An Old Soul Winner Goes Home

[Cow Poke]

This week, I had the joy of performing a funeral for an old friend.

Yeah, the world doesn't understand that - the "joy" of doing a funeral.

There are, basically, three kinds of funerals Pastors are called on to oversee...

• Somebody you pretty much know is lost
• Somebody you really don't know well enough to have an opinion
• Somebody who lived a long life of service to the King.

Jimmy was in the third category.

He was a long haul truck driver and, pretty much, a drunk. Barbara owned and ran a bar. One day, Jimmy went into that bar, met Barbara for the first time, and told her "I'm going to marry you".
That was in 1953, and two months later, they were married.

Jimmy got saved at a Revival Meeting in 1968, and never got over it.

He spent the rest of his life - right up to his death - winning souls for Jesus.

You couldn't talk to Jimmy for more than 5 minutes without him inquiring whether or not you knew Jesus, and if you knew where you would spend eternity.

The funeral service this past Friday was packed. Many who were there were people Jimmy had won to Jesus. Barbara told me, as if she really needed to, that Jimmy would absolutely want a Salvation message preached at his funeral. There were several speakers before my funeral sermon, and they really nailed down the Salvation part, as both of them were adults Jimmy had won to the Lord as children.

He was an old fashioned soul-winner, unashamed of the Gospel of Christ.

We need a whole lot more like him.

[rogue06]

He is home, where you will see him again when it is time.

[Cow Poke]

About 20 years, Jimmy told me about a time that he felt God had put a certain "old friend" on his heart, and this "old friend" needed to know about Jesus. It was an old drinking buddy of Jimmy's who had moved away, but had recently come back to town. Jimmy thought, "yeah, I need to go see him". Shortly after that, Jimmy felt, again, what we would call "the prompting of the Spirit" to go see this old friend. Jimmy intended to do that.... "soon".

Finally, Jimmy got around to going to see his old friend, only to find out he had died the night before. I have shared Jimmy's testimony numerous times - that we never know how long somebody will be around, and that we should be obedient to the prompting of the spirit without delay.

In fact, I shared that story at the funeral - that Jimmy always felt regret that he didn't have the opportunity to witness to this old friend.

After the funeral service, I was standing near the head of the casket while the people filed by for the last viewing of the body before the casket is closed. An older lady, after viewing the body, stepped over to me and told me, "I know who that old man was - the one Jimmy went to see. It was my brother, and I sat with him the night before he passed away, and told him about Jesus, and my brother accepted Christ as his savior before he died." She continued, "I only heard about Jimmy's regret last year, and I wanted him to know that my brother did, indeed, accept Christ".

It was a Paul Harvey kind of moment ---- and now I know... the rest of the story!

[One Bad Pig]

The traditional color for Orthodox funerals is white, the same color worn on Easter.

My grandfather (a life-long Presbyterian) chose "Joyful, Joyful, we adore Thee" to be sung at his funeral.