"20 Years Since JFK Jr. Died: A Lesson For Us"

He was only 38, in good health (physically and financially), but 20 years ago today his life was taken SUDDENLY.  When JFK, Jr.'s plane disappeared 20 years ago today, and he was feared dead, I thought of two things almost immediately: 1.) The sudden death of his dad, by execution, in 1963 and 2.) The plane crash death of Yankees Captain Thurman Munson, in 1979, 20 years before that.

I still think of that!

You see, like the 32 year old Munson, JFK Jr. was flying his own plane and was a fairly new pilot. His plane departed not far from where I lived in New Jersey at the time, and it's obvious that "John John" never realized that that very night his soul would be required of him, as Jesus said, in another context, in Scripture. The point here is not if he, or his dad, or Munson, were READY to meet God unexpectedly...the point is that it WAS unexpected.  All of them had OTHER PLANS for the future but, by all accounts, never learned to say If the Lord Wills, we will live to do this or that (to quote ANOTHER part of God's Word.)

I wrote this tract (above) in 2013 as the 50th anniversary of JFK's  assassination occurred. And here, on the 20th anniversary of his SON'S sudden death, I want to share a lesson from THAT (not in TRACT form, but in this BLOG.)  Here goes.

The Bible says It is appointed unto men once to die, and after this comes the judgment..My first pastor once preached an unforgettable message on this topic, where he said that God has an appointment book and the date of our deaths is already written down.  Some will be called to Glory on that day, and some will be cast away into Hell, but ONLY GOD KNOWS WHEN EACH APPOINTMENT IS. The appointment date is (for the most part) hidden from us (though some DO see their death approaching.)  Obviously, the appointment date for meeting the "Judge of all the Earth" was unknown to JFK Jr. and Munson, otherwise they'd never have boarded their planes.  (And our 35th President would certainly have avoided DALLAS, if he knew what was coming!)

Here's the Lesson: if it could happen to someone as young and rich and "connected" to this world as JFK Jr., it (sudden death) can happen to US.

And here's a question IN LIGHT OF that Lesson: Are you READY, if you stood before God TODAY??   If not, seek the Lord while He may be found, repent and trust in Christ alone for the forgiveness of your sins TODAY.

Neither of us have a guarantee that we will see TOMORROW.