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| | | ![](../images-sub/a.gif) Editorial: In Memory of Joey - A Testimony by j. wallace, editor
Joseph Edward Vaughn, my brother, died Friday, June 3rd, 1994. He was 22. He drank, smoked pot, and gave tattoos. He liked Ozzy Osborne, KISS, Nirvana, Poison, Guns and Roses and Black Sabbath. He also liked Alan Jackson and Garth Brooks. He was a reluctant artist that could do aerial flips.
Lost in the muck and mire of contemporary Christianity and all its trappings, I took everything it told me to heart. I condemned his interests, his music, his lifestyle. Only after he was gone did I see that there is no love in condemnation. And the love that I thought I had been giving, wasn't really there.![](../images-sub/images/lookdown.gif)
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Together we can do the impossible... Rummaging through an old journal to find a poem for another writer I ran across a poem I usually avoid reading. Once my eyes are cast upon it, a sharp pain pierces my heart, a sting comes to my eyes and my day usually dims. To fully comprehend, allow me to share. A word of caution, the source of inspiration is the rawest of pain. |
this is one of those days that i see him in every tree
no, i never saw him maybe it would have been better if i had For in my mind with the antics of my imagination i don't just picture him as he was in a tree but also as a baby a toddler a young boy a teenager full of life
then i see the black nylon rope his arms clutching to the tree in one last desperate effort to save his life i can hear him gasping for air i can feel the sheer terror welling up inside of him as he realizes
its too late i want to erect a billboard where he rests that says ONLY LOVE MATTERS in declaration to those that considered him no good not worth the effort
i want to scream WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE
how dare they look upon that boy that God himself created in the image of his own likeness that Jesus Christ shed his own blood for and declare him not worthy of saving saying it over and over again from his conception to his birth
my baby brother who counted on me that i let down so many times... ultimately for forever
his death...no his suicide forever altering my life teaching me the meaning of mercy
a loss that can not be measured in the end only love matters
Joseph Edward Vaughn, my brother, died Friday, June 3rd, 1994. He was 22. He drank, smoked pot, and gave tattoos. He liked Ozzy Osborne, KISS, Nirvana, Poison, and Black Sabbath. He also liked Alan Jackson and Garth Brooks. He was a reluctant artist that could do aerial flips. Lost in the muck and mire of contemporary Christianity and all its trappings, I took everything it told me to heart. I condemned his interests, his music, his lifestyle. Only after he was gone did I see that there is no love in condemnation. And the love that I thought I had been giving, wasn't really there. What is the worst that would have happened if I alone would have accepted and loved Joey as he was? I will never know, but perhaps he would still be alive. My children sometimes ask me if Uncle Joe went to Heaven. I think back to all the religious 'talks' I had with him, under the guise of trying to help, wanting him to straighten up and do right. Hopefully his salvation did not depend on me. I do not live with guilt, but I accept responsibility I also see, where 'the Church' failed him and fails millions like him every day. The cart has been put before the horse. Righteousness is being demanded from those that are not obligated to be righteous, and more importantly, have not been given what they need to even desire to be righteous � the love of Jesus. In its place, the Joey's of the world have received judgment and condemnation, huge obstacles to the Cross. The bottom line is this - as Christians, there is nothing on this earth that we should love or want so badly that we are willing to cause another living soul grief. It is not our place to demand our rights, but to continuously give to all those who ask. If what they want causes us to suffer, so be it, we suffer for the sake of Christ. The prohibition of marijuana and the war on drugs as a whole, is an example of how the modern day church is willing and even demanding the suffering of others for the sake of their own lives. It is time to live as we proclaim to believe. Believe what God says, even when we do not agree or do not understand � God created the seed bearing plants and declared them good � Genesis 1:11-13, condemn no one, much less over what he consumes, and love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Only then will be be able to show the love of Christ to those that do not know Jesus, and be worthy of being called ourselves children of the Most High God. |
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