Today, I bid a fond yet sad farewell to a good friend, dear mentor, and colleague. He influenced me, my thinking, and my way in the world in ways I’m still trying to understand.
I first heard him preach in a well-planned worship service with a sermon creatively titled “Resources Untapped for Recipients Unaware” as a young university student. Impressed by his wit and communicating abilities, I purposed in my heart to keep worshiping at Greenhills Christian Fellowship (GCF). For a couple of years, I stood on the sidelines, listened to his impassioned preaching as I grew in my faith in my own quiet corner in GCF’s old worship centre.
In yet another preaching of his I received a challenge to quit running from God’s calling in my life to be a minister– something I knew I had back in high school. It was then I realized God wasn’t going to give up making sure I heard His voice– albeit my attempts to shut His voice out in my pursuit of a university degree. Shortly after college, I enrolled in a Bible college to obey. In my sophomore year in Bible college I decided to return to GCF, believing that as a pastoral student I would benefit greatly in being exposed to a megachurch context and learning more from its respected leader, I quit my post in my dad’s church and volunteered to serve at GCF. In a few months, GCF has absorbed me into its staff.
One evening following a baccalaureate service for graduating seminarians of the Conservative Baptist Association, this tall, saintly looking (at least to my eyes), Southern Baptist minister, in his full academic regalia, whose preacher voice bellied the force of his ideas and the passionate will he possessed, walked up to me and said, “You look good in your academic regalia, Jon. Not a lot of people do. It’s time for you to get your master’s.” So he made sure I was a part of GCF’s new breed of Masteral students in which I found myself to be blessed to sit under his teaching ministry in a deeper level than just “preaching.” It was an honor to have served the Lord Jesus Christ with him for 10 long and fruitful years beginning as worship coordinator and then as worship pastor.
More than a dozen friends sent me word of his death, which by the time I received it, the news was all over Facebook, and when I read the first message I opened, I stopped what I was doing, closed my eyes, and sat in prolonged silence–an act of prayer that didn’t require words.
Dr. Luis Pantoja, Jr. had a massive heart attack while he was climbing the stairs at a senior pastors’ conference in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. Pastor Edmund Chan, his good friend and pastor of Covenant EFC Singapore, heard a loud thud behind him and found P. Luis lying faced down on the floor. Because he was unconscious some other pastors tried to revive him. After some attempts to do so at a local hospital, he was pronounced dead.
His forebears and descendants– both in the flesh and in the spirit– would have been and will be proud of his life and work and the way he honored the God of His of faith with humility, generosity, and passion. That is in part what he taught me and so many others.
In Spanish, our word for good-bye has strong religious overtones. “Adios” means literally “To God.” When we bid someone farewell we literally offer them a benediction, we offer them to God. (A=To, Dios=God). That’s what Pastor Luis did for me; he gave me to God in a way I had not dared to be given before. At our best that’s what we do for one another, and for our world, we give each other to God in more loving, daring ways than we would or could on our own. And so I close with a simple farewell, offering him to God with my deepest gratitude: Adios Pastor Luis. Adios!
The Rev’d. Luis L. Pantoja, Jr.
November 21, 1946 – September 6, 2010
“A handful of ashes now vaulted in this corner, with nothing to boast but grace from his maker”Watch the HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD video and wait for his comment at the end.
Confluent Thoughts 
Got a shocking news early this morning ( labor day here Vancouver Canada )from a friend phoning me about what had happened. A friend told me that Pstr Luis died in Malaysia ( at this time no detailed news yet ) a friend saw at Facebook about commenting condolence, i told my friend maybe some close friend just giving him condolence that maybe one of his relative died, without knowing indeed that pstr Luis died in Malaysia, my first reaction was it can’t be happening, he shouldn’t be dead, he is schedule here in Vancouver to speak in the pulpit which every body is looking forward. Way back 2007 when i have a chance to be with his office in Ortigas, telling him my plan to work in Vancouver,Canada and that i might not be worshiping anymore in Ortigas,but he told me, yes you might not be avaible to worship in ortigas but soon you can worship in GCF Vancouver. Yes its through him i heard about GCF plan to expand the ministry in Vancouver BC. Seeing his dedication in the ministry, I looked at him greatly and be faithfull even just a sounds technician in CGF-Vancouver. Rest with your maker pastor Luis Pantoja.
thank you for sharing this p. jon.
I did not know him personally P Jon but I can feel in my heart that he was a great man of God. He has discipled you in the name of Christ and I believe that through you the Lord will work wonders as well, my family and I pray for the Pantojas and for you as you go through this time of grief.
Thank you for this P Jon. Like you, I attended GCF mostly because of Pastor Luis’ preaching. God used him immensely, where his words really moved me a lot of times. He will be missed.
i know he’s with our Lord God in Heaven now. you’ll be missed a lot pastor luis! 🙂
ADIOS to you Pastor Luis. Thank You for sharing inspirational messages to our church, especially during your visits here to Canada. FFAC (First Filipino Alliance Church) would like to extend our deepest condolences and gratitude to the Pantoja family.
we love u pastor luis we will miss you U R an inspiration to me…everyime you preach there is an excitement inside me coz i feel the true words that Gods want me to know..and use it for everday walk of life..deep in my heart i will miss you..
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Jon. My life has been enriched because of this man, Kuya Luis. I served with him at Grace International Baptist Church before he was called to GCF. I have been blessed, and enjoyed his friendship together with his family’s. His life was quite a journey, whew!
My wife and I will miss him dearly. Ate Li and the exrended Pantoja family, we give you our love and condolences- Filipino Maranatha Baptist Church.
Our heartfelt condolences to his family and the whole GCF.
We have also been ministered to by his preachings in several occasion when we were still staying at the nearby Megaplaza condo.
Thank you Lord for the life of Pastor Luis Pantoja.
…adios Ptr. Luis…it’s always a blessing for us here at GCF-Cebu to listen to your preaching. you will be missed.
I had a privilege to fellowship with him in Vancouver last April. He is a selfless and humble God’s servant.
I will miss you, Dr. Pantoja.
Thank you, Jon… what a beautiful picture you painted with these words:
In Spanish, our word for good-bye has strong religious overtones. “Adios” means literally “To God.” When we bid someone farewell we literally offer them a benediction, we offer them to God. (A=To, Dios=God).
It is truly our turn to say “Adios, P. Luis! Until we meet again…”
thank you, pastor luis. you will be missed.
I’m touched by your blog and stunned by your courage aware of what you might go through by writing it. I was with him on few occasions,heard him preached a number of times. No doubt he was a great leader. And we wish he was given “due exit.” Short of words and theological precision, God has given him a “better exit.” I mourned with those who love him and those whom he loves. Til then, “Adios, Ptr. Luis.”
Very well said. I strongly agree with you. Pastor Luis Pantoja will surely be missed by evangelical circles. My heart was grieved when I heard that there are some ‘Chritians’ who made his life difficult after his long years of dedicated and faithful service. Pastor Luis was one of the leading figures of my Ordination Council. To the Pantoja family, may God and His people (including me) accompany you in your journey of grief.
John Cometa
US Navy Chaplain
Sad to learn of his sudden home going.
May I know what’s the issue was? Was it in the area of theology? We graduated from the same alma mater in case you wonder why I am asking.
hey P. Jon, i know you can write but didn’t know you have a blog. just clicked a link (posted by Marj) found in FB and came to this article of yours about P. Luis 🙂 really nice article P. Jon! 🙂
happy to read words about him because i think i have yet to find mine for him 🙂 God bless 🙂
thanks P.Jon.
I may not know him personally but hes ministry made a significant impact in my life. my heart is grieving knowing that I wouldn’t hear him preach “live” anymore, (will miss him terribly) though rejoicing knowing that he is now dining with our Heavenly Father enjoying the crown he deserves..
Pastor Luis had been faithful all his life serving God, now time to receive his rewards. We’ll surely miss him!
Thank you for sharing this. We have been blessed by Pastor Luis’ ministry at GCF. We were there during that worship service and we love this choir music. Agree that regardless of composer, musician, gown or no gown, as long as the songs were sang from the heart to worship the Lord, the Lord is pleased.
My family and I as well as a lot of Christians here in Palawan are in grief because Pastor Luis will no longer be able to serve here but we are also rejoicing because our God has given Him a much-deserved rest. See you again fellow laborer and soldier!
We will surely miss you Pastor! I know you’re happy now to be with God in heaven!
I will always remember him… i knew him since i can remember. and now I’m 18 years old, who shares the same birthday with him and I’ll never forget his smile and his preachings 😦
Thank you for writing this Pastor Jon. I live in the Peel Region of Ontario, Canada, and my family has had the privilege of spending time with him last year and recently, dining with him and listening to his preaching, and my husband, along with the other elders, had been blessed to benefit from his wisdom at the meetings and conferences they attended together. I thank God for your courage to say the truth – if it gets you into trouble – about him. We are with you in everything you said 100%. I had been contemplating on figuring out how to collect information about Pastor Luis and writing an entry on his life and ministry on Wikipedia, but as I read you post, I thought you are the more qualified person to do that. I pray that the Lord will call someone – it could be you or someone else who has the time and resources – to write about Pastor Luis. He is certainly a man of God in the truest sense of the word, and the whole world should know about him.
Thanks for the inspiring messages that impacted lives that transformed.
It’s truly that you finished well!
Jon,
Thank you for your tribute. Beautifully and fittingly done.
Blessings,
CRW
The news almost broke me…Ptr Luis is my mentor in ways he never knew, I’m about to send a request letter for Ptr Luis (thru an email address given to me by Ate Li last month August) to administer my wedding this December. The Lord has been faithful to GCF for giving us Ptr Luis!
Thanks for sharing P. Jon! We will surely miss p. Luis! truly, we were touched by him…
Yes. In his last few days of earthly existence, my buddy had felt truly honoured and deeply happy. He told me so – several times and with deep sincerity – that the Lord had granted him this fantastic “VIP treatment” out of His abundant grace to affirm him. And I am happy that I had the privilege of rightfully and faithfully honouring a godly and humble pastor in the precious few days of his earthly pilgrimage. And to have my buddy Luis pass on literally in my arms of love is God’s gracious gift to me!
Same here P. Jon. thank you for sharing your heart.
Thank you for loving Kuya Luis. He is finally home and resting in our Fathers arm.
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Thanks Jon for writing about him. You have answered many questions in my mind.
MY DEEPEST CONDOLENCES TO THE PANTOJA FAMILY AND THE MEMBERS OF THE GREENHILLS CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP FOR THE ULTIMATE LOSS OF THEIR SHEPHERD-LEADER, REV. DR. LUIS PANTOJA.
The global Filipino evangelicals will surely miss a great man of God, a highly gifted pastor-theologian and a humble servant of the Philippine Church. May God be with you as you journey through grief and loss.
Thanks Jon for writing about him. You have answered many questions in my mind. The global Filipino evangelicals will surely miss a great man of God, a highly gifted pastor-theologian and a humble servant of the Philippine Church. May God be with you as you journey through grief and loss.
He will SURELY be missed.
We share with the Pantoja family our condolences at this time of bereavement!
We will greatly miss this man of God, who never lost a moment to train leaders, preachers, bible study teachers and speakers. He impacted a lot of people, including my family. My love for God’s word and excitement as a Christian was influenced greatly by Pastor Luis in the short 5 years that he pastored GIBC in the 80’s. We love you Li and Wes and family
Love and God bless,
Mila Balce
Pastor Luis Pantoja taught me and six other young men how to preach for several Saturday mornings at Grace International Baptist Church in Vancouver, BC, Canada in the early 1980s. He also conducted our wedding, a cross-cultural couple, his first in Canada.
Dr. Pantoja was a gifted teacher and preacher; he loved seeing the lost come to Christ, seeing the young Christians grow, and he inspired others to get closer to Jesus. He loved the Lord, and His Word; his life was spent sharing The Message of grace and forgiveness.
He is now face to face with Him, whom he always talked about. Hallelujah!
Our love to Ate Li and family.
Richard and Kim Navarro of Langley, BC, Canada
Thanks for this, P. Jon Las! I feel blessed to have been taught God’s Word by P. Luis on the pulpit especially as I was a new Christian when I started attending GCF in 2004. His gift in teaching & preaching immediately convinced me that GCF is the church for me. I feel honored, too, that I got baptized by him. I feel sad that I won’t be able to attend his memorial service as I am in the US but just the same, I am grieving with our GCF church family. Like you, when I learned of our dear Pastor’s demise, the first thing that entered my mind is how his offenders must have felt.
P. Jon, thank you for such a beautiful piece on Pastor Luis! I know that grieving should not be for us Christians because Pstr. Luis is basking in the Lord’s glory now.
I really feel so sad and condole with Ate Li, his son Wes and his family, and the rest of the Pantoja family. Pstr. Luis will always be remembered with love and respect by my family…he truly made our walk with the Lord deeper and more meaningful.We will really MISS him!
Thanks for sharing this. We will surely miss Pastor Luis. His sermons and ministry in GCF have been a blessing to me and my family. I agree that songs composed and sang for the Lord have a place in the ministry of the church.
JL,it’s good you voice out what inside your heart…ADIOS brother LUIS
Thanks for this post.
Me too, I know Pastor Luis only as a member of GCF and him as my pastor and teacher of the bible.
My wife and I were drawn to GCF in the middle of 90’s mainly to the great teaching of Pastor Luis. In August last year, I went back to the Philippines (now I am a resident of Los Angeles)in time for his preaching series on 7 last things which my wife and I enjoyed so much. My and I were able to talk to him after one sunday morning service to thank him of his kindness and as good shepherd that includes me and my wife. He was gracious enough to accept my heartfelt thanks. He closed that conversation by praying and giving benediction.
On the appointed time, we will all meet again in the throne of God.
thanks for sharing all of this p jon. i was blessed for serving pastor luis. I was his personal driver and i worked for him for more than four years. He is a generous person. I recall when I was still drove for him, we usually went home past midnight because of his hectic schedules visiting members of the church who were sick,those who needs counseling, wakes and funeral service etc. I attended GCF because of him..His sermon is far beyond compare. Everytime I see him at GCF, he never forgot to ask me how I was and shake my hands tightly. He devoted his life serving the Lord and the church. To the family of Pastor luis.. I convey my deepest sympathy especially to Ate Li, Wes and Sharon, your grief and loss is mine also…. I will definitely miss you Pastor Luis….GOODBYE AND THANK YOU…
Be it a country president, a senior pastor, a ministry leader, etc… there will always be discontent on the part of some of his constituents. Reason for such may root from so many misgivings of the leader, but the vengeance, no matter how delivered, is plain defiance against the God who installed him there. Our God cannot make a mistake on His divine appointments on earth…He recalls him to His abode with crowning glory! Well done, Pastor Luis!
I remembered Pastor Luis praying with me and Pastor Rommel in the lobby one Sunday after he announced his resignation as Senior Pastor of GCF…our hands clasp together…while I was praying for him all three of us were nonchalantly weeping amidst people around us.
I will never forget this blessed servant of God…he may not know it but he truly inspired me to accept Christ as my Saviour. Adios Pastor Luis…and the Lord said, ” Well done my faithful servant…” Indeed, he finished his race so beautifully.
being out of the limelight @ gcf ortigas, my family and i were not able to have long conversations with pastor Luis and often just say the occasional hi’s and hello’s after sunday worships.
however, had his circumstances not changed, he would not have been in vancouver in february/march 2010 when he had a more ‘up close and personal’ conversation with my family @ gcf vancouver.
he was very humble ministering in canada that he even offered to drive us to the airport on our flight back to manila. we didn’t accept the offer, of course, nakakahiya naman. but at one instance later, my daughter – who is studying and working in vancouver – would tell us that pastor Luis gave her a ride to a fellowship in richmond, where pastor Luis cooked the fellowship dinner, and later brought her back home.
but more importantly, pastor Luis was very faithful to his calling. have you noticed how he would segue any sermon towards gospel invitation at the end of every sermon? how can you be more faithful than that? a 100% performance rating in preaching the gospel!!!
in the brief encounters with the man, my family and i can say we may never meet someone like Luis Pantoja, Jr in our generation again.
it is a privilege to have known you albeit briefly, pastor Luis.
to his wife ate Li and son Wesley, thank you for sharing his life with us.
thank you Lord for this blessing.
*today, a memorial service will be conducted at gcf ortigas @ 2pm
Thanks for this blog. We will all miss him.
Pastor Luis has been an inspiration from the time that I heard him delivered his message some 8 years back. He has been a symbol of humility and service to God by serviong those in need. We will him him.
Good bye to a faithful servant of the Lord. He has fulfilled his mission and completed the task. He’s now ready to meet our Creator face to face. Adios Pastor Luis!
We are extending our condolences to Mrs. Pantoja and family. May the Lord continuously strengthen your walk with Him at this moment of grief. And the Word of God assures us that precious in His sight the death of His saints.
Thank you Pastor Luis for your faithful ministry of preaching God’s Word in season and out of season. God used your preaching every Sunday to encourage me, to rebuke me, to correct me, to instruct me, to comfort me, in every day of struggle living in this temporary world. The last time we met was in Feb. 2006 in your office at GCF as my wife and I bid farewell to you and to the church as we are migrating in the U.S. And I heeded your advice to join a Bible-believing local church. Indeed God is good and He led us now in a small church here in Pasadena, California where my famly is worshipping and serving God.
Farewell Pastor Luis. We know you are now face to face with our Lord Jesus Christ. Someday we will meet you again in heaven to give honor and glory to our Saviour. To Him be the Praise forever!