Mr. Christopher "Eagle Eye" Ellis Baucom

Christopher was born on January 26, 1994 in Lubbock, Texas, to Bobby Dean Baucom and Cynthia June Roberts Baucom. He was a loving husband, son, brother, and uncle. He married Felisha Harrison on November 19, 2016 in a beautiful outdoor wedding.

Christopher was a member of the Congregation Sar Shalom in Garland. He was homeschooled through high school, and was a 2nd lieutenant in Civil Air Patrol. He enjoyed working with his hands, creating jewelry, custom knives and arrowheads. He was always working with his hands and was very creative.

He did general maintenance for Software Builders Incorporated, worked at First Monday in Canton, did a/c work for a summer, worked as a welder at various places, and more recently he did construction work at Nex Gen.

He is survived by his wife of 15 months Felisha Harrison Baucom of Martins Mill, Texas, his unborn child who is due in September, his parents, Bobby and Cindy Baucom of Martins Mill, his six siblings: David and Danielle Baucom of Colorado Springs, Colorado. Diane and Rusty Acheson of Plano, Texas. Joel Baucom of Austin, Texas. Zachary and Mary Anne Baucom of Quinlan, Texas. Havilah Baucom of Martins Mill. Rachel and Mark Russell of Emory, Texas, grandfather, Donald Ray Baucom of Lubbock and ten nieces and nephews: Danae, Andrew, Yoan, Wilmer, Devin, Tony, and Chuy Baucom, Gabriel and Ariella Acheson, and Gideon Baucom.

Memorial service will be held Friday, February 16, 2018 at 3:00 PM at the Bridge Fellowship Church in Martins Mill, Texas. The service will be officiated by James Schulgen and Don Knebel.

Christopher liked interesting rocks. Please bring one with you to the service and the family is going to collect them for a project in Chris' honor. If you can carry it, you can bring it. Interment will be in Haven of Memories Memorial Park in Canton.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.eubankfh.com for the Baucom family.

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Special messages from his siblings:

David: Chris leaves behind a hole that can never be filled. A man equally skilled at skinning a deer or making jewelry. He was adored by his nieces and nephews, who tried to move as swiftly and silently in the loop dark as he could. We went on adventures with him, hunted rocks with him, rejoiced with him when he found the love of his life and delighted in hearing he would soon have the chance to raise a child of his own. I wish I could hear his voice again and see his smile. I miss him and always will.

Diane: Chris was many things to different people: a loving husband, dedicated servant, or a sincere friend. To me he will always be my sunshine baby because of how he would smile at me when he was little. Shooting, hiking, and rock hunting were always more fun with him, but above all else I cherished our conversations. I will never forget the day he came to me and said he wanted to be a Christian. It was a precious time and I am thankful to have shared it with him. I watched as he grew in faith over the years. My sweet brother was blameless and above reproach, a son of God, without rebuke, in a dark and fallen world where he shined as a light of our Lord. The world has lost a great man. With his example may many more young men rise up to be like Chris.

Joel: I remember holding Chris when he was born and watching him grow up into an amazing young man. I am so proud of the man that he was and love him with all my heart. I wish I had spent more time talking to him and I wish I had been able to tell him how much he meant to me. I will never forget his mischievous smile, his methodical calculated ways, and his awareness of things around him. That is why we called him Eagle Eye. Not because of his eyesight, but because of his awareness and focus. I think it’s amazing he struggled as a teenager thinking he had no friends. And yet it is overwhelmingly evident that he had many devoted friends and impacted everyone he met. And now he is even affecting people he never met.

Zachary: Chris was truly the best of us. He was the most respectful, honorable and diligent man. He worked hard and never complained. His relationship with God was inspiring. He truly lived what he believed. I don’t know anyone else with the kind of creative drive he had. There are so many projects we were going to work on together. The world is lessened by his loss. On top of all this, Chris was my friend. I loved hanging out with just him because we could talk forever. I’m going to miss those conversations. In honor of my brother, I built his coffin. Now and forever, it’s a symbol of my love for him. My brother. My friend.

Havilah: Chris would always have my back. I could count on him to always be there to help me with anything. It was Chris, Rachel and I against the world. I could not even begin to imagine the kind of person I would be without him. He practically helped to shape my entire childhood. I always loved to hang on his arm and walk with him and be with him. I pitied sisters that didn’t get along with their brothers because they never got to experience what it was like to have such an awesome and loving brother to take care of them the way I did. I could talk to him about real thing, things that mattered. He could see what no one else saw. He knew when to just be quiet and give you hug or when to give you chocolate, or both. He was a dreamer and he understood people who were dreamers. He encouraged and he believed in them.

Rachel: Chris was the best brother you could imagine. I have so many amazing and fun memories of him throughout the 20 years that I was blessed to know him. He was so kind to me and was always there for me when I needed him. My favorite memories with him was when we would sing in the car together. He loved to sing and was so good at it. Whenever I saw a man I would compare him to Chris to determine if he was a good man. Chris was such an amazing, strong, honorable, wise, and godly man. I will never forget the wonderful times I had with my brother!

Mary Anne: (Chris was like a brother to Mary Anne)

The Legend

He saw the maker of the forests,

He felt the adventure of the trees.

He saw the beauty of the rocks,

And heard the music in the breeze.

With his nieces and nephews

it was always exciting.

He was a pirate, a cowboy,

an Indian and a Viking.

He was ever the peacemaker,

a listener and protector.

He walked with a purpose

as a husband, a son, a friend, and a brother.

He chose to follow Yeshua,

and seek G-d's direction.

He dedicated his life

to becoming a reflection.

G-d's will was carried out through Chris

in more ways than we can number

and the impact Christopher made on our lives

we shall forever remember.

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They

Last week our pastor brought a great message from Mark chapter 2. It chronicles the story of a group of fellows who made sure their paralytic friend got in to see Jesus by letting him down through the roof. In the passage the group is referred to several times only as “they.” “They” made sure their friend got to Jesus. “They” didn’t care about what it cost them. They didn’t care about their finances, their reputations, or the fallout. They cared about their friend.

This past week a good friend and member of a very dear family passed away in a tragic accident. His name is Chris. His youth and station in life, newly married and newly expecting their first baby, makes us wonder many things. Why? Why him, why now, why this family, our community? Short answer: I don’t know, but I trust the One who does.

As I write this short blog, there are 5 or 6 young men in my shop, 4 of whom have been here all day, and who will work through the night. Their task? They are building a casket for my friend, one of the young men’s brothers. My son is out there, too. They are tired and hungry, but they haven’t stopped yet to eat. You see, Chris was a craftsman. He made things. Lots of things. Cool things like homemade knives, bows from PVC pipe, and he even built his own forge for working steel. This final memento is a testament to his craft and skill. I can’t imagine the weight these boys, I mean men, are carrying tonight. But I do know what to call them … “They” are Chris’s “they.”

They are, in these final moments, doing what “they”s do. They are honoring their brother in the most beautiful display of friendship and family I’ve seen in a very long time. Chris never asked them to do anything like this to my knowledge. I’m sure there was never a conversation that ended with, “hey, will you be my ‘they’?” No, he was just himself. He loved and served and his “they” developed around him. Who’s “they” are you? If you need some “they”s of your own, be one to someone else. God is good, even when we don’t understand.

Thank you, Pastor, for reminding us to love and serve one another.

Posted on February 16, 2018

Author: Matt Parker

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Here I Raise Mine Ebeneezer

Yesterday I posted about what it means to be “they” to someone and how wonderful it was to be “they” for someone else. Today I saw it again, but it was more than that. What I saw today may have been one of the clearer pictures of the church and the unity that Jesus prayed for in John 17. Ever since our church unified with our sister church across the way, I’ve spent many a day in John 17, reading about how important it was to Jesus for us to have unity, to validate the message He was sent from God.

Ephesians 2 tells the story of how two groups, Jews and Gentiles, because of the sacrificed flesh of Jesus, were brought together, making one where there was two, reconciling both to God for their good and His glory. The hostility between the two groups was obliterated on the cross, the wall of partition was broken down. This wonderful good news, this Gospel, meant for us Gentiles, those far off from the promises of God, were now in the fold and joint heirs with our brothers in Christ, brought near to His very bosom.

This glorious work dovetails nicely with John 17 and Jesus’ prayer for unity. Not unity around earthly things, but unity in Christ. Today, at Chris’s memorial service, I saw a beautiful tapestry unfold the likes of which I’ve not seen before. I stood in a Southern Baptist Church, worshiped with a lovely group of Christians who follow the traditions of Messianic Judaism (Christians who observe Jewish tradition and teachings), while we admired a casket built largely from old pews from a very conservative fundamental Baptist Church. It was as if Father was saying, “watch what I can make.”

The service was one of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. The name of the Lord was exalted, God on High was proclaimed, Jesus was heralded as our hope in times of mourning because we, as He will one day be resurrected and united to live with Him forever. I saw Jew and Gentile, young and old, Baptist and Messianic observers all worshiping the One True King. We wept with those who wept. We mourned with those who mourned, and we shared the hope we all have in Jesus. Who would have thought in tiny Martin’s Mill, TX our sovereign Father would embroider such a wonderful work of art before our eyes.

At the close of the day we all placed a rock on the casket. There are many thoughts on the origin and meaning of this tradition, but today it was about the fact that Chris loved to hunt for rocks. That, coupled with a tradition we see in the Old Testament where the Israelites would pile up stones of remembrance for big events. They would place their Ebeneezer, or their stone of help, in places where God had brought them deliverance and protected them. The old hymn resounds as it pronounces, “Here I raise mine Ebeneezer, hitherby thy help, I’ve come.” In 1 Samuel 7:12, Samuel placed an Ebeneezer saying, “hitherto hath the Lord helped us.” Today, He truly helped us. Helped us to grieve, to mourn, and rejoice in the hope of the resurrection.

When the Israelites would pass by these stones, history tells us they would rehearse to the younglings stories of why the stones were there, of the strength of the Lord. Today’s stones will be transplanted into a garden display for Felisha, Chris’s wife. When their young unborn baby grows to run through the flowers and asks Felisha about the pile of stones, I’m sure she, and the rest of the family will sit and tell of Chris and how he was a stone of help from the Lord. Each stone a story. Each rock a remembrance of a life well-lived for the Lord.

Chris, you will be missed, but the testimony of how you impacted the lives of others was evident today as we filled the house to standing room only to honor you and to remember the grace and the blessing God had for us in knowing you. Rest in peace, my friend, His peace, His Shalom. Till we meet again.

Posted on February 17, 2018

Author: Matt Parker

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We Remember Them

By: Sylvan Kamens & Rabbi Jack Riemer

In the rising of the sun and in its going down, we remember them.

In the blowing of the wind and in the chill of winter, we remember them.

In the opening of the buds and in the rebirth of spring, we remember them.

In the blueness of the sky and in the warmth of summer, we remember them.

In the rustling of the leaves and in the beauty of autumn, we remember them.

In the beginning of the year and when it ends, we remember them.

For they are now a part of us as we remember them.

When we are weary and in need of strength, we remember them.

When we have joys we crave to share, we remember them.

When we have decisions that are difficult to make, we remember them.

When we have achievements that are based on theirs, we remember them.

So long as we live, they too shall live, for they are now a part of us,

As we remember Chris.