A Tribute To A Life Lived In Fellowship With God
Dianne A. Tecklenberg 1942 - 2000

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“Life reduced to fellowship with Jesus Christ makes the complicated simple”.

I cannot count the times I had to repeat that phrase for our bi-weekly examinations in Bible School. Though as a young student those words did not have the same impact as they do now, even then I recognized the truth contained in them. If we allow ourselves to be consumed with the elements of our worldly existence, we find our minds and hearts being pulled in many, often conflicting, directions. Life, in essence, can become a complex, confusing, wearisome burden that we attempt to bear.

If, on the other hand, we concentrate on the true essential of walking in fellowship with Christ, He lifts this burden from us and takes it up Himself. Our whole perspective of life, its joys and its trials, changes as now He is interposed between ourselves and the world around us.

With this issue of The Flier, I want to pay tribute to a life that exemplified that principle more than any other that I have been privileged to know. That person is my mother, Dianne Tecklenberg, who just recently was ushered into the presence of the Lord Whom she loved with all her heart.

If I were to describe Mom’s life and influence with a single verse of Scripture, without hesitation I would select Hebrews 12:2 -

“...Looking unto Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith”.

Jesus Christ is the answer to all of life’s questions. He doesn’t just possess the answer, He is the answer. As our Creator, our Redeemer, and our Lord, it is from Him alone that we can find the strength to lay aside the sin and worldly weights that drag us down. It is from Him that we can find the courage to keep running, even when the course gets long and wearisome. And He is continually using each circumstance to perfect that work of faith that He began in us.

Mom was born again at the age of 35. As her walk with the Lord grew, she was privileged to minister to people from literally all over the world. Women especially would call on her, baring their hearts and seeking counsel regarding problems in their marriages, families, churches, or even their personal lives. No matter what the specific situation was though, the answer given by Mom was always the same: simply Look Unto Jesus.

Not that they were to go begging Him for an answer concerning why He was allowing these particular circumstances to occur. On the contrary, her encouragement to them was to begin or continue in a process of seeking the Lord in worship, thanksgiving, and prayer, and focussing on Who He is, not just what He was allowing in their lives and why.

You see, the problem that so many of these people were facing - and that we all face - wasn’t their spouses, their children, their pastor, or anyone else. At bedrock, the “problem” was in not seeing Christ on the throne in their hearts, but rather themselves. This self-centeredness resulted in their seeking to have their own needs met, as opposed to seeking to meet the needs of others as a service of love for their Lord. And when their “needs” were not met, they often would experience bitterness or depression.

Now, by no means should we think that developing this life of worship will automatically eliminate all problems. Mom made no promises of healed marriages or saved children. However, with confidence Mom could reassure them that there would be changes - in their own hearts. In every case of those who applied Mom’s counsel this was exactly the result. In the midst of life’s storms, they had peace. When faced with rejection, they found a new love within. Sometimes their circumstances changed too, but regardless their own hearts and lives were transformed.

In short, if we, like Peter walking on the water, fix our attention on the wind and the waves, we will begin to sink into them. If on the other hand we fix our eyes back on the Lord Jesus Christ, these same “wind and waves” become the platform on which we approach nearer to our Lord.
Understanding of this principle did not come easily for Mom. At different times throughout her life, God permitted trials of various types and degrees of severity to refine her into ever more brilliant gold. This was certainly true as she faced her battle with cancer.

As Mom lay on the operating table, preparing to be biopsied to see if what the scans showed was truly cancer or not, the Lord, we believe, spoke very clearly to her. She did not hear an audible voice, see flashing lights, or feel a vague emotion. Rather, in a very still, calm way this very Biblical concept came to her mind: “Dianne, I do not want you just to accept this trial. I want you to embrace it”.

God was, in essence, reminding her - and us - that this current test was coming from His loving hand. He was going to glorify Himself in her suffering, and use her to strengthen His people and to extend His Kingdom.
For the first two years, we had the normal ups and downs of a battle with cancer, including about a year and a half in which we believed that the cancer was gone. However, during a routine follow-up scan last year, the cancer was rediscovered in many places throughout her body.

For the next year, various combinations of drugs were used to combat the tumors. Each of them showed positive results for a short period, and then would cease to work. During one of the periods between therapies, by the grace of God, she was able to participate in one of Eagle’s Nest’s overseas mission endeavors as we traveled to Romania in the fall of 1999.

Throughout her struggle, opportunities for her to minister multiplied as many were drawn to Mom’s joyful, submissive spirit in spite of the trial, and they wanted to know her “secret”. And, again, Mom would always tell them the same thing: Look unto Jesus. Let Him become your satisfaction, your sufficiency, and your security.

Shortly after returning from the mission in Romania, Mom began to encounter flu-like symptoms with alarming regularity. Upon a physical examination, it was discovered that the chemotherapy treatment she had been taking had ceased to be effective. For the next several months, various combinations of drugs were used in an effort to slow the growth of the tumors. After several treatments, including a stay of over four weeks in the hospital, it was determined that these had all been in vain. Unless God miraculously intervened, she was going to go Home to be with Him.

In our efforts to keep her comfortable, we set up a hospice room in our home, to which she returned on Saturday, April 29th. By this time, she was completely bed-ridden and dependent on others for even the simplest of tasks. But even as she lay there, completely helpless, the joy and peace that radiated from her face touched everyone that came to see or work with her. As God’s smelting fires burned brightly, her gold was increasingly refined.
Early in the morning on Monday, May 1, with my Dad, my sister, and myself present, the Lord Jesus came to take Mom home. Though we did not see Him, and though there were no dramatics surrounding her passage into glory, she was at peace. As we looked down on her lifeless body, a very distinct smile was on her face.

She was truly “Looking Unto Jesus”. For real. Forever.

She has now joined that heavenly throng of witnesses that surrounds us, which give testimony to the faithfulness of God throughout history, and is urging us with ever more intensity - -

“Run with patience the race set before you, Looking Unto Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of your faith”.

Though we feel her loss acutely, our prayer is that the life of simple faith that she modeled for all the world to see would live on in us, her family, and in the church. May we continue to bear the torch for the Kingdom of God, illumining everyone we come in contact with, with that same, simple attitude of intimacy with our precious Lord Jesus Christ.

Looking Unto Him, and

In His Service,
Stephen Tecklenberg,
President