Those who have visited our home may have noticed two of Dr. Sproul’s letters to me framed and displayed on a wall in my home, both of which were very encouraging endorsements concerning the two books I have written. I was very privileged to have a number of meaningful interactions with R.C., one of these was in 2003 at a Ligonier Conference in Colorado Springs. Wishing to let Dr. Sproul know just how God had used him in my life, and knowing that it might be impossible to have enough time alone with him at the Conference with hundreds of people around, I determined ahead of time to write out what I wished him to know in a letter and include it in a card for him, along with the gift of a hundred dollar bill. In the card I wrote, “I thank God for you, sir. Please use this gift towards having an evening meal at a nice restaurant with Vesta.” I signed the card simply as “John Samson” without providing an address.
Before one of the sessions was about to start, I quickly walked over to where Dr. Sproul was seated (on the front row) and handed him the card and with a tear in my eye said, “Dr. Sproul, God has used you greatly in my life and I just wanted to let you know how.” The meeting was about to start so all he could do was smile and thank me, and I then walked back to my seat.
A couple of weeks later, I was more than surprised to receive a letter from Dr. Sproul, thanking me both for sharing the story of his impact on my life and ministry and informing me that he had in fact had used the gift to have a wonderful meal with Vesta at a French restaurant and that they thanked God for using him as He did in my life.
Dr. Sproul had taken the time to track me down by finding my address somehow, and wrote a personal note.
On R.C.’s gravestone the following words can be found, “He was a kind man redeemed by a kinder Savior.” How true that is!
Because Dr. R. C. Sproul has impacted my life so greatly, this interview at the recent Ligonier Conference was especially meaningful to me. Vesta, Buck Parsons and Stephen Nichols reminisce about the man and his message: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUHp1GVtny0