Good Bye Jerry... for now

Well just so everyone knows Jerry passed away yesterday morning at 12:41AM. We will miss you Jerry, you were a good friend, an incredible guitar player and a lover of Jesus Christ our Lord! See you on the other side bro!

Fear Part 2

So can I make a confession? I fear getting the stomach flu, that may sound silly but it seems that every year that stinkin bug goes around I fear getting it. I mean even to the point of sometimes thinking that I have it. Yeah it is pretty dumb.

I am currently reading Lee Strobel's The Case for Faith and found something profound in there. Particularly this statement: "We know that moral character gets formed through hardship, through overcoming obstacles, through enduring despite difficulties. (Page 41) This chapter deals with the question of "If God is so good why is there evil and suffering?" and the followup question of "Did God create evil?" Well the answer is because God loves us. "What???", you say. Ok I admit that is a very simplistic answer, but it is the truth. When God created the world he could have created us to only be good, but instead he gave us the choice to either love Him or not, he gave us free will. Love without choice is not love at all, we aren't robots it is what makes us human. So when God gave us free will, to love Him or to choose to turn away from him He created the possibility for evil. We actualized that potential through our choices (page 37). The penalty for evil is pain and suffering.

So the next question is then "Why doesn't God save us from the pain an suffereing?" As a parent I am faced every day with teachable moments. Many of those moments involve me making a choice of whether I will step in and intervene or not. Often times I cannot intervene to allow my sons to learn on there own, the joy they have because they were able to do it is wonderful! Sometimes that requires me to allow them to experience pain. God allows us to experience pain and suffering as teachable moments to us. There is so much more that can be said. (Read the book it is a great read!)

What I have learned is that for my sons I cannot protect them all the time, instead, I have to prepare them to handle the pain and the suffering as Christian men. We live in a world of evil, thus we pay the penalty. Instead of asking that the Lord would not allow me to get the stomach flu, instead I am now praying that he would give me the strength to handle it. Teachable moment....

What to Fear?

It has almost been a year since Jerry had his surgery, now he lies on his death bed. Last night at the hospital was the closest to death I have ever been. Death is the penalty we must pay for our sins, it is a part of the curse. I have wrestled with my mortality for a long, long time, fearing death, fearing things other than the Lord Almighty. Psalm 2:11 says to "Serve the Lord with fear", I have feared other things. The Holy Spirit has been working on my heart in this are for the last couple of years, through various experiences, thoughts, conversations and through His Word. Last night was a release for me to no longer fear death. Death is not our friend, it is the price we pay for our sins. As I have said before we will all experience death, what I fear more now than death is that I won't hear the words "Well done good and faithful servant". I want to serve the Lord(I don't mean beyond what I do daily in life), obey His commands, honor him in all that I do. Death has been overcome by the Cross, where o'death is your sting?

Worshipping in the Hospital - Update

Last night was incredible, Amos and I were able to play and sing with all of our hearts for Jerry and more importantly for the Lord. When we first got there Jerry was very calm and pretty much asleep. As we played he stirred more and more, his eyes wide open looking like he was trying to sing with us. It was obviously very emotional, very heart wrenching as I watched one of his sons sitting there singing with us and crying as we cried. Jerry was by no means a perfect man, but he was an incredible guitar player, a father, a husband, and he loved the Lord Jesus Christ! He is just a few short days away from being set free, from breathing the air of Heaven! Jerry we love you bro!

Worshipping in the Hospital

Tonight Amos and I are heading up to JMH to sing worship songs with Jerry one last time. I pray that it ministers to his heart and that by the Holy Spirit he hears the words and music. More to come tonight. The update is that they have removed the feeding tubes and have given him only 3-5 days to live.

Why?

Yesterday Shannon asked me why would God allow Jerry to persist so long after his surgery in such a poor state of life? To me this is very similar to the question of "Why didn't Jesus heal everyone he met?" That's a profound question. I don't have an answer for it "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways" declares the Lord. What I have found is that the world was set in motion at the time of creation, when the Fall occurred the decay of this world started. Sometimes God steps in from outside of time to intercede and other times He doesn't. What we have to remember is that God is sovereign and that even though we don't and can't understand everything that happens this side of Heaven God is on the throne!

Death comes in many forms and the death rate is 1 for 1, everyone must die the physical death because of the Fall. We live in a fallen world, do we have to accept that fact? NO! There is hope! God the Father sent His son so that after our physical death we can have eternal life. There will be a day when we no longer ask why.

For a Friend

Ok, well I haven't blogged like I said. I am hoping to change that. Today was a pretty sad day for me. For the last year a good friend of mine has laid in a bed suffering from seizures, strokes, infections, just a poor way of life all due to brain surgery he had last March. Jerry had a benign brain tumor that grew and grew until it started to effect him in some serious ways. After the brain surgery it has been extremely rough for his family, wife and two sons. What really tears my heart apart is that two men at an age where they need their daddy the most have had to say goodbye and see what once was their father waste away. Today they decided it was time to remove the feeding tubes, why? Well it was just time. I don't know how long he will live but I will tell you this the Lord has spoken to me through this situation. Those two boys need a mentor they need men to help them through. I just finished a book called King Me by Steven Farrar, wow what a book. It opened my eyes that my single most important role in this life is that of a father. I am the mentor to my three sons. How I live my life is how they will see the Father in Heaven. Whoa huge responsibility. While I cannot be a dad to Jerry's two boys I can help. As a Christian that is what I am called to do, to serve. There is so much more that can be said. Meanwhile I will pray and I will celebrate and I will grieve the life of Jerry Pryor, great guitar player, a God follower and my friend.