" Death is not a unhappy thing"

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Permalink Reply by Ron Payne on July 23, 2008 at 11:19pm

During my 16 years as a Fireman and 16 years in a Banking Circle, I was called 3 times to administer what is commonly known as "The Kiss of Life" (Cardiac Pulmonary Resuscitation) to People whose heart had stopped and by all intents were considered dead. Providing one is able to administer CPR preferably within 4 -5 minutes there is an extremely Good chance of resuscitating the person "back to life" unless of course the heart is permanently damaged.
In all three cases the procedure was succesful and I had the oportunity, as people came to the Fire Department to personally Thank me, to ask them what it was like to die?
All of them could not remember collapsing, but each one said that when they finally opened their eyes, it had been as though they had just woken up from a sleep.
I believe that in all three cases, God was in control and fully aware that CPR would be administered, resulting in the persons revival. Hence there was no need to separate the spirit from the body. The "death" of the person was simply a malfunction of the heart that had been restored.
When meeting them personaly I was able to point out that the incident came without any warning, one minute they were alive and the next second lay there basicly dead. The word put to them was: "Are you Born Again" and "God has given you a second chance, don't abuse it by ignoring Him."

The word to us is: "Yes! If we are Born Again Christians in a strong relationship with Christ, we need have no fear of dying, it is no different to simply going to sleep." Perhaps the manner in which we die may be the real concern. But in the words of Paul:

"So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? ICor 15:54-55.
"Fear Not! For lo I am with you always."
The Lord Bless each one of us, as He calls us Home.
Your Brother and Friend in Christ - Ron

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Permalink Reply by indiegirl on July 24, 2008 at 1:13am

I just read a story being highlited in Yahoo.com about the otherside of the world that could be revealed thru' a medium or someone who has the gift of ability to see the unseen world. It said that we would be enjoying a kind of situation that we love most in the world, for instance if we love singing or music, the kind of heaven for us will be a concert hall or something like that, that we would be able to enjoy creating music again and again. There's also a part of the journey that revealed the story of our life being recalled to us so we would see whether we had done good or bad in our life, that has the domino effect to other people we know or even we don't know. This person also said that life could be a circle of rebirth like reincarnation that the Hindu knows. So if this story 's taken as truth by people at this time who are so much influenced by a lot of occult like the New Age and all sort of teachings that have the same echoes, what will our Christian faith will stand ? I am just courious because I happen to read the similar kinds of books. Anybody would enlighten me?

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Permalink Reply by Ron Payne on July 24, 2008 at 7:32am

Dear Indiegirl,
You will be walking on extremely dangerous ground should you wish to dabble in Spirit-ism.
The Bible has many references warning against this practice.

Lev 19:31 "Do not go for advice to people who consult the spirits of the dead. If you do, you will be ritually unclean. I am the LORD your God.

Deu 18:10 Don't sacrifice your children in the fires on your altars; and don't let your people practice divination or look for omens or use spells or charms, and don't let them consult the spirits of the dead.
The LORD your God hates people who do these disgusting things, and that is why he is driving those nations out of the land as you advance.
Be completely faithful to the LORD.

We see that the first things they did in the days of the Apostles was to:
burn these books.

"Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. Acts 19:19.

There are at least 20 further verses in the same context. Too many to list here, but your Bible concordance will number the rest.

An Incident as a warning to those who would dabble.

A young man +/- 23 years of age came into our church, asking for help.
We were having a Saturday evening prayer meeting.

He had started dabbling in Spirit-ism and the occult. He said that at first it grew into an exciting experience. But later he began to find that he could not walk away from the events without feeling totally depressed and a feeling of doom and absolute darkness. This got worse as time went on and he found it impossible to stay away.
Finally one night he found himself standing on the edge of a high rise building being encouraged to jump. He had no idea of how he got there and no recollection of wanting to go out for a walk.
This was when he realised he needed help and came to the Church, where we were having a prayer meeting.
We took him away from the Prayer meeting and a small group of us prayed for him.
As we prayed over him, we soon found that a bucket was necessary to place in front of him as he vomited. We also found that we were continually being confronted by another voice each time he had finished vomiting. This carried on well after the Main prayer meeting had stopped and the folk gone home.. By this time the man was in a very poor condition and having some medical experience as a
Fireman/Paramedic I looked at him and thought: "Tonight this church will be explaining to the Police why and how this man died on our premises."
The next voice coming from this man confirmed my fears, as it told us that he was the last one and it was his duty to kill him before leaving his body. I was quite shocked and looking at the man's condition, was prepared to stop immediately.
The Leader of the excorsizing had different ideas. He spoke back and said: You are a liar and the truth is not in you and I command you to
leave this man's body in the name of Jesus Christ.
Once again the man bent over the bucket and the terrible vomiting continued. But this time when He looked up he burst into tears and started to cry "Praise the Lord" Everyone involved started to rejoice.
I then had a feeling that something could be wrong. I felt that the term "Lord" could be anyone. So I lifted this man's head and asked him: "Who is Lord?" This time he spoke out with a loud and clear voice:
"Jesus is Lord." This incident occurred in the 70's at the Hatfield Baptist Church, Pretoria, S. Africa.

I tell this story in order to warn you that from an innocent inquiry there may come paths we will be led into and where there is no escape.
Your Friend in Christ - Ron

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Permalink Reply by AAG Netguy on July 24, 2008 at 8:37am

Indiegirl,

I had a little bit of difficulty understanding your question. Are you asking how to give a Biblical answer to people involved in spiritism, occult and New Age or are you asking what does the Bible tell us about life after death and heaven?

The Bible is very clear that if someone is a believer in Jesus that at the time of their death they will be with Him in heaven:

So we are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord. That is why we live by believing and not by seeing. Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord. (2 Corinthians 5:6-9, NLT).

As far as a description of heaven, please read the following taken from http://www.allaboutgod.com/what-is-heaven-like-faq.htm:

What is Heaven Like?

What is Heaven Like? John received a vision on the island of Patmos. In this place of total solitude, he listened for and heard God’s voice. Through the inspired revelation he received from the Lord, he left for us today a spectacular and vivid glimpse of God’s kingdom -- the New Heavens.

“Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes" (Revelation 7:16-17).

We will live in glorified bodies (1 Corinthians 15:35-58).

Believers will be rewarded. “"Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End” (Revelation 22:12-13). Any crowns or jewels we receive will be laid at the feet of Christ who died for us.

God has a plan for all His children to go to heaven and enjoy life eternal. His free gift of salvation is given to all so they can accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away" (Revelation 21:1-4).

By the way, I agree with Ron. Stay far away from the occult, spiritism and mediums. They are the pathway to demonic bondage and destruction.

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Permalink Reply by Pastor Bob B on August 5, 2008 at 12:07pm

Recently a 17 year old Christian girl was killed the day after her senior prom in a car accident. It was tragic to say the least. Her dad bravely spoke at her funeral. A wonderful man of God. He talked about when people started immigrating to America from Europe. When the ships would leave port in Europe there would be great sadness because only part of the family could leave at a time because of finances. But here in America When the ship came into port they would ring the bells and everyone ran to meet the ship. It was a great time of rejoicing for reuniting of families. I was so moved by this story and it helped me in my own losses in the last few months.

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