I had two friends at Mount Carmel High School who lived next door to each other in the boys’ dorm in the Spring semester of 1979. Kent was my first cousin. David was one of my best friends. Their stories are hard for me to tell. Grief comes back in as a flood each time I share these stories; however, you may be the person who needs them.
Kent came to Mount Carmel for the Spring semester of his Sophomore year. He came from a Christian home. Kent grew up in church. The same grandmother that prayed for me, prayed for Kent. It was 1979. Kent was only 16 and already struggling with drugs and alcohol. God called Kent to himself, but Kent never fully surrendered to Christ. After that one semester, he stayed home, and did not return to Mount Carmel. I saw Kent in about 1994. He looked good. He was married to a lovely wife, but rumor was that he had a drinking problem. Soon, the marriage ended. Last year, Kent and his sister were sharing a house in Cincinnati, Ohio. On Tuesday, December 11, 2012, my mother called. Kent had died. Kent died of an overdose. Kent loved his life, and lost it. Kent was 50.
David came to Mount Carmel High School in his Freshman year. He came from a Christian home. He grew up in church. David had praying parents. But David was not sure it was for him. During our Sophomore year in high school, in a season of rebellion, he had to leave school and return home. That semester in public school, he was attacked by a jealous boyfriend, who accused David of speaking to his girl. He landed in the hospital, beaten and broken. That Summer, David petitioned to return to Mount Carmel for our Junior year. His petition was granted. He returned, and he was different.
Soon, David, Todd, Lonnie and I started to sing together in a gospel quartet. We graduated from Mount Carmel on the same day, attended Kentucky Mountain Bible College together, graduated and went into ministry. I will never forget the day at a KMBC revival, when David surrendered his all to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. The message was about the 7 last sayings of Christ on the cross. David prayed them, meant them, died to himself, surrendered his all to God, and was filled with the sanctifying Presence of the Holy Spirit.
David became a Wesleyan pastor. He called me to recommend associate pastors to him. We succeeded twice. The second time was 2012, and my son, Nathan, joined his staff in June of that year. December, 2012, David was on a missions trip to Nicaragua. At age 51, he was cut down in the prime of life with a sudden and unexpected heart-attack. It was December 9, 2012. He was 51.
Within two days of each other in 2012, two men who had lived next door to each other as dorm mates in 1979 went out into eternity. David went to meet God. God alone knows where my cousin Kent is spending eternity. Both men had similar backgrounds, similar opportunities, similar formative experiences. But they made different choices. David chose to lose himself in Christ and to become a winner. Kent appeared to save his life for himself, and tragically seems to have lost it.
John 12:23-26 “And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. 24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. 25 He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.”
I grieve the passing of both men, but am reminded that our choices determine our destiny.
No comments:
Post a Comment