I personally owe a great debt to the Hortons.  During a time when my alma mater was disintegrating, the Hortons reached out to me and offered friendship.  Though I have received no degrees from PCC, they have treated me as if I were an alumnus.  Indeed, my recent decision to move from the pastorate after 35 years and into the classroom here at PCC and PTS was based in part on the emotional debt that I owe the Hortons.  I have always viewed Dr. and Mrs. Horton as the “Aquila and Priscilla” who took this “Apollos” aside and explained the way of God more perfectly to him (Acts 18:26). I would like to state briefly four major lessons that I have learned directly from the lips of Mrs. Horton.

First, she taught me the purpose of Christian schools.  Early in my ministry, Mrs. Horton and I were having a conversation, and I stated that I believed Christian schools should practice closed enrollment in order to protect its constituents from worldly influences.   She looked at me with a wry bit of a grin and said, “I didn’t know you were Presbyterian.”  When I probed what she meant, she told me that Christian schools were not insulated bubbles similar to Calvin’s Geneva.  As Christians, we were to be in the world sharing the Gospel.  By practicing open enrollment, we could do what God commissioned us to do – share the Gospel.  This did not mean that Christian schools refused to engage in discipleship.  It did mean that the ramifications of the Gospel could not be implemented if the Gospel were not first embraced.  Christian schools should be seeking to make Christians, and this means they must be evangelistic centers.  Ever since our conversation, I have been a strong advocate of open enrollment.

Second, Mrs. Horton taught me the purity of the Gospel.  Because she was such a strong advocate of childhood evangelism, Beka believed in keeping the Gospel simple.  The Gospel is not received when children become adult in their comprehension.  It is received when adults become child-like in simple faith and trust.  In the on-going debate over so-called “lordship salvation”, Mrs. Horton strongly believed that subjective evidences of salvation should never be presented as necessary prerequisites to salvation.  Our salvation presentation should be so simple, even a child can understand it.  And thousands of children did.  Through her schools, her curriculum, her camps, and her Bible studies, the Gospel was always presented with pure simplicity.  Her model revolutionized the way I evangelized.

Indeed, when lordship issues are presented too strongly, it often presents doubts in the minds of those who were saved at an early age.  Of what heinous sins does a four-year-old repent?  We praise the Lord for every “crisis” conversion, but little children raised in Christian homes may not have such an experience.  It is enough to know that we are all sinners.  Jesus paid the penalty for our sin through His death, burial, and resurrection.  And when we place our faith in His finished work, we are saved.  It’s that simple, and we must not convolute it.

Third, Mrs. Horton taught me the philosophy of Christian education.  In our desire to develop “cognitive thinking skills”, we Christian educators have moved away from the “catechism” model that characterized early American education.  Mrs. Horton did not believe that educators were “facilitators of thought” or “co-learners.”  She believed they were teachers.  They came with a fixed body of truth that needed to be disseminated to the students of which they had been given stewardship.  This required the teacher to be a strong disciplinarian so that an atmosphere of learning was present.  She strongly rejected the notion that Johnny should be allowed to fly a paper airplane in class because one day he will become an astronaut.  Johnny will never be an astronaut if he doesn’t learn his multiplication tables.  It is true children need to develop strong cognitive thinking skills, but this can only happen after certain rote truths have been memorized.  Thus, the Abeka curriculum that bears Mrs. Horton’s name is strong in phonics and other educational drills that provide the foundation for other educational pursuits.  A child who cannot read well will be hampered the rest of his life in educational pursuits.

And finally, Mrs. Horton taught me the value of the prophetic ministry in females.  In our zeal to emphasize passages like I Timothy 2:12 that forbid women to teach or usurp authority over a man, we have stumbled over passages like Acts 2:17 where the result of the Spirit’s outpouring is daughters who prophesy.  Indeed, Philip the evangelist had four virgin daughters who prophesied (Acts 21:9).  I do not (nor did Mrs. Horton) advocate that women should have a pastoral ministry.  This is strongly reflected in the degree paths offered at Pensacola Theological Seminary.  However, this is not to say that women cannot be strong theologians or that men cannot learn from women.  

Many graduates of PCC and PTS will attest to the fact that much of their ministerial philosophy is attributable directly or indirectly to the influence of Mrs. Horton.  Even “adopted” alumni will say this.  I know, for I am one of them.  Until we meet again around the throne of the Lord she so strongly loved, I trust that I will be able to continue to perpetuate the lessons I learned from this great lady.  She helped me understand the way of God more perfectly, and for that I am grateful.