Tribute to Apostle John Boney
From: Dr. Dahlia Moscardini
I would like to thank God for the blessed gift He gave to me, my spiritual father, Apostle John Boney. Today, I join with the EMI family and the body of Christ to celebrate the life of this true Apostle of God. I must confess that I am indeed saddened by his departure but assured that he is where he longed to be, with his Lord and Savior.
Apostle John came into my life right when I needed him most. Through him, I experienced a father’s love, care and kindness, which was especially needed as I was a teenager in high school with more questions than answers about life in general and walking with God. Apostle John became a part of my life when I needed the presence, assurance and help of an earthly father. Through his fatherly counsel, I received instructions for life in the earth and in Christ’s kingdom. His walk with Christ, amidst the pain of pervading natural circumstances, allowed me to witness a man of God whose life was an example of absolute faith and trust in our Father God. He was truly a man who walked in the reverential fear of God with humility and endurance. I am truly privileged to have had the honor of being close enough to him so that I can be a true witness of this testimony. I watched demonstrate quiet confidence as he literally sowed himself into so many lives, traveling the world birthing spiritual children into the kingdom and making disciples unto God.
Without any reservations, Apostle John Boney was unequivocally skilled at wielding the Word of God. Apostle John was proficient as a teacher of the word and “rightly divided the word of truth”. He carried and delivered the message of the Lord with authority, much clarity and with an obvious weight of the glory of God. This was evidence of God’s approval on both the word released and his messenger. While others may have just been enthralled by the word preached, I was also impressed and influenced by how his life demonstrated the same Word, in spite of his frail human form. Regardless of his circumstances and even in the face of adversities, he stood completely yielded to the proceeding and written word of God. Yes, I had the honor of witnessing it. I watched him stand in unwavering and stubborn-like obedience to the word, in the face of opposition from critics or the natural circumstance, all the while refusing to surrender or relent to any other opinion, or as the scriptures would say “the stranger’s voice”. His patience and endurance was and will always be an inspiration to me. Apostle John’s lived a life worthy of emulation.
I remember his iconic words: “If I bleed, I bleed Kingdom”. Yes, I knew him and how true this was! It was a perfect self-description. The message of the Kingdom of God was his passion, motivation and single focus. He bore and delivered this message with discipline and faithfulness wherever he went. Apostle John was a proclaimer of the Kingdom of God. He may have been a one of a kind pioneer of his time, with this yet lesser understood and embraced teaching. Oh, yes! A proclaimer he was indeed! He was a trumpet, heralding this Gospel of the Kingdom! I will never forget the first time I heard him declare the message of the Kingdom of God. It was at JFOB. He spoke with such authority and great force that the very spiritual atmosphere shifted and was charged with the power he released. No doubt, that day, every opposition to the Kingdom crumbled and surrendered to the word of truth which Apostle John released.
It was with the same passion and commitment that he proclaimed the message of the Kingdom wherever he traveled. The results are now seen in the body of Christ throughout the world. I am indeed grateful to God for making me a witness and a participant in this Kingdom pioneer’s life. He willingly paid the price for what he believed, a price complete with the blows and stripes of his apostleship. I watched in admiration his steadfastness as he experienced pain, rejection and lack, just like the great apostles who preceded him. I observed his patient endurance and noted that his life bore witness to a true apostolic father, yes, and he was my spiritual father! His life has branded my life with an indelible mark which causes me to know that through Christ I, too, will be able to accomplish my divine assignment, thus fulfilling my God-given destiny.
And now, I have been bequeathed with a true apostolic legacy and spiritual inheritance. I am humbled as I publicly say: Thank you, Apostle John Boney! Thank you, Dad! Thank you for living a life poured out and sown into many. Thank you for releasing the unadulterated word from the Father’s heart. Thank you for living a life worthy of emulation filled with passion and the disciplines of faithful stewardship unto the Lord.
My thanks to you dad, I will never be like a casual observer, for you have been an integral part of my life in both the spiritual things and the natural. I am very grateful for the love, tenderness and detailed care you extended to me. Thank you for your beaming and encouraging presence at all my graduations. Thank you for attentively listening as I navigated life’s difficulties and for the stability you provided through your wise fatherly and apostolic counsel. You made yourself available to help me even at inconvenient times. There will never be enough words to express my gratitude and simple thanks seems insufficient, nevertheless…THANK YOU, DAD!
I especially thank you for your hand in my marriage to Steve – fourteen of the most wonderful years I have lived so far. You stood by our side as Steve battled for his life, sent words of comfort, and extended great support to me even as you were engaging in your own battle. It is selfless and preserving acts like these that will cause me to always hold you dear to my heart. Thank you! I appreciate, love and will cherish these personal memories.
I was unable to see you during the final months of your earthly journey, nonetheless, I am assured of your love and without a doubt believe that you have left me a father’s blessing. I am honored. Honored to continue my life’s journey knowing and stewarding the things of God which you have deposited in me. These, I humbly embrace and will carefully protect as I go forth in all that the Lord has called me to be and do in this life. I press forward in Christ knowing that He had intentionally blessed me with a spiritual father of your caliber.
Today, although I miss your presence in the earth, Apostle John Boney, I accept the mandate for the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus to be established in the earth. The mandate that you, in obedience to Christ’s word, has also left us, your spiritual children. Indeed, as the scripture declares, a godly man leaves an inheritance for his children and his children’s children: you have left an inheritance, the value of which supersedes silver and gold. I appreciate all the precious deposits you left us to accomplish this divine mandate. Once again, I am grateful. My prayer is, that I may also deliver to this generation that which the Lord has given me and will give to me, with the same passion, faithfulness, endurance and patience that you demonstrated for all the world to see.
And now, you are in the presence of our Savior and King, and our Father. You have joined in with the cloud of witnesses cheering us on. By God’s grace, you will rejoice as you observe us running the rest of our race with faithfulness, passion and tenacity, just the way you have taught us through your life here on earth. We will take the mandate to the next level to see the fulfillment of all of God’s promises to us. May we continue what has been started -seeing our Lord Jesus seated as Lord on all the thrones of the earth and all of His enemies conquered and made His footstool. I believe that the Lord has granted unto you the blessings and rich rewards for being a good father, for you have fathered many children. Apostle John Boney, Sir, you have truly demonstrated the heart of God our Father in the best way you knew and could to many of us who would have missed the caring relationship with an earthly father.
Dad, you are honored and greatly missed. You will never be forgotten. Your daughter, Dahlia.
Dr. Dahlia McGregor-Moscardini.
Georgia, USA
