PODCAST: Precious In The Sight of the Lord Is the Death of His Saints

Whether I live or die, I'm ready.

Whether I live or die, I’m ready.

Today is the fourteenth anniversary of my father’s death.

Fourteen years.

It seems like yesterday.

As a pastor, I have heard people say, “I’m afraid to die” numerous times. I’ve felt it myself, when I was younger. But I never heard my dad say those words. He was not afraid to die.

Years before his death when he had his very first heart attack, I arrived at the hospital moments before they took him in for surgery. They stopped long enough for me to tell him I was praying for him. His face, taped with a tube coming from his nose, was marked with a relaxed expression of calm.

And his words brought peace to my anxious mind: “Whatever is before me, I am ready. Whether I live or die, it’s okay.”

I miss him every day, but I’d never wish him back. I wonder if they serve cake in heaven on the anniversary of your arrival.

How can we all face death like dad did? This podcast gives some answers.

This Side of Glory…

The Author of the Story

from “Mr Buechner’s Dream,” the album

Words by Terry Scott Taylor

She had one foot on the ground
And one foot in the air
(it seemed) the world held her cold hand
While the angels brushed her hair

“but that’s how it has to end
On this side of glory,
Some wounds will never mend,”
Says the author of the story

I held one hand in the fire
And lifted one hand towards the sky
But the busy world still turned
And the angels passed me by

Sometimes there seems to be
No author of the story
These thoughts occur to me
On this side of glory

And I kissed the Lamb of God
And my fingers found the wounds
And the angels moved the stone
And I searched the vacant room

On His Tombstone…

I was reading a good exposition of a passage today and I wondered, “Who is this writer?” So I clicked the “About Me” tab on the site and it said little about him except this:

What I want on my tombstone: “Bring It!”

I love it. I am sure he doesn’t mean to arrogantly challenge death. Rather, as a servant of Jesus Christ, he’s looking forward to what awaits him in Christ, beyond the grave.

Me too.

Bring it.