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Today is March 19,2008; the day before this column is to be sent out to you, the gentle reader. This day is special for me. Not because it's Wednesday and that means that I have reached the hump in my week and am now on the supposed "coasting" time of the week; not with Easter coming in just a few days and the Easter service to get completed and ready for the bulletin. No, this day is special because it is a birthday. It is the birthday of Lisa Andrews. She and her husband, Don, used to live next to us in Cortland, New York, and worked with us in the church there. But it is not just Lisa's birthday. You see, Lisa was born on very same day I was born into Christ.

On this day in 1961 I sat toward the front of the worship services at the Church of Christ in Jeffersonville, Ohio. My friend, Dennis Avey, was sitting right beside me. We were there because we had reached that time in our lives where we wanted to belong to Christ. We were there because we had had enough of living without Jesus in our lives through a personal relationship. We were there because we wanted to have our sins forgiven through the blood of the Lamb of God. We were there because we wanted to be one with the risen Lord; we wanted to be baptized.

Forty-seven years ago I gave my life to Christ. I can't tell you what my preacher, Barton Howard, preached that morning. I can't tell you what I wore other than a pair of blue flip-flops when I entered the baptistry (which, by the way, I forgot to remove and they floated to the top of the water when I was laid back into the pool). I can tell you that, when I came up out of that water and looked into the eyes of Barton Howard, I knew what he knew. I knew Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I still maintain contact with Barton through this medium of the internet. He lives in Oxford, Ohio and is still preaching; and he still knows the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, as do I.

Barton is one of several people who influenced my life to the point of building my love and desire for Jesus. Lawrence Church was an older man in the church at Jeff and I would sit with him in the services from time to time. Vertie Butcher was an elder in the church. He was constantly encouraging me as a young man in the church there. After I became a Christian he was the one who took me calling. Harry Houseman was another of the church leaders whose interest in me meant a lot. These were the men who, along with Barton Howard, did so much to teach me about the love of God through Jesus Christ. "Churchie", Vertie and Harry are all gone.

There is another who is also gone; Melanie Creamer. Melanie was the church pianist. She was the sweetest, gentlest person I have ever known. I used to sit with her and her husband, Bobby. She was so kind and understanding. Melanie passed away from cancer quite a few years ago. Her example of a Christlike spirit was the first that affected my life for the Lord. As a child I secretly wanted what she had. She had the love of Christ. I remember reading 1 Corinthians 13 for the very first time. I saw Christ there; and through Christ, I saw Melanie. Melanie had helped me to see Jesus. That is what the world wants. Perhaps the greatest request in the Word of God is in John 12:21. "Then they came to Philip, and asked him saying, 'Sir, we wish to see Jesus.' " I saw Him and now I am His. Just show them Jesus.

"Voice of Inspiration" from Andy Castro

Drumbeat of Darkness-Drumbeat of Destiny