Who Is That Masked Man?

Can you please pretend the cowboy in the picture is masked? Like the famous Lone Ranger of yore? It's unfortunate, but I couldn't find one of him. Of course, the blog isn't about him--but it IS about someone I'd like you to wonder about and google--Carlton Spencer, President of Elim BIble Institute for 36 years.

I was so blessed to sit under this man's ministry time and again, on every occasion that he came down from New York to teach at one of Bob Blodget's continuing education seminars for ministers in Mexico. His teaching was always riveting, but the coup de resistance about this man was the way he treated Auntie, his interpreter. He actually looked at her, talked to her, and treated her like his equal.

Believe you me, you can tell a lot about a man by the way he treats his interpreter. Some act like the interpreter is a microphone, don't even bother to say hello or shake their hand! It's as if to them the interpreter is invisible or just a piece of equipment. But then there are the other ministers--the ones who are polite and kind to their interpreter and treat him/her like they are a person of worth, a minister in their own right, who value them because they acknowledge that the ministry of interpreting deserves its just due, even it it's "just" a ministry of helps. Carlton Spenser was one of the latter, a man after our own heart. And the sweetest thing about him was that he wasn't only kind to Auntie--he actually talked to insignificant me and was kind to me--, I, who was only the tag along to his actual interpreter! (I did interpret off and on at those seminars to spell Auntie, but never for Carlton Spenser.) In fact, the way he acted goes hand in hand with what I would like to share: he was a veritable living example of the following reality he had obviously embraced.

You couldn't sit long under Bro. Spenser's teachings without picking up on a recurring theme--real life stories about sheep. Each story was wonderful in its own right, but there is a particular one I would like to share with you today.

A few years prior to the message in which he shared this story, Bro. Spenser had the blessing of going to Israel, God's Holy Land. As he was traveling from Point A to Point B with his interpreter, they happened to pass a shepherd out in the country with his sheep. Bro. Carlton was enthralled! A shepherd--and not just any shepherd, but an oriental shepherd-- like the ones Jesus talked about in the BIble! It was too good an opportunity to pass up so Bro. Carlton asked if they could stop to take pictures--and they did. Besides the pictures he took, Bro Carlton also peppered the shepherd with questions about how oriental shepherds ply their profession. Since the shepherd couldn't speak English, and Bro. Carlton couldn't speak Hebrew, they used the interpreter to communicate.

As they stood there, kind of to the side of the flock so the shepherd could keep his eye on the sheep, they conversed for a few minutes. Bro. Carlton noticed that every once in a while the shepherd would quit addressing them, turn his face to the sheep, and call out a distinct word, something that was obviously not related to the discussion they were having through the interpreter. A sheep would raise his/her head, look at the shepherd, and come trotting over. The shepherd would get a treat out of the bag hanging from his shoulder, offer it to the sheep, pet it a bit, then the sheep would turn and trot back to where he/she had come from. The conversation then continued until the shepherd turned his face toward the sheep anew and called out another distinct word. Another sheep lifted his/her head, looked at the shepherd, trotted over. The sheep received its treat from the shepherd's hand, was petted, trotted back.

This was repeated several times. So much so, in fact, that Bro. Spenser asked his interpreter to ask what was going on.

It turns out that the oriental shepherd knows each of his sheep by name. When he calls them, they know their name and respond to the call.

Jesus is our shepherd. Think about it. Savor it.

Many a time have I incorporated a game based on this singular event with my precious Sunday Schoolers. They play they are sheep grazing, then I call each of them by turn, calling out their name. They come one by one, and I pet them as I give them a treat. Guess what? I have yet to meet a child--even older kids--who doesn't love, love, love to play this game. Kids even ask for it, they treasure it so. It is beautiful--a vivid picture of the tender, personal love of our Savior. To Him, each sheep is precious.

May the mental picture this brings warm your heart, too. And may you always remember that your Good Shepherd knows your name. You are precious to Him., always.

."...and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them..." John 10:3