My brother Paul died on Friday September 25^th 2009 one month before his 60^th birthday.  Paul despite all his failings had a love for the Lord that no one can deny.  He was not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  When I was 16, Paul had gone to California to attend an out door rock concert.  He was 18 and under strict ten years probation for possession of marijuana.  He had gone to his probation officer and requested to go.  He was not to leave the state unless there was a special need and he would have to have the ok from his PO.  He gave him that ok.  Well, what started to be a bad decision from this P.O. to let him go ended up to be the best decision he ever made on behalf of Jesus Christ.  Paul, for the first time in his life had come to know the meaning of salvation.  He met his true Champion.  Someone who loved him the way he was.  God’s love and mercy was on my brother that day and it continued on for the rest of his life.  It was my brother that told me about the Lord and both my sister Rose and I believed from that day on.  Things changed within our family unit and God started something that would bring us all to the full saving knowledge of Him.  God used Paul for this family’s salvation.  Paul was used tremendously by the Lord and many more came to know Jesus because of that ministry living within my brother.

Throughout the years however things changed for Paul.  He walked through the valley of the Shadow of Death many times over.  His choices brought him to his end but God is all loving and all merciful and now he is in the loving arms of our Father.   

Someone had said to me “I suppose he’s in a better place now.”  I don’t suppose anything at all.  I know he is in a better place.  When Paul died he stepped into eternity that very next moment and met his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ face to face.  You see you all need to know something about salvation it is free because it is a gift from God to all humanity.  That gift is His only begotten Son Jesus Christ. There is nothing we can do in our lives to gain eternal life except one thing and that one thing is to just simply believe.  You can be the best person in the world doing all kinds of good works but without Jesus Christ you cannot enter in.  If we think that we can by good works themselves then there would have been no need for Jesus.  But, there was and is a need and it is only He that can fulfill that only requirement and Paul knew this.  He knew that he was good to go.  The Word is true and living and operative even right now in every Believers heart and when that day comes that believer will see his or her Savior.

Right now there are many regrets that I feel concerning my brother.  We’ve had a tumultuous relationship as brother and sister but who can deny that we loved one another.  That love we had for one another is what healed the pain that sometimes we inflicted on each other.  However, there is no record of wrongs in our love because forgiveness and setting aside our differences and coming together in God’s love ultimately won out.  If I could just have one more minute with him then I would tell him how much he means to me and that I’m sorry that I didn’t spend more time showing that to him.

I love you Paul.  I’ll see you when that day comes.