Life and Death

 

Pretty rainbow from a week ago.

We have been attending a particular church for a couple of years now, though we had at least six months off due to COVID-19 last year.  I think it was more, actually. The children's ministries just started up a few weeks ago, so we weren't all going for more than a year.

Yesterday I took the seven kids to church and Kevin stayed home.  Unfortunately, we don't all fit in our minivan so we have to drive two vehicles if we all want to go.

We walked into the foyer and I said hi to a kind and charming older gentleman who has been coming faithfully to church since we started attending, in spite of his very poor health.  We have always sat in one of the back rows because it is easier to take out noisy children that way, and ever since COVID began, he sat in a chair behind "our" row. So every week we were all around, we would chat briefly.

Part way through the service, a friend who is a medical professional rushed out of the sanctuary with another man, and I noticed that our elderly friend was gone.  When I went to use the bathroom, an ambulance was at the front door so I realized he had had some kind of health crisis.

At the end of the service, the pastor's wife came forward and whispered into the pastor's ear and the pastor, through tears, announced that the elderly man had died during the service.

So wow.  That's a first time for me!  Someone actually died in the building while I was attending church!

On one hand, it is very sad. There were a lot of grieving, weepy people after the service. On the other hand, I am pretty excited for the gentleman; his wife died a couple of years ago and I know he felt rotten much of the time.  He is with the Lord Jesus right now and free of the pains and aches of his earthly body.

It is weird how life just kind of goes on, because it has to, and then someone DIES and I am reminded that death will come to us all.

I am not a history expert, but it is fascinating to me that through much of history, rulers and kings and emperors and dictators and authorities have tried to force their subjects to embrace a particular religion.  Frankly, that seems nuts, especially the aforementioned leaders who were nominally Christians. I mean, as a Christian, I believe that God is all powerful. He is entirely capable of forcing people to trust and believe in Him. He hasn't.  He gives us free will. So trying to FORCE someone to be a Christian is demented and stupid and evil.  I actually think a lot of early "Christian" leaders weren't saved at all.  Religion was partially a way to control people and/or people were genuinely confused.  Lots of people in the Middle Ages had no clue what the Bible actually said, after all.  

Having said that, we are in an interesting place and time in history where in the United States, it is considered incredibly non politically correct to say that Christianity is "right" and other religions are "wrong.".  Most people think if you are a good person, you will go to Heaven if there is a Heaven.

That is totally NOT what Christianity teaches.  The Christian message is that every person on this earth is tainted by sin, and Jesus Christ, God Incarnate, came and lived and preached and died on a cross as a sacrifice for our sins. There is no one good enough to go to Heaven on their own merits, and no one so bad they cannot be forgiven.  

This is a pretty unpopular belief system!  So Muslims and Buddhists and Hindus are all lost?  Is that what Christians are saying?

Yes, that is what evangelical Christians are saying.

Frankly, I don't even like it very much.  I wish there was a way that "all roads led to Heaven" though logically that doesn't work.  Hitler was very sincere about his belief that murdering all the Jews was a good thing but do I want that sincerity to mean he is in Heaven enjoying eternity?

No, I don't.  Nor do I want the 9/11 hijackers enjoying their version of eternity. They were very sincere in their beliefs too, obviously, since they died in the process of hijacking planes and flying them into buildings.

Basically, I have realized that I am incredibly small and God is incredibly big and HE GETS TO DECIDE how life and death and eternity work out. The Bible is pretty clear -- all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by Jesus's death on the cross, IF they accept that sacrifice and make him Lord and Savior of their lives. 

Of course, I have many friends and acquaintances and family who do not believe the Bible is true.  God gives them the freedom to decide whether they believe that it is true or not.  Sadly, I do believe they will be separated from God for eternity if they die without faith in Christ.  I don't like that at all but again, I have to lean on the death of Christ for my sins (which shows God loves us a lot, because crucifixion is a horrid way to die) and that I'm not that smart.

So farewell, dear fellow brother in Christ, who is now with the Lord in Heaven above.

I will go around my days and my nights mostly normally because I have to; I mean, I've got stuff to do!  But it is a good reminder to me that you never know what will happen on any given day, and that I need to keep my eyes fixed on Jesus.