Real People with Real Names

3 John 13-14 I have much to write you, but I do not want to do so with pen and ink. I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face. Peace to you. The friends here send their greetings. Greet the friends there by name.

I just love the closing words of so many Books of the Bible. They are so revealing. Often in the counseling practice I try to understand what were the last words between people. These are John's last words of his three short epistles. He is so personal and so warm and real. I can almost feel his hospitality and graciousness. Of course he wants to see friends in person. Also remember that letters were only carried by other visitors at the time; so no emails, texts, tweets, USPS, FedEx or even carrier pigeons. Letters were a big deal, all handwritten and all very carefully written. These words are a glimpse into the personal relationships of New Testament people. Wish I could have been there to sense this kind of faith, love and genuine fervor for the Lord.

Today is different, but nonetheless an in-person encounter is always sweeter than a letter, if there is a lot of time and distance involved. The great thing about a note is that it can be read over and over. Both have their importance. I want to share a handful of experiences from our recent cruise to show the value of face to face and letters. Though we have been back from the Caribbean for weeks now, there is not a day that goes by that I do not think more than once daily of all the people we met, and their names. We would tell the people around our dinner table.... Thereza and Real, Alberdien and Hubert and Roy and Lennie that we would speak of them when we got home and tell our friends at our church about them.

Roy took a trip to Antarctica and had an up close and personal encounter with an Emperor Penguin. Lennie was born in Bolivia and is very shy. Real was moved to tears by our gift of the contraption that the sommelier (wine waiter) wears that we got at the Wine Tasting Event. Thereza loved to pronounce 'american' words with her Quebecer accent, especially the word "mustard" which she pronounced.... Moo 'STARD. We of course had Coo 'STARD for dessert. Alberdien from Nederlands asked us to pray on Christmas Eve and New Year's Day that God would bless us and be real to us. Hubert got word that one of his homes in Spain had been burglarized again and shared how hurtful that was one evening. These are people you will never meet, but they are friends. They are believers, not contagious Christians, but they were totally enraptured by our outward and winsome faith and witness. We pray for them all the time. Alberdien emailed us pictures of her dogs, homes and boats. All of these couples have opened their homes to us if our travels if ever come their way.

Our waiters from Indonesia, Ulul and Nurmawan (whom we referred to as 'Numberone' because we could not pronounce his name easily) gave us all hugs and kisses as we left and were so respectful of our faith and practice. Real people with real names. Like the servers at John's Place where we eat often. Like the man at the dry cleaners. Like the guy who cleans our carpets when they need it. Real people with real names. Some of them I don't know their names, others I do. But, they are the friends from home and around the world that God puts in our path and that we try to be a witness to in a meaningful way. John cared about friends by name and so should we. God is directing a great play that we are characters in each scene of life. His goal is to get us all to the last page of knowing the director forever. He is the author and finisher of our faith. Play your part like it counts. Redeem each moment. Make an eternal difference. Act like your purpose is to fulfill His role assignment for you.

Thank all of you again for making it possible for us to take that cruise and have all those divine appointments. WE believe that we were blessed to be a blessing. Take this challenge.... be blessed to be a blessing today. I am.

In Him,
Pastor Fred

Tweet