work.

* The best is yet to come!

I am so grateful for the ways God worked in and through Dan to teach me more about Him.  The legacy and lessons learned will continue.  Now to make sure I am doing the same for others.

A person’s days are determined, you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed.

Job 14:5

“Show me, Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is.

Psalm 39:4

Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Psalm 90:12

May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude and mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 15:5-6

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

1 Thessalonians 5:11

Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the Lord’s people.

Philemon 1:7