On January 21, 2008, I was searching for radio stations looking for a new morning talk radio show after our local radio station changed their morning lineup. I came across this radio show and was intrigued as I heard the hosts discussing the response of their partner as he learned of the tragic drowning death of his 2-year old toddler little boy, Bronner, who went to heaven and saw Jesus on January 19, 2008. The testimony shared by these men was strong, Biblical and showed an incredible amount of faith and trust in God and His plan. From that day, I became a loyal listener of the Rick and Bubba Show, two Christian men from Alabama who love the Lord, love football, love hunting, and love having fun.
Rick and Sherri Burgess are the parents of little Bronner. Since the death of their little boy, they have intentionally focused on heaven and used Bronner’s story as a way of sharing the gospel with others. As a father, Rick has spoken at numerous events for men sharing what he has learned as a Father. His wife Sherri has also spoken at women’s events, written in her personal blog, and just recently released a book titled, Bronner, A Journey to Understand. Anxious to read her book and not wanting to wait on Amazon to deliver it, I downloaded the book to my Kindle app and immediately began reading. The book is so good that I wanted to have an actual copy of the book and later ordered it from Amazon. Now, I want to share with you what I have learned through this book and the spiritual journey of Sherri and Rick Burgess.
Death
In our fallen world, we have never known anything different. Death happens and we have accepted it as part of life. The reality is that it was not supposed to be this way. Death was not part of God’s plan, but it was His punishment for sin. As Christians, we tend to casually state that as a fact, but stop and visualize death as punishment. For just a moment, try to imagine what it must have been like for our Creator God to sentence us to death. If you have lost a loved one, you understand how incredibly painful it is to be separated from that person.
You can no longer hear their voice.
You can no longer touch that person.
You can no longer see those eyes.
You can no longer be in the presence of that loved one.
I once described it as feeling like someone had ripped my heart right out of my chest and stomped on it. This is not the picture of a cute paper heart being torn apart. The actual human beating heart feels as if it is being ripped, torn, and yanked from your chest. It is painful. It hurts like no other experience. Looking at how painful death is for us, can you imagine how painful it must have been for God to hand down that sentence to His creation? It was not supposed to be this way, but sin forced it to be this way.
Focus
Our personal lives are saturated with worldly distractions that obstruct our focus. The Bible states that our focus should be on Jesus and on things above, on Heaven.
Hebrews 3:1a says, “Fix your thoughts on Jesus”
Colossians 3:2 says, “Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things”
While we may truly desire to focus on Jesus and on heaven, distractions, both good and bad, rob us of an eternal focus. Heaven is real. The beauty of Heaven and all that God has waiting for us in Heaven is incomprehensible. Here on earth, we want to be happy, but our true joy awaits us in Heaven. God and his Son, Jesus Christ are our true joy.
What must it be like to see him face to face?
What must it be like to stand in his presence?
What must it be like to hear him say, “Well done, thy good and faithful servant.”
I want to hear him say, “Well done”, but worldly distractions keep me distracted from sharing what God has done for me and sharing his gift of salvation with others. Remove the love of the world, good and bad worldly distractions and focus on Jesus.
Love for God’s Word
Sherri Burgess loves the Word of God. It is evident in her words, her thoughts, and her actions. With complete trust while seeking answers, she takes every thought, every emotion, and every question to the Bible for answers. One of my goals this year is to have a true love and desire to saturate my heart with God’s Word. Bronner, A Journey to Understand is rich with the Word of God. The sweet testimony, the complete reliance on God, and the understanding of this broken-hearted mother have made the desire to saturate my heart with the Word of God even stronger. Her belief, her trust, and her focus on Jesus and his Word have carried her through the past 8 years. We cannot read enough of the Bible. We cannot learn enough from the Bible. God’s Word is overflowing with direction, answers, comfort and so much more. Even more than before, I truly want to saturate my life, my heart, and my thoughts with God’s Word.
Rick and Sherri Burgess stood up to Satan and did not allow him to win when their little Bronner went to heaven with Jesus. They are fighting the good fight, they have kept the faith, and they are steadily working to finish the race strong. We can all learn from their journey of understanding.
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