As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
“There has been a skyrocketing preference for cremation over the past decades in the United States …. There are various causes, but the greatest, by far, is the combination of secularization and economics. Fewer people test the practice with biblical criteria, and more people want the cheapest solution.
“If Nick’s death was not a lapse in God’s sovereignty, it was also not a lapse in his goodness. If there was no moment in which God stopped being sovereign there is no moment in which he stopped being good—good toward us, good toward Nick, good according to his perfect wisdom. God can’t not be good.” - Challies
“While Halloween has largely been overtaken by inflatable witches and gory masks, the holiday’s roots in Christian belief and practice offer easy opportunities to engage my children in conversations about death and grief and Christian hope.” - TGC
“The closest thing we uncover to a near-death experience in Scripture is Stephen’s martyrdom in the book of Acts. … we find Stephen’s eyes being open to events in heaven just before he was killed.” - AiG
“The famous sentences ‘No man is an island’ and ‘the bell tolls [for] thee’ are excerpted from the same meditation: ‘No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.
The Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century triggered a fresh wave of bloody conflict in Medieval Europe—a tract of real estate across which evolving nations had suffered tumultuous relations for many dark centuries. Protestant regions broke up Rome’s monopoly on authority in Europe. Neutralizing an authority is one thing; replacing it is quite another matter, and Europe tumbled into near-anarchy. Nation warred against nation and region against region in an all-out scramble to gain control of the rudder of Europe’s destiny.
Out of the context of these chaotic and violent times sprouted a philosophy of governance known as “Monarchial Absolutism.” Absolutist political theory held that Europe’s only hope for avoiding anarchy was for monarchs of the emerging European nations to wield unrestrained power. The cohesive influence Rome had once supplied Europe could be recovered, so it was proposed, by monarchs willing to impose their will with absolute sovereignty over their subjects. (One may detect a less than ideal environment for the human rights of dissenters under such a system. The half of that tragic subplot has never been told.)
Historians generally recognize Louis XIV of France (1638-1715) as the quintessential absolutist monarch. Crowned at age five (a monarchial absolutist pre-schooler—you fill in the blanks!), Louis reigned in earnest from 1660 until his death. That translates into fifty-five years of absolute sovereignty over every aspect of French life. Every citizen, of what was at that time the most powerful nation on the continent, was expected to conform to Louis’ every belief, obey his every demand, and honor his every decision. Imagine!
“On a few occasions I’ve read interviews with centenarians—those who have lived more than 100 years…. the great trial for such people is that they don’t just live, they out-live.” - Challies
“I’ve nothing against celebrating the life of a servant of the Lord Jesus. We ought to honor faithful followers of Jesus for finishing their race. We ought to challenge those in attendance to “let [their] manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ.” And yet I wonder: does this desire to celebrate life grow out of a stronger desire to avoid death?” - Jason Allen
“Things have changed over the decades and I read that more Americans are dying at home than in the hospital, according to a recent study. The figures are 30.7% at home, 29.8% at a hospital, around 20% at a nursing home or other institution.” - SBC Voices
“Scripture doesn’t prescribe whether we should call a service a funeral or a celebration of life or anything else, nor does it prescribe exactly what we should do during the service….But I believe we’ve lost something, and that we would serve ourselves and others well if we recover the time-honored practice of holding funeral services.” - Christian Leaders
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