Thots On Dying Friends

Today is a day of gladness and sadness mixed – for me, anyway.  

I am glad to have a new day in Christ, my Savior.  I trust that all the joy that comes from being with Him, walking with Him, and of course, listening to Him.  For that I am glad.

But I am sad to have learned last night that the third friend of mine back in Hinesville, GA has died.  Both have come as a shock to me.  

The first, a deacon at Faith Baptist Church, I discovered had died by looking online at the Hinesville paper’s obituary section.  He was only 44 years old, a kind-hearted man who loved people and was a hard worker.  Last night, I found out he had committed suicide.  Please do not pass any judgment on the man – none of us knows the pressures he felt.  Under similar pressures, you may be tempted to respond as he did.  The Bible says, “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. (1 Corinthians 10:12).”  I miss the man all the more knowing that there is absolutely, positively no way I’ll see him again on this side of glory.  There was little chance in the first place, living so far away, but death makes even the hope of a future visit a loss.  HOWEVER, there is still a hope for me regarding him.  

Some people believe that suicide automatically sends a person to hell.  I AM NOT one of them.  I believe that, while suicide is a sin, the blood of Jesus is stronger than that sin as surely as any other sin.  I believe that the Scriptures say that there is no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.  Suicide is a carnal act, yes.  But if we were to condemn a suicide, then we would be condemning ourselves for every carnal act we commit.  I hope my friend knew the Lord Jesus Christ as his Savior.  His suicide indicated that he struggled with an oppression and depression that came as a result of taking his eyes off of Jesus, yes – as surely as Peter, out of the boat and walking on the water, began to sink for looking at the waves and storm around him.  My friend drowned because his eyes were not back on Christ in time to ask for help.  It is sad.  Suicide is not an act of faith, but of discouragement and fear.  It is not an act that demonstrates confidence in the power of Christ.  But it is not the only way we express discouragement, fear, and lack of confidence in the power of Christ over our circumstances situations.

The confusing thing about a suicide, and of course my friend’s suicide, is that it is SUCH a faithless, and final act.  There is no chance of repentance.  It causes those of us who are left behind to wonder if there was genuine saving faith there in the first place.  So I say again, I hope my friend knew the Lord Jesus Christ as his Savior.  If not, it shows that a person can be a “deacon” in the church, a worker, a witness, and a leader in the church while not knowing the Lord personally.  I won’t say my friend is in heaven because of what he did for Christ.  He MAY have done it without faith.  However, he MAY have done it with faith.  Only God can correctly judge that one.  So I’ll leave it with Him.  I never thought I’d have to think this hard on this subject.  Suicide of a friend, a church friend, sure is a mystery.

The second person to die was a pastor friend of mine from Hinesville.  He pastured one of the two largest Baptist churches in town – and had been the pastor there for about 30 years.  He was only 56 years old when he, working in his yard with his son, died suddenly of a massive heart attack.  Our time on earth is untold except in Heaven.  God determines the time.  I wonder the effect on the church, the community, etc.  The changes such an absence can make in the lives of so many can seem tremendous.  Many personal lives won’t change – their jobs continue, their families continue, etc.  But the spiritual leadership is missing, the sudden awareness of the brevity of life is moved to the forefront of literally thousands of minds.  Ah – therein is the glory of the whole thing.  Our Lord can lead many to Christ through the death of one man as those brave soldiers return from Iraq – many thinking that they will live forever because they lived through battle – only to find that we can die at any time and for causes that are beyond bullets.  What then?  How we live can determine how we die.  Roger was in Christ when he lived, and Roger therefore was in Christ when he died.  Will the soldiers also be?  If so, this makes the sadness of his passing turn to joy.

The third person to pass was another pastor-friend of mine who finally succumbed to cancer.  I praise the Lord that he got a chance to return to the pulpit before he passed (which I’m sure he was encouraged to do) after much debilitating and fruitless chemo, radiation, and surgery.  I will miss Andy Anderson.  His mild demeanor and  Christian witness made knowing him and working with him a blessing and an inspiration to me.  I know that he is where he has always wanted to be – in the presence of his Lord!

I know this is a long blog entry but I believe these guys all need to be remembered somehow by me.  I also want to express my grief that since leaving Hinesville, a friend has passed on the average of about one every two weeks – and I’ll miss all of their funerals, be unable to comfort the family as I would like.  Therefore, I hope that the families and friends of each will be able to take comfort from this entry.  Only one family may really be struggling.  The others should take heart that they will, soon enough, be reunited with their husband, father, uncle, friend, pastor, and mentor in Heaven.  It is only a temporary “good bye.”  So, that is how I will close for all of them – “Good Bye.  I’ll see you soon!”