Saturdays are for Newspaper Articles

Here’s my weekly article for the Canyon Lake (TX) Times-Guardian.  Please notice that it is a follow-up from last week’s article, as well as the prayer requests I had made in behalf of Karl Farrar and his family.

“Weep with Those Who Weep (II)”

When I wrote my article last week, I had absolutely no idea what would happen in the time in between then and now. As you will see, however, this article deserves that title even more than the one I did a week ago.

 

Last Tuesday morning, a close friend in our church called me to say she was taking her son to the emergency room at North Central Baptist Hospital in San Antonio. He had been coughing up blood early in the morning and, obviously, she did not want to take any chances.

 

Why did she go into San Antonio, you might ask, given that the hospitals in both New Braunfels and San Marcos are closer? The reason is that her son had cancer and his treatment had been taking place through North Central Baptist. (And, I must say that, when I had been there to visit, the care had certainly seemed top-notch and the staff courteous and compassionate—qualities that, unfortunately, are not “givens” in too many hospitals today.)

 

At the end of her phone call to me, I had promised to pray and asked for her to let me know what happened. An hour later, however, I received another call from her and she was in panic mode!

 

Right there in the emergency room, her son had started spitting up much more blood, then quickly lost consciousness… and a pulse. It took a group of doctors and nurses about 20 minutes to get his heart started again, before quickly getting him to the Intensive Care Unit.

 

Perhaps you are aware of what happens when the brain does not receive oxygen. Yes, serious damage very often takes place (and quite likely did in this case, since he never regained consciousness). In my own family, my Dad died soon after a massive stroke in 1988, in which his brain had been very negatively affected. So, I immediately had a pretty good sense of what may well have happened at that point.

 

The next few days were a time of hopes going up, then falling back down. Tests were being taken and reflexes were monitored closely. Everything that could be done medically was being done.

 

However, in my biblically-informed opinion, the most important “care” that was taking place was the prayers of many people all around the country. Not only was the Comal Country Church prayer chain working furiously with consistent updates, but many other Christians around the country were joining us in praying for our brother whose physical life was hanging by a thread.

 

On Saturday, there were two bleak pieces of medical news. First, his skin took on a yellowish tint, indicating that his liver was close to failing. Second, it was concluded that the responses which had been noted to various kinds of stimuli were neurological, not indications that he was starting to pull out of the light induced coma.

 

With that in mind, and after much prayer, the decision was made this morning to remove the breathing tube and all medication except the morphine drip. That was done and, shortly after noon, amidst much weeping, he passed away.

 

What had happened? The Apostle Paul says it very clearly: “Absent from the body, present with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8).. That is to say, when a believer in Jesus Christ dies, his or her spirit immediately leaves the dead body and goes directly into the presence of God.

This is cause for great rejoicing for the Christian! You see, because of our common faith (John 3:16), Christians are assured that we will join other believers who have preceded us in death.

 

However, such a death is also a cause of very painful weeping. Even though we are confident where they have gone, that done not diminish the great grief of the loss. The hole in our hearts is like an emotional bomb crater. Still, because of our settled hope in Christ, we do not have to grieve as those “who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13). This is not the end. There is life beyond death.

 

Are you prepared to go and be with the Lord after death through saving faith in Jesus Christ (Acts 16:31)? Or, are you, much like a reckless gambler in Vegas, choosing to play the long-shot odds that, when this life is over, that’s all there is?

 

In conclusion, what have you got to lose by, so to speak, putting your money on Jesus? An eternity in the never-ending suffering of hell, that’s what! Think about it. You just might decide to cut your losses… and save your life, forever and ever, Amen.

Coming Tuesday:  ”What the SBC and Other Evangelicals Can Learn from 1 Corinthians 12-14″