Death of a 'non-believing' family member?

[Joanna]

I haven't posted for a while. My dad passed away recently in January. Dad wasn't religious but I refuse to accept he's gone to hell and want to think he's in heaven with Christians and non-believers together in heaven. Hellfire and damnation is absolutely heartbreaking to any bereaved relative if they've been led to believe that their deceased relative hasn't been saved.

[trettep]

Well safe to say your dad is not in Hell.  But currently he is not in Heaven either.  He simply is dead a this time.  A resurrection is still required and that has not happened yet.  But it will in due time.  I lost my father a few years ago to COPD and Heart Disease.

[darryl]

I haven't posted for a while. My dad passed away recently in January. Dad wasn't religious but I refuse to accept he's gone to hell and want to think he's in heaven with Christians and non-believers together in heaven. Hellfire and damnation is absolutely heartbreaking to any bereaved relative if they've been led to believe that their deceased relative hasn't been saved.

please try not to worry...chastisement and correction of people who die in unbelief are eonian realities but your father will ultimately be saved as I believe my Dad will be...I know that God loves all His creatures unconditionally and I trust His love will win in the end.

[jugghead]

Just as "in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive"

You have nothing to worry about, have the peace He wants to give you

[lastpost]

"I refuse to accept he's gone to hell and want to think he's in heaven..."

What is it that prompts you to think of the higher love over the lesser?

Shall you listen to the righteous indignation of the mind of the scribe and of the Pharisee who blocks out the love of Christ within by the building of a wall of words and concepts? (One time they shall be seen as helps, I think, but that is another issue).

Or shall you listen to the loving prompts of the tender Christ within, He who spoke of those as the innocent child entering the kingdom of heaven, He who had compassion on multitudes and fed them all regardless, He who bathed the feet of His followers and told them that they had seen the Father if they had seen Him?

Allow the Christ-Spirit to grow, it is warmed by the inner sun and the casing of the seed is breached, and now, like an ocean wave lays flat the sand castle built by the mind of man. It is, I believe, your future, and the future of everyone, here or hereafter. It seems to me that the point must come to all that because of Christ, death shall never be seen.

Edit: I believe with all the force of my being that your father is in safer hands than anyone has imagined. God Bless.

[2KnowHim]

"I refuse to accept he's gone to hell and want to think he's in heaven..."

What is it that prompts you to think of the higher love over the lesser?

Shall you listen to the righteous indignation of the mind of the scribe and of the Pharisee who blocks out the love of Christ within by the building of a wall of words and concepts? (One time they shall be seen as helps, I think, but that is another issue).

Or shall you listen to the loving prompts of the tender Christ within, He who spoke of those as the innocent child entering the kingdom of heaven, He who had compassion on multitudes and fed them all regardless, He who bathed the feet of His followers and told them that they had seen the Father if they had seen Him?

Allow the Christ-Spirit to grow, it is warmed by the inner sun and the casing of the seed is breached, and now, like an ocean wave lays flat the sand castle built by the mind of man. It is, I believe, your future, and the future of everyone, here or hereafter. It seems to me that the point must come to all that because of Christ, death shall never be seen.

Edit: I believe with all the force of my being that your father is in safer hands than anyone has imagined. God Bless.

That was beautiful :thumbsup: :dsunny:

[rosered]

   :HeartThrob:

  One thing is for certain    http://www.biblestudytools.com/2-samuel/24-14-compare.html

David knew   Gods mercy   was  great [Above ]  and not let  him fall in into mans  judgments [below]

[marie glen]

I believe many upon awaking from their grave (i see a grave as a bed with the headstone as head board, as a metaphor).. I think many will spontaneously fall on their knees in awe and wonderment ( and repentance/change) when they perceive the Father... and truth.. My father passed away without repentance, but I think this would be his attitude upon the wonder of rising.. I believe 'day' of judgment/review/"decision" will be a very long day and only at the end of it (and end of the chapter) will it be said "those not believing" (still not believing?) "will go to the 2nd death" (a duration in the lake of washing/repentance. I do not expect our heavenly Father to be any less kind and merciful to the not yet saved than HE has been with us. Since "no one can come to the Son unless the Father draw them.")

Bless you dear..

[sheila]

Thank God,Rose!! men in the corrupt image[satan the constant accusor of the brethern] would like to put the sin back onto

their brethern.and rule over the stars[heavenly hosts..speaking evil of celestial beings raised up and changed by Christ]

   spare me from the judgements of unjust corrupt men..let him who is without sin throw the first rock. Christ is certainly a

stone of stumbling..who is this that forgives sins and shows mercy?

[Patinak]

"I refuse to accept he's gone to hell and want to think he's in heaven..."

Edit: I believe with all the force of my being that your father is in safer hands than anyone has imagined. God Bless.

AMEN!

[Dandelion]

I haven't posted for a while. My dad passed away recently in January. Dad wasn't religious but I refuse to accept he's gone to hell and want to think he's in heaven with Christians and non-believers together in heaven. Hellfire and damnation is absolutely heartbreaking to any bereaved relative if they've been led to believe that their deceased relative hasn't been saved.

I have been where you are, having come from an abusive family. But, I love my family, and it did grieve me, for a long time, of all the sadness, loss, and things that were and those that never could have been. And, thinking about them after they died, especially my Mom.

But, I have found that God is so much bigger than I used to realize. And, I have learned that He is Love, and He will do the very best for my family, because He loves them more than I do.

And, in His great mercy......and justice......they will be well taken care of.  Trust in God must go beyond the grave, just as Love of God must, too.

So, please know that He does whatever will bring them Home, and whatever is loving, and will continue to do so.

And, as Christian Universalists, we know we will all be together one day! Think of the joy of that reunion! That day when we all know that sin, sadness, and death are conquered forever!

So, trust in God, and know His Love is Everlasting.

If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! Matthew 7:11

Think of the story of the Prodigal son and how great the Father's love was.......then know that God's Love for us is way past that of a human father.

I hope you may have the peace that surpasses all understanding, that God alone can give. Ask Him, and He will give it to you.

D.                                       :HeartThrob:

My  :2c:

[Cardinal]

 :cloud9: This is a true story, but I leave it to you to decide. I recently lost my best friend of 20  years to cancer (one of my prayer requests). The way she became my best friend is this. I was working doing home health taking care of my boss's mother, who was a Spirit filled Christian like me. The hospital sent in an aide to give her a bath 3X's a week. The Lord moved on me to ask this aide if I could pray for her. She had no idea I meant RIGHT NOW she told me later, so agreed thinking I was going to pray for her at some point in time. To her surprise, I laid hands on her and got a word from the Lord.

It was, "Forgive your father, he didn't understand; he is with Me."

That's all I got out and she burst into sobs, and just then her nursing supervisor came through the door, so she excused herself and took off, leaving me, my boss's mother, and the supervisor wondering just what the heck happened???

She didn't come back for a week, and we prayed for her the whole time, not knowing if she requested to be moved because of me, or what. Finally, fresh off a week's vacation we knew nothing about, she returned. Her story was as follows.....

Her dad had been an abusive alcoholic, and the last big rant he went on, he pulled out his shotgun and she and her mother and brother had to run to the woods and hide to keep him from killing them. He was arrested, and when he sobered up and was told what he had done, out of fear of doing it for real the next time, he hung himself in the jail.

She went to church with her mother as a child, had just received Jesus a year before and was baptized in His Spirit at only 13 years of age, when this happened. The people in the church told her and her mother that her father was in hell for committing suicide. Her mother believed it, so she did too, and decided she wanted nothing further to do with God for the next 30 years.....until that day. Plus she was mad at her dad for leaving her. BUT; when she ran out, she ran into a church that night and every single night she found the doors open to one somewhere in the towns around here.

God is love, and no matter what religion tells you, He does not put his children in hell. There IS correction yes, we all have to face what was done in the body, but that just determines what rewards we have, NOT our salvation. Blessings to all....

PS. He was even a Christian and so knew better (was accountable) and STILL God didn't put him in hell. He just didn't understand how to get delivered. So how much MORE mercy would He have on someone who didn't know Him AT ALL?

[sheila]

Amen Bex.

[sheila]

let he who thinks he is standing..beware less he fall.  if ever you convince yourself you somehow are above these things that

trap,ensnare other men..lookout! pride or arrogance and lack of pity for them,or despizing them..will get you an iron rod of

correction..and then you will learn compassion and pity for your fellowman in a way you never ever expected.

    correction is for understanding..and He will make you understand....and somethings you don't even want to know.

[GodIsLove]

Dandelion, Cardinal, Sheila -- amen! Great posts