Jeremiah Goebel Riffe

Ps 73:23-26 Nevertheless I am continually with You; You have taken hold of my right hand. With your counsel you will guide me, and afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And besides you, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. These verses have certainly characterized the life of our dad all of our lives. On Monday, afternoon, August 8, 2016 the last part of verse 23, was fulfilled, Jeremiah Riffe entered into glory! How do you begin to tell the story of a man who came face to face with Jesus, counted the cost and never turned back? Through his own assertion, he was a fool for Christ. Even on his Bible he painted the words, “recovering fool”! Jeremiah Goebel Riffe was the only living child of Jeremiah and Lucille Riffe, born on March 28, 1930. He moved to California at a very early age and lived there the rest of his life. His own father died when he was 13 years of age. His mother moved back to her hometown in Texas when Jerry was 16 but he stayed in Los Angeles living with families of friends until he went to UCLA. He played basketball there but an injury to his hand ended up ending his hopes of making it big. It was at that time that he met Bill Bright who introduced him to Jesus in 1952. His life changed drastically. After graduating from UCLA in business, he went to Bob Jones University Seminary where we got his Masters of Divinity (M.Div.) It was there that he met the love of his life, Edith Weller (Edie the Sweetie) and the two were married on December 24, 1956. Upon graduation, he went to Berkley and worked at the University of Berkley with Campus Crusade for Christ until he was hired on at Scott Memorial Baptist Church in 1958. He worked as a youth pastor there until 1989. He was definitely an unconventional youth pastor, loving to push the youth to their limits via hikes, trips to Mexico, Wyoming, Utah, Oregon, Northern California, backpacks, bike hikes, scripture memory, teaching, preaching, evangelizing, etc. He always led by example. There were many times where everyone had to trust God and God showed up in miraculous ways. His whole life focused on the importance of God’s Word which was encouraged through scripture memory and daily Bible study. His 8-week Summer Servants program was an intensive training time of making disciples who make disciples. Lives were changed forever. God gave him 4 daughters, Monica Sammons (Stephen), Jerusha Losch (Dale), Shellee Riffe, and Bethany Caddow (Craig). Shellee preceded him to heaven in 1982 following a tragic accident. He has 11 grandchildren, 3 great-grandchildren and 3 more great grandchildren on the way! After he left Scott Memorial in 1989, he and Edie went to Faith Academy in the Philippines and worked there for 2 years before returning to San Diego where he worked at Lake Murray Evangelical Free Church in San Diego and then at South Bay Community Church in National City. He took a hiatus to care for his aged mother for a couple of years too. Jeremiah never truly retired, he continued to try to help some smaller churches in the area, he faithfully led a rest home ministry and then his favorite thing to do in the past 15 years was to work with ex-cons. He had an extraordinary gift of seeing potential in people no matter what their past had been like. He had the gift of encouragement, and always wanted people to be more like Jesus. Jeremiah didn’t want a funeral so we are honoring his wishes; he didn’t want any glory going to himself. He wanted Christ to be lifted up, by his life and by his death.