We continue to be thrilled and blessed with the responses from those who visit this site, and we thank those servicemen who got word to us that they were still with us. We continue to pray for all of you. When you write, it serves the same purpose the 'feed back' from the congregation did in the years I was privileged to stand in the pulpit and preach and teach God's Word. Whether it was by hearing an 'AMEN' or seeing heads nod in agreement or tears of conviction, it let me know that I was 'connecting'.

As I consider you and your letters I often search for something I might have in common with each of you. Then I realize that while we might find common ground in many things, the only thing that really counts is ; Jude 3 Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, .

Having been subjected to breakfast of white beans, white cornbread and white stewed figs on board ship in the forties doesn’t qualify me to be a sailor in today's navy. Spending nights in a foxhole with my trusty old M-1 isn't the same as knowing how today's soldiers and Marines operate the complicated tools of today's warfare. I even worked in an office for a short while as a bookkeeper, but never got beyond a one finger operation of the ten-key adding machine. Then I considered those who are driving the trucks across the nation. I thought to myself, "Now here is a group I can really Identify with" Then I imagined the eyes rolling as I described the old Fageol with its square cut gears and the signal arm that had to be raised by reaching outside.

The one thing I find I have in common with ALL human beings is my need of a savior and with those who have accepted Christ, the common bond of forgiveness through His blood. Regardless of any difference in age, race, occupation or station in life, it is this one thing that can give us all common ground. We are truly all equal at the foot of the cross. freddie