"Howl, fir tree; for the cedar is fallen; because the mighty are spoiled: howl, 0 ye oaks of Bashan; for the forest of the vintage is come down."
Zee 11:2
Mr. Boyd used this text to
preach my grandfather's funeral 40 years ago this year. The idea that a giant
has left us and that the world is poorer with his leaving is appropriate at his
home going as well.
I spent the first 35 years of my life under hrs
influence. He was pastor to many, like our family, throughout Northeastern
Ontario where his radio ministry, personal visitation and later his television
ministry reached. I spent my formative years, from seventeen to thirty three,
in Sudbury under his ministry deeply engaged on some of the many fronts by
which Mr. Boyd attempted to advance the kingdom of God.
He was always Mr. Boyd to His people. Not John, not
Pastor, not (certainly not) J. R.. The respect which that address implies came
because he led from the front. He was not a professional as many modem pastors
like to apply that term. He studied but he was not isolated in the study. He
worked. He demonstrated that the kingdom of God and its advancement was not the
most important thing in the world but the only thing in the world. His example
moved those who worked at a "secular" job to recognize that the kingdom
of God demanded more than a perfunctory appearance at church three or four
times a week. The interests of God's kingdom were so important that all of life
must be given to promoting the expanding reign of King Jesus.
Mr. Boyd was most gifted and
blessed in his teaching and preaching ministries. God spoke so effectively
through him that sermons of an hour or an hour and a half usually left you
wanting more. His insight into scripture was profound. I al ways took notes on
his sermons and bible studies because there was always a new aspect or
interrelationship of truth revealed. To be exposed to his ministry on a
consistent basis was a theological education.
His ministry produced
character and dedication. He always had at least four or five men and at least
as many women about him, who had developed under his ministry, and were
competent in carrying on various parts of the work under his direction. He fulfilled
the requirement of ministry laid down by the apostle Paul. "And the things that
thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful
men, who shall be able to leach others also." 2 Tim 2:2 In close to sixty
years of ministry Mr. Boyd became the bishop of Northeastern Ontario. He
invested his life, energy and resources in promoting the kingdom of God at all
levels. Would to God that we could have in our time some who would have the
same breadth of vision and would follow him as he followed Christ.
Don Cook Pastor of Beresford Baptist Church Thunder Bay, ON