Have You Been To Any Good Funerals Lately? — By Dewey Kearney

I wrote a few months ago about my friend Sam Parsons. I have known Sam about 15 years – He’s the real deal!  Sam is a missionary to the forgotten people — those folks who are confined to nursing homes. Most of them are not visited by friends and family – at least not often although they have families, sometimes large families living nearby.

Sam ministers to these people with his guitar, his beautiful voice and a time of Bible study and of course personal time with each one. He has a dynamic ministry. These people, some of them know the Lord, many do not but are perched on the edge of eternity and he has been able to introduce many of them to Jesus. WOW!!

I receive his monthly newsletter telling what is going on and today I want to write about two people he wrote about this month. Rather than using my words, I am going to let him tell the story. At the end I will give you his website and I encourage you to visit and send him an email and a gift would be nice too. Sam doesn’t get a salary from any church like a regular pastor does but depends on friends like us for his support. Do things get tight for Sam and his wife Colleen? You bet they do. So I hope you will consider making Sam part of your regular giving. God will bless you for it. Here’s Sam’s story:

“I had the opportunity this past month to officiate at the grandfather’s funeral of a dear brother. It was an awesome funeral too! Probably one of the longest I have ever been a part of. No, I wasn’t long winded even though some of you will find that hard to believe. It just took time to get it all in. the man’s name was Joe. He was only 70. He left a sweet wife, three kids, eight grandkids and a host of friends. Joe worked at Wal-Mart as a supervisor.”

Continuing Sam wrote, “He wasn’t famous or rich as far as the world might claim richness but he made a profound impact on many people. Now how would I know that from only being at his funeral? Well, to start out, the story of Joe’s impact on me started out the night Joe died. Colleen and I rushed to the hospital when our friend, Chris, asked us to go and pray over his grandfather and try to comfort his grandmother. We walked in just seconds after Joe had passed into the presence of his Lord. The hospital room was filled with family, tears and sorrow. We did our best to bring them comfort yet God was already moving in that room. We prayed with them and my dear wife spoke such sweet comfort to the widow and her children. I just kinda went along for the ride. It was so moving to see them pulling together in their pain and suffering ministering to each other. In that moment you could sense all the hard work of a Mom and Dad’s life long loving efforts paying off. Joe and Shirley had instilled in their children a strength of character and care and Shirley was now seeing the fruit of their labor.

At the funeral I witnessed a large sanctuary filled to overflowing, the people spilled out onto the lawn, standing room only. Three hours passed and then we made our way up to the graveside and another 20 minutes as people stood in the hot sun paying their respects to a brother who finished well, lived well and had spoken something special into their lives. Joe was a nice guy, a fun guy, and a hard working guy. I think we would have all been better off if we had known him. But Joe’s finest hour was in his passing and the message of the hope he had in his Lord. Joe met his Lord with open arms and all the people at the memorial service knew it. The testimonies of his children, his neighbor and the profound salvation message from his grandson left little doubt this man knew where he was going and how to get there.

I have had the opportunity to preside over a lot of funerals and I am always blessed by them. I say always, yet I remember one funeral that made me quiver.

It was sad to say the least. It was for a man I had grown to love after months of ministering to him in a nursing home. I liked him in spite of himself for he was quite nasty. He liked my music but not my Lord and he let me know in no uncertain terms. But over the months we grew to be kind of buddies.”

Sam continues,  “I finally had the chance to really tell him about Jesus Christ in an open moment when the old man let his guard down. We talked about his life and the ways he felt God had failed him. I presented the Gospel as best as I could but in the end he said blatantly he wanted nothing to do with God. I continued to visit him trying desperately to reach him but as the weeks passed he became even more set and stubborn against God. In fact it became very painful for me to visit yet I continued to try and find a window of hope. He died in his sin, and I was called by his daughter to preside over his burial. When I arrived at his graveside there was only the mortician, the filled casket, the daughter and me. We had to enlist two grave diggers to help carry his casket to the grave.

The sun was hot, dust swirled around the grave as wind was blowing and yet even the air felt dead. I said a few words about some fond memories I had had with her dad but there wasn’t much to say really, at that point. His daughter didn’t even shed a single tear. The silence was deafening. I tried to comfort her but even the Psalms made the moment more bleak, it seemed her only comfort was getting it over with.

What a contrast to Joe’s funeral where heavy hearts were lifted by God’s words, loved ones encircled one another and fond loving memories touched each and every heart.”

Sam’s website is www.GoodNewsMinistry.Net

God will bless you if you are able to support this ministry. Sam is the real thing!

Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts   — Hebrews 3:15

The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.  — 2 Peter 3:9

For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting (eternal) life — John 3:16