On Monday, June 24, 1940, John E. Brintnall, Jr. was born to John E. and Violet E. Brintnall and on Saturday evening, June 17, 2023, he went home to be with the Lord at the age of 83.

The previous evening, Pastors Tim and Kris Mann came to the hospital to pray with John. After praying about half an hour, Tim stepped out into the hall and continued to pray quietly in a more secluded area. He received a little vision of John standing on a hill looking down in a valley and Heaven was there.

"No Lord, don't show him Heaven, he won't want to come back." Tim tried to ignore the vision and continued to pray that evening and the next day but could not get that vision erased. So he knew John would not want to return to his body in the hospital, but shared this with no one at that time.

Death did not steal John. He saw something wonderful there and made a willful choice. As a Christian he had every right to make that choice no matter what feeling it brought to his family and friends.

In 1984, John and I began meeting at Happy Church in Denver. John had committed his heart to the Lord afresh at that time and we steadily attended there for several years. He attended classes teaching him how to walk closer to Jesus. It was not a perfect walk, but then nobody except Jesus was perfect.

Sunday, June 18th, Reverend Tim Mann taught at Surge Church that we will all face the death of a loved one, or a friend at one time or another and biblically he wanted to paint a picture of the process.

The Bible teaches that this process begins by us leaving our physical body but what happens, the Apostle Paul says, is that "though we see through a veil darkly..." That veil stops us from seeing clearly the other side and the glories of Heaven.

Once Jesus let Heaven be seen, why would we return to the Earth and our families knowing that in just a moment in eternity we would see them again. Jesus knelt down and prayed with John assuring him that his family would be taken care of, and then the choice was made by John.

No, death did not steal John but he was rewarded for his love for Jesus by entering into eternity and being reunited with his Heavenly Father and the father he had been raised by on Earth. For them it was a glorious family reunion on June 18. 2024. That was Father's Day here but the first day of eternity there for John.

Thank you for celebrating his life with us.