This email was sent to me today by the Vice President and National Director of Faith Christian Fellowship. It is referring to the loss of our brother in the Lord, Gary Devoe. Yesterday, Gary suffered a fall in Switzerland while there to minister at FCF's international conference. The injuries he sustained from that fall lead to him passing away. It is a sad experience for the FCF family, and although we know where Gary is today, we ask that you keep his family, the Harrison family and the Faith Christian Fellowship Family in your prayers.
Yesterday I emailed you about the loss of our dear friend and brother, Gary DeVoe. I trust you are being comforted by the Holy Spirit today. The following article that Gary wrote in February 2009 has been a comfort to me this morning, and I trust it will comfort you as well. Let’s allow Gary to minister to us through this difficult time.
Ministering After a Tragedy
By Gary DeVoe
Media Director
Normally I enjoy preaching and jump at the chance to minister the Word. But in October 2003, I had to minister a message at a very difficult time. My wife and I were in Rogers, Arkansas, for some fellowship with FCF pastors and area representatives Buddy and Amy Gastineau.
About midnight on Saturday, the phone rang, and it was Buddy telling me about a tragedy that had just occurred. Orrie, a young boy in the church, had been killed during a Halloween hayride. Understandably, the family was devastated and grieving, and Buddy asked me to minister the following morning. I hung up the phone and asked the Lord, “What could I say that would bring hope, understanding, and healing?” Around 2:00 a.m., He showed me what I had learned from my encounters with death. The message helped that congregation, and I believe it will help you as you minister to your congregation during those difficult times following a tragedy.
Death Comes to Steal Innocence
One summer while in college, I was an intern for a small church in the small town of St. Francis, Kansas. I was still learning how to spell the word pastor; I knew nothing about being one. The pastor went away for ten weeks, and I was it. Then the funeral home called and asked for my help. A family had just lost its wife and mother to cancer and needed somewhere to have the service. I didn’t know any better. I just figured that you were supposed to say “yes” and do it. So I agreed without asking any questions.
Later that day I met the husband and his three little children. I asked about the family’s relationship with Christ, particularly the mother’s relationship with Christ when she passed away. But he didn’t comprehend what I was asking. The family had never set foot inside a church. They were lost. I remember looking in the eyes of those children, and I learned my first lesson about death: Death comes to steal your innocence.
We live in a world that is rampant with fear and sin, and our children are taught from the time that they are little that they must be afraid of everyone and every thing. Yet that is not what God’s Word teaches. The enemy will use death and tragedy to steal children’s innocence. Parents must put their foot down and say, “No, devil, you will not steal my children’s innocence. I bless my children. I pray for them and stand with them. I will sit with them and talk with them. I will protect them.”
In times of tragedy, parents need to hold their children, reassure them, spend time with them, and help them to recognize and realize that Satan never wins, regardless of what circumstances he throws their way. The devil has not won, he will not win, and he cannot win – because he is a defeated foe.
Pastors, encourage your congregation to be there for their children. Train your people how to be godly parents. Don’t just assume that people know because they come to your church or read the Bible. Teach them about God’s plan for the family and the joys and responsibilities of parenthood. Make your children’s ministry a priority.
Death Comes to Steal Our Hope
Many years later after I finished college and had several years experience as a pastor, a second incident happened. His name was Tyler. He was seven years old, had flaming red hair and freckles, and was all boy all the time. Tyler was my best friend at that time because he embodied everything I believed about the goodness and mercy of God. He was innocence personified.
One day I went to visit his parents who were dear friends of mine. We found Tyler in the basement in the process of burning a mattress. When we asked him why he was doing it, he said, “Because it’s here.” That was Tyler’s attitude: Whatever there was to do, he would put his hand to it.
Tyler never slept, never stopped, never slowed down. Then one day, Tyler just stayed in bed. His parents called to tell me that Tyler wasn’t feeling well and hadn’t been out of bed. So we prayed. We thought Tyler needed some sleep because he never slept much or slowed down. About a week later, we took Tyler to the hospital. The diagnosis was an aggressive liver cancer, unstoppable in the natural.
While Tyler was lying in his hospital bed, he taught me a valuable lesson. He was just a few days from being with Jesus. The doctor came into his room and said, “Tyler, I must listen to your heart.”
Tyler lifted his little head off the pillow and asked, “What heart do you want to listen to, Doc?”
The doctor said, “You only have one heart, Tyler.”
“Oh, no,” Tyler said, “I have two hearts. One heart where Jesus lives and one that pumps blood. Which one are you interested in listening to?”
Facing death, this seven year old knew that his hope was Jesus, and Tyler never let go of his hope. Death came to steal hope, but Tyler taught me to keep hoping.
Pastors, teach your people to continue to hope when all reason for hope has gone. Abraham kept hoping when there was no more reason for him to believe that he would have an heir. (Rom. 4:18.) The reason for hope doesn’t lie within our own abilities. The reason for hope is Jesus; He always keeps His Word. He said He overcame; therefore, we overcome. He promised a place for us; therefore, we have a place ready and waiting for us.
Death Comes to Steal Your Joy
In 1991, I moved to Tulsa, a broken and hurting man. Mess that I was, Buddy and Pat Harrison took me. They made me a son and poured their love and wisdom into my life.
Buddy was the father I never had. We love God, and we see God through the eyes of our natural fathers. My natural father was an emotionally mean drunk who always put me down. Consequently, I felt as if I were a loser and a failure. But Buddy Harrison loved me unconditionally, and I could see and understand God the Father through Buddy’s eyes, through the love of an earthly father.
Buddy taught me life’s greatest secret: Life is a choice. He said, “Every day I choose to love Jesus. Every day I choose to serve Him. I choose to believe His word, and I choose to act upon it.” Life is my choice. My life is not dictated by chance or circumstances. It is dictated by my choices.
Then in November 1998, death came again, and I learned that death comes to steal your joy. I was so angry at God, and I was angry at Buddy Harrison for going home to heaven. I hurt for many months.
Then one morning at 3:00 A.M., I sat up in bed, sobbing and crying as loudly as I could, “Why, God? Why, God? Why, God, did he die?” Thank God that He answers the whys in our lives. The sweet quiet voice of the Holy Spirit said, “Gary, Buddy did not live for you. Buddy did not die for you. Buddy was not raised from the dead for you. It was Me. Now honor Buddy for what he taught you, and go do it.” I found out that Buddy was not my joy. Jesus was and is and forever shall be my joy.
Pastors, teach your people who joy is and teach them how to rejoice at all times. Yes, children, spouses, careers, and so on can give a measure of joy. But the deep, abiding joy that sustains us through death and tragedies can only come from the source – Jesus.
Death Comes to Steal Your Faith
I never knew my natural grandfathers. They were dead before I was born. When the Harrisons adopted me, I finally had a spiritual grandfather, Kenneth Hagin. What fun I had being around him!
I particularly liked the times when he would share his experiences. I would listen in rapt attention, realizing that those were God moments. One time in particular stands out in my memory. He, Doc Horton, Alan Jackson, and I were sitting around the dinner table, and Brother Hagin and Doc Horton were reminiscing about the early days of Pentecost when signs and wonders abounded, such as instant healings of entire congregations and supernatural manifestations of the Holy Spirit. The presence of God was so strong at that table. Finally, I summoned the courage and asked, “Why don’t we see those things now?”
Brother Hagin looked at me and said, “Gary, I believe one reason is that we expected it. We went to church, and we expected God to move.” Then he recounted a story about David Dupleis and Smith Wigglesworth, with the point being Smith Wigglesworth’s reverence for God. Smith would get dressed in his finest when he was doing business for God. Then Brother Hagin said, “We don’t reverence God anymore like we used to.”
I cherished those times with Brother Hagin. Then he died in September 2003, and I discovered that death comes to steal your faith. Brother Hagin wasn’t supposed to die. He was supposed to be here for the Rapture. After all, he wasn’t human, was he? Everybody in Word of Faith circles knew that Brother Hagin would never die.
But then I remembered him saying one time, “If you hear I’m gone, you’ll know I was satisfied.” He’s gone because he was satisfied. And I had to stop death from stealing my faith.
Pastors, teach your people how to hold on to their profession of faith. The devil wants to stop our expectation of God’s moving and curtail our reverence for the Lord. Cynicism, bitterness, and doubt must not be allowed to rule. Jesus is still the author and finisher of our faith.
The devil will try to destroy one person in a family so that he can destroy the whole family. And he will use the destruction of one family to destroy a church. His plan is to get the family within the family of God to lose its hope, put away its joy, lay down its passion, and stop preaching the Good News. Pastors, teach your people to stand against the destruction of their innocence, hope, joy, and faith.
God Answers Our Whys
Mark 15:34 records one of Jesus’ statements that He made while hanging on the cross: “My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?” For years we have preached about Jesus’ experience of being forsaken while hanging on the cross, but we have failed to understand a vital truth. Any time in the ancient script when the first line of a psalm is quoted, it is quoted as referencing the entire psalm. So Jesus wasn’t just expressing His feelings of abandonment. He was quoting the entire Psalm 22.
As you read through the Psalm, you notice that the first twenty verses describe Jesus’ ministry and crucifixion experience. He was ridiculed and rejected by men: “I am a worm and no man; a reproach of men, and despised by the people. All those who see Me ridicule Me; they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, ‘He trusted in the Lord, let Him rescue Him; let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him!’” (vv. 6-8 NKJV).
Jesus suffered physically: “I am poured out like water, and all My bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it has melted within Me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and My tongue clings to My jaws; You have brought Me to the dust of death” (Psalm 22:14-15 NKJV).
Then the later part of verse 22 says, “You have answered Me.” And the rest of the psalm is one of praise and victory. “And all the families of the nations shall worship before You. For the kingdom is the Lord’s and He rules over the nations. All the prosperous the earth shall eat and worship. All those who go down to the dust shall bow before Him, even he who cannot keep himself alive. A posterity shall serve Him. It will be recounted of the Lord to the next generation, they will come and declare His righteousness to a people who will be born, that He has done this” (Psalm 22:27-31 NKJV).
Jesus quoted Psalm 22 not because He was forsaken but because He knew His end. He knew the victory, the joy that was set before Him.
Pastors, God answers our whys not with theology but with theocracy. With His presence. Thus, we must go to God, and we must train our people to go to God.
How We Can Help in the Difficult Times
How can the church help families who have experienced the death of a loved one? In times of great duress and pain, it is often best that we close our mouths and open our arms. The great comfort the church family can give is acts of kindness to show that they have not forgotten nor forsaken. They can fix meals, mow lawns, clean cars or houses, watch the children, or run errands.
Acts of service will speak louder during those times than words will ever speak. Often because we don’t know what to say or do during times of tragedy and grief, we back away. But that is not the time to back away. That is the time to become servants of God and show His love. Thus our communities will be amazed at our ability to galvanize our faith and our consistency in our hope in Christ. Yes, we may lose a person, but we haven’t lost Jesus.
Another important action to take during these times is to pray in the Holy Spirit. We may not know what or how to pray, but He does. That is one reason why Jesus gave us this marvelous gift.
Pastors, it is vital that you contact the family on important dates, such as the date of death, holidays, birthdays, and anniversaries. The devil will often use those days to bring the spirit of grief. Your contact helps the survivors through the rough spots because they know that you remember and that the church cares.
In the Word of Faith circles, some have taught that we don’t grieve. That is nonsense. We experience the feelings of loss and sadness. Grieving is a natural emotional process. But we are not to give into the spirit of grief because that spirit brings hopelessness and depression. Christians should never lose hope, the confident and favorable expectation of the Lord’s working on our behalf, because Jesus is our hope and our joy.
Lastly, remember that victory belongs to us. Death and defeat are not the end.
Let me end with this story. On June 18, 1815, the battle of Waterloo took place. The great English General Wellington commanded an army of British, Dutch, Belgian, and German soldiers to fight against Napoleon’s army. In those days, the armies employed signalmen or flagmen to send messages. These men were stationed throughout the area on the highest points so that the messages could be flashed from one area to the next and so on, until the message had been sent across an entire nation or continent.
As the battle raged and Wellington’s troops surrounded Napoleon’s army, the message flashed across the area until it reached the ship in the harbor. From there the message flashed from ship to ship until it reached England’s shore. At the shore, the signalman climbed the highest point and began his message: “Wellington defeated . . .” and the fog rolled in. Soon the message that Wellington had been defeated was flashed from church steeple to church steeple and from castle to castle across England. The nation was plunged into mourning. Somewhat later when the fog lifted in the harbor, the signalman climbed the highest point again. This time he finished his message: “Wellington defeated the enemy.”
Pastors, when the fog of grief has lifted, victory will come in. On the cross, Jesus appeared to be defeated, but His end was victory. So is ours.
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