March 2, 1997

On Thursday I was with my father, who has been in his final stages of life the last few months. As Nanci, Karina & Angela and I, and my brother Lance, were with him, while I was reading Scripture from Revelation 20-22, Dad went home to be with the Lord. It was difficult but powerful, precious, and unforgettable.

Dad was a man who rejected Christ adamantly until the age of 84, five years ago this month, when he was in dire shape physically. He had told me for years he never wanted to hear any “religious talk,” so all my efforts (and my Mom’s until she went home with the Lord 15 years ago) to share with him were shut out.

But before he went into a surgery in February 1992—a surgery the doctor thought he might not survive—as he lay there a “captive” on the hospital bed, I shared with him passages from Romans 3-10. After doing this for half an hour, I asked him if he’d ever confessed his sins and trusted Christ to save him. Of course, I knew he hadn’t. He said, “No, I haven’t.” Then he paused. “But I think it’s about time I did.”

After I prayed, my father prayed out loud and asked Christ to forgive him of his sins. It was a miracle that to me made the parting of the Red Sea seem very small. That miracle was reinforced day before yesterday when I had the privilege of being there when his spirit departed the body and went to be with Christ.