Post by Peace-=Of-God=- on May 23, 2009 17:40:40 GMT -5
The following quote is from Randy Alcorn's novel Deadline (©1994 by Eternal Perspective Ministries, published by Multnomah Books) -- I just started reading this book last night, and it's excellent so far ... if you haven't read it, check your church library and see if they have it ... if not, then buy it and read it (and maybe donate it to your church library after you read it 
).
This excerpt is part of the funeral sermon preached by "Pastor Alan Weber" on pages 64-65 -- I've omitted the deceased's name, to avoid giving away too much of the plot (you'll have to read it for yourself to find out which character got to go Home so early in the book):
In his final illness, D. L. Moody said, "Soon you will read in the newspaper that I am dead. Don't believe it for a moment. I will be more alive than ever before." Well, folks, you read in the newspaper this week that [our friend] is dead. Don't believe it for a moment. [He] is more alive than ever before.
You and I have a hard time imagining life after death, don't we? Picture two twins in their mother's womb, debating about what's outside. The one says, "There's a whole world out there -- grassy meadows and mountains and streams, horses and dogs and cats and giraffes, and huge blue-green oceans with whales and dolphins and fish of every color. And there's people like us, only much bigger, and they can walk, run, and jump, and play games like football and baseball. There's skyscrapers and stadiums and freeways. And soon we're going to leave here and join them in that world." His twin brother scrunches up his face, looks at him and says, "Are you crazy? Get real. There's no life after birth!"
The point is, reality isn't determined by the limits of our ability to believe or understand, is it? Life after birth is real, even if unborn children can't imagine it. Life after death is real even if we can't imagine it. ...
Death is not an end. It's a transition. Death dissolves the bond between spirit and body. Ecclesiastes 12:7 says, "The dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it." Death is simply a doorway to another world.
If I were to suddenly walk out that door, you'd no longer be able to see me, but would you conclude I no longer existed? Of course not. I would simply have moved out of your sight. [Our friend] has walked out the door, moved out of our sight. That's all.
).This excerpt is part of the funeral sermon preached by "Pastor Alan Weber" on pages 64-65 -- I've omitted the deceased's name, to avoid giving away too much of the plot (you'll have to read it for yourself to find out which character got to go Home so early in the book
):In his final illness, D. L. Moody said, "Soon you will read in the newspaper that I am dead. Don't believe it for a moment. I will be more alive than ever before." Well, folks, you read in the newspaper this week that [our friend] is dead. Don't believe it for a moment. [He] is more alive than ever before.
You and I have a hard time imagining life after death, don't we? Picture two twins in their mother's womb, debating about what's outside. The one says, "There's a whole world out there -- grassy meadows and mountains and streams, horses and dogs and cats and giraffes, and huge blue-green oceans with whales and dolphins and fish of every color. And there's people like us, only much bigger, and they can walk, run, and jump, and play games like football and baseball. There's skyscrapers and stadiums and freeways. And soon we're going to leave here and join them in that world." His twin brother scrunches up his face, looks at him and says, "Are you crazy? Get real. There's no life after birth!"
The point is, reality isn't determined by the limits of our ability to believe or understand, is it? Life after birth is real, even if unborn children can't imagine it. Life after death is real even if we can't imagine it. ...
Death is not an end. It's a transition. Death dissolves the bond between spirit and body. Ecclesiastes 12:7 says, "The dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it." Death is simply a doorway to another world.
If I were to suddenly walk out that door, you'd no longer be able to see me, but would you conclude I no longer existed? Of course not. I would simply have moved out of your sight. [Our friend] has walked out the door, moved out of our sight. That's all.
