Fearlessly Courageous
Desk of Dennis Piller
12/7/2022
Click for Audio
Part III Pastor was a weeper…A visionary… How can we build a better legacy?
Pastor was a tenderhearted man. He was a weeper. 1st Class – (so was his Dad Hap), It didn’t take much, a testimony, a sermon, worship, a touching scene or event… a saved soul…. hanky in hand weeper! And I can tell you that today he is looking down loving you, doing a happy dance, hanky in hand weeping… saying I told you so…It’s just like I said; Praising God waiting on all of us to join him. He would say, do not weep for me, because I am not lost…I am rejoicing over YOU, with my King Jesus.
I heard him say once: Eulogies are not about death, they are about the things that live on. They give people a chance to remember, celebrate, and connect. He liked funerals because he loved the families that asked him, and he was able to speak to hearts that are open to God and seeking answers. He always pointed them to Christ.
We are coming together on Thursday to share our stories, and say goodbye, but it isn’t about a man dying, it is about how he lived. What’s exciting is his seeds, his words, his passion for Christ lives on in each of us. In Pastor Craig and Debbie, his son’s Warren and Scott, his grandchildren. His oldest grandson is a pastor at Grace Family Church. These and we… are the joy of his life. Pastor was not a man afraid of change. I know because I saw him continue to grow into becoming a better husband and father…a better son of God.. He was truly a vision castor. He always did what he said, even if it cost him.
I thought, what would he say his brightest moment was? He would tell you after receiving Christ as his savior it was the love of Mamma Kaye who he took communion with every day. Can I say that Kaye often kept her husband’s long hours, was a sounding board, encourager and cheerleader. She shouldered his pressures, felt his disappointments, and suffered his defeats—often as profoundly and as deeply as he did and she shared her husband with hundreds of people with real needs. She would smile in the face of criticism and negative comments about her husband and children and, at times, find the right time to defend him.
But his next greatest day might be a jump ball of asking a 1,000 people how he totally changed their lives? To them, his greatest moment was when he saved their marriages, or led them in forgiveness of broken relationships, he put their shattered lives back on the solid ground of God’s word. They thank God for him even to this day…everyday And it’s a seed they want to pass on to someone else. The love lives on.
He was always inspiring, motivating and a kick in the pants kind of guy. He would get you to think forward and give you a positive Godly point of view. In a time that the world needs real hero’s… he was one. He was always on a journey, pressing forward, building relationships. I can still hear him say; “Your job is not your life! It is not your life’s work”. Start today doing something eternal. Dare to be uncommon, finding your way to the significance of using the gifts that God gave you to share with the world. Let God lead you. Let him open the door and show you a brighter light. Then Do It! He will give you the power.
He said we make a living out of what we get. We make a life out of what we give. Are you willing to make some changes to add to your legacy?
