パスター・リーバイと彼の家族を祈りに覚えてください。
Their little girl Lenya went to be with the Lord on 20th of December.
まだ、幼い娘さんレニヤちゃんが去った２０日に天に召されました。
I have so much respect for Pastor Levy.
I listen to his message quite often. and as a man, I respected his relevancy with the world and none compromised preaching of the word.
I gleaned a lot of insights from his blog and facebook posts.
God is using him and the church big time in Montana and I was excited to see God's work through the ministry.
パスター・リーバイに私は大きな敬意を持っています。
もちろん、直接お会いしたことはないのですが、彼のメッセージをよく聴きますし、彼の世の中とのつながり方、妥協しない宣教のスタイルをとても尊敬してきました。
彼のブログやFacebookからも、様々なことを学びました。
神が彼と教会を通して、本当に大きく働かれていて、これかもそれを楽しみにしていました。
This is heartbreaking news to even me who never met or don't know them personally. What's more to the family and the church body.......
彼とあったことがない私にでさえ、これはショックなニュースでした。彼の家族と教会へのそれは推量る必要もないでしょう。
The news is here from Pastor Levy's web page.
http://levilusko.com/archives/please-pray-for-the-lusko-family
英語ですが、上にあるのは、その知らせがあったリンクです。また、下にはFacebookでパスター・グレッグがこのことに関して書いたポストがあったので載せました。
もしも、和訳を読みたいというリクエストが有れが訳します。是非、御覧ください。
Pastor Greg Laurie who is good friend with Pastor Levy gave a good insight.
Below is cited it from his facebook post.
Last night,my friends Levi and Jennie Lusko said goodbye to their little girl Lenya for the last time on earth.This sweet little one had a servere asthma attack and died in her parents arms.It’s so very,very sad.
Please pray for the Lusko family as they face what I believe for a parent is a fate worse then death. .
The loss of a child.
This last Monday,I also saw my friend,Frank Pastore,host of the Frank Pastore show die after having spent a month in a coma after a motorcycle accident.
Please be in prayer for Frank’s wife,Gina and his two children as well.
I understand the pain of these families as I too had a son named Christopher die four years ago.
I will be at both their memorial services and will miss them both with all of my heart.
What makes this even harder,is this happened in the Christmas season.
It seems in many ways,as a nation we have been collectively mourning in the wake of the shootings of 20 children at Sandy Hook school in Connecticut.
Perhaps you are personally mourning the loss of a loved one right now.
When a loved one leaves this world for the next, we are torn apart inside. So we cry and mourn.
A deep sense of loss and sorrow is an indication of deep love.
The apostle Paul spoke of deep sorrow over the possible loss of a friend:
“Meanwhile, I thought I should send Epaphroditus back to you. He is a true brother, afaithful worker, and a courageous soldier. . . and he was very distressed that you heardhe was ill. And he surely was ill; in fact, he almost died. But God had mercy on him—and also on me, so that I would not have such unbearable sorrow.” Philippians 2:25
Paul is saying, “If Epaphroditus had died, I would not have been able to bear it!” That’s how you feel
when someone you love dies: you can’t bear it.
So don’t impatiently say to the mourner, “Don’t cry” or “You’ll get over it!” There is a place for this process of mourning, and it must happen. The Bible says, “There is a time to mourn.”
If you don’t mourn properly, you will not heal properly. I did not fully understand this principle until it happened to me.
But for the mourners out there, I would say, let’s keep a proper perspective, like the psalmist in Psalm42:3–6:
“Day and night I have only tears for food, while my enemies continually taunt me,
saying, ‘Where is this God of yours?’ My heart is breaking as I remember how it used tobe: I walked among the crowds of worshipers, leading a great procession to the house
of God, singing for joy and giving thanks amid the sound of a great celebration! Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise Him
again—my Savior and my God!”
The psalmist is honest here. He speaks of how he has had “only tears for food.” I know exactly what he is talking about. But then he asks himself a question and gives himself an answer:
“Why am I discouraged? Why so sad?
I will put my hope in God! I will praise Him again—my Savior and my God!”
Grief is like wiping out on a wave. When you are out surfing, and get caught in a set, and go over the
falls, you lose perspective. The thing you must avoid is panic.
You have to roll with it and remember that it won’t last all that long. But sometimes, when you’re in the whitewater, you lose your perspective. You literally do not know which way is up, or how to get to the
surface. This is where your leash comes in.
Your leash is attached to your board, which always goes to the surface due to its buoyancy. So, you grab
your leash and follow it to the surface. The Scripture is like that leash; it gets us “above the surface,”
where we can get a heavenly perspective.
Sometimes, I get my head above water and everything is clear. Everything, in a way, almost makes sense
for a few moments. I will think, “The Lord is leading me in His perfect plan. I have a son on earth and
another son in heaven. I will see him again.” But then the waves of pain and grief and sadness come and I go under again.
I will surface and sink again many times in one day—again, again, and again. That is mourning.
But we still have hope.
Paul wrote about this to the believers to the Christian living in the city of Thessalonica.
"And now, brothers and sisters, I want you to know what will happen to the Christians who have died
so you will not be full of sorrow like people who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died
and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with Him the
believers who have died . . . Then we will be with the Lord forever” (1 Thessalonians 4:13–17).
So,yes we as Christians mourn.
We mourn deeply.
But we have hope of seeing our loved ones who have preceded us to Heaven again.
It will be a wonderful Heavenly reunion.
Both little Lenya and big Frank are spending their first Christmas in Heaven!
May God extend his comfort to their families all of you who are feeling deep sadness this Christmas season.
People ask me,”Is there a book that could help me at a time like this?”.
Listen. ..You don’t need a manual.,you need Immanuel!
God is with you.
That is the message of Christmas!
Please be in prayer for Frank’s wife,Gina and his two children as well.I understand the pain of these families as I too had a son named Christopher die four years ago.
I will be at both their memorial services and will miss them both with all of my heart.
What makes this even harder,is this happened in the Christmas season.
It seems in many ways,as a nation we have been collectively mourning in the wake of the shootings of 20 children at Sandy Hook school in Connecticut.
Perhaps you are personally mourning the loss of a loved one right now.
When a loved one leaves this world for the next, we are torn apart inside. So we cry and mourn.
A deep sense of loss and sorrow is an indication of deep love.The apostle Paul spoke of deep sorrow over the possible loss of a friend:“Meanwhile, I thought I should send Epaphroditus back to you. He is a true brother, afaithful worker, and a courageous soldier. . . and he was very distressed that you heardhe was ill. And he surely was ill; in fact, he almost died. But God had mercy on him—and also on me, so that I would not have such unbearable sorrow.” Philippians 2:25
Paul is saying, “If Epaphroditus had died, I would not have been able to bear it!” That’s how you feelwhen someone you love dies: you can’t bear it.
So don’t impatiently say to the mourner, “Don’t cry” or “You’ll get over it!” There is a place for this process of mourning, and it must happen. The Bible says, “There is a time to mourn.”
If you don’t mourn properly, you will not heal properly. I did not fully understand this principle until it happened to me.
But for the mourners out there, I would say, let’s keep a proper perspective, like the psalmist in Psalm42:3–6:“Day and night I have only tears for food, while my enemies continually taunt me,saying, ‘Where is this God of yours?’ My heart is breaking as I remember how it used tobe: I walked among the crowds of worshipers, leading a great procession to the houseof God, singing for joy and giving thanks amid the sound of a great celebration! Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise Himagain—my Savior and my God!”
The psalmist is honest here. He speaks of how he has had “only tears for food.” I know exactly what he is talking about. But then he asks himself a question and gives himself an answer:
“Why am I discouraged? Why so sad?
I will put my hope in God! I will praise Him again—my Savior and my God!”
Grief is like wiping out on a wave. When you are out surfing, and get caught in a set, and go over thefalls, you lose perspective. The thing you must avoid is panic.
You have to roll with it and remember that it won’t last all that long. But sometimes, when you’re in the whitewater, you lose your perspective. You literally do not know which way is up, or how to get to thesurface. This is where your leash comes in.Your leash is attached to your board, which always goes to the surface due to its buoyancy. So, you grabyour leash and follow it to the surface. The Scripture is like that leash; it gets us “above the surface,”where we can get a heavenly perspective.
Sometimes, I get my head above water and everything is clear. Everything, in a way, almost makes sense
for a few moments. I will think, “The Lord is leading me in His perfect plan. I have a son on earth and
another son in heaven. I will see him again.” But then the waves of pain and grief and sadness come and I go under again.I will surface and sink again many times in one day—again, again, and again. That is mourning.
But we still have hope.
Paul wrote about this to the believers to the Christian living in the city of Thessalonica."And now, brothers and sisters, I want you to know what will happen to the Christians who have diedso you will not be full of sorrow like people who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus diedand was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with Him thebelievers who have died . . . Then we will be with the Lord forever” (1 Thessalonians 4:13–17).
So,yes we as Christians mourn.We mourn deeply.But we have hope of seeing our loved ones who have preceded us to Heaven again.
It will be a wonderful Heavenly reunion.
Both little Lenya and big Frank are spending their first Christmas in Heaven!
May God extend his comfort to their families all of you who are feeling deep sadness this Christmas season.
People ask me,”Is there a book that could help me at a time like this?”.Listen. ..You don’t need a manual.,you need Immanuel!God is with you.That is the message of Christmas!
