Helen
Phillips Funeral
(16 February 1925 - 08 November 2005)
at White Rock Pentecostal Church
Congregational
singing: "Wonderful Peace"
song leader - Ken Harvey
pianist - Jim Huffman
Rev.
H.M. Shipp – Old Testament reading: Psalms 23
Rev. Shipp – pastoral prayer
Rev.
Glen Faulkner singing: "I want us to be together in Heaven"
Drew
Tustin shares thoughts about Helen
Roy
Lee Sinor singing: "I'm on the other side right now"
Aaron
Mahan – New Testament reading: John 11:17-27
Aaron sings: "
Jim
Huffman - Eulogy:
Pastor
Shipp, thank you for allowing us to use this beautiful facility to honor the
memory of Helen Phillips today. We sincerely appreciate all the efforts you and
your congregation have put forth in behalf of the family!
Brother
Faulkner, you honor us with your presence and ministry here today. It was
Helen's request that you be here today, as it was for Roy and Aaron to be here
singing.
In
fact, everything we are doing today was requested by Helen, although maybe not
quite as elaborately as she would have wanted… J
Helen
Phillips! What a woman. She always looked like a million bucks. EVERYTHING
matched! It was incredible. Ask her sisters, some of these things I can't really
talk about here.
One
might not say that she was a 'clothes horse,' but one could say that there was
not any occasion she couldn't be dressed for - in about an hour...if
it started in half an hour.
One
might not say she was always late, but one could say she always made a grand
entrance.
Helen
was not INTO mornings. She would have attended Sunday School if it would have
occurred several hours later in the day. It was a supreme act of spiritual
discipline to be at church on Sunday mornings in time for the congregational
greeting.
She
didn't always have to go to Wal-Mart every afternoon, but by
I
kept expecting them to give her an honorary blue vest…except it didn't go with
any of her shoes or purses.
She
was there so often that, even little Hispanic kids would come up to her,
recognizing her as a friendly face. She would take Spanish Bible storybooks with
her to Wal-Mart to give to them. She would wait for them to come out to the
parking lot.
She
didn't need anyone to drive her anyplace…she had Jesus riding with her! I told
her I thought that perhaps Jesus, AND her angels, only rode with her because
they were afraid to leave her alone with the car keys.
And,
if you ever thought you had won an argument with her, you only thought
you had won an argument with her.
Even
when she called to apologize for something, you hung up feeling guilty.
She
had three basic necessities, apart from all her shoes, purses, and dresses –
her telephone, her car, and of course, Wal-Mart.
She
took care of those she loved, even if you didn't want her to!
She
always made certain everyone honored me on the annual Pastor Appreciation
Day, two or three times each year.
She
was fiercely protective of her church, even though we don't shout and dance and
do the things she so enjoyed doing! She would say, I can do that through all
eternity.
She
now has on her party dress and she's dancing! I can almost hear her shouting.
She's probably already organized some kind of big get-together with Homer,
Eldon, momma, her two little ones, and a host of others. It'll be a big deal and
she'll be telling them about her surprise 80th birthday party
she organized.
I'm
certain she is watching right now making sure we get this right…she spent a
lot of time planning her funeral the past 15 years or so.
She
was a marvelous woman in ministry. She caught a lot of flack for being a woman
in ministry. We've had many conversations about it.
I've written a letter to her…you may listen in if you want.
My
dear Helen,
I understand the
difficulty you faced - trying to work in peace and harmony with fellow
Christians who might take you to task for exercising your God-given ministry to
the church. You were part of a church that encourages everyone to find their
place of ministry in the church, regardless of their gender.
You
found great encouragement in the passage in Galatians -
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are
all one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3.28
You were blessed to be
part of a long spiritual lineage of great women who exercised their calling for
the benefit of God's people: There was Miriam, one of the three leaders God set
in place at the head of the newly gathered congregation of Israel.
“Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s
sister, took a tambourine in her hand...” Exodus 15.20
Miriam was a prophet.
And then there was
Deborah. Deborah was a prophet and a judge
(Judges 4.4,5). “Deborah, a prophetess, the
wife of Lappidoth, was leading
There was Huldah. Huldah
was a prophetess who authenticated the scroll discovered in the days of Josiah
(II Kings 22.14 & II Chronicles 34.22).
“Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Acbor, Shaphan and Asaiah went to speak to the
prophetess Huldah, who was the wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas,
keeper of the wardrobe. She lived in
Jerusalem, in the Second
District.”
Helen, in the cases of
Deborah and Huldah there were many men, representatives of the congregation of
Israel, coming before these women for leadership, wisdom, and knowledge. There
have been many men who have benefited greatly from spiritual insight and prayers
you have made on their behalf.
Helen, you have taken
great comfort from the fact that God never has been a partial God and He
doesn’t change (II
Chronicles 19.7, Acts 10.34, Romans 2.11, Ephesians 6.9). “Now let the fear of
the Lord be upon you. Judge carefully, for with the Lord our God there is no
injustice or partiality or bribery.” Then Peter began to speak: ‘I now
realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism.’” “For God does
not show favoritism.” “And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do
not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is
in heaven, and there is no favoritism with Him.”
How many times have I
heard you quote The Old Testament prophet Joel
(Joel 2.28-29) “And afterward, I will pour
out my spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men
will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both
men and women, I will pour out my spirit in those days.”
And then that passage
quoted again in the New Testament book of Acts (Acts
2.17) “In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old
men will dream dreams.”
We have talked about a
couple of other significant passages in connection with women: (Acts
21.9 & I Corinthians 11.5) “Leaving the next day, we reached
There was Anna, in Luke
2.36 who was a prophetess, and Tabitha (Dorcas) who is called a “disciple”
and had a ministry of helps as is defined by Paul (Acts 9.36). Then there was
Phoebe (Romans 16.1&2) who was a “deacon”
according to the Greek text. Also, we find Priscilla and
We talked about how this
term "fellow workers" was a title - not
at all the word used by Jesus when calling for general laborers in the harvest.
In the 13th century the
text of Romans 16:7 was changed to masculinize the name so that instead of
reading “Greet
Andronicus and Junia, my relatives who have been in prison with me. They are
outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was.”
It has now read for the past seven (7) centuries “Greet Andronicus and
Junias...” It was not in keeping with the theology and dogmas of the
pre-reformation Church that there could possibly have been a woman recognized as
an apostle.
We talked about how many
protestant Christians today are still stuck in the dark-ages' prejudices of the
medieval Catholic Church.
Yes, dear Helen, there IS
quite a body of evidence in scripture of women who were recognized as having
served the church and/or the people of Israel in ministry leadership roles.
There isn’t a defense
presented in these passages of scripture, just a matter of record, and in some
instances, introduction.
There are only three (3)
passages which are used by those wishing to exclude women from ministry. They
were each written by Paul to address socio-cultural situations in
Even today we do have to
be aware of, and understand, the socio-cultural situations in which we desire to
minister.
My dear lady, you have
done well to ignore the ignorant who have tried to tear you down. It's not to
say that those folks can't change. Some of them did indeed eventually come
around to validating your God-given ministry.
Helen, change comes slow
and it wasn't your or my job to try to change people…if God can't change them,
it's a waste of your time. As we have talked - changes don't come by debate or
mandates in legalism. Changes should and must come through good balanced
teaching and the way we live.
The bottom line for me in
working alongside folks who are stuck in that old medieval Catholic prejudice
is, "I am determined to know nothing among
you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified..."
This, as many other
Biblical subjects, really isn't worth debate. Approach those who would become
angry over this subject as a weaker brother and accept him where he is.
I hope our visits over the
years on this subject helped you keep a sense of perspective. I know you have
been hurt deeply by rude, insensitive and ignorant comments.
Your ministry to me down
through the years has been a blessing. I love and appreciate you. Your genuine
concern to assure that there is a Biblical basis for everything was so very
refreshing!
Have a wonderful
eternity…we'll see you on the other side!
jim
(I did write the bulk of this letter to Helen a few years back. She said, more than once, that it was very important to her. I've added very little to it for this service.)
Commitment scriptures:
And
I heard a great voice out of the throne saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is
with men, and he shall dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God
himself shall be with them, and be their God: and he shall wipe away every tear
from their eyes; and death shall be no more; neither shall their be sorrow, nor
crying, nor pain, any more: the first things are passed away. And He that
sitteth on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. These words are
faithful and true. They are come to pass. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the
beginning and the end. I will give to them who are athirst of the fountain of
the water of life freely. They who overcome shall inherit these things; and I
will be their God and they shall be my children. – Rev. 21.3-7
We
brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. The
Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.
Behold,
I show you a mystery: we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a
moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall
sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For
this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on
immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption and this
mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying
that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting?
O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of
sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our
Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved, be ye stedfast, unmovable, always
abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not
in vain in the Lord. – I Cor. 15.51-58
Forasmuch as it has pleased our heavenly Father, in His wise providence to take unto Himself our beloved Helen Phillips, we therefore commit her body to the grave and here we pay the last rites of the living to the departed: earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust. In committing this body to the grave, the dust returns to the earth as it was. The soul has gone to God who gave it.
Blessed
are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth. Yea, saith the Spirit, that
they may rest from their labors; for their works do follow with them. For them
that sleep in Jesus shall God bring with Him, and over such the death hath no
power.
"This
old house of clay."
When
I'm through with this old clay house of mine,
And
no more guidelights through the windows shine.
Just
box it up tight and lay it away
with
the other clay houses of yesterday.
And
with it my friends, do try if you can,
To
bury the wrongs since first I began
To
live in this house, bury deep and forget;
when
I meet the great Architect Supreme,
face
to face, I want to be clean.
I
know it is too late to mend
A
bad-builded house when we come to the end –
But
to you who are building, just look over mine
And
make your alterations while there is yet time.
Just
study this house, no tears should be shed.
It's
like any clay house, when the tenant has fled.
I've
lived in this house many years, all along
Just
waiting – and oft I've longed to go home;
Don't
misunderstand me, this world is divine,
With
love, birds, and flowers, and glorious sunshine;
It's
a wonderful place, and a wonderful plan,
A
wonderful, wonderful gift to man.
Yet
I feel, when the cycle is complete –
There
are dear ones across that we're anxious to meet
So
we close up the books, we check up the past,
No
more forged balances, this is the last.
Each
item is checked – each page must be clean,
That
is the passport we carry to our Builder Supreme.
So,
when I'm through with this old house of clay,
Just
box it up tight and lay it away;
For
the Builder has promised when this one is spent
To
have one all finished with timber I've sent
While
I lived here in this one. Of course it will be
Exactly
as I have builded here, you see.
It's
the kind of material we each send across.
If
we build poorly, then of course it is our loss.
You
ask what material is the best to select?
It
was told you long ago by the Great Architect,
"A
new commandment give I unto you,
that
you love one-another as I have loved you."
So
the finest material to send above
Is
clear straight-grained timber of brotherly love.
Now,
when I'm through with this old house of clay –
Just
box it up tight – and lay it away.
- author unknown
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