Well Done Good And Faithful Servant - Part 2

It seems like just yesterday that I was sitting here at my desk writing a tribute to my grandfather-in-law who had just gone home to be with the Lord. And now, just six short weeks later I am faced with writing another tribute, this time for my grandmother-in-law, who departed this world last Wednesday afternoon. She was 88 years old (today would have been her 89th birthday), a strong Christian, and she was ready to go home.

As I look back over the past 26 years that I have been a part of this family I have many fond memories of the time we spent together. As I think about those times I cannot remember a single time when we were together that she did not turn the conversation to spiritual matters and talk about Jesus; in fact I cannot think of a more appropriate or accurate thing to say about Mamaw than this - she was a witness for Jesus Christ. Yes, she was a good cook, and she loved her family, but first and foremost she told everyone she came in contact with that they needed to have a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Mamaw had been sick for the past several years, and her health took a severe downturn in the last 2-3 years leaving her unable to care for herself. She was suffering from dementia and completely bedridden at the end, unable even to take a drink of water without help. My last visit was on the day of Papaw's funeral. Because of her condition, both physical and mental, she was unable to attend. So after everything was completed that day all of the grandchildren and their spouses decided that we would stop by to see her on our way home even though we knew that she would probably not know who we were or that we had even been there. We were wrong. And what happened that day is something that I will never forget.

As we came into the room that day, Mamaw,who was barely able to lift her head off of her pillow, looked around the room and recognized every one of us in the room calling us by name. Then, this frail woman, who could no longer even care for herself, proceeded to share Christ with each of us, using the small amount of energy she had to share the gospel with us saying that she wanted to make sure that everyone in that room was going to be with her in heaven. That was the kind of woman she was; she wanted to make sure that everyone was going to be in heaven, and because she didn't think that she had much time left she used what she had to double-check the spiritual condition of her grandchildren and their families.

As I think back on that day I am struck with just how important Jesus was to her. I could see this over the years that I knew her, and everyone that I have talked to said the same thing - she loved Jesus.

At her funeral I had the opportunity to look though her Bible, and although I don't know when she started using this Bible I know that she was not able to use it over the past couple of years. But as I flipped through its pages I saw note after note on just about every page in her Bible; everywhere there was a blank spot on a page she had written a note about how something on that page had spoken to her. And notice I said above that I don't know when she started using that Bible. That is because my wife has another Bible that belonged to her that she started using in the 1940's and that Bible is literally falling apart - not from neglect but from heavy use.

I have heard it said that a person whose Bible is falling apart probably are not, and that is true of Mamaw; she endured some of the most trying things that a mother could endure: the loss of of child at a young age to cancer; another child who had special needs and whom she cared for until she was just physically not able to do so any longer (over 65 years); a grandson who was in a serious car accident and paralyzed. Through all of these tragedies and hardships she never lost her faith, and in all the time that I knew her I never heard her complain.

So as I look back over the short time that I had the privilege of knowing her what I see is someone that I want to emulate. In his letter to the Philippians the apostle Paul wrote:

Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.

Philippians 3:17

Mamaw could have written this verse; she clearly led by example, and there are very few people that I can think of that would be better to imitate.

So with this short few paragraphs I say good-bye (for now). And I pray that if I live to be 89 years old the most important thing to me will still be to make sure that my whole family knows Jesus and that because of what He did on the cross we will all be together with Him in heaven forever.

Well Done Good & Faithful Servant.

Last week my Grandfather-in-law went home to be with the Lord. He was 95 years old and he was a very strong Christian. While his death was not unexpected it is still a loss for those of us who knew and loved him.

I have a few memories of Papaw that I will always cherish, like the time (when he was well into his 70's) that he and my father-in-law challenged my brother-in-law and me to a game of 2-on-2 in the back yard. He just stood back about 30 feet from the basket and waited for the ball to be passed to him, and every time it was he hit the basket. I don't think he missed a single three pointer that day (and I don't think I have played basketball since). That was the day that I learned that you don't have to be a young man to win a game of basketball (and that you are as young as you feel).

One of my other memories of him will always be of sitting in his living room discussing theology while a baseball game quietly played on the TV in the background. You see, there were four things that he loved (in this order): Jesus, his family, baseball, and cherry pie (some day maybe I'll write about Papaw and the biggest piece of cherry pie I ever saw).

I have a lot of respect for the way that he lived his life, and I pray that I will be able to live out the remainder of my Christian life the way he lived out his; he ran the race, he kept the faith, he finished the course, and last Tuesday he looked his Savior in the face as he heard Him say, "Well done good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Lord."

He is home now, and as we were dealing with the loss of Papaw last week I opened my email and saw this and couldn't help but think about how appropriate it was for what we were dealing with and as I read though it several time I actually became jealous and I can't tell you how much I am looking forward to the day when I too will get to see my Savior face to face.

"The sound of weeping and crying will be heard no more!"

Isaiah 65:19

The glorified weep no more--because all causes of grief are gone! There are no broken friendships, nor blighted prospects in heaven. Poverty, famine, peril, persecution, and slander--are unknown there. No pain distresses, and no thought of death or bereavement saddens.

They weep no more--because they are perfectly sanctified! No "evil heart of unbelief" prompts them to depart from the living God. They are without fault before His throne, and are fully conformed to His image! Well may they cease to mourn--who have ceased to sin!

They weep no more--because all fear of change is past! They know that they are eternally secure! Sin is shut out--and they are shut in!

• They dwell within a city which shall never be stormed!
• They bask in a sun which shall never set!
• They drink of a river which shall never run dry!
• They pluck fruit from a tree which shall never wither!

Countless cycles may revolve--but eternity shall not be exhausted; and while eternity endures, their immortality and blessedness shall co-exist with it. They are forever with the Lord!

They weep no more--because every desire is fulfilled! They cannot wish for anything--which they don't already have in full possession.

Eye and ear, heart and hand, mind and imagination, desire and affection--all the faculties, are completely satisfied!

As imperfect as our present ideas are of the things which God has prepared for those who love Him--yet we know enough, by the revelation of the Spirit, that the glorified saints are supremely blessed. The joy of Christ, which is an infinite fullness of delight--is in them. They bathe forever in the bottomless, shoreless sea of infinite blessedness!

That same joyful rest remains for us! It may not be far distant. Before long--the weeping willow shall be exchanged for the palm-branch of victory! Sorrow's dewdrops will be transformed into the pearls of everlasting bliss!

"The sound of weeping and crying will be heard no more!"

"Therefore comfort one another with these words."

Charles Spurgeon

Take a few minutes today and thank God for the people that He has placed in your life, tell them that you love them, and remember that Isaiah 65:19 (quoted above) applies to you too if you are in Christ.

A Tribute To My Grandfather

On August 31, 2008 my Grandfather went home to be with the Lord.

Preston A. "Dutch" May was born December 5, 1915 as the only child of Daniel and Fannie May. His father left the family before he was a year old so he grew up in a single parent home where his mother worked as a domestic servant for a somewhat wealthy family. By the time he turned 15 the country was moving into the Great Depression and his mother's employers could no longer afford to pay for her services. As a result my grandfather was required to help support the family so he would travel to wherever there was work to be found, but always returning to the North East Ohio area where his mother lived.

On one of these return trips to Ohio he met and fell in love with a local girl named Verda Morris. They were married on October 6, 1940, and spent the next 67 years together. In my whole life I don't remember ever seeing one of them without the other one near by.

During WWII my grandfather enlisted in the Army and spent 2 years serving his country in the South Pacific. He was a very patriotic man and he loved his country deeply. After the war he was employed as a machinist, and he retired in 1981 after 30 years in this profession.

Not being one to just sit around, after his retirement my grandfather began a second career selling advertising; this was a job that allowed him to set his own hours, but more importantly it was something that my grandparents could do together. I am not exactly sure when they retired from this second career, but they were still doing this well after I was grown and had moved away from home.

Growing up, Sunday afternoon trips to my grandparents' house was a common occurrence. And if we didn't go there, it was a good bet that they would be coming to see us. We didn't see each other every weekend, but we saw them on more weekends than not.

The thing that I will always remember about my grandfather is that I never saw him in a bad mood. I'm sure that he had them, but I never saw one (unless you count that night that my sister and I stayed overnight at his house and wouldn't go to sleep - I guess he didn't like to be awakened by 2 noisy kids when he had to work in the morning). I'll also remember how he was always interested in everything I did, and when I became an adult and began my own career he couldn't have been more proud of what I was able to achieve.

Finally, I'll always remember the example that he set for me, an example of hard work, faithfulness to his family, and love for his God. He left some pretty big shoes to fill, and I will miss him greatly. But I know where he is, he is in Heaven with his Lord and he wouldn't come back here if he could. So I will remember all of the good times we had and look forward to the day when I will see him again in that place where there will be no more sin and no more sickness and no more death.

And as I close this tribute to my grandfather I would like to quote one of his favorite passages of Scripture (the one that he chose to be read at his memorial service) in the hope that you will rejoice with me in the salvation that we have in Jesus Christ. And if you don't know Jesus it is my prayer, as I am sure that it was my grandfather's as well, that today as you read these verses you will come to know that Savior that he loved.

Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?
5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
9 Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?
10 Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?
11 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.
12 If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?
13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.
14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

John 3:3-21(KJV)

So with that I say good bye grandpa - I'll see you soon.

A Tribute to a Friend

As I write this it is about 6:30 in the evening on June 23, 2007 and I have just returned from the funeral of one of my closest friends, Dahl Irvin. Dahl was born March 13, 1953 and passed away unexpectedly on June 17, 2007.

I don't remember exactly when we met, but as near as I can figure it was about twenty years ago. I was volunteering as a leader for the local chapter of Youth for Christ, and the area director arranged for all of the volunteers to attend a seminar on prayer that was being conducted by one of the local pastors in our area. The leader of the seminar turned out to be Dahl.

At this point in time I had also been playing guitar in a Christian Heavy Metal band and my wife and son and I had been attending a church that the rest of band members were attending. We were unhappy at this church and felt like we were not growing spiritually. As we talked about what we should do I remembered the seminar that I had attended and all that I had learned so we decided that we would check out the church where Dahl pastored.

We began attending a Sunday evening Bible study that Dahl was leading at the church with about 8-10 other people and before long we had completely left our other church and moved our membership over there. As we continued to attend this church Dahl and I began a friendship that lasted twenty years and the news of his passing earlier this week came as a great and unexpected shock.

As we made the six hour trip home today after the funeral I had plenty of time to reflect and to pray and to cry (and I am sure I am not done yet), and I stated to make a list in my head of all the things that Dahl taught me over the years:

He taught me that Christianity is not a religion - it is a relationship.

He taught me that prayer doesn't have to be pretty, but it does have to be passionate.

He taught me that legalism doesn't help anyone, grace does, and then he taught me the meaning of grace by the way that he lived his life.

He taught me to love the Bible, and to be a student of the Word.

He taught me to love the writings of A.W. Tozer.

He taught me to love Anne Rice, the Blues, Barbeque, and Jimmy Buffett.

He taught me that 300 miles was not enough distance to extiguish a friendship.

And today he taught me that I have something other than Jesus to look forward to in Heaven.

Augustine wrote, "We have not lost our dear ones who have departed from this life, but have merely sent them ahead of us, so we also shall depart and shall come to that life where they will be more than ever dear as they will be better known to us, and where we shall love them without fear of parting."

So as I remember my friend I think about good times, the bad times, the hours that we spent together over the years, and I miss him more than I ever thought I would. But he is happy now; he is with his Savior, and he is looking forward to the day, just as I am, when we will be reunited.

I love you. Until we meet again...