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When Adrian Rogers was a high school student,

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he'd recently gotten saved, and he was walking

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across the field on his way home from

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football practice, and he was praying as he

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walked.

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He said, Lord Jesus, I want to get

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low enough so you can use me.

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And he stopped walking and knelt down on

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the field and asked, is this low enough?

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But then he felt he needed to go

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lower, so he laid on his stomach on

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the grass and then asked God, is this

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low enough?

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Then a young Adrian Rogers took his thumb

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and dug a hole in the dirt to

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where he could press his nose in there.

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And as he laid there with his nostrils

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full of dirt, he said to the Lord,

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Lord, this is as low as I can

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go.

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And God honored that in Adrian Rogers and

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gifted him with some truly remarkable gifts as

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a preacher of the gospel.

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I had the supreme privilege of having Adrian

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Rogers as my pastor for over 20 years.

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And during that time, God seemed pleased to

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bring us close together toward the end of

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Dr. Rogers' life.

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I want to share some of these tidbits

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about him this evening, friends, because I know

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some of you pastors out there will benefit

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from them.

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I never knew a man that made me

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think of Jesus more than Adrian Rogers.

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Every time I was with him, I truly

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felt like I was hanging out with Jesus.

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I'd like to share with you some facets

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from his life that impacted my own life,

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and hopefully they will encourage you as well.

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My relationship with Dr. Rogers deepened when God

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called me to write the authorized biography of

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J.

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Sidlow Baxter.

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Dr. Baxter had preached at Bellevue Baptist Church

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on a number of occasions through the years,

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and Sid and Adrian were close friends.

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So when I approached Dr. Rogers to write

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the foreword to that book, he took it

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as a great privilege and he took deep

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interest in the progress of that biography.

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Every time I would complete a chapter, he

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wanted me to come by his office and

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hand it to him so he could read

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it.

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This gave us some opportunities to get to

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know each other better.

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I remember one time I was sitting with

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him in a study and I shared a

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comment with him that Sidlow Baxter made when

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he first came to the new Bellevue campus

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to preach.

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For those of you unfamiliar with Dr. Rogers

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Church, it had a membership of 30,000

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and a sprawling campus of many big impressive

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buildings.

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And as Sidlow Baxter walked to the front

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door on his way to see Adrian, he

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marveled at the size of the campus and

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leaned over to his wife Iza and said,

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Adrian must be watchful lest his kingdom get

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too heavy.

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When I shared that with Dr. Rogers, his

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eyes lit up and he told me several

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Sidlow Baxter stories as well.

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Well, I want to start this message this

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evening, friends, with a story.

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I was at a private party and Adrian

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Rogers was there.

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And of course, everyone wanted to talk to

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him.

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And I waited my time until I was

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the very last guest to approach him.

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As I stood facing him, I asked him

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something about how we met Dr. Baxter.

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And his reply surprised me.

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And I commented, I didn't know that.

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But then Adrian Rogers put his two big

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hands on both sides of my face and

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literally jerked me up off the ground until

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my face was one inch from his.

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And in his deep booming voice, he said,

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there's a lot you don't know, young man.

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And I reckon he was right.

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But he sure shocked me when he squeezed

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my face like that.

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Another time when I was with him, I

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asked him when it was that God gave

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him a special anointing as a preacher.

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And Adrian got real quiet and reflective.

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And after a while, he said, it was

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right after the death of my baby boy.

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I went through a deep time and it

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was then God put his hand on me.

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Looking back on his words, it's remarkable how

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God has touched the lives of his servants

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who've passed through the deepest waters.

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I was sitting with Dr. Rogers in his

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study one day and I told him I

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just listened to him on the radio that

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morning while I was driving in my car.

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And I had a little notepad in my

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lap and a pen in my hand.

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And every time he mentioned the name Jesus

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in his sermon, I made a hash mark

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on that notepad.

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And when I finally came to a stop,

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I counted the hash marks and learned that

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every 60 seconds, Adrian mentioned the name of

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Jesus 30 times.

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When I told him that, he smiled because

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he knew his job as a preacher was

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to lift up, lift up Jesus for the

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world to see.

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My homiletical mentor, Dr. Stephen Olford, had died

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and his funeral service was held at Bellevue

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as he was a member there.

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And Dr. Rogers, of course, presided over that

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funeral as he and Stephen Olford were close

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friends.

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In the hallway outside the auditorium, I was

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standing there talking to Adrian Rogers and he

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got real serious as he crossed his arms

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across his chest and in a solemn voice,

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he asked me a question.

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He said, do you know what concerns me?

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I replied, no, Dr. Rogers, what concerns you?

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And he stared intently at me and said,

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what concerns me is I see God calling

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up men like Sidlo Baxter and Stephen Olford.

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And I look around and I don't see

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any comeuppers.

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And he was right.

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And that's why we're in such a sad

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state today because of the lack of God

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called, God anointed preachers.

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Well, I'll share a couple more stories with

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you friends about Adrian.

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It was a rainy night in Memphis and

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I had just dropped my family off at

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the front door of a local restaurant while

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I went to park the car.

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It was pouring cats and dogs as I

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made my way through the parking lot beneath

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my umbrella.

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As soon as I entered the restaurant, there

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stood a figure in the lobby with his

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arms outstretched and he hugged me as he

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greeted me with Ernesto.

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Adrian called me Ernesto because his son David

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was a missionary in Spain.

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As he hugged me, I had the incredible

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sensation that I had just left earth and

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I was standing in heaven being hugged by

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Jesus.

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I'm not embellishing that at all, friends.

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I really felt that way.

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That's how much Adrian reminded me of Jesus

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because of his surrendered life.

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Too many of us preachers today fall into

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the category of Sidlow Baxter's observation.

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How can a man full of himself preach

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to Christ to empty himself?

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Well, the last time I saw Adrian Rogers,

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we were at the dedication of the Ted

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Rendell Library at Oldford Ministries in Memphis and

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it was just me and Ted Rendell and

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Henry Blackaby and Adrian Rogers standing in a

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room.

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Dr. Rogers was all eaten up with cancer

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and he could hardly walk.

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His natural force was gone from the chemo,

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but as we said our goodbyes, he did

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something that shocked me once again.

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Somehow, he gathered all his strength and jerked

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me up off the ground again to where

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my chin was resting on his shoulder and

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with his arms around me in a bear

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hug.

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He hugged me so hard and so long

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it became embarrassing in a way.

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Finally, he let me down and let me

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go and we parted.

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He was dead within two weeks.

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He knew it was the end and he

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was hugging me that long to say goodbye.

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As I stood over Adrian's casket and looked

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at his mortal remains for the last time,

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I couldn't hold back the tears that ran

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down my face for a man that made

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me think of Jesus like no other man

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since.