Tag: die
Do Kids Really go to Heaven When They Die?
Posted on June 20, 2017 in Family, Theology by Nathan Cherry
While we may have good intentions for our efforts to comfort grieving parents, Christians must make sure that their intentions, efforts, and words are based solely on Scripture. There is no real comfort in telling someone what cannot be supported by Scripture. So before we tell parents that their child is now in Heaven, we need to examine Scripture to determine whether that is true or not.
The traditional, somewhat historical position can be summed up in a statement by Sam Storms, writing at The Gospel Coalition, when he says:
Should Terminal Patients Like Brittany Maynard Kill Themselves?
Posted on November 12, 2014 in Life by Nathan Cherry
At 29 years old Brittany Maynard was given a terminal diagnosis. The brain cancer was terminal and in April she was given 6 months to live. Maynard then decided to her family to Oregon to take advantage of the state’s right-to-die law; which allows a person to take lethal medication to end her life “with dignity.”
Maynard decided to end her life on November 1. After much media attention and national pleading she seemed to change her mind. But then news spread across the nation on Sunday, November 2 that Brittany had taken her life.
Maynard and others want to “die with dignity, on my terms, my time, my way.”
But I have a problem with this use of speech.
Is there really much difference between “going to church” and “being the church”?
Posted on July 11, 2014 in Theology by Nathan Cherry
That’s a question I’ve given a lot of thought to lately and the conclusion is that there is considerable difference. First let’s describe what “going to church” looks like and then talk about what it means to “be the church.”
Going to church is little more than checking a box on a to-do list and believing that you have done your duty. A person who sees church as something you go to is missing the fact that every Christian IS the church.
The typical church where people see going to church as the primary objective is often characterized in a number of ways.
First, the church has an inward focus. This is true because the members are focused on going to church and church is what happens inside the walls of the church building. So the primary focus becomes what church members do inside the church building on Sunday. The lack of external focus inevitably leads to stagnation, starvation, and death. Thom Rainer recently wrote that the most common factor in declining churches is “an inward focus.”