A friend of mine named Jay Harrison got a better offer last night.
He took it.
Jay was the first person I ever met at Calvary Hill Baptist Church.
He came to our house, right before I got home, and when my wife answered the door he said
"I am Jay Harrison from Calvary Hill Baptist Church. Are you going to heaven when you die?"
Jay was a paradox -- a very controversial individual.
Either you loved him -- or you couldn't stand him.
There was no middle ground.
Jay was what the Christian community refers to as a "soul winner"
His one living passion was to introduce those who were lost to Jesus Christ -- and more often than not -- he was confrontational in doing so.
Most of my friends -- whe we get together -- talk about the Texas Rangers or the Dallas Cowboys, depending on whether it is summer or winter, and how we could straighten out the mess this world is in today.
Not Jay -- with him every conversation centered around Jesus Christ and how to bring people to Him.
He built a trailor, covered with religious signs and carrying a huge blood stained cross, which he carried in every parade or gathering they would let him enter it in.
Jay's big passion though was a ministry to the Union Gospel Mission in Dallas. He delivered a sermon there one Sunday night each month and had been doing so for years.
I used to go with him and our conversation always centered around these homeless men -- or at least their souls.
He wanted everyone of them to go to heaven.
Jay has been in rapidly declining health the past couple of years -- the result of a brain tumor.
But still -- on Praise Night at Calvary Hill each month -- there he was, singing, testifying, doing anything to proclaim the name of Jesus Christ.
Last night the Lord offered to take Jay home.
He took him up on it.
I'll always remember Jay as a man who loved Jesus Christ more than life itself.
And just watch -- he will probably be the one to introduce me to the Lord when I get there.