At the impressionable age of 12, I was standing in Woodside Cemetery in Middletown, Ohio questioning God. My heart was broken. Rocky Glenn, my 16-month old brother, had died and all I could do was ask why! Why?
Several weeks before Ken, my older brother, had begun to participate in a church sponsored basketball league. The prerequisite to play was that you would attend the church services. When the funeral director asked my father who he would like to officiate the burial for Rocky, dad was at a loss. The only pastor he knew of was Howard Sears from the church where Ken played ball. Though our family did not attend Pastor Sears’ church, or any church for that matter, Pastor Sears readily agreed to help at this time in our lives.
That morning at Woodside Cemetery, the pastor stood and quoted John chapter 14, verses 1-6.
1 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
2 In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to 3 prepare a place for you.
4 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
5 And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.
6 Thomas saith unto him, I am the way the truth and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
What a powerful portion of Scripture! It was not long afterwards that my brother and I accepted Christ as our personal Savior and began to attend Grace Baptist Church. Ken and I both surrendered to follow Christ in full-time service and attended Baptist Bible College. Ken would later become a professor at BBC for more than 30 years. For my wife and I, this month marks 50 years of ministry. Having conducted well over 300 funerals through the years, I have always included the promises found in John 14:1-6. This passage from God’s Word has offered hope to many as they stand where I once stood.
I trust you have that same hope and understanding that Jesus is The Way, The Truth, and The Life. It makes all the difference in this world and in the one to come.
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