Thinking About Death
I am going to take a break today from my series on Spiritiual Warfare and talk about death. This is not a fun or popular subject, but one that has been in the news quite a bit this past week. First, there was Terry Shiavo and then the Pope's worsening condition. This morning I got a phone call informing me of the death of a close friend and long-time Northwoods member.Floyd Jaggears passed away this morning and my sympathy and prayers go out to his wife, Sybil, and the their family. Although we grieve and will miss Floyd, we can rejoice that he is now with our Lord and Savior. However, all this thinking about death really brings home the urgency of our earthly mission as Christians. We need to be doing everything we can to bring more people to salvation through Jesus Christ.
How many of us have friends and/or family who are truly good people, but are not Christians? It doesn't matter how good they are, but if they haven't been "saved" we are not going to be spending eternity with them. I am not smart enough to get into a really deep theological discussion, but I even wonder about the Pope!
There is no doubt that the Pope is a great man who loves God and has done a lot of good and I respect him and his conservative views. I also respect peoples' beliefs that are different than mine (i.e., in this case, Catholics). But, I truly believe that there is only one way to salvation and that is through Jesus Christ and that His death on the cross paid for my sins. Does the fact that Catholics believe that Jesus' death was not enough and that we also need good works to get to heaven mean that they are not saved? In watching the TV coverage on the Pope yesterday, one of the leaders of the Catholic church, in talking about the Pope, mentioned how he (the Pope) respected other religions because there are many ways to God. He also mentioned that through the Pope's suffering over the past several years, he has most likely "bought" many people out of pergatory. Can someone who believes these things truly be saved (according to evangelical Christians)?
posted by Jim @ 2:07 PM
2 Comments:
MR. Jim,
This is the first time I have been to your website, but it is really encouraging! I miss seeing you and the guys at Chick-fil-a before you go and play golf! Thank you for being such an example to me in how to live out what I believe! I hope that people will see Christ in me as I see Him in you! Have a great day!
Shannon Lamm
Mr. Jim, I can't believe you like Diet Coke better. Gross. And Coke Light is way good. I'm going to have Todd and Jenna try it when we go to Ukraine, because they like diet drinks and we'll see which one is better. :0)
Post a Comment
<< Home