Howard Timmer's Funeral
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"Spared For A Reason"
In the heat of the battle, there were many times he thought he wasn't going to make it back home. He thought he knew about God…he thought he was a covenant child, and it gave him a measure of security. But, he didn't know Christ as his personal Savior. After returning from the war, he went to church and was becoming aware of his sinful condition and struggled with it. While building a little white church, he had the opportunity to work with some extraordinary men who grew under the leadership of Rev. Jerry Paulson. Everett Irwin, Charles VanSolkema, Elgan Rock, Clynas Ross, Harold Burgess, Roger Elliott, Ed VanSolkema, Don Carpenter, Jim Swinson, and Roger Adams were some of these men. As he worked alongside them, their lives and attitudes had a lot of impact on him. They influenced him to continue on at Byron Center Undenominational Church (now known as Byron Center Bible Church). God wooed him unto Himself, and under the ministry of Lewis Paul Lehman, who was a special speaker, he responded to the call to salvation and went forward to receive Christ as Savior. He was the first one saved in that little white church. From then on the pattern of life changed. For you see, he came home that night of so great a salvation and shared it with his lovely wife. She was saved the very next day in her home on 16th Avenue in Hudsonville. Challenged in prayer meeting, he, along with Lillian, memorized all of Romans chapter 8, along with other verses. The memorizing of the word cemented their new walk in Christ.
It was just before Christmas of 1945 that he came home from the war
and it was not until 1956 that he was saved. As he matured in the Lord,
he gradually became aware of the fact that God spared him from death on
the battlefield to bring him home to save him. This is more than just a
testimony of Howard and all that he had experienced and done. It is a testimony
of the love, grace and mercy of God. Howard was spared to be redeemed.
He became not a superstar but a super servant of the Most High God. May
it be our desire to point others to Christ as well.