February 13 – “Subculture missionary”

The funeral service went really well, I thought.  I'm not sure how long it lasted, but it was at least an hour or and hour and a half.  There were a lot of people there from wildly different walks of life.  I encouraged everyone to decide before we started that they would not be offended by anything anyone said.  That way everyone could be real and say what they really felt.    As a result a lot of Matt's good friends spoke up and shared what were some very unexpected things about him.  Come to find out he had been sharing with them for quite some time about his faith in Jesus.  His infectious smile and unrestrained love had really captured them, so they were paying close attention to what he was saying.  And many of them had come to Jesus as a result.    It was an eye opener for the very traditional folks in the crowd who were having a hard time seeing through the tattoos and piercings.  All of them were wearing t-shirts with some photo of themselves with Matt.  It was a great expression of love.  The young man had been one of the best missionaries to a subculture that I have ever seen.  Nice job Matt.    His son shared from his heart a three page statement that he prepared.  It was one of the best sermons I have heard in a long time.  Nice job Mark.    His sister put together a lot of the detail work for the event, and her statement was heartfelt and tender as well.  Nice job Sarah.    Today the Wilson family will head down to Lingleville, Texas, for a graveside service at the Wilson family cemetery.  They even invited us to join them.  Hats off to a family of Jesus lovers.  God be with you.   Psalms 145:1-2 says, "I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever.  Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever."   Father, protect the Wilsons on their trek to Lingleville.  Amen.