by Randal Matheny

"We love you." If I had a nickel every time we heard the phrase in six weeks of travel in the U.S., I'd be a rich man. No, wait. I am a rich man from having heard it so many times.

We heard it from young and old, men and women. We heard it in small churches, in large congregations. We heard it from people we've known for -- well, I hate to tell how long (for their sake, you understand) -- and from people we'd just met.

What's wonderful besides is that we heard it from people who are supposedly legalists, traditionalists, hypocrits, and sectarians, if you were to believe some big-name preachers and flashy magazines.

We were reaffirmed, encouraged, and uplifted by God's people, who have always been urged to show expressions of love. Paul, for example, makes it a refrain in his letters to say, "Greet one another with a holy kiss" (Romans 16:16, NASB). While his emphasis may have been to guarantee the purity of Christian expressions of love, he is overjoyed to recommend the warm fuzzies.

In churches concerned that doctrine be right, love continues to overflow.

That's why the Matheny family returns to Brazil refreshed in the Lord.