Living Out Our Faith

This article was originally published in the Franklin News-Post.

I have been reflecting a great deal on the lives my brother and his wife lived.  Bobby and Pam Clark were faithful servants of Christ. They lived their lives to live again.  I hear it asked from time to time, if you were living your last moments on earth, how would you spend that time?  The thing is we never know when that last moment will come for any of us.  I did not speak with my brother on August 21, 2015.  But these are some of the things I have learned.


On that Friday morning, my brother wrote and mailed a letter to our mother.  In the letter, he was writing of his memories of her.  He wrote of his love for her.  He reflected upon the challenges he had in making the time to visit with her.  But, he also spoke of a plan to do just that.  My brother was speaking words of life and encouragement in the life of our mother.  He was edifying our mother – lifting her spiritually.


After mailing the letter, he traveled to the New River Valley Regional Jail for Friday pastoral visits.  On this day, his son was also incarcerated at this facility, but Bobby is not permitted to meet with him on pastoral visit days.  He met with other men, speaking words of the Holy Gospel and teaching these men.  He was able to pass a note on a napkin to his son.  Bobby challenged his son that he (my brother) wanted his son to be on fire for God.  My brother spoke of his desire to live more like Stephen (from the book of Acts).  On his last day on earth, he was teaching to people described in Matthew 25: 31-46 as the ‘least of these.’  In sending the napkin with the note he had penned to his son, he was edifying his son.  My brother was also reflecting on what it meant to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.  What it meant to be ‘all-in’ and ‘sold-out’ for Christ.


Later in the afternoon of the same day, Bobby and Pam gathered with friends and took a ride on their motorcycles to attend church on a Friday night.  They enjoyed a time of fellowship.  They enjoyed the experience of making this trip.  They enjoyed the company of each other – husband and wife.


Arriving at T.R.A.S.H. Ministries on that Friday night, they entered the sanctuary.  They stood in fellowship with the men and women who had gathered together that evening.  They enjoyed a time of praise and worship.  Knowing my brother, this was an active process (not passive) for him.  They heard Mike Price preach the Word of God to those assembled.  They completed their visit at T.R.A.S.H. Ministries with an additional time of fellowship.  As they left, my brother threw his big paw in the air and called out to Pastor Mike, “Good Word tonight, brother.”  They then headed for their home in Floyd.


In living out their day, they lived out their faith.  They did not make it back to Floyd that evening.  Instead, they were called home to glory.  And even in their passing, one of the EMS providers who had come to render care to my brother, accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior.


“It is evidence of lives lived well when you’re positively impacted others, even through your passing.”


Bobby and Pam had no way of knowing this was their last day on earth.  It mattered not.  They lived out their faith in such a way, that on the day of their Celebration of Life service, the officiating pastor did not have to lie about the lives they lived as he spoke to those gathered.


If you knew this was your last day, how would you live it?  Since things routinely happen in the blink of an eye, it should give us all cause to reflect how we are living, daily.  As you read this column, reflect on your last 24 hours.  As a Christian, what would that have looked like?  I thank God I am still be sanctified.  I pray for just one more day to impact the life of just one more person.