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SHOULDER TO SHOULDER #162 ---- 2/12/01

#1 · February 11, 2001, 11:27 pm

Quote from Forum Archives on February 11, 2001, 11:27 pm
Posted by: lifeunlimited <lifeunlimited@...>

Standing Shoulder To Shoulder With You In The Trenches
As We fight The Good Fight In This New Millennium

SHOULDER TO SHOULDER #162 ---- 2/12/01

Title: "Who Cares, Anyhow?"

My Dear Friend and Pilgrim Partner:

Today as I write, I am flooded with a love and gratitude that fills my
heart to overflowing. In spite of the projection equipment failing
miserably last night as we tried to share our report on our recent trip
to Ukraine, and in spite of extreme exasperation and deep disappointment
on my part, joy and gratitude still take center stage.

This past week has been one of going through several hours of video tape,
some 400 + digital photos, and several rolls of regular pictures,
reviewing and reliving our experiences with the wonderful people we met
in Kiev and surrounding communities. This week-end our team assembled
again for an overnight event at our home. It was awesome ---- even
though my candle went out long before theirs did on Friday night.

So . . . . my cup is full. Even though some things were a total fiasco,
nothing was such a total collapse that my cup sprang a leak. It is still
full.

WHO CARES?

I do!

Tonight as I write, I am struggling with the task of trying to understand
why I feel the way I do about some people, and what it is that I actually
feel.

When I think of our team of nine students who went with us to Kiev, I
find myself caring ---- deeply caring ---- for their welfare, their
burdens, their future. I stay awake late into the night sometimes
thinking about them. I care for them. I can't explain it . . . . I just
care.

Yesterday I received the following letter from one of our team members.

"Bob and Jo Ann .... First I want to thank you both so much for the
everything this weekend. It was all so great. The food, the fellowship,
etc....I really appreciate all
that you both do.

I also Want to thank you both for the encouragement and blessing you have
been to me. It seems like lately I have had such a problem with finding
the words to say to people. I can't even tell you how much you both have
meant to me over these last months.

"Thank you so much for your prayers and encouragement about my future and
stuff. Thank you for believing in me. Please continue to pray for me as
I seek the Lord . . . . I love you both and I appreciate your example to
me.

Love,
Rochelle"

I care about the administration and staff at St. James Bible College in
Kiev. They have such a burning vision. They have a burdensome task.
They have unbelievable financial needs. They have an opportunity to
change the course of a nation, but face so many obstacles. I stay awake
late into the night sometimes thinking about them. I find myself . . . .
. "Caring?" . . . . . yes, caring. Deeply caring.

While we were on the trip we had a young woman serve as our translator
for our first week there. All of us on the team fell in love with her.
When it was time for her to complete her time with us and go back to
school for a week of final exams, it was like losing a member of the
family.

Yesterday she wrote the following:

"Dear Bob and Jo Ann,
"How are you? I'm sorry I didn't have a chance to say good buy to you.
Did you get the letter I sent with my friend Vicka?
"I'm so happy, I passed my exams and I got an "A" on every one! I
couldn't believe it, I saw God's miracles every day and I wouldn't do it
without His help. Thank you so much for praying for me, I've learned that
many people in the college prayed for me, and I could tell it. All the
questions I got I knew the answers."
I care about the welfare and health of my father. I find myself wanting
to more fully take my turn at bearing the load he and mother spent so
many years bearing for me, and then for Jo Ann and the girls. It's more
than a son's caring for his dad. I stay awake late into the night
sometimes thinking about him . . . about his welfare . . . . his future.
I find myself "caring".

I care about people like you who read my letters each week. Some carry
enormous burdens. Some have lost hope. Some are facing major decisions.
Some are under great attack. Some are bored. Whichever the case, I
find myself "caring". Genuinely caring.

Recently I got these notes from a friend who had lost his wife.

"Bob and o Ann,
Thanks for being there and not being silent and caring and doing
something
about it. Barbara left a gaping home in our fussily system and other
places
but God is filling it slowly and surely. "

"Thanks, Bob and Jo Ann,
Your taking the time to enlarge on your mother's going and the ensuing

results are meaningful acts of kindness. Someone called yesterday and
said,
"I wish I could do something." My response was, "You did something.
You
picked up the phone and called me."
You wrote me and you cared and that means the world to me in a time of

painful adjustment which God will make glorious in time. Until then it is

vital that I take one step at a time, stay busy and not be alone very
much!
Bless you both and all!
Jack"

For several months I've been writing a missionary friend who is currently
searching for God's plan for his future. My heart has gone out to him,
because I know what it's like to be in a "never never land" apparently
between ministries. A few weeks ago he wrote the following.

"I appreciate very much your letter of encouragement. This month is the
beginning of a period of unemployment that I have never imagined or
experienced in the past. So far I sense God's peace. As I reflect on
how I should pray I continue to hear the word "peace." This peace is not
connected with a job, purpose, or position, only with my relationship to
the Father.

"I want to thank you for keeping me in your prayers. I value your
prayers, words of encouragement, and insight into life. I hope that we
will be able to visit in the near future. I will keep you updated
regarding my life!

By God's grace,
Bill"

I'm not sharing these letters to impress you with myself, but to impress
on you the blessing of caring, and of being the recipient of another
caring person. You see, if these people hadn't cared, they would not
have written.

So caring is more than a courtesy bequeathed to a fellow servant. It's
more than an obligatory burden of some sort that we have been mandated to
carry. It is more than some trivial religious exercise in which we are
supposed to engage as a sign of spiritual depth.

By my own caring, I am learning a little more about caring.

In doing so, three questions have come to mind.

1. What does it mean to really care?

2. Why do I care?

3. What are the evidences that I care?

You've heard statements like these before, I'm sure ---- "Who cares,
anyway?" Or, "Why should I care?" Cain may have been the first to ask
those questions, but he was certainly not the last.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO CARE?

Frankly I'm not sure why I'm raising a question I don't think I can fully
answer. However, to me, it means . . . .

1. I have a genuine interest in that person, in his circumstance, and in
his welfare. It's more than a passing interest, and it is certainly
loftier than a curious nosy inquisitiveness.

2. It means that person and his welfare is more important than my own at
the moment.

3. It means I am, at least for the time being, not consumed by my own
needs or agenda. My focus is finally away from myself and is being
placed on others and their welfare.

4. It means I am looking for an opportunity to help carry their burden
or share their joy.

5. It means I am hoping for a chance to minister to them and bless them.

6. It means I am beginning to see them and their circumstance through
the eyes of Jesus.

7. It means I love them with an unselfish love that expects nothing in
return.

WHY DO I CARE?

I wish I knew!

That's a question I've asked myself so many times in recent months. Why
do I care about the people groups of eastern and central Europe? Why do
I not care so much for other groups? Why do I care so much for pastors
and others in ministry? Why do I care for those who are without Christ?
Why do I care so much for my wife and our family?

It's one thing to be puzzled about what "caring" really is, but it is
quite another to wonder why we do in the first place.

I suppose it might include the following:

1. I care because Jesus does, and He lives in me. It's hard to not feel
the way Jesus does when He lives in you ---- unless, of course, you're
not sensitive to His presence and His purposes for you.

2. I care because many of the struggles these people face are familiar
to me; I've been there myself in some way. This "I know what you mean"
statement is true more often than not when regarding people for whom you
genuinely care.

3. I care because I'm commanded to by my Savior. Frankly, caring,
though not easy or automatic, is expected. We are commanded to care.
Preoccupation with ourselves is about the only thing that will keep us
from caring.

4. I care because the Holy Spirit makes me sensitive to the needs of
others. Because our basic human nature is self centered, it's easy to
pass people by with not so much as a nod or a smile, much less a genuine
expression of caring.

Since the Holy Spirit lives in me, I'll find myself caring . . . . if I
listen to Him.

5. I care because the circumstances people are in often center in areas
of personal interest to me. Certain situations trigger interest in us.

For example, when I stood in that orphanage in Kiev four weeks ago, I
knew I cared. Why? Because five of my own grandchildren came out of the
same environment in Russia.

When I know of a brother who is struggling in his ministry, I can
identify fully with that from my own experience. The memory of my own
struggle drives my own arms outward to embrace him and lift him up and
back on his feet.

6. I care because I know the spiritual, mental, emotional, and material
resources God has given me are to be used in ministering His love and
grace to others. I am fully aware of what the Psalmist meant in 67:7
when he said, "God blesses us that all the nations of the earth may fear
Him."

I know that "unto whomsoever much has been given, much is required." I
concur that my role as a stewart is to distribute freely of everything
God has entrusted to me.

To do less than that is to be guilty of spiritual embezzlement and
robbery.

7. I care because I'm a recipient of caring. Someone cared for me. God
did. So did many others. I'm the beneficiary of a caring heart. How
could I do anything less?

WHAT ARE THE EVIDENCES THAT I CARE?

I suppose the evidences are as myriad as the stars. However, I do
believe that, however caring is expressed, it is usually housed in the
following qualities:

1. True caring will be expressed through unconditional love. Caring is
not conditional, because love is the vehicle in which caring rides. No
demands are made, no expectations are assumed. No expectation is formed.
No remuneration is anticipated or accepted. It's all just love ----
unconditional love.

2. True caring will be expressed in unselfish acts of kindness and
service. True caring appears timeless in that it is not conscious of how
long it takes. It seems inexhaustible because it does not recognize the
massive expenditure of energy required to express itself.

If it requires money, you can never spend too much. If it requires time,
none is too long. If it requires something you can't do yourself, it
will find someone who can. If it requires sacrifice on your part, you
will gladly do it.

3. True caring will verbalize itself. If it keeps silent, it is not
true caring. Caring that is hesitant or restricted by self consciousness
or by inconvenience, is a caring not worth receiving, and not worth
giving. It is a synthetic caring that is void of life. Lifeless caring
is dead performance. True caring will say so.

4. True caring endures. It is not triggered through a circumstance or
event, lasting for a short period of time. True caring isn't in it for
the short thrill. True caring won't give out before the desired end is
reached.

5. True caring transcends distance. You don't have to be with the
person to care. That's a good thing for me to know, because most of the
people for whom I really care and about whom I am genuinely concerned
live a long way from me.

They are in Tuzla, Kiev, Rijeka, San Jose, Louisiana, Florida, Bolivar,
Sarajevo, Colorado Springs, St. Paul, Ft. Worth, LaGrange, and a whole
bunch of other places.

6. True caring willingly carries the burdens of others. Pity is one
thing, sympathy is another. True caring is entirely yet another. Pity
feels sorry for, sympathy feels sorry with. Caring enters the arena and
walks along side, lifting the load and easing the pain of another.

7. True caring is built on the great truth that Jesus cares, and,
therefore, so should we, and so can we. One of the first verses of
scripture I memorized as a three year old boy was, "Casting all your
cares on Him, for He cares for you."

FINALLY:

So, even if I'm still not sure what real caring is, or why I do, . . . .
I still do.

It's nothing to brag about, but it is something to express to those for
whom you genuinely care. It's not arrogance that makes you say you do,
it's humility. It's not because you want to boast of yourself, but that
you want to boast about the one for whom you care.

Even though I can't define it, describe it, or explain it, I can still do
it.

And I do.

I care for you, my friend.

How?

I don't have a clue!

I just do.

No matter what you face this week, please know that there's one guy,
sitting off in the Missouri Ozarks where sometimes sunshine is delivered
three days late, whom you may not even personally know, who still cares.

Wouldn't it be great if everybody did?

Wouldn't it be great if we could all care for our cities that way?

Wouldn't it be great if we could all care for our spouses and children
that way?

Wouldn't it be great if we could all care for the Gospel and the One Who
is its subject that way?

Who cares, anyhow?

God does! And I do!

Have a good week, my friend. And drop me a note sometime.

In His Bond,

Bob Tolliver ---- (Rom 1:11-12)
Copyright February, 2001. All rights reserved.

--------------

Our heart is to "Lift up hands that hang down". We'd love to hear from
you. Drop us a note with reports, observations, prayer requests, etc.

If this letter has blessed you and you know of someone else who needs to
be encouraged, feel free to forward it in its entirety to all such people
you know.

If you would like a list of past issues which you could receive upon
request, just let us know.

^
/ |
(_/____)
/ ^ ^
{ (O) (O) }
------oOOOo--------U-------oOOOo------

Hang in there! I'm with you!

--------ooooO----------------Ooooo--------
( ) /
| | /
(_) (_)

CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE:

Over the past several weeks a number of people have sent me a beautiful
rendition on the person of Jesus Christ. Cast against a scenic mountain
background, it uses colorful language to describe the Lord in
unbelievably inspiring words. I am so grateful to have it.

However, one thing bothers me greatly. Credit is not given to the
author. Maybe it's because it was overlooked, or because whoever
originated its distribution didn't know.

So, let me set the record straight as best I understand it. I have this
very description on an audio cassette tape containing a message by a
great black preacher named Dr. S. M. Lockridge. He preached a sermon on
"The Lordship Of Christ". The text of the poem I received is identical,
and I believe it to be original with Dr. Lockridge. I first received
this tape back in the late 1960's or early 1970's.

So ---- if you happen to run across this incredible descriptive, please
praise the Lord for this brother, and give him credit for his unique
ability of descriptive prose.

To subscribe to "Shoulder to Shoulder" send a blank message to
<[email protected]

To unsubscribe send a blank message to
<[email protected]>.

Posted by: lifeunlimited <lifeunlimited@...>

Standing Shoulder To Shoulder With You In The Trenches
As We fight The Good Fight In This New Millennium

SHOULDER TO SHOULDER #162 ---- 2/12/01

Title: "Who Cares, Anyhow?"

My Dear Friend and Pilgrim Partner:

Today as I write, I am flooded with a love and gratitude that fills my
heart to overflowing. In spite of the projection equipment failing
miserably last night as we tried to share our report on our recent trip
to Ukraine, and in spite of extreme exasperation and deep disappointment
on my part, joy and gratitude still take center stage.

This past week has been one of going through several hours of video tape,
some 400 + digital photos, and several rolls of regular pictures,
reviewing and reliving our experiences with the wonderful people we met
in Kiev and surrounding communities. This week-end our team assembled
again for an overnight event at our home. It was awesome ---- even
though my candle went out long before theirs did on Friday night.

So . . . . my cup is full. Even though some things were a total fiasco,
nothing was such a total collapse that my cup sprang a leak. It is still
full.

WHO CARES?

I do!

Tonight as I write, I am struggling with the task of trying to understand
why I feel the way I do about some people, and what it is that I actually
feel.

When I think of our team of nine students who went with us to Kiev, I
find myself caring ---- deeply caring ---- for their welfare, their
burdens, their future. I stay awake late into the night sometimes
thinking about them. I care for them. I can't explain it . . . . I just
care.

Yesterday I received the following letter from one of our team members.

"Bob and Jo Ann .... First I want to thank you both so much for the
everything this weekend. It was all so great. The food, the fellowship,
etc....I really appreciate all
that you both do.

I also Want to thank you both for the encouragement and blessing you have
been to me. It seems like lately I have had such a problem with finding
the words to say to people. I can't even tell you how much you both have
meant to me over these last months.

"Thank you so much for your prayers and encouragement about my future and
stuff. Thank you for believing in me. Please continue to pray for me as
I seek the Lord . . . . I love you both and I appreciate your example to
me.

Love,
Rochelle"

I care about the administration and staff at St. James Bible College in
Kiev. They have such a burning vision. They have a burdensome task.
They have unbelievable financial needs. They have an opportunity to
change the course of a nation, but face so many obstacles. I stay awake
late into the night sometimes thinking about them. I find myself . . . .
. "Caring?" . . . . . yes, caring. Deeply caring.

While we were on the trip we had a young woman serve as our translator
for our first week there. All of us on the team fell in love with her.
When it was time for her to complete her time with us and go back to
school for a week of final exams, it was like losing a member of the
family.

Yesterday she wrote the following:

"Dear Bob and Jo Ann,
"How are you? I'm sorry I didn't have a chance to say good buy to you.
Did you get the letter I sent with my friend Vicka?
"I'm so happy, I passed my exams and I got an "A" on every one! I
couldn't believe it, I saw God's miracles every day and I wouldn't do it
without His help. Thank you so much for praying for me, I've learned that
many people in the college prayed for me, and I could tell it. All the
questions I got I knew the answers."
I care about the welfare and health of my father. I find myself wanting
to more fully take my turn at bearing the load he and mother spent so
many years bearing for me, and then for Jo Ann and the girls. It's more
than a son's caring for his dad. I stay awake late into the night
sometimes thinking about him . . . about his welfare . . . . his future.
I find myself "caring".

I care about people like you who read my letters each week. Some carry
enormous burdens. Some have lost hope. Some are facing major decisions.
Some are under great attack. Some are bored. Whichever the case, I
find myself "caring". Genuinely caring.

Recently I got these notes from a friend who had lost his wife.

"Bob and o Ann,
Thanks for being there and not being silent and caring and doing
something
about it. Barbara left a gaping home in our fussily system and other
places
but God is filling it slowly and surely. "

"Thanks, Bob and Jo Ann,
Your taking the time to enlarge on your mother's going and the ensuing

results are meaningful acts of kindness. Someone called yesterday and
said,
"I wish I could do something." My response was, "You did something.
You
picked up the phone and called me."
You wrote me and you cared and that means the world to me in a time of

painful adjustment which God will make glorious in time. Until then it is

vital that I take one step at a time, stay busy and not be alone very
much!
Bless you both and all!
Jack"

For several months I've been writing a missionary friend who is currently
searching for God's plan for his future. My heart has gone out to him,
because I know what it's like to be in a "never never land" apparently
between ministries. A few weeks ago he wrote the following.

"I appreciate very much your letter of encouragement. This month is the
beginning of a period of unemployment that I have never imagined or
experienced in the past. So far I sense God's peace. As I reflect on
how I should pray I continue to hear the word "peace." This peace is not
connected with a job, purpose, or position, only with my relationship to
the Father.

"I want to thank you for keeping me in your prayers. I value your
prayers, words of encouragement, and insight into life. I hope that we
will be able to visit in the near future. I will keep you updated
regarding my life!

By God's grace,
Bill"

I'm not sharing these letters to impress you with myself, but to impress
on you the blessing of caring, and of being the recipient of another
caring person. You see, if these people hadn't cared, they would not
have written.

So caring is more than a courtesy bequeathed to a fellow servant. It's
more than an obligatory burden of some sort that we have been mandated to
carry. It is more than some trivial religious exercise in which we are
supposed to engage as a sign of spiritual depth.

By my own caring, I am learning a little more about caring.

In doing so, three questions have come to mind.

1. What does it mean to really care?

2. Why do I care?

3. What are the evidences that I care?

You've heard statements like these before, I'm sure ---- "Who cares,
anyway?" Or, "Why should I care?" Cain may have been the first to ask
those questions, but he was certainly not the last.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO CARE?

Frankly I'm not sure why I'm raising a question I don't think I can fully
answer. However, to me, it means . . . .

1. I have a genuine interest in that person, in his circumstance, and in
his welfare. It's more than a passing interest, and it is certainly
loftier than a curious nosy inquisitiveness.

2. It means that person and his welfare is more important than my own at
the moment.

3. It means I am, at least for the time being, not consumed by my own
needs or agenda. My focus is finally away from myself and is being
placed on others and their welfare.

4. It means I am looking for an opportunity to help carry their burden
or share their joy.

5. It means I am hoping for a chance to minister to them and bless them.

6. It means I am beginning to see them and their circumstance through
the eyes of Jesus.

7. It means I love them with an unselfish love that expects nothing in
return.

WHY DO I CARE?

I wish I knew!

That's a question I've asked myself so many times in recent months. Why
do I care about the people groups of eastern and central Europe? Why do
I not care so much for other groups? Why do I care so much for pastors
and others in ministry? Why do I care for those who are without Christ?
Why do I care so much for my wife and our family?

It's one thing to be puzzled about what "caring" really is, but it is
quite another to wonder why we do in the first place.

I suppose it might include the following:

1. I care because Jesus does, and He lives in me. It's hard to not feel
the way Jesus does when He lives in you ---- unless, of course, you're
not sensitive to His presence and His purposes for you.

2. I care because many of the struggles these people face are familiar
to me; I've been there myself in some way. This "I know what you mean"
statement is true more often than not when regarding people for whom you
genuinely care.

3. I care because I'm commanded to by my Savior. Frankly, caring,
though not easy or automatic, is expected. We are commanded to care.
Preoccupation with ourselves is about the only thing that will keep us
from caring.

4. I care because the Holy Spirit makes me sensitive to the needs of
others. Because our basic human nature is self centered, it's easy to
pass people by with not so much as a nod or a smile, much less a genuine
expression of caring.

Since the Holy Spirit lives in me, I'll find myself caring . . . . if I
listen to Him.

5. I care because the circumstances people are in often center in areas
of personal interest to me. Certain situations trigger interest in us.

For example, when I stood in that orphanage in Kiev four weeks ago, I
knew I cared. Why? Because five of my own grandchildren came out of the
same environment in Russia.

When I know of a brother who is struggling in his ministry, I can
identify fully with that from my own experience. The memory of my own
struggle drives my own arms outward to embrace him and lift him up and
back on his feet.

6. I care because I know the spiritual, mental, emotional, and material
resources God has given me are to be used in ministering His love and
grace to others. I am fully aware of what the Psalmist meant in 67:7
when he said, "God blesses us that all the nations of the earth may fear
Him."

I know that "unto whomsoever much has been given, much is required." I
concur that my role as a stewart is to distribute freely of everything
God has entrusted to me.

To do less than that is to be guilty of spiritual embezzlement and
robbery.

7. I care because I'm a recipient of caring. Someone cared for me. God
did. So did many others. I'm the beneficiary of a caring heart. How
could I do anything less?

WHAT ARE THE EVIDENCES THAT I CARE?

I suppose the evidences are as myriad as the stars. However, I do
believe that, however caring is expressed, it is usually housed in the
following qualities:

1. True caring will be expressed through unconditional love. Caring is
not conditional, because love is the vehicle in which caring rides. No
demands are made, no expectations are assumed. No expectation is formed.
No remuneration is anticipated or accepted. It's all just love ----
unconditional love.

2. True caring will be expressed in unselfish acts of kindness and
service. True caring appears timeless in that it is not conscious of how
long it takes. It seems inexhaustible because it does not recognize the
massive expenditure of energy required to express itself.

If it requires money, you can never spend too much. If it requires time,
none is too long. If it requires something you can't do yourself, it
will find someone who can. If it requires sacrifice on your part, you
will gladly do it.

3. True caring will verbalize itself. If it keeps silent, it is not
true caring. Caring that is hesitant or restricted by self consciousness
or by inconvenience, is a caring not worth receiving, and not worth
giving. It is a synthetic caring that is void of life. Lifeless caring
is dead performance. True caring will say so.

4. True caring endures. It is not triggered through a circumstance or
event, lasting for a short period of time. True caring isn't in it for
the short thrill. True caring won't give out before the desired end is
reached.

5. True caring transcends distance. You don't have to be with the
person to care. That's a good thing for me to know, because most of the
people for whom I really care and about whom I am genuinely concerned
live a long way from me.

They are in Tuzla, Kiev, Rijeka, San Jose, Louisiana, Florida, Bolivar,
Sarajevo, Colorado Springs, St. Paul, Ft. Worth, LaGrange, and a whole
bunch of other places.

6. True caring willingly carries the burdens of others. Pity is one
thing, sympathy is another. True caring is entirely yet another. Pity
feels sorry for, sympathy feels sorry with. Caring enters the arena and
walks along side, lifting the load and easing the pain of another.

7. True caring is built on the great truth that Jesus cares, and,
therefore, so should we, and so can we. One of the first verses of
scripture I memorized as a three year old boy was, "Casting all your
cares on Him, for He cares for you."

FINALLY:

So, even if I'm still not sure what real caring is, or why I do, . . . .
I still do.

It's nothing to brag about, but it is something to express to those for
whom you genuinely care. It's not arrogance that makes you say you do,
it's humility. It's not because you want to boast of yourself, but that
you want to boast about the one for whom you care.

Even though I can't define it, describe it, or explain it, I can still do
it.

And I do.

I care for you, my friend.

How?

I don't have a clue!

I just do.

No matter what you face this week, please know that there's one guy,
sitting off in the Missouri Ozarks where sometimes sunshine is delivered
three days late, whom you may not even personally know, who still cares.

Wouldn't it be great if everybody did?

Wouldn't it be great if we could all care for our cities that way?

Wouldn't it be great if we could all care for our spouses and children
that way?

Wouldn't it be great if we could all care for the Gospel and the One Who
is its subject that way?

Who cares, anyhow?

God does! And I do!

Have a good week, my friend. And drop me a note sometime.

In His Bond,

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Our heart is to "Lift up hands that hang down". We'd love to hear from
you. Drop us a note with reports, observations, prayer requests, etc.

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{ (O) (O) }
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Hang in there! I'm with you!

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CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE:

Over the past several weeks a number of people have sent me a beautiful
rendition on the person of Jesus Christ. Cast against a scenic mountain
background, it uses colorful language to describe the Lord in
unbelievably inspiring words. I am so grateful to have it.

However, one thing bothers me greatly. Credit is not given to the
author. Maybe it's because it was overlooked, or because whoever
originated its distribution didn't know.

So, let me set the record straight as best I understand it. I have this
very description on an audio cassette tape containing a message by a
great black preacher named Dr. S. M. Lockridge. He preached a sermon on
"The Lordship Of Christ". The text of the poem I received is identical,
and I believe it to be original with Dr. Lockridge. I first received
this tape back in the late 1960's or early 1970's.

So ---- if you happen to run across this incredible descriptive, please
praise the Lord for this brother, and give him credit for his unique
ability of descriptive prose.

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