New name written down in heaven

The Sunday before Christmas was a different one. Euddy's grandfather has been dying of cancer for a few months now. We decided to take the church people and go visit him after church was over. We all piled into the truck. We arrived to sing songs of praise while the poor man lay on a bed just outside the house. He was in so much pain. It was agonizing to watch him try to get comfortable.

After we sang, Doug shared the Gospel message with him. Euddy said that up till this time he has been very rebellious in the things of the Lord. Euddy has tried to preach to him and he has told him to take his evangelism and get out. They've said in the past few weeks he has been more accepting of the things of God.

Doug asked him if he knew his sins were forgiven. He was in so much pain, he didn't really respond. We waited for a while and they brought him some painkiller. We annointed him to be healed in the name of Jesus. In just a few minutes, he was perking up and was able to confirm that he had asked Jesus to forgive his sins. We were thrilled! As we left, I told him we would be praying that God would touch his body, but if not, I would meet him in heaven someday where there is no pain and we would all worship the Lord together. He weakly said, "No, there's no pain." We had a celebration service that night at church. Surely the angels of heaven were also rejoicing.

We got word that in just the past few days Jose, Euddy's grandfather, has pretty much given up the struggle to live. Euddy's family called today and said that they thought that he had died, but evidently is still alive. It seems he is in the last few hours of life, unless God heals him.

The family talked about having a Catholic funeral since they are Catholic in background. They were even going to call in the priest. Jose said he did not want a priest, because he is evangelical now. Praise the Lord! That showed us the he really was sincere in his salvation!

[I wanted to get pictures of this "service" at Jose's house, but we had just moved and I had no idea where the camera was. :-( ]

Unless God undertakes, we are expecting to have a funeral for Jose in the next few days. At least we have the assurance that he is ready for heaven. That's what it's all about.