- the horror
- the faces
- the despair
- the humanity
- the helplessness
Then, I remember Stanley.
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I've been gone for awhile searching the world wide web to see what's out there about Stanley. I will put just a few of the many stories that I read about Stanley below after I tell you why my mind and heart went to him on September 11.
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My husband, Steve, preached at the Anson church of Christ, Anson, Texas from 1990-1995. We had over 50 widows in our congregation. Many of them had "Stanley" stories. He had been in their Bible classes as a young boy. They had cooked for Stanley. They had picked him and his brothers up and brought them to church. He was a faithful young man.
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How our daughter, Crystal, loved those widows! One day at the dinner table, Steve asked our 4 children what they wanted to be when they grew up...Crystal answered, "I want to grow up to be a widow...but I don't want to get married. " Someone passed Crystal's words on to Stanley and it brought him to tears. He loved those widows, too!
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We moved to York, Nebraska in 1995 for Steve and I to teach at the college. During our first few years there, Stanley Shipp came to preach. That night he shared Crystal's words from the pulpit. Later he told us that her words had impacted him so much that he had vowed that wherever in the world he went he would tell that story. He wanted to give widows everywhere hope that even in their darkest days they were still making an impact on young lives. What a faithful friend to widows!
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Fast forward a few years and Stanley returned to speak in York. He heard about our daughter Jessica's chronic pain and he asked if he could come to our home to pray with her and encourage her. What a memory! What a blessing! He took our family photo that day and put it in his front shirt pocket over his heart next to many other photos. He explained that he kept each photo there and prayed over each one daily until the specific prayers were answered. He would do the same for our family photo.
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Weeks passed...and Stanley began to call..."How's Jessica? Can you get her? I'd like to pray with her!" One time he was waiting on his flight in a Hawaii airport when he called...What a faithful friend to the sick!
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Then, there was his flight home from Malaysia on September 11, 2001. He had heard the news. He and Marie quickly boarded an airplane for San Antonio where he was on staff with Max Lucado. He called ahead, "have the church get a suitcase ready...fill it with 50 and 100 dollar bills..." God wanted him in NYC! And, so he went. Stanley and his suitcase. Walking up and down the streets of NYC passing out the bills to those with faces of despair. "God has sent me to you...He wants you to know He loves you..." What a faithful friend to the downcast and those in despair! What a faithful friend to God!
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Stanley was a transformed man...guided by the love of his Heavenly Father. He was a flexible man who allowed Himself to be molded, shaped, and led by the Holy Spirit. He knew how to do September 11th...he knew how to do the September 11th's of life...May we all be found so faithful!!!!!!!!!!
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A FAITHFUL FRIEND TO THE THIEF, THE DRUNK, THE UNLOVEABLE, AND YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN EVERYWHERE-
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World Wide Web quote #1 about Stanley:
"A rough-looking man approaches an older man in Seattle, demanding his wallet. Seeing through to the man's heart and need for salvation, the older man said, 'You don't need to be a thief. Let me give you my wallet.'
This was Stanley.
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While boarding an airplane, a drunk clumsily throws his overcoat into the overhead bin and rudely climbs over the older man to his seat on the inside. When the plane had been boarded, the older man took the overcoat from the bin, folded it neatly, and put it back.
This was Stanley.
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Sunday evening, August 18, 2002, a man of God was unexpectedly taken from this earth. But this event should not cause sorrow-Stanley wouldn't want that. He is happier now than he ever was on earth (hard to believe, huh?).
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I don't remember many of the personal encounters I had with Stanley, but the stories I have been told about him since I was little will forever be etched in my heart. When I was much younger, upon hearing my parents talking about a time when Stanley confessed sins, I blurted out, "Stanley doesn't sin, does he?" I was thoroughly convinced that a man so in love with his creator and savior was incapable of any wrongdoing. Stanley would have giggled at that statement, then quickly set me straight.
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Stanley and his wife Marie ministered to youth and college students well beyond when most men his age would have moved on. Colleges all over the United States were treated to Stanley's enthusiastic and practical lessons from the Bible.
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From there, the Shipps committed their lives not only to bringing the joy-giving gospel to the world, but to training others to do so. He founded the Spiritual Internship Training Center in St. Louis, from where his teams planted churches in Switzerland, West Africa, France, New England and many other locations. Stanley took a group of young men and women around the world, literally, loving the unlovable and teaching the lost. While in Calcutta, India, Stanley arranged a private group meeting with Mother Teresa. Even now, the similarities between Stanley and Teresa remain. "
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A FAITHFUL FRIEND TO HUNGRY AND THIRSTY SOULS-
World Wide Web Quote #2 about Stanley:
"One thing I loved about Stanley Shipp and Landon Saunders is they were all about remembering to make a difference with EVERY person you meet down to the cashier at McDonald's. I remember Stanley told a story about sitting in an airplane and watching a harried business man throw his stuff up in the overhead bin and sitting down in a huff. Stanley said that he quietly got up and opened the bin and took out the man's overcoat and folded it nicely and put it back in the bin. The man was watching him and they talked the rest of the trip.Thanks for reminding me today to turn on the hose and watch for thirsty souls! "
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A FAITHFUL FRIEND TO EACH PERSON HE'D ENCOUNTER-
World Wide Web Quote #3 about Stanley:
Stanley was so good at that. I remember seeing him do similar things. That person at the gas station taking your money is a person created in the image of God, for whom Christ died. In my busyness I forget this at times. Thanks for that story!
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A FAITHFUL FRIEND TO THOSE WHO DIDN'T KNOW HIS JESUS-
World Wide Web Quote #4 about Stanley:
This incident made me think of a story that Stanley Shipp once told me. He was in a restaurant in St. Louis late one night having a Bible study with a friend. In the booth behind him was a man arguing with his girlfriend, trying to convince her to keep living with him. She was starting to come to faith in Christ and felt convicted that it was wrong to live together. Finally, the man got up in a rage, walked over to Stanley and asked him to help convince his girlfriend to move back in with him. Then he asked, "What does the Bible say about that?" Stanley looked at him and gave him this wise response: 'I'm not going to tell you what the Bible says about that until you know who Jesus is?' That conversation began a relationship that ended up in the conversion of this man and his wife. They now have three children and are serving the Lord together in St. Louis. We met in a Bible school 25 years ago and he is one of the most Christ-like men I know. I don't want to give people morals and laws. I just want to give them Jesus. Like the Fernando Ortega song says, "You can have all this world. Give me Jesus"
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A FAITHFUL FRIEND TO GOD-
World Wide Web Quote #5 about Stanley:"When it came to God, I knew far more about “thanking” Him than “praising” Him. There was always much to thank Him for but I honestly didn’t know how to praise Him. When I tried it, it sounded phony. It actually sounded like flattery. And surely God didn’t need to be flattered. Then one day, a friend of mine named Stanley Shipp, challenged me on the subject. He defined praise as “bragging on God” and argued that it was a wonderful thing to do, not a bad thing. I began to see that “thanking God” was focusing on what God has done, whereas “praising God” is focusing on who He is. The two are similar, but still different. It isn’t that God needs praise. He isn’t insecure and depending on us for His self-image. He deserves to be praised! And I am convinced that when we are praising God, Satan exits the scene. He can’t stand or withstand the praise of God, so he leaves. Good riddance. I wanted to praise God, but didn’t know how. So I asked for wisdom. And I believe my prayer was answered."
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A FAITHFUL FRIEND TO CHILDREN-
World Wide Web Quote #6 about Stanley:
"Throughout our childhood growing up in New England, guys like Landon Saunders and Stanley Shipp were in and out of our lives — sometimes with years in between visits — but picking up right where we left off. They were kind of like 3rd and 4th grandfathers for us, in a strange way.
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A FAITHFUL PREACHER OF THE GOOD NEWS OF THE CROSS-
World Wide Web Quote #7 about Stanley:
"I remember the night that Stanley Shipp preached at the Tulsa International Soul Winning Workshop for an hour and it seemed like five minutes..."
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NOTE: On August 18, 2002 Stanley Shipp spoke in opening chapel at Abilene Christian University, Abilene, Texas. Later that day his car was broadsided by a truck and Stanley, a FAITHFUL FRIEND OF GOD, went home to live with his Heavenly Father forever. Since Stanley's death, I have continued to meet or hear about people and entire congregations who were impacted for eternity by his life. This month is our one year anniversary with the Pitman church. Four christians here were taught and mentored by Stanley: G & D Hutchison, L. Prenger, and R. Stetser. What a legacy of FAITH that Stanley left for us all.
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THIS WEEK'S LINKS:
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Second Link to FIND US FAITHFUL:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7ZwVuO7duw.
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