BY and BY !

  "You are an unlettered ignoramus!  You know you are not educationally fit to be a bishop!"  Wow!!  Those very "unflattering" words were spoken by a Methodist minister to Charles Tindley, who is the author of four of my favorite songs -- "Stand by Me" -- "I Will Not be Denied" -- "Nothing Between" -- and "We'll Understand it Better By and By"!

     "Bro. Tindley was being considered for a Methodist bishopric, a position sought by the rival minister.  Just before the election, an anonymous letter falsely accused Bro.Tindley of immorality.

      As a prominent, powerful African-American preacher in Philadelphia, Bro. Tindley often suffered racially motivated persecution.

      His worst heartaches, however, arose within his own family.  The deepest blows were the death of his wife, Daisy, and the death of one of his sons in World War I.

      Atop those pressures were the financial burdens of a large church made up of poverty-stricken masses.  Bro. Tindley spoke to his congregation --"All of us know we are without jobs.  We don't own big bank accounts.  We don't even know what tomorrow will bring.  But we do have hope!  We do have God!  We do have salvation!  We do have faith!"  Bro. Tindley served Christ faithfully until he was in his eighties.  One day, in 1933, he showed up at the hospital.  "How are you, Reverend?  What can we do for you?"asked the hospital director.

     "I have come to die", said Bro. Tindley.  He declined rapidly, and passed away on July 26, 1933.  All Philadelphia mourned, but he was buried in an unmarked grave, for his church did not have funds for a memorial."

     "We are often tossed and driven on the restless sea of time.

Somber skies and howling tempests oft succeed a bright sunshine.

      In that land of perfect day, when the mists have rolled away,

We will understand it better by and by.

      We are often destitute of the things that life demands ---

Want of food and want of shelter, thirsty hills and barren lands.

      We are trusting in the Lord, and according to His Word,

We will understand it better by and by.

      Trials dark on every hand, and we cannot understand

All the ways that God would lead us to that blessed Promised Land.

      But He guides us with His eye, and we'll follow 'till we die,

For we'll understand it better by and by.

      Temptations, hidden snares, often take us unawares --

And our hearts are made to bleed for many a thoughtless word or deed;

      And we wonder why the test when we try to do our best.

But we'll understand it better by and by.

      By and by when the morning comes,

When the saints of God are gathered home,

      We'll tell the story, how we've overcome;

For we'll understand it better by and by."

And so, my friend, even if we are called an "unlettered ignoramus", or whatever else anybody wants to say--if we will be faithful and true---if we will carry the cross, and cling to it, and cherish it -- one of these days we will exchange it for a crown!  Praise the Lord!