Working in a hospital as a chaplain means that I am often present when a death is about to occur or has occurred. There are areas in the hospital, like the Emergency Room, where nurses will comment upon seeing me and exclaim, “Oh no, what’s happening.” For me being present when death occurs is not a difficult assignment because it is an opportunity to support the family with spiritual care at what will always be … Continue reading →
Facing the end-of-life of a loved one or a family member tends to raise the stress level of the would-be survivors. There are decisions that must be made in cooperation with the medical team and there is the weight of knowing that decisions will need to be made post-medical care. Healing has decisions that must be made and dying has its own set of decisions that must be made. It is easier for the family … Continue reading →
I want to address two statements by the Apostle Paul that are commonly known by the phrase, “Absent from the body, present with the Lord.” The first of these is in 2 Corinthians 5:8 which states, “We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.” The second of these is in Philippians 1:23 which states, “For I am in a strait betwixt two, … Continue reading →
Billy Graham often said “We will all live forever somewhere, either in Heaven or in Hell.” However, is that really true? Is that really what is stated in the Bible? As much as I liked and admired Billy Graham, I have to admit that every time I heard him say that my biblical defense system went up. The ability to live eternally is what is known as immortality. Do a dictionary definition search and you’ll … Continue reading →
I’m contemplating death today, because I just learned of the passing of Edith Waugh, a former church member from my Rock Hill, South Carolina days and wife of Les Waugh, whom I wrote about in a previous blog post. Edith was also the sitter for my children and allowed me the opportunity to be out and involved with church ministry, most times that was with Les as we both stuffed ourselves in my Suzuki Samurai. … Continue reading →
Here in America, we have close to 50,000 people a year who die by suicide. The majority of whom were struggling with a mental illness, either a diagnosed condition or acknowledged depression. Think of this, a person has to be in a very low state of mind to actually take their own life. So whether a person is on mental health medication or not, we would be hard pressed to argue that one was in … Continue reading →
The question is about Luke 23:43 and the thief going to Heaven that day, but we know that Jesus didn’t ascend into Heaven until 40 days later, so how do we understand this contradiction? Well, let’s begin with the actual verse of Luke 23:43 says, “And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.” It does appear to be a contradiction when you do consider that … Continue reading →
Today at church we discussed the old adage that goes “When it’s your turn to go, it’s your turn to go” (or something to that effect). I had mentioned that I would look up some verses that would seem to concur with this thought, because I couldn’t pull out of my memory and the clock was running out on us, but here are a few that I was thinking of… • “And as it is … Continue reading →