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Mark Ramirez Has Left The Building

Mark Ramirez, the face and heart of 4Memphis recently lost his 3½ year battle with lung cancer. Mark loved the people of Memphis, and the people of Memphis felt his love and loved him back. Mark could be found almost every weekend capturing the kinder side of Memphis life as he covered the people attending the many charity benefit parties of Memphis. His presence was one of the foundations of success for every event being held in Memphis. No benefit could be completely successful without Mark’s appearance, no matter what the cause, the venue, the food, the entertainment − those in attendance looked for Mark to snap their photo for the pages of 4Memphis. It wasn’t really about being in the magazine; it was about feeling the love of his crowd. The emails and phone calls to 4Memphis requesting coverage of an event were always formatted with “can Mark come to our event?” It was not 4Memphis they were asking to be there; it was Mark Ramirez. In the fall during the height of benefit season, Mark would often cover three benefit parties a night. Often 4Memphis’ page count wouldn’t have room for all that he covered, but he gave us no choice but to make us give pages to all those he felt deserved to be covered for the work being done for those in need in Memphis.

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From the Publisher: The Gift of Working

Several months ago, as I thought about what I wanted to share with the readers of 4Memphis in my Publisher’s letter I had a working thought about writing about two people who inspired me – by simply going to work every day. In the 12 years of publishing 4Memphis I have written a letter in all but eight issues. I have told our readers before that when I bought VIP Magazine, which just two issues before had converted the name of the magazine to 4Memphis, I had not intended to write a letter for each issue. I simply wrote what was on my heart in that first issue as to the reason I had purchased the magazine and what we hoped the pages of 4Memphis would become for our city.

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From the Publisher: The Gift of Brokenness

The Gift of Brokenness “We are called to love. We all know something about brokenness. We see the brokenness in the world all around us. We know the brokenness in our personal lives. We know we are all broken people, and we all suffer very intimate pains. The pain of a desire for intimacy that hasn’t been fulfilled . . …

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From the Publisher

When Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he bowed down to pay him honor. David said, “Mephibosheth!” “Your servant,” he replied. 7″Don’t be afraid,” David said to him, “for I will surely show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan…2 Samuel 9: 6,7 This passage in 2 Samuel is the picture of grace …

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From the Publisher

Today the world is in captivity to a virus that has changed all of us. We all feel that we have no control over the simplest things that we have taken for granted for years, the purchase of toilet paper or the ability to go to the doctor. The virus has given us a shared experience which has drawn us closer to our neighbors but has led to a nation divided by the political class as they prey on our fears for their own political gains.

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From the Publisher

Luke 10: 29-35 29But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31A priest happened to be going down the …

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From the Publisher

“Let him without sin among you to be the first to throw a stone at her… Neither do I condemn you, go, and from now on sin no more. John 8:7, 11 The past couple of days I oversaw a construction project for my mother-in-law to repair the deck of her boat dock. The hard work, I thought, of the …

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From the Publisher

Persons of Interest “The Lord is good to all who have compassion on all he has made.” Psalm 145:9 With  all that has gone on this past year as well as the city’s complete shut down for a full week thanks to the snow event of 2021, I do not think anyone would disagree with the statement that we have …

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From the Publisher

“”Ah, Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you… You have shown signs and wonders in the land of Egypt and have continued them to this day in Israel and among all mankind and have made a name for yourself, …