Like the other friends of Job, Eliphaz was convinced that Job was suffering because he had sinned. Eliphaz was wrong about that. But he paid Job a high compliment when he said,

You have encouraged many;
You have strengthened failing hands.
Your words have kept him who stumbled from falling;
You have braced knees that gave way (Job 4:3-4).

Evidently, Job had earned the reputation of an encourager. I get the impression that when other people saw him coming, they smiled because they knew he would listen with sympathy and speak with kindness. I thank God for people like that, don't you?

Some of my recent experiences have reminded me of the value of encouragement. I've enjoyed getting to meet and speak to congregations of the Church of Christ at Adrian and Fritch, Texas. Both of those churches provide financial support to the Bible Chair ministry at Amarillo College. During my visits to them, they added some moral support for the director as well. Great people.

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Just a follow up on the Stephen King thing: there was a comment on that post from Greg Stevenson, who teaches a course on popular culture and religion at Rochester College. He's recently started blogging and has a good entry on "Stephen King's Religious Stories." The rest of his blog, called "Caritas," is cool too. You can check it out and welcome Greg at http://caritas2.blogspot.com