Not to be Wasted

As a young man, Paris Reidhead and his wife Marjorie served as missionaries in a remote area along the border of south Sudan and northwest Ethiopia. His dispensationalist background left him at a loss as to how to respond to the tangible evidence of the power of evil that confronted him while there. 

Upon returning from Africa, he embarked on a sincere quest to find the answer to the hunger in his heart to experience the fullness that God offers. A life-changing encounter with the power of the Holy Spirit in his own life and the witness of God’s miraculous hand in the lives of others led Paris Reidhead to contact  A.W. Tozer. 

With Tozer, he found a sense of direction and a personal mentor, as well as a denominational home with the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church. For a decade Paris Reidhead served as pastor to the Gospel Tabernacle Church in Manhattan, the original C&MA church founded by A. B. Simpson. During that time both he and Tozer served  on the national board of their denomination, which allowed them to spend time together in New York City.

On May 12, 1963, A. W. Tozer died.  Paris Reidhead was invited to offer the funeral sermon for “Dr. Tozer” (as he was always called in our family).  He preached an abbreviated form of “Not To Be Wasted” at both the funeral service in Toronto and the memorial service later held in Chicago.  

A.W. Tozer served as a model of one whose life was not wasted, but who strove to honor God and inspire Christians to serve to their fullest.  His pursuit of the Holiness of God inspired and transformed the ministry of Paris Reidhead.