Confident of Heaven

Some of you may be of an age old enough to remember Mike Smith.  Mike was the lead singer of one of the British Invasion bands of the 1960's, the Dave Clark Five.  Mike was absolutely one of the greatest singers in rock history.  His terrific and powerful vocals on the DC5's hits like "Anyway You Want It," "Try Too Hard," (two of my favorites) and "Glad All Over," resonate on oldies stations across America and in the hearts of baby boomers to this day.

Mike Smith died on February 28th of pneumonia.  After a fall on his property in 2003, he was paralyzed from the mid-ribcage down.  Since the accident, he spent most of his time in a hospital, but he was able to spend his final months in a specially designed home with his beloved wife, Charlie.  The loss of this decent man and tremendous talent is truly heartbreaking.  What is especially sad is that Mike was just days away from seeing the Dave Clark Five inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, something that has been long overdue for this fabulous singer and band.  

As much as I could go on about Mike Smith's extraordinary talent and the music of the Dave Clark Five, there are some messages of faith in this story. Rob Bolton is a fan and friend of the Smith family and he has had a tribute website for the Dave Clark Five and Mike Smith for some time.  In a conversation Rob had with Charlie Smith (Mike's wife), he shares the following:

"[Charlie] told me that Mike passed away peacefully last night [February 28], confident of heaven, after exchanging 'I love you' with her."

Confident Of Heaven. What an interesting expression of love and faith, I thought.  That says so much about faith. How many of us are truly Confident Of Heaven?  Are we sure?  Do we know? There is a depth to these three words that have stayed with me since I first read them.  The impact and the meaning are so important that I have been thinking about their extended meaning.  It says so much.  Confident of God, confident of faith, confident of the power of blessings, confident of Who You Are in Faith.  

How many of us walk through life knowing about God, Christ's sacrifice, the beauty of life, knowing these things but not mentally absorbing the confidence it takes to walk in Faith.

This is why I think it is so important to spend time reading about your growing faith each and every day. It is so easy to get distracted by the demands of our lives on a day-to-day basis that we can forget to take a few minutes to spend time with God in thought and prayer.  It has happened to me.  All of a sudden things have gotten busy, and I have a lot on my mind, which had taken some of my time away from my faith study.  It is study because I believe it is an on-going experience--you never stop learning about faith and particularly your faith.  Your Faith is important, it is something that belongs to you.  You can share it with your friends, on a blog, or in quiet thought and contemplation with God.  It brings a depth to life that is personal and strong.  It is something to be absolutely certain about.  Confident about.  Confident of Faith.

Confident of Heaven.  Confident of God. 

Mike Smith 1943-2008.

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To read Rob Bolton's website about the Dave Clark Five and Mike Smith, please copy and paste this link:

http://www2.rpa.net/theboltons/DC5main.htm