Rutledge Family Video Memories 1952 - 1967

Rutledge Family Memories 1952 - 1967  

Radio Program Blooper

This picture of (Ren and Bren) was taken in the late 60's. We were both a lot slimmer back then.

Dad was pastor of The Apostolic Church at 6th and Dakota street in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and had a daily radio program on KADL called "Christ is The Answer". We spent many hours helping dad with the radio program. Ren arranged the theme song ...here are the words.

( Oh, Christ....is the answer, if you'll trust in Him, He'll make a way....He will lift you up He'll share your load. Heal the sick, and I know.....Christ is the answer, Christ is the answer, Christ is the answer for you.)

Dad worked really hard every evening to make sure he had a good program ready for the next day. He recorded mostly on reel to reel tape recorder, then eventually moved to cassette tapes.
I remember one day I was listening to the radio, and I began singing on the program....it didn't sound too good. It sounded like I was screaming, and I was singing "He'll Make Things Right" the longer I sang the worse I sounded. Dad heard it also, but he was on the highway headed north going fishing, and back then there were no cell phones. We were both yelling at the radio "WRONG TAPE!!!!!!  YOU GOT THE WRONG TAPE!!!!. There was nothing we could do, I was singing my heart out but it wasn't coming across very good on radio. It was a live recording and people were rejoicing in the service, dad was saying things that normally would not have been on the broadcast mainly because people would not understand. I was home wondering how this could have happened, and dad was trying his best to get back to the radio station. About the time it sounded like the song was ending, and I'm thinking "well, the worst is over" I heard dad say " SING IT AGAIN!!!!!!" and it started all over.
Later, we laughed about how it all happened, but you can rest assured from then on, dad double-checked the tape before he left it at the radio station.

Brenda Rutledge Casteel

The Rutledge Family

I didn’t write in my blog yesterday because of a mental block. I have stories going through my mind , but can’t seem to find a beginning or end, so today I’m going to write just a little about the family (The Rutledge family)

My dad (M. J. Rutledge) married my mother (Norma Rucks Rutledge). He was 17 years old and she was 16. Things were very different back then, and times were harder,  so it seems from the stories I was told.

Rendal Gayle was their first born . I think when he was born he was singing a song, and asked for a pen and paper so he could write the music to the song he had just composed.
Ren was only a few days old, when the house caught on fire, and mom had to get up out of the bed and carry him outside to safety. The house burned down, but they were OK.

Then I (Brenda Marvine) was born in 1948.  Since Ren was almost 4 years older, I think he might have begin teaching me to sing before age 1. Is it possible that the very first song he taught me to sing was “Deep and Wide?” because if that happened he has only himself to blame for the torture I put him through by singing that song on his recorder and wiping out one of the greatest compositions of all times (according to him). I was eleven (I think) when that happened.

Debbie Fern was next. She was six years younger than me, and I was ready to have a baby sister. Dad always told about how she came to us. He says, he was fishing,  (I can’t remember it exactly as it was told) but he says he caught a brown eyed monster, and named it “Debbie”.
When Debbie was born we lived on the main highway in Dollarway.  This was before they made a four lane out of Dollarway road. I was suppose to be watching Debbie, and she was on a blanket in the front yard. I guess I got pre-occupied, because the next thing we knew, Debbie had crawled out onto the busy highway, and had traffic stopped.  Debbie survived that scary moment, but she is still a “Traffic Stopper”

Then there came Rita Joy. The baby of the family. Before Joy was born Dad would go around saying “ we are having twins and are naming them , Pride and Joy” . Well Joy made it, but pride didn’t show up. Joy has always been exactly that...... (JOY) to our family.

Dad and mom (Bro and Sis Rutledge) were Pastoring in Pine Bluff, Arkansas for over 30 years, and they celebrated their 50th anniversary before dad passed away in 1994. Mom is living in Arkadelphia, Arkansas today.

Ren evangelizes and is founder of a church in Norwich, Connecticut.  My husband (Gary Casteel) and I live in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Debbie and her husband (Richard Price) Pastor in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. Joy and her husband (Russell Hamby) pastor in Rogers, Arkansas.

The bible says GO YE INTO ALL THE WORLD AND PREACH THE GOSPEL TO EVERY CREATURE. - Mark 16:15

We are working on it!!!!!!!!!!!!

Another story about me......"Deep and Wide"

From Excitement To Dispair


I woke up excited on a beautiful day looking forward to what was about to happen. For several weeks I had been working very hard writing a march for the Arkansas State College band in Jonesboro, Arkansas. 

When I arrived at the band room the band director, Donald Minx was standing at the door with a big smile on his face. He had told me the day before that we could start out the band rehearsal with my music. I was excited just thinking about the fact that the best college band in the south was about to play my music.

As the band students gathered we passed out the music, and everybody was happy and talking about how neatly the music was written.

Mr. Minx called the band to order and handed me the baton. He instructed me to go ahead and direct the band in my new march. The name of the march was GO BIG RED.

I had taken great pain to make sure that all the parts were written in the proper key and comfortable range for each musician, and they did an amazing job the very first time we went through it. At the end of the march all 120 band students stood to their feet clapping their hands giving me an standing ovation. Mr Minx sent for the other music teachers to come and listen to the march. He called the dean of music and sent one of the students to get a tape recorder.

As we were waiting for the teachers he asked me to direct the band one more time in preparation the teachers and the recording.

After the teachers arrived the tape recorder was turned on and the music started. It was almost like being in Heaven as I listened to my music played by those awesome music majors from Arkansas State University. All that hard work from those sleepless nights was worth it as I was able to hear with my ears what had only been in my mind for several months. Once again there was a standing ovation, and as I looked around I saw tears in the eyes of several teachers and students.

That evening I called my high school band director, Perry Hope in Pine Bluff, Arkansas and played the recording of the march to him over the telephone. Mr. Hope broke down and cried. I also started crying as he told me that he always knew that I had unlimited ability in the field of music. Mr. Hope was a hero in my life, and I really looked up to him.

After the phone call, I went to my bedroom with the tape recorder and listened to the march about fifty times before I went to sleep.

The next day I went to college, and all day long I looked forward to going home and listening to my march again. I rushed home after my last class and ran into my bedroom. When I turned the tape recorder on all I could hear was the voice of a little girl singing "Deep and wide deep and wide there's a fountain flowing deep and wide..."

Then I started having a panic attack. No matter how hard I tried to hear that march, there was no march on that tape to be found. Brenda had gone into my bedroom during the day and pressed the record button. Oh how angry I was. With a broken heart I went to my father and told him that Brenda had ruined my life. I told him how she had destroyed everything I had worked so hard for and had replaced it with "Deep And Wide."

Ren and Bren

The only thing dad had to say was, "Well son, there is a fountain flowing deep and wide."

Brenda is still alive today because of that fountain flowing deep and wide.

I still love you Bren. Hallelujah anyhow. :)

Ren Rutledge

A Turning Point In My Life

The following story was written by my brother, Ren Rutledge

When I was a baby I fell and broke my leg just above my ankle. As a result of the bone not being set correctly I grew up with my left foot pointed to the left, and I had a difficult time walking. Children at school made fun of me, and I felt sorry for myself.

One evening I was sitting on the edge of my bed crying and feeling totally down and rejected when my dad came in and started talking to me. He asked me why I was crying, and I told him that "nobody loves me", and that I feel like a misfit in everything I do. My father started talking to me about how I could make the best of this situation and turn it into a blessing. He knew that I loved music and started talking to me about how I should perhaps study deep in to music while others are running and playing on the school ground. Dad told me that some wonderful things could happen in my life if I would just not worry about that foot and look to the future and what can happen if I would learn all I could about music.

I will always remember those words and what it meant in my life. From that point forward I started reading every book I could read about music and musical instruments. By the time I was in the 10th grade I was writing music for the high school band and being called on to direct orchestras and bands in camp meetings and conferences all over the USA.

When I graduated from High School I had written more than 200 songs, and more than 100 band arrangements. I had learned to play every instrument in the band and had a broad understanding of musical composition and orchestration.

Arkansas State University music department took notice and awarded me a full scholarship to the university. In my first month of college I wrote a march for Arkansas State University.

The band director and the head of the music department of the college actually had tears in their eyes as I was allowed to direct the finest college band in the state in my music. After the 120 college students played the march they all stood and started clapping and cheering.

I thank God for that special moment with my father when I was only 12 years. When I was 18 years of age, I broke my leg again, and the doctor told me that the break was exactly what was needed to make my foot point straight forward. The cripple foot kept me out of football, and the Vietnam war. God certainly blessed me and gave me something to hold onto after those difficult years with that cripple foot.
Ren Rutledge

Added note from Brenda……..

I remember when Ren broke his leg. Our church youth had rented a skating rink,. Mom, Ren and I were trying (we were not good at it) to skate.  Ren was in front of us and all of a sudden the weight of Ren’s skate broke his leg.   As he went down I saw his leg go sideways. I sat down right where I was and vowed to never skate again. We have a bone condition that makes our bones brittle at birth called Osteogenesis Imperfecta, and we have all had our share of broken bones, but this was the worst I had seen. We were all thankful when we got the report that the break had actually helped his condition. Thank you Jesus.

Silly Songs

My brothers name is Rendal, so through the years we have been called Ren and Bren. We had a music store once called “Ren and  Bren House of Music” we taught piano and guitar lessons, sold sheet music and LP albums . The younger generation doesn’t know what LP records are…….my grand-daughter, Shelby came in my house  several years ago and saw a stack of LP albums. She picked one up and said “Wow, that’s a BIG CD !!!!”
Ren has written several hundred gospel songs and you can hear lots of his music on renrutledge.com .
 There were a couple times that we were called upon to entertain and we had to come up with a song for the occasion.
First Baptist Church in Pine Bluff, Arkansas  invited up to sing at a banquet. They wanted a song to go with the theme of the party so we came up with the Jupiter Blues. Ren played the bass and I played the accordion.
We got a standing ovation after singing this song.


THE JUPITER BLUES

Oh I'm so blue

So Blue

I've got the Juuuuuuuupiter blues

Oh I'm so blue

So blue

I've got the Juuuuuuuupiter blues

Ren - I thought I could make it without her

Bren - Oh please won't you come back to me

Ren - I thought I could go on, but now I'm all alone

 Ren/Bren - And nothing in this universe can satisfy me


We were invited to entertain at the the Coon Hunter
Association annual fund raising Coon supper in
Gillett, Arkansas, and Ren wrote this song just 
before we got up to sing.

Coon Hunters
Coon hunters,  coon hunters
You can’t beat the life of a coon hunter
Sleeping in the day time, hunting at nigh
There is nothing like a coon……..hunter
I can’t remember the verses, but it was a big hit that night.


Another time I was needing a song for a talent contest in Cahokia High School. I was in the 9th grade. We came up with this song to the tune of  “My Bonnie “  We won!!!!!

My Neighbors
Last night as I lay on my piller
Last night as I lay on my bed
I stuck my big feet out the winder
Next morning my neighbors were dead

Bring back, Bring back, oh bring back my neighbors to me, to me
Bring back, Bring back, oh bring back my neighbors to me.

I’m sorry  I’m rid of my neighbors
I don’t think they thought much of me
And if I had it to do over
I think that I might wash my feet.

Radio Days
In the late 60’s and early 70’s Ren had a job playing music at KADL radio station in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. I wanted to be just like my big brother, so he helped me get a job on Sunday afternoons playing gospel music at KPBA radio. We were both on air at the same time. Ren called me on the phone once and told me what record he was playing next, so I played the same thing….we were trying to confuse the listening audience Later I left KPBA and went over to KADL, and on Sundays we had the
 “Ren and Bren Gospel Show” It was just  a regular work day for Ren, but for me it was a very special time of my life, and I was having lots of fun.

.

Reply:

Polio has Brenda

Today’s story is written about me by my brother Ren…………


I remember the morning when my sister, Brenda would not wake up. I tried to shake her to wake her up for breakfast, but there was no response. I was only 8 years old. After calling for my mom and dad to see what was wrong with Brenda they also became alarmed. Brenda could not move and there was almost no sign of life. She was taken to Davis hospital in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. I will never forget the sad look on my father's face as he wept in our home for several days. Brenda had polio. In fact the doctor told our family that not only does Brenda have polio..."Polio has Brenda..." I remember crying as I went to visit my neighbors. Brenda and I had spent many days with the Browns down the street from where we lived, because my dad and mom were often busy in Church work and the Browns were good neighbors with children that we enjoyed spending time with. When they asked about Brenda, I broke down and cried as I told them how I found her that morning and how she could not talk or move.

I will never forget the knock on the door a few days later as brother T Richard Reed came to our home. He did not know about the situation with Brenda, but Brother Reed had been driving on a trip and was passing through Little Rock when he felt the leading of the Lord to go check on our family. When my father went to the door brother Reed met him with a smile. My father had not changed clothes or shaved for several days. All he would do was walk the floor crying and praying about Brenda. Brother Reed stood there with a smile on his face as the door opened. He saw the condition of my dad and asked what was wrong. As my father started weeping and talking to brother Reed between sobs I saw brother Reed push him back, and I heard him say with a strong voice, "Brother Rutledge get hold of yourself we serve a big God and he is able to heal Brenda...." Brother Read told my father to go take a bath and change clothes..." About an hour later they both left the house dressed in suits on their way to a small Church where a precious group of black friends were having service. My Father and brother Reed walked into the Church in the middle of service and my father cried out in desperation to these good people. He asked them to please call on God for his little girl. The preacher closed his Bible and got down on his knees. All the congregation went to their knees and started weeping and calling on the name of Jesus.

A few days later my mother was at the foot of the bed at the Davis Hospital praying and calling on the name of Jesus when she heard a sound behind her. The voice of a little girl was calling for her mother. When mom turned around she saw Brenda standing up in the middle of the bed with a smile on her face and heard her asking for a coke.

Mom called to the nurses, and when they came they saw what was going on and called for the doctor...

When Doctor Robinette came into the room Brenda was walking around drinking a coke and the Doctor said to all present..."There was nothing we could do...but a higher power came into this room and did this work...."

Polio had been taken from Brenda's little body and she was completely well and able to return home. Here we are more than 50 years later and Brenda still has her testimony. She has never been bothered by polio again in any way. God took polio out of Brenda's life and gave her a new life. Today Brenda has a beautiful healthy family. God has been good to Brenda and the Rutledge family.

Written with happy tears.
Ren Rutledge

The Accordion Case

My brother Rendal is 3½ years older than me. When I was about 3 or 4 we were playing upstairs while mom and dad were downstairs playing music. Dad played the guitar and mom played the accordion. They left the accordion case upstairs, and for a couple of small kids like Ren and myself, it looked like a good place to hide. Ren tried to get me to get inside the case, but I  wasn’t sure that’s what I wanted to do, so he offered to get in first to show me what I should do. He got inside the accordion case and told me to close it. I could not get it completely closed , so he told me to sit on top of it., I did. While sitting on top of the case I reached down with my tiny hands and pushed both latches, and heard them “click”. Evan as a small child, I felt something was wrong with what we had done, so I knelt down to open the case, It would not open. All I could hear from my bother was a muffle, and I began to cry and say “me tant get it open” me tant get it open” . Mom and dad heard my cries, and realizing something didn’t sound right, they came upstairs and saw the situation quickly. They opened the accordion case and There was Ren, white as a sheet.
I have always wondered, what would have happened if I had gotten into that accordion case like he wanted me too. Hmmmmm, I wonder, do you think I would have been rescued?  Oh yes, my dear brother would never leave me inside an accordion case, would he?

Added by my daughter (Carole Anne Casteel Anderson)
 posted on Facebook 9/9/2017

When my mom and uncle Rendal G Rutledge were little, my uncle got in an accordion case and mom closed the lid. When she couldn't get the lid open, she started yelling "me can't get it open!" My grandpa heard them and went in and opened the lid just in time.  

So, it seems only logically that we would haul an accordion case across the US for Uncle Rendal's memorial service. My uncle Rendal was one of a kind and this crazy case has been a source of humor this entire trip from checking this crazy thing in at the airport to opening it and finding everything broken to hearing mom talk about memories.

Applebox Chairs

Back in the early fifties, I was about 5 or 6, I watched my dad make little chairs out of apple crates. He got the crates from the Safeway Grocery store in Pine Bluff where Bro. Elton Jones was the produce man.  I spent the whole day helping dad make those little chairs. My job was to be the first to sit in the chair as soon as it was ready (guess I was the chair tester) then he would paint each one a bright color. He used red, green, yellow and blue. I would test the chairs again as soon as the paint dried. That was one of those special father daughter projects and we had a good time making those little chairs.
As the story goes, we eventually left Pine Bluff, and dad pastored other churches, and the chairs we made together became a memory to cherish. They stayed at the “Dew Drop United Pentecostal Church“, which later moved and became “Peace Tabernacle” which is now “Whitehall United Pentecostal Church“.

In 1981 Gary became pastor of DeWitt United Pentecostal Church, and changed the name to “Apostolic Church”
The first Sunday at DeWitt I took a little tour of where we would be for many years to come. As I opened the door to one of the Sunday School classrooms I was very excited to see several little bright painted chairs sitting around a small table, and yes they were made out of apple crates! I asked the person with me “where did these chairs come from?”  well, when the Dew Drop church moved....Bro Tolbert, who was the pastor at the time, donated those little chairs to the DeWitt church. I felt like I was home.  Hallelujah!

The Man with the ax

The Man with the ax

My grandfather, John W. Rucks was a man that trusted God and lived by faith everyday. He preached and pastored in Arkansas for many years. This story is about the trip he took to Winslow Arkansas approx. 70 years ago.

Grandpa Rucks was taking his family to the next place he would be preaching a revival meeting. He really wasn’t sure where they were going, but he told his family, there would be a man coming out of the woods with an ax on his shoulder.

When they arrived in Winslow, they pulled over on the side of the road, and there he was , the man coming out of the woods, and just like Grandpa said, he had an ax on his shoulder.

He approached the man and told him his name, and that he was there to preach a revival. The man was excited and told my grandfather that they were looking for someone to preach and they were ready for revival.. They had a “Brush Arbor” meeting, and several were filled with the Holy Ghost.

I never really thought much about this story, It was told…I believed it…that was that.

Then something else happened that made the story more real to me.

Gary, Mom and myself went to the general conference in Salt Lake City, around 2001 (might have been 2000) Gary went to the business meeting for the preachers and when he came back to the motel he told me about a man he met. Gary said when he sat down at the meeting he introduced himself to the preacher sitting beside him, and told him where he was from. They shook hands and the preacher told Gary that his name was Bro. Hampton and he was from Winslow, Arkansas. Gary began to tell him the story about my grandfather. Then Bro Hampton said to him “ That was my uncle that had the ax on his shoulder” he went on to say that several members of his family received the Holy Ghost during that revival and several in his family were called to preach as a result of that meeting, and he had also heard the same story told through the years. Well Hallelujah !!!!!

My sister (Joy) made this comment:

My Daughter-in-law is the Grand daughter of the Hampton’s. Sis. Leona Hampton is Nicole's Grandmother, she attends our church. I believe it might have been Sis. Lenora's husband's dad who had the axe on his shoulder. I have never talked to Sis. Hampton about that story, but will do so when I return from B.O.T.T.(Because Of The Times) Joy

My Mother made this comment:

My half sister was an eye witness to this story of my family. I was a baby, my sister (Ruth) is gone but the story lives on, what a blessing. God is great.