Rev. Herbert C. Mueller, Jr., was born May 16, 1953, the son of Rev. Herbert C. Mueller, Sr., and Ruth (nee’ Polley) Mueller, in Grand Forks, ND, and reborn into the Kingdom of God by Holy Baptism at St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church, Niagara, ND, on May 31, 1953. He was educated our Christian Day School in Hankinson, ND. He has been on this blog before as a feature of the old 6 degrees of separation stories that we did. I also wrote about his presentation at last summers convention that he gave even though he has been diagnosed with a deadly brain tumor. It was a great presentation and a faith booster and a grand witness to the love of Christ.
I visited with him several times and we discussed the Dakota connection. He was proud of his fathers work and felt that his North Dakota roots were an important part of his spiritual growth and love for the Church of Christ. He was a great practical theologian and that meant that doctrine was not a decoration added to more realistic discussions or projects. The justification of the sinner for the sake of Christ was the touch stone of reality and story about everything for him. Reconciliation of individuals, practical logistical issues, celebrations of anniversaries and historical remembrances, could all be broken down into a fundamental understanding that everything holds together in Christ and everything should be done to his glory. That grounded determination was inspiring and daunting sometimes as well.
His determination to present his paper to the convention in the midst of the advance of a bad medical assessment was inspiring. The reaction of the convention was incredible. I have not been able to follow Herbs journey, but yesterday I found that he has received the Victors crown of gold. In these weird days we haven’t heard about the funeral arrangements. Our prayers to his family. We pray God would give them the comfort of the knowledge of Herb’s life well lived in Christ. We pray for whoever is called to fill the void that will be left.
