Memorial Service for Wayne Livesay

For any who may be interested, following is information on the memorial service for my dad:

Friday, November 6, 2:00 P.M.

Faith Baptist Church

5363 Tyler Street

Riverside, CA

The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Sue Livesay Memorial Scholarship Fund.

Another Real American Hero Passes Into History – And Into the Presence of the Savior

Wayne W. Livesay
June 16, 1922 – October 31, 2009

At about 8:00 this morning, October 31, 2009, the United States of America lost another of its real heroes. My dad, Wayne W. Livesay, passed out of this earthly life into the presence of the Savior he loved. He has now been reunited with my mom, Anna Ruth Livesay, his wife of sixty-two years, who went on before him in 2007. He was eighty-seven years old, although I believe all that he suffered over the years aged him excessively and gave him the body of a ninety-five year old.

His last few months, weeks, and days were not pleasant. He did not, as is so often said, “pass away after a long illness.” He was actually quite healthy in many ways, taking only two medications and having a normal EKG yesterday, the day prior to his death. In his case, it would be most accurate to say that he “passed away after a long bout with old age.”

My dad was not famous, but he did more for his country than most of us could ever imagine. He fought and bled for the freedom we all enjoy, even for the freedoms of those who today spit on the flag and make a mockery of the liberty we have in this country. His thirty-three missions in B-17 bombers were many beyond the average life-expectancy of bomber crews in World War 2. His nine months as a prisoner of war in Germany took a toll on his body that caused him to suffer until the end of his life.

In addition to his service to his country, he had a long life of service to the Lord, serving as a pastor and church planter, teaching adult Sunday school for many years, and presenting the gospel of Christ to unbelievers. His life’s verse was Galatians 2:20, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”

We will miss him, but we are thankful that he is now at rest and at peace in the very presence of the Lord Jesus Christ.

______________________________

My dad’s brother, Arthur Livesay of Pennington Gap, Virginia, has suggested that it would be most appropriate to ask that in lieu of flowers, donations be made in my dad’s memory to the Sue Livesay Memorial Scholarship Fund. I agree with him, since my dad was a faithful supporter of the fund.

Is Jesus Narrow-minded?

I have heard it said that Jesus is totally open, accepting, and tolerant of all people, “just like they are.” The reality is that such an idea simply does not square with the Scriptures. While it is true that we cannot change ourselves in order to come to Him for salvation, it is also true that He changes us and makes us into a new creation.

A biblical illustration that is commonly used to portray his “openness” and “acceptance” is the account of the woman caught in adultery. We are told that Jesus accepted her just like she was; but is that really the case? When a sinner comes to Christ, he must come with nothing to offer and simply throw himself “on the mercy of the court.” However, unlike a human hall of justice, Jesus takes the sinner and changes him – permanently and completely. He never accepts us in our sin by leaving us in that condition. He did not say to the woman, “That’s OK, you are forgiven. I know you are doing your best.” Instead, he told her to “go and sin no more” (John 8:11). This incident actually illustrates that Jesus is in the “changing” business, not the “tolerating” business.

The Lord Jesus Christ made it very clear during His earthly ministry that the only acceptable way is His way. He is the God of the universe, the creator of all things. He needs no input from us. I heard an atheist say on a “You Tube” video, “A god who’s afraid of new ideas is certainly no creator.” Such a statement is the height of arrogance and shows a lack of understanding of the nature of God that is total and complete. “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became his counselor?” (Romans 11:34, NASB). He needs no input from us, and there is no “wiggle room” to negotiate what He has said.

Jesus made the claim to a group of scribes and Pharisees that He was (and still is, by the way) God. And He was saying to them, "You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. "Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins” (John 8:23-24, NASB).

That last section is very profound, but it certainly does not sound open, accepting, and tolerant. “…unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.” Was Jesus narrow-minded? The answer is obvious.

No Evidence for God?

It has been rightly said that the "atheist" can't find God for the same reason a thief can't find a policeman. He knows that if he admits that there is a God, he is admitting that he is ultimately responsible to Him. This is not a pleasant thought for some. (From God Doesn't Believe in Atheists by Ray Comfort)

Wisdom

“Wisdom is the right use of knowledge. To know is not to be wise. Many men know a great deal, and are all the greater fools for it. There is no fool so great a fool as a knowing fool. But to know how to use knowledge is to have wisdom.” (Charles H. Spurgeon)

http://thinkexist.com/quotes/charles_h._spurgeon/

GOD IS SUPREME IN THE SPIRITUAL WORLD

…Many Christian educators have been trained in secular institutions where the spiritual world is either denied or ignored. Modern educators speak of educating the whole child, but in reality they don’t unless they recognize the spiritual, or God-related, aspect of man. Because of this gap in our training, we need to be continually reminded of the reality of the spiritual world. The Lord reminds us through the Apostle Paul:

“We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12).

God Is Supreme Over Angels

We have already seen that God is supreme over the world of evil, but we also need to know that God is supreme over hosts of angels who are “ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation” (Hebrews 1:4). When Christ was taken captive before the crucifixion, He reminded Peter, who wanted to fight with a sword:

“Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and He shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? But how, then, shall the Scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?” (Matthew 26:53-54).

In the lifetime of Elisha, there was a time when he and his servant were surrounded by a great army with horses and chariots that were bent on their destruction. The servant was frightened and said, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” Elisha’s answer was:

“Fear not; for they who are with us are more than they who are with them. And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha” (II Kings 6:15-17).

This is not an exceptional case, for we have numerous Scriptures that assure us that the angels are protecting God’s people. The Psalmist said, “The angel of the Lord encampeth round about those who fear Him, and delivereth them” (Psalm 34:7). The reality of God’s protecting hand over His own should be impressed upon our children. Christians need not be fearful of physical dangers. Children who are taught this truth and who accept it by faith will grow up to become adults with great assurance, not afraid to risk their lives or fortunes in God’s service.

God Is Supreme Over The Spiritual Life Of The Believer

Christian educators need to be aware that when a person accepts Christ as his Savior the Bible tells us he is “born again” (John 1:12-13). As a result of this new birth, there is a new spiritual life which was not there before. This new spiritual life needs to be nurtured by the “sincere milk of the word” (I Peter 2:2). Jesus told Nicodemus that “Except a man be born again, he cannot see (or understand) the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).

In order to understand this spiritual life received by those who are born again, we need to understand the nature of man as God created him. Just as God is a triune being, so He created man triune in a sense since he has body, soul and spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:23). Man’s body, the physical part of man, must have food and physical care in order to survive. The fall of man as a result of sin greatly damaged man’s body, so it is now afflicted by disease and, eventually, death. Man was also created with a soul that is able to appreciate the beauty and glory of God’s creation. As a result of the fall, the soul was also damaged so that man now has a warped view of beauty and has many problems in his relationships with the creation and other people. Man was also created with a human spirit that is that part of man that responds to God. The spirit of man was so damaged in the fall that the Bible speaks of man as being spiritually dead, “You hath He quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1). Because man is spiritually dead, the natural man “receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God” (I Corinthians 2:14). Unsaved people have no desire to pray or to study God’s Word and they prefer to avoid places where such things are being done.

In the new birth, it is the spirit of man that is reborn. This accounts for the complete change from antagonism against the things of God to an appreciation and seeking for spiritual truth. The newborn Christian enters into a completely new world of faith and fellowship with God and God’s people. This is a world where God is indeed supreme for the chief characteristic of this new nature is to be obedient to God and to do His will (1 John 3:9).

Secular educators plan their educational program with no understanding or recognition of this spiritual phenomenon. Christian educators must be not only partakers of the new birth but also knowledgeable in dealing with those who have been born again. Students who do not respond to spiritual truth have probably never been saved, and, in that case, we must “Do the work of an evangelist” (II Timothy 4:5). If we simply adopt the secularist’s views concerning the nature of the child and his methods concerning counseling, discipline and guidance, we are certain to go astray.

The fact of the new life in Christ gives a whole new dimension to education that is completely ignored by secular educators. In a school where God is supreme, we must learn to educate the “new man” (Ephesians 4:24, Colossians 3:10). In the next several chapters, we will explore what the Bible says about the moral training of children and young people.

Excerpted from Chapter 4 of An Introduction to the Christian School by James M. Bramblet, Copyright © 1985 by James M. Bramblet.

Truth Always Trumps Unity

"It is better to be divided by truth than to be united by error." -- Martin Luther