My friend Tripp
I got a call from the school where 2 of my kids go and my wife works informing me that there was a lockdown. So, knowing the quickest way to get info, went to twitter to see what was happening. A lady who works with the paper in town tweeted out the address to the shooting. I immediately google mapped it and found out it was the church where my friend Tripp is the Pastor. I texted him and got nothing back. That is very unlike him.
So I waited and scoured the net.
Nothing.
So I called and it went to voicemail.
Nothing.
Then my mentor (who is also Tripp's mentor) called me. As soon as I picked up my phone and saw his name I knew what he was going to say. He was crying and I was in shock.
This was Thursday. Wednesday we went to Chipotle for lunch. Wednesday Tripp and I discussed our churches. He loved his and I love mine. We were both so happy to be here in the middle of Bradenton working at little churches with HUGE hearts. His church, which is smaller than mine, has seen more people come to salvation in Jesus than mine! Awesome. (I was a little jealous!) That church had tripled in size. Makes sense with a name like his.
We talked about family. We talked about my involvement in some community stuff and what a blessing that was. He was getting involved in stuff around his neighborhood too. We were very excited seeing God's touch on our lives and God making ways for us to lead people into His love and show the world His love and His kingdom.
But, the thing that will stick with me most is that Tripp and I realized that God had brought us together to teach the Bible, especially the gospel, in it's true form, without compromise but filled with compassion, to a community that needs it. We believed that people needed to know the God of the Bible. It's hard to explain. We all need Jesus in our lives. That's the best way I can put it. Tripp and I wanted to tell people who Jesus was from the Bible. I looked forward to standing next to my large friend Tripp and doing just that.
Why?
I'm sick for his wife and two little kids. I pray for them but I can't really think about them. It's too terrible.
I feel terrible for his church, but they will reflect on his work and his life and be encouraged. The hole will always be there. It should be there. Tripp mattered because Jesus mattered to Tripp. Bayshore Baptist matters because Jesus matters to them.
I know that Tripp is in Heaven. I'm not saying that with sentimentality. I'm not just hoping. I am guaranteeing that He is there. Tripp read the Bible and understood how to be saved by Jesus. He realized that it's not just for him and his family but that Jesus died to save all people. All people. All people. Tripp is there. I will see him again. I will reflect with him. I will sing with him. Heaven is much more like earth than you realize. It's in the Bible. It's not clouds and harps. It's the perfect Heaven and Earth created by Jesus for each one of us.
You will die. There is a life after death. It's Heaven or hell.
How do you get to Heaven?
1. Admit that you have sinned. Repent of that sin.
2. Accept the sacrifice of Jesus for your sin.
3. Be baptized into His name for the forgiveness of your sins, the gift of God in your life, and the guarantee of being in Heaven for all eternity with a perfect God who loves you perfectly and takes care of you.
(Don't understand that? Talk to a Pastor of a church you trust.)
This isn't a shameless plug. This, right here, is what my friend Tripp's life was all about.
Weep now. Tripp is gone. His wife and kids must endure life without him. That's absolutely horrible. His wife also lost a great friend. 6 kids no longer have a mother and have a father who (allegedly) killed their mother. Another family is mourning the cruel loss of their mother too.
Don't waste time hating. Use your time to love. Get to know the Jesus found in the Bible. Go to a worship service at a church that you can trust.
Your time on this earth is short.
I love you Tripp. I mourn the loss of our friendship and the future that it held. I mourn the loss of working along side you in our community. I am sick for your family. Sick.
Will we know people in Heaven? Yes. Tripp I'll see you in Heaven fairly easy because you're the biggest person I've ever known in real life.
So I waited and scoured the net.
Nothing.
So I called and it went to voicemail.
Nothing.
Then my mentor (who is also Tripp's mentor) called me. As soon as I picked up my phone and saw his name I knew what he was going to say. He was crying and I was in shock.
This was Thursday. Wednesday we went to Chipotle for lunch. Wednesday Tripp and I discussed our churches. He loved his and I love mine. We were both so happy to be here in the middle of Bradenton working at little churches with HUGE hearts. His church, which is smaller than mine, has seen more people come to salvation in Jesus than mine! Awesome. (I was a little jealous!) That church had tripled in size. Makes sense with a name like his.
We talked about family. We talked about my involvement in some community stuff and what a blessing that was. He was getting involved in stuff around his neighborhood too. We were very excited seeing God's touch on our lives and God making ways for us to lead people into His love and show the world His love and His kingdom.
But, the thing that will stick with me most is that Tripp and I realized that God had brought us together to teach the Bible, especially the gospel, in it's true form, without compromise but filled with compassion, to a community that needs it. We believed that people needed to know the God of the Bible. It's hard to explain. We all need Jesus in our lives. That's the best way I can put it. Tripp and I wanted to tell people who Jesus was from the Bible. I looked forward to standing next to my large friend Tripp and doing just that.
Why?
I'm sick for his wife and two little kids. I pray for them but I can't really think about them. It's too terrible.
I feel terrible for his church, but they will reflect on his work and his life and be encouraged. The hole will always be there. It should be there. Tripp mattered because Jesus mattered to Tripp. Bayshore Baptist matters because Jesus matters to them.
I know that Tripp is in Heaven. I'm not saying that with sentimentality. I'm not just hoping. I am guaranteeing that He is there. Tripp read the Bible and understood how to be saved by Jesus. He realized that it's not just for him and his family but that Jesus died to save all people. All people. All people. Tripp is there. I will see him again. I will reflect with him. I will sing with him. Heaven is much more like earth than you realize. It's in the Bible. It's not clouds and harps. It's the perfect Heaven and Earth created by Jesus for each one of us.
You will die. There is a life after death. It's Heaven or hell.
How do you get to Heaven?
1. Admit that you have sinned. Repent of that sin.
2. Accept the sacrifice of Jesus for your sin.
3. Be baptized into His name for the forgiveness of your sins, the gift of God in your life, and the guarantee of being in Heaven for all eternity with a perfect God who loves you perfectly and takes care of you.
(Don't understand that? Talk to a Pastor of a church you trust.)
This isn't a shameless plug. This, right here, is what my friend Tripp's life was all about.
Don't waste time hating. Use your time to love. Get to know the Jesus found in the Bible. Go to a worship service at a church that you can trust.
Your time on this earth is short.
I love you Tripp. I mourn the loss of our friendship and the future that it held. I mourn the loss of working along side you in our community. I am sick for your family. Sick.
Will we know people in Heaven? Yes. Tripp I'll see you in Heaven fairly easy because you're the biggest person I've ever known in real life.
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