WHO NEEDS PROOF?

I just finished a new book by neurosurgeon Eben Alexander. The name of the book is Proof of Heaven. Alexander is well trained, teaches neurosurgery and has operated on the brains of thousands of people. He formerly dismissed the idea of the “soul” as merely the product of brain chemistry. Near Death Experiences, although seeming real to the persons who are having them, are simply fantasies produced by brains under extreme stress. This is what he believed until it happened to him.

In 2008 he suffered severe undiagnosed pain and seizures and lapsed into a coma. His brain was being attacked by an extremely rare illness. The part of his brain that controls thought and emotion, which in essence makes us human, shut down completely. It wasn’t that his brain was malfunctioning, it wasn’t functioning at all. He lay immobile, in a deep coma for seven days. The neurosurgeons who attended him concluded that he would not survive and after these seven days were preparing to pull the plug on all the systems which were helping his physical body survive. But then he awoke, a true medical miracle.

The greater miracle was his memory of those seven days. While in the coma his spirit journeyed beyond this world and encountered an angelic being who guided him into the deepest realms of super-physical existence. He traveled with this angelic being between different realms of heaven.

Reading his story reminded me of someone who had a like experience, the apostle Paul. He claimed he knew a man (conceded by Bible scholars to have been Paul himself) “who was caught up to the third heaven.” (2 Corinthians 12:2) Interesting is the report of Dr. Alexander that he experienced three levels of heaven.

His is a marvelous account, but those of us who believe the Bible need no proof of heaven. 

Grace and peace. 

ON BEING A FANATIC

            An article in the newspaper a few weeks ago noted the passing of Dick Coffee, Jr. of Birmingham at age 91. He merited an article in the newspaper because as a University of Alabama graduate and football fan, he had not missed a single Alabama football game since November 1946, both home and away games, for a total of 781 consecutive games. Now he was a truly dedicated fan.

            I noted also that he was an active member of the Methodist church. The thought occurred to me; was he as faithful to his church as he was to Alabama football? I remember some Sunday Schools which awarded “Perfect Attendance” pins to those who didn’t miss a Sunday all year and would award bars to fasten under the pin for each additional year of perfect attendance. I remember seeing photos of people with perfect attendance pins for 20 or 30 straight years.

            I could list dozens of reasons a person needs to be a consistent, if not perfect, attender at Sunday School or church worship. But I’ll name only one. By doing so we declare that we are a dedicated fan of Jesus Christ. By being regular at church/Sunday School, we demonstrate who we are. In fact, it would be nice to be known as a “fanatic.”  The dictionary defines a fanatic as “one marked by excessive enthusiasm and often intense uncritical devotion.” Truly, I would welcome being remembered as a fanatic for Jesus.

            So, “let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together.” (Hebrews 10:24-25)

Grace and peace. 

LOVE THAT FLAG

From to time I hear or read of a Baptist pastor removing the flag of the United States from a church’s worship center. They sometimes declare their motive. A Christian church worships Jesus and not the United States. Or they rationalize an overzealous understanding of the separation of church and state.

Seventy years ago in Vacation Bible School we pledged allegiance to the United States flag, to the Christian flag and to the Bible. No one of my limited knowledge challenged the appropriateness of the practice. And in our minds there was not a problem. We knew Jesus was Lord, and allegiance to our nation was important, particularly in those years of the Second World War.

We sing the “Star Spangled Banner” at sporting events and pledge allegiance to the flag at various clubs, conferences and other gatherings. Doing so in church mimics the patriotism of the society and does not compromise the core meaning of the service. The focus is still on Jesus Christ.

We live in a country where we have freedom to worship as we please. This is a privilege people in many parts of the world do not have. A flag in the room where we worship should remind us of the freedom the church enjoys because we live in the United States.

We are indeed blessed to live in a nation where we can worship freely. And all who worship are a blessing to our nation because “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.” (Psalm 33:12) 

Grace and peace.