Bill Adams passed away earlier this year at age 84. He was a great friend and supporter of The Courier and a compassionate servant of Christ. He was the pastor of five different churches before serving as minister of visitation at Spartanburg First Baptist Church.
Bill and his late wife, Shirley, had two sons, two daughters, five grandchildren, and two great-grandsons. After becoming editor of The Courier, I talked with Bill many times. Sometimes he would call me and say, “I just want to encourage you.”
Bill and Shirley on their wedding day
His oldest son, Dan, served on our board of trustees for five years. Immediately following Dan’s selection to our board, Bill told me, “I am so glad Dan is serving on the board of The Courier. I always wanted to serve but never got the opportunity. He will be a blessing to you.” Dan was a blessing to us as a trustee. He made the initial financial contribution to our “Bill and Shirley Adams Student Internship Program” and intends to make more. When I talked with Bill about naming the internship program after him, he insisted that we name it the “Bill and Shirley Adams” fund. Why? He shared with me that the best thing that ever happened to him, apart from being saved, was his wife.
Bill was present for our “Friends of The Courier” banquets, trustee luncheons, and even sat in on a couple of our trustee meetings. Dan said, “He worked tirelessly and faithfully to share the love of Jesus with different people and different communities across the Carolinas. He gave his whole life for others to know Jesus.”
He was a true friend of The Courier, and we genuinely appreciate all the work he did in helping to fund the internship program and other ministries of The Courier. He admired his wife’s writing ability and was especially fond of a poem she wrote, “Behold.” It was printed on the program for his funeral. I wanted to share it with you below.
Bill’s love for Shirley was obvious. Today, they are together in heaven. As Dan said before the funeral for his dad, “I already miss him.” We at The Courier will also miss him.
We are thankful for special friends like Bill Adams. His witness will live on through the student internship fund. If you would like to honor Bill’s life by making a financial gift to the “Bill and Shirley Adams Student Internship Program,” please send your check marked “Adams Internship” to The Courier, 100 Manly St., Greenville, S.C., 29601. If you prefer using a credit card, please call The Courier at (864) 232-8736 and ask for our business manager, Chris Holliday. He will be delighted to help you.
BEHOLD
Behold, if you have never forgiven, you have never loved.
If you have never felt the need to be forgiven; you have never experienced or received love, and this is lostness and/or self-righteousness. This is pride.
Therefore, may your heart, as does mine, rejoice in the Lord Jesus Christ, who at the cross paid our debt for sin.
Each day in advance, choose to forgive — even before anything happens, choose to forgive. This creates a capacity to love another.
Recognize in advance that you yourself will need to be forgiven, thereby opening a door for others to love you, respect, and honor you.
Love is giving — Jesus did this at the cross. Forgiveness is understanding that Jesus did this, too, because He understood our lostness.
Go and so live your life. Earn the right to love yourself. Be a beautiful, repeatable miracle of God.
Having crossed the bridge of life sixty-six years, tested as by fire, forgiveness works — it is love.