Pastor Don Wolan

Pastor Donald Wolan
Downriver Christian Community Church
Melvindale, Michigan

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Cheating Death?



As 2011 winds down, we will be inundated with numerous news stories, both printed and taped, which will examine the past year and its most remarkable stories. We will be shown all the important events from the worlds of politics, science, sports, religion, and entertainment and the effects they had on the world and on us individually. We will also be reminded about all the "important people" who were "lost" in the previous year. Names such as Steve Jobs, Christopher Hitchens, Andy Rooney, Heavy D, Maurice Chase, and many others will be memorialized for their contributions to humanity. The vast majority of these lists will be filled with individuals who had a far left anti-Christian worldview and fit the secular template of what human beings "should do" or "aspire to be" in their lives! There will be notable exceptions to these lists, of course, but the overwhelming list of names will celebrate left wing ideologies and achievements while denigrating or ignoring the accomplishments of those from a more Christian worldview orientation!  

 


Missing from all these lists, of course, will be the answer to a very important question: Where are all these people NOW?  The video above was put together by a young man named Ben Breedlove. Ben had been suffering from numerous health problems and finally succumbed to death on Christmas night. He made this video to allow us a peak at his life and experiences with "death" prior to his actual death. The video doesn't tell us if he was a Christian or not - I pray that he was - but he does inform us of his cheating death on three occasions and the experiences he had while "dead." He also tells us that he believes in angels and in God, but he does not go into any explanation as to "what kind of God or angels he believed in."

The video about Ben went viral on the Internet, and the many of the comments about the video illustrate the impact this video had on multitudes of people. While this video is heartwarming and very moving, we are warned in the book of Galatians:

"I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!" - Galatians 1:6-9

The Apostle Paul was very adamant that there are "other gospels" vying for our attention and allegiance, but were so dangerous to the soul of believers and unbelievers alike, that he calls down an eternal curse upon the preachers of these lies two times! These "other gospels" were numerous and could be so seductive - like the sirens of Greek mythology, who through their enchanting voices lured sailors to their deaths, dismemberment, and consumption on the rocky shores of their island Sirenum Scopuli.

 

It is vital that the real message about death gets out to a world seeking answers to what lies beyond the grave. Intense bright lights, dead rappers assuring us everything is alright, or even feelings of overpowering peace are NOT reasons to no longer fear death and ignore Jesus dire warnings about the subject! Death is not to be embraced and not feared, it is an enemy to be overcome and destroyed! It can not be "cheated" since ALL die! For those of us who have put our faith in the finished and atoning work of Jesus Christ, we no longer have to fear death or try to cheat it. We  have complete victory over it through Jesus Christ, our Lord! First Corinthians 15:50-58 says:

 I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
“Where, O death, is your victory?
   Where, O death, is your sting?”

 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you!

May we never be moved from our firm foundation in Christ by personal stories and experiences people have "beyond the grave" or by "another gospel" preached by influential men and women whoever they might be! Our hope and assurance is in the word of our Lord, all other "gospels" are but sinking sand! As we look back at the people who have passed on the previous year, may we understand that death will not be "cheated" by anyone, but will come to each of us in due time. May we rest with great confidence in the words of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ when he said in John 11:25-26:
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” 


I don't know about you, but I sure do!

  
 My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus' blood and righteousness
I dare not trust the sweetest frame
But wholly lean on Jesus' name
On Christ the solid rock I stand
All other ground is sinking sand
All other ground is sinking sand
Whoa-oh, The Solid Rock
On Christ the solid rock I stand
Whoa-oh, The Solid Rock
All other ground is sinking sand

When darkness veils his lovely face
I rest on His unchanging grace
In every high and stormy gale
My anchor holds within the veil
On Christ the solid rock I stand
All other ground is sinking sand
All other ground is sinking sand

Whoa-oh, The Solid Rock
On Christ the solid rock I stand
Whoa-oh, The Solid Rock
All other ground is sinking sand

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus' blood and righteousness

When He shall come with trumpet sound
O may I then in Him be found
Dressed in His righteousness alone
Faultless to stand before the throne
On Christ the solid rock I stand
All other ground is sinking sand
All other ground is sinking sand

Whoa-oh, The Solid Rock
On Christ the solid rock I stand
Whoa-oh, The Solid Rock
All other ground is sinking sand

Stay Holy, My Friends!






Pastor Don