Max, my deepest sympathies.

 

sorry for your loss.

 

I can tell you this after losing a sister and both parents: You will hear him. He will speak to you in ways your entire life because you know him so well. Anytime you want to speak to him, just think of what he would say in that particular situation and I know you will know the answer to the questions you would ask him. We all have our own beliefs about eternal life. What I do know is he lives inside you. You have not completely lost him.

 

No problem bro........your a good guy Max, and i know you'll get through this

 

Might this be at all related?

https://my350z.com/forum/showthread....threadid=31691


My deepest Sympathies go out to you and your family.

 

I hear him in gentle ways, he is guiding me even in his death.

The thread you linked to is not related, he was shot.

Thanks for all the advice to Jimmy I have took it one step farther with the note, something special that came to me, he will love it.. It's all coming together and I made it through a shift at work today and only cried once but no one noticed, I was isolated at the time.

Everything happens for a reason and everyone will die, so I am growing through this to be the best person I can be while I am still alive and it's also drawing our family from separate states closer. No more taking advantage of the gift of life for me at least. Life is a gift, I used to think it was a struggle but it's what you say to people during the day after you awake before you lay your head to sleep that makes your life fulfilling. I have found myself opening myself up more.

Even in death he is my Hero is seams.

Once again Rest in Peace Bro see you when I get there!

 

It seems so unfair that death should have the power to take away someone you love. And when it happens, the thought of never again being able to talk to, laugh with, or hold your loved one can be most difficult to bear. That pain is not necessarily erased by being told that your loved one is up in heaven.

The Bible, however, holds out a much different hope. As we have previously noted, the Scriptures indicate that it is possible to be reunited with your dead loved one in the near future, not in an unknown heaven but right here on earth under peaceful, righteous conditions. And at that time humans will have the prospect of enjoying perfect health, and they will never have to die again. 'But surely that is wishful thinking!' some may say.


What would it take to convince you that this is a sure hope? To believe in a promise, you would need to be certain that the one making the promise is both willing and able to fulfill it. Who, then, is it that promises that the dead will live again?

Please read it all and I promise, you would feel way better knowing the truth behind all.


I sincerely hope that this would help answer a few questions you and others may have about your lost family member.

Where is him?
Why did this happened?
Can I do something to help him?


What Is Your View of Death?

DEATH casts a shadow over us as we go about our daily life, no matter how physically fit or rich we may be. It can strike the next time we cross a street or lie in bed. Such disasters as the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, in New York City and Washington, D.C., bring us face-to-face with the fact that "the last enemy," death, gathers its victims from all walks of life and from all age groups, sometimes taking thousands in a matter of minutes.—1 Corinthians 15:26.

Even so, death seems to fascinate people. Nothing would appear to sell more newspapers or draw more people to the television screen than reports of death, particularly death of large numbers of people in horrifying circumstances. People cannot seem to get enough of it, whether it is death by war, natural disaster, crime, or disease. This fixation with death finds its most puzzling expression in the raw emotions that greet the death of public figures and celebrities.

All of this is undeniable. People remain fascinated by death—the death of others. When faced with their own death, however, they flinch. Our own demise is the one subject that most of us cannot bear to contemplate.

Baffled by Death?

The thought of our own death is always distasteful and it always will be. Why is that? It is because God has infused us with the keen desire to live forever. "He has also put eternity in their hearts," says Ecclesiastes 3:11, according to the Anchor Bible. The inevitability of death, therefore, has created an internal conflict in humans, a persisting disharmony. To reconcile this internal conflict and to satisfy the natural yearning to live on, humans have fabricated all sorts of beliefs, from the doctrine of the immortality of the soul to the belief in reincarnation.
At any rate, death is a troubling, frightening event, and the fear of death is universal. We should not, therefore, be surprised that human society in general finds death a challenging prospect. For one thing, death exposes the ultimate futility of a life devoted to the pursuit of wealth and power.

Alienated by Death?

In times past, a terminally ill or fatally wounded person was usually allowed to die in the familiar and beloved surroundings of his own home. That was often the case in Bible times, and it is still true in some cultures. (Genesis 49:1, 2, 33) In such cases, the family comes together, and the children are included in the conversation. This gives each family member the feeling that he or she is not grieving alone and provides the comfort of shared responsibility and shared mourning.

This is in great contrast with what takes place in a society in which discussion of death is taboo, regarded as morbid, and in which children are excluded on the assumption that it would be "too much" for them. Dying nowadays is different in many ways, and it often is more lonely. Although most would like to die at home, peacefully and lovingly tended by family, for many the hard reality is that they die in a hospital, usually isolated and in pain, tethered to a frightening array of high-tech equipment. On the other hand, millions just die anonymously—the faceless victims of genocide, famine, AIDS, civil war, or just abject poverty.

A Subject to Ponder

The Bible does not discourage the contemplation of death. In fact, Ecclesiastes 7:2 tells us: "Better is it to go to the house of mourning than to go to the banquet house, because that is the end of all mankind." When faced with the reality of death, we may turn from our routine concerns or activities and focus on the brevity of life. This can help us to live our life in a more meaningful way rather than simply to muddle through or waste it.
What is your view of death? Have you examined your feelings, beliefs, hopes, and fears about the end of your life?

As is the nature of life, the nature of death is outside the realm of man's ability to explain and comprehend. The only one who can speak on the matter with reliable authority is our Creator. With him is "the source of life," and to him "belong the ways out from death." (Psalm 36:9; 68:20) Surprising as it may seem, an examination of some popular beliefs about death in the light of God's Word will prove both comforting and refreshing. It will reveal that death is not necessarily the end of everything.

 

A Closer Look at Some Myths About Death

THROUGHOUT history, man has stood perplexed and apprehensive before the dark prospect of death. What is more, fear of death has been fueled by a mix of false religious ideas, popular customs, and ingrained personal beliefs. The problem with fear of death is that it can paralyze one's ability to enjoy life and erode one's confidence that there is meaning to life.
Popular religion is especially reprehensible for promoting a number of popular myths regarding death. By examining a few of these under the light of Bible truth, see if your personal perceptions about death can be clarified.

Myth 1: Death is the natural end of life.

"Death . . . is an integral part of our lives," says the book Death—The Final Stage of Growth. Comments like this reflect the belief that death is normal, the natural ending of all living organisms. In turn, such a belief has fostered a nihilistic philosophy and opportunistic behavior in many.

But is death really the natural end of life? Not all researchers believe so. For instance, Calvin Harley, a biologist who studies human aging, said in an interview that he does not believe that humans "have a program to die." Immunologist William Clark observed: "Death is not inextricably intertwined with the definition of life." And Seymour Benzer, of the California Institute of Technology, muses that "aging can be better described not as a clock but as a scenario, which we can hope to edit."

When scientists study the design of humans, they are baffled. They find that we have been endowed with resources and capabilities that far exceed the needs of our 70- to 80-year life span. For example, scientists have found that the human brain has immense memory capacity. One researcher estimated that our brain can hold information that "would fill some twenty million volumes, as many as in the world's largest libraries." Some neuroscientists figure that during an average lifetime, a person uses only 1/100 of 1 percent (.0001) of his potential brain capacity. It is appropriate to ask, 'Why do we have a brain with such a large capacity when we utilize only a tiny fraction of it in an average lifetime?'

Consider also how unnaturally humans react to death! For the majority, the death of a wife, a husband, or a child can be the most upsetting experience of a lifetime. People's entire emotional makeup is often jarred for a long time after the death of a person dearly loved. Even those who claim that death is natural to humans find it hard to accept the idea that their own death will mean the end of everything. The British Medical Journal spoke of "a common expert presumption that everybody wants to live as long as possible."

In view of man's general reaction to death, his amazing potential for remembering and learning, and his inward longing for eternity, is it not clear that he was made to live? Indeed, God created humans, not with death as the natural outcome, but with the prospect of living on indefinitely. Note what God set before the first human pair as their future: "Be fruitful and become many and fill the earth and subdue it, and have in subjection the fish of the sea and the flying creatures of the heavens and every living creature that is moving upon the earth." (Genesis 1:28) What a wonderful, lasting future that is!

Myth 2: God takes people in death to be with him.

A 27-year-old mother who was dying and leaving three children behind told a Catholic nun: "Don't come in and tell me this is God's will for me. . . . I hate it when somebody else tells me this." Yet, this is what many religions teach about death—that God takes people to be near him.

Is the Creator really so cruel that he would callously inflict death on us, knowing that this breaks our hearts? No, not the God of the Bible. According to 1 John 4:8, "God is love." Note that it does not say that God has love or that God is loving, but it says that God is love. So intense, so pure, so perfect is God's love, so thoroughly does it permeate his personality and actions that he may rightly be spoken of as the very personification of love. This is not a God who takes people in death to be near him.

False religion has left many confused as to the whereabouts and condition of the dead. Heaven, hell, purgatory, Limbo—these and various other destinations range from being incomprehensible to being downright terrifying. The Bible, on the other hand, tells us that the dead are unconscious; they are in a condition best compared to sleep. (Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10; John 11:11-14) Thus, we need not worry about what happens to us after death, any more than we worry when we see someone sleeping soundly. Jesus spoke of a time when "all those in the memorial tombs" would "come out" to renewed life on a paradise earth.—John 5:28, 29; Luke 23:43.

Myth 3: God takes little children to become angels.

Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, who studied terminally ill individuals, referred to another common perception among religious people. Describing a real incident, she stated that it is "unwise to tell a little child who lost her brother that God loved little boys so much that he took little Johnny to heaven." Such a statement casts God in a bad light and does not reflect his personality and behavior. Dr. Kübler-Ross continued: "When this little girl grew up to be a woman she never solved her anger at God, which resulted in a psychotic depression when she lost her own little son three decades later."

Why would God ****** a child to get another angel—as if God needed a child more than the child's parents did? If it were true that God takes children, would that not make him an unloving, selfish Creator? Contrary to such a perception, the Bible says: "Love is from God." (1 John 4:7) Would a God of love cause a loss that even humans with any measure of decency would not tolerate?

So why do children die? Part of the Bible's answer is recorded at Ecclesiastes 9:11: "Time and unforeseen occurrence befall them all." And Psalm 51:5 tells us that all of us are imperfect, sinful, from the time of our conception, and the eventuality for all men now is death from any number of causes. Sometimes death strikes before birth, resulting in a stillbirth. In other cases, children succumb to their dire circumstances or have accidents and die. God is not responsible for such eventualities.

Myth 4: Some people are tormented afterdeath.

Many religions teach that the wicked will go to a fiery hell and be tormented forever. Is this teaching logical and Scriptural? The human life span is limited to 70 or 80 years. Even if someone was guilty of extreme wickedness all his life, would everlasting torment be a just punishment? No. It would be grossly unjust to torment a man forever for the sins that he committed in a short lifetime.

Only God can reveal what happens after people die, and he has done so in his written Word, the Bible. This is what the Bible says: "As the [beast] dies, so the [man] dies; and they all have but one spirit . . . All are going to one place. They have all come to be from the dust, and they are all returning to the dust." (Ecclesiastes 3:19, 20) There is no mention here of a fiery hell. Humans return to dust—to nonexistence—when they die.
In order to be tormented, a person has to be conscious. Are the dead conscious? Once again, the Bible gives the answer: "The living are conscious that they will die; but as for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all, neither do they anymore have wages, because the remembrance of them has been forgotten." (Ecclesiastes 9:5) It is impossible for the dead, who are "conscious of nothing at all," to experience agony anywhere.

Myth 5: Death means the permanent end of our existence.

We cease to exist when we die, but this does not mean that everything is necessarily finished. The faithful man Job knew that he would go to the grave, Sheol, when he died. But listen to his prayer to God: "O that in Sheol you would conceal me, that you would keep me secret until your anger turns back, that you would set a time limit for me and remember me! If an able-bodied man dies can he live again? . . . You will call, and I myself shall answer you."—Job 14:13-15.

Job believed that if he was faithful until death, he would be remembered by God and in time be resurrected. This was the belief of all of God's servants in ancient times. Jesus himself confirmed this hope and showed that God would use him to raise the dead. Christ's own words give us this assurance: "The hour is coming in which all those in the memorial tombs will hear [Jesus'] voice and come out, those who did good things to a resurrection of life, those who practiced vile things to a resurrection of judgment."—John 5:28, 29.

Very shortly God will remove all wickedness and establish a new world under heavenly rulership. (Psalm 37:10, 11; Daniel 2:44; Revelation 16:14, 16) The result will be a paradise over the whole earth, inhabited by people who serve God. In the Bible we read: "I heard a loud voice from the throne say: 'Look! The tent of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his peoples. And God himself will be with them. And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.'"—Revelation 21:3, 4.