The memorial service for Kevin Thomson was sad, joyful, moving, reflective, nostalgic, encouraging, and rocking.

I saw people whom I had not seen in nearly forty years, met people whose music I have listened to for those thirty plus decades, and of course, made some new friends.

Of course, the focus was on Kevin Thomson. Speakers with personal reflections included Pastor Bob Probert, a long time friend of Kevin’s, Pastor Oden Fong, friend of Kevin and member of early Jesus music group Mustard Seed Faith, Duncan Bryan, of the Sweet Comfort Band, and Kevin’s two sons, Elijah and Joshua Thomson.

The words of Bob, Oden, and Bryan were primarily memories of Kevin as a friend. Elijah and Joshua’s words were of a dad, and I was moved to tears upon hearing them tell about growing up with him.

A wonderful video of Kevin’s life, produced by Troy Lamberth, was shown. I loved the way it started with the video of the Sweet Comfort Band at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, circa late 1970s, with Kevin preaching just before the band goes into his favorite SCB song, “Get Ready”. We got to hear Kevin doing the two things he loved most…telling of the love of Jesus, and rockin’ on his bass. The video also showed photos while the music played. Very well done video.

Bob Bennett, one of my all time favorite singer/songwriters, sang “(I Know That) My Redeemer Lives”, accompanying himself on acoustic guitar. Bob is a wonderful musician, highly intelligent, soft spoken, and a gentleman.

Pastor Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa gave the message.

The Sweet Comfort Band, plus some friends, played four songs after the eulogies and Pastor Chuck’s message. Musicians were:

Drums: Kevin’s brother, Rick Thomson
Guitar and vocals: Randy Thomas
Vocals and keyboard: Bryan Duncan
Guitar: Joshua Thomson
Bass guitar: Eli Thomson
Harmonica: Darrell Mansfield
Keyboard: (sorry, I didn’t get this fellow’s name)

Songs played:

“I Love You With My Life”
“Searching For Love”
“Get Ready”
(There was one more, but for the life of me I can’t recall which song it was.)

After the service, a reception was held at Mariner’s Church, where there was food and more talk of Kevin.

I’m so glad I was able to attend. As I said in my last post, I feel like Kev was a friend I never met. Listening to so many memories of him makes me so sad I never did get to meet him face to face, but I know that I will see him in Heaven. As Pastor Chuck said, “Kev just got there ahead of us.”

I have posted several videos that people made at the service on my Facebook page.

Standard Podcast [ 3.05 MB ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

(Left to right: Kevin Thomson, Randy Thomas, Bryan Duncan, Rick Thomson)

Take a saint, and put him into any condition, and he knows how to rejoice in the Lord. —Walter Cradock

Today is the funeral of Kevin Thomson. I never met Kevin face to face, but my life has been greatly impacted by him. One of my most treasured friends is in my life, in large measure, because of Kevin. Without Kevin’s boldness in asking a talented but virtually unknown college student to sing in his band, I would most likely not know Bryan Duncan today.

Kevin was the founder of the ground breaking Sweet Comfort Band. He was the bass player, and up until about four years ago, was as strong as a bull.

Four years ago, Kevin became a quadriplegic. With little warning, his reliance on his own strength was stripped away. In the blink of an eye.

What happened? An auto accident? No. A diving accident? No. What was it?

He just…collapsed. He was on a vacation with his wife, and as he was about to put their suitcases in the car one morning he put the key in the trunk lock and then just…collapsed. He never moved again under his own power.

Now, I don’t know about you, but I would be having some really big questions for God if this happened to me. Like “WHY???” “Doesn’t the fact that I played bass for You in front of millions mean anything?” “How about all those people I preached to, telling of Your love? Doesn’t that count for something?” “Why don’t you heal me?”

But in a conversation I had with Kevin’s brother, Rick Thomson, he didn’t do that. He took the loss of the use of his arms and legs in stride. He didn’t have anger, resentment, feelings of self-pity…none of that. As a matter of fact, the doctors thought there must be something wrong with him. They kept waiting for the shoe to drop. They figured he would go through the stages of grief that is expected and normal for “victims” of such loss.

It never happened. In the four years from this loss, to his passing on May 30, 2010, the shoe never did drop.

Why?

Because his faith was not in his own strength. His faith…his trust…was in Jesus. He knew that his life was not his, but God’s, and whatever God intended to do with or through or for or to him, He had the right. And Kevin was fine with that. Completely at peace with that.

I’m not sure I have that level of faith. I hope that if God were to test me with something this big my response would measure up, but wow, I just don’t know.

What about you?

From Bryan Duncan’s Facebook page:

“Well Kevin’s funeral is wednesday, We will sing “I love you With my Life” , “Somebody Loves You” “When I was alone”. 1pm service at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, where we played so many wonderful concerts.”

Standard Podcast [ 45.31 MB ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The world is just a little bit poorer, and Heaven just a bit richer, with the passing of Kevin Thomson this past Sunday, May 30, 2010.

Who was Kevin Thomson, you ask? He’s the guy playing the bass on the music you’ll be hearing on the show today. He’s one of the founders of the Sweet Comfort Band. He was, according to all accounts, one of the most solid believers you would ever want to meet.

If you’re not familiar with the Sweet Comfort Band, or SCB as they were sometimes called, let me give you a very brief synopsis of their history. SCB was formed in 1972, and played their first gig right here in Riverside, I believe the venue was what was then called Calvary Chapel of Riverside, now known as Harvest Fellowship, with Greg Laurie being the Pastor then and now. This was during the Jesus Movement, and they brought a new style of Christian music…a sort of mixture of rock, jazz and funk that had never been heard in this context. The Jesus music, up to this point, was sort of a folk rock or soft rock, with the likes of Love Song, Children of the Day, Mustard Seed Faith and others. SCB’s tight instrumentation and energy set them apart. By the time they played their last concert, also here in Riverside, 1984, they had sold millions of albums, and Contemporary Christian Music had been forever changed.

If you’ve been a listener for a while to the Lifesping shows, you know that one of my good friends is Bryan Duncan, who was one of the lead vocalists with Sweet Comfort. It was from Bryan that I learned of Kevin’s passing. I thought it would be good to hear from him his memories of Kevin, so I asked him to come into the studio. Then I thought how cool it would be if he would call the other Sweet Comfort Band members, drummer Rick Thomson (Kevin’s brother), and guitar player and vocalist Randy Thomas, to see if we might be able to do a conference call and get their input as well. It was short notice, and Randy couldn’t join us on the phone from Nashville, but Rick, who I just learned lives right here in Riverside, was able to come into the studio.

Here’s Bryan’s post about Kevin.

Music on today’s show:

Let It Go
When I Was Alone
Got To Believe
Childish Things
Get Ready