On a few email lists I’ve been hearing the story of Rev. Jack Arnold, who passed away yesterday morning while preaching at Covenant PCA in Orlando. I’ll paste the following from one of the email lists:

As he neared the end of the sermon, he spoke of his favorite verse “For me to live is Christ, to die is gain.” He quoted Wesley saying, “Until my work on this earth is done, I am immortal. But when my work for Christ is done,” and he slapped his hands together toward the sky saying, “I am outa here! I don’t know about you, but when my work is done, I go to be with Jesus. And that will be gain! And when I go to heaven, . . .” At this point, Jack paused briefly, looked up, swayed slightly and grabbed the podium before falling back to the floor. And he was gone.

Several members of the congregation worked on him until EMTs arrived, but
all appearances were that the Lord took him quickly and completely.

The congregation remained in their seats until the EMTs entered the building
then moved to the fellowship Hall to continue to pray before dismissing the
people with prayer and benediction.

Please pray for his wife, Carol Arnold, who is strong in faith but missing
her husband already. Her testimony was that Jack was singing hymns around
the house yesterday morning as he prepared to preach.

Please pray also for the 4 Arnold sons as they travel to Orlando for the
funeral.

Please pray for Covenant Presbyterian Church Oviedo as the elders minister
to the people who heard a great sermon but then saw this dear saint die in
their midst.

And please pray for the continuing work of the mission organization that
Jack founded: Equipping Pastors International
(http://equippingpastors.com/).

Give God all the glory.

tuff ghost, tuff crowd, tuff love
sit down, sit down, sit down

tuff ghost, tuff crowd, tuff love
sit down, sit down, sit down

say something now, say something now

the tuff ghost disappears for 3 days
the tuff ghost is set in his ways
i don’t want to hurt you

GHOST
well you can’t, ‘cuz i’m already dead

the tuff ghost is invincible
no guts came out when he bled

GHOST
well i lift weights, but i don’t sweat.
i go for a swim, but i don’t get wet
i don’t care about anyone else
i’m a strong dead man, looking out for himself

i think you’re suffering, that’s why you’re so mean
you’re already dead
i can’t see right through you

say something now

the tuff ghost disappears for 3 days
the tuff ghost is set in his ways
i don’t want to hurt you

GHOST
well you can’t, ‘cuz i’m already dead

the tuff ghost is invincible
no guts came out when he bled

GHOST
well i lift weights, but i don’t sweat.
i go for a swim, but i don’t get wet
i don’t care about anyone else
i’m a strong dead man, looking out for himself

i think you’re suffering, that’s why you’re so mean
you’re already dead
i can’t see right through you

A teacher whose office was a few feet from mine passed away this weekend. Apparently she had a stroke around the beginning of December and had a second one on Sunday.

It’s kind of weird because I haven’t known a whole lot of people who have died. I mean, there was a guy I played baseball with and a guy that I played football with, but we weren’t ever close and we were especially not close when they died. There was a guy that I went to church with back in Owasso, but I didn’t really know him either.

My great-grandpa died when I was in junior high, but he thought I was Lou Gehrig by the time he died, so I was somewhat disconnected.

I met my great aunt on my honeymoon, and she died a couple of months later. Again, I wasn’t really close to her.

In fact, I had probably spoken more with this teacher than any of the above people. She was always asking me questions about grammar or borrowing books, and well, she had borrowed a book before break. I figured I’d get it back when I got home from Spokane.

My boss gave me the keys to her office, and had me look through a few boxes. And it made me feel guilty. I mean, she would have wanted me to have my book back, but honestly, I didn’t really care much about the book.

As I was going through the boxes, I came across a Bible. It looked like it had never been opened. It probably hadn’t been opened. She was a real “spiritual” woman (i.e. she was into everything…she was really into New Age stuff). *sigh*

A writer-in-residence, Brian Salvatori, from The New Yorker will be taking her office. I read an article of his once. On the history of baseball. I feel like I’m in a movie.

The gold is in the ink, silly.