RIP Matt Godwin

Got the news yesterday.....
Heavy heart this morning....
Matt Godwin had died....
Too young for this to be true....
To much future to live for this to be a reality...
As with any death, we want to scream out, "This isn't fair!! This isn't the way it's suppose to be!"

Such news as this leaves us with far more questions that we have answers. For this, I will remember the good times.
First met Matt when he came through the program at Rapha. He was what I called a "Skeptical-believer". He was full of questions about God and was looking for me to give him an answer to every one of them. I set him straight right quick that I was a firm believer in the I Corinthians 13:12 passage which states..."We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us."

Matt wore my office door out... Every free moment, he wanted to talk about this Jesus he thought he knew. Turns out that Matt was shaking off some old belief's he'd had about Jesus and was now running into the real deal. There was enthusiasm and passion forming in his heart. He poured over scripture, under lining verses that seem to jump off the page at him. That was Matt....He was an "all in" kind of guy. No half-stepping or lagging behind. He was all in now on this new found relationship with Jesus.

Matt had an infectious laugh that seem to rise up from somewhere deep inside him. I think he laughed more during his time at Rapha than he had in a while. I watched as layer after layer of the old life fell away. During the process, Matt fought those old demons that seem to not want to let go. So for me to get the news of his death was hard. 

I've written this many times upon receiving the news of someones passing, and I'll write it one more time. Matt now knows the truth of what you and I only claim to believe. The truth that we all will come face to face with when it's our time to cross over.

My prayers are with his family....
His wife....
His children...
His Mom.....
That in the midst of this terrible time, God's Spirit would bring a level of comfort and grace to them. That He would walk with them as they navigate this thing we call grief.

I saw Matt some months ago. He and Lindsey, his wife, came to a meeting at Vineyard ReCovery Church. It was good to catch up with him. He told me of his plans for the future, as well as his sharing that infectious laugh I told you about. Good looking couple....
Seemed to love each other deeply.
I will miss you, my friend.
I love you, man.

I Corinthians 15 (Message Bible)
At the same moment and in the same way, we'll all be changed. In the resurrection scheme of things, this has to happen: everything perishable taken off the shelves and replaced by the imperishable, this mortal replaced by the immortal. Then the saying will be true:
"Death swallowed by triumphant Life! Who got the last word, oh, Death? Oh, Death, who's afraid of you now?"

God on you...
mbb