Tag: death

Heaven’s above

Posted on by Olaf

What did Brian Cox, Brian May and Sir Patrick Moore have in common? It’s true that they loved music – Brian Cox being an accomplished keyboard player with two bands, Brian May being the legendary guitarist with Queen whilst Sir Patrick was a keen pianist and player of the xylophone.  However, their main bond was in their love of the night skies!  Brian May is an astrophysicist and generously bought Sir Patrick’s house in Selsey allowing him to live there for a peppercorn rent when finances became tight.  Patrick wore a monocle from the age of 16, becoming a specialist on the moon and an eccentric TV presenter who built an observatory in his back garden housing a 12 ½ inch reflector telescope.  The fascination of these three astronomers is shared by many, not least the mysterious astrologers from lands afar who followed a star.  We all want to know more about what is up there in the heavens above, whether it holds solutions for the problems of the earth and where the location is of Heaven itself.

  • ‘The love of heaven makes one heavenly’ – William Shakespeare

Homecoming

Posted on by Olaf

Can you remember a time when you were ‘homesick’? The first time away from home, family and friends is never easy. There is a longing for familiar faces and places which steals upon you. One young man left home with big ideas and a bounce in his step to find new pals and the high life only to discover that what he had found was the low life and ‘fair-weather’ friends. Things got so bad that he had to take a job as a swineherd.  As he watched them enjoying family life and friendships, in his poverty he realised that even the pigs had it better than him! Coming to his senses, his thoughts turned to home and he took those first vital steps albeit with trepidation. 

  • ‘The pattern of the prodigal is: rebellion, ruin, repentance, reconciliation, restoration’ – Edwin Louis Cole
  • ‘Every time I see my brother, I just praise God for God's grace in his life. Because if God can change Franklin from a prodigal into a man of God, he can do it for anybody’ – Anne Graham Lotz

DYING WELL

Posted on by Olaf

There are two things that no one reading this can avoid – birth and death!  It has been said that Christians die well!  Why and how?  It is reported that Christians are the most persecuted religious group in the world – the Centre for the Study of Global Christianity says that 900,000 Christians have been ‘martyred’ in the last decade, equating to 90,000 a year and one every six minutes.  Three hundred thousand Christians in North Korea live in fear for their lives with incentives being offered for information leading to their arrest.  Many other countries have strong opposition and persecution for Christians.  When the church was young, the Roman Empire persecuted Christians for fun.  Stephen was the first martyr and died well because he was filled with the Holy Spirit, walked closely with God and at the end he caught glimpses of heaven, crying out as they stoned him, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit’ (Acts 7:59).  Although we can see no stairway to heaven, there are steps leading there.  Christ Jesus came from heaven so we could eventually join him there and he promises to be with each one who follows him.