I had today off, so my sister and I figured, lets go to Ft. Lauderdale for the memorial service of Dr. Kennedy at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church. Sure, we could watch it online at the crm.tv website, but its better in person. (And you can still watch it on archive) When you live only 45 minutes away, there's no reason to pass up a chance like this. My other sister would not do something adventureous like this. She would watch online.



I knew Dr. Dobson was going to be the main speaker, and the doors were going to open at 11 for the service at 1 o'clock. That meant "lets get there early." We buzzed by the church at 9:20, spotted parking in the lot next door and the attendant waved us in. (We found out later that it was reserved parking, but he didn't check. The other cars had a sign on their dashboard when we got back to the car. We figured that he thought Cathy worked at the church because she was wearing a white blouse with black bottoms like the ushers.)



Anyway, we waited outdoors with our water and umbrellas. By 10:45, they said all the doors were going to open and we could get in the shade. Our friend in the photo was a man that flew in from California just for the funeral. Thats a wet towel around her neck. It was HOT. We got in and took a seat right behind the ropes for reserved people on the aisle. This was nice when the choir came in, when the casket was rolled up the aisle, and when the bagpiper exited before the casket on the way out.



The first two hours were taken up with a documentary, then piano and organ music. We took turns naming that instrumental hymn, which Diane Bish was playing on the organ.



About 10:45, various reserved people took their seats in the section in front of us. We saw Dr. Dobson go up front, the family, we spotted Chuck Colson and Rich DeVos.



I noticed some other people that I knew from visits to the church. I even spotted one guy that I have seen on two different singles websites.



On to more serious notes. The music was beautiful, the speakers were great, and Dr. Dobson made some wonderful points about great men passing and who was going to take up the call. Great men of faith are going, and aging. Who is going to fill the void?



All in all, it was wonderfully spiritually uplifting, and made us feel like we need to step in and follow Dr. Kennedy's lead in conversing with others and telling them about the gospel.



They are going to show a documentary on the Coral Ridge Hour Sunday, which I plan to tape. I am going to send my booklet and program to Mom in Michigan. She will love looking at the pictures, even if she doesn't comprehend that Dr. Kennedy died. She used to watch him every Sat. night when it would air before the Sunday service. She also loved Pavarotti, and he is gone too.



I will finish with the quote they had from Dr. Kennedy. I think I will put it in my Bible. Its such a great view of whats important.

“Now, I know that someday I am going to come to what some people will say is the end of this life. They will probably put me in a box and roll me right down here in front of the church, and some people will gather around, and a few people will cry. But I have told them not to do that because I don’t want them to cry. I want them to begin the service with the Doxology and end with the Hallelujah chorus, because I am not going to be there, and I am not going to be dead. I will be more alive than I have ever been in my life, and I will be looking down upon you poor people who are still in the land of dying and have not yet joined me in the land of the living. And I will be alive forevermore, in greater health and vitality and joy than ever, ever, I or anyone has known before.”



D. James Kennedy, Ph.D.

Yes, we did open with the doxology, and we finished with the Hallelujah chorus. I don't think I've ever seen so many people in the choir before. And the Hallelujah chorus was in the hymn book too.