No More Funerals

No More Funerals

Funerals are never fun! I hate funerals almost as much as I hate death! 

The first funeral I ever officiated over was the funeral of my very own Father. To say it was a difficult task to perform is an understatement. 

My Dad was a 57 year veteran of the ministry; and the only thing that made the task of eulogizing his passing possible for me was the absolute assurance of his salvation in Jesus!

I have since preached a lot of funerals. The only consolation of enduring the preaching of any funeral is being able to convey to the bereaved family and friends the hope of seeing their loved ones again in Heaven. 

Sadly, I have had a few occasions, where I could not ascertain the assurance of the deceased’s salvation. I conferred with all the family members, but not one single relative could vouch for the hope of the departing loved ones Soul! 

I can personally attest to everyone how distressing it is to preach the funeral of a probable lost Soul. It is a horrible gut-wrenching task. 

I have ever since directed all my congregants and friends to document in writing all the details of their salvation history. I encourage them to leave every collective detail: baptism date and location, church, pastor, and even a brief story of why and how they came to accept Jesus as their Savior!

I believe it is a sacred duty of every Christian to leave behind a transparent record of certainty about their faith in Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, too many people,  church goers included live a life that does not reflect optimistically to their families about their eternal destiny. 

Yes, I hate funerals! I hate witnessing the departure of my loved ones away from me. Upon the death of every single person, I automatically think: “Will I ever see them again?”

Funerals and everything about them is a very serious matter. But the good ole Gospel tells me that for the Christian, there is coming a day; when there will be “No More Funerals!”

Revelation 21:4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

No More Funerals…….What a day that will be!!!

by: Darrell G. Young

Why Must I Die?

Why Must I Die?

I had a 94 year old man, ailing and obviously near the end of his life; ask me, “why must I die?” 

The sadness in his voice echoed his bewilderment about dying. I felt so sorry for him. For just a moment, I felt myself being in his shoes, being near death myself, and contemplating about why I too must die!

It was a good question. It is a question we all should ponder as we progress along life’s journey. 

Surely, nobody wants to die. Death is frightening to most of us. We all fight like crazy to hang on to life and tend to ignore the prospects of our eventual death. 

The following scripture from the book of beginnings tells us how death came to be. 

Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

2 ¶ And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:

3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

4 ¶ And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

God forewarned Adam and Eve of the consequences of disregarding the counsel of Almighty God, the Creator of the human race. 

The consequence would be death! In simple terms; sin leads to death! Sin is best defined as the moral corruption of human nature; mind, body and soul. 

Sin is also the result of human rebellion against God and alliance with the nature of the Devil. 

If demographic analysts are correct in their calculations, there have been over 100,000,000,000 human beings that have lived on planet Earth since Adam and Eve. 

Guess how many of that number have died? Yes, all of them; except for two, whom God took before death overtook them! 

So you see, Death comes to all of us eventually. It has been 100% total in every generation! 

Why must we die? We all have inherited a Sinful nature! The Bible says, “the soul that sinneth shall die.”

I’m often asked why wickedness and Evil seem to predominate in this world. The answer is simple; the human heart is empty of love, and is therefore embodied with a natural propensity towards evil; just like Satan! 

So can we ever hope to escape Death? If so, how? 

The answer is: we all must pay the price of sin; “Death.” But thanks to God, and his Natural Heart for Love; we only have to Die physically. 

But, “We can live again!” To live again we need our Hearts renewed and returned spiritually to their original status with God. 

Thus, Satan’s Big Lie in the Garden; “you shall not surely die” while a LIE, can be overcome by the TRUTH of God, and the DEATH of his beloved Son; who was perfectly sinless!

by: Darrell G. Young

Focus on the Bible

August, 2021

Why Would God Bother to Involve Himself in our Evil World?

 Why Would God Involve himself in our Evil World?

  In God’s holy word; Acts Chapter 3:18-21 speaks of the “times of Refreshing” and the “times of Restitution.” 

  These two wonderful “times” have been spoken of since the world began. I don’t know about you but I sure do need Refreshing! 

  Restitution means the return of something lost to its rightful owner. 

   I don’t know when restitution or refreshing will take place. In my mind I often imagine and wonder how God will bring good out of all the evil in this world. How can he fix all the pain, sorrow, heartache and calamity? When will he fix it all? 

   I don’t know the “when” and “how” of these things! But I do know “WHY HE WILL.” 

   He Will because He Loves us! He proved that love when he himself suffered in this evil world. So, I wait for the times of Refreshing and the Restitution of all things!