KJV Psalm 116:15 Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.
NAU Psalm 116:15 Precious in the sight of the LORD Is the death of His godly ones.
My dear mother-in-law, Susan Kiser, is home with the Lord. She passed peacefully in her sleep early Monday morning. We had been expecting her passing since she was diagnosed with mesothelioma in September. The Lord was pleased to allow her to live on into the New Year, but took her home on the day my wife was to fly down for her last visit. We have been praying for this day, since Mom’s condition was incurable and her life was uncomfortable the last weeks. Today the Lord answered our prayer. Blessed be the name of the Lord!
Many jokes are made at the expense of mother’s in-law. I can happily testify that my mother-in-law was the best of women, one to whom the jokes did not apply. She was a trophy of grace and I thank God for her, and for the King James Only preacher whose ministry brought her to the Lord.
My mother-in-law was raised in a Christian Reformed Dutch home. She told me she had a ‘head knowledge, but not a heart knowledge.’ Without going into painful details, her early married life included a lot of difficulty.
Through the ministry of Wealthy Street Baptist Church in Grand Rapids, the family came to know the Lord. A caring Sunday School teacher intervened in the life of this family and they began to sit under the ministry of Pastor David Otis Fuller. [Yes, that D. O. Fuller.] My father-in-law made a profession of faith first. His life dramatically changed (although some years later he reverted to some of his wicked behaviour from before).
After some weeks of hearing Dr. Fuller preach, Mom K told me that she responded to an invitation during one of the services. She realized that her Christianity was all self and works. What was missing was faith and repentance. On that day, she gave her own life to the Lord and lived for Him faithfully until the day she died.
The home my wife grew up in was a Christian home. Mom K faithfully supported her husband and brought her five children up in fellowship with gospel preaching Baptist churches. My wife came to know the Lord through the personal witness of her mother.
Eventually, the Christian life in this home led three of the five children to Bob Jones University in Greenville, SC. Mom K later joined her children in Greenville, and served many years on the staff of BJU. There my wife and I met. There Mom K became my ally in wooing her daughter. [That is a story much too long to tell here! Suffice to say that without Mom K, our wedding probably would never have happened.]
I honestly am so blessed to be a part of this family. If you have met any of them, you will know what dynamic personalities they each are. My wife was a “Who’s Who” at BJU. The rest of them are the same quality. [I, on the other hand, was a “What’s That”.] But best of all, best of them all, is my dear mother-in-law. I am so glad to be her son-in-law.
By her faith in the Lord, the suffering of this age is now over forever for her. All the ‘no mores’ of Revelation are a reality. She walks now in the Glorious Day.
And last, I bless God for the ministry of D. O. Fuller, and all men like him, who faithfully preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. No preacher of the gospel is perfect and I suspect that I have significant differences with Pastor Fuller, but I have nothing but thanksgiving for him as a fellow saint and servant of the Lord.
Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3
Hey Don, my Dad also grew up going to Wealthy Street Baptist Church. Fuller was his pastor. I wonder if he knows the family.
It is amazing to me how interconnected we are as believers. I find connections like that all the time. I suppose it isn’t that amazing, since as God begins to work in a family, the influence spreads wherever that family goes.
I am thinking that the Kiser’s time at Wealthy Street was in the early to mid 50s. They later moved to Hopkins, MI and commuted to GR for work.
Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3