April showers bring May flowers.

It seems that the month of April has been filled with rain. Over the past several years, we've observed the deadly stand-off in Wayco, TX, a federal building bombing and then the Columbine shooting this year, all in the month of April.

In my personal life, I've also experienced the death of a good brother this past week. His memorial service was yesterday. I've never been to a more profound service in my life. Don Hickock was truly a "Christian," or a follower of Christ. His memorial service was a witness to that, as close to five hundred people sat and listened to the eulogies.

Last Christmas, Don played a wonderful part in our annual "Living Christmas Tree," a musical with a message. Night after night, Don gave a dramatic invitation to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. His invitation was stirring. I remember telling him one night that he better start listening to the Lord's calling, because this brother was born to preach.

This past Monday morning, Don stayed late after the men's early morning prayer meeting at our church. He wanted one of our pastors to pray with him. He felt he was being called into the ministry and wanted discernment and direction from the Lord. Later that afternoon, Don's car slid off a slippery road and burst into flames.

This leads me to the most significant part of the memorial service, when the lights dimmed and the projector lit. There, on a huge screen, was Don's image. It was a video tape of his invitation from Christmas. Don gave an invitation to meet Jesus at his own funeral. His calling into the ministry was short lived, but profound in impact. It was one of the most moving things I've every witnessed.

Funerals are a time when we all examine our own lives. We begin to think about life and death in a more serious manner. We question God as to why? We want to understand how. And many times, we're left with unanswered questions.

Today, I want to leave you with a glimpse of encouragement. Encouragement for understanding the untimely death of a young family man. Encouragement for reasoning out a high school massacre. Encouragement for everyday, every circumstance and every disappointment in life. To the Romans, Paul wrote...

Romans 8:
28And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

I've heard verse 28 misquoted as much as any other verse in God's word. No where in that verse does it say that God does good things for good people. It doesn't even say that God does good things for those who love him. What Paul is saying is that God is at work in every facet of our lives, in ALL things. And when God goes to work for those who love Him, it is for our own good - even when we can not see the good or understand the good. Rest assured, when God ordains something to happen, it is for our good that it happens. And all His works have a purpose - to draw us into a closer, more intimate relationship with Himself. He does not force us into this relationship, but He will use an unending list of ways to draw us. God has one deep desire within His mighty heart. He wants to love us beyond reason. He want us to draw close to Him. He wants us to enter into the Most Holy Place and abide there with Him.

But life offers tragedy and we tend to forget what God's heart desires. Killings, bombings and accidents are all around us. We live in fear of the world. And all the world offers depression and anxiousness...

31What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died--more than that, who was raised to life--is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36As it is written:

"For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered."

37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

As the old saying goes, when life hands you lemons, make lemon-aide. Easier said than done when the lemon is the death of a good friend. There is little comfort in lemon-aide. But the love of God that is in Christ Jesus is more than enough to soften the blow of tragedy. Nothing can overcome that Love. Not death or life. Not even angels or demons. There is no great power or distance or anything else in all creation that is able to separate us from the love of God. It was through His son that He demonstrated His love for us. God first loved us, in that He laid down the life of His Son in order that we might be saved.

Nothing can separate us from the love of God. That's comforting to me. In that love, I have victory, I am a conqueror.

I pray you share in it also...

Don is a conqueror also. His life and death demonstrate that. And I don't think I can express it any better than with the lyrics of a song which another close friend penned the night after Don's departure. My brother and Noel Brown (the author) sang this song at the memorial service. I leave you with these final thoughts. Have a wonderful summer. May the Lord bless you beyond belief...

Noel Brown

April 27, 1999

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