Every time that I hear Mark's brother speak or sing in church, I can feel the power of his love for the Lord and it touches me profoundly. I don't think that I will every forget walking into the hospital room before Buddy passed away, Matt was signing one of Buddy's favorite hymns, "How Great Thou Art." It was amazingly beautiful and I know that it touched Buddy's mind, soul and spirit.
I wanted to share Matt’s words honoring his dad at the funeral...
My father was a man worth knowing. As I’ve tried to find words to capture what’s my heart, I’ve realized there aren’t sufficient words or adequate words to describe the pride of my heart at being the son of Darrell Newman.
It was a joy to me last night to hear so many people recount stories of my dad and experiences they had with him and to hear who my dad was to them. My father very often told me that he was proud of me. And the way my dad said it and the way he treated me proved that those words came from the depths of his heart. But I don’t know that it’s possible that my dad was any more proud of me than I am of him.
At my dad’s retirement, I shared the story that when I was in college and was leading the music in Etowah my first Sunday there after the service, a gentleman came up to me and said, “Are you Dwight Newman’s grandson?” I said, “Yes, I am.” And he looked me square in the eye and he said, “Your grandfather was a good man.” And I have cherished those words ever since because I hardly knew my dad’s dad. And I’m grateful to know that sometime down the line one of my boys is going to run into somebody and they’re going to say, “Are you Darrell Newman’s grandson?” And they’re going to say “Yes.” And they’re going to hear, “Your grandfather was a good man.”
It’s hard to think of my dad without thinking of music and the passion that he had for music. And not just music but the songs of the church - the songs of the faith. It was a blessing to me to see my father, as his illness progressed and it became harder and harder for him to speak, he could still sing the words of hymns and the songs of the church. And my father, without faltering, could till the very end that he could speak, the last day that he could speak, without faltering he could say I love you. That’s a priceless treasure to my heart.
I think of my dad and I think of the kindness of his heart. My father was an honest man. He was dependable. He was trustworthy. I think of his devotion to my mother and to my brother and to me. And it strikes me that in this day and age that kind of life deserves examination and respect, because it seems that it’s not as common as it used to be. My father was a genuine man. There was not a pretentious bone in his body. And I admire that. I admire my dad’s obedience to the Lord.
Of all the things that my father taught me and has given me, at least three stand out to me as some of the most significant because they deal with things that are eternal and not temporal. And I’m grateful for the spiritual legacy and heritage that has been handed down to me because of my father and because of his faithfulness to the Lord. He sought the Lord. The Bible teaches that in one generation where there’s faithfulness to the Lord and to His Word and to His ways it flows out in blessing to the generations that follow. And I can say without a doubt that there’s no way to explain the blessings that have come to my life except for the grace of God on my father and that flowing out into blessing in my life.
The three great things to me that stand out are my father’s love and acceptance of me without condition. I’ll go to my grave knowing that my father embraced me and took me into himself and was proud of me. And that is like a rock in my life. I also think of the fact that my dad taught me and encouraged me to do the will of the Lord. I heard it in his words, but I also saw it in my dad’s life - in the example and pattern of his life that the great aim of my life should be to seek and to do the will of God. And the third thing that stands out to me is my father’s faithfulness to the Lord. And though he was a man who had his shortcomings and his quirks, at the end of the day my dad was committed lock, stock, and barrel to going with the Lord and to doing what the Lord would have him to do.
The ending of Psalm 103 to me says it very well, and I’m grateful that the Lord took me to this passage. In my dad’s illness we talked to many nurses and doctors in the last days of his life who all had insight. But the only thing that would bring calmness to my soul and assurance to me was the Word of God. And the anxiety would leave when I would find passages that the Lord wanted me to find. This is from Psalm 103. “As for man, his days are like grass. He flourishes like a flower of the field, for the wind passes over it and it is gone and its place knows it no more. But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children’s children, to those who keep His covenant and remember to do His commandments.”
That was the mark and the manner of my dad’s life. And I and my brother and our families and my mom are blessed because my father was a faithful man who sought the Lord with his whole heart. I miss him already in deep ways. But I can’t blame the Lord for wanting to have him in His presence, because my father was a good man.
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