Jim Van Gelderen: Welcome to the Thee Generation Podcast. This is Jim Van Gelderen and I am podcasting from Arkansas. Actually, I’m not too far from where the very first Walmart was.

I think it was called Walton’s Five and ten. In fact, my wife and I may go tomorrow and just visit it, get a little visit back in history. It’ll certainly remind me of my childhood, when there were a lot of what they called five and ten stores.

I know most of you that are Gen Zers and millennials listening to me. That’s a bygone era for you. But one day you’ll get a little older like I am, and you’ll have a few moments of nostalgia.

And I will tell you sometimes that nostalgia is really a blessing because you remember, uh, people that were an encouragement to you and help to you and touched your life in a positive way. And all of us, in a certain sense, are benefited by multiple people who’ve gone before us who are in our early years touched our lives. Some of you obviously are in your early years and are being touched by godly people.

And of course, that’s what life’s all about, is letting the Lord use you to touch others. The Bible does tell us in first Corinthians chapter six, what know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which ye have of God, and you’re not your own. You’re bought with a price.

Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. It really was a masterful plan. If you think about it.

Jesus could have stayed on planet earth, but if he had, there’d only be one Jesus. And in order for us to be able to spend some time with Jesus, we’d have had to get in an airplane. We’d have to probably fly to Jerusalem and get in line.

And I imagine that would be a pretty long line. But, you know, the Lord didn’t do that. He he left, ascended up to heaven, and then sent forth His Spirit into the heart of every believer.

So not only can we have fellowship with Jesus as a believer, and that’s why it’s so important to have time with God, where you meet with God and you have time where you know that Jesus loves you and that you have got a purpose in your life. And everybody needs to spend time with the Lord on a regular basis.

But not only does that wonderful truth, the Lord Jesus lives through us and he can touch others through our life. I think in one of the previous recent podcasts, I talked about that, and I am so touched about those that allow the Lord Jesus to touch my life through their life. Of course, my parents were such.

I think I mentioned them, my grandmother. But I want to mention another man, John R rice, and one of the reasons I’m bringing him up is a new biography has just been written and has come out. The author is John R Himes.

Now, John R Himes was a missionary for several decades in Japan. He is now a professor at Baptist College of Ministry, which is out of Falls Baptist Church in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. And Brother Himesis a grandson of John R rice and of course had much interaction with him.

And he has written another biography. I say another because there’s been several written that are now quite a bit older biographies, but he’s written a biography, and I’m so glad he did, because it’s a fresh perspective from a grandson who loved him and who was impacted by him.

And so as I was thinking about promoting the book, and by the way, if you’re interested in the book, there is a link on the description of this podcast that you can click and give you information how to buy that book. And I hope many of you will, and be stirred by the life of a man who has been in heaven now for several decades, but whose life continues to impact us through the lives of others he impacted.

I being one of them, I wouldn’t probably be here if it wasn’t for John R rice, because he was his ministry. The sword of the Lord was instrumental in getting my mom and dad together, and my mom graduated from college and went to work for the sword of the Lord, which at that time was based in Wheaton, Illinois. And my mother had become very good friends with several of John Rice’s daughters.

All he had was daughters. He had six daughters, and she became very good friends.