During the era known as the Charismatic Renewal it was my privilege to have fellowship with several men and women who were on fire for God. One of these friends was Jamie Buckingham, who wrote Daughter of Destiny and Run Baby Run, among several other titles. I think Jamie would be thrilled to know that Run Baby Run, the life story of street-gang leader, Nicky Cruz, will become a motion picture next year.
I met Jamie at a Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship International Convention at the Washington (DC) Hilton in 1968. Ms Kathryn Kuhlman was featured at that convention, along with Harold Hill, Merlin Carothers, and several other speakers. It was at this meeting that Dan Malachuk (the publisher of the newly founded Logos International Fellowship) brought Nicky Cruz and Jamie Buckingham together. (Jamie was a Southern Baptist pastor at the time and John and Elizabeth Sherrill, the authors of The Cross and the Switchblade, in which Nicky was featured, had recommended Jamie to Dan as a good writer.) The result, as many know, was the blockbuster title Run Baby Run.
It's really hard to believe, but forty years have passed since that momentous occasion! Thinking of Jamie reminds me of something Jamie said to a committee at Logos International. He said, "What's more imporant--the love of power or the power of love?" He went on to say that we need to see people through rather than to see through people. These expressions reveal that Jamie was a master of words, but they also give a clue about the depth of his spirituality. Everyone who knew him partook of the love of God that flowed from him and surrounded him. I am thankful that I knew this great man of God.
What's more important to you--the love of power or the power of love?
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