Simon Cox Blog: What Ravi Zacharias Said at Nabeel Qureshi’s Funeral

Thursday 21 September 2017

What Ravi Zacharias Said at Nabeel Qureshi’s Funeral

Eulogy at Houston memorial service honors “abnormally born” 34-year-old apologist.

At his memorial service Thursday, Nabeel Qureshi was remembered for his unusual passion for Christ and the significant evangelistic impact he made before he died last Saturday at 34.

Hundreds gathered at Houston’s First Baptist Church and thousands more online to honor Qureshi, whose life and ministry was cut short by aggressive stomach cancer.

The young speaker and author was eulogized by his mentor, Ravi Zacharias, who compared him to the apostle Paul as well as to other noteworthy Christians who died young. (Zacharias also wrote a tribute to his young protégé.)

“He was a man of incredible, undying energy, and it was a priviledge to cover the globe with Nabeel Qureshi,” said Zacharias, who recalled stories from their final ministry trip together—to Malaysia—earlier this spring.

When Qureshi would preach from a favorite text, 1 Corinthians 15 (where Jesus appears to Paul, one “abnormally born”), Zacharias said he’d think, “You’re just like that Nabeel. You’re a very abnormal person.”

The global evangelist shared with the crowd the unusual distinctives of Qureshi’s deep understanding of sin; Qureshi’s devotion to his family, who were heartbroken when he left Islam to claim Christ; and his confidence in his evangelism.

“This abnormally born, abnormally torn, abnormally scorned man is now abnormally gone. Gone at such an early age in life,” Zacharias said.

“So what I say to you is this: He’s not the only one who’s died young.” He went on to list fellow Christian men who died in their 20s and 30s, including singer Keith Green, Scottish minister Robert Murray M’Cheyne, and theologian Blaise Pascal. ...