Blog Archives

MAKING ONE’S MARK!

12/31/2019

As I pen this blog post, I am sitting up a little later than usual in order to usher in the new year. At this point, I still have about an hour to go before 2019 gives way to 2020. I can only hope I make it. Admittedly, my eyelids are a little heavy.

While much of the world is preparing to “party hardy”, as it were, I have been in somewhat more of a reflective mood. The reason is that I cannot seem to get a devotional I heard earlier in the day out of my mind. It was shared by Ron Hutchcraft on his daily “A Word With You” program.

He spoke about how he and his wife would often go to the beach and take walks together, leaving footprints behind them in the process. Of course, footprints left in the sand at the water’s edge were inevitably destined to be obliterated whenever the next wave came in - usually almost immediately!

By contrast, he observed, footprints made in concrete by the various stars of Hollywood outside Grauman’s Chinese Theater were destined to be around for a whole lot longer!

He then raised the issue of what sort of mark you and I can be said to have made upon this world. What sort of imprint, if any at all, will we have left upon the world whenever we depart this life? Will it be fleeting or lasting?

As I look back over 2019, I am compelled to ask myself what, if anything, I myself have done to leave a lasting imprint upon this world and its inhabitants.

As I have reflected on this, I have also been compelled to ask myself what, if anything, it is that I intend to do in 2020 that will leave a lasting impact on this world and its inhabitants.

In the New Testament Book of Acts (chapter 17, verse 6), we are told of a group of Christians who left quite an impact upon the world: “These are the men who have turned the world upside down and they have now come here also…”

I can only hope that such an epitaph will one day be attached to my own legacy as a follower of Jesus Christ. For this reason, I pray that what time I have left in this world will afford me opportunities galore to leave a lasting impact upon it!

And I intend to spend the coming year seeking opportunities to do just that! I trust you will join me as I do!

ILLUSTRATION SOURCE: https://www.hutchcraft.com/a-word-with-you/your-mission/footprints-the-tide-can-t-touch-8602.

SCRIPTURE SOURCE: https://www.biblehub.com/acts/17-6.htm.

HOW SWEET IT IS!

12/28/2019

As a young Pastor, I realized early on the wisdom of the phrase: “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” Attributed to Saint Ambrose, this well-known phrase means that it is always advisable to follow the conventions of the area in which one is residing. Accordingly, I quickly learned that it was prudent for me as a Pastor to take my own time off and/or away when most of the congregation did.

In other words, it was not advisable for me to work through the week of July 4th while everyone else was gone, and then take my own vacation the week after school started back in the fall once everyone else was back in the proverbial saddle. For this reason, along with many others in my church family, I have been enjoying a little “down time” this week between Christmas and New Year’s Day.

Of course, the great irony is that such “down time” can very often be “up time”! By this I mean that not being in the office, nor in meetings, nor out visiting, nor writing or delivering sermons, etc., I have found myself with the extra time needed to catch up on a small stack of items that, while not urgent, nonetheless needed attention.

My practice is to collect up such matters in a stack on the corner of my desk; and then to address them when I finally find the time. Until I do, I always see them as uncompleted projects. Thus, having now devoted the last two days to the disposition of such projects, all that comes to mind is another phrase – one made popular by Jackie Gleason: “How sweet it is!”

Leonardo da Vinci once famously declared that a well-filled day brings blessed sleep at its completion. I have found this sentiment to be true in the past; and I expect that it will true again today. For this reason, I look forward to a good night’s sleep tonight.

It strikes me that such a sentiment applies not only to a well-filled day, but also to a well-filled year. As we approach the end of 2019 and as 2020 looms, now might be a good time for you and me to ask ourselves just how productive we have been over the past year. It might also be a good time to ask ourselves how we might be more productive this coming year.

Ultimately, of course, the same is true for all of life. The full quotation from Leonardo da Vinci referenced above is: “Just as a well-filled day brings blessed sleep, so a well-employed life brings a blessed death.” The great sense of accomplishment that I have felt the last evening or two as I have cleaned up so many lingering projects has now reminded me once again of how I hope to feel when I come to the end of my time in this world.

In all of this, I have been reminded that a well-filled life comes about as a result of well-filled years, which themselves come about as a result of well-filled months, and these by well-filled weeks, and these by well-filled days, and these by well-filled hours, and these, ultimately, by well-filled moments! For this reason, I am committing myself to making the most of every moment in 2020! I urge you to join me and do much the same.

Together, we can make 2020 one of the sweetest years yet!

A POEM FOR CHRISTMAS

12/23/2019

THE WISE MEN by G. K. Chesterton

Step softly, under snow or rain,
    To find the place where men can pray;
The way is all so very plain
    That we may lose the way.

Oh, we have learnt to peer and pore
    On tortured puzzles from our youth,
We know all the labyrinthine lore,
We are the three wise men of yore,
    And we know all things but truth.

We have gone round and round the hill
    And lost the wood among the trees,
And learnt long names for every ill,
And serve the made gods, naming still
    The furies the Eumenides.

The gods of violence took the veil
    Of vision and philosophy,
The Serpent that brought all men bale,
He bites his own accursed tail,
    And calls himself Eternity.

Go humbly ... it has hailed and snowed...
    With voices low and lanterns lit;
So very simple is the road,
    That we may stray from it.

The world grows terrible and white,
    And blinding white the breaking day;
We walk bewildered in the light,
For something is too large for sight,
    And something much too plain to say.

The Child that was ere worlds begun
    (... We need but walk a little way,
We need but see a latch undone...)
The Child that played with moon and sun
    Is playing with a little hay.

The house from which the heavens are fed,
    The old strange house that is our own,
Where trick of words are never said,
And Mercy is as plain as bread,
    And Honour is as hard as stone.

Go humbly, humble are the skies,
    And low and large and fierce the Star;
So very near the Manger lies
    That we may travel far.

Hark! Laughter like a lion wakes
    To roar to the resounding plain.
And the whole heaven shouts and shakes,
For God Himself is born again,
And we are little children walking
    Through the snow and rain.

SOURCE: http://www.gkc.org.uk/gkc/books/the_wise_men.html.

WHO’S GETTIN’ WHAT!

12/19/2019

Here it is, less than a week before Christmas, and many of us are feeling the pressure. Well, at least those of us who have perhaps not been quite as diligent as we should have been in completing our shopping early are.

Seriously, if you are like me, you may find yourself slightly behind on your list of gifts to secure for those friends and family you desire to bless. This does not necessarily mean that I am a procrastinator. Nor does it mean that I am inherently irresponsible.

Rather, what it means is that, sometimes, the search for just the perfect gift to give someone can be frustrating, especially in this day and age when everybody seems to already have everything.

I was glad, therefore, when the Lord seemed to direct me recently to a quote from Charles Swindoll in his book titled Growing Strong in the Seasons of Life:

Some gifts you can give this Christmas are beyond monetary value: Mend a quarrel, dismiss suspicion, tell someone, "I love you." Give something away - anonymously. Forgive someone who has treated you wrong. Turn away wrath with a soft answer. Visit someone in a nursing home. Apologize if you were wrong. Be especially kind to someone with whom you work. Give as God gave to you in Christ, without obligation, or announcement, or reservation, or hypocrisy.

Can I be honest? As soon as I read this quote, my quandary over what to give certain people suddenly got a lot easier. In fact, I have already decided who’s about to get what!

Having now read this post, and Swindoll’s quote, I hope you have benefited in much the same way! As Jesus Himself told us: “Freely you have received; now freely give!”

QUOTATION SOURCE: Charles Swindoll, Growing Strong in the Seasons of Life (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing, 1994), pp. 400-401.

SCRIPTURE SOURCE: https://biblehub.com/matthew/10-8.htm.

PRECIOUS NAME!

12/16/2019

In recent few years, my wife and I have been blessed with several grandchildren. It is quite a blessing to watch each of them as they grow and mature. It is particularly wonderful to see them undergo many of life’s experiences for the very first time. My post today comes as a result of one such experience that recently unfolded.

Not too long ago, one of our grandsons was due his next round of shots. As his mother dutifully packed him into the car seat and prepared him for the trip to the doctor’s office for the ordeal, she discovered that he had grabbed an item from their living room to take with him on the trip. Of all things, held firmly in his iron-tight little grip was the small baby Jesus from their nativity scene!

Needless to say, she immediately recognized the great spiritual truth embedded within the whole situation. In this seemingly innocent little action, her son had actually illustrated a profound truth. For we who are followers of Jesus Christ know that whenever we face an impending difficulty, no matter how traumatic, we do not have to face it alone! Our Lord and Savior has promised to go through it with us!

We know this for two reasons. The first is because the Bible tells us so. In the New Testament Book of Hebrews (chapter 13, verse 5), we are reminded of God’s promise to us when He said: “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”

We are also told in the First New Testament Letter of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians (chapter 10, verse 13) that: “God is faithful: He will not let you be tried beyond what you are able to bear, but with the trial will also provide a way out so that you may be able to endure it.”

The second reason is because all of us who are genuine believers have invariably lived out the truth of these promises! And we have the testimony of God’s faithfulness as a result.

My grandson survived the ordeal. He got through the doctor’s visit and made it back home just fine. I am happy to report that, other than a few expected side effects from his shots, he is now doing just fine!

And baby Jesus? He too completed the trip and is doing just fine. In fact, even now, He is ensconced once again in my grandson’s home, ready and willing to undertake any other journey and offer any other support wherein He might be needed.

I trust you know that this same Jesus has promised to be with you and with me as well. And for the very same reason and with the very same results! I hope you know this and that you understand that you do not have to travel the road of life alone! Remember the promise of the Psalmist (as found in Psalm 145, verse 18): “The LORD is near to all who call on him…”

I leave you with the words of a famous hymn written by Lydia Baxter nearly a century and a half ago…

Take the name of Jesus with you, Child of sorrow and of woe.
It will joy and comfort give you, Take it then where'er you go.

Precious name, O how sweet! Hope of earth and joy of heaven;
Precious name, O how sweet! Hope of earth and joy of heaven.

Take the name of Jesus ever, As protection ev'rywhere.
If temptations 'round you gather, Breathe that holy name in prayer.

Precious name, O how sweet! Hope of earth and joy of heaven;
Precious name, O how sweet! Hope of earth and joy of heaven.

At the name of Jesus bowing, When in heaven we shall meet,
King of kings, we'll gladly crown him When our journey is complete.

Precious name, O how sweet! Hope of earth and joy of heaven;
Precious name, O how sweet! Hope of earth and joy of heaven.

Amen!

SOURCES:

SCRIPTURES:
https://biblehub.com/hebrews/13-5.htm; https://biblehub.com/1_corinthians/10-13.htm; and https://biblehub.com/psalms/145-18.htm.

HYMN:
https://hymnary.org/text/take_the_name_of_jesus_with_you_child_of.

NOTE:
I almost titled this particular blog post: "I Need Thee, Oh I Need Thee!" Cf. https://hymnary.org/text/i_need_thee_every_hour_most_gracious_lor.

NOTHING TO FEAR!

12/12/2019

This past week, I saw a young man wearing a t-shirt that had “NO FEAR” emblazoned boldly across its front. I realize, of course, that this phrase is merely a logo/slogan for an American lifestyle clothing brand that has since expanded into other products. But I still wondered if the young man sporting the shirt really and truly did live his life without any fear at all.

I quickly concluded that, if he did, then he was indeed a rare individual. You see, in my experience, most people live with multiple fears on a daily basis.

To name but a few, people daily contend with fears about their health, their careers, their finances, their relationships, their past, their future, etc, etc...

In fact, fear is such a prevalent component of modern life that our culture has developed a long list of phobias, or things which people seem to fear. Among them are:

Aerophobia: the fear of drafts.
Auroraphobia: the fear of the northern lights.
Calyprophobia: the fear of obscure meanings.
Chaetophobia: the fear of hairy people.
Dextrophobia: the fear of objects on the right side of the body.
Graphophobia: the fear of writing in public.
Levophobia: the fear of objects on the left side of the body.
Odontophobia: the fear of teeth.
Peladophobia: the fear of baldness and bald people.
Porphyrophobia: the fear of the color purple.
Stabisbasiphobia: the fear of standing and walking.
Thalassophobia: the fear of being seated.

And last, but not least, believe it or not, there is even an officially recognized condition known as:

Phobophobia: the fear of actually being afraid.

Do you suffer from any of these? I certainly hope not. But even if you do, then take heart, for you are not alone. Indeed, ostentatious t-shirts notwithstanding, the reality is that each and every one has one or more fears with which we regularly contend.

For this reason, even though it has been some 2000 years since the recorded events unfolded, the Biblical message of Christmas is quite relevant today. I say this because the Bible’s infancy (or Christmas) narratives continually address this business of living without fear.

For instance, we read in the New Testament Gospel of Luke (chapter 1, verse 13) that before Mary ever became pregnant with the baby Jesus, Zacharias, the aged husband of her cousin Elizabeth, was confronted by an angel and told: “Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.”

Shortly thereafter, in the New Testament Gospel of Matthew (chapter 1, verses 20 and 24), we discover that a man named Joseph was also confronted by an angel, who had this to say to him: “Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife... Then Joseph ... did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him.”

Afterward, Luke continues his narrative (chapter 1, verses 30, 35, 37), as an angel appeared to Mary and stated: “Fear not, Mary... the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee... For with God nothing shall be impossible.”

Finally, on the night of Jesus’ actual birth, the shepherds were also told not be afraid. The Gospel of Luke (chapter 2, verses 10-11) further states: “And the angel said unto them, Fear not, for, behold, I bring you good tidings... which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.”

And so, my friend, what can we conclude from all of this? We can conclude that, to truly live a life without fear, we must be willing to go beyond merely wearing a garment asserting any such. We must actually be willing to talk with God; and then we must also actually be willing to embrace His divine will for our lives.

Indeed, if we do these things, and only if we do these things, can we ever be truly assured that we have “nothing to fear”!

SOURCES:

LIST OF PHOBIAS:

Fraser Kent, Nothing to Fear: Coping With Phobias (New York: Doubleday & Company, 1977).

SCRIPTURE QUOTATIONS:

https://biblehub.com/.

A LIVING DEATH?

12/9/2019

Yet another intriguing item has been in the news this week. According to a December 3, 2019 article on Fox News.com written by Harvey Sullivan and titled “When You Die ‘You Know You’re Dead Because Your Brain Keeps Working’, Scientist Claims”, haunting new research suggests that once we die, we know we are dead because our brains keep working to make us aware of what is happening around us.

Decades of claims of near death experiences have now been reported, assimilated, and analyzed, wherein anecdotal evidence of bright lights and flashes have been described by people who have supposedly come back to life after having died. Needless to say, this has caused much debate.

But now, a new study has been published that suggests our consciousness does indeed carry on functioning after our hearts stop beating and our body movements have ceased. The implication is that, if only for a short time, we are nonetheless essentially ‘trapped’ inside our dead body with our brain still working.

According to the article, survivors of cardiac arrest were studied and it was concluded that they were aware of what was going on around them while they were ‘dead’ and before they were ‘brought back to life’. Even more disturbing, there appears to be evidence to suggest that deceased persons may even have heard themselves being pronounced dead by doctors.

The research is being conducted by Dr. Sam Parnia, who is examining cardiac arrest cases in Europe and the US as he studies consciousness after death. His conclusion so far is that persons in the first phase of death may very well still experience some form of consciousness.

He offers as proof the many people who have survived cardiac arrest and later accurately described what was happening around them after their hearts stopped beating. According to Dr. Parnia: “They'll describe watching doctors and nurses working; they'll describe having awareness of full conversations, of visual things that were going on, that would otherwise not be known to them.”

He further explains that when a patient is officially declared dead, “It's all based on the moment when the heart stops. Technically speaking, that's how you get the time of death.”

Thus, his study is examining what happens to the brain after a person goes into cardiac arrest - and whether or not consciousness continues after death; and if so, for how long. His purpose in part is to find ways to improve the quality of resuscitation and prevent brain injuries while restarting the heart.

For those of you who are familiar with the plot of the movie, Flatliners, according to Dr. Parnia, whenever a person is resuscitated, he or she does not necessarily return with any sort of “magical enhancement” of memory.

Dr. Parnia’s entire point is that, even though someone’s heart may have stopped beating, and he or she has been legally declared dead, nonetheless, his or her brain and other senses may well continue functioning thereafter.

All of this brings me to my point in this blog post…

Long before Dr. Parnia and others like him began to take seriously the notion that some part of us survives after physical death, the Bible affirmed that such a state exists! In the Old Testament Book of Job (chapter 14, verse 14), the title character famously asked the question: “If someone dies, will they live again?”

Time and gain, the Bible affirms that the answer to that question is a resounding “Yes”! To begin with, we have multiple accounts of people who have died being brought back to life. According to J. L. Meredith, the Bible contains 10 such accounts:

1. Elijah raised the son of the Zarephath widow from the dead (1 Kings 17:17-22).
2. Elisha raised the son of the Shunammite woman from the dead (2 Kings 4:32-35).
3. A man was raised from the dead when his body touched Elisha’s bones (2 Kings 13:20, 21).
4. Many saints rose from the dead at the resurrection of Jesus (Matt. 27:50-53).
5. Jesus rose from the dead (Matt. 28:5-8; Mark 16:6; Luke 24:5, 6).
6. Jesus raised the son of the widow of Nain from the dead (Luke 7:11-15).
7. Jesus raised the daughter of Jairus from the dead (Luke 8:41, 42, 49-55).
8. Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead (John 11:1-44).
9. Peter raised Dorcas from the dead (Acts 9:36-41).
10. Eutychus was raised from the dead by Paul (Acts 20:9, 10).

Of course, the key here is number 5. Because Jesus Himself was raised from the dead, you and I too, even though we may die, can live again. As Jesus told the grieving sisters of Lazarus in the New Testament gospel of John, chapter 11, verse 25: “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die.”

Thereafter, the Bible gives significant numbers of accounts of people who were quite conscious and aware of their circumstances after physical death. One such example is the New Testament Gospel of John, chapter 5, verses 39-47. Here we read that Abraham was alive and well in a place of blessedness, while the so-called “rich man” was alive and not very well in a place of torment. The assertion in both cases is clearly that we are all very much alive after we leave this world!

For these reasons, I myself do not necessarily fear death - for I am convinced that when I do depart this world, I will simply be alive and well in another world. I know this to be the case because I have placed my faith and trust in Jesus Christ as the
(eternal) life-giver!

I hope you share that testimony today. If not, I hope you soon will. For the Bible’s answer to Job’s piercing question is a resounding “Yes! We will indeed live again!” The only real question is where we will live! Will that be in an eternity of torment separated from Almighty God? Or will that be in eternal bliss in God's presence forever and ever?!

Of course, the answer to that question is to be found in the New Testament Gospel of John, chapter 3, verses 16-18:

16For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.

In light of this, I can only hope that your own living death, like mine, will be a glorious one!

NEWS ARTICLE SOURCE:

https://www.foxnews.com/science/when-you-die-you-know-youre-dead-because-your-brain-keeps-working-scientist-claims. According to this particular article, the story originally appeared in The Sun Newspaper back on April 17, 2019.

SEE ALSO:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flatliners.

BOOK SOURCE:

J. L. Meredith, Meredith’s Big Book of Bible Lists, (New York: Inspirational Press,1980), p. 115.

SCRIPTURE SOURCES:

https://biblehub.com/job/14-14.htm;
https://biblehub.com/bsb/john/11.htm;
https://biblehub.com/bsb/luke/16.htm; and
https://biblehub.com/john/3-16.htm.

WHO’S THAT KNOCKING?

12/5/2019

After all the pre-season posturing and game day striving, this Saturday is the long awaited day when most all the various NCAA Football conferences will finally see their respective divisional champions compete in order to crown their individual conference champions. While bragging rights are important in any conference, the teams of the Power Five Conferences in particular have a lot riding on this weekend’s results.

The Power Five Athletic Conferences are those whose members are part of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of NCAA Division I, which is the highest level of collegiate football in the United States. These conferences are the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), the Big Ten Conference, the Big 12 Conference, the Pac-12 Conference, and the Southeastern Conference (SEC), respectively.

As a native Georgian, I myself plan to be ensconced in front of the television Saturday afternoon at 4pm, pulling for my beloved SEC Eastern Division Champion University of Georgia Bulldogs, and against the SEC Western Division Champion Louisiana State University Tigers. A lot is at stake, as the winner will progress to the NCAA Playoff; while the loser might easily be excluded by the selection committee.

Of course, it takes a lot to be a champion. Among other things, it requires raw talent, technical skill, a thorough knowledge of the game, and an enormous amount of personal discipline. But mostly, it just requires passion! Passion to give it one’s all; and then to give it one’s all again, and then again, and again, and yet again…

Famed Christian communicator Paul W. Powell once described this sort of passion when he told the following story. It seems that...

An old experienced coach was trying to train a young coach in recruiting. As he rehearsed the procedure, he emphasized the kind of players he wanted at his school. He said, “Bill, you know there are different kinds of players. And, some of them, we don’t want at our school.”

Then he said, “There are some players, who get knocked down, and when they are down, they stay down.” The young coach, eager to impress his boss with his understanding, said, “Yes, coach, and we don’t want those kinds of players at our school, do we?” The coach said, “That’s right!”

Then he said, “There are some players who, when they get knocked down, get up. And, when they get knocked down a second time, they stay down.” The young coach said, “Yes, coach, and we don’t want those kinds of players at our school, do we?” The coach said, “That’s right.”

Then he said, “There are some players, who when they get knocked down, get up again. And when they are knocked down a second time, they get up again. And, every time you knock them down they get right back up again.” And the young coach said, “Yes, coach, and that’s the kind of player we want at our school, isn’t it?”

The old coach said, “No, we want the guy who just keeps coming back and knocking all those other guys down!”

That old coach was pretty wise! He was looking for whoever the one was that was doing all the knocking! In other words, he was wanting to know: “Who’s that knocking?!”

Passion, of course, is a powerful thing. It can drive a man to play football with all his might. It can also drive a Fortune 500 company, or a political movement, or a scientific revolution, or a quest for discovery, or any one of a million other things. It can also drive one’s work for God!

Ferdinand Foch is once reported to have said that the most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire! The Apostle Paul seems to have had something similar in mind as he penned several of his New Testament letters. For instance, in chapter 10, verse 31 of his First Letter to the Corinthians, he writes “So … whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

Later, in chapter 3, verse 23 of this Letter to the Colossians, he states: “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men…”

This weekend, hundreds of collegiate athletes will give their all for an earthly victory, a metal trophy, and the acclaim that accompanies such things. In spite of this, before long, all that they have done will soon be forgotten. For invariably, next year, yet another champion will be crowned to supplant them.

In light of this, the real question is: “What all will you and I give for an eternal victory – one that will never be either supplanted or forgotten?!”

SOURCES:

POWELL STORY: https://www.baylor.edu/content/services/document.php?id=146507.

FOCH QUOTE: https://leadershipnow.com/passionquotes.html.

SCRIPTURE QUOTES: https://biblehub.com/1_corinthians/10-31.htm; and
https://biblehub.com/colossians/3-23.htm.

DEAD WRONG!

12/2/2019

In May of 1897, America’s beloved humorist, novelist and social critic, Mark Twain, was in London on one of many stops of an around-the-world speaking tour he had embarked on two years earlier.

While he was in London, someone started a rumor that he was gravely ill. This was followed by another rumor that he had in fact died. According to a widely-repeated story, a certain major American newspaper actually printed his obituary.

When Twain himself was told about this by a reporter, he famously quipped: “The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.”

Ironically, a similar story has unfolded yet again in England. According to a November 13, 2019 article written by Nicole Darrah, an English newspaper has now apologized for publishing an obituary about someone who, to their surprise, is still quite alive.

A news outlet based in Northeast England titled The Northern Echo reported that a man named Charlie Donaghy, which it described as a “lifelong fan of grassroots sports” in the region, had passed away. The obituary detailed Donaghy's “tireless devotion to a range of sports clubs, associations and charities,” explaining that he had spent much of his life teaching geography and physical education.

According to the paper’s staff, they apparently “checked with three independent sources” to confirm the man’s death.

They soon learned, however, that nothing could have been further form the truth! They were, therefore, dead wrong! In short order, the paper issued an apology, wherein it stated “We are pleased to be able to report that Mr. Donaghy is alive and well. We removed the story from our website and social media channels as soon as we were made aware that it was incorrect.”

The Echo's staff added further that they wished to “apologize unreservedly for our mistake, and for any understandable distress and devastation that was caused to Mr. Donaghy, his family and friends.”

They likely did so in response to family members of Donaghy's, who went straight to Facebook to right the wrong, posting: “Today the Echo ran a beautiful tribute & obituary about my Dad. But...Dad’s NOT dead! To everyone offering condolences about my Dad...Charlie! He’s NOT dead! This is NOT true... God knows where it’s come from but he’s alive & well.”

Alongside their apology, the paper at fault also published a statement from Donaghy's family that read, “We are devastated by the inaccuracy of this report. This has caused immeasurable distress for my sister, as well to many of Dad’s friends and supporters over the years. To allow this to be released onto the Internet without checking with our family is unforgivable. Please ensure this never happens to anyone else again as you cannot unhear or unread that your father is dead.”

For my part, I’m glad to know that Mr. Donaghy is alive and well. May he live a long and full life for many more years to come - even as Mark Twain himself earlier did, having gone on to live another thirteen years beyond his own purported death.

As I read this story, I was reminded of yet another individual that the world once assumed was dead and gone. His name was Jesus Christ. He was put to death by crucifixion on a Friday. His execution was witnessed by a significant number of people. He was then taken down from the cross and place in a tomb. From the world’s perspective, he was dead and gone. But they too, were dead wrong!

For three days later, He came back to life! He literally arose from the grave! And thereafter, according to the Apostle Paul’s First New Testament Letter to the Corinthians (chapter 11, verse 6), upwards of five hundred people testified that they personally saw Him; and that He was quite alive and well!

What is more, untold billions of people have added to that their own personal testimony of having come to know and experience the risen Jesus.

Perhaps the hymn writer, Alfred H. Ackley (1887 – 1960), put it best when he penned these memorable lyrics…

I serve a risen Saviour; He's in the world today. I know that He is living, whatever men may say. I see His hand of mercy, I hear His voice of cheer, And just the time I need Him He's always near.

He lives! He lives! Christ Jesus lives today! He walks with me and talks with me along life's narrow way. He lives! He lives! Salvation to impart! You ask me how I know He lives? He lives within my heart.

His last stanza is particularly insightful…

In all the world around me I see His loving care, And though my heart grows weary I never will despair. I know that He is leading, thro' all the stormy blast; The day of His appearing will come at last.

I hope that you to have come to know Jesus Christ. For He is indeed alive and well. And one day, He will come again. When He does, those who know Him will be overjoyed to see Him face to face.

But those who do not know Him will not be so jubilant. For He has already forewarned us that His response to those who meet Him then for the first time will be: “Depart from me, for I never knew you.”

STORY SOURCE: https://www.foxnews.com/world/england-newspaper-obituary-still-alive. Nicole Darrah covers breaking and trending news for FoxNews.com. She can be followed on Twitter at @nicoledarrah.

SEE ALSO: http://www.thisdayinquotes.com/2010/06/reports-of-my-death-are-greatly.html.

HYMN LYRICS: https://www.greatchristianhymns.com/he-lives.html.

SCRIPTURE SOURCES: https://biblehub.com/1_corinthians/15-6.htm; and
https://biblehub.com/matthew/7-23.htm.