Maury Scobee- A Divine Apoointment with Destiny

Hey, this is Jim Graham from the Masculine Journey Podcast, where we explore relationship instead of religion every week. Your chosen Truth Network Podcast is starting in just a few seconds. Enjoy it, share it, but most of all, thank you for listening and for choosing the Truth Podcast Network. This is the Truth Network. Welcome back, Nikita Kolov, the devil's worst nightmare, Jethro Tod. It is time to man up.

Do you believe in divine appointments? Coming up, I talk with Maury Scobie, who shares with us how God divinely crossed his path with Franklin Graham back in their college days, which ultimately led to Maury becoming a personal aide, personal assistant to the Reverend Billy Graham and his wife, Ruth, for 40 plus years. This is the United States champion. Ladies and gentlemen, the following contest is set for one flaw.

Introducing first, from Lithuania, he weighs 123 kilos, the Russian nightmare, Nikita Kolov. Now, the devil's nightmare. Welcome back to another episode of It's Time to Man Up. Well, good day, good day, good day.

Welcome to It's Time to Man Up with Nikita Kolov, once the Russian nightmare, now the devil's worst nightmare. And I am excited today. I mean, I'm beside myself.

That would make me twice the size that I normally am. I am beside myself. I have such a special guest that we're going to talk with today and just have a conversation. I was fortunate to meet this man quite a number of years ago.

I got the opportunity to have a private tour, if you will, of the Cove. And some of you are familiar with that, part of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association up in the mountains. And I was introduced to a man by the name of Maury Scobie. Man, we just hit it off.

We just connected and have stayed in touch over the years. And some of you may or may not recognize that name, but I'm going to tell you what, when you hear some of the stories he's going to share with you today, you are just going to be blown away if you're like me. So let me just take this opportunity to welcome Maury Scobie to the show. Maury, welcome. Hey, Nikita.

Thank you so much. Well, it is great to have you with us. Maury, I'm sure you have a lifetime of stories. I mean, we could probably have 10 shows just with you talking about your stories and what you've done over the last period of years and really over the course of your lifetime. We're going to get to that.

We're going to talk about the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. We'll talk a little bit about the Cove, about Montreat. But before we do that, let's back up a little bit for the listeners. And by the way, the show's called It's Time to Man Up, and I just say it's real talk with real men that realize in our world today it is time to man up. And I certainly consider you to be one of those real men, Maury. Oh, thank you. Well, let's do this. Let's talk about, let's back up for a moment before we jump into what your role was with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

Let's let our listeners know. Have you always been from North Carolina? I don't think so, right? I think maybe your roots began down in the great state of Texas. Is that right?

Yeah, that's right. My mom and dad moved around after they got married, but they got married in Illinois, but then Mr. Letourneau was opening a big plant in East Texas, and my mom and dad were one of the first few couples that moved down to get that earth moving equipment business on the feet. And so then Little Maury came along in February of 1948. Little Maury came along in 1948, and that was in East Texas. What town was that in, Maury? Longview.

Longview, Texas. At some point back in the 1800s, somebody came over a knoll, and they said, my, what a long view. And that's how it got its name. Well, that's pretty amazing. I find it fascinating, whether it's the name of a town or other historical markers, there's always a story behind it, right?

What a long view. That's amazing. Hey, you mentioned, it's interesting, a little side note, you mentioned the earth moving machines, and I haven't done a whole lot of study, but I've heard that name before that you mentioned. What was the name of the owner of that company? Yeah, his name was Archie Letourneau, and really, he was born and reared in California, and then he moved from there to Peoria, Illinois, and then he was manufacturing earth moving equipment, and the tires of which were almost eight feet tall. And interesting, one summer between high school and going to college, I operated one of those machines, and the hardest thing about getting to work every day, I had to climb up the tread of the tire to get inside the cab, and then after that, you just push toggle switches to drive the thing. And that was really, I have to say, one of my most fun summer jobs over the years. So would that have been during your high school days that you were doing that in the summer? Yeah, I graduated high school in 66, and then that summer, I worked on part of I-20 that goes through, it goes from, I guess from Atlanta to El Paso. It's quite a long interstate, 20, and so it was really, who knew, but it ended up being one of my favorite summer jobs while I was in college.

Well, that's amazing. I think it goes all the way east. I think even over to Savannah, over towards the coast, I think I've driven on it. Yeah, it goes all the way to L.A. It joins up with, from El Paso, it joins up with I-10, and then the, so I-20 changes, it only goes from Atlanta to El Paso, and then it changed to I-10.

Yeah, I think I've driven a majority of that stretch, and don't know that I care to ever do it again, but certainly have done it in the past. Hey, little side note too on R.G. Letourneau, I think, if I'm not mistaken, and you may know better than me, it seems like if I remember my history right, him as well as a number of guys that were successful in that era of time, if I'm not mistaken, at least towards the latter part of his life, I seem to remember reading that he essentially gave 90% of all of his wealth away and lived off of like 10%. Are you familiar with that? That's right, that was his personal income, and so he donated 90% of his personal, you know, income to ministries, and he helped all kinds of ministries all over the United States and world.

Now that, that, go ahead, I'm sorry. No, he was, he was sort of gotten to be well known for giving so much back to the Lord's work. Well, which is interesting, right, for our listeners out there, just, let's just pause there for a moment and just think about what Maury just said. He gave 90% of his personal income away to charity, to ministries and organizations, etc., lived off 10%. Now, if you do your math on that, for those of you who tithe, which you know, the tithe is 10%, in essence, this man is tithing 90% and living off 10%. I know, that was quite a story, and I wouldn't say that he did it in a braggadocious way, but as people got to know him in interviews and whatever, it would slip out that that was how generous he was to thank you, thank the Lord for leading him to his salvation, and then to maintain that type of giving for Christian ministries all over the world. Well, which is a statement in and of itself, Maury, for all of us to understand that, you know, even the fact that God says, hey, give me 10%, you keep 90%, you know, is generous in and of itself. But once we garner that understanding of we can't out-give God, that man, when you have that heart of giving, man, God knows that and will open, as the Scripture says, the windows of heaven and pour out blessings that you can't contain, and certainly this man's testimony is evidence of that, right? Oh, definitely.

Well, so you graduate high school, you're working on earth-moving machines and gaining some experience there, but how long did you do that, Maury? Hi, Nikita Kolov here, and I am excited to announce the first annual Morty Star Men's Conference, August 25th to the 27th, our theme, Man Up. It's time. We have a phenomenal lineup of speakers, including NBA All-Star Al Wood, WWE Superstar Lex Luger, David and Jason Benham, the Benham brothers, Lieutenant General Jerry Boykin, world-renowned evangelist Frank Shelton, Chris Reed, Dr. Rick Joyner, of course, yours truly. Get registered early. You do not want to miss this event.

Go to mstarevents.com. If you would like to support Kolov for Christ Ministries, for a gift of $25, Nikita will send you his two CDs, Adoration and Declaration. For a gift of $50, Nikita will include his book, Wrestling with Success. And for a gift of $100 or more, Nikita will include a signed copy of his newly updated life story, A Tale of the Ring and Redemption.

Go to www.kolov.net and donate today. Well, of course, with the way it started, I was graduating high school and I knew I was going to start college and I wanted to work. And so they happened to be opening Interstate 20 through East Texas. And Mr. Letourneau saw me after prayer meeting one Wednesday and said, how old are you? And he said, wow, you may be a little bit too young, but you're sure big enough to operate this equipment. So the hardest part of my job was climbing up the side of a 10-foot rubber tire to get up into the cab.

And then it was all easy just operating a rheostat for speed and then little toggle switches to raise and lower the bed as it would dig into the dirt to take on 240 tons of dirt. Well, that's amazing. Now, you mentioned he saw you at a prayer meeting, so let's share with our listeners, too, that your story of, you know, did you grow up in a Christian home?

What was that like, Morrie? Yes, I did. And several generations back, my grandpa Scobie, for instance, when daddy was in Battle of the Bulls, he heard Mr. Letourneau speak at a church Sunday evening prayer service. And he wrote my dad a letter and said, I think I've just heard one of the greatest speakers I've ever heard. And not only was he a fascinating speaker, but also he proposes giving way outside of your means as far as giving back to the Lord. So that was a testimony that Mr. Letourneau, you know, always brought into his speeches that you can't really outgive God.

Wow, that's amazing. So how old would you have been, Morrie, when that relationship with Jesus became real for you? Like, okay, you grew up in a Christian home, you heard a lot of the stories, went to church and prayer meetings, but how old were you when it just became real? Like, okay, Jesus is my Lord and Savior.

I'm declaring that. Yeah, I mean, growing up in a Christian family, it almost was a given in a way, but at the same time, you have to feel your need of saying that while my family believes, I'm sitting here and I also believe, and then I just prayed the sinner's prayer and accepted the Lord into my life. How old would you have been when you did that?

I think six, five, six, seven, along in there. A young age that you recognized the need for a personal relationship with Jesus. Yes, and it's been so long ago, but still, I've prayed my life through and followed as the Lord is leading me, and I think that that is sometimes, without a doubt, the best thing to do, but it's not always the easiest thing, because when you're entering into a dark room and opening a new chapter in your life, this, that, and the other, you don't know what leads, and you just pray and trust the Lord for the future. Trust the Lord for the future as you move down the great walk of life. Wow, that's a great perspective, and certainly for our listeners out there, understand, you know, just understand that what we are talking about today is a personal relationship, opening up your heart, accepting, receiving Jesus into your life, and establishing a relationship with Him. Outside of, you know, it's not about growing up in a Christian home or attending a Christian school, although those things can certainly be a blessing, but at some point in time, as Maury just mentioned, you know, there comes that time of decision when you have to acknowledge, okay, I need, I'm a sinner, and I need Jesus in my life.

Absolutely. So Maury, so you're working this heavy equipment, and then at some point, was college in the future for you then at some point? Oh yeah, just at the end of that summer then, I just had that one summer with the equipment, which in looking back, that was one of my most favorite summer jobs, and then once I did start college, I realized that my mom and dad, I was oldest of four boys, so I couldn't really rely on them to give me spending money. So I had my first semester of college in 66, but then right after the first of the year, early January 67, I realized that I really was going to need a job, and I went to the job placement office at the college, and the only thing they had was a bellboy at a hotel called the Roadway Inn. Nikita Kolov here.

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And I thought, too, too funny. I don't think I'm going to be doing that, but I did go out and fill in an application, and I looked around for another two, three days, and I just could not find another job, so I went back to that Roadway Inn, and I was their bellboy, and believe it or not, I had about four or five job moves that came from that because people would have seen my work. And encountered my personality and my drive for life and certainly being a believer, and so then God started moving me around after that summer. Well, that's amazing because, yeah, because I guess you think about it, you know, working at a hotel, you are going to come into contact with a lot of different people and especially, you know, businessmen and women and just a lot of people, a lot of possibilities or opportunities like you're talking about. That's pretty amazing.

I never really thought about it that way, but that's great. I've encouraged a lot of people, and I'll do that for your listeners, too, that it's a great job for a college kid because you're trying to go to school during the daylight hours, as it were, and then when it gets to be the afternoon, that's when somebody at a hotel, that's when they need people to come work, either the front desk or like I did, the bellman. And so it makes a wonderful way to make some money and still stay in school.

Well, that's amazing. And getting college was what college did you go to? I went to Laternal College, and it was welding and engineering and business, but then they also had some other college careers like education, and so it was a well-rounded liberal arts college. And I thoroughly enjoyed my time in school, but I did end up working full-time, so it took me five years, well, closer to six years to graduate, and a lot of people had a hard time trying to figure that out. But I'm glad that I wasn't stressed to work full-time plus go to college full-time, so a lot of the semesters, I only took two courses, but then I was able to continue to work full-time. So it's not for everybody, but I've encouraged a lot of people along the way, and I know some people that have done it for a semester or two, because it made it a little bit easier financially to have that spending money, and so I don't regret looking back on what I did. Yeah, well, it sounds like you had your head on your shoulders and had your sights on what you were wanting to do, and of course determined to succeed, and you did.

And so there's a congratulations in there, that's for sure. So you graduate college, and then what did life look like upon graduation from college? Well, interestingly enough, since I was a kid, I've been interested in motion picture business. I love the actual process of movie making. So when I graduated from college, plus with all that experience in hotels, I told my mom and dad in the spring of 1977, just after the first of the year, that I'm going to go and seek my fame and fortune in the motion picture industry.

I can go out there and get a job anywhere in a hotel, and then I can sort of knock on doors to see if that is the way that I'll be able to get into film industry, which is what had been my heart's desire. But I should back up a little bit, because along the line there, I heard about Billy Graham's son Franklin coming to college. And of course, all the way back to when daddy was in World War II, and our family, they had been followers of Billy Graham in person, as well as on the radio and through his television ministry.

So my grandfather, Scobie, Grandpa Scobie, daddy was in World War II at Battle of the Bulge during the World War II. And my grandfather wrote him a letter and said, I honestly think I have just heard the best speaker I've ever heard in my life. And I think that this young man has got a wonderful ministry ahead. I think the Lord is going to use him in a mighty way. And I know it doesn't exactly connect, but here's my grandfather telling my dad during the war, fighting the war, about Billy Graham, and then God foresaw that I would end up working for him. So it doesn't exactly connect, but isn't that interesting? Well, God has a way of connecting dots, and we're going to certainly talk about that, and we're going to circle back around to that, your time with Reverend Billy Graham. But that's an amazing part of the story.

So your grandfather is at the Battle of the Bulge in the midst of war. Here's Billy Graham speak and says, I think I've just heard the best preacher, the best speaker I've ever heard on the planet. This podcast is made possible by the grace of God and your faithful prayers, support, and generous gifts. May God bless you for your continual contributions.

Go to Kolob.net and donate today. That's right. And he just detected a real humbleness in Mr. Graham's delivery and then afterwards, you know, standing around and meeting people and just such a genuine person and no heirs, as it were. And so it's just, it's a marvelous, it adds to my interesting history in my life, you know, that Grandpa Scobie foresaw the future in a way who knows when he recognized Mr. Graham being such a tremendous speaker and wanted to write daddy during the World War II Battle of the Bulge. Isn't that interesting? It's sort of fun to look at details how they fall in place. It's fascinating.

It's almost like you said, it's almost like a prophetic picture. Little did Maury know, yeah, little did Maury know, one day down the road in the future, there'd be a connection. Because you mentioned the name Franklin Graham. Of course, our listeners are probably pretty familiar with that name, present day Samaritan's Purse and all the work he's doing.

So at what point, connect the dots for our listeners. So did you meet Franklin at some point? Well, I saw him on campus a lot. It was a smaller campus and we had chapel every day, so I saw him coming and going. And I couldn't imagine what it would be like to be a child of such an international superstar well known around the world.

And so I also sensed that he knew what it was like to be the child of a celebrity and that he had to have some caution in just who to let in to be a friend and that sort of thing. So I really just started trusting the Lord that if it was God's will, we would meet and that I wasn't going to do anything to make it happen. And I think for whatever our prayers are about certain things and aspects in our life, that's going to be the toughest. When we really decide that we want to take it to another level and that we're going to pray that if it's God's will, it's going to work out.

And then let the Lord align your path, so to speak, to make whatever your life is supposed to be His will for you. And so at some point, I think I probably realized it wasn't going to happen and that was okay. And I saw him, we crossed paths a lot, but he always looked down and he was just so bashful that first year he was there. And so it got all the way to the last day of school and I had a 6 p.m. engineering class and I was driving off campus and I realized it was a Friday, the end of the school year, and I should probably get my campus mail.

So I wheeled into the post office and ran up the stairs and I was down fiddling with my little combination lock on my little post office box when somebody came in the door and stopped and looked over and said, Hey, aren't you Maurice Kobe? And I looked and it was Franklin Graham. So, you know, it's a wonderful illustration of praying and waiting. And then if it is, in fact, God's will, it's going to work out according to His will. And so Franklin had been hearing about me on campus and was hoping to meet and in the last 15 minutes, his last 15 minutes on campus and my last 15 minutes on campus and the campus was mostly 90% gone. So here again, when you're making a matter of prayer according to God's perfect will for your life, then things will seriously happen. That's amazing.

I mean, that's what we would call a divine appointment. And we're going to talk more about that, Maury. We're going to circle back around here in just a moment. I know you folks want to hear much more. Maury has so many more stories. So we're going to continue this conversation with Maury and you're going to hear more. We'll kind of just kind of end there on that story with Franklin and circle back around.

So stay tuned for more with Maury Scobee. All feet agree, Clemens carpet is where you need to be with carpet, vinyl, tile, and hardwood from the top brands. Clemens carpet does it right from beginning to install voted number one by you in the reader's choice awards. Doug, Chad, Benny, Peewee, and the team at Clemens carpet look forward to seeing and serving you soon. This is Nikita Koloff and I want to thank Clemens carpet for supporting my new show, man up Saturday afternoon at 1230 on the truth network.