Here Comes Sim

By Sim Fryson

"Here Comes Sim!" That sign adorned the front of an old, beat-up pickup truck belonging to Sim Fryson, Sr., a black man born in the Deep South of Reform, Alabama, in 1896. "There Goes Sim!" read the sign on the back of the truck that Sim used to haul manure, dirt, and coal to help support his large family. Sim Fryson Jr., or "Simmy," as his mother called him, was often teased as a child about that battered old truck. But he knew that his father, despite the persecution and prejudice he faced every day, was a man of extreme integrity. Sim Sr. treated everyone with respect and dignity and expected the same in return. That positive influence created in young Sim a burning desire to grow up to be a man his father would be proud of. This book is the story of the younger Sim's life and how he rose from humble beginnings to be a successful college-educated businessman, athlete, musician, family man, and community leader. He was the first black American to own multiple car dealership franchises of Mercedes-Benz, Honda, Nissan and Mazda. As a tribute to his father, "Here Comes Sim" adorned the front of every car he sold. Among many other honors, he has been listed in Black Enterprise Magazine as one of the top 100 Black Businesses in the country. Co-writing with author Susan Phelps Harvey, Sim tells his story with candor. Sometimes funny, sometimes awkward, but always honest and true, Sim "tells it like it is," revealing his teenage escapades, his encounters with famous athletes, and his constant drive to succeed to honor his father's name. As Sim gained success, he realized that he hadn't done it all on his own. God had blessed him. He began to study his Bible as intently and carefully as he had done everything else in his life. Along the way, he developed a new and deeper relationship with God, and discovered Bible truths that challenged him to make profound changes in the way he ran his business. His struggles with his conscience and the miraculous way God blessed his decisions to do the right thing are at the heart of this story. Sim Fryson continues to strive to live his life in a way that honors the memory of his earthly father, and, every day, he gives all the glory and praise to his heavenly Father.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: May 10, 2017
• ISBN: 9781635259599

Book preview

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Here Comes

Sim!

by

As told to

Susan Phelps Harvey

ISBN 978-1-63525-958-2 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-63575-654-8 (Hard Cover)

ISBN 978-1-63525-959-9 (Digital)

Copyright © 2017 by Sim Fryson

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

296 Chestnut Street

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

[e-mail]

Printed in the United States of America

In Loving Memory of My Parents

Mr. Sim Fryson

and

Mrs. Dorothy Hawkins Fryson

Here Comes Sim is an amazing story about my dear friend Sim Fryson and his Christian journey. He is an extraordinary talented businessman who puts God first in everything. This book is a must read for every person alike, very young, young and not so very young. There Goes Sim

Dusty Baker, Manager

Washington Nationals Baseball

Here Comes Sim Sim is a wonderful man who works with young people and a number of our student athletes. He teaches them Christian values and ethical behavior. He is a wonderful friend and tremendous community leader. There Goes Sim

Bobby Pruett, Former Head Coach

Marshall University Football

Here Comes Sim I am extremely delighted to recommend reading this book of the amazing Christian journey of Sim Fryson. It was an distinct honor for me to be the Key Note speaker when he was chosen as the 2002 Boyd/Greenup County, NAACP Man of the Year. He is an exceptional entrepreneur, one of my strongest supporters and truly my dear friend. There Goes Sim

Orlando Tubby Smith, Head Coach

University of Memphis Basketball

Sim Fryson Sr.

IF YOUR DREAMS DON’T SCARE YOU, THEY AREN’T BIG ENOUGH.

—Muhammad Ali

DREAM BIG FOR TODAY IN CASE THERE IS A TOMORROW

—Sim E. Fryson

Chapter 1

Sim Fryson flicked a switch to adjust the driver’s seat on his car as he drove, moving it back a little to accommodate his long legs. It was a hot day in mid-July. Sim was headed south on US Route 23 toward the tiny town of Inez, Kentucky. He was driving a black-on-black S-550 Mercedes-Benz, fresh off the showroom floor at Sim Fryson Motor Company in Ashland, Kentucky.

Sim glanced at the GPS display on his dash. Inez was a tiny dot on the map. He guessed that not many people went there. He’d heard that the town had less than five hundred inhabitants, but it was the nearest town to the Big Sandy Federal Penitentiary, a maximum-security facility housing 1400 violent criminals, many of whom were serving fifteen years to life. The prison was Sim’s destination.

As he drove on through the green Kentucky countryside, Sim thought about how he had come to this point in his life. Everybody’s life was a story of ups and downs, twists and turns, and his was no different. This car—and the fact that he was driving it—was part of the story. The well-worn burgundy King James Version Bible on the seat beside him was part of it, too. And this trip to a federal prison was the latest chapter.

A few weeks before, Sim had met a man named Edgar Rodriguez. Edgar had attended services at the Shiloh Seventh-day Adventist Church in Huntington, West Virginia, and happened to sit in on a Bible study class, taught by Sim. Afterward, the two men struck up a conversation. Edgar, who was a security guard at Big Sandy, had been impressed by Sim’s grasp of Bible truths.

If I can work it out with Warden Rios, he asked Sim, would you come down to the prison and teach a Bible class for the inmates sometime? Sim agreed, and Edgar, true to his word, had made the necessary arrangements.

Sim passed through Inez and headed out of town on a country road. Big Sandy Prison was in an isolated, rural location. The big car wound up a road with dark woods on both sides, and emerged at the top of a high, windswept hill.

As Sim parked and approached the prison, his first impression was that even in July it looked cold and bleak. The grounds were immaculately kept—the huge gray concrete buildings were surrounded by flawless green lawns with a windowed watchtower at each of the main building’s four corners. The sun glittered on the razor wire that topped the high-perimeter fence.

Edgar Rodriguez, wearing the dark uniform of a corrections officer and looking quite different than he had when Sim had met him at church, was waiting for him at the front gate, and escorted him through the elaborate security checkpoints. Sim walked through several monitors and surrendered his car keys, wristwatch, pen, loose change, cell phone, and wallet. One after another, doors clanged shut behind him, and he then was inside the maximum-security facility.

Sim was escorted to a white-walled meeting room by the prison chaplain, a Catholic priest, who welcomed him cordially. About fifty inmates in stripe prison garb were assembled there. The room was plain and unadorned, but very clean. Its spotless condition reminded Sim of the military facilities he remembered when he was in the United States Naval Reserve and the United States Air Force. Edgar and several other guards stood at the back of the space, their arms folded, their eyes watchful.

Walking to the front of the room, Sim looked out over the small crowd. Hard living and bad choices showed clearly on many of the men’s faces. Others looked almost as young and innocent as the teenage boys who attended Sim’s church. He had no way of knowing which of these men were murderers, rapists, or drug kingpins. What if some lifer took offense at what he was about to say and tried to attack him? But Sim felt no fear. He knew that God would be with him.

Sim had asked Edgar Rodriguez to make sure that everyone who attended the class had a King James Bible, and Edgar had done so. Sim started out by holding up his Bible and talking about the truths it contained. Then he talked about Satan and how the devil can deceive people into believing things that aren’t true. Most of the inmates were listening attentively by now.

He asked the inmates to turn in their Bibles to the book of Revelation, chapter 12 and verses 7–9. There was a rustling sound as the men turned the pages. Sim glanced up. Some of the men had brought their own Bibles and were finding the text with no trouble. Others were much slower, obviously unfamiliar with the books of the Bible. Sim walked around the room, helping some of the men locate the passage.

Then Sim read the verses aloud, and he noticed that most of the men were following along attentively.

And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not; neither was their places found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Sim continued to describe how the war between Christ and Satan was still going on and how the devil was still the enemy—still deceiving people—making them believe many things that were not biblical at all. He mentioned the seventh-day Sabbath and how Satan has misled so many of earth’s inhabitants about which day is the true holy day.

He talked intently about the state of the dead and how Satan had deceived people into believing you go to heaven when you die. At that point, the room got exceedingly quiet. Sim had the attention of every man there, including the guards. It was as if the Holy Spirit had encompassed the room. Sim asked the men to open their Bibles and follow along as he read Genesis 2: 15, 16 and 17 out loud. And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and keep to it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it, for in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die.

Sim looked up at the men sitting on the benches before him. God told Adam that if he ate of that tree, he would die. Satan told Eve that she wouldn’t die. Here, let me read it in Genesis 3:4. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die. Satan, through the serpent, twisted the truth, and made it into a lie!

"Adam and Eve died. They didn’t live forever. We know they died because in Genesis 3:19 it says In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. They turned to dust, just like we all do when we die. The Bible says, in Genesis 5:5, that Adam lived to be 930 years old, and then he died.

Jesus called Satan a liar in the New Testament. Listen to this from the book of John. Sim turned the pages in his Bible to John 8:44. This is Jesus talking about Satan. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there was no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

"So, if God says you die, and Satan says you don’t die, the question you should ask yourself is this: Who do I believe, God or Satan? This is where the lie and myth about dying and not really being dead got its origin. That was in the beginning, in the Garden of Eden.

One of the prisoners raised his hand. What difference does it make whether you believe you go to heaven when you die or not?

That’s a good question, Sim replied. I once heard a pastor say it that doesn’t make any difference. I’m here to tell you that the Bible says it does. It is a lie told by Satan. If you believe that one, you will believe the rest of his lies.

Most people don’t understand and have not been taught that to have eternal life, you must have access to eat the fruit of the Tree of Life. Sim continued reading in Genesis 3 at verse 22. "And the Lord God said Behold, the man has become as one of us, to know good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever: Therefore the Lord sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. Sim looked up from his Bible. "Cherubims are angels. You can read about them in Ezekiel 1:1-14, and Ezekiel 10:9-16. After God drove Adam and Eve out of the garden, he sent these angels to block them from ever entering into the Garden of Eden and from eating fruit from the tree of life. Eating that fruit would have kept them alive forever.

"When Jesus comes back to take those who love him and keep his commandments to heaven, as He has promised, we will have access to eat the fruit from the tree of life, as Adam once had.

Then Sim turned in his King James Bible to Revelation 22, and read verse 14. Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. He picked up his Bible and read from the New Testament, the book of 1 Corinthians, chapter 15, verse 26.

"‘The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.’ The Bible calls death an enemy, because death came upon man through his disobedience to God. It will be destroyed at Jesus’ second coming, and there will be no more death. And Sim asked the prisoners to turn to Revelation 21:4, and asked them to read with him, And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death.

The Bible says death is an enemy—and you guys know, when you recognize who the enemy is, you never take his word for anything, Sim said. Well, the Bible says death is like a sleep, and then it lays out God’s plan for defeating the enemy, death. And believe me, the truth is much more comforting than the myth that you somehow go to heaven when you die."

It makes a difference because God says it does. As Christians, it is our responsibility to know truth. Sim asked the men to turn to the book of John 8:31-32 to see what Jesus tells us about knowing the truth. "Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, if ye continue in my word then are ye my disciples indeed. And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free Sim looked up from his bible and looked the inmates dead in their eyes and said. Knowing the truth and walking in it frees you from the deception of Satan. Our first parents knew truth. Chose not to walk in it and as a result they died, bringing death upon all mankind. Sim paused a moment and said, ‘if that doesn’t make a difference, then what on earth does?

The men were still listening respectfully, and soon Sim’s talk turned into a question-and-answer session, as inmate after inmate raised a hand to ask him questions. Sim sent a quick prayer heavenward for assistance, and with God’s help, he led them to find the answers in God’s word.

Sim noticed that one of the inmates was asking more questions than the others. He wasn’t exactly heckling—that wouldn’t have been allowed—but his manner was slightly aggressive, and it seemed that his intention was to raise a question that Sim couldn’t answer. The man asked a question about the secret rapture, but before Sim could respond, the inmate got up from his seat and walked toward the door.

Wait a minute, man! Sim said. Wait a minute! Where you going?

I’m going to the restroom, the man said over his shoulder, still heading for the door.

No, you ain’t! said Sim, raising his voice slightly and using some unaccustomed slang. No, you ain’t! You ain’t going nowhere until I answer this question that you asked me! Everybody in the room roared with laughter, even the guards. The inmate looked around at his fellow prisoners, all of whom were laughing at him, changed his mind, and sheepishly returned to his seat.

Sim went on as though nothing had happened. Christ’s coming is not a ‘rapture.’ It’s the Advent, Christ’s second coming. And there’s nothing secret about it. The Bible says every eye shall see Him, he continued. He asked the men to turn to Revelation 1:7, and once again the room was filled with the sound of rustling pages. "Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him; and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen, Sim read aloud. There’s nothing secret about that!" he said again. Some of the men were nodding in agreement.

Then Sim asked the men to turn to Matthew 24:27–31, and when everybody had found the text, Sim read it out loud. "For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even into the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together. Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

"And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

So, there’s definitely nothing secret about that, Sim concluded. Then he smiled and pointed to the man who had asked the question. Okay, man. You can go to the bathroom now, he said, and the room was filled with laughter once more.

After Sim’s time was up, many of the men crowded around him, still asking questions.

Before you came in here, one convict said, I heard a lot about you Seventh-day Adventist Christians, and what I heard was all negative. But based on what you showed us today, none of that stuff I heard was true. You took what you had to say right from the Bible and showed us, in the Bible, what was true.

Sim had been allotted one hour to speak, and that had turned into more than two hours. Afterward, Edgar Rodriguez spoke to Sim. The warden would like to meet you, he said. Edgar escorted Sim to the warden’s office. Hector Rios was a tall, mustached Hispanic man with dark hair graying slightly at the sides. He wore steel-framed glasses and had a serious but kind face. He came out from behind his desk to shake Sim’s hand and thank him for coming.

I’d like to compliment you, sir, on the immaculate condition of this facility, Sim said. As a former military man myself, I’m a stickler for cleanliness and neatness. It speaks to the manner in which you run this facility.

The warden thanked him. I’m glad you spoke to me about that, he responded. It takes a lot of work to maintain a high standard in a place like this. I appreciate it when someone notices. (Sim wasn’t the only one who noted the warden’s high standards. In 2008, he would be chosen to bring order to the federal penitentiary at Atwater, California, after two inmates murdered a corrections officer there.)

As Sim left the gray walls of Big Sandy Correctional Facility behind him and stepped outside into the sunshine of a beautiful summer afternoon, he was grateful for his freedom and for the opportunity he’d been given to witness for his faith.

As he walked to his car, deep in his own thoughts, Sim shook his head. It saddened him that, out of the hundreds, or maybe even thousands of inmates in that prison, only fifty or so had been interested enough to attend a Bible study. But maybe the Lord used me to plant a desire to know more in someone’s heart, he thought. Seeds take time to grow. Sim knew that from personal experience. His own story was a perfect example of how long those seeds could take.

Chapter 2

Sim Fryson’s story really started before he was born, when his father, also called Sim Fryson, left Reform, Alabama and moved to Charleston, West Virginia. The elder Fryson was a proud, independent-thinking Black man with a strong entrepreneurial spirit who tended to go his own way rather than follow the crowd.