“And as for you, brothers and sisters, never tire of doing what is good.” – 2 Thessalonians 3:13

I want to take this time to honor a dear friend and Brother-In-Christ – Hal Munson, who at age 85, passed peacefully from this life into the loving arms of our Lord Jesus Christ on Tuesday, April 9, 2019.

I knew of Hal as we both served within the community at Black Rock Church for a couple of decades. My connection to Hal over that time was mostly with both of us attending the Saturday Morning Men’s Prayer meeting – particularly, as we would pray for each other’s families. Over the years my attendance at the men’s prayer meeting became spotty, but Hal was a mainstay along with a few others keeping this wonderful ministry going for decades.

In fact, my very first blog post was about an amazing healing one Saturday morning that had Hal being used by God in a powerful way. More on that a little later.

It wasn’t until the year 2001 when we served together on a short term missions team to Panama that we developed our friendship. On that trip I was awed by the quiet strength and persistence and perseverance of the man I affectionately came to call “The Halinator” (Imagine a bad impression of Arnold Schwarzenegger when you say it)

Why The Halonator? Well, the first half of our trip was working to build facilities at the YWAM compound. The temperature and the humidity were high and once the cool of the morning had burned off the work became really hard. I’ll admit that I felt like my whole body was moving through the cement mud we were constantly mixing. But, as I slogged through it, there was someone who was working at a steady, methodical, almost mechanical pace – driven to persevere to finish the work that God had for him.

It was Hal. If I didn’t know it was God’s strength driving him, I’d be thinking I was working along side an honest to goodness Cyborg – part man, part machine. The Terminator!

Thus Hal became “The Halinator”

But, Hal knew exactly where his strength came from. Isaiah 40:29-31 – “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

In Panama while I, being over 20 years younger, felt like I was moving about, stumbling and wearily feeling faint – The Halinator was walking, running and soaring on renewable strength.

Our time in Panama was an awesome time to draw together in unity with Jesus at the center. It was a time that continued to keep us connected over the years.

Hal was always quiet and soft spoken. What I really appreciate about the “quiet ones” is that when they do share, they are saving their lungs for saying something meaningful and powerful. This was the case for Hal whenever we met at Men’s Prayer or when meeting for breakfast. We always had great discussions about ‘God’ matters along with great laughs.

Back to the episode at the Saturday Morning Men’s Prayer time.

One Saturday morning I arrived late to the Men’s prayer meeting. When I came in I was dismayed (more like irritated) to see 2 of the guys slumped over and sleeping. What has happened to this group? I wondered.

It turned out that one of the guys, Dennis, had come into the prayer meeting suffering from damage to his neck which was going to require surgery. His body was so twisted from pain that he could not sit in the hard chairs. He had not slept in days. The guys brought in a more comfortable lounge chair for him to sit in. They then began praying for Dennis while Hal (who I had judged as sleeping) was actually leaning over comforting Dennis and soothing him, massaging his head and neck while praying for him. Hal was exercising what is the very definition of “Fervent Prayer”.

His fervent prayer proved to also be effective. A peace came over Dennis and he fell asleep while Hal continued laying hands and praying for Dennis. It was about an hour later that I walked in thinking that both men were sleeping.

Shortly after I arrived Dennis woke up. He sat there for a few minutes then began walking around to realize the pain was completely gone! He announced, “I’m healed!” and the guys broke into cheers.

While I know God heard the entire fraternity of men praying, I have no doubt that Hal’s laying on of hands and fervency struck a chord with God for Him to respond in a miraculous way.

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The final salutation we use to send off those we love is “Rest In Peace”. The Bible says, “They will rest from their labor” (Revelation 14:13).

But this doesn’t seem to fit for my friend. Right now, as he has reconnected with my good buddies that have gone before, he is at ultimate peace. But Rest? If ‘rest’ is sacking out on the eternal couch – I don’t think so.

His loving God brought home “The Halinator” because there is much work to do. (Revelation 22:3) With eternal/renewable strength Hal continues serving God in the heavenly realm with no need for reclining. His labors for the Lord are his rest.

As I pray for peace and comfort for Judy and the family, I call out to ‘The Halinator’ in some of the little Spanish I learned while in Panama (maybe more so from movies) . . .

“Vaya con Dios, amigo. Hasta la vista.” (Go with God my Friend. Goodbye but I will soon see you again.)