He had no burial insurance but plenty of life assurance.
A prominent churchman will be buried this week, thanks to help from friends who have collected the money necessary to bury him. He spent a lifetime working in the church, helping the poor, and lifting the spirits of others. In fact, he used most of his personal resources in the service of others.
One of the areas of his personal life he left undone was to secure insurance on his life to bury himself and care for his wife in the event of his death. He left her with the bill for his funeral and no means of sustaining herself; she depended solely on him.
He was a dutiful husband in life. He made the ends meet. His heart was big, so big that he gave and gave and gave until there was nothing more.
Like him, there are many today without life insurance, not to mention medical coverage. With all of the other problems they have in life some have decided to roll the dice and risk each day's outcome, hoping they will never need healthcare or death coverage.
There is a bright side, though. My friend may not have had a burial insurance, but his faith bought him a "life assurance" that requires no premiums because it was paid in full on Calvary.
1 Timothy 3:13 "Those who have served well gain an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus."
I know I have the assurance of life everlasting, but I think I'll check my policies to make sure I have enough insurance to care for those I may leave behind.
I plan to pay premiums for a few more decades.
Showing posts with label death. Show all posts
Showing posts with label death. Show all posts
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Monday, July 19, 2010
He lived in the pulpit, he died in the pulpit
He lived in the pulpit, he died the way he lived!
Friday night, The Reverend David Brown, Jr. died.
The Reverend Brown was the pastor pastor of nine congregations in Louisiana and Mississippi, died Friday night during a religious service at the Calvary Baptist Church in West Monroe.
He was singing a song preparing for a sermon to be preached by another minister when he suddenly collapsed.
Last year Brown was featured nationally on the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) as one of the nations last surviving "circuit pastors." The broadcast, shown around the nation, featured Brown's role as a man who pastored multiple small congregations across Northeast Louisiana and in parts of Mississippi.
Brown was a self described country preacher who had a powerful pulpit delivery, some said that could have expanded his ministry beyond rural Louisiana if he wanted. However, Brown always explained that his mission was to bring the word of God to the area he was assigned by God to cover.
He remained faithful to that calling for over three decades.
He has officiated so many funerals and marriages that he couldn't count them, worn out two dozen cars, and preached thousands of sermons to "God's people in the rural."
"If everybody goes to the big city, who pastors the country folks?" Brown once said about his ministry. He died as he lived... in the pulpit.
This passage from Revelation says it all, Revelation 2:10 "... be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life."
So we live on earth, so we continue to live with Him.
Friday night, The Reverend David Brown, Jr. died.
The Reverend Brown was the pastor pastor of nine congregations in Louisiana and Mississippi, died Friday night during a religious service at the Calvary Baptist Church in West Monroe.
He was singing a song preparing for a sermon to be preached by another minister when he suddenly collapsed.
Last year Brown was featured nationally on the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) as one of the nations last surviving "circuit pastors." The broadcast, shown around the nation, featured Brown's role as a man who pastored multiple small congregations across Northeast Louisiana and in parts of Mississippi.
Brown was a self described country preacher who had a powerful pulpit delivery, some said that could have expanded his ministry beyond rural Louisiana if he wanted. However, Brown always explained that his mission was to bring the word of God to the area he was assigned by God to cover.
He remained faithful to that calling for over three decades.
He has officiated so many funerals and marriages that he couldn't count them, worn out two dozen cars, and preached thousands of sermons to "God's people in the rural."
"If everybody goes to the big city, who pastors the country folks?" Brown once said about his ministry. He died as he lived... in the pulpit.
This passage from Revelation says it all, Revelation 2:10 "... be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life."
So we live on earth, so we continue to live with Him.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
My pork chop is on the grill!
"I can't go, my pork chop is on the grill!"
That's what one of my scouts told me last night when the whole troop moved out at 7 p.m. for an evening activity. The pork chop had all of the prospects of being a great meal. The coals were just right and the chop had just begun to sizzle on one side. The aroma was filling the air feeding anticipation as hunger pains churned.
Yet, despite the time an energy he put in preparing that pork chop, the call still came, "We have to move out, now!" Perturbed, the scout pull the pork chop off the grill and joined the procession.
Life has a way of calling us away to answer to higher orders. When sickness, tragedy or the unforeseen occur neither waits for an opportune time; they simply burst in uninvited. It doesn't matter what we are doing or how important it may seem, when life interrupts we must change our plans.
And when God calls us into his service or redirects our path we will stop whatever we are doing and follow that call.
In Mark 1:17 Jesus said, "Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men."
When God calls us into service or even if he calls us home, we won't have time to think about it; when he calls we will answer.
That pork chop looked tasty on the grill, but there was a higher call.
Pork chop or no pork chop, when God calls we must answer.
That's what one of my scouts told me last night when the whole troop moved out at 7 p.m. for an evening activity. The pork chop had all of the prospects of being a great meal. The coals were just right and the chop had just begun to sizzle on one side. The aroma was filling the air feeding anticipation as hunger pains churned.
Yet, despite the time an energy he put in preparing that pork chop, the call still came, "We have to move out, now!" Perturbed, the scout pull the pork chop off the grill and joined the procession.
Life has a way of calling us away to answer to higher orders. When sickness, tragedy or the unforeseen occur neither waits for an opportune time; they simply burst in uninvited. It doesn't matter what we are doing or how important it may seem, when life interrupts we must change our plans.
And when God calls us into his service or redirects our path we will stop whatever we are doing and follow that call.
In Mark 1:17 Jesus said, "Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men."
When God calls us into service or even if he calls us home, we won't have time to think about it; when he calls we will answer.
That pork chop looked tasty on the grill, but there was a higher call.
Pork chop or no pork chop, when God calls we must answer.
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