SHE CAME - SHE LEFT!

In 2010, while leading our last church before going to China, we set aside four weeks of focused prayer.  We asked our people to pray, fast and let as many know about these special days as possible.  The result:  our sanctuary overflowed for these four weeks!  This was our plan:

February 14 - Prayer for those who are unemployed.

February 21 - The blessing of our children.

February 28 - Prayer for those in debt.

March 7 - Prayer for those who need healing.

She came for the second Sunday and brought her kids to be blessed.  She had been invited by her co-worker (one of our members).  We sang simple, children’s songs that Sunday during worship.  There was a brief message.  Then we had recruited, trained and positioned trusted and respected leaders around the sanctuary to pray with anyone who came to them. 

She came to Debbie and me with her children.  She presented them one at a time and told us about them.  And one at a time, Debbie and I invited her to join us in laying hands on her children and lifting them to God for a special blessing.  God drew near in those moments.

She began attending regularly.  She committed her life to Christ.  Debbie and I were enfolded by her family and circle of friends.  Our circle of friendship expanded significantly during those ensuing months!  She brought family members and friends to worship with her. 

Her life and purpose began to re-orient around Christ!  We saw changes take place as her priorities were gradually rearranged by her new commitments. 

After six months we hired her as an office assistant.  She took the role very seriously and was diligent to learn and do the best job possible.  My administrative assistant and I invested in her through a commitment of much time and tremendous focus.  There were challenges involved in helping her to adapt to a role that she had never dreamed possible. 

However, she was so eager to learn and grow that we could do nothing but continue to invest and take joy in the transformation occurring before our very eyes! 

She gave our whole congregation a living picture of what it is to have Christ reorient your life.  She became a catalyst and inspired all of our people by her zeal and joy!  She exemplified old things are passed away and behold all things are become new! 

I wish I could give this story a happy ending – but I can’t.  Debbie and I left two years after we met her.  We followed a course that took us to China for three years.  A new pastor was appointed.  Many changes took place. 

She, and all who had come with her, fell away.  Church members were caught up in the chaos of the transition to new leadership and failed to pursue her and the others.  And today, my heart still aches.

_______________________________________

 

New believers are fragile!  Like a new plant, they need attention, water, food and care to be able to grow to maturity.  Without this, they are likely to relapse.  Even when these things ARE in place – they will still often relapse.  It takes tremendous focus, patience and time to walk with someone through this process.  Think about the eighteen-plus years we spend helping our children to grow and mature before we launch them into the adult world!  It’s the same with new believers! 

Coming alongside a new believer will energize your life!  Spending time with them will remind you of your own journey and the steps you took to grow into the ‘new you’!  You will find yourself reading your own Bible more because you want to be able to lead your protégé in helpful and productive ways!  Your own life will be catalyzed and challenged as you invest in the growth of another!  Churches can be transformed when this process becomes normative!  Stagnant, ineffective believers can be renewed and recapture the joy of their early years of faith! 

Why not begin to pray and ask God to lead you into this kind of a relationship?  Begin to look around to see if God might be leading you to establish a discipling connection with a neighbor, co-worker, family member, new person at church or friend.  It WILL be just what they need!  It might also be just what YOU need! 

CALL OUT TO GOD

Reading the psalms can be shocking!  This book, in the center of our Bibles, shows us – with no uncertainty – that we can bring all our thoughts and emotions to God without hesitation.  We find in this book rants, complaints against God, appeals for God to destroy the enemy, laments of deep sadness and sorrow, jubilant and zealous expressions of joy and praise, historical reflections, acrostic meditations, and nearly defiant demands.  

The one-hundred-fifty psalms were the hymnbook for the Israelites.  In quite a few cases instrumental instructions are included for choirs and orchestras.  Because it was a liturgy for worship, it includes all the various circumstances that God-followers face. 

Some years ago, Crystal Lewis gave us a worship chorus that clarifies the message deduced from the psalms:

Come just as you are
Hear the spirit call
Come just as you are
Come and see
Come receive
Come and live forever 

Life Everlasting
Strength for today
Taste the living water
And never thirst again

Come just as you are
Don't you hear the spirit call?
Come just as you are
Come and see
Christ My King
Come and live forever more

The psalms teach us that we may feel free to come to God in any and all circumstances!  Our mood does not prohibit us from coming to the throne of grace!  We may feel free to come when we are desperate and seem incapable of using the right kind of language.  We are welcome, even if we are:

• angry
• depressed
• vengeful
• frustrated
• disappointed
• subject to bullying
• overwhelmed
• nervous
• anxious
• feeling like a loser
• exhausted
• feeling suicidal
• feeling hopeless
• rejected
• in deep grief

[You realize, of course, that this list could go on and on…]

Actually, these are GREAT times to turn to God and empty our hearts!  God can take our honesty;  God prefers it!  He does NOT want us to put on airs, to say what we think He wants us to say, to pretend all is well!  The psalms show us that God is open to our deepest and most extreme experiences!  He simply waits for us to BRING IT to Him and leave it with Him! 

There’s an old hymn:  [written by Charles A. Tindley]

If the world from you withhold of its silver and its gold,
And you have to get along with meager fare,
Just remember, in His Word, how He feeds the little bird—
Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there.

Refrain:
Leave it there, leave it there,
Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there;
If you trust and never doubt, He will surely bring you out—
Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there.

If your body suffers pain and your health you can’t regain,
And your soul is almost sinking in despair,
Jesus knows the pain you feel, He can save and He can heal—
Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there.

When your enemies assail and your heart begins to fail,
Don’t forget that God in Heaven answers prayer;
He will make a way for you and will lead you safely through—
Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there.

When your youthful days are gone and old age is stealing on,
And your body bends beneath the weight of care;
He will never leave you then, He’ll go with you to the end—
Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there.

I don’t know what you may be facing or experiencing today, but I know you’d feel a lot better if you’d lay it out before Almighty God!  Regardless of how ugly – even repulsive – your thoughts may be, God can bear it.  You may not be up to it, but He is!  Bare your soul!  Unload your burden!  Speak the truth!  Feel free to rant! 

Then listen…

God will dip into His limitless resources and He will begin a process that will eventually lead you to a better place! 

DEPRESSION

I’m just emerging from a fairly extended time of suffering from depression.  

I’m writing about it in hopes that my musings might be helpful to someone else whose experiences parallel mine. 

For the record, I have not always dealt with this problem.  It began when I succumbed to a major episode of burn-out much earlier in my ministry.  I stepped out of my role for several months.  It’s a story of its own, but God played a major part in my recovery and re-entry to ministry.  Alma Kelly, a lay leader at the church I served also played a significant role in salvaging me for future ministry! 

My next interruptive experience was when I was about forty.  There is little doubt in my mind that it was a direct result of stress.  At the time, I was pastoring a church that had doubled in size.  In addition, I was attending seminary in Pittsburgh four days-a-week.  Then, of course, I was trying to fulfill my goal of being a great husband and dad.  During this period, we owned our own home for seven years;  it entailed a fairly large amount of time for maintenance and upkeep!  Poor money management combined with high educational expenses along with a chronically low salary created financial distress that became a frequent trigger for my depression.  These factors eventually brought me to a place of emotional and social shut-down.

I didn’t see it coming.  It scared me.  I was emotionally frozen.  I desperately wanted to withdraw.  I knew I needed help, but didn’t know where to turn. 

Describing the experience of depression would likely be different for each individual who deals with it.  For me, it commonly manifests with the following symptoms:

• Verbal shut-down
• Inability to think positive thoughts
• A sense of lostness – not knowing where to turn
• A general sense of anger
• Social withdrawal

I have functioned in this state for extended periods of time, but doing so takes exceptional energy and exhausts me.  I can only say that it is an awful experience that I wouldn’t wish on anyone!  I eventually realized that my cycle was about three weeks in duration.  Gradually, I would emerge from the darkness.  Incrementally, I would regain my balance and begin to find joy in life again.

You can imagine the impact this had on Debbie and my family. 

I turned to counselors and other pastors during these times.  I believe these interventions were helpful.  As a counselor, I know the value of talking about our problems in a trusting environment.  Although I never really experienced a catharsis, I am certain that these caring interventions cleansed me somewhat and directed me as well. 

I am happy to say that in time, my condition improved and these episodes became less frequent.  I seemed to find a balance.  I learned to manage my stress levels better.  After eleven years of focus and commitment, we became debt-free!  This removed one of my enemy's most used triggers against me!  The woods became my cathedral.  I used my day off (Mondays) to get into nature to hike and talk with God!  A week or more of backpacking every year had a retreat-like effect.  Actually, the one miracle that I've experienced took place on an extended backpacking trip!  Incredible story!  

As I grew older, I came to a point when I thought that depression was a thing of the past.  I was wrong.  Depression is not a common companion anymore;  for that I am grateful.  However, it does visit me from time-to-time, and I seem unable to predict when those times may occur. 

I have not yet fully unpacked the causes of my latest episode.  I am just now beginning to be able to think clearly and objectively.  I know that Debbie prays for me!  That’s huge!  I suspect, at times, that she may mention my need to others among our family and friends.  Recently, I’ve noticed an unusual number of people asking me – very deliberately – “How are you doing, Hal?”  I highly value the prayers of those who love me – although I rarely seek the prayer support of those same people.  I can’t explain that…

So, throughout this learning experience, I have discovered value in:

• diet
• exercise
• journaling
• counseling
• reflection
• proper sleep routines

But the thing that is most helpful is connecting with God!  I am not always willing or able to do this right away.  I can’t explain this fully.  I can tell you this:  one of my last resources is a book.  I bought it years ago and found that it helped me during times of depression.  No surprise that it is a book of sermons:  SPIRITUAL DEPRESSION – Its Causes and Its Cure, by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones. 

I’m not sure that I’ve ever read the whole book.  By the time I get several chapters into it, I find myself thinking more clearly – more biblically.  When I get my thinking straight – my emotions tend to follow!  ;-)

Two weeks ago, I mentioned to my pastor that I was experiencing a period of rather extreme depression.  He assured me that he would be praying for me.  He also mentioned the above book.  I told him what a life-saver it had been to me through the years.  Then, he suggested two other books and offered to buy them for me.  Last night he presented me with them.  I have already consumed one about the great preacher, Charles Haddon Spurgeon  [SPURGEON’S SORROWS – Realistic Hope for those who Suffer from Depression].  It has been an enormous help and blessing to me!  I will read the other today [CHRISTIANS GET DEPRESSED TOO, by David Murray]! 

If you struggle with depression, take hope in the fact that you are not alone.  The scriptures address this issue with abundance [for instance:  Psalm 42:5,11].  Read a good book!  Recruit prayer from your pastor, family and closest friends!  Talk to someone who will be patient with you and will listen and respond gracefully.  Make an appointment with a counselor. 

And, if you’d like to talk with me – I am available.  I have a counseling degree, but that’s not as valuable as the fact that I’ve been in a similar place as you!  [To call/text:  (724) 944-3881]  If nothing else, I would be happy to add you to my prayer list! 

May God break through and shine His light on you TODAY! 

PS - review the above words in bold print - they're EXTREMELY IMPORTANT!

PERSECTUION UNDER NERO AND NOW

 [Adapted from William J. Bennett’s TRIED BY FIRE:  The Story of Christianity’s First Thousand Years]

In the middle of the first century, the apostle Peter wrote to a church suffering persecution.  He wanted them to understand that it was not for nothing.  He urged that “the trial of your faith (much more precious than gold which is tried by the fire) may be found unto praise and glory and honor at the appearing of Jesus Christ”  [I Peter 1:7 DRB].

The emperor at the time was a twenty-seven-year-old named Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus.  According to the Roman historian Suetonius, Nero was known for his insatiable lust, avarice, and brutality.  For fun he would have innocent men and women bound to a stake.  Nero himself, clad in the skin of some wild animal, then would spring forth from a cage and attack them.

On the night of July 18, AD 64, a great fire erupted in the south-eastern end of the Circus Maximus, a popular area in the city for commerce and entertainment.  It quickly swept through the city, incinerating three districts and severely damaging seven others.  The fire raged for six days!  The Roman historian Tacitus vividly described the damage the fire inflicted on the city and the panic experienced by its inhabitants.  He uses terms such as: 

o   Terror-stricken women

o   Those feeble in age

o   Helpless children

o   Dragging out the infirm

o   Aggravating confusion

On this night, claimed Suetonius, Nero dressed in stage costume and sang a popular song about the burning of the mythical city of Troy.  He later built a palace on the site where the fire began.  Rumors spread that he had engineered the setting of the fire.  He looked for a scapegoat and found it in a group that had nothing to do with it – “a class of men given to anew and mischievous superstition.” 

Nero targeted the fledgling Christian community in Rome.  His vindictive purge was the first state-sponsored persecution of Christians in history.  Tacitus paints a sickening portrait of Nero’s persecutions.  Christians were arrested and forced – under threat of death – to confess to starting the fire.  Many were sentenced to death.  In the words of Tertullian:

Mockery of every sort was added to their deaths.  Covered with the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burnt, to serve as a nightly illumination, when daylight had expired.  Nero offered his gardens for the spectacle, and was exhibiting a show in the circus, while he mingled with the people in the dress of a charioteer.

Few Roman citizens loudly objected to the persecutions.  But eventually Nero’s outrageous and unjust administration eventually incited a rebellion and earned him the title of public enemy.  As his enemies closed in on his hideout in 68, he ordered one of his attendants to stab him to death.

But even such violence against Christianity did not – could not – stamp out the Christians.  Tertullian, writing in the third century, praised the Neronian persecution for causing the significant growth of the Christian movement! 

_________________________________________________

Lord of the Church,

Strengthen Your people in the present persecution and in the greater persecution on the horizon!

Grant us the courage and faith to stand strong in the face of opposition!

                               Give us the determination to hold fast the confession of our faith –                                         EVEN IF IT COSTS US OUR VERY LIVES!

Renew our hope of Heaven and our persistence in the knowledge that it is real and will be our eternal home – if we stand strong in You!

And may the sacrifices made fuel a great revival of faith and consecration to the things of God!

For the Kingdom’s sake.  Amen!

APOSTLE PAUL AND SAMUEL LAMB

The Apostle Paul speaks candidly about his life experiences in II Corinthians 11.  He speaks with a measure of mockery that he claims to have learned from the three-ring preachers.  He clearly can’t understand why the Corinthians have so much admiration for these rip-off artists.  Consequently, he goes on to compare himself to them.

• Do they brag about being Hebrews, Israelites, the pure race of Abraham? I’m their match.
• Are they servants of Christ? I can go one better. [Paul feels some awkwardness taking this approach.]
• I’ve worked much harder
• Been jailed more often
• Beaten up more times than I can count
• I’ve been flogged five times with the Jew’s thirty-nine lashes
• Beaten by Roman rods three times
• Pummeled with rocks once
• I’ve been shipwrecked three times
• Immersed in the open sea for a night and a day
• In hard travelling year in and year out
• I’ve had to ford rivers
• Fend off robbers
• Struggle with friends
• Struggle with foes
• I’ve been at risk in the city
• At risk in the country
• Endangered by desert sun
• Endangered by sea storm
• Betrayed by those I thought were my brothers
• I’ve known drudgery and hard labor
• Many a long and lonely night without sleep
• Many a missed meal
• Blasted by the cold
• Naked to the weather
• And that’s not the half of it, when you throw in the daily pressures and anxieties of all the churches.

He continues:  If I have to “brag” about myself, I’ll brag about the humiliations that make me like Jesus.

Then, Paul shares one final memory:  Remember the time I was in Damascus and the governor of King Aretus posted guards at the city gates to arrest me?  I crawled through a window in the wall, was let down in a basket, and had to run for my life. 

I read all this and can only imagine the stories this guy could tell!  What a phenomenal life!

___________________________________________ 

I was privileged to meet such a man during one of our annual conferences while we were in China.  Our meeting was held in Guanzhou which is in extreme southern China.  This is the city where Samuel Lamb’s church met.  Our leaders had arranged a time for us to meet Pastor Lamb.  His church was on a back street and didn’t look at all like a church.  It was a large, common-looking, multi-story building.  I remember going up many passages of narrow steps to a small conference room where we sat at a large table with Pastor Lamb and a few of his leaders and caretakers. 

To bring you up-to-speed, here is an outtake about Samuel from Wikipedia:

Samuel Lamb or Lin Xiangao  (October 4, 1924 – August 3, 2013) was a Protestant pastor in Guangzhou, China. He was a leader in the Chinese house church movement and known for his resistance against the state-sanctioned Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM)

Lamb was born in a mountainous area overlooking Macau. His father, Paul Lamb, was the pastor of a small Baptist congregation. In the 1940's, Lamb worked with pastor Wang Mingdao.

Lamb was imprisoned for more than 20 years (1955–57; 1958–78) for his refusal to join the TSPM. In spite of "honey-bucket" duty at labor farms or backbreaking work in coal mines at labor camps, Lamb continued to teach.

In 1978, Lamb was released from prison and, in 1979, he restarted the church in 35 Da Ma Zhan, Guangzhou. Because the attendance grew quickly, he then moved the meetings to 15 Rong Gui Li, De Zheng Bei Road. The house church is now known as Rongguili Church, under the name Damazhan Evangelical Church. The house church continued to hold four main services each week, with an estimated attendance of four to five thousand, but was closed on October 14, 2018, and a second time on December 15, 2018.

Starting in 1979, Lamb published a series of booklets called "Voice of the Spirit"; now there are more than 200 booklets.

He died in Guangzhou in 2013, aged 88. For reasons of security and site elements, the date of the farewell ceremony was changed from August 17, 2013 to August 16, 2013, in Baiyun Hall, Yinhe park, Yinhe cemetery, Guangzhou. There were nearly 30,000 mourners in attendance.

He spoke to us in English.  He was a handsome man and very charming – even at his advanced age.  His people were clearly devoted to him and very protective.  He challenged us strongly and allowed us to ask questions.  He sent us away with bags of books and other materials.  We felt very privileged as we toured the church and saw the extremely limited conditions.

People filled the building several times every Sunday, with only a few able to be in the actual room where Pastor Lamb spoke.  His message and the worship was extended to many other rooms via a speaker system.  The pews were just benches tightly packed with very little space between. 

I will never forget this meeting!  He was indeed a modern-day Apostle whose life had impacted tens of thousands – largely because of his willingness to suffer for the Gospel! 

Raise up more like this, Lord!  We need men and women ready to suffer for the extension of Your vital message!

Here are some of the gifts he gave us:

EVERY SINGLE WORD IS INSPIRED!

I attended two seminaries.  First, Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky.  This was the eastern school of choice for Free Methodist students during my time.  We lived in this community for three years and I acquired sixty credit hours (of ninety) toward a Master of Divinity degree.  This was sufficient credit (at that time) for me to be fully ordained in the Free Methodist Church. 

Within three years, I realized my error in judgment and was accepted at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary where I would complete my degree – although they required 106 credit hours and granted me thirty from ATS.  It was a liberal, Presbyterian school where the theology department was dominated by feminist theology, process theology, liberation theology and Calvinistic theology. 

I learned much at both schools and found certain professors who made an indelible imprint on my life.  One from ATS was Dr. Robert Traina.  He believed in the divine inspiration of the Bible!  He believed and emphasized that if it was divinely inspired, then every word was inspired by the Holy Spirit through the human recipients!!!!

This perspective emphasized the importance of pastors to be trained in the original languages:  Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek.  How else can one fully grasp the meaning of the original writings.  I remember studying my flash cards while sitting in traffic on Greentree Hill four days a week!  That traffic enabled me to get A’s in Hebrew and Aramiac!  J

I frequently think about Dr. Traina’s contention! 

Like today.  I was reading the latter verses of Mark 15  [NASB}.  I came across the following and stopped in absolute wonder!

v. 37   And Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed His last.

v. 38  And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.

Why was this included in the text?
Why in this exact location?
Why did the Holy Spirit want us to have this information?
Was this the result of an earthquake?
Or was something more powerful happening?
Did SOMEONE rip the veil?
If so, WHO?
WHY?
What did this mean?
Why did the Holy Spirit want us to know that it was a thorough tearing – torn in two from top to bottom?

When I was at my first full-time church, the ministerial association broke up the passage for each of us to handle a section at the Good Friday service.  One of our group was a very liberal Lutheran pastor who had irritated me at times with his ideas and attitude.  So, I played the devil’s advocate [pardon me in my youth and zeal, please], and approached him about my passage.

I showed him verse 38, indicating that it was part of my section.  I asked, “I’m in my first appointment and fresh out of seminary.  Could I ask what you make of this verse?”  His response was terse and without passion:  “I don’t make anything of it!  I don’t think it has any meaning for us at all?” 

Dr. Traina and I would differ! 

In the Jewish temple, the veil served as the barrier to the Holy of Holies.  The Holy of Holies was said to be where God’s presence rested and it housed the Ark of the Covenant.  Only the high priest could enter this area, and then only one time per year, to make atonement for the sins of Israel [Exodus 30:10].

I Kings 6:2 records that Solomon’s temple was 45 feet tall.  The first century Jewish historian, Josephus, records that Herod extended the temple’s height to about 60 feet tall.  He also records that the veil was four inches thick.

Notice the details:

• Jesus died.
• The enormous 45 to 60-foot high, four inch thick curtain was torn in half.
• The tear was from top to bottom clearly indicating the destruction was not man-made, but came from God.

This connection between the death of Jesus and the torn veil is not just about God’s power, but is demonstrative of who Jesus is, what the cross accomplished, and the access we have to God through Christ. 

Hebrews 8:1-2 [NASB] notes, “Now the main point in what has been said is this:  we have such a high priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister in the sanctuary, and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man." 

Jesus Himself now serves as our high priest!  There is no longer a need for a Jewish high priest to stand before the Lord and make atonement for our sins.  Jesus has provided for our atonement through His death on the cross!      [Some copied from compellingtruth.org]

This Jesus is always available to you!  Thick clouds can’t interfere with your connection to Him!  He never sleeps!  He has no difficulty hearing even your faintest whisper.  He, Himself, hears your very words and thoughts and responds with compassion and forgiveness!  24/7/365!  From anywhere in His universe! 

That’s what these fourteen words imply! 

Mark 15:38  [NASB]  And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.

TRIBUTE TO A FRIEND - Alice Mae [Rockenauser] Beaver

Alice first crossed my path at the Tri-State Campground here in East Liverpool located on Andersen Boulevard during the annual July Camp Meeting.  Her family stayed in the cabin next to ours.  She was five years older than me and I thought she was about the prettiest girl on the campground – but too old for me.  

She was outgoing and friendly to everyone.  She wasn’t stuck-up or aloof;  rather, she was extremely fun to be around.  Her sister, Janet, was closer to my age and I considered her my friend too.  

Some years later, to everyone’s surprise, I went to college and seminary then returned to the Pittsburgh Conference as a pastor.  In June, 1982, my name was read off as the newly appointed pastor of the Oakland Free Methodist Church on the East End.  I was thirty. 

Alice’s parents, Clinton and Audrey were members and regular attenders at that time.  I was in their home many times over the thirteen years I served the church.  Upon my appointment, most of the church leaders were from my parent’s generation.  Their memories of me were of that ‘bad Haire kid from camp.’  Consequently, I had a hard time winning any confidence.

Clinton and Audrey Rockenhauser were wonderful people and always supported me as I worked to grow the kingdom of God in this place!  Most of us knew Clinton as ‘Rocky’.  He was an amazing story-teller, World War II Veteran and had a delightful sense of humor.  He worked hard and steady but had a difficult time on many fronts.  I often thought of him as a modern-day Job!  But he always persevered and kept his trust in the Lord!  And Audrey stood firmly beside him.

Alice and John had married and lived here in the East End.  I was in their home frequently.  ‘Johnny’ was a young boy at that time and I clearly remember when his brother, Freddy, was born.  Unfortunately, I also clearly remember the day that Freddy was killed by a truck in front of their humble home.  I stood with them that day.  I wept with them.  Along with the church, we offered them our love and support!  It was a hard time.  

The support I had received from Alice’s parents was replicated in her life and home.  We became trusted friends and stayed in contact all through the years.  Like her father, Alice faced lots of tragedy and troubles;  but she had inherited the ‘survival gene’ from her father.  She also inherited his humor!  She kept on going and we regularly swapped jokes and funny stories. 

My final visit with Alice (and Janet) was last summer when they visited the campground one warm afternoon.  I got to introduce her to our son, Troy, and his wife, Missy.  Our older son, Travis, - who died in 2015 – had been in school and a friend to Johnny.  As we talked that day, we stumbled over one another pulling up old stories of escapades during Camp Meeting.  It was delightful!

You may sense what I’m trying to say here:  Alice (Rockenhauser) Beaver was more than an acquaintance;  more than a parishioner;  Alice had entered my circle of friendship!  There was a treasure in her heart!  You had to be patient to see it emerge;  not everyone is patient enough.  But if you were patient and watched for the cracks to flash around her eyes, that treasure would emerge and you would be glad! 

So, with a sense of hope and confidence and with gratitude for a legacy of making the best of hard circumstances, I am grateful today that she was my friend!  The thought that she is reunited with her parents and husband and son brings me nothing but joy!

Johnny – sorry, that’s how I’ll always think of you – I’ve been praying for you and will continue to do so.  Live to make your Mom proud.  Live to make your Grandma and Grandpa proud!  Live to make Jesus proud! 

Your friend,

 Pastor Hal