My husband, Jerry, and I had the
opportunity to attend the Atlanta launch for Jerry Jenkins’ newest book, I Saul. I’d met the author before and had
several classes with him, but we arrived early anyway, because my husband
wanted to make sure he had time to deliver a special message to Jenkins—that someone
dear to my spouse had come to know the Lord through Jenkins’ Left Behind books.
Jerry Jenkins, his eyes
tearing, said, “I never grow tired of hearing that.” And my Jerry handed
Jenkins another book to sign which he intended to send to this one who is now very
close to God.
As we left, I kept thinking about Jenkins’ response, “I never grow tired of hearing that.” It made me think of lines from an old hymn by Katherine Hankey.
As we left, I kept thinking about Jenkins’ response, “I never grow tired of hearing that.” It made me think of lines from an old hymn by Katherine Hankey.
I love to tell the story;
For those who know it best
Seem hungering and thirsting
To hear it like the rest.
The old hymn reminds us that those who know the story of Jesus best,
long to hear about his love and mercy as much as those who have never heard.
I love to tell the story,It did so much for me;
And that is just the reason
I tell it now to thee.
Inspires us to tell the stories
of Jesus and what he is doing around us every time we have opportunity to those
who have heard and those who haven’t.
Sometimes, when I’m researching a
post, I come across something unexpected. I wanted to find a version of “I love to tell the story,” for those of you who
haven’t heard it in awhile. While searching, I came across a version with
Emmy Lou Harris, and of all people, Robert Duvall.
Turns out, it’s from the movie,
The Apostle, which came out during the years I had small children. Didn’t see a
lot of movies then unless they were animated. I’m still catching up. I know the
movie met with some controversy but still, Duvall was nominated for an Academy
Award and received the Grace Prize at the sixth annual MovieGuide awards. The
MovieGuide Awards sponsors the Kairos Prize in screenwriting for which I’ve
been a finalist.
Here’s an excerpt from an article
at Crosswalk:
“Robert Duvall received the Grace
Prize for his outstanding performance in THE APOSTLE from presenter and last
year's award recipient, Stephen Collins, star of TV's 7th HEAVEN. The Grace
Prize is presented annually ‘to the one actor who, through his or her
performance, best exemplifies God's grace and mercy toward us as human beings.’
Morgan H. Grace, Jr. sponsors the award, which exemplifies Ephesians 2:8, ‘For
by Grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it
is the gift of God, not the result of works, so that no one may boast.’
Duvall said after receiving the
award, that in
making the movie, he wanted it to be ‘an expression of grace.’ He said, ‘I want
to thank you for this award because we tried hard to show that there was a
power higher than ourselves.’”
Talking about telling the story. Whatever
one may think of the film, it’s hard to not enjoy this version of “I Love to
tell the Story.” Hope this blesses you as much as it did me.