death

What Happens When You Die?

I had a seminary assignment recently that I thought might be a benefit to our readers. I'm posting it in its entirety below. The Question You learn that a dear older lady in your church is dying of colon cancer, so you promptly begin visiting her in the hospital. She...

A Open Letter to Afflicted Saints

To my dear afflicted Saint, I write this with tears that have been recently mixed with emotional pain and grief. I know what it feels like to have people text, email, and call you, and still receive no comfort. I mean, it's nice to know that people are thinking and...

Now It’s Personal

Most of the time I write, podcast, or otherwise post online, my posts are impersonal. I have a healthy fear of focusing too much on myself and so I choose to preach and teach theology without inserting my own life too much. Today, on the anniversary of a horrific...
An Appeal to those Contemplating Suicide: There is a Redeemer

An Appeal to those Contemplating Suicide: There is a Redeemer

Despair. Failure. Depression. Loss. Guilt. Apathy. Pain. Anything you could possibly think of that makes you think this life isn’t worth living. At the very least, that makes you feel like it’s better off without you. I get it. I’ve been there. The trials we...

Preaching to a Funeral Audience, part 2

Preaching to a Funeral Audience, part 2

If you haven't read part 1, read that first. Christ Died for Sinners Think of any story where someone risks his or her own life for a friend or even a stranger. A man in a New York subway station falls onto the train tracks. Suddenly, some stranger jumps down and...

Preaching to a Funeral Audience, part 1

Preaching to a Funeral Audience, part 1

The ostensible goal was to gather a million believers on the National Mall in Washington D.C. The effort surely fell short, but there was at least a decent crowd. So the claim goes, it turned out to be "the largest Christian event in the history of the United...

A Primer of Hospice Ministry

A Primer of Hospice Ministry

What is Hospice? Hospice care is a form of palliative (rather than curative) care, wherein the focus is on making the terminally ill patient as comfortable as possible rather than curing the terminal illness. Within the United States, patients become eligible for the...