No Better Hope Than Heaven
It's called "extreme embalming"--posing the deceased, not in a casket, but sitting or standing up, with the appropriate supports of course. It might be the body of an 18-year-old young man, slumped in an office chair with a PS4 controller in his hand, as if he were playing his favorite game NBA2K--with favorite snacks at hand. Or, a boxer propped up at the far end of a makeshift ring, in his robe and gloves. Or a Southern belle socialite, sitting on a bench in designer clothes, with a feather boa, her hand cradling a champagne flute.
This is how their families wanted to remember them; frozen in a fond memory.
When we lose a heavenly focus, it's natural to cling to the experiences of this life. We look back instead forward. We choose denial of the reality of death over hope in the reality of heaven.
However, if we believe in Jesus who is the Resurrection and the LIfe, and trust Him to pay for the sin which condemns us to mortality, then we can look forward with confidence to something far better than a posed funeral service--to an eternity too wonderful to even imagine!
"But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him" (1 Corinthians 2:9).
Date Miserable People
CBS channel 3 TV (Phoenix) reports:
You've probably heard the expression "misery loves company." And if that holds true, a new dating app should be very successful!
The app 'Date Miserable People' …[is] the brainchild of Shaun Price. He says he created the site so people could engage in online dating while keeping it real and honest without feeling intimidated.
"D.M.P is an online platform that allows people to engage in online dating honestly and within the realities of their daily lives," Price said.
... "The majority of the sites, everybody's perfect," said Price. "Everybody's got a beautiful picture, everybody loves to travel, everybody loves to hang out with their friends but that's not really who they are.
Many believe that keeping it real means keeping it miserable. As though one can't be honest about the struggles in their life without also being disconsolate. But isn't that the difference faith is supposed to make? Because of Jesus, Christians can keep it real without keeping it miserable. We can face the moment in the light of eternity.
“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18).
A Guaranteed Reservation
I travel frequently, and there is no better feeling than knowing I have a confirmed reservation. My wife and I once had a late flight into Dallas and when we arrived at our hotel, at 2 a.m., they did not have our reservation. We were tired and there was no room at the inn. As a matter of fact, there were no rooms at any inns! Since our reservation for the next night was in Oklahoma City, I called the hotel, explained the situation, and asked them if I could get an extremely early check-in if I went ahead and drove up. They were kind enough to let us check in at 6:00 a.m. and there was no better feeling than knowing we had a reservation when we pulled up!
Christian’s have a guaranteed reservation in heaven! Isn’t that a great feeling?
"For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus" (Philippians 1:6).
"By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit" (1 John 4:13).