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Burying The Dead
Ginger Exum


 

 

I have often wondered and thought upon funerals and our customs for the dead. Maybe it’s a morbid thought, but it is also a fact of life. Being a history buff, I have studied many customs in the ancient world for their funerary practices. The Egyptians mummified their dead and made provision for them to ‘travel’ through the afterlife. Many cultures made funeral pyres, burying the bones of the dead afterwards. I remember when family would stay up with the dead throughout the night. And I couldn’t even count the number of funerals I have attended. It has always seemed important to hold funeral traditions to say ‘goodbye’. Our treatment of the dead has always been important to us. In fact, we often treat people when their dead better than we did while they lived.

 

That is why this passage has always puzzled me: ‘Then another of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.” (Matt 8:21-22) Doesn’t this this seem rather cold and callus? After all, most cultures take very careful steps in their funerary practices. So, why would Jesus tell this man to ‘let the dead bury their own dead’?

 

Perhaps the key lies in 2 Sam 11:15-23. God was angry with David concerning Bathsheba, who found herself pregnant with David’s child. After having Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah, killed in battle, Nathan confronted King David with what he had done. After David repented, God told him the child would not live. Just as God said, the child fell ill. As the child lay dying, David fasted and prayed constantly. He did not wash nor heed anyone’s voice. When David found out the child had died, he anointed himself, washed and worshiped the Lord. His servants didn’t understand. They, too, were puzzled by the king’s behavior. But David answered them, ‘While the child was alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘Who can tell whether the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’ But now he is dead; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.’

 

When our loved ones are gone, they are gone. We can’t bring them back to us no matter what kind of funeral we give them. It doesn’t matter how much we spend on a splendid coffin or how much we grieve – we cannot call them back. The only thing we can do is go to them when our time on earth is done.

 

Jesus wasn’t being callous or unfeeling about this man’s grief. Rather, He was teaching His disciples that His gospel wasn’t for the dead, but for the living. We should not strive to remain in grief, but to believe in the resurrection and the living gospel.

 

Our time on this earth is limited, and we need to be about the Father’s business – not grieving the past.

Tennessee Honors Local Church
Mike Hale

State Representative Michael Hale introduced a resolution in the Tennessee General Assembly to honor the New Life United Pentecostal Church on its 75th anniversary.

The resolution is as follows:

“WHEREAS, New Life United Pentecostal Church of Smithville has stood on the rock solid foundation of Christian belief, service, and love for seventy-five years, serving as a bastion of faith and outreach to the people of its community; and

WHEREAS, in 1945, Sister Trudie Colvert was the first to bring the message of Oneness, Jesus’s Name baptism, and the gift of the Holy Ghost, as preached in Acts 2, to the Smithville/DeKalb County area; and

WHEREAS, on May 1, 1949, the church became affiliated with the United Pentecostal Church (UPC) International, with the first building being purchased in 1952 and named the First Pentecostal Church; and

WHEREAS, over the years, several families have served as pastor to spread the good news throughout the community, including Trudie Colvert, EE Cooper, Robert Rutledge, Jesse Plunk, Norman Welcher, Marvin Tidrick, E.A. Calvin, Edward Grace, Sr., Larry Sims, Doyle Neal, Ralph Yarbro, Roger Moore, Howard Smith, C.W. Milam, Paul Sanders, and Dwayne Cornelius; and

WHEREAS, three separate UPC churches existed in the Smithville/DeKalb County area at one time, and New Life emerged from the merger of the three congregations in a special service in August of 1987, when they officially became one congregation under the name of New Life United Pentecostal Church, with Paul Sanders elected as the pastor; and

WHEREAS, Brother Sanders oversaw the building of a new church facility at 860 Congress Boulevard, and the first service was held there in September 1992; and

WHEREAS, Reverend Sanders retired in 2006, and Reverend Dwayne Cornelius was elected as pastor in April 2007; and WHEREAS, a remodel of the original New Life church building took place in 2009; and

WHEREAS, after the purchase of property next to the church, a remodel and conversion of the Pamida building was completed in 2012, adding 36,000 square feet of space to use for God’s glory; and

WHEREAS, upon the completion of that building, a fully accredited children’s program, the Kids Connection Early Learning Center, was established, and the vision of a Christian private school began as DeKalb Christian Academy in 2017; and

WHEREAS, in 2024, a new sanctuary was completed, and the original New Life church building became “The 860,” a facility designed to house the children’s ministry department; and

WHEREAS, the church now consists of two campuses, with three buildings totaling 60,000 square feet and serving over 300 constituents; and

WHEREAS, New Life United Pentecostal Church is one of the great religious institutions and catalysts for positive spiritual change in our State and nation, and the members of this exceptional congregation should be appropriately honored for their exemplary service to their fellow Christians and to the good people of Tennessee; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE, THE SENATE CONCURRING, that we join with the pastor and congregation of New Life United Pentecostal Church of Smithville in celebrating the seventy-five years they have spent building God’s Kingdom, thank these good people for their notable service to their Lord and the State of Tennessee, and wish them much continued success.