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Young Man With a Future

Thoughts surrounding the saddness of saying good-bye

by Carl L. Dayhoff

One of the most difficult things to face in life is the loss of a loved one. We know that. But especially difficult for a parent is the loss of a child. I mourn with you the passing of this courageous young man, Berry Joe Parker. My wife and I are bonded to the Parker family through two of our beautiful grandchildren, Lydia Michelle Parker and Thomas William parker III. They cannot be present at this time because of distance, but have always lovingly referred to "Uncle Berry Joe" as one of their favorite people.

If God had offered Tom and Barbara Parker a gift of a new baby along with a contract to have this child for just 15 years, knowing in advance all the joy and happiness of caring for and seeing this beautiful baby's face shine with love for them, watching his progress and zest for life as he grows older, but also knowing all the pain of his brief life--the suffering of Hodgkins disease, the chemo-therapy, years of hospitals and anxieties for his very life, never ending concern for health and well-being, and now worrying about a spot on the brain that suddenly appears--would they have accepted the challenge? YES--WITHOUT HESITATION! I know them. Even now they thank God for the privilege of knowing and loving Berry Joe Parker as their son. We all accept the future--the good with the painful, when we have children, don't we? But it hurts so much to give one of them back to their Creator.

So, today I will just reflect for a few minutes on what may be in store for Berry Joe Parker, as he joins the billions who have gone before him into what one might call "the rest of the story"--God's plan for him.

Let's bow our heads in prayer.

Truth about Life after Death is only found in one book: The Bible. Some may claim to know but Nobody really knows outside of this source what happens at the cessation of life in a human soul, and even this source doesn't't show us everything. But we can be encouraged by what it does tell us. In this book, the Bible, Jesus, the Messiah, tells us, "you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

In this short time, lets go to a few of these books in the Book of Books--the Bible, to explore our future after we leave this temporal life as a "carbon-based life-form:"

When Jesus Christ walked the earth, He saw death, hunger, and confusion all around Him. Many times he healed the sick and even raised the dead. At one time even his good friend, Lazerus died, and had already been dead for four days. Jesus declared to His disciples, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up." When Jesus arived at the huose, he saw Mary and Martha and many others weeping. Jesus was troubled by their lack of belief. He told them: "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies."

Jesus, then, for sake of the crowd of unbelievers around him, cried in a loud voice, "LAZARUS, COME OUT." And come out he did. Not long after that, Jesus gave His Life for our sins, liberating us from the bonds of death. Because of this, The apostle Paul later proclaimed: "Death swallowed by triumphant life! Who got the last word, oh, Death? Oh, Death, who's afraid of you now?" (translation from the message bible) So we find that death is only a temporary step in God's plan for life.

Keep Your Fork" is the title of a story of a little Christian Lady who was in the process of dying. Her last will and testament required that she be buried with a Bible in her left hand and a fork in her right hand. Before her death, her family, curious about this, inquired of her as to why she wanted a fork in her right hand. She smiled and said, "I remember the many pot luck dinners we had at church. After the meal, helpers would take up the paper plates and whisper, "save your fork, save your fork." I knew that dessert was coming--we all looked forward to the dessert....the best was yet to come. So I know that I have had a wonderful, exciting life. But when this course isfinished, the best --the dessert--is yet to come." Most of you, and I have seen Berry Joe eying dessert after a nice Pot-Luck dinner at church or at a family gathering. fork or spoon in hand and smile on face. Berry knew how to enjoy his dessert. For now, Berry will sleep, but when God says "COME FORTH," Berry will do just that, but he will need more than a little fork to take in the wonders of God's Eternal dessert--even a fork-lift will be inadequate.

Berry loved the outdoors, He loved swamp-buggies, airboats and especially his ATV 4-wheeler. Many happy hours of his short life were spent out in the wild area of South Florida, just riding with his family, his many close friends, and even by himself at times. He loved the freedom of this sport and the thrill of the bumpy ride. Many of you could tell some real stories about some of those adventrues.

In spite of the suffering he experienced as a younger child, Berry was as exuberant as they come, athletic, desiring to be a fine football player, had dreams of big trucks and a great future. He wasn't about to allow a little thing like cancer to slow him down. Courage was just a part of his way of life, even at his young age. No doubt about it, his courage, coupled with the great love and patience of his parents and family support, brought this young man to a positive outlook toward life.

At his resurrection, I can just picture Berry's eyes flash with anticipatoin on seeing those heavenly horses, chariots and four-wheelers sitting in God's cosmic garage. The next time we see him, we may just watch him checking out some of these vehicles we can read aabut in the first chapter of Ezekiel and II Kings 2.

The resurrection of the dead is not just a supposition, according tro God's Word. Paul, the Apostle writes strongly concening this Resurrection of the dead: The "Message" bible says it this way: "The experts of our day haven't a clue about what this eternal plan is. If they had, they wouldn't have killed the Master of the God-designed life on a cross". That's why we have this Scripture text: "No one's ever seen or heard anything like this. Never so much as imagined anything quite like it--What God has arranged for those who love Him"

Jesus makes this powerful claim. He said in His Word, "I am the door. If anyone enters by Me he shall be saved." He also said, "I am the bread of Life. He who comes to me shall neverh unger, and hewho believes inme shall never thirst."

The Spanish explored, Ponce DeLeon was one thirsty man--searched his whole life for the fountain of youth. He died having never tasted of such water. But hundreds of years before Ponce DeLeon, Jesus had cried out to His people, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink: rivers of Living water will brim and spill out of the depths of anyone who believves in me..." He spoke this in regard to the Spirit that was to come after he was to willingly lay down His own life in our place.

Science searches for ways to increase mankind's life-span. God's Master plan gives us Eternal Life with a simple, sincere prayer of confession, repentance and of faith in Jesus Christ. As I see it, that's the way to go.

We will miss Berry Joe Parker a lot, and we will suffer his absence, but where he goes and with what God has in store for him, as well as you and me when we travel the same road, he may just be having too much fun to miss us much.

Let's close this portion of the service with Prayer. In the remaining few minutes, please listen while Christopher Garcia, Berry's cousin, reads Berry Joe's personal story, entitled, "Berry's Brief Life." Then, Ashley Russell, also a cousin of Berry, will read his sister, Missty's moving response from Europe upon hearing of her brother's death. After that, Rachael Hermann will sing: "How Great Thou Art!." Accompanied on the keyboard by Mrs. Annabel Dayhoff.

A prayer of benediction will close the service....

This page was created by Lil Tommy and was last updated on 12/22/98.