Magazine

Last year was difficult for the congregation I serve as pastor. While deaths and funerals are regular parts of congregational life, we suffered more deaths than most years and said goodbye to many saints as they entered the church triumphant. In this particular season, most were male, and many grieving widows remained. Sensing a need for ongoing pastoral care and support, I gathered these women to meet for conversation and prayer. During these conversations, we unearthed and explored a deep…

There is a growing consensus among medical professionals, historians and theologians about a troubling trend: Modern Americans do not think about or reflect upon dying and death, nor do they see purpose, meaning or significance in suffering. In his recent best-selling book, Being Mortal, Harvard physician Atul Gawande points out the current medical profession’s inability to contend with its limits. While medical professionals might have increasing technological tools at their disposal, they are nevertheless usually incapable of dealing with death.…

When I was a boy, my grandmother told me stories of heaven. I remember her telling me in vivid detail about Percy Collett. His story, told through audiocassette tapes, of walking in heaven with Jesus for five-and-a-half days, became popular in Pentecostal and charismatic circles in the 1980s.  His fantastic account, including a geographic map of heaven, was simultaneously riveting and confusing to me as a young boy. The subject of heaven and the afterlife fascinates our modern culture. Every…