Ruth Colyer: A Faithful Woman

Ruth Colyer, my mother-in-law, died July 20th, Sunday morning, 2008. Many of you, my readers, have prayed for her and kept watch over her, here and on my other web pages as to her progress during her illness. We are saddened deeply by losing her, but she has gone on to be with the Lord Jesus to His place He has prepared for her. Thank you all for your prayers, your concern, and your faith in our God who decided to bring her home. I wanted to offer a few words of encouragement in light of her death.

1. Ruth came to saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as a young girl. I sat with her several years ago as she told me her testimony. She told of how as she sat in church one day, she was convicted of her sin and the truth that Jesus died to pay for her sin. She told me about trusting Him that day, and how that she had never changed her mind about what He did for her. She said she had been following Him since that time, and her life showed it: her love for Him, His church, and His kingdom. She lived a life in which she blessed others for God, not least of them, myself. I was a wandering soul when I began to date her daughter, but Ruth influenced me, by strong example, to follow the path of discipleship that leads to Christian hope. I will thank her for that always, until the day I again see her face.

2. Ruth fulfilled her calling as a Christian mother. She always urged her daughter and husband to follow the way of God. She did the most important thing as a parent, which is to have a Christian home. As an extension of her natural family, she helped raise many other children as a caretaker, helping them to grow physically, mentally, and spiritually. She was a mother to many children, not just Teya, and will be missed by all of them.

3. Ruth endured trial with faith, even when she was shaken. Cancer was a horror for Ruth, and it took away most of her health in this world before she died. She desired to be healed, but was willing to accept that she might not be healed. I prayed with her not long ago, that God might heal her, but if not, He might have mercy on her as her health declined, and that he might help her to endure the great trial that death is. As I prayed, she quietly whispered "amen" to either path God might lead her on.

Like my great-grandmother, I had a mother-in-law that I would say lived "A beautiful life" for her LORD. She, like all people, struggled from time to time, but she focused, at her end, and on the fact that there will be "no tears in heaven" (her words in her last days). My prayer for all of us, is that we would emulate her good qualities, and prepare for the day when we must all meet Christ, and having prepared fully to meet Him, meet Ruth also.

The Living Dead

Recently watched "I am Legend," with Will Smith. Talk about intense. The movie didn't have much music, so when something scary happened, it just knocked the socks right off of you. The main antagonists of this film were zombie/undead type characters (though I'm not going to let the movie out of the bag completely).

There's got to be something to this pattern of zombie/derranged-undead type creature movies that have been so common in the theaters in the last 50 or so years. There was "28 Days Later," and "Dawn of the Dead," and "Shawn of the Dead," and "Dawn of the Dead 2," and then came "28 Weeks Later," and on and on it goes. That crazy Romero guy that invented the zombie genre with "Night of the Living Dead" must be pretty proud.

So why do the living dead both fascinate and scare us at the same time? Could it be because we embody something of them, even though our flesh is vibrant and not falling off at the moment? Could it be that in these movies, we some faint reflection of ourselves as human beings that though alive must cope with the reality that one day, we will die, and it won't be pretty?

I can't say, but I know one thing--without God interrupting our world with the Gospel--all we can look forward to is the torture of an unknowing approach to death and the cold grip of its chilling effects, with no hope of life--no hope of personality--a descent into non-existence that confuses, frightens, and frustrates people everywhere. That is the natural state of our minds in regard to our mortality...unless there is another answer. Ephesians says of the lost (those without saving knowledge of the God of the Bible through Christ): "you...who were dead in trespasses and sins." (2:1). So! There it is! We are dead normally! Furthermore, when the Bible refers to hell, it speaks of unending death--the "second death" (Rev. 21:8), where "Their worm does not die, And the fire is not quenched" (Mark 9:47).

Our world is overhung by the shadow of death. We live in a world of walking dead...

Unless we know the Gospel and the Hope it gives in the Son Jesus Christ--
Ephesians goes on and says that death is not the end if we come to know God: "...even when we were dead in trespasses, (He) made us alive together with Christ" (2:5).

Actually, we do live in "The Land of the Dead," but today you can trust Christ who can make you alive. You "who sat in the region and shadow of death," (Matt. 4:16) may be made alive in Him today--He is the living One amongst the zombie hoards.

Christian Grief

Having recently lost my father, I am in the grieving process. It is hard. When your world changes radically, you must change to adapt to the new reality. Here are some of my observations about grieving.

1. Sadness, depression, longing, and even anger are normal human emotions in a fallen world and normal expressions of grieving. In the following Scripture, Jesus acknowledges sorrow as a normal accompaniment of grief. Though Jesus does not address every emotion related to grieving here, it is pertinent to remember that He also knows and acknowledges our other emotions related to grieving because of His omniscience.

"So you will also have sorrow now. But I will see you again." --John 16:22

2. Grief is meant by God to be shared--not shunned. Paul commands Christian disciples to share one another's pain the best they can, because all are brothers and sisters in Christ and all are one body.

"...Weep with those who weep." --Romans 12:15
"So if one of the members suffers, all the members suffer with it..." --I Cor. 12:26

3. Grief is temporary, therefore, the Christian is to fight against feelings of despair (loss of hope) that accompany grief. Christ commands us to look to our future hope of seeing Him.

"So you also have sorrow now. But I will see you again. Your hearts will rejoice, and no one will rob you of your joy." --John 16:22

4. Grief over lost loved ones is very painful, but the Scripture testifies our Christian loved ones are with Jesus. Paul reminds us that when we see Jesus, we will also see those who have gone to be with Jesus when they died. This is a rallying cry against giving up on living fruitfully and abundantly for God in the midst of grief.

"For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ, the firstfruits; afterward, at His coming, the people of Christ." --I Cor. 15:22-23

5. Grief leaves us with a feeling of uncertainty as to how quickly our loved ones begin to experience heaven. Lest anyone think that the transition from the body to heaven is not instantaneous, Paul reminds us that to be absent from the body is to be present with Christ in heaven. This is great comfort in our grief over other's death's and the fear that sometimes accompanies our own consideration of our demise as Christians.

"Therefore, though we are always confident and know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord--for we walk by faith, not by sight--yet we are confident and satisfied to be out of the body and at home with the Lord."
--2 Cor. 5:6-8

6. Grief caused by death and death itself are part of God's good plan--though we can't see all the reasons why or how. Our good God is sovereign over death and the grief it causes--an additional reason for Christian confidence.

"We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose." --Romans 8:28

7. Grief for a Christian, because of the Scriptures already covered, should not be as severe as those who do not have hope of life after death, or those who reject the message of the Cross. If grief is terribly severe, this is normal, but the grieving Christian should focus powerfully on the reality of God's promises.

"We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, concerning those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who have no hope." --1 Thess. 4:13

Grief is tough, and it is a long process. If you know someone who is grieving, grieve with them and gently remind them of God's promises with compassion. If you are grieving, do so in your own way, without shame, but never let your feelings lead your thoughts away from the sure foundation of Holy Scripture--fill your mind with God-ward thoughts, and remember His Word.

A Testimony of Heaven

My grandpa suffered a terrible car wreck when he was middle-aged. He claimed to have seen a vision of heaven at that time that he was near death. I have often wondered about that near-death vision that he claimed was too "beautiful for words."

Don Piper, pastor of First Baptist of Pasadena, Texas tells of his vision of heaven in this book from Revell Publishers.

Recently my father died, and since then I have watched numerous videos on near-death experiences. If you haven't read of these experiences, most of them involve the person's testimony of being transported through a portal toward light, feelings of intense peace and pleasure, seeing a light, seeing loved ones (or seeing hell!), and seeing a life-review.

These testimonies are very controversial. In this book, Piper explains why his experience was not like these. He claims that he saw fellow Christians (some of them family members), and that these people welcomed him into a land (or realm) of intense light and joy, led him to the gates of heaven, and that there was heavenly music composed of thousands of beautiful songs of praise to God. Piper did not stay dead, however, and he attributes this to the answered prayers of a pastor friend who prayed intensely over his dead body at the scene of the accident. He testifies God sent him back in answer to this prayer to testify to heaven.

This book is very interesting. It is my opinion that Piper is being totally honest about his experience, but there will be skeptics, though he was declared dead at the scene of the accident by several trained medical workers. Without an EKG record, some people would never believe he was dead, and others would attribute his experience to the workings of his mind as he slowly died (or at least more slowly than the workers thought).

I believe, based on the testimony of Scripture, that there is life after death. I also believe there are people (Paul and John, for instance), who saw God's dwelling place and re-emerged in the world of the living. Readers will have to judge for themselves whether Don's vision of heaven lines up with that found in Scripture. I think it does. This book will surely capture the minds of those Christians who have experienced the death of a close loved one recently. It will give many hope who struggle in interpreting the Scriptures on heaven.

Lastly, I will say that as Don's friend prayed for him as he lay dead, so I recently prayed for my dead father--but my dad didn't get up. However, as I stood by his death-bed, I also prayed "The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away: Blessed be the Name of the Lord." At that moment a picture as clear as day came to my mind: Dad standing on the edge of the clouds of heaven, dressed in a white robe, smiling and waving, and standing behind him was Jesus. That vision in my head gave me so much comfort that day. As I read of Heaven in the Scripture, I rejoice, because I know that of which I read is real, and I'm going there someday--whatever may come of visions in this life.