KHTS Radio Santa Clarita Radio – Santa Clarita News
Tragedy struck the Real Life Church congregation on Wednesday, when Pastor Jim Howard took his own life.
Real Life Church Lead Pastor Rusty George announced Howard’s passing late Thursday evening in a post on the church’s Facebook page.
“There are no words anyone can say that will make the griever feel better,” said Sharon Brubaker, a local advanced certified grief recovery specialist. “The biggest thing we can do is be there and support. Don’t try to fix it, we can’t fix it.”
Howard was recognized by his co-workers for his tremendous energy and hunger for new challenges and opportunities to share his faith with others, a trait that was also noticed by others.
“Jim Howard was a class act,” shared KHTS owner Carl Goldman. “He was passionate about our valley. We worked closely on the candlelight vigil for the Santa Clarita victims of the Las Vegas shootings, as well as many Halloween events at Real Life Church. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and everyone he touched. He will be missed.”
Previously, Howard had discussed some of his mental health challenges openly among the congregation, however in recent months, he suffered in private with the personal issues and mental health challenges he faced.
Howard served with Real Life Church for more than three years, most recently as the executive director of family ministry.
“Some people are going to want to talk right now, and the most amazing thing is that we are actually talking about suicide and death by suicide,” said Brubaker. “It’s not a stigma anymore and we have to talk about it day in and day out.”
Real Life Church has made professional counselors available to their staff and volunteers in the wake of this tragedy, and encourages any members of our community that are struggling with mental health to contact their office at (661) 775-7401.
This weekend’s services at Real Life Church will address this tragedy as well as the broader crisis of suicide in America.
Services will be held at 8:30 a.m., 10:00 a.m., 11:30 a.m. or 5:00 p.m.
Anyone seeking information about mental health resources available in the Santa Clarita Valley can click here for a list of resources. There are 24-hour phone numbers available. In the event of an emergency, 911 should always be the first call. Those looking to speak with someone can call:
- 1-800-273-8255 for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
- 1-800-854-7771 for the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health
- 1-800-784-2433 for the Treatment Advocacy Center
- 661-259-9439 for the SCV Child & Family Center
- 661-296-4444 for the Way Out Recovery SCV
- 661 212-0720 for Sharon Brubaker – Grief Recovery Specialist
- 661-288-4800 for the Santa Clarita Valley Mental Health Center
- 661-257-9688 for the Santa Clarita Valley Youth Project
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He was so special to all of us on earth and the people that he meet through RLC members and non-members But he was more special to God and I believe God want let His Special people suffer so He took him home!! He will be truly missed,
I meet Pastor Jim through my son and daughter in law and my grands and also watched on line every Sunday that I could from SC.
The article states he had mental health issues and shared these with people in the congregation. Was he seeing a counselor or a psychiatrist for his MH issues or relying on the Bible to get through the day? He should have had professional help!!
I know there are young people at RLC and what message does this send to them? Have MH issues and just off yourself? Thankfully he didn’t shoot up the congregation, he had that much sense to just kill himself and not take a bunch of folks down with him. And this garbage about God wanting him, isn’t it a sin to kill yourself? Did he even consider this? Apparently not, Selfish act, period!!
It is not a sin to kill yourself. It is a sin to judge others unfairly though!
I can’t speak for this man or his reasons why he ended his life.
I can tell you that we do fight an incredible battle with Satan and his fallen angels on a minute to minute basis.
Life can be tough, messy and confusing on its own, but add spiritual warfare into the mix and you have oppression and darkness that some people find very difficult to pull out of.
I’m sorry that you have NO compassion for this young man, whatsoever…I sure know that Jesus does! I can only hope that His love for humanity, someday spills over into your life, so you might come to know and share that compassion to others.
Jesus loves you…even if you have zero love for others.
You can read about His love for you, as well as his love for Jim, through the pages of the Bible you mock!!
Contrary to what your religious mind tells you this shall not kill includes yourself. You don’t kill yourself because you’re struggling with Satan. One kills himself because he didn’t seek out professional help to deal with his mental health issues. If have oppression and darkness as you say you can be helped, you don’t kill yourself. He could have sought out someone to talk with who knows what they’re doing instead of chatting with God for guidance, look where it got him. I have tons of compassion, I just don’t want people and especially young people to pull the trigger when they’re down and out. This is not to be celebrated with Bible verses and thoughts and prayers, this needs to be addressed from a mental health POV and prevented. You want kids at RLC suiciding now because they’re oppressed and have darkness in their lives? Get real.
Hundreds of people with MH issues take their own lives, this in spite of getting “professional help.” So talking with someone “who knows what they’re doing…” is not the be all to end all.
Mental illness does not discriminate. Depression is real not unless you have walked some else’s shoes who have MI try not to run your mouth like you know what you are talking about. Show some compassion for his families and friends.
Anything that is not God’s will is axiomatically a sin. But fortunately, God is and will be the final judge.
You are a horrible excuse of a human Justin O
Justin, you should probably stop embarrassing yourself any further. I did not know this Pastor, nor do I attend this Church. You make an assumption that this Pastor did not, or had not, sought professional help. I know reading comprehension can be a challenge, but the article simply says “he had discussed some of his mental health challenges openly among the congregation”. That has nothing to do with whether or not he had sought professional help, (or was currently in treatment) for his mental health issues. Your arrogance and ignorance, is truly profound.
Suicide is a sin (murder). But, Jesus saves from us from all sin. It sounds to me that this pastor, that tragically “killed himself”, was saved and seems that he was a believer. Believers are not sin-free, just forgiven and growing in the Lord as the Holy Spirit begins the work of sanctification in their life (becoming more like Jesus with each day). But, they will struggle with the “flesh” (old, sinful habits and emotional responses) in this life.
My father killed himself when I was 4 years old. His “selfish” choice brought unimagineable pain to my life (and my mother, the rest of his family, and all who knew him) as a child, was my excuse for rebellion (use of drugs) through high school and still affects me 44 years later. I became a believer in the depths of my rebellion and sin (toward the end of high school), graduated (barely) from a continuation school, and by God’s amazing grace revealed to me though the Gospel of Christ, I became a child of God as I accepted what Jesus did for me on the cross by faith. Through reading God’s word, attending a church that faithfully teaches the word of God, fellowship with other believers, and discipleship with other men who love God and their family (wife and children), my life was radically transformed by the power of God. I have been happily married for the last 23 years, have three amazing children that love the Lord, and have had the amazing opportunity to use what God taught me through my painful youth (father’s suicide and horrible things that followed it) as a High School counselor working with continuation and expelled students for the last 20 years.
Do not glorify this pastor’s suicide, nor attribute it being God’s will that he should do such a thing, as it is a horribly selfish sin that will affect all who loved him (especially his family) for the rest of their lives. Will he go to heaven? If he put his faith in the Gospel of Christ and trusted Jesus as his Lord and Savior, he will absolutely go to heaven. Can you celebrate his ministry in your life at RLC, absolutely! Thank and glorify God for all this pastor’s work that pointed you and others to accepting and following Christ. By the testimonies, it sounds like this pastor had a tremendous ministry in many people’s lives.
My life verse (I first understood it at age 19) that changed my entire negative perspective on my father’s suicide is Romans 8:28-30: “28 And we know that [a]God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. 29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; 30 and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.” [NASB via Bible Gateway]
What this pastor did was a horribly selfish sin and was not God’s will for his life (that he kill himself), but it was the sovereign (providential) will of God to all those who have been tragically impacted and affected by it to use it for good in their lives . In spite of the pain this pastor, father, husband, family member, etc. caused you by his sinful, selfish act of suicide, God promises to work all things together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose. Vs. 29 says God will use it to conform you into image of His Son (Jesus). As painful as this horrible tragedy is to all who were close to this pastor, our sovereign God will use it for good in your life in order to make His children more like Jesus. Genesis 50:20 is another example of this truth when Joseph addressed his fearful brothers who tried to kill him and then sold him into slavery (when he did not die): Joseph told them, “20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about [a]this present result, to preserve many people alive.”
Though I disagree with much of what Justin O. said, he was right that you should not be glorifying this man’s suicide or attributing it to something God wanted. I am sure that this Pastor was in horrible emotional pain and in a moment of weakness he made the sinful, selfish choice to kill himself. Suicide devastates all those left behind and is one of the most horrible sins a person can commit. I don’t know him, but believe that he most likely went to be with the Lord as a believer in Christ.
I only wrote this to warn against attributing sin to God and to try and comfort and give hope to those who are suffering from this horrible, painful, tragedy. In spite of this pain, God will bring about good in the lives of believers through this difficult experience. 2 Cor 12:7-10 also gives comfort as God addresses the suffering in Paul’s life. I am praying for those involved with this tragedy. You will make it through and grow tremendously in the Lord if you look to and lean on the Lord.
My heart goes out to Jim’s family and the church members. I was wondering if he was married with children. May God grant comfort and strength to all… may those who struggle with suicidal thoughts seek help and learn from this horrific tragedy.
Knowing nothing about this man or his torments, how can you pass judgement? And why do you?
Your Holy Book says, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
Mahatma Gandhi said, and I agree, “I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ.”
Bringing God’s truth to bare on this tragedy, is not judging Pastor Jim. “Judge not lest ye be judged” from Matt 7:1 must be the most misquoted verse by those who do not know Jesus and the Scriptures. God calls murder (suicide) sin. This is not my “judgment”, it is how God views “murdering oneself”. God is the “Righteous Judge”. He will judge you one day as well. We are all sinners in need of God’s intervention in our lives.
Thankfully, God intervened on your behalf (and mine) and sent His Son, Jesus. He was born of a virgin, conceived of the Holy Spirit, and was born into our world as 100% man and 100% God. Jesus (being God) lived a perfect, sinless life loving, healing and ministering to the needs of all who came to him. Jesus revealed himself as God (verbally and by His life and miracles), but jealous religious leaders of the Jews had him crucified for “blasphemy” (because Jesus claimed to be God’s Son=God) at the hands of the Romans. Because Jesus was God, he was resurrected by His Father three days later (Acts 2:22-24). Jesus became the Savior of the World, the perfect Lamb of God and final sacrifice for sinful men (Jesus died to pay the penalty for the sin of all men).
You and I (and Pastor Jim) are all sinners. The Good News is that if we repent of our sin and trust Jesus as our Savior and Lord by faith, God will forgive us our sins (because of Jesus’ sinless death for us) and impute (credit) Christ’s righteousness (perfection) to our account and save us from eternal destruction (Hell) on the merits of what God’s Son (Jesus) did for us on the cross. John 3:16 says: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
When we repent of our sin (current state without Christ) and trust Jesus as our Lord and Savior by faith in what Jesus did for us. We are saved by God and adopted into the family of God by faith. He sends the Holy Spirit (God) to reside in us and changes us from the inside out as we join into fellowship with a Bible centered church where we can learn and grow in the knowledge of the Scriptures and can begin to worship and serve the Lord with other Christians.
When I say that suicide is sin. I am not judging Pastor Jim. I am telling the truth about how God views suicide. Trusting Christ as our savior, justifies us before God on the merits of Jesus. We are not saved by our “righteousness”, but by Christ’s Jesus’ righteousness by faith.
Though our life will radically change when we believe the Gospel of Jesus, we will never be sinless in this life. Though Pastor Jim sinned by committing suicide, Pastor Jim is saved by faith in what Jesus did for him on the cross and the righteousness of Jesus that was imputed to his account by God by Pastor Jim’s faith in Jesus. I am sure that anyone who considers or commits suicide is suffering horribly from unimaginable pain, depression, confusion, fear, etc. I have been there before. It is excruciatingly painful mentally, physically, and emotionally. It is utter darkness from a lack of hope and despite those who love you, you feel completely alone in your suffering and pain. I have been there myself. But suicide is not the answer, it is sin that destroys those you leave behind. It selfishly passes on your pain (that you escape in death) to everyone else who you leave behind and changes their lives forever in that pain you left them to bare.
Suffering through my father’s suicide since the age of 4, I have committed to never consider (verbally or even the slightest thought) 2 non-negotiables in my life as a man, father, and husband:
1. I will never kill myself (suicide)
2. I will never divorce my wife.
I hope all that are reading this will commit to the same in the light of this tragedy.
Putting aside the religious parts would shorten your post by 80%. I’m trying to understand what you say in the remaining 20 without the horse apples clouding things. Many educated people do not subscribe to a god but embrace science which is constantly updating information. The scriptures have not changed in thousands of years. We live in our own time and we benefit from (and suffer from) our so-called advances. These times are no more or less holy than those in the Bible. When all is said and done, we all must take personal responsibility for our lives.
Your non-negotiable tenets are your own business but since you chose to put them out there, I would hope you would never kill anyone, not just yourself. And if your wife wanted to divorce you would you be so selfish as to not grant her that peace?
It was you that misquoted a passage of Scripture (Matt 7:1) trying to insinuate that I was “judging” and knew nothing of what Pastor Jim had gone through. You were incorrect on both counts.
What you call “religious” parts of my response are very relevant to your misunderstanding of “judging”.
You said, “When all is said and done, we all must take personal responsibility for our lives.”
God (Creator of the heavens and earth) is the Righteous Judge to whom you will have to give an account for your life. Gandhi, yourself, Pastor Jim, and I will all have to give an account to God. All of us are sinners and you are correct “we all must take personal responsibility for our lives”. Because we are all sinners who live in rebellion against the commands of God, we will all stand guilty before Him on that day.
God, sent His Son as a substitute and Savior of sinners, who took our “Just” punishment upon Himself on the cross. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life, no man can come to Father except through me.”
There is only one answer that a person can give God on judgment day that will pardon us from the “Justice” that we deserve (hell). Answer: “Jesus died on the cross for my sin. I repented of my sin and accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior.”
Result: Jesus is the only acceptable (righteous) “substitute” for sinners.
If you reject Jesus in this life, you will be held personally responsible for all your sin on judgment day. You will spend eternity apart from God in the place that was prepared for Satan and his angels (demons).
Revelation 20:10-15
10 And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15 Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.
You brought up judgment from the Bible. It was clear to me that you did not fully understand it. So, I shared with you the Good News of what Jesus did for you in hopes that some day you will not have to take “personal responsibility for what you have done in this life.” Jesus died to take that punishment for you if you accept what He did for you by faith. This is the Gospel (Good News) of Jesus Christ.
Nope. Wasn’t even talking about you. Perhaps you do not realize how offensive your talk is to those of other beliefs or of those who do not bear the weight of another man’s god. Jesus said something to the effect of- if you want to be close to your god go in your closet and keep it to yourself. Peace, brother.
The Gospel truth is more important for you to understand than my fear of offending you. Where you spend eternity is at stake. The God of the Bible is everyone’s God (Creator), some just choose to suppress His truth in order to continue in their unrighteousness. The God of the Bible is the God of Creation and science. Science is not a god, it is an excuse to become your own god and make your own rules (Humanism).
Rom 1:16-23
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, 21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.
PS: the verse you quoted was referring to prayer (in a closet) rather than praying loudly in the streets (as was the custom of many of the Jewish religious leaders of Jesus day). I don’t pray loudly in the streets.
You just couldn’t let it go, could you, Brint… My concern was about people writing more than they knew about Mr. Howard and his torments. I also stated I like Jesus, but you, not so much. The one thing you have done with your Biblical d&p show was to confirm why. btw- Are you able to speak conversationally w/o the aid of those quotes?
Your last post was a perfect example of those who would, if they could, ram Jesus up everyone’s nose as well as every other orifice making you a hypocritical religious bigot by rejecting and disrespecting any view differing from yours. How dare you try to censor thought and freedom of expression of alternate views! You are the exact type of Christian of which Gandhi spoke.
Lastly, the reason you are not (and I’ll take you at your word) you are not praying loudly in the streets is because you have the benefit of the internet.