They Called Him Brother Masters

The story of J.W. Masters is a story worth
telling. His life spanned seventy-four years during the
Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. He organized or started
nineteen congregations in small communities in the hills of
southeastern Kentucky. Through trial and error, early speech
problems were subsequently turned into the preaching style
of a veteran orator. His keen sense of humor, a perception
of plain logic, and a command of language enabled him to
draw audiences from far and near. The times did not afford
many with opportunities of advanced education. Consequently
he battled with choosing the right course until he finally
ruled out both medicine and law and settled into the
vocation of simply becoming a minister of the Gospel. Even
in the toughest times, his commitment to his calling was
exemplary. Whether his audiences were large or small, in
church houses or public buildings, in winter or summer, in a
formal appearance or personal roadside conversation, he
never regarded any opportunity as second rate and considered
any occasion worthy of a full tilt approach in preaching the
Gospel of Jesus Christ. Although his story concluded nearly
one hundred years ago, he was truly a legend among mountain
communities in southeastern Kentucky.