Tag: heaven

A Life to Imitate: Mary Lane (my mother-in-law)

On By Rob Prince2 Comments

My mother-in-law, Mary, is like a cat. The “nine lives” part (not the eating Meow Mix or using kitty litter part). Unfortunately, she is nearing the end of life #9. She hasn’t eaten or drank anything since Sunday. This isn’t a new happening. Three weeks ago she went a month without speaking and full week with no food or water (I didn’t think that was possible, but she did it). On that occasion, three different hospice nurses told us she wouldn’t live more than a day or two, then after a week in that condition, like a nine-life cat, she snapped out of it. 

I walked into the room, not expecting any response, and said, “Hi Mary! How are you doing?” 

She replied, “Oh OK.”

Wait. What? 

The last week and a half she’s been eating and drinking. She still was not talking much but she’d acknowledge our presence. We took her for ice cream one day. But that all stopped on Sunday. We are back to where we were three weeks ago. No eating. No drinking. Mostly out of it. 

Karla has beautifully cared for her folks nearly the entire time we’ve been back in Michigan. Upon moving here in the fall of 2013, we realized that her parents shouldn’t be alone. They moved in with us in the spring of 2014 (Karla’s dad had Alzheimer’s and her mom has dementia). That CRAZY TIME (all caps intended) lasted about seven months. Then they lived in a few different assisted living facilities. Arling was “promoted to glory” in January of 2018. Unless, my cat-like mother-in-law exhibits another life, Mary’s will join him in short order.  

No one in Flint has ever seen the “real” Mary. Back at the Reading Church of the Nazarene, she was Sunday School Superintendent, played the piano, sang “specials” and served as the Church Board Secretary. She and Arling were the pillars of that little church. 

They were a pastor’s dream. It’s no wonder one of their daughters is a Nazarene pastor’s wife (the best one in my slightly biased opinion) and Karla’s sister, Marla, is a faithful follower too. (You read that correctly. It’s Marla Kay and Karla May. HEALTH ALERT: No comment on their rhyming names or I might be next when the roll is called up yonder). 

It’s hard to grieve too deeply over Mary’s impending passing. Mary is ready for heaven. She hasn’t been herself for years. Karla has been saying “good bye” to her mom bit by painful bit. That’s the bad news of dementia, the good news of the Gospel is that Mary’s faith will soon be sight. John the Revelator said “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain” (Revelation 21:4). Imagine that! She will be so much better off in heaven.

There’s a part of me that is jealous. Eternal life with Jesus sounds so good! I understand what Paul meant when he said, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21). Life here on earth is great and we have plenty of work to do, but heaven? Oh wow… even better. Mary is almost home. 

If Arling and Mary could talk they’d wouldn’t have many regrets and only praise for Jesus. No doubt their advice to the rest of us: Live lives in a manner to hear the Master’s words “Well done my good and faithful servant.” Arling and Mary lived such lives. Let’s do that too.

A few simple Questions Concerning Heaven, Hell and Judgment Day

On By Rob Prince1 Comment

1)  Do you believe in heaven, hell and a coming Judgment Day? 

2) If you answered “no,” then might I suggest reading the Gospels. Jesus seemed to talk a lot about such things.

3)  If you answered “yes,” then (here’s a tough, in your face question) how much do you have to HATE someone to NOT TELL them about the either/or eternal accommodations for everyone who has ever lived?

The Bible is clear on the cost of our salvation. Peter put it this way: For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. (1 Peter 1:18-19. NLT).

“Jesus paid it all,” we sing. What about us? What is our investment in others?  In assessing our efforts to see people come to Christ, are we going “all out”? Do we give a maximum effort to see that the people we love have a relationship with Jesus too? If not, why not? If we believe people will face judgment and then spend eternity without Christ, shouldn’t we walk over broken glass if needed to see these folks spend eternity with Jesus?

I’m not suggesting that we bully, guilt, scare, annoy or manipulate people to make a decision for Christ. No knocking people on the head with our big King James Bibles. I am suggesting that we take our call to make disciples much more serious than it seems that we do. Have you prayed for people who don’t know Jesus today? Have you fasted on their behalf? Have you thought through conversations you might have with them concerning their eternal accommodations? Have you asked the Lord to give you wisdom, the right words and to open the doors when the time is absolutely right? Are you prepared to walk through those open doors?

If one believes in a real heaven, a real hell and a coming Judgment Day in which all will stand before a holy God, then giving maximum evangelistic effort seems like the only appropriate response. 

What could possibly be more important?

If your Religion (Preaching) is Dry as Dust, Don’t Be Surprised if People Blow You Off

On By Rob PrinceLeave a comment

“Only a dry as dust religion prompts a minister to extol the glories of heaven while ignoring the social conditions that cause people an earthly hell” – Martin Luther King Jr. 

Martin Luther King Jr. said nothing more profound and critical of the church/pastors than the above quote. In hindsight, one could have applied his words to the church leaders in Nazi Germany as Hitler was coming into power. They were applied to silent preachers in America during the Jim Crow era. They are applicable in today’s global crisis locations of Haiti, Ukraine and Gaza. They are even pertinent in our all-too-often posture toward those struggling with identity and mental health issues or gun violence or abortion on demand and the reasons women think this is their only option or poverty or the drug epidemic or the many other social ills in the United States today. The result of the deafening silence is a dry as dust religion.

I love thinking about heaven. I am planning on being there one day. But it’s probably not going to be today. Conversely, what is happening today is a world where many are living in hellish conditions. When I think, “What would Jesus do about this?” I am not always sure what He would do. It’s complicated. But I’m pretty sure He would not be silent.

Luke’s account of when the religious leaders complained to the disciples about Jesus in Luke 5, seems eerily similar to the religious side-stepping, wind-bagging and blind-eyeing of today’s problems: 

The Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Luke 5:31-32

Notice the religions leaders question was directed to the disciples, but it was Jesus who answered them. He wasn’t silent. In effect He was saying, “I’m the doctor. I’m the cure. Where would you expect me to be?”

Where are the sick today? They are in Haiti, in Ukraine, in Gaza and in so many underreported areas that we never hear about. Where would we expect the Great Physician to be?

So go ahead dry as dust preachers, keep talking about heaven. You might get there one day, but in the meantime, start praying like Jesus taught us to pray for God’s kingdom to come and will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. I’m pretty sure that means praying and working for a place without violence (Isaiah writes, “They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.” Isaiah 2:4), without hunger (heaven is described as a banquet), and no poverty (the streets are made of gold, right?). “On earth as it is in Heaven.” Preach that. Work for that. (Full Disclosure Alert: It’s not “either/or” proposition– either talk about heaven or work for heaven on earth. You can and probably will do both). 

Still one reason (there are many reasons) why the “nones” are out pacing Christians in USA/Canada census numbers is the perception that the church has been “dry as dust” promising heaven yet offering little help to our dying world. If your religion is dry as dust, don’t be surprised when people blow you off.

We’ve got to change the narrative. Flip the story. Go back to being the hands and feet of Jesus. Less positioning for power. More Jesus. Less Politics. More Jesus. Less name calling. More Jesus. Less head-in-the-sand. More open-eyed-reality-check. Less side-stepping, wind-bagging and blind-eyeing of today’s problems. More, more, more Jesus. Less talk of going up to heaven. More praying for heaven to come down to earth.