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THE CHRIST REMAINS FOREVER
A Tribute to Dr. Kelley Varner
by Doug Fortune
Perhaps people who are given to writing don't have the luxury of a
"private life"... I am not totally sure, but this act of putting on
"paper" what I am feeling seems somewhat therapeutic for me. I have a
confession to make- my heart has been heavy for several days now. I
awoke this past Sunday morning to the news from Jonathan Varner that my
dear friend Dr. Kelley Varner had stepped into another dimension, and
was standing in the Presence of Christ in all His glory. His passing
was quite unexpected.
Yes, I am well aware that Father God is sovereign in all things, that Kelley had finished his course, and he is definitely hearing the words "Well done, thou good and faithful servant" echo throughout eternity. The objective knowledge of those things do serve as a bit of comfort to my soul. However, as I told his son Jonathan, Kelley Varner was truly a great man in the Kingdom, but I will miss my FRIEND more than anything else... and I do miss him right now.
The funeral service held in Jacksonville, NC was perhaps one of the most awesome (and personally awful) experiences I have had recently. I know, we preachers are supposed to be strong during times like these, for we supposedly know all the theological answers to the hard things in life. Still, I cried during the funeral service... and I'm crying now as I write.
Am I questioning the Kingdom message that Kelley so eloquently and effectively proclaimed?... certainly NOT! Am I questioning the purpose and plan of our sovereign God?... certainly NOT! Has the passing of Kelley Varner somehow diminished my belief in a people that will someday truly conquer death, step over the grave and not taste physical death?... certainly NOT! In fact, I feel stronger in these convictions than I have ever felt in my life. Yet, there is a particular Scripture that is resonating deep within me at this present moment- "Jesus wept." (John 11:35) If Jesus could weep at the passing of a friend, I guess it is OK if Doug Fortune weeps.
Even in the midst of my dealing with the human emotions of loss and grief, I am gripped with a particular passage found in John 12:34; "At this the people answered Him, We have learned from the Law that the Christ is to REMAIN FOREVER; how then can You say, The Son of Man must be lifted up [on the cross]? Who is this Son of Man?" (Amplified Bible) Did you catch that?... the Scripture declares that the Christ is to REMAIN FOREVER! Ponder this for a moment, Jesus is speaking of going away, ascending to His Father, yet the Christ is to remain forever. The word translated as Christ, Christos in Greek, means anointed, or anointed one. What was the net result of Jesus going away?... His Spirit was poured out upon all flesh.
"And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;" (John 14:16) "Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you." (John 16:7) Jesus ascended to His Father, yet His Spirit, His anointing, the Christ remained. Where there was once only one Anointed One, now there are many "anointed ones" because the Christ, the anointing, is to remain forever.
Dr. Kelley Varner has ascended to his Father, yet his anointing, the Christ remains in the earth. Do I believe that there will be one individual that will receive the mantle that Kelley has left behind?... certainly NOT! There are many that are being infused with a fresh anointing of the scribe, the prophet, the apostle. Has the Kingdom of God received a blow in the passing of Dr. Kelley Varner?... certainly NOT! Do I personally feel as if I have received a blow in the loss of my friend?... most certainly! Yet I know that "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." (Psalms 30:5)
As Kelley has passed the baton to us, he has now joined Bill Britton and G.C. McCurry, the men that taught him how to write and preach. Those who have gone before us are not merely cheering us on, like a sporting event. Let us remember that "...they [these heroes and heroines of faith] should not come to perfection apart from us." (Hebrews 11:40 Amplified Bible) It is up to us. Everything they worked for now rests on our shoulders.
With this in mind, let us heed this admonition- "Therefore then, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who have borne testimony to the Truth], let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us, Looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith [giving the first incentive for our belief] and is also its Finisher [bringing it to maturity and perfection]..." (Hebrews 12:1-2 Amplified Bible)
Indeed, Dr. Kelley Varner lives on in the lives of countless many that he touched over many years... for the Christ is to remain forever! "he being dead yet speaketh." (Hebrews 11:4)
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