Forthright Magazine http://forthright.net Straight to the Cross The Fellowship Room, warm posts and hearty communion. http://fellowshiproom.org/ COLUMN: REALITY CHECK Where the soul never dies by Stan Mitchell http://tinyurl.com/crx44pp "'Truly, truly I say to you,' the Teacher declared, 'a time is coming…when the dead will hear the voice of the son of God and those who hear will live'” (John 5:25, ESV). I have just one question for you: Since when do the dead hear anything? Go out to the cemetery sometime and make an unearthly racket. I can assure you, you won't wake the dead. But there will come a day when deaf ears will hear the Lord! Remember Douglas MacArthur's remark that "Old soldiers never die, they just fade away?" Well, five-star generals aren't the only ones who never die! * Old plumbers never die — they just go down the drain. * Old mediums never die — they just give up the ghost. * Old postal workers never die — they just lose their zip. * Old lawyers never die — they just lose their appeal. * Old cartoonists never die — they just draw their last breath. * Old ranchers never die — they just breed their last. * Old Australians never die — they just end up down under. * Old teachers never die — they just lose their class. * Oh, and by the way, do you know who else doesn't die? We don't. "Just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment" (Hebrews 9:27). While we may die physically, the soul never dies! Children of God never die–they live in paradise forever. While that's not much of a pun, it is a dead- certain, count-on-it truth! The opposite form of existence — for the soul that is lost, too, never dies — is such a forbidding, fearful place that the Bible refers to it as "death." You know the old song: "To Canaan's land I'm on my way Where the soul of man never dies"? In one sense, you will never die. The real question is, when you die, where will you live? ---- Read this article online, write your reaction, and read others' comments as well. Click here: http://tinyurl.com/crx44pp You can help get the word out. Here's how: http://forthright.net/help/