Today I visited one of my best mates who is dying of cancer.
We grew up together and were as close as brothers – sharing many of the crazy adventures afforded us as young men.
We both grew up in church and loved God and essentially kept each other going for God.
It is no surprise then that both of us ended up in the ministry serving God to the best of our ability.
So today when I stood by his bedside watching him lie there in a semi coma, I talked to him about heaven and the reward waiting for him just a few earthly hours from now.
Having been through this with the death of my own son Andrew, I have come to realize how non-scary death really is for a Christian. It is simply the portal into another dimension called eternal life. I told my friend today the names of all my loved ones that I wanted him to see when he got to heaven.
I told him that there will be a guard of honour for him leading to an amazing rewards ceremony.
I told him that there are streets of pure gold and an ocean with perfect waves and a moto cross track with the ultimate jumps etc.
Hey death where is your sting?
Every time a Christian dies and goes to heaven it is like the devil is being defeated all over again.
Rejoice because your name is written in heaven.
Out hope is built on nothing less than Jesus and His righteousness.
As a chaplain at one of the biggest hospitals in the southern hemisphere (Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, Brisbane) it is my privilege to spend time with Christians both young and old who are not far from meeting The Lord face to face.
Having a Kingdom mentality takes a lot of the fear out of the mystery of dying. Kingdom thinking reasons that we simply go to another room in the house to be with The Lord more completely than we already are here.
What an honour it is to represent Him and share His faith, hope and love with others.