When I was very young, my mother would send my sister and me to sunday school every Sunday.
My mother never went to church, but she sent us there just to get us out of her hair for a while.
I really didn't have any intrest in Sunday school or God either.
In fact I used to act up so bad that the Sunday school teacher would kick me out of class because I
was dissrupting the class and keeping him from teaching the other kids about the Lord.
(we all know a kid like that)
Then when I was about 15 years old I joined a youth group at a small church mainly for the fun things that we did there.
I went to church camp and enjoyed all of the fun things that we did.
But I still didn't know the Lord as my personal Saviour.
Not long After that I just quit going to church or anything that had to do with God.
I graduated from high school and got a job.
I got married and had two little daughters.
I had my business and other intrests that I put first in my life.
And was just too busy to take the time for God.
So I have said all of this to follow it with this true story.
Have you ever wondered why bad things happen to good people?
We always ask, Why did that happen to them when there are so many bad people in the world.
I don't understand why God would allow that to happen.
They live for the Lord, they attend church, they give of their time and money.
It just doesn't seem fair.
If we wait upon the Lord in these things, He might reveal to us the answers.
I am standing here today because of something bad that happend to a good person.
And I believe that I know one of the reasons for it, Well I think I know a lot of reasons for
something bad happening to a good person.
There was a man that had to have open heart surgery. He had a bad heart valve from birth.
I know that this sounds very familiar and it sounds like it could be me, but it isn't.
This man was my brother inlaw. He was married to my older sister Shirley.
This man had three very young children. He had a happy marriage and was a very good friend.
We used to go fishing, hunting,and many more things together.
He also attended church and was a Christian.
We all knew that he had a bad heart,and used to tease him because he couldn't keep up with us when we were hiking or hunting.
We used to call him "throb" in a joking way.
When he was only 28 years old he had to have a valve in his heart replaced. Back then this was still a new and very risky operation.
After the surgery he was told that he was doing better than almost anyone had done up to that point.
His recovery was very fast and after about three months he seemed good as new.
So in August of that year several of us friends were having birthdays so we decided to go out with our wives to dance.
We were dancing our first dance of the evening When I looked down beside me, and on the floor layed my friend.
There was nothing that I could do to revive him.
After many futile attempts to save his life, my friend died in my arms in the middle of a nightclub dance floor.
I couldn't understand why God had allowed this to happen.
But now, 42 years later, I believe that God has let me know the answer to this question.
After his death I started thinking about God, and all of the seeds that were planted in me when I was young started to sprout.
And I knew that I should get right with God.
I think the many reasons that God allowed this include my salvation, and the salvation of my children and my grandchildren.
I also pray that it doesn't stop with these.
I hope that there are many,many more "reasons"to come.