Grieving and Rejoicing!

  I just returned home after attending a funeral.   You will probably discover, as you grow older, that you attend more and more of these events.    I now find, to my consistent amazement,  that many of the funerals are for people who are (were) younger than I am. 

  As you grow older your perspective changes.   At age 20, those over 30 seem old; at 40 it is those over 60 who seem pretty ancient; at 60 those over 70: well, it goes on and on.

  The point is that we are all headed for the exit.   One day it  is “is” and the next day it could be “was.”   As in, “He (she) IS a pretty nice (rotten, crabby, generous–you name it) person” one day and then, suddenly, it is all past tense, as in “He (she) WAS a…(such and such) kind of person.”   Last week, in mentioning this friend to someone, I would have observed “Boy, he sure is a nice guy!”  Today, there’s a world of difference.

The funeral I attended today was a cause for grieving and also for rejoicing.   One reason is that the individual was a kind, loving, extremely generous, and very well-liked person.   The second, and more important reason, reminded me of something that the Apostle Paul said in his first letter to the church at Thessalonica (I Thess. 2:19)–”For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing?  Is it not even you in the presence of the Lord Jesus at His coming.”

(Whoops, you’re saying, now he’s gotten to preaching; I’m outa here!  Well, stick around a few minutes; there could be something here worth thinking about.)

Paul had some very encouraging words regarding his future and the future of other believers in Jesus Christ.  He said, “We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and present with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:8).

I remember many years ago when a pastor came to our house and talked about personal faith in Jesus.   I brushed him off with some bromide about, “Well, I believe that truth is really whatever I decide to believe and if I’m sincere about it, I’ll be okay.”

It reminds me of the people who say confidently, “Well, there are no absolutes,” which, in itself, is an absolutely self-contradictory statement.    I feel like suggesting they go to the top  of a tall building and jump off.   They will  discover that the law of gravity has not been rescinded and they are absolutely sure to die.

Anyhow, the point is that, at the funeral of a person who has placed his or her trust in Jesus Christ for forgiveness of sins there is, with the sadness, cause for hope, joy and rejoicing.

The old question is: “Suppose you died today and stood before God and He said, ‘Why should I let you into my heaven?,’ what would you say?”   

If asked this, you might say, “Well, I don’t believe in God, or judgment; it is all a bunch of religious nonsense!   Hey, that can be your choice.   I think there is overwhelming evidence, it anyone will make the effort to examine it, that the Bible is totally trustworthy.   As for me, a hopeless sinner saved by grace, “I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep  what I have committed to Him until that Day” (2 Tim. 1:12). 

There are many absolutes in life  and one of them is the certainty that it will end.  “It is appointed unto every man once to die, and after this the judgment.” (Hebrews 9:27).  No one will argue with the first part of that statement; it is the second part that creates a problem.

 Well, if you ever happen to come to my funeral, which I hope will not be soon (God knows) you can rejoice because “I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that Day” (2 Tim. 1:12).

P.S.–Sorry, couldn’t help the preaching.  Watch this space. Next time some thoughts about global warming.  He won’t read them, but, if he did, they would probably not get cheers from Al (the ocean is at your door) Gore.

  

A ‘Manchurian Candidate’–Who Knows?

     A news item the other day reported how successful in fund-raising Barack Obama has been.   He is apparently ahead of all of the other Democratic presidential hopefuls.

It might be helpful to look at who Obama is, although the real Obama might be a closely guarded secret.    I do know that he talks a good talk, which usually seems to consist of rewrites of some of the more eloquent statements of former prominent politicians, without much real substance.

I do know that, as a state legislator in Illinois, his voting record was totally liberal, including “no” on prohibiting partial birth abortion, “no” on prohibiting state funding of abortion; “yes” on permitting purchase of 10 hypodermic needles without a prescription; “yes” in restoring the Illinois estate tax, etc.

A radio news report this morning said that the now first-term Senator is proposing sex education for kindergarten age children, and federal health care payment for all abortions.  Clearly, he is not a pro-life candidate.

But even more important is the question of “Who is he?”  He was born in Hawaii to a Muslim from Kenya and to
Ann Dunham, a professed atheist from Wichita, Kansas.  The two divorced when Osama was two years old and his father returned to Kenya.  His mother married Lolo Soetero, a Muslim from Indonesia.    The family moved to Indonesia when Obama was six years old.

At this very formative age he was enrolled in a Wahabi (Muslim) school in Jakarta.   Wahabism is a radical form of Islam that is followed by Muslims now engaged in jihad (holy war) against the western world.    Saudi Arabia, our ostensible friend, is ruled by Wahabis.   (I suspect their friendship would be greatly reduced, if not entirely absent, if they had not needed, and continue to need,  U.S. technology to extract the oil resources which have made them wealthy.)

Osama downplays his Muslim background and notes that he also attended a Catholic school for two years and has now joined a United Church of Christ congregation. 

It is interesting to note that Muhammad approved of deceit and lying, in fact any kind of conduct that, in his opinion, would advance the cause of Allah.    One of his followers decided it would be good to kill an individual who had spoken in opposition to Muhammad.   He was authorized by his leader to feign friendship, and ingratiate himself with this person in order to gain an opportunity to murder him. Which he did.  This happened on more than one occasion.

Islamic radicals overlook some of Muhammad’s more mild “revelations” in the Qur’an–in the earliest writings– and instead look to the more severe commands regarding treatment of enemies, which are in later “revelations.” 

This is excused on the principal of abrogation, in that the later revelations supercede those that were earlier.    The Qur’an states that Jews and Christians are accursed in several places.  “From those, too, who call themselves Christians, We did take a covenant, but they forgot a good part of the message that was sent them: so we estranged them, with enmity and hatred between one and the other, to the day of judgment” (Qur’an 5:12-16).

Hamza Yusuf, an influential American convert to Islam, said in November 2004, regarding Islamic strategy for world domination: “There are times when you have to live like a sheep, in order to live in the future like a lion.”

I don’t know whether Barack Obama is ”a wolf in sheep’s clothing” or not.    But I do oppose his political voting record,  think he will bear careful watching. and shudder to think of what might happen if he gains a presidential nomination.   It would be interesting, if it was possible, to trace back to original sources, all of the millions of dollars in campaign funds that he has received.