life and rebirth

June 30, 2009 | T. Suzanne Eller

Jack’s funeral was held while I was away this week. It was hard on so many levels. I was literally a thousand miles away. I was teaching, on call and on point. My students deserved a teacher that was enthused and excited. The conference deserved a keynote that would encourage and motivate them toward their dreams of writing.

But the details that floated to me from home were beautiful.

Over 900 people came to celebrate Jack’s life. The large church was filled. Flowers blanketed the podium. A choir sang. People worshiped. But then at the end they played one of Jack’s sermons. His voice filled the church as he simply talked about faith in Jesus Christ, what it meant to him, what it could mean to others.

My son called and I could hear that it moved him. He said that hearing Jack speak the Word was powerful. Richard said that he was moved by the fact that so many shared their stories of how Jack’s life touched them. Many had become believers due to Jack’s ministry — but not always from the pulpit. It was those one-on-ones I was talking about in the last post. Sitting around talking about Jesus. Many walked away from those conversations with renewed or new faith.

Jack’s life on earth is over, but the rebirth of new life and new faith goes on.

What a legacy.

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