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Mike Becker - our community has lost a great man

6K views 24 replies 17 participants last post by  ice cream man 
#1 ·
I am stunned to have just heard this news that Topsail Angler went home to be with the Lord yesterday. Mike was a strong man of faith and a great friend. We met here on NCangler.com over 11 years ago and became great friends. Mike served our online community as a moderator for several years.

Mike and I fished together just a few weeks ago. I don't know what to say. I know God has a plan for us all but this one has jarred me. Lord please be with Pat and the family. Mike I miss you already buddy but I'll see you again by God's grace.

Here is a photo of one of first old drum fishing trips with Mike back in 2010.

 
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#7 ·
Shared a couple meals.
Shared one fishing trip.
Shared his being tickled to take a flounder I caught to give to his mom.
Shared him introducing me to shrimp & jack cheese omelets (never waste good bait!)
Shared a million behind-the-scenes conversations about NCangler.com.
I only saw the tip of the iceberg, compared to the man he was to his family, his church, his community and his mission around the world.

Well done Mike.
 
#14 ·
So sorry to hear about Mike. I think Mike was the first person to welcome me to the board many moons ago. He never hesitated to happily share advice with my teenage self and as trigger said was a huge asset to this site.

I know that Topsail_Angler (Mike), Fojoloy (Forrest), PapaDave (David), and Lefty (Kevin) are sitting on a dock somewhere reminiscing on good fishing stories and enjoying their reward.
 
#23 ·
I attended Mike Becker's "celebration of life" service yesterday at his church, Anchor Baptist Church in Wilmington. What a great group of folks that loved Mike and Pat. Mike had only been a member there for a little over four years but had obviously made a great difference in the lives of folks there by serving others, starting a "Feed the Hunger" ministry to assist in feeding hungry people, teaching Sunday School, etc. The pastor shared a story that last Monday after a long day of mowing and landscape work (Mike's primary business for the past few years), Mike stopped at a service station to fill up his truck and saw a young woman who was obviously distressed. He asked her what was wrong and she said she didn't have enough fuel to get home. He promptly filled up her car and asked her what her name was. She responded, "why do you need to know my name?" He replied, so I can pray for you. That was Mike Becker.

Mike had a great heart for the Lord and for people. He was always at work to provide for his family and to assist others. And he was always encouraging and challenging those around him to do better, to try harder, to keep moving in the right direction to please the Lord. Mike was a great encourager to me. I will miss our phone conversations, our fishing trips and our times of sitting on the front porch of our home in Oriental looking at the stars, contemplating God's goodness and greatness in His creation and in our lives. Mike is without any doubt in the presence of God now. Where I still struggle to understand the depth of God's Word and it's application in my life, Mike now sees, lives and breathes the reality of all that God is as he stands before Jesus Christ, face to face. I wish we had more time to be friends and brothers in this world. But I am comforted by the assurance that we will have eternity to converse on the goodness and greatness of God when we are reunited in heaven on the new earth.

Mike would want you to know that if you have never experienced the forgiveness and grace of God or the freedom that only Christ can give, you can know it. I pray that you will seek Him. Pray with a humble heart that God would reveal Himself to you. Read the Bible with an open heart to discover the truth of scripture that only the Holy Spirit can reveal. Find someone that you know lives a life that strives to please the Lord to ask them how to grow in faith and find a fellowship where other believers humbly strive to know God and to make Him known. God will meet you where you are and show Himself to you. "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me." Revelations 3:20

As I am confident that Mike prayed for that young woman at the service station, he prayed for many of us on NCangler.com. I had a crazy idea in January of 2005 to start a website where folks could share the passion of fishing. The best thing to ever come out of this website for me was meeting Mike Becker and becoming eternal friends. There are a number of other eternal friends that I've made here as well. And I'm sure many of you have had the same experience.

Mike's life was an encouragement and challenge. His death is a sober reminder that none of us know how much time we have in this life. Mike was working last Tuesday afternoon like he was every other Tuesday, when the Lord called him home. Mike was always ready to go, although I'm sure there are many practical things left undone for his family (pray for them in this difficult days of adjusting to his absence). How about you? Are you ready today to step into eternity? Don't let another day go by without answering life's two greatest questions. One, what am I going to do about Jesus Christ? "Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me." John 14:6 And question two, what am I going to let Jesus do with me? For He is either Lord of all or He is not Lord at all in our lives. Mike answered both those questions. Question one he answered once and for all by trusting in Christ alone for the forgiveness of his sins, turning from his sin and following Christ's way. Question two he answered everyday as he prayed, studied and lived in a way pleasing to God. Mike was not perfect, none of us are! But he was forgiven and diligently worked at walking in a manner worthy of his calling in God. Well done Mike!

I will close with a scripture that I think Mike would love for me to share with you all. May we all find the peace and joy that Mike lived!

"For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart." Jeremiah 29:11-13
 
#24 ·
Missing my buddy today. On a side note Mike still holds the title for making the most posts on NCangler.com to date: 17,131

He had not participated on the site much in the past couple years because of his work and church ministry schedule but he sure was instrumental from 2005 on in making this website what it had become. :cool:
 
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