Claude Raymond Ewing was born September 14, 1929, in Tupelo, Mississippi. He passed from this life into glory on November 25, 2017, at home, surrounded by his family. He's survived by his wife, Darlene Ewing. He's also survived by six children. Ronnie Ewing, Glenn Ewing, Lee Scott, Andrea Strevel, Abigail Sokran, and Stephen Ewing, along with a host of grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his daughter, Laura Ewing. He was a faithful and beloved member and deacon of Ripley Primitive Baptist Church. He loved his family, his church, and the people of God. He loved working outside and he used his talents to serve those in need. Most of all, he loved Jesus Christ. He loved the gospel of grace and the sovereignty of God. He was a man who invested his life in the kingdom of God and one of his favorite investments was his labors at Camp Moriah. He was a man among men and a servant among servants. And that was Claude Ewing. The truth is we could say a lot about brother Claude this afternoon. Uh, there are more stories in this room that could be told. I was, uh, fortunate enough to come along about 15 years ago and brother Claude had already lived a lifetime by the time I had met him. When, uh, I met Abigail, and people began to ask me about what was going on. They never referred to her as Abigail. They referred to her as Brother Claude's daughter. I knew there was something going on at that point. When Abby told me he wanted to talk to me, I got a little scared, and everything worked out. Ecclesiastes 1.11 says this. There's no remembrance of former things, neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after. That may seem like a strange text, but here's the reality this morning, this afternoon. A hundred years ago, Claude Ewing wasn't a thought in anybody's mind. And in the normal course of life, a hundred years from now, He'll be a name on an old grave marker at Pine Hill Cemetery, and that's going to be about it. But for us, in God's mercy and in God's grace, we got to know the man that so many loved, were encouraged by, were strengthened by. Brother Claude was a unique guy in a lot of ways. If you grew up knowing Brother Claude, which I did not, but I've heard plenty of stories, he really is the stuff that tall tales are made of, isn't he? He's a Paul Bunyan of sorts. He didn't move mountains with a blue ox, but he used that blue tractor to move plenty of stuff, didn't he? Just a few of the things that I think of when I think about Brother Claude and this reality, stories that you just wouldn't believe if you didn't know them or if you weren't there. A couple of years ago, Brother Isaac and I were working alongside of somewhere around 84-year-old Brother Claude as he was manhandling some railroad ties by himself. And as Isaac and I were struggling to split one together and move it, He would work you into the ground and take about a two-minute break and jump up for more. He's a man that hit 99 out of 100 skeet in a shooting tournament one time. A guy who could pick up a clump of dirt and kill a rat that was running out of a campfire. A guy who lets his son drive to camp, tells him to stay on top of the ruts, but they get stuck anyway. Disappears into the woods with an axe and comes back with a couple of saplings that he stuffs under the tires and they drive out This isn't tall tale, but this is pretty funny He was a guy who when he was working with a couple of folks on a cold day one time And a generous brother was handing out some hot hands who's here, and I will not name You know hot hand you put in your your pockets. You know and you keep your hand warm and So I got mine, and I was thrilled to have them. And so Brother Claude's offered these hot hands, and he looks at them, and he says, well, what are these? And I said, well, you put them in your pockets, and when your hands get cold, you put them in there and warm them up. And he looked at them, and he says, well, I don't plan on having my hands in my pockets. And that was just him. He wasn't being rude. He wasn't trying to make anybody feel dumb. That was just him. He didn't plan on having his hands in his pockets. He was a guy who was skilled enough to fall a tree in a tight spot, but he was humble enough to rake your yard or sweep your rug if he thought it needed to be done. And there's all kinds of stories that could be told to go along with all that. There's tons of stories about an old El Camino and Different adventures that different folks got in with Brother Claude. But you know there's another dimension that really adds more beauty and more color. More dimensions to the man that we knew and that we loved. He was a man's man for sure. But he's one of the most gentle guys you'll ever meet in your life. He may get you by the scruff of the neck and tell you what needed to be told and then just wrap you up and weep with you. So as I was thinking about a text, the truth is I didn't have to think very long before the perfect text in my mind came along for Brother Claude. And so if you want to know the story of Claude Ewing, in a nutshell, here it is. Deuteronomy 32.10. God found him in a desert land, and in the waste-howling wilderness, he led him about, he instructed him, and he kept him as the apple of his eye." That's Claude Ewing's biography, in a nutshell. And brothers and sisters, that's every child of God's biography, isn't it? But Brother Claude was well aware and absolutely loved that reality, that God had found him. Now, if you didn't know Brother Claude very well, you may have thought he was like John the Baptist, that he was just kind of, you know, born again in the womb. I mean, he just seemed like a guy who was always, or you would have thought, always a man after the Lord's own heart. But one of the most encouraging things that I think of when I think about Brother Claude, is that it wasn't until he was 42 that the Lord actually worked in his life and converted him. And he never forgot that. He could sit down and have a normal conversation with you, but if something got brought up about the Lord's dealings in his life, he could not get the testimony out of his mouth without breaking down in tears. He just couldn't do it. It was so sweet to him. He loved the gospel of grace. He loved the sovereignty of God. He loved the fact and the reality that even though he was a wretched, wretched sinner, God in his mercy by grace decided to save Claude Ewing. And that was a story that never got old to him. We could read several different texts, and for time's sake, I want to kind of limit these. One that I read yesterday, and I think I'm going to read it again in 1 Thessalonians, was one that, again, came to mind fairly quickly as I was thinking about Brother Claude. In 1 Thessalonians chapter 1, Verse 2, Paul says, we give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers, remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ and the sight of God our Father. Knowing, brethren, beloved, your election of God, for our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance, because you knew what manner of men we were among you for your sakes." Now, the reason that I go to that passage and the reason that I think about that passage is because on a regular basis, Brother Isaac and I were privileged to witness the word of God coming to Brother Claude in power, not because our messages were so powerful, but because he came to hear the word of God, expecting to be changed by the word of God. And he was eager and engaged and involved. And I can't imagine that when the apostle Paul writes to the Thessalonians, that they were much more intense as far as the Lord working that word into their hearts. and anticipated it any more than Brother Claude did, as he, in the last days, would hobble in and get on his recliner back there. I was able to preach to him, really all the way up until the end there, a couple of Sunday afternoons ago. I was privileged enough to preach the best sermon he had ever heard in his life, which was right after Isaac had preached the best sermon he had heard in his life. And we do laugh about that, but the truth is, at that time, it wouldn't have mattered who was preaching. Well, I guess it could have mattered who was preaching, but for the most part, it wouldn't have mattered who was preaching. If they were taking a text and they were preaching it accurately, that was the best sermon he'd ever heard in his life. He was a man, he was gripped by the word. In his early days, all the way into the end. His response is, I mean, this is what it was, this is the way it was. In some kind of a way, when you'd get out of the pulpit, it didn't matter what it was, it'd say, that message really moved my spirits and I pray that the Lord will bless it to stick. You see, there was no, with Brother Claude, there was no going overboard when it came to stepping on his toes. The more you squish, the more he liked it, it seemed. And he would just encourage it. And it wasn't because he was some kind of a weirdo, but it was because he realized the Lord was still working on him, and he was not resistant to that, in the sense that he had not thought that he arrived. This pure in heart, I don't remember if we've sung it yet or not, but the one that we will sing, that really was his prayer. He was thrilled at the thought that one of these days he would not struggle with the struggles that he had. I asked him one time, I can't even remember how this got brought up, but we had this conversation several times, and he would say, you know what? I'm just as sinful as I've ever been. I just don't have as much energy as I used to. He was aware of himself. One of the things, just as you think about Brother Claude, it's a word that probably would be thrown out a lot, but he was so steady. You didn't have to wonder where Brother Claude was going to land. It didn't matter who you were. If an issue came up. Whether it's in the church or whether it's in our family or wherever, if an issue came up, you didn't have to wonder where Brother Claude was going to stand. He was going to stand exactly where he thought the scripture stood. He was going to stand exactly where he thought the word of God was. And I am confident that that was all the way to the end. I'm confident that if he thought it needed to be done, he would have picked me up by the back of my pants and thrown me out that door if he thought that's what needed to happen. He was committed firmly to what he thought the scripture said and what he thought the Lord wanted him to do. And then the last thing I'm going to say about Brother Claude, and again, we could fill in with so many other details. If you were around him and had very many conversations, you know, you realize Brother Claude loved to work and his dream death was to die up at camp. He wanted to have a heart attack while he was cutting down trees. That's what he wanted. That was his dream. And that's not what happened. He spent about the last two years of his life in a recliner, sneaking in whatever work he could while Darlene wasn't looking. And I remember several months ago having a conversation with him. He said, you know, Brother Lewis, if you were to ask me three or four years ago what it would have been like to be confined to this chair for, I don't know, a year and a half at that time maybe, he said, I would have told you that it was unbearable. He said, but the Lord is so good. He said, I have been content. He said, this is not the way I wanted it to be. But this is the way it is. And God's given me grace to be able to endure this and to be able to do it in a way that I am thankful to God for his mercies. And so it just oozes Philippians 4, 11 through 13. Brother Claude knew what it was like to be exalted and he knew what it was like to be abased. And even in his final years, the Lord was teaching him to learn contentment in that old recliner. We could say plenty more, but I'll just leave it here. This is where Brother Claude would leave it. 1 Timothy 1, 17. And now unto the King, eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. Let us pray. Holy Father, we feel somewhat like the old songwriter What more can we say than what has been said? We thank you for the testimony of your grace. We thank you for the life of Brother Claude Ewing and your work of grace in him. He has been a monument to this generation, O God, of what a man ought to be, not only as a man, but even as a Christian man. And a monument to this generation of how someone so energetic and so mindful of wanting to be active in doing could also be content sitting in a chair And I pray, my God, that not only the old and the aged, but the young would learn from this example that you have given us. And bless us to reflect upon this and draw strength from our own life in the future, that you do watch over and care and take care of your children. I pray, my God, that you would be with the family in their time of bitter sweetness. Thank you that they can weep, but sorrow not as those who have no hope. I thank you, my God, that they can rejoice that their loved one is at peace and that he is delighting as he has never enjoyed any service before. I pray, my God, that you would sustain them and comfort them. And when out of nowhere, they'd just be sitting Fill up the void. Comfort them. May they enjoy the sweetness of a testimony of your grace and mercy. And I pray, my God, that for this congregation, Brother Claude was a pillar in the kingdom of God. I pray that young people, young men, would realize that that void needs to be filled. Raise up young men to be pillars in the kingdom of your God, in our God, in your kingdom, our God. I thank you for what it's been said. I pray that you would. Be with Brother Isaac now. Bless his mind to be fruitful. Pray you be with Brother Zach later. My God, I want to thank you. For my life being richer. And being honored to know, Brother Claude, you. But I thank you. But he doesn't miss me right now. He is enjoying. The Lord. Jesus Christ. Basket. In his presence. You know a lot of things I'd like to say, Father. I just don't know how to put it into words. Thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ, who is our peace and our righteousness. And it is in his name we pray. Amen. Like Lewis, I, um, was confident that the text the Lord put on my heart was the right text for me to bring to you today. That was further confirmed as I was looking through Brother Claude's three Bibles that are out in the lobby, those very, very, very worn Bibles. And this passage is prominently marked in all three of those Bibles. And if I heard him pray this verse once, we heard him pray this verse probably thousands of times. It's found in Daniel chapter four and all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing. And he do it according to his will and the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. and none can stay his hand for saying to him, what doest thou? I think this is a important moment for all of us as we consider the life and the death of Claude Ewing. This is a very important moment for all of us to consider it well. Funerals in our culture are a very reasonable time to question the sincerity of ministers. We tend to paint with a very positive brush. And yet today it's with zero reservation that I affirm that lying before us is a body of a great man. a man that we universally admire. For me and many of you my age and younger, as youth, he was like a Superman. Some of our favorite memories are riding in the back of that blue trailer, I guess it was blue at one time, that trailer, picking up limbs, brush, camp, and placing bets to see whether he could back in between those two trees or not. And I'll tell you that even when I reached 40, it was a very special thing for me to ride on the back of that trailer with my children. He couldn't crane his neck back quite as easy and the brakes weren't quite as good, but he never killed anybody. And we had some good times. And I think many of you with me will remember that man with the hat slightly off-center and that little sweat towel wrapped around his neck and sharing bologna and mayonnaise and crackers, watching him drink pickle juice and deal with his cramps. So it brings up a question, a very important question, and that is, How do you measure? How does one measure greatness in a man? What quantifies greatness? Maybe to put it a different way, how do you measure what is a life that is worth living? This passage in Daniel 4 that he loves so well is given to us, this verse, is the conclusion of a man who wrestled with the idea of what greatness was. This is a passage about greatness. These are the words of a king, a man named Nebuchadnezzar, who was a mighty king over an empire whose borders stretched far and wide. and who stood as the great king of his day, the great empire of his day. Nebuchadnezzar measured greatness by what he could achieve. As he surveyed his palace, he says, I have built this palace by the might of my power. As I look at this palace, it reflects the honor of my majesty. We're geared to measure greatness in similar ways, aren't we? Maybe we measure greatness by sexual conquest. Or we measure greatness by athletic feats. I love the stories that Lewis told. And they're all true. And there are many more. But what happens when a man who could hurl dirt clot at a rat and strike it square between the eyes. What happens when that man can't lift his arm and throw it that way anymore without breaking a bone? Is greatness temporary? Is greatness determined by the breaks that you get and the circumstances that fall your way or the luck that doesn't fall your way? Whereas greatness measured by something far deeper, far more meaningful and far more enduring. Here's the conclusion of this passage put in different words. The measure of greatness in a man is how he views himself and how he views his God. How a man views himself and how a man views his God will determine the worth of the life that he lives. How a woman views herself, how she views her God will determine the worth of a life that she lives. Now these are the conclusions of Nebuchadnezzar. All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing and he, he doeth his will in the army of heaven. And none can stay his hand or say unto him, what doest thou? He later would say, now I never can as a praise and extol. This is a man who is praising the honor of his own majesty. He'd achieved some greatness. We all have stood in awe at the Lewis did not exaggerate. He came to my house when I moved here at 79 or 80 years old and cut down 13 trees and installed them up. But that greatness is gone. A couple of days ago, they carried his corpse out. He did not lift a finger to help them. He was helpless as they carried out the lifeless body, a shell of what he had been, right? And here's what it required for Nebuchadnezzar to see what true greatness was. He had to be radically humbled. Please understand this. The knowledge of what is actually great, the knowledge of what is actually meaningful is not native to any of us. It wasn't native to Nebuchadnezzar. It wasn't native to Brother Claude. As Lewis said, he did not come out of the womb shouting hallelujah. He came out of the womb proud, intent on finding his own way and forging his own path. He would be the first to tell you that as he began to have success, he began to go astray. Many, many times in the last few months, the last few years we sit at his house, he would shed tears over his pride and over his wrong thoughts of greatness. Nebuchadnezzar had to be radically humbled in a really almost a violent way. And I don't know the state of Nebuchadnezzar's heart, but I know that he began to see truth. after he had been reduced to nothing. Brother Claude was also radically humbled by God. And I want you to know, if you didn't know this already, that he absolutely viewed this humbling that God brought into his life as an act of sovereign mercy and grace, and as the best thing that God ever did. for him. How a man views his God. He does according to his will in the army of heaven. Earlier Nebuchadnezzar said, as his understanding returned to him, I bless the most high and I praise and honored him that liveth forever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion and his kingdom is from generation to generation. Brother Claude viewed his God as the sovereign king over all creation. He loved the idea that God is king. He loved the sovereignty of God. Because God had showed him that he was not sovereign, that he was feeble, that he was mortal, that he was flawed, that he was nothing. And he began to see, through grace, a God who actually is worthy of service. That all the pursuits of the things that this life can temporarily offer All those pursuits were meaningless in comparison to a God who is most high. And so he dedicated the rest of his life to blessing the name of the one who is most high. The sovereignty of God, the idea that God is king and that his kingdom is eternal, that he's a kingdom that's not of this world, a kingdom that is not meat and drink, but it's righteousness. Full righteousness. That means that you don't have to go back and start at the very beginning and get it right. You can't do that. You're born in Adam already guilty, but in Christ there is full, perfect, true, forever enduring righteousness. And the kingdom of God and this eternal kingdom is a kingdom that is righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. And so he loved the idea that God was king, that God had brought salvation. He loved the idea that God's dominion was comprehensive, that he cannot be stopped or questioned. Let me just give you three thoughts about how he viewed his God that played out in his life so prominently. One was this man was a man who loved to worship God. because God is king. Let me just read to you a portion of Psalm 145 that describes the sovereignty of God, describes the greatness of God, and describes how God uses this sovereign power, this sovereign knowledge, this sovereign ruling over the universe in the lives of his people. Psalm 145 says, thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations. That's the sovereignty of God. But listen to what God does in his strength. The Lord upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down. The eyes of all wait upon thee, and thou givest them their meat in due season. Thou openest thine hand and satisfyest the desire of every living thing. The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works. The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of them that fear Him. He also will hear their cry and will save them. The Lord preserveth all them that love Him, but all the wicked will He destroy. My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord and let all flesh bless His holy name forever. That's a God that can be worshipped. God is big. He's vast. He's sovereign. He rules. But He's not like Nebuchadnezzar, sitting there just admiring His own glory in a selfish sort of way. God is using this glory. He's using this power. He's using this sovereign rule over the universe on behalf of those whom He loves. And He loves them undeservedly. So God has been better to us than we could ever begin to demand. And Brother Claude believed that. And so he was a worshipper. And yet his grasp of sovereignty and his love of sovereignty did not diminish in any way his sense of responsibility, particularly the responsibility to pray. I think as Andrea said the other day, I still need those prayers. The very last conversation that we had on Wednesday, we spent time in prayer. There were some needs that had just come up in our church and we spent time in prayer. He wanted to pray. He asked me to pray for patience. He was ready to die. And yet it seemed like he wouldn't die anytime soon. And we prayed for patience. Every Tuesday morning until the last year, every Sunday morning, seven o'clock and six 30 on Tuesday mornings, he was there. I was telling someone yesterday, I will never forget those days on the back bench. It was dark. We sit on the back bench and he'd come in and he was not feeling well. His legs hurt all the time. And he would have that denim jacket with the collars pulled up and he'd just be rubbing those legs, rubbing those calves. And he would sit there and pray the whole time, just rubbing those calves because he believed in prayer. Here's a quote from his Bible that I'd copied out this morning that he had written down. We are to pray. We are to pray for that which God will bring to pass. There he trusted God's sovereignty. And yet he said, we are to pray. We are to look to God because God is king. And then finally, how a man views his God. Brother Claude, well, I won't say he wasn't a warrior. Because that might not be true. But I'll tell you personally, and I think you can say the same thing, he had a way of calming my spirits. I was told this to the church yesterday, but he so believed in the goodness of heaven and the promise of eternal life, which God promised before the world began. Sometimes it was a little inappropriate. I would go to Brother Kalala, get some bad news. So-and-so died. And he would say, well, that's good. That's good. And that's the way he was. And I would say, well, don't tell them that. But many, many times as young pastors, we'd face challenges and we'd get ourselves worked up into a sweat and to dither and speculate here and there, what's going to happen here? What's going to happen there? And whenever we talked to brother Claude, we'd pray. but he had a way of just calming our spirits. Because he trusted that a God who was king, and a God who had sworn himself before the world began to his people, would not fail his people. Family, remember that. A God who swore himself to his people will not fail you. You knew he was gonna die at some point, and yet it doesn't seem right, does it? And yet God will not fail you. how a man views himself. All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing. You will never see, I will never see myself appropriately until I view God appropriately. Until I see God as being good, and God as being right, and God as being just, and God as being holy, and God as being light, I will not view myself appropriately. I will complain at that which doesn't turn out my way. I will ask for more than I could ever receive. I will demand that which I have not earned. And I will take credit for that which I have not done. When we see God high and lifted up as a sovereign king of the universe, that who can stay his hand, who can advise him, who's going to give to him and then have it returned to them again, Romans 11 says. What I have, what I am, I have received as a gift. There is no room for boasting. because all the inhabitants of the earth in comparison to God are viewed as nothing. This is not just a statement about sovereignty in general and mankind in general, but it's a statement that Brother Claude believed personally. Brother Lewis is exactly right. He was well aware of his sinfulness. We've been joking about this, saying, you know what, if you want to get an amen from Brother Claude, if you want to get a pat on the back, preach on depravity. And that's not a joke. In his Bible, I copied this down as well. He had this written down along with scripture references. The mind is depraved. The heart is depraved. The affections and desires are depraved. The conscience is depraved. The speech is depraved. The feet are depraved. From the head to the foot, we are depraved outside of Jesus Christ. And that will make some of you angry. Here's a great man. He's my dad or he's my uncle or he's my friend. Who are you? Who are we to say this man is depraved? He did good things. He was a giver. He was at a big heart. Brothers and sisters, until we have seen the greatness of God, the holiness of God, but when we have, when we have all of our hopes, all of our Really, even reason to exist is wrapped up in the mercy and the sovereign grace of God. So Brother Claude loved the idea, he believed the idea, he hoped in the idea that God had chosen him in Christ before the world began, that there was a covenant love, that he had loved him with an everlasting love, not because he would see him doing such good works today, because he would say, what about my earlier works? But because God, from his own purpose and his own grace and his own kindness, He loved Claude Ewing in Christ, and he placed him in Christ, secured him in Christ before the world began. Friends, that's the only hope for a man or a woman who lives on this earth. and that God had sent his son, yes, God in the flesh, to stand as a substitute for Claude Ewing and to accept the wrath of almighty holy justice poured out upon his body instead of Claude's body so that this death might be the only death that he would have to die. and that God in His grace would call him, would not turn his back or change his mind because of his early days, but that God in His grace would call him, and He would call him out of darkness and place him into marvelous light, and that He would not give up on him, but He would preserve him and keep him, and He would continue the faithful work that He had begun in him. Listen, it wasn't just a moment in time when His change came. It was an excruciating period of years as God worked to humble Him and to make Him the man that we love so much. Because God is faithful. Friends, man can't do this, but God did for him what he could never have done for himself. He could fell all the trees in the world, climb the highest mountains, ski at 80 years old, but he could not do for himself what he so desperately needed. But God, in his mercy and grace, provided it through Jesus Christ. Praise God for that. Praise God for that. And so that leads, in closing, to the man that we all know and love. Because here's the reality. If greatness is measured by how a man views himself and how a man views his God, it also follows that true greatness, a man who views himself appropriately and views his God with praise, that true greatness leads to great relationships. You can't have a relationship if you're full of yourself. But as Nebuchadnezzar said, those that walk in pride, God is able to abase. Jesus said that whosoever will be great, let him be your servant. Somebody told me this morning, brother Claude gave like he was rich. And I thought there's not a more appropriate statement to be made. If you go to his house, it's not a mansion, but he gave like he lived in a mansion. I don't mean just financially. He understood that those things were going to burn up one day, but I mean, he gave of his time. He gave of his kindness. Brother Lewis was exactly right. I have seen him be as hard and as loving on the same person at the same time as anybody I've ever seen. Hard because he loved God first and loving because he knew what it was like to be a sinner. He knew what it was like to be in need of grace. He gave like he was rich. And so I don't want to be selfish, but as pastors, we're going to miss that. We're going to miss that big time. And as family, you're going to miss that big time. And the camp is going to miss that big time. And Ripley Church, we're going to miss that big time. And to all the friends that he served so well, his best friends were preachers and little children. They all loved him alike. We're going to miss that big time. Friends, what Brother Claude would tell you is what I've said this morning. And that is that God does his will in the armies of heaven and among the heavens of the earth. And that doesn't stop at the death of a great man. It was God who makes great. What he was, he received as a gift. What he gave, it came from God. And so as you walk out of here today, I hope and pray that you're not just thinking about Brother Claude and say, well, what an admirable thought. And I hope you're not saying, well, but I'm past that stage of life now. What could I be that's worthwhile? True greatness at any age is how you view yourself and how you view God. And so God, by his grace, enabled Brother Claude to live a life where God could speak to him and say, well done, thou good and faithful servant. I love you guys very much. I loved your daddy, your husband, very much. He was my friend. And I'm going to miss him very much, as you will as well. But he lived in hope of eternal life. And may you live that same hope of eternal life. And may it compel you to follow him, trust him, and love him with all you are. May God bless you.