A little boy went to the store and asked the clerk for a box of Duz detergent. “What do you need that for?” asked the clerk, and the boy answered, “To wash my dog.”
“That’s pretty strong stuff for washing a dog,”, warned the clerk, but the boy insisted that Duz was what he wanted. So the clerk sold it to him, reminding, “Now be careful when you wash your dog. That detergent is strong, and could kill him.”
A week later the boy came into the store again and the clerk asked, “How’s your dog?” The boy explained that the dog had died. The clerk said, “I’m sorry, but I tried to warn you that Duz was too strong.”
The little boy shook his head and said, “I don’t think it was the Duz that did it. I think it was the rinse cycle that got him.”
Sometimes we hear a warning without really hearing. God gives us enough warnings in the Bible that we really have no excuse.
Tags: clean, death, warning
There is a large country cemetery near a DeKalb County ghost-town known as Fairfield Center. At the main entrance was a yellow caution sign that read: ‘Dead End’. This was placed by the county because the entrance was directly across from a road that ended there. So, people unfamiliar could mistake the cemetery entrance for the continuance of the road. And there was no outlet. And the county wasn’t maintaining the cemetery drives.
For years I would chuckle at the sign every time I officiated at a burial there. Then one day it abruptly disappeared. I asked the funeral director what happened to the ‘Dead End’ sign. He explained that some elderly lady was offended at the sign where her dearly beloved was being interred. So the sign was replaced.
Have you ever chosen a word or phrase that had a secondary meaning, thus unintentionally getting yourself into trouble? What was a compliment from you became an insult to the other. The Bible tells us that our tongues are “a world of evil among the parts of our body” (James 3:6). Watch your tongue today; it might bite you.
Tags: cemetery, death, tongue, words
Steve Jobs said in a 2005 Commencement address: “Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”
We only get one go around in life. Just one chance to make our world a better place. Just one chance to connect with God and make a difference. The years are rolling on and we only have a little time left in this one chance.
Remembering that you’ll be dead soon ought to motivate you to take more risks, stand up bolder and speak a little louder. Its your one chance. What will you do with your chance?
Tags: death, Steve Jobs, success
The great missionary and pastor, Lester Sumrall, once wrote: “Little things can kill.
Mr. James Kruch was aboard the S. S. Titanic when it struck an iceberg in April, 1912. He was miraculously rescued from the frigid waters of the North Atlantic.
James Kruch was also aboard the S. S. Lusitania May 7, 1915 on the same vast Atlantic Ocean when a German sub torpedoed the vessel. Again he was rescued and survived a sea tragedy.
Later, crossing a shallow stream of water, he collapsed and drowned in less than one foot of water.
Little things can kill.
Mr. Berkeley was a famous mountain climber and explorer. He had shot lions and tigers in the wild, but he died not from a man-eating tiger, but from the scratch of a barnyard cat. He took blood poisoning and it killed him.
Little things can kill.
The famous Blondin made the world gasp as he walked across the turbulent Niagara Falls on a tightrope. But Blondin died from an accident, of tripping over a doormat outside his home.
Little things can bring death.”
Let’s be sure we never let little things come between us and God.
Tags: death, little, small
Yesterday Anita and I attended the funeral of an old friend, Rev. Jimmie Olinske. Pastor Olinske used to pastor in Ray, Indiana, right on the Indiana/Michigan border, and then in Marion, Indiana. He once told me there were three spellings for the European surname ‘Olinske’. Germans/Autrians spell it -ski, Russians spell it -sky, and Polish spell it -ske. Pastor Jim was Polish and he loved to tell Pollack jokes. As a matter of fact, he loved to tell any kind of joke. He just made life fun. As we passed the casket to pay our final respects, my wife commented, “Good-bye, my jolly friend”. He was always jolly.
Now, the Bible is silent on whether there is laughter and fun in heaven. Most of what we read about heaven is pretty serious stuff. But laughter and fun are a quality of the soul, and the soul is distinct from the body. Since Pastor Jim’s soul is in heaven with Jesus, I’m convinced there will be laughter in heaven with Pastor Jim there.
What do you think about it? Do you think there will be laughter in heaven? Why or why not?
Tags: death, heaven, laughter
During the American Civil War, a farmer in New York was drafted for the Union Army. Selective Service was not what it is today. His wife had died and he was the sole support of his young children. But then an unmarried man in the town who had no dependents came to his home and offered to go to war in his place.
For the sake of his children, the farmer accepted the offer. The generous friend marched off to battle, and in the first engagement he was shot and killed.
When the farmer heard what had happened, he went to the scene of the battle and brought back the body. He buried his friend in the village churchyeard, and had these words engraved on the headstone: HE DIED FOR ME.
The Bible relates that to us. Paul said of Christ: “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Think about this today.
Tags: Civil War, death, substitute
Yesterday morning Anita and I had a disturbing task to take care of. One of our two cats came home after two days missing. It appears she had been hit by a car. She was walking about but was in terrible shape. Because that cat never liked me, Anita had to pick her up and put her in a box.
We took her to the vet, who agreed with us that the damage was beyond repair and the best option was to put her to sleep. So he did that and we took her back home and buried her in our backyard. That was a sad occasion, as this cat was a faithful friend to my wife.
The death of a beloved pet is a great opportunity to learn about life from a Christian perspective. Death is the process of a Christian entering heaven. Our old, worn and weakened body falls to sleep and a believer’s soul is escorted into heaven by angels (ministering spirits). Those who remain mourn the loss, but we understand the departed is in a better place. So, death is bittersweet for a believer.
Whose passing have you recently mourned and what did God reveal to you in that process?
Tags: death, loss, mourning, pets