{"id":567,"date":"2013-02-04T00:01:41","date_gmt":"2013-02-04T08:01:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/davesevern.com\/blog\/?p=567"},"modified":"2013-08-21T22:47:57","modified_gmt":"2013-08-22T05:47:57","slug":"gone-but-not-forgotten","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/davesevern.com\/blog\/gone-but-not-forgotten\/","title":{"rendered":"Gone But Not Forgotten"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Have you ever walked around a cemetery and read the inscriptions \"\"<\/a>on the headstones?\u00a0 Have you ever visited a gravesite of a kno<\/span>wn family member, special friend, associate, or even a complete stranger…. and stopped long enough to really ponder in your heart just who this person was, what they stood for, what their <\/span>accomplishments were, and what real impact they had on the lives of other people?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Have you ever taken enough time out of your own all-too-busy life\u2019s schedule to consider those same above four questions and how they would be answered as relates to your own life?<\/span><\/p>\n

What have You<\/i> really done with the use of your life?\u00a0 What have you accomplished with the Gift God gave you to use?<\/span><\/p>\n

Thirty-five years ago I read a book entitled Life Is Tremendous.\u00a0 <\/i>The book was authored by Charlie \u201cTremendous\u201d Jones.\u00a0 On one of the pages there was a sketch of a gravesite with a completely blank gravestone.\u00a0 The author made a statement that really arrested my attention,… clear to the bone.\u00a0 It made me stop and seriously consider the topic of his discussion as it applies to my own life.\u00a0 He said \u201cYou are not really ready to live your life until you know what you want written about you on your own tombstone.\u201d<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Please, stop right now and give that statement some quality \u201cthink\u201d time as it applies to your own life.<\/span><\/p>\n

As I am writing this discussion, I am just returning back across the United States from the funeral service and burial of my very dear friend, Bill.\u00a0 What an incredible human being he was.\u00a0 For the 81 years he walked on this earth, his accomplishments were staggering.<\/span><\/p>\n

He was bold in everything he did in life.\u00a0 He was the oldest of eight children and was a great assist to his parents in raising that many children on limited means.\u00a0 He was a committed husband to his only wife, Peggy.\u00a0 He was a U.S. Army Korean War veteran.\u00a0 He loved his country.\u00a0 He loved his friends.\u00a0 He even forgave and loved his enemies.\u00a0 He was not perfect, but what mortal person do you know who is?\u00a0 He loved, served and greatly blessed people all over this globe<\/i>.\u00a0 He spoke very boldly and always with total authority.\u00a0 He never spoke louder than he lived.<\/i>\u00a0 He was an unprecedented business builder and leader.\u00a0 His list of \u201cachievements\u201d just goes on and on and on.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bill was without question a man\u2019s man.\u00a0 He was a good Coach.\u00a0 <\/i>He was a good Mentor.\u00a0 As a Leader of People, he taught men how to do what they ordinarily would not do…..so that they would become what they were originally designed to be.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bill was way ahead of his time.\u00a0 He was a great visionary.\u00a0 He saw life and things in life that are invisible to the average man.\u00a0 His strength of character was very powerful.\u00a0 As a mentor he stretched men way beyond their abilities to perform and they became better men for being stretched.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Bill demanded excellence from himself first and then from all others whom he coached, and with whom he associated.\u00a0 \u201cTop Shelf,\u201d \u201cFirst Cabin,\u201d \u201cYour Very Best\u201d were the things that Bill\u2019s teaching would draw out of those he coached.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Power of the Spoken Word,<\/i> The Power of Unity, <\/i>and The Power of Submission <\/i>were the Three Pillars of his teaching platform .\u00a0 These Pillars formed the foundation he used to hold together a global business of hundreds of thousands of people.<\/span><\/p>\n

But the single most important of all his accomplishments was his Christian Walk.\u00a0 His Faith and Belief in God was solid and unyielding.\u00a0 He lived and conducted himself in the manner and way that he believed God wanted him to live.\u00a0 His constant desire was to please his Heavenly Father through generously and joyously giving to, loving, and serving other people….He was always his own secure self.\u00a0 Bill always talked about Jesus and the Spiritual Power provided by The Lord God.\u00a0 He was a living testimony to the Love of Christ.\u00a0 He preached the Good News of The Gospel Of Jesus Christ to any and all who would listen. He was extremely transparent.\u00a0 He feared no man.\u00a0 He trusted his Lord.\u00a0 He was greatly blessed because he used his life to bless and benefit so many other people.<\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Those who were closest to him, estimated that he personally lead over One Million souls <\/i>to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Lord, Master, and Savior!\u00a0\u00a0<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

As I walked from my car to the burial site, I could not help but be overtaken by the size of all of the various headstones marking so many of the graves throughout the entire cemetery.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The funeral was held in a very small out-in-the-country town in northern North Carolina.\u00a0 It was real Americana,…. the likes of which produces most of the world\u2019s greatest achievers and leaders.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As I walked to the gravesite,…I thought to myself… \u201cMust be some really big achievers buried around here.\u201d\u00a0 Headstones are one of the primary ways that the family of the deceased can and does pay the last and lasting great tribute to and for the person occupying the grave.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The headstone set in place for Bill was, as I suspected, huge.\u00a0 The family name had been engraved across the top of the stone, but the details, personal names, dates of birth, and dates of death were not yet inscribed.\u00a0 That was all that appeared on the grave marker. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I thought again to myself…..\u201cJust like Bill,…his actions spoke so loudly in life that there was no need to write them down\u201d\u00a0 He and his wife lived first class, but they were simple people and lived accordingly.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t live for recognition and the limelight.\u00a0 He just loved and served and empowered his fellow man.\u00a0 Very much like Jesus did while and when He walked on this earth.<\/span><\/p>\n

As is almost always the truth behind every great Christian man or woman of great financial means in America today, there is a yet to be discovered, overwhelmingly significant, charitable foot print legacy as yet unknown.\u00a0 It will materialize sometime in the future.\u00a0 Such men or women are usually very humble and anonymous in providing resources that they leave to other people much less fortunate than themselves. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The fact is that honest wealth, properly and legally created in the United States today, comes from serving other people\u2019s needs.\u00a0 The old adage remains true…You can have everything in life that you want…IF…you are first willing to help enough other people get what they want.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

That I believe was the essence of Bill\u2019s life and it would most assuredly be a fitting epitaph for his head stone.<\/span><\/p>\n

May we all learn from the lessons Bill and Peggy taught us, showed us, and exemplified to us daily through all of their actions, energies and efforts.\u00a0 The basis of those life lessons is simply to love and serve your God and to love and serve your fellow man….all for the glory of God!!<\/span><\/p>\n

Thank you so very much, Bill,….for helping make my life, and a whole lot of other people\u2019s lives better!!!!\u00a0 We truly do love you.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bill will continue to be loved by all who knew him well.\u00a0 He will be sorely missed for sure.\u00a0 But the undisputed fact remains that Bill is without question, as we all someday will be,….gone from this earth.<\/span><\/p>\n

YOU MAY BE GONE BILL,….BUT MOST ASSUREDLY YOU WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Your lasting legacy will continue to live on in the lives of those you so positively blessed and impacted.<\/span><\/p>\n

One last question remains to be asked and answered to you and by you.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here it is……When it comes to the end of your time here on this earth,\u00a0 on that great day when you personally cross over to the other side… and on into eternity….What will be written on your tombstone as relates to what you did with your gift of life while you were alive on this earth?<\/span><\/p>\n

THE BEST USE OF YOUR LIFE…IS TO SO LIVE YOUR LIFE….THAT THE USE OF YOUR LIFE….WILL OUTLIVE YOUR LIFE.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Peace and Love to all of you………Poppa Bear<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/davesevern.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/davesevern.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/davesevern.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davesevern.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davesevern.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=567"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/davesevern.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/567\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":586,"href":"https:\/\/davesevern.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/567\/revisions\/586"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/davesevern.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davesevern.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davesevern.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}