Dear family and friends:
In January a
dear friend of ours went ahead of us into the presence of Jesus after a
battle with bone cancer. Mr. Herbert Lindley was a friend, a mentor, and
a father figure to me. From the age of four or five, it probably seemed
to my parents that I spent more time at his home than my own.
He had seven children, and I was always in the
middle of them... both figuratively and literally. I could never begin
to count the times we shared meals, trips, work and recreation together.
As hard as he worked to provide the things his large family needed, they
always made room to share with one more.
After my father died, 25
years ago this fall, Mr. Lindley began to take extra care to spend time
with me and include me in things. Then in 1987, while I was away in
college, he had a bad fall from a tree he was climbing on his farm in
Tipton, TN, causing serious back and shoulder injuries, fracturing his
skull. He never was quite the same after that day... and I mean that in
a good way.
He made a full recovery from his injuries, even
improving his physical health... but the real change was a spiritual
one. This close encounter with death made all the difference in the next
20 years. Though he was already a Christian, his resolution to recognize
the remainder of his life as a gift from God paid dividends–both to
himself and his family–that will last for generations to
come.
Never underestimate God's power to change a life sincerely
committed or recommitted to Him. Martin Luther surrendered his life to
God while caught in an electrical storm. John Newton, who wrote Amazing
Grace, received Christ in a storm on a slave-trading vessel and later
influenced abolitionist William Wilberforce, whose story is told in the
current film, “Amazing Grace.”
Cindy and I continue to host our discipleship
chat-room each week, and I continue to do follow-up on the online
Response Center. Responses I have received indicating rededications to
Christ include the following:
“I have been studying
Scripture more and more. Your references to the Bible are both
enlightening and inspiring. I certainly will [read the scriptures you
quote] and will be eagerly awaiting your response. Thank you from the
bottom of my heart for taking the time and trouble to counsel me,
someone you don't even know or have ever met.” –Dean, a musician in
Chicago
“I want to thank you so very much for taking the time to email me back and really read what I wrote. Also thank you very much for the scriptures that you pointed out...I grew up in a very bad, bad dysfunctional family, my father was murdered when I was two years old. I'm 28 years old, Chicano, with lots of tattoos, you know...I got what they call the homeboy look. I really wish that I didn't...Jesus has really worked wonders in my life, there's no doubt in my mind about Jesus, I am fully dedicated to the Lord.”