If B.J. Funk looks familiar, she should. She has been writing for Good News since 2009. Her bi-monthly article appears on the last page of the magazine. And as you know, the best is always saved for last. BJ devotionals are full of wisdom and encouragement. Feel free to share her writing with your friends or women’s group. She has a way of illuminating the heart of scripture. And no wonder, she is an extraordinary woman. Before going into the ministry, she was a wife, mother and kindergarten teacher; she has experienced the tragedy of divorce and the loss of her beloved second husband. Her relationship with Jesus has given her strength, warmth and a joy that will bless you.
Currently, B.J. Funk is the Associate Pastor at Central United Methodist Church in Fitzgerald, Georgia. She lives in Chula and spends her extra time writing devotionals for the South Georgia Advocate, the Good News Magazine and for Renew.
B.J. has authored three books: Divorce, I Never Thought It Would Happen to Me (Tyndale House); In This Very Hour, Loss of a Marriage (Thirty Devotionals) (Broadman and Hallman); and The Dance of Life, Invitation to a Father Daughter Dance (Xulon Publishers). Her next book will be out in 2015. It is 50 devotionals for those going through grief, based on her own experience in the death of her husband.
Besides preaching, writing and teaching Bible Studies, B.J. is active in the Emmaus Walk and in leading Women’s Retreats. She invites women to come to her home in the evenings to talk through their struggles and to offer them hope through Jesus Christ.
It was that hope that carried her through the painful realization that her first marriage would soon end in divorce, and through the even greater pain of her ex-husband’s abandonment of their two sons. Her testimony includes how she found strength to keep going because of Jesus. A second marriage brought new love for many years before Roy became ill with leukemia and went Home to be with the Lord.