I am on my way back from Las Vegas and participating in the funeral service of my friend Jimmy Mac McNamara.  Please remain in prayer for his family and friends, he will be severely missed.
            It seems appropriate to remind you that 1Thes 4 tells us that we do not mourn like the rest of the world does.  Notice it does not say; we do not mourn.  We do mourn; we are emotional beings, made that way by our creator.  Not to mourn or to act as if everything is just great is to deny the reality of a situation.  Even Jesus wept when He lamented over Jerusalem during the “Lazarus Incident”.  So by all means mourn your losses.  But do not mourn like the world does – as those who have no hope.  I have the hope that I will see Mac again along with all the other Christian people that have died before me.  Those who love me and die after I do have the hope that we too will be re-united (an all our dogs too).
            I also remind myself that the instant Mac closed his eyes on this side of eternity, he opened them on the other – and saw Jesus.  I do not believe for a nano-second that God took Mac away from us because God had some need in heave and only Mac could fill that need and God could not wait.  You would be surprised how many times I have seen a post like that on Facebook this past week (I broke my sabbatical for this occasion).  How many times do we read in the Bible that our lives are like a vapor?  In light of eternity, Mac’s 63 years is the span of a scratch compared to the entire length of HWY 80.  Heaven really can wait.  No I do not believe that God took my friend.  I know however that Jesus was there to welcome him into His eternal presence.  I also know that all of Mac’s concerns, tears, aches, pains, etc. are gone.  I do not wish Mac would come back to us – he is truly in a much better place.  No, in the words of David in 2Samuel 12:23, I will go to him, he will not return to me.
            In the meantime, I miss my friend, and I thank God I have such a friend to miss.