Ohana_Okazaki
I have. I have a friend who lost his dad 2 years ago in a "sudden" heart attack. They are angry at their local catholic church for even suggesting that he might not be in heaven (and not for accepting Jesus as you might think, but for being a divorcee). So they like to think that he's in heaven even though there was no real evidence that he had a saving faith in Christ. The friend I refer to would tell me of the time he had cancer and he prayed that he would be a better person if God healed him, but I don't know. I don't tell the bereaved that it's possible he's not in heaven (and who would do that?!). But in my heart I am thinking that it's a toss-up. It all depends on those final moments.
But yeah, even if people die and they were devout believers I still get sad. In the month of February there were 3 funerals in a row, every weekend. All of them were pretty old and had touched many people's lives. Some of them had suffered physically for years until they finally died. To think that we'd be glad that God ended their suffering and now they get to enjoy the presence of our Lord and Savior forever. But I think what makes us sad in regard to believers being dead, is that we miss them here on earth and they're gone from our sight.
I guess it's just super important we talk about Christ as often as it's appropriate to do so and to live accordingly, so that at least by our actions, people can ask questions and perhaps learn what they must do to be saved.
Indeed - each breath counts. I do believe that some people are able to be saved at last minute on their death bed. I always hope that there are some people that have accepted Christ on their death bed and were able to enter Heaven and receive the gift of eternal life.
It bothers me when some say that someone's relative went to Hell and not Heaven. It's something we can't truly determine because we aren't the judges at people lives.
I suppose in general - deaths are hard to deal with because it's difficult to know what to actually say. We never know where people go - a person who was Christian in their life may not enter Heaven because we don't know the secret sins in their life. Someone who was atheist until their last breath and accepted God may have had the chance to get into Heaven.
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