1987
I can still picture clearly one morning, leaning against the front of my little Ford Escort Station Wagon under a big mango tree outside my office at the Whole Life Ministries facility in Kingston, listening to Larry Bridge excitedly sharing with me a verse from 2 Samuel that he had “discovered” in his Bible Reading that morning: Is not my house right with God? Has he not made with me an everlasting covenant, arranged and secured in every part? Will he not bring to fruition my salvation and grant me my every desire? (2 Samuel 23:5)
It’s from a chapter that gives us the “Last Words of King David” and it’s a poem/song of gratitude and praise to God. Larry had read it earlier that morning and this verse was dancing in his brain and heart.
Larry was one of four of us who taught regularly at the Bible Training Centre. Larry’s teaching consisted mostly of Larry excitedly telling the students about his latest revelation of God’s goodness and grace. While these lessons probably didn’t go far in terms of a systematic study of the Christian religion, they were encouraging, inspiring, and faith building for the students and for the rest of the team. Larry had a signature saying that he mostly began and ended every conversation with… the phrase “Grace to You!” He was definitely a Grace Guy!
Larry and his wife Debi and kids left Jamaica when the rest of the Calvary Ministries team moved back to the US (see last week’s story, “Don’t Let The School Close!”). But we stayed in touch as well as we could. This was before emails and text messages, but we stayed in touch. Then three years later, in 1991 when we were traveling in the US to reconnect with supporters and inform everyone of our plans to move to the UK to begin East London Bible Training Centre we stopped and spent a day or two with Larry and Debi at their home in Boulder, CO.
When they returned to their home and church in Colorado, Larry had joined the church staff as Missions Director. He graciously gave us an opportunity in an evening service at the church (my first experience speaking in a “mega-church”!) to present our mission to the congregation. The church gave us a generous offering which helped with our expenses as we continued on to churches in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho.
I never saw Larry Bridge again after we drove out of their driveway that morning, but we kept in touch. Email came along and we corresponded fairly often. He died unexpectedly of a heart attack a few years later while boating on the lake near his home in Boulder. Friends sent me an audio cassette recording of his funeral service. He was loved very much! I’d really like to hear him once again say, “Grace to you, Jim!”
But actually, Larry still speaks to me from beyond the grave. The verse Larry shared with me under the mango tree that morning really struck me and stuck with me! I felt as if the Holy Spirit had inspired the words of David not only as he spoke them, and not only as they were recorded in the annals of David’s life, but personally to me that warm sunny morning in Kingston Jamaica. I wrote the verse on a slip of paper and kept it in my Bible. Every morning as I did my Through The Bible In A Year reading, I read that verse and thought about its application to my present life.
This began a new thing for me! Over the next few months when we faced challenges and obstacles and victories as we developed the Whole Life Ministries Bible Training Centre, the Children’s Ministries Resource Centre, and the National Prayer Letter we called Prayer Towers, I would “capture” verses that the Holy Spirit inspired to me from my daily reading and prayer and keep them in a list that I named “Verses for Daily Reading”. (Pretty catchy name, don’t you think?).
That list grew through the months and years in Jamaica, during the transition season between Jamaica and the UK, and during our years with the Bible Training Centres in London. It continued to grow as we began taking the course to Ghana and Uganda and beyond, through the transition season back to the US, and during the time we’ve been living and serving back here in the US.
Some of the verses were very specific to a situation we were facing. Some were specific to a season of life and ministry or to a transition we were facing. Some have served their purpose and life has moved on, but I’ve kept them around because they were precious gifts from God, given just when I needed them.
My “Verses for Daily Reading” list has grown to a list of thirty-one verses or short passages of Scripture, and each one has a story of how the Holy Spirit gave application of that ancient text to my present-day life. But it all started that morning thirty-eight years ago under the mango tree with Larry Bridge!
Some of the Verses for Daily Reading will show up in stories about the next four decades of our adventures and I’ll mention them when I tell you those stories. Thanks for reading my memories!
As always, I’d love to hear from you. If you have a question or a comment simply reply to this email or if you’re reading on the blog, comment below.
Grace to you today, Jim Stephens