Stand By Me!

Good morning, dear friends!  I trust that your hearts were blessed, challenged, deepened, and encouraged as you worshiped in your homes yesterday.  I thought of this wonderful old song by Charles Tindley tht my husband sang occasionally, and I trust the words and the story behind it will bring comfort and encouragement to your heart today.

     "In 1902, Charles Tindley was elected pastor of the Bainbridge Street Methodist Church in Philadelphia----the church where he was converted and where he had once served as janitor.  There were 130 members, but under Tindley's powerful preaching, the church grew making it necessary to relocate.  The church mushroomed in growth.  Bro. Tindley stood on the street corners, sharing Christ and doing evangelistic work.  Up and down this area, Tindley walked and talked about God's saving grace.  Sometimes individually, and sometimes in small clusters ---- counseling and consoling, Tindley moved among the unchurched.  Many cabbies were often aroused by Tindley for a shared moment of prayer.  He came to be known as 'Our Preacher.'

      Charles Tindley was a striking man, standing six-foot-three, and possessing a strong, deep voice.  Multitudes were attracted to Christ through his preaching, and the church was expanded until it held over 3,000 people.  Even then, Tindley had to encourage members not to attend all the services so that guests could come.  At the congregation's insistence, the church was renamed 'Tindley Temple'; but in the wee hours of the Sunday appointed for the dedication, his wife, Daisy, died suddenly and Tindley was unable to attend the opening.
       Such a prominent ministry also invites attacks, criticism, misunderstanding, and heavy burdens.  Tindley once said -- 'It was when I was overburdened with criticisms, abuse, and hard and many oppositions---some of them from those whom I took to be my best friends---I wrote 'Stand By Me.'"

     "When the storms of life are raging, Stand by me;
When the world is tossing me like a ship upon the sea,
      Thou who rulest wind and water, Stand by me.

      In the midst of tribulation, Stand by me;
When the hosts of hell assail, and my strength begins to fail,
      Thou who never lost a battle, Stand by me.

      In the midst of faults and failures, Stand by me;
When I do the best I can, and my friends misunderstand,
      Thou who knowest all about me, Stand by me."

Praise the Lord!  What a blessed assurance and sweet comfort to know that Jesus knows all about us, will stand by us and keep us safe in the hollow of His hand!  God bless you as you walk with the Master today!