Wink Nolte Service
March 7, 2020 (died on March 3)
Note: Wink Nolte was a very special friend of mine. He was a member of First Evangelical Free Church of Wichita for nearly 40 years, and his daughter Susan has been a valued staff member for many years.
Obituary: Winthrop H. Nolte was born on June 8, 1933 at Milwaukee Hospital, Milwaukee Wisconsin, to Clifford Simpson Nolte and Katherine Morton Nolte, he was the middle child of three. He had two sisters Susan and Lynne.
Early on his 4-year old sister Susan wanted to nickname him Willie, after the nursery rhyme Wee Willie Winkie. His mother was suggested Winkie instead, and that settled it. Up until college he was Winkie, and shortened to Wink when he met his wife Lynn at Lake Forest College, Illinois.
Married to his college sweetheart Marguerite Lynn Reinier on August 24th, 1958, they set upon a journey to further the Nolte heritage. They were married for 61 years. Wink became a father to son Steve on March 5, 1960 and then David on February 1, 1961. He then had a daughter, Susan on January 18th, 1965. On November 25th, 1968 he welcomed his last boy, Doug.
Moving to Wichita, KS in 1970, Wink had a new birthday celebration. This time he was reborn into the body of Christ. On June 7th, 1971 Wink accepted Christ into his heart and turned to Him for his guidance.
Wink was a Korean War veteran. He worked in sales and general management for several different companies. He was very involved with both Central Christian Church and First Evangelical Free Church in Wichita, KS. He loved mentoring men to disciple them in their walks with Christ.
Being a great husband and father was the hallmark of his reliance on Christ to transform him. His life verse is Matthew 6:33, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you.”
Wink also was known as “Boppa” to his grandchildren and greatgrandchildren. He had 20 grandchildren, Emily, Benjamin, Cole, Parker, Audrey, Beth, Lydia, Anna, Richard, Kate, Victoria, Jessica, Rebekah, Matthew, Jane, Natalie, Summer, Cheyenne, Kash and Nora. He had nine great grandchildren.
Winthrop “Wink” Haines Nolte died on March 3, 2020 with his family with him. While missed by those here now, our hope lies in the reunion we will have with him at the feet of Jesus.
He is preceded in in death by his parents Clifford and Katherine, his sisters Susan and Lynne and his grandson Richard.
Message: For over 40 years Wink Nolte and I have had a strange and wonderful relationship. To give you an illustration of what I’m referring to, I went into his room at the Health Resort last week a few days after he went on hospice. I stood at the foot of his bed until he opened his eyes, and listened to his warm greeting: “Not you again!” “Yes,” I said, “It is I.” “Where did you come from?” he asked. And I responded, “From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.” (If you’re familiar with the book of Job, you will know that is a quotation from the mouth of Satan!).
We then proceeded to reminisce about the past four decades. I reminded him that he was the reason I left here in 1984 to go to St. Louis for two decades. He laughed heartily because he remembered the story well. You see, after pastoring this church for nearly a decade I was invited by a fledgling church plant in St. Louis to come and be their pastor. Things were going really well here but St. Louis was where I grew up and I loved the idea of planting a church there, so I was really struggling with the decision and didn’t know what to do. I decided to talk to Wink about it. He was one of my elders and I had great respect for him.
I poured out the whole situation and said, “Wink, I can’t figure out what the Lord’s will is—to go or to stay.” I fully expected Wink to say, “Mike, you can’t leave; we need you here.” Instead, his face lit up and he said, “Wow! That sounds like a great opportunity! If I were you, I’d go for it.”
Now I may be flattering myself to believe Wink really was seeking the Lord’s will and not just trying to get rid of me, but I truly believe that’s the case. He had a strong faith in the sovereignty of God and knew well that not one of us is indispensable to the Lord’s work. Well, we went to St. Louis, and when God brought us back 20 years later Wink greeted me with, “Not you again!”
I often warned Wink that he’d better be nice to me because I was going to get the last word, and sure enough, today I have it. I think he was a little worried about that because he once asked me what I planned to say at his funeral. I told him I’d probably just wing it. His comment: “Well, that’s what you do whenever you preach, isn’t it?” It was hard to win a battle of wits with Wink. I always felt like an unarmed man.
But I really loved Wink, and I love his family, especially St. Lynn, which is what I always called her around him. He knew what I meant.
Well, it’s time to get serious. You have just heard from Wink’s kids about what a good man he was. One of the best! Surely a man that good, that kind, that responsible, that generous must be a shoe-in to make it to heaven. If that thought crossed your mind this afternoon, I would like to disabuse you of it quickly and thoroughly. Oh, I believe Wink is in heaven alright, enjoying the Father’s presence as we speak, but the reason I believe that has nothing to do with how good he was. It has everything to do with how good God is. Wink put His faith in the immeasurable love of God who sent His one and only Son to die in Wink’s place.
Wink loved the 8th chapter of Romans, and I have been asked to use that as my text for our meditation today. The whole chapter is amazing, but I want to focus just on verses 31-39, which describe what is true of Wink today: he is SECURE IN GOD’S LOVE. But Wink has been secure in God’s love for a long time, and you are too—right now—if you have put your faith in Christ.
Listen with awe to the Word of God:
“If God is for us, who can be against us? {32} He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all‑‑how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? {33} Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. {34} Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died‑‑more than that, who was raised to life‑‑is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. {35} Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ….
{37} No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. {38} For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, {39} neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” That, friends, is the Word of the Lord.
In this passage, the Apostle Paul employs a number of times a literary device known as a rhetorical question. A rhetorical question is one asked for effect rather than for information. No answer is expected because the answer is so obvious. These rhetorical questions offer a series of four challenges to the security of the believer. In essence he says, “The true believer is secure in God’s love, and I’m going to prove it to you by answering every objection or challenge you can possibly think up.” The first challenge, then, is this:
Is there no conceivable opposition which can hinder the believer’s security? (31). Verse 31: “If God is for us, who can be against us?” I remind you that the one who wrote these words knew very well who was against him. The Jews were against him. The Romans were against him. The false teachers in Corinth were against him. The magicians in Ephesus were against him. The Devil and all his forces were against him. But according to Paul all the opposition against him is piddly and insignificant and inconsequential when set against the fact that God is for him. Challenge #1 defeated.
The second challenge is found in verse 32 and is basically this:
Is there no danger that God’s grace toward us might diminish or cease? (32) Here’s the rhetorical question: “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” God’s love and grace were so great toward us that He was willing to give His one and only Son over to the powers of darkness for death on a cruel cross for our benefit. How then can we even think that He will not also graciously give us whatever else we need to complete our spiritual journey. If we need strength to overcome temptation, we’ve got it. If we need a friend to be with us through life’s dark hours, we’ve got it. If we need direction for how to live, we’ve got it. If we need comfort when we’ve lost a loved one, we’ve got it.
There’s no possibility that the grace of God will diminish or cease because He has already given us the greatest possible gift. All other benefits are just frosting on the cake. Challenge #2 defeated.
The third challenge to the security of the believer is found in verse 33:
Is there no one who might bring a charge against us that might result in our condemnation? (33) “Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.” Accusations against us are common, and some, sadly, are true. People accuse us, Satan accuses us, in fact, we even accuse ourselves, or at least our consciences accuse us. Is it possible that any of these accusations might stick on Judgment Day, and therefore God would in the end have to condemn us?
Well, to answer that, let’s take the worst possible case. Let’s take Satan’s accusations. If we can show that his accusations are inadmissible as evidence, then surely no one else’s charges against God’s chosen will be upheld.
In Rev. 12:10 Satan is called the “accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night.” Now frankly most of us have given Satan plenty of ammunition. All of us have broken God’s moral law. Wink’s violations were not as flagrant and public as some, but I assure you he was not perfect. After all, pastor abuse is a sin!
So Satan has a good case against us! But that is where Paul’s answer to this challenge comes in so beautifully. “It is God who justifies.” In other words, the very One whose law has been broken has declared all those who put their faith in Jesus, “Not guilty!” Once God has declared a person “not guilty,” there is no one who will be allowed to bring a charge against that person, not even Satan, not even if it is true. We can never be tried again for sins which God has already forgiven.
And how can we be so sure? Because Jesus, who died, was raised, and sits exalted at the Father’s right hand, is continually interceding for us. To every one of Satan’s accusations Jesus is there to say, “Yes, my child did that awful thing, and it grieves me terribly, but I died for that sin. Father, forgive him.”
Challenge #3 defeated.
The final rhetorical challenge lodged against the security of the believer is this:
Is there no trial or tribulation which might eventually separate us from God’s love? (35-37) “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?” By the way, the New Testament, far from promising us a life of ease and a life in which there will be an absence of pain and suffering, does quite the opposite. Trials, tribulations, distress, persecution, famine, neuropathy, diabetes—these things are the norm for the Christian life. But in spite of this, says Paul, “We are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” We are not destined to drag ourselves over the threshold of Heaven and collapse in a pile! We are not to think of making it into Heaven just by the skin of our teeth. No, an abundant entrance has been provided for us. We are more than conquerors.
Now here’s the climax: (38,39)
“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation (that’s pretty comprehensive, wouldn’t you say?), will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Nothing whatever is able to drive a wedge between God and His people. He starts with death the greatest of all separators. Obviously, death separates the soul from the body, but it also separates us from places and people we love. Death has certainly separated Wink temporarily from all of us who love him. But death does not have the final word. It has been swallowed up in victory, according to I Cor. 15.
Nor can angels or demons separate us from the love of God. Good angels wouldn’t want to, and evil angels can’t, for Col. 2:15 tells us that Jesus “disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”
Time cannot separate us from God’s love. Whether it be the present with its sufferings, or the future with its uncertainties. He is the Lord of all history.
Nor can space separate us. “Neither height nor depth.” Listen to the Psalmist:
“Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.” (Psalm 139:7-10)
Finally, the Apostle wraps us all other possible persons, things, places, and events and says not one of them is able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Challenge #4 defeated!
Conclusion: Friends, the love of God is the strongest, most steady, firm, unbending, solid, substantial, constant, uniform, dependable reality in the entire universe! That love is held out to each of us this morning in the person of Jesus Christ. “For God so loved the world (that includes you!) that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Believe in Him, trust Him, receive Him today as your Lord and Savior.
Prayer: Father, thank you for Your amazing love. Thank you for Jesus who loved us so much that He was willing to take our place on the Cross. Thank you for loving our friend, Wink Nolte, and for the way we saw Your love lived out in his life. Grant peace and comfort to this family we pray, to Wink’s dear wife Lynn, to Steve, David, Doug and Susan, and especially to Kate who is watching this service from Bosnia.
Father, thank you for the reminder in your Word that we need not grieve as those who have no hope, because for the believer, absence from the body means presence with the Lord. Help us to turn in faith to Christ and trust in Him alone.
We pray all these things in the strong name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.