Go Tell it On the Mountain… and Everywhere!

DaveWe buried my father just two weeks ago after battling lung cancer, dementia, and finally, pnemonia. He had battled alcoholism in early adulthood, but experienced life transformation after accepting Christ as his Savior and Lord. Following his conversion, my father (who I affectionately called Dave) lived his life on mission, declaring to everyone he met the change Christ had made in him. He told neighbors, family members, prisoners, co-workers and people in the mall.  He was not confrontational or aggressive in his approach to telling others. He was however, conversational, unapologetic, genuine and bold when it came to telling his story and sharing scripture with those he encountered.  I don’t think there was anyone who met my father that didn’t know he was a Christian. He wanted everyone to know that without Christ, we are destined for eternity in hell.

My father use to spend his weekends leading lay revivals throughout the region, telling his story and leading others to faith in Christ. One experience he had on a lay revival explains why “Go Tell it On the Mountain” was his favorite song. Not just at Christmas, but all year long! He and a couple of others had spent Saturday morning visiting people in the mountains of east Tennessee. Upon request, Dave climbed up a holler to witness to a man who had heard the gospel many times before, but remained lost and unchanged. My father shared his story with the man and with permission, read scripture and explained the plan of salvation. It was on that day that the Lord chose to save the man my father had climbed the mountain to visit. Dave came down off the mountain that day repeating the words to the hymn, “Go tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere. Go tell it on the mountain, that Jesus Christ is born!” From that day forward , it became his favorite song. He wasn’t a singer and I don’t recall ever hearing him sing. But everyone knew that “Go Tell It On the Mountain” was his favorite song, and why.

Hours before his death, my father was heard singing and humming the tune to “Go Tell It On the Mountain”. Even one of his nurses asked if that was “Go Tell It On the Mountain” that he was singing. My father told everyone that Christ was born, lived, died and rose again. He lived his life on mission with a passion for telling others the good news of Jesus Christ. There will be many people in heaven because he faithfully lived his life on mission, sharing Christ with everyone.

Dave left a legacy and challenge – to tell everyone I meet what Christ has done for me … and for them. That’s what it means to live our life on mission.

8 thoughts on “Go Tell it On the Mountain… and Everywhere!

Add yours

  1. What a beautiful testimony your father left!! You were so blessed and now you bless others with both his testimony and yours. I love you and your family. You have impacted my family in so many ways. I continue to pray for you and your family and ask that you continue to remember mine.

  2. What a blessed testmony from a dear man we admired, we knew him many years, and his passon for souls was uppermost in his thoughts. I went on a Mission trip one day to a Ky. Prision and watched as he could so easily talk to the inmates, and leading some of them to the Lord. He was faithful in his church, and Dave left a legacy of his love for the Lord, something we all could learn from. Jesus Christ as his best friend, his Saviour & Lord. We loved you David & your family. The Sewell Family

  3. we loved Dave and Rose Mary. and missed them so much when they moved due to health reasons. Dave prayed daily for Gene a s he had. radiation treatments we were blessed to know him and attend Buena vistaBaptist church with them for many years.Gene and Darlene Strunk

  4. Dave was a great witness for our Lord. I, along with my late husband Joe had the pleasure of sharing Jesus along side Dave and Rosemary as we distributed fresh vegetables grown in a church group garden some years ago. Dave was always so passionate when he told about his Lord and I got to witness several people respond by giving their hearts to the Lord. Until we see you again Dave…

  5. Bro Dave was the most Godly man I have ever met in my life. I am sure he will meet many in heaven that he was responsible for leading them there. Just being in Bro Dave’s presence was so inspiring. His work on earth is done and he is where he worked so hard to be. The world lost a good one and he will always be remembered. Loved him so much. My heart goes out to Rosemary and your family.

Leave a Reply to Gene Strunk Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Proudly powered by WordPress | Theme: Baskerville 2 by Anders Noren.

Up ↑