R.I.P. Pastor Jack. After he suddenly passed away, 21 people laid their hands on him in the emergency room for two hours, even though he was already gone. They would not leave. Though there was a few tears at his wake Friday evening, none came from his wife Pastor Melinda. In fact, all during the 2 hour memorial of testimonies and video taped songs with Pastor Jack and his guitar, she paced back and forth in front of his casket, smiling, and hugging all of those crying. No handshaking or condolences were necessary in greetings. "We hug here" Melinda told me back when I first met her. She said out loud during the wake, "I dont want any sympathy cards! I want CELEBRATION cards! I'm just a little miffed that he left me here, and he got to go!" I thought, "This is going to be some wake". And it was.
Warrior Ministries is as unique as Pastor Jack was. Motorcyclists riding for Jesus, the CMA (Christian Motorcylce Association), was how he started. Big, bad biker dudes and dudettes in jeans, bandanas, sunglasses and leather vests filled with patches saying "Jesus Rocks!, and "I brake for Jesus", a greater groups of friends and lay Pastors you just couldn't imagine. Drugs, alcohol, jail, divorces and deaths, they had seen it all. And, like Jack and Melinda, they found a better way to live.
Preaching from their garage, for 12 years, together they started a family and a flock. After getting a church in New Boston, Michigan, only a few months later, God called him home for some greater task and purpose. Preaching from down in the pews the night before he passed, he had comissioned his wife, his church, to care for and take charge of. He must have sensed that night, he wouldn't live to see another one. He knew. I could tell a month or so back when we spoke, that he wasn't well. It was those hollow circles under his eyes, and also in all the video tapes I had edited with my wife. He knew.
Preaching from their garage, for 12 years, together they started a family and a flock. After getting a church in New Boston, Michigan, only a few months later, God called him home for some greater task and purpose. Preaching from down in the pews the night before he passed, he had comissioned his wife, his church, to care for and take charge of. He must have sensed that night, he wouldn't live to see another one. He knew. I could tell a month or so back when we spoke, that he wasn't well. It was those hollow circles under his eyes, and also in all the video tapes I had edited with my wife. He knew.
As, the wake progressed with some laughs and 'Amens!', we all viewed a DVD of him singing and playing at church a few weeks back. Nearing the end of the song, he broke down sobbing uncontrollably on his guitar, stopping the music. It took us all by surprise for a moment, until Melinda jumped up to the funeral home microphone as her late husband sobbed on the screen and yelled "You think he DIDNT KNOW!? HE KNEW!" He knew. When he and I discussed recently about how to go about filming some videos like music videos, he smiled at the thought. "Your a dynamic speaker, Pastor" I told him. "Your message is great, written well, and delivered with conviction." He smiled at me and said 'Praise God'. " We just gotta get you filmed right, and contact some radio stations about your ministry" I was hopeful as he nodded. But, his smile was decieving. Something was in his eyes. He knew.
I know he was happy about finally having a church. He was starting to get some cable time, and the videos were beginning to shape up. Pastor Melinda, together with Chaplin Amanda his daughter, Chaplin Drake his son- in- law, & Pastors Ed and Pam, he had collected close to one million pounds of food for the needy. "Our brother's and sister's are hurtin'" he'd preach. He knew. At the end of his wake, when almost all had left, I hugged Pastor Melinda. "He was just done here, so God called him home." I told her."God had something else for him to do, and now Melinda, you have got something to do as well. You just have to figure out what that is ". She smiled and hugged me tighter. She knew. "I'm gonna need your help now Duane" she said pulling away."With all that video technical stuff. You gotta help Pastor Jim with it". I had told Jack before he passed I would, and I assured her I would keep that promise to her now. She smiled and patted my back. She knew.
With ram's horns(shofars) blowing , 'Amens' and 'Praise God!" all throughout the service, blue jeans and leathers, music and laughter, I was right about it being 'some wake'. I guess thats the way to go when we do. With celebration and praise, laughter and love. It was the way Pastors Jack and Melinda always did things. He celebrated life and he welcomed death, for it gave him the chance to know his God. He was sure, though he probably kept it to himself, that he wasn't long for this Earth. He knew.
So, Pastor Jack is gone, and Melinda, Amanda and the others remain to carry on with the works he started. It is the meaning of life itself. They knew. To live, to love, to help, to heal, to count your blessings each day, and give thanks to whichever form of God you pray to. It was the right thing to do, and they way we all should live. And, as she continues his church and food drives, they all look forward to the day when we are reunited with the loved ones we've lost. They've turned their grief into gratitude, for a life lived full. After all. It's really the way we all should look at death. Not as a closing, but an opening.
He knew, she knew. They knew and I know......And now....you know.
He knew, she knew. They knew and I know......And now....you know.
Much Love, Friends. Peace.
*Refer to the original story of June 10, 2007 at "Drivin' Sideways" "At the end of a dirt road..."
*Special Thanks: The Late Pastor Jack Yaeger and Pastor Melinda, Chaplins Amanda and Drake, Pastor Jim, Pastor Ed & Pam with Warrior Ministries, Team Detroit, the Hurricane Shelter, La Grizzy, Sonja Paris, Larry Patterson and Treasure Island Gold, Ralph Teranna and the Soulful Detroit Forum, and "Lucky" the Wonder Dog
