Sermon at Memorial for Doug Bliss

[00:00:02] I didn't have a GoPro shirt to bring with me today, so I wanted to bring my Trinity bag. [00:00:10] Makes me think of our friend, our friend, our brother, our husband, our grandfather. [00:00:17] Doug was born, as we heard, in Gothenburg, Nebraska. And when I heard Nebraska, I used to be a pastor in Nebraska. I think of corn, and when I think of corn, I get a smile. Why? Because I remember some of the corny jokes Doug used to tell. [00:00:35] Oh, my goodness. He bring them to Thursday morning. Oh, grown time it was. And when I hear the word Gothenburg, I think as superheroes, you know, those. Those superheroes with capes and. And utility belts that can do all kinds of things and they save cities and people and they save them time and time again. [00:00:58] And to many of you here, Doug. Doug was pretty super, wasn't he? [00:01:05] He was super. He was a super person. Whether you knew him as a husband or a dad or a jumper or a great jump, we. Any great jumpers? [00:01:15] Okay. All right. A friend, a co worker, an uncle, a graphic designer. [00:01:22] Or maybe you just know him as your brother in Christ. [00:01:27] We need those sort of super people here. We need those sort of people in our lives and we will miss them when they are gone. But again, his race is finished. To him is the crown of glory. [00:01:42] I do look forward, though, to seeing Doug when I get to heaven now. I'm sure Doug would want you to see what he is seeing now in heaven. [00:01:52] I want you to imagine, just for a moment, imagine if he had to draw what he is seeing now. St. Paul once was taken up to the third heaven and he was just. It was beyond him, all that was there. Imagine just what Doug is seeing, as I described to you, that great banquet with the trees and the tables and all of the place cards that are put out. There's the banquet, the best of meats, the best of beverages. And he is coming to know firsthand. [00:02:22] Coming to know firsthand his Lord and Savior. His Lord and Savior who was born, baptized, traveled through, went to the cross, died for our sins, laid in a tomb that should have been ours. And he rose up from the dead, our Savior did. And Doug now is in the presence of his Savior. [00:02:44] Jesus came to save us from this corrupt world and from our own rebellious ways and our own sinful desires. Maybe it's been a. Since you've spent some time with Jesus. If it is, I encourage you to go home and read the Bible or reread it again. It is God breathed and spirit directed. It is a true account of what it took to rescue us from Sin and from Satan and from damnation. That's how you do damnation in sign language. That's down there. Oh, my goodness. [00:03:20] I was blessed to spend time with Doug and the family over these last months, these hard months. And I know that Lee was telling me the story of how much Doug loved music, that when he was laying in bed and he was in a drug induced coma, if you will, and you put on music, didn't you? Was it dizzy that you put on and his feet started tapping the music and he's in a coma. [00:03:48] So when you find somebody who they say, oh, he's just in a coma, talk to him, sing to him, put on their favorite music. You don't know all that God will do for them. [00:03:58] Now, some of you were there when I did some of the gospel accounts that I shared with Doug and how I shared them. I tried to make them come alive. Any of you know me, you know that's the way it's going to be. And I had a favorite. I remember telling Doug, he was laying there in the bed. I, I said, doug, imagine you've heard that this healer's in town and four friends, I could get 20 family members. And they came and got you. They took you down the street. Bump, bump, bump, bump. They're from Nebraska. Bump, bump, bump. And they get to the house, but nobody will let them in. It's all crowded. Resourceful people, they climb up the ladder, up on the roof. Can you imagine Doug going up the ladder to get on the roof and there they start taking the roof apart. [00:04:42] And the part that I remember, I shared with Doug is, could you imagine the dirt, the dust, the bugs that are just pouring into the room at this point, People are coughing and spitting and trying to clear the air. And there's Doug's Jesus. He's looking up and he can see faith, faith in action. Yes, he can go home and read the story. It is marvelous. And then there was the story when the disciples, Jesus had been busy all day, teaching, healing people and teaching and healing and teaching and healing. And it was the end of the day. And he's fully God, yet fully man. And he's tired and they put him in the boat and he falls asleep in the back on the cushions. And the boys, now these are fishermen, they know how to handle a boat. Oh, yeah. Out they go, you know, out into the middle. And a terrible storm comes up and the waves are huge and they're crashing into the boat and they're bailing as fast as they can and they're Rowing and going nowhere. And Jesus. Jesus, wake up. He's asleep in a stern. Jesus. Jesus, wake up. Doug, wake up. Wake up. I'm telling you the story. [00:05:53] Wake up, would you? [00:05:55] Jesus. Jesus gets up and he looks around and he realizes their faith just isn't what it should be. [00:06:04] Maybe that's us sometimes. But he tells them, calm down. [00:06:10] And he says to the storm, hush. Be still. [00:06:14] And it stopped. [00:06:17] And that really scared him. Who are we in a boat with? [00:06:22] And Jesus taught us that sometimes he'll ride us through. He'll ride with us through the storm. Sometimes he'll hang on to us so tight, and he will shelter us and he will see us through the. Through whatever the storm is. [00:06:37] Sometimes, yes, he will stop the storm. [00:06:40] Oh, and then there was another Bible story I loved with Doug. It was about John the baptizer. Remember him? He's down there by the River Jordan, and he's baptizing people saying, better get ready. [00:06:52] The Messiah's coming. He's coming. And one day, John looks over and he goes, oh, why is my hand doing that? Look, there's the Lamb of God that takes away the Son of the world. [00:07:06] And he's my cousin. [00:07:09] And what happens next is that John baptizes Jesus at Jesus request at the fount. We leave our sins at the font. Jesus gathered up our sins, the sins of the whole world. He would be the sin offering for all time for your sins and my sins and Doug's sins and for all the people until the last day. And he gathered them up, and then the heavens opened up. I picture God's voice, kind of a James Earl Jones. This is my son. [00:07:44] I love him. [00:07:45] And the Holy Spirit came down in the form of a dove and landed on him. [00:07:52] And the crowd was spellbound. [00:07:56] Who is this man? [00:07:58] I need you to read. I need you to listen. I need you to gather with others and hear about who this man is, this Jesus. Doug loved hearing these accounts again and again, especially because they told of God's commitment to us, especially for that they brought with them real hope and a timeless promise that God is with us and that nothing in all of this creation can separate us from the love of God that we see in Jesus Christ. [00:08:31] Do you know? [00:08:33] Do you know? [00:08:35] Nothing can separate you from the love of Christ? [00:08:41] Now, Doug, if you go downstairs, you've got to hunt. This is like Find Waldo. There's a bunch of pictures downstairs, and there's one where Doug is leaping in the air. I think he's jumping off a sand dune and he's Got this six pack, abs kind of like mine. [00:08:57] Well, you can't see mine, but they're there. And he's jumping and he's in the air. It is really wonderful. I figure he must have been down by the Platte River. Doug spent most. Was that where he was, Jeanne? All right, we got confirmation. He was down by the Platte River. Now, I got to ask some of the cousins. Can anybody tell me a story about when they were down by the river doing things they shouldn't have been doing? [00:09:21] You're forgiven. [00:09:24] Well, anyway, Doug loved those stories. You know, go down by the Platte River. And did you also know that Doug. Yes. [00:09:32] He was baptized. [00:09:34] He was baptized. He wasn't baptized in the plat. Although we could have done it. [00:09:40] You see, baptism is a gift. Baptism is God's gift to all of us. We are saved by a washing of rebirth and a renewal by the Holy Spirit, who is poured out upon us generously by Jesus Christ. And having been justified, that means that your sins are taken from you. Your sins are forgiven. Having been justified, that's a point in time. Wow. [00:10:06] And then you can go on to lead a holy and sanctified life. Yes. And having been justified by his grace, that means free gift. We become. Listen to this line. We become heirs to eternal. [00:10:21] We become heirs, having a sure and certain hope of eternal life. [00:10:27] We become heirs. Doug was an heir of heaven with the sure and certain hope of eternal life. Eternal life in heaven with Jesus. Now, Doug treasured his baptism. Do you treasure yours? If you aren't sure, you have some questions, see me during lunch. Now, another important person in his life is this beautiful lady down front. [00:10:50] It's Jeanne. [00:10:51] Jeannie was an important person when she came into his life. Oh, things changed so much for the better. [00:11:00] We heard about what he thought about, you know, where Fish came from. But when she came into his life, he brought. He. She brought Koa and Kai and Koa. Yes, he's the one. When he saw Doug with those pizzas and the sardines, he said, mom, he's a big one. [00:11:17] Oh, my goodness. And, yeah, he was a big one. He was a big one for all of us. And it was Jeannie who not only told him, fish don't always come as fish sticks, she also taught him that eating Chef Boyardee does not mean you're eating good pizza. [00:11:34] And then, as I was thinking about all this, I remembered a Jackson Brown song that John that. That Doug told me about. [00:11:42] And it was brought to mind, this line, going to find myself a girl who can show me what. [00:11:50] Who can show me what laughter means? [00:11:53] I'm going to find me a girl who can show me what laughter means. [00:11:59] And we'll fill in the colors in each other's paint by numbers. [00:12:05] She's going to teach me to laugh. And we'll fill each other's lives in life's kind of a series of events, kind of a paint by numbers. 45 years. They were blessed to be together with the promise she will see Doug again in heaven. Now, Jeanne told me that Doug was one of the first graphic artists to bring silk screening to this area. Maybe all of the Front Range. Right. [00:12:31] He was a man ahead of his time. He loved the people he worked with. Who in here worked with Doug at one time. [00:12:40] Okay. All right. He loved the people he worked with. He was always ready for assault gun war. Anybody packing today? [00:12:50] I went down to GoPro and there were the salt guns, and I went, this is a tough place. [00:12:55] He said, oh, it's just because we leave the door open for the flies. [00:13:00] He was always ready for that or some other hijink. Yes, he loved his family and his friends, and he sought out. They sought him out for his advice. And his advice was usually grounded in his Christian upbringing and mixed with his experience in the school of hard knocks. [00:13:19] Yes, he. And he was concerned. He was concerned for where our society in America is going with computers and phones and are they robbing all the. The things that are going on in America today with some of the TV and movie and computers and phones? Are we robbing our children of the opportunity to just be children, to go out and play and invent and imagine? [00:13:45] He also wanted one day grandchildren and great grandchildren to be grounded in God's word and care and service to others. And he hoped that they would not take themselves too seriously and that they could laugh even at themselves regularly. [00:14:04] Now, if you wanted to know who in Bible study on Thursday mornings, I'm going to miss. [00:14:10] We have this men's group meets downstairs. And it's not men's Bible study. That's just the name. Anybody can come. We have this group, and there was always this one member I could go to if I wanted to know something. Oh, let's say about demons or Nephilim or any UFOs. [00:14:31] He was. Yeah, he was demand. He loved reading about that stuff. [00:14:35] He loved it all. [00:14:37] And. And Doug had some keys for living. I want to share this with you. Doug's keys for living is, number one, have something to do. [00:14:46] Number two, have someone to love and have something to look forward to. [00:14:54] And I would add to that. And 90% of the rest is just showing up. [00:15:00] You know, 90% of life is showing up physically and spiritually. Yes. [00:15:07] Lee shared with me. After his first surgery, the doctor came in and he asked Doug, what, What's your name? [00:15:14] What day is it, Doug, why are you here? What state are we in? [00:15:18] And Doug, who is trying to recover from the anesthesia, he looked up with him with a timeless remark. [00:15:25] We're in a state of delirium that is famous in the hospital now. [00:15:33] Doug loved to think and ponder. He was brought up in God's word and he believed it. Doug liked the rest. He would like. Like the rest of us. He knew he was a sinner. He knew he couldn't save himself. He could not even pole vault himself into heaven. Doug knew he needed a savior. And because of his faith in Jesus, Doug knew because of that. Doug knew that he was forgiven. [00:16:01] Not because of anything he had done or anything he could do. He was done. [00:16:07] He was done with all that. He trusted God. He had faith in Jesus and all that he had done for him. And he knew he was heaven bound because of all that Jesus had done for him through his life, death and resurrection. [00:16:22] Now, in those last days in the hospital, at home, they maybe were some of the toughest for Doug, especially for the family and the friends. [00:16:31] But if Doug were to talk to us now, I believe he would tell us that the overwhelming purpose of life is to believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and. And then to share that faith and that trust. No matter your struggle or your situation or even your successes, remember Jesus. [00:16:54] Remember all that he has done. [00:16:56] Oh, and also wear cool Hawaiian shirts. [00:17:02] In my last visit with Doug, my last visits with Doug, he would always do this. If he couldn't talk. [00:17:09] Doug was heaven bound. I'd like to ask you now in celebration with Doug, how many of you are heaven bound? If you are, would you raise your finger up, please? Put them up high. Doug, we're coming. Thank you, Jesus. We are coming. [00:17:26] Yes, Doug would always point his way to heaven. [00:17:29] He had been made ready by hearing God's word and the blessings of baptism and communion. And if Doug were here when he knew his time was ending, he was ready to part from this life. And he knew that eternal life with his Savior was coming. And he knew where he wanted to go and who it was that would take him. He knew it was Jesus, for he knew that it is by grace he had been saved. [00:17:56] Faith in all that he. All Jesus had done and not by any of the works that Doug had done. It was all by Jesus. [00:18:05] It is a gift of God. Doug, we're going to miss you. But because we know Jesus, we know we'll see you again. [00:18:15] And all God's people said,