OCTOBER 29, 2008 WEDS. 8:00AM
"LEAVE THE RESULTS UP TO GOD!"
"GO THEREFORE AND MAKE DISCIPLESOF ALL THE NATIONS, BAPTISING THEM IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER AND OF THE SON, AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT."
"TEACHING THEM TO OBSERVE ALL THINGS THAT I HAVE COMMANDED YOU: AND LO I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS, EVEN TO THE END OF THE AGE. AMEN!"
My parents, my Mother Shirley and my Step-Father Ron Sorrell, for some strange reason had begun to attend Church services at the New Hope Baptist Church.
The very pushy Preacher and Pastor, Billy Mann had probably paid them a visit at some point and had probably twisted their arm to the point to where they finally surrendered and agreed to show up...
....I really don't know if that is exactly what happened, but it seems to me to be the only way that I can imagine... that anyone could talk my Parents into going to Church...
...Do you remember the earlier stories of the lifestyle and home life that I grew up in???
.......The reason, I didn't Know how they happened to be attending Church services,... was because I bailed out several years earlier, at the age of 16, and had been living on my own or with the Edmonds family from time to time.
... Mom And Dad Edmonds for all intents and purposes had become my family as most of my life Revolved around my obsessive relationship with Beth.
LETS FAST FORWARD TO THE DAY THAT GARY KNIGHT & EPHRAIM MAYA CAME DOWN MY DRIVEWAY AND INTO MY LITTLE HOME WITH THE WHITE PICKET FENCE ON WASHINGTON AVE. IN KALAMAZOO...I believe the year was 1979...
...I'll never forget how passionate and how excited Gary was when he began to share with Beth and I the "TREMENDOUS" truth about, "How much God loved us, and wanted to save our souls so that we could go to heaven when we died and spend eternity with Jesus.
..."Ephraim just kind of hung back and let Gary do most of the talking, ... or witnessing as I later come to understand about what they were trying to do.
... Ephraim just smiled most of the time and nodded his head in agreement and threw in an occasional AMEN...And if my memory serves me correctly, Gary asked me right before they left, if I would mind if Ephraim prayed for us?"
...Now dont get me wrong, but I was not real excited when they approached me and asked if they could come into the house for a few minmutes and visit with us and talk to us about our relationship with the Lord...!
You need to understand, that I was very Young and still full of piss and vinegar...I liked getting high and drinking, partying etc. Still very much in that Sex Drugs & ROCK n ROLL Mode.
....Beth and I were young NewlyWeds, Too Young actually...because neither one of us had a clue about what it was to be faithful sexually to each other.
... We both seemed to be hell bent on still experimenting sexually with other partners behind each others back, and both of us jealous as all hell... demanding fidelity from each other, but not willing to practice monogamous exclusivity.
...We were Both Very young and Hot sexually...so it seems, that neither of us seemed to be strong enough to fend off the numerous sexual advances that came our way...
....Enough of that though, let me get back to the main point, I believe for the most part, we all understand what kind of temptations and destructive dynamics that come our way when we were young adults and first striking out into the world, making our own decisions, and choices because we are now grown ass people and we certainly aint gonna be letting anyone tell us what to do!
... I remember Gary telling us about how Jesus died for us...and how God was willing to forgive and forget all of the wrong things that we had done...He would give us a fresh brand new start, if we would only ask Jesus into our hearts.
After Gary And Ephraim made their very passionate plea for us to become Christians.... Because their was a heaven to gain and a Hell to shun!
....I remember telling him, That I was young, and I felt like I had plenty of time to make my peace with God before I died.
...You see, I really did have my own plan for escaping Hell's Fire and walking through those Pearly Gates on Streets Of Gold when I died...
...Gary didn't have to convince me about the truth of God's plan of Salvation. I already Believed, but I was not a believer in the saved sense of the word...
... Just like so many others on this planet, I could say that I believed in God, But Gary did help me to see the difference between believing God and His Word, The Bible and being a saved Believer. I really Got it that day!
... But I was in no way ready to take that leap of faith...and sincerely say the sinners prayer and become Born again like he & Ephraim were trying to convince us to do...
The fact of the matter was ...That I had enough head knowledge about God and the Bible to be dangerous.
... I really did have my own plan...
...I was a Hustler after all, that is one thing that I was very good at...
...I had what I thought was a good supply of cash and buzz material through my little dope dealing enterprises...I worked hard, and held down a paying job...
...I drove a nice looking fast hot rod with nice looking Keystone Classic Mag Rims...
...A 1973 Oldsmobile Cutlass 442 with a 455 cu. in. Engine, and a slapstick 3 speed automatic on the floor transmission, with 4/11 gears, positive traction rearend, etc. etc.
....WOW! What would that car be worth now a days in mint condition?
...Anyways, I had gotten enough Bible learning to know that you could get into heaven with a death bed confession, that even at that last moment before you died you could ask God to forgive you for your sins and He would....
...So that was my Plan....I would live life in the fast lane, pursuing worldy pleasures, partying etc. living life as a Hedonist, even though I didn't really know what being a hedonist meant back then LOL...
......Cheat the devil, Scam God, and skate into heaven at that final moment with the smoke rolling off my ass...I didn't really tell Gary and Ephraim That...
...That was my actual plan, but basically that's what I was saying to them as I rejected their offer to trust God right then and there at that precise moment.
....Gary even countered my plan with an amazing argument, about how we don't have any guarantees, to live for the next 5 minutes, 5 days, 5 weeks, 5 months, 5 years, or even 50 years.
... He said, Just because you are a young man, and expect to live a good long life, you never know what could happen to you, or even if you would have the time to ask God to forgive you of your sins, and have Jesus come into your heart and save you.
... You could fall over dead in a heartbeat or should I say in the lack of a heartbeat and then it would be too late...
...Because this life is the dressing room for eternity and once you pass over to the other side it is too late to change your eternal destination.
....I almost went for it...I really needed that fire insurance, but I know that I was not willing at that point to allow Jesus to be Lord and Master over my entire life!!!
....So basically, I was polite, but I really just blew them off and sent them packing down the road.
... They had failed at their goal of evangelising us and making a brand new convert to Christianity...
....Maybe they were disappointed, or discouraged, because they had tried so hard and passionately to convince us to be Born Again.
...Little did I and Gary know..... what would happen in the next week, to prove to me the reality of the very most important point of all that Gary made to me in His Evangelistic Presentation of the Gospel.
......."NO GUARANTEES....
....1 WEEK FROM THE DAY! GARY KNIGHT WAS KILLED, WHILE WORKING HIS JOB FOR THE CITY OF PORTAGE MICHIGAN. GARY AND ANOTHER FELLOW THAT HE WORKED WITH, WERE ATTEMPTING TO SET A FLAG POLE WHEN IT BECAME TOO TOP HEAVY AND FELL ONTO SOME HIGH POWER LINES WHILE THEY WERE TRYING TO HOLD IT BACK FROM FALLING AND GARY KNIGHT WAS ELECTROCUTED, KILLED INSTANTLY.
... HIS PARTNER WAS INJURED WITH BURNS TO HIS HANDS AND FEET, BUT HE SURVIVED.
... GARY DID NOT!!!
...HE WENT HOME TO BE WITH THE LORD IN AN INSTANT...IN THE TWINKLING OF AN EYE, HE WAS GONE.
... GAME OVER!
Gary left behind a beautiful and loving wife, Suzanne...The same Suzanne Moser that I knew growing up as a kid.
.. God had saved Suzanne just like Gary and it was so evident the great changes God had made in her life...
You could see the Glory of God in her countenance Back then...But I'm sad to say that is not the way it is today when I run into Suzanne on the street.
.. There is no longer that peaceful glow of God in her life...Just an empty, sad, hollow look comes from her eyes...
...I'm Privy of her present lifestyle, and I'm sure that if you asked her today...and she was willing to be totally honest, that she would only have a tale of misery to share with you beginning at that moment when she decided to walk away from that path that her and Gary was on at the time of His Departure from this Earth.
....I remember very well the sadness that I felt at his funeral, and I didn't quite understand how Billy Mann could preaching about How wonderful it was that Gary was now in the arms of Jesus...
....What was up with that??? All I could see was the sadness in all of the faces of their entire family...
..All I understood at that moment, was how real everything was that Gary had told me that day he came to visit me at my home.
At Gary's funeral...Like any Good Evangelistic Baptist Preacher should...Billy Mann Preached a good hell fire salvation message...
...And then offered up an invitation to accept Christ at an altar call after he concluded his remarks.
....But no matter how much I was touched, convicted, and compelled to make that ultimatte decision that would forever change my life...I did not!
And it almost cost me an eternity in Hell!!!
...The key word is Almost!
....Gary Knights Legacy and His Ministry Lives on Still to this day at least Through me and the impact he had on my life, and I'm sure their are many others that I'm not aware of,
... But God is the one who matters, and Knows!
... Gary's rewards are still being accrued and realized, and it is my hearts desire that my own life will some how be an honor to what his life has meant to me...
AND BTW OR FYI ....I AM NOW AND ALWAYS WILL BE ON A MISSION TO SHARE WITH GARY'S BABY DAUGHTER AT THE TIME OF HER FATHER'S DEATH, REBECKA,
... ABOUT THE LOVE OF HER EARTHLY AND HER HEAVENLY FATHER.
....THE SAME ALSO APPLIES TO HIS WIDOW SUZANNE FOR ALL THAT I CAN SEE NOW... IS NO LONGER LIVING HER LIFE FOR THE GLORY OF GOD.
ALSO,...DON'T FORGET ABOUT EPHRAIM, GOD DEFINITELY HAS A PLAN FOR HIM AND HE COMES BACK INTO MY STORY LATER ON IN SOME VERY INTERESTING AND AWESOME WAYS!!!!
....TUNE IN AGAIN LATER FOR THE REST OF THIS STORY!
IN JESUS NAME
BROTHER MICHAEL
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