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Remember Me: End of Life as Seen Through The Eyes of a Hospice Chaplin · Get The Hell Out of Your Life with Ron Meyers

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: It's time now to get the hell out of your life.
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: A weekly broadcast with real people sharing real struggles and offering real hope.
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Today's show will encourage, inspire and empower you to face life's challenges with a bold confidence and renewed hope.
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: Now let's join our host, ron Myers.
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: The Provider.
• 0:23
  Ron Meyers: Hello, my friends, it is so good to be with you today.
• 0:27
  Ron Meyers: Before I talk about today's show, I have to tell you something.
• 0:31
  Ron Meyers: I live in an area where there are a lot of trees and there is an eagle's nest somewhere in the vicinity of where I live, and this morning I saw this beautiful bald eagle flying above my home and I thought of that scripture verse, isaiah 40, 31.
• 0:54
  Ron Meyers: But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.
• 0:58
  Ron Meyers: They will soar on wings like eagles.
• 1:01
  Ron Meyers: They will run and not grow weary.
• 1:04
  Ron Meyers: They will walk and not be faint.
• 1:07
  Ron Meyers: What a promise from God.
• 1:10
  Ron Meyers: So if you're tired today, if you're weary today, I want to encourage you.
• 1:15
  Ron Meyers: You will be like that eagle I saw this morning and be soaring very soon, and I believe today's show is going to encourage and inspire you.
• 1:26
  Ron Meyers: You and I are getting older and one day we will be at the end of our life.
• 1:34
  Ron Meyers: Well, today I have invited a chaplain, a hospice chaplain, to be a part of our conversation.
• 1:41
  Ron Meyers: So, listeners, I want to introduce my guest.
• 1:43
  Ron Meyers: He's on the phone with me, his name is John Wenderline and he has written a book For me.
• 1:50
  Ron Meyers: End of life has seen through the eyes of a hospice chaplain.
• 1:54
  Ron Meyers: John, so glad you are able to visit with my listeners today.
• 1:58
  Ron Meyers: I have to ask you, though, brother, why did you write a book like this?
• 2:03
  John Wenderlein: Well, you know, Ron, I tell you it's hard for me to say that I never would write a book like this, because what happened is 20 years ago or so, I decided to step into this profession.
• 2:13
  John Wenderlein: You know, I just felt a need for a release and over the years I have just basically downloaded my brain, my stories, into my computer.
• 2:23
  John Wenderlein: And you know, about a year ago I had a close friend say John, you know, these stories that you have, you just need to let people know.
• 2:29
  John Wenderlein: Let people know that it's going to be okay and that there's a great love given at the end of life.
• 2:33
  John Wenderlein: So you know, it was definitely a labor of love.
• 2:37
  Ron Meyers: Your patients do.
• 2:38
  Ron Meyers: All of them, 100% of them, believe in Jesus.
• 2:41
  John Wenderlein: Well, you know, one of the most amazing things about being a chaplain is that, especially a hospice chaplain, is that you meet all kinds of people.
• 2:48
  John Wenderlein: You know all walks of life.
• 2:50
  John Wenderlein: You know you and I understand that, like in Ecclesiastes where it says that life is full of seasons and these people are coming to the end of their seasons.
• 2:58
  John Wenderlein: So I meet all kinds.
• 2:59
  John Wenderlein: I meet them where you can look at them and say you know what?
• 3:02
  John Wenderlein: Where the Bible says that if you stay with me long enough, I will take away the big things, where the little things don't matter.
• 3:08
  John Wenderlein: I've met those people.
• 3:09
  John Wenderlein: I've met people who have said I'm just not sure.
• 3:12
  John Wenderlein: And you know, I've met people who literally go out screaming, literally go out screaming.
• 3:19
  Ron Meyers: What do you mean?
• 3:20
  Ron Meyers: Go out screaming?
• 3:22
  John Wenderlein: Well, what happens, ron, when a man or one of our patients not a man alone, just one of our patients we're having issues with trying to get them to get their medications right?
• 3:29
  John Wenderlein: I'm sure you understand that, with your father making sure he's pain free, we call it palliative care.
• 3:35
  John Wenderlein: Well, you know, there's a resistance of the spirit to, you know, to be subdued and to, let's say, give in.
• 3:41
  John Wenderlein: I've had probably a couple dozen patients in the 20 years I've been doing this literally scream, I don't want you here.
• 3:47
  John Wenderlein: I've had them and we've taken to our special locations.
• 3:51
  John Wenderlein: We have specific locations where we treat them more specially, with our nurses and better medical care, and still my doctors will say you know, chaplain, they went out screaming.
• 4:00
  John Wenderlein: There was no amount of medication we could give them without them just screaming.
• 4:04
  John Wenderlein: So I see all facets, ron.
• 4:06
  Ron Meyers: You know, does that mean they never accepted Jesus as their savior?
• 4:11
  John Wenderlein: Well, you know, you never know that.
• 4:12
  John Wenderlein: You know the second chapter of Romans does what.
• 4:14
  John Wenderlein: It would be careful.
• 4:15
  John Wenderlein: We're not the judge, we're the hands of God.
• 4:17
  John Wenderlein: But you know, the book of James says that.
• 4:19
  John Wenderlein: You know, there's evidence, evidence of salvation, not your works, but there's evidence of a love for Christ.
• 4:26
  John Wenderlein: So you know, if you just took it on the merit of what you've seen and what you know and what life they've led, until the 70, 80, 90 years that they're getting ready to pass, you can say well, you know they might be that deep on the cross.
• 4:38
  John Wenderlein: You know, we just don't know.
• 4:40
  John Wenderlein: You know, for me it's always been fruitful on that.
• 4:43
  John Wenderlein: God uses all people for all things.
• 4:45
  Ron Meyers: Yep.
• 4:46
  John Wenderlein: You know, one of my things as a pastor, as a chaplain, as a father or husband is that as long as there's breath, there's hope.
• 4:53
  Ron Meyers: Amen.
• 4:53
  Ron Meyers: Tell us one of your favorite stories that's in your book of one of your patients.
• 4:58
  John Wenderlein: Well, I met a sweet lady who was, who wanted to be a hundred years old.
• 5:02
  John Wenderlein: I walked into her room it really nice, you know, assistant living facility, really nice, not scaling.
• 5:08
  John Wenderlein: When I walked in, she had the elections of 2016 on there, fox News, and of course, the first thing I said was Miss Agnes, are you political?
• 5:18
  John Wenderlein: And she said to me I surely am.
• 5:20
  John Wenderlein: So I said, well, sweet lady, I'm not, I'm just here to love you up and let's have conversation.
• 5:25
  John Wenderlein: So you know, she was born and raised a Catholic, but she didn't own a Bible.
• 5:32
  John Wenderlein: She was 99 years old, never had a Bible, and when I came to visit her a second time, you know we probably spent 20, 30 minutes with her.
• 5:39
  John Wenderlein: So I said, you know, I'm going to come see her again next week.
• 5:41
  John Wenderlein: And the week passed and I went to see her and I walked in and she had a real stern look on her face and I couldn't figure out why.
• 5:48
  John Wenderlein: And I said what's going on with you?
• 5:49
  John Wenderlein: And she said you know I've been thinking.
• 5:51
  John Wenderlein: And I said, sweet lady, I told you, don't be thinking, it's going to get you in trouble because she just, you know, she was one of those people who had an opinion on everything you know.
• 5:59
  John Wenderlein: She didn't know.
• 6:00
  John Wenderlein: So she said you know, I lost my husband about 15 years ago.
• 6:04
  John Wenderlein: I said, yeah, I know.
• 6:04
  John Wenderlein: And she said I loved him to death.
• 6:06
  John Wenderlein: I said, I know, you told me the story.
• 6:08
  John Wenderlein: She said, you know, when I die and I get to heaven and he has found somebody else, I'm really going to be mad and I laughed.
• 6:15
  John Wenderlein: I said, sweet lady, that's not the way it works, you know.
• 6:18
  John Wenderlein: And, ron, for that amount of time, and probably, she last lived about six months longer.
• 6:24
  John Wenderlein: Her heart just failed her.
• 6:25
  John Wenderlein: But in that time I became the Bible answer man gave her a pad and a pencil.
• 6:29
  John Wenderlein: I said, sweet lady, I'll tell you what you do.
• 6:31
  John Wenderlein: I'll come see you once a week.
• 6:32
  John Wenderlein: You write down the thoughts and questions you have and then we'll talk.
• 6:36
  John Wenderlein: Well, you know, that went on for six months till she got the flu and her family called me to come to the hospital where she was and I remember all standing around and me holding her hand and telling her it's going to be all right, and I played with a family in the room and probably 30, 40 minutes after I left she passed away.
• 6:54
  John Wenderlein: So I tell people all the time, ron, what would think that I am doing such wonderful things.
• 7:00
  John Wenderlein: But you know, god puts me in those places to show me what's going on, to give me an understanding of who he is.
• 7:08
  John Wenderlein: I found it as much glory in visiting with that sweet lady as she found with me visiting with her.
• 7:14
  John Wenderlein: So that's just one, but I probably have over a thousand stories now.
• 7:19
  Ron Meyers: What's one question or a few questions?
• 7:21
  Ron Meyers: You hear a lot from people near the end of their life.
• 7:25
  John Wenderlein: It's probably something that you and I understand, probably better than most, because I know you're a man of the word but you know it's that moment of depth, you know it's that moment that the Bible says that in the twinkle of an eye you will be with me in paradise.
• 7:39
  John Wenderlein: You know, people worry and they worry and they worry and they worry and they become consumed by this thing of depth.
• 7:46
  John Wenderlein: But if you study depth in the scriptures, you realize it's just the time it takes to blink your eyes.
• 7:53
  John Wenderlein: Now are we, are we denigrating as our bodies waste away?
• 7:57
  John Wenderlein: As Paul said in the Bible, in scriptures, of course.
• 8:01
  John Wenderlein: But so I find it's that moment, it's that moment of death, that moment that they're no longer going to breathe.
• 8:06
  John Wenderlein: That seems to scare people.
• 8:08
  John Wenderlein: Deathling is around all of us in some form or fashion.
• 8:11
  John Wenderlein: I used to say I sent it to this sweet lady who I just gave you the story I said you know, my prayer is that when I get close to passing, if I know I'm going to pass, then I go out in glory Because you know, ron, I've seen sweet ladies and sweet men say I'm ready, and you know what I sensed in them, that they were ready.
• 8:31
  John Wenderlein: So my prayer is that when I get to that point in life, then I just become a wonderful witness for it.
• 8:38
  Ron Meyers: And you know, john, chances are somebody is listening to this that is near the end of their life and they don't go to church.
• 8:46
  Ron Meyers: They're not in hospice yet.
• 8:47
  Ron Meyers: They don't have a chaplain.
• 8:48
  Ron Meyers: They sit in their house alone, wondering every day.
• 8:51
  Ron Meyers: What in the world do I do?
• 8:53
  Ron Meyers: What would you tell that person?
• 8:56
  John Wenderlein: We can take all the books of the Bible, all 66 books of the Bible, and we can narrow it down to one simple thing.
• 9:02
  John Wenderlein: Christ said when he was wandering this earth, and he said if you don't have Me in your heart, if you don't have love in your heart, you don't have me.
• 9:10
  John Wenderlein: That person it's home.
• 9:12
  John Wenderlein: That's my greatest fear is that there's gonna be somebody that's gonna be at the end of their life that I hadn't had the opportunity to meet and you know I'm gonna have to leave them in the hands of God if they, if they pass away beforehand because, you know, as part of my job, I'm on call, so I may.
• 9:27
  John Wenderlein: I may be at home at two o'clock in the morning and again I get a call from the hospital that somebody that I don't know, I've never met, maybe in a car accident.
• 9:36
  John Wenderlein: Man to a hard attack or strut or whatever, and they're either dying or they died.
• 9:40
  John Wenderlein: So I walk into those situations with not great sorrow but great wonderment, and for that person who's at home, who is struggling, they just need to bow their heads.
• 9:49
  John Wenderlein: Jesus said that we have an individual walk with him doesn't require Sprinkling of water, doesn't require anything but just a faith and a commitment.
• 9:58
  John Wenderlein: And that's an individual commitment.
• 10:00
  John Wenderlein: So I, I try my best, trust me.
• 10:02
  John Wenderlein: I jokingly say Ron, when I get that call at two o'clock in the morning, I start running towards the hospital and I let the car catch up with me.
• 10:09
  Ron Meyers: I Really do.
• 10:11
  Ron Meyers: This is really a passionate call on your life, isn't it?
• 10:16
  John Wenderlein: It is.
• 10:16
  John Wenderlein: You know, I came out, I came to understand who God was in my early 30s I'm not 30 now, in my early 60s.
• 10:23
  John Wenderlein: But I went to seminary, did all those things and I couldn't figure out why the Lord hadn't got me one of these big churches.
• 10:28
  John Wenderlein: You know, that's the way we think, we, we should do things.
• 10:30
  John Wenderlein: And finally, a dawn on me that while I was in seminary, one of the presidents had us in the war with you.
• 10:37
  John Wenderlein: Remember they were calling up our National Guard and so many of the men that were in seminary were being called up to go to war.
• 10:42
  John Wenderlein: And I remember, at the age of 40, trying to join the military, I've read an article that said for every Thousand, twelve hundred men, there was only, there was only one chapter.
• 10:52
  John Wenderlein: So I said, boy, I can't imagine a man or a woman dying in a here battle and not not just not have somebody there to say it's gonna be okay.
• 11:00
  John Wenderlein: And you know, and that just turned into this passion that again I have to say that this is as much as I like to think that you know, I'm doing something wonderful.
• 11:07
  John Wenderlein: The Lord is doing something wonderful for me.
• 11:09
  John Wenderlein: He's giving me my purpose.
• 11:11
  John Wenderlein: You know, I'm gonna do this until I'm not healthy enough to do it anymore.
• 11:16
  Ron Meyers: Listeners, if you just tuned in, I'm talking with John Wenderline.
• 11:20
  Ron Meyers: He's got a book out called remember me.
• 11:22
  Ron Meyers: End of life is seen through the eyes of a hospice Chaplain.
• 11:26
  Ron Meyers: Since you deal with people at the end of their life, will you take a minute and speak life into somebody listening that is ready to just give up?
• 11:36
  Ron Meyers: And they said I'm ready to go, he can take me tomorrow.
• 11:39
  Ron Meyers: Speak life to that person.
• 11:41
  John Wenderlein: I believe scripture tells us that in Paul's clear that we're not attached to something this moral.
• 11:45
  John Wenderlein: So if somebody is ready, if that person is ready to just say you know it's time, you know, I walk into room filled full of patients, family members, and sometimes they're near death and sometimes they're Not yet ready to die, and they'll ask me to pray.
• 12:01
  John Wenderlein: And I tell them every time before I pray, it's never failed over the last years I've tell them that I'm gonna pray for God's mercy, I'm gonna pray for God's swiftness and I'm gonna pray for God's love.
• 12:11
  John Wenderlein: And if the Lord chooses To lift that sweet person that you love so much out of that bed, and so be it.
• 12:17
  John Wenderlein: But today we're gonna just pray for his mercy and we're gonna pray that when he comes he comes swiftly.
• 12:22
  John Wenderlein: So I try my best.
• 12:24
  Ron Meyers: Amen.
• 12:24
  Ron Meyers: You know, john, when my mother was on hospice, she died at the young age of 59 with cancer, and before she died she looked up in the corner of the room and said mom, mom, have you experienced that with the patients that you deal with?
• 12:41
  John Wenderlein: That's a whole heavy subject to breach.
• 12:43
  John Wenderlein: But then we don't have enough time to do that.
• 12:45
  John Wenderlein: But I have to tell you I lost my father four years of Christmas, 18th day of December, near Christmas, and he was in his.
• 12:53
  John Wenderlein: He was in a hospital bed living room so people could come visit him and he could watch his TV and whatever.
• 12:58
  John Wenderlein: But as he got closer to the end of his life I remember I was talking to him he said he looked up and it was a little hallway between where he was laying and he said what's dad doing here?
• 13:08
  John Wenderlein: Now his father has been what has been dead for four decades.
• 13:13
  John Wenderlein: I said, oh, your dad's here.
• 13:15
  John Wenderlein: He goes.
• 13:16
  John Wenderlein: Yeah, I, just what?
• 13:17
  John Wenderlein: Why is he here?
• 13:17
  John Wenderlein: I said well, dad, he's, he's here to see you.
• 13:20
  John Wenderlein: I imagine you know, ron, it wasn't.
• 13:22
  John Wenderlein: But maybe 15 or 20 minutes now my father was talking without confusion.
• 13:26
  John Wenderlein: Now you know he wasn't mumbling and stumbling and pausing.
• 13:30
  John Wenderlein: He was talking because he would go right back into, you know, his fishing or whatever else story he was talking about.
• 13:36
  John Wenderlein: But then, maybe 20 minutes later, he said a man I wish my mother would would come back out the kitchen so we could talk.
• 13:43
  John Wenderlein: Now his mama was sweet, sweet, sweet spirited woman who just loved the Lord, but she was been gone for two decades.
• 13:50
  John Wenderlein: So I said dad, mama see, your mama will see later and she does, I want to see grandma.
• 13:55
  John Wenderlein: So all that time that he said that I just, I didn't say anything different, I just a phone.
• 14:01
  John Wenderlein: Whatever he was saying.
• 14:02
  John Wenderlein: And you know, the biggest mistake we make with our patients is we Especially if they have dementia or Alzheimer's is that we want to argue with him about facts.
• 14:11
  John Wenderlein: If they say the world is flat, you tell them it's flat because you know what you want to get peace.
• 14:17
  Ron Meyers: Someone younger listening right now that is dealing with the end of life for a loved one in their family and it's a lot of pressure on them.
• 14:26
  Ron Meyers: Any advice for a sibling taking care of a loved one?
• 14:30
  John Wenderlein: There's no amount of education I you can go to to become a caregiver.
• 14:35
  John Wenderlein: I'll tell you, a caregiver is somebody who doesn't sleep Only if the loved one sleeps, who doesn't eat only if the loved one eats, who doesn't do anything but worry about the care of the loved one that they're taking care of.
• 14:49
  John Wenderlein: So Be a caregiver.
• 14:51
  John Wenderlein: Ironically, at the end of life end of that person's life that they're taking care of they become consumed with guilt.
• 14:57
  John Wenderlein: You know that what it could have shared of stuff that, uh lots.
• 15:01
  John Wenderlein: Many christians will say you know, if I could have done that, I should have done that.
• 15:04
  John Wenderlein: But their second guest themselves.
• 15:06
  John Wenderlein: I just had a sweet lady.
• 15:07
  John Wenderlein: His mother died and she was just so angry and I said, and I talked to her and I said listen, it was your mother's time.
• 15:14
  John Wenderlein: You know, christians, you and I both know if you were to give him that automobile now and go wherever you were gonna go see that little grandbaby yours and you were you were killed in a car.
• 15:25
  John Wenderlein: That was not a car accident, you were in a car at your appointed time.
• 15:29
  John Wenderlein: So I try to make people understand.
• 15:32
  John Wenderlein: There's no greater gift than the give of yourself to the people that you love, because love is an action word.
• 15:38
  John Wenderlein: Love is not lip service.
• 15:40
  John Wenderlein: It is an action when it requires Action and jesus talked about that over and over again.
• 15:46
  John Wenderlein: In fact he has peter.
• 15:47
  John Wenderlein: Remember three times, if you love them, to make sure peter understood that love, that jesus was in peter's heart.
• 15:55
  Ron Meyers: And I love the scripture verse to be absent from the bodies to be present with the lord everything, the scripture, everything.
• 16:01
  John Wenderlein: All the years I've better school and all the Times I've preached messages and study those things.
• 16:07
  John Wenderlein: There's one thing I know for sure that in a moment of time, in a millisecond, the time it takes you to blink your eye when you open your eyes, you with our lord, that's the fact, and it says life is like a morning mist for the lake.
• 16:22
  John Wenderlein: It's worth there one minute and the next minute we're gone.
• 16:25
  John Wenderlein: You know, people live by patients typically, or 80, 90.
• 16:29
  John Wenderlein: I have one down, it's a hundred and six.
• 16:30
  John Wenderlein: But setting in that bed at 95 years old, they'll look at me with awesome serenity and say when has that 95 years gone?
• 16:40
  John Wenderlein: Gone like a car doing 200 miles an hour.
• 16:43
  John Wenderlein: We have to latch onto things that are important.
• 16:47
  Ron Meyers: Yes, sam, make the most out of life now, because we don't know when that door will close.
• 16:52
  Ron Meyers: John, I love your book.
• 16:53
  Ron Meyers: Where do listeners get a copy of this book?
• 16:55
  John Wenderlein: They can go to.
• 16:56
  John Wenderlein: Remember Me, JW, or they can go to our Amazon.
• 16:59
  John Wenderlein: Remembermejwcom is my website.
• 17:04
  Ron Meyers: I would love for you to pray for the listeners.
• 17:07
  John Wenderlein: But of course I have my patients' families.
• 17:10
  John Wenderlein: The caregivers say I'll chat with them while you pray, and I just kind of smile at them.
• 17:13
  John Wenderlein: I said, well, I've learned to continuously pray.
• 17:16
  John Wenderlein: I've learned to pray with my eyes wide open.
• 17:18
  John Wenderlein: I used Jesus Christ's example of prayer when he went to the garden and looked into the heavens.
• 17:23
  John Wenderlein: I said, lord, if it be, you will take this away from me.
• 17:25
  John Wenderlein: He didn't bow down on the ground, he didn't close his eyes, his eyes were wide open and he was intensely praying.
• 17:31
  John Wenderlein: So if we can learn to pray wide open, the eyes wide open, stephen, then I think he just comes closer.
• 17:39
  John Wenderlein: But let me pray.
• 17:40
  John Wenderlein: Grace is heavenly Father.
• 17:41
  John Wenderlein: Lord, again, we know that you are the Almighty and you are our Savior.
• 17:45
  John Wenderlein: You are in control of all things and all times.
• 17:47
  John Wenderlein: Lord, I ask you, if there's anyone out there that hasn't found peace beyond understanding the scripture, tell us just, lord, ask me to just get close to Him, get closer to Him, when I believe you're always with us, as you promise, and you promise with the disciples.
• 18:01
  John Wenderlein: But, lord, I know, I believe in my heart as we get closer to them and you just draw nearer to us.
• 18:07
  John Wenderlein: There's so many wonderful songs out there, lord, that I'm reminded of.
• 18:10
  John Wenderlein: Lord, we love you and we adore you and we just can't wait to be with you.
• 18:14
  John Wenderlein: Lord, lord, you know, I only ask these things and your precious and glorious name, amen.
• 18:22
  Ron Meyers: Friends, right after the break, let's talk about what John just shared with us.
• 19:08
  Speaker 2: Does God speak to us today?
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: If so, what does he sound like?
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: Thundering roars, crashing waves, a booming megaphone?
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: Maybe, sometimes, but maybe it's not quite as Hollywood, dramatic as all that.
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: Maybe it's a little more simple.
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: John 10, 27 says my sheep hear my voice, I know them and they follow me.
• 19:32
  Speaker 2: In the midst of all the noise and questions, god is speaking and we can hear His voice.
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: We just need to learn to recognize it.
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: So what does he sound like?
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: He sounds like love, like reconciliation, like kindness, wisdom, hope, truth.
• 19:51
  Speaker 2: Do you know those sounds Then?
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: Maybe you hear His voice more often than you think.
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: Maybe you're being led by Him more than you realize.
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: Maybe God is speaking to you and you actually are listening.
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: You just didn't know it.
• 20:08
  Speaker 6: It happens in a blink, it happens in a flash, it happens in the time it took to look back.
• 20:15
  Speaker 6: I try to hold on tight, but there's no stopping time.
• 20:19
  Speaker 6: What is it I've done with?
• 20:24
  Ron Meyers: Well, what a story, John.
• 20:26
  Ron Meyers: What a man of God.
• 20:27
  Ron Meyers: He just loves what he does.
• 20:29
  Ron Meyers: He does what he loves, and I really would encourage you to check out His website and the book RememberMeJWcom.
• 20:39
  Ron Meyers: I just want to take a minute and remind us his believers what happens, according to the scriptures, when we do leave this world.
• 20:48
  Ron Meyers: I know when I lost my mother and I lost my father, it was tough, and then this year, the beginning of 2024, it has really caught me off guard.
• 21:01
  Ron Meyers: I have lost a couple very good friends, and the only comfort I have in going through this is the same comfort that you can have when we understand, as a believer, when we die, we can have the assurance that we will immediately enter into the presence of God, and scripture assures us that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.
• 21:29
  Ron Meyers: This means that we are going to experience the fullness of eternal life and the joy of being in the presence of Jesus.
• 21:38
  Ron Meyers: I can't even imagine that that will be so incredible.
• 21:42
  Ron Meyers: So death is not the end for believers, but rather a transition into the eternal life we already enjoy with Jesus Christ.
• 21:52
  Ron Meyers: Just asleep is a temporary state of rest before awakening.
• 21:57
  Ron Meyers: Death is a temporary state before our resurrection and entrance into the fullness of eternal life.
• 22:04
  Ron Meyers: So, friends, when you and I die, we will be reunited with Jesus in his presence, free from the limitations and struggles of our earthly bodies.
• 22:15
  Ron Meyers: It's also important to remember that our understanding of time is limited, but God is outside of time.
• 22:25
  Ron Meyers: So, while we may perceive a waiting period between death and eternal life, for God everything is right now.
• 22:33
  Ron Meyers: So, when we die, heaven is ready for us and our Savior will be waiting to welcome us into His presence.
• 22:42
  Ron Meyers: And additionally, scripture teaches that believers will be resurrected and receive new bodies at the second coming of Christ.
• 22:52
  Ron Meyers: This resurrection will mark the completion of our redemption and the fulfillment of God's promises.
• 22:59
  Ron Meyers: You will receive a glorified body that is imperishable and suited for eternity.
• 23:07
  Ron Meyers: So, my friends, in conclusion, as a believer, you can have the assurance that when you die, you will immediately enter into the presence of God.
• 23:18
  Ron Meyers: Death is not the end, but a transition into the fullness of eternal life with Jesus and friend.
• 23:27
  Ron Meyers: This is the most important thing that you and I must remember when we lose a loved one, that we can find comfort and hope in knowing that we will be reunited with our Savior, with our loved ones, and experience the joy of eternal life.
• 23:48
  Ron Meyers: What a wonderful promise that we Christians have.
• 23:54
  Speaker 5: Has hope become a stranger in your life?
• 23:56
  Speaker 5: Do you feel trapped?
• 23:57
  Speaker 5: Are you caught in a whirlpool of life and responsibilities that you can't escape?
• 24:03
  Speaker 5: Maybe hope has gone because someone robbed you of your childhood or your youth, or maybe it's a dream that you know will never come true.
• 24:11
  Speaker 5: We can wish differently, but life will never be painless.
• 24:15
  Speaker 5: But you're saying where can I find a place where there is peace?
• 24:19
  Speaker 5: Peace is found only in Jesus Christ, crucified and resurrected.
• 24:24
  Speaker 5: Jesus is triumphant over every pain, every failure, every heartbreak and every hope for this life.
• 24:32
  Speaker 5: Jesus tells us if anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
• 24:38
  Speaker 5: If you would like to speak with someone right now about beginning a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, call 888-Need-Him or go to wwwchataboutjesuscom.
• 24:53
  Speaker 7: Ron will be back in a moment to wrap up today's conversation.
• 24:57
  Speaker 7: We want to encourage you today with God's promise to you.
• 25:00
  Speaker 7: It comes from the book of Jeremiah, chapter 29, verse 11.
• 25:04
  Speaker 7: For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord.
• 25:08
  Speaker 7: Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and the future.
• 25:15
  Speaker 7: That's God's promise to you when you choose to commit your plans and future to him.
• 25:23
  Speaker 7: Now back to Ron.
• 25:27
  Ron Meyers: Well, friends, my time is up and I want to remind you what I opened the show with Isaiah 40, 31.
• 25:35
  Ron Meyers: Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.
• 25:39
  Ron Meyers: They will soar on wings like eagles.
• 25:42
  Ron Meyers: They will run and not grow weary.
• 25:45
  Ron Meyers: They will walk and not be faint.
• 25:48
  Ron Meyers: Friends, what an incredible promise from God that, no matter how beat up we feel, no matter how tired and weary we are, god has us in the palm of his hands and he wants you to know that you will rise again.
• 26:07
  Ron Meyers: You will soar like an eagle.
• 26:09
  Ron Meyers: Sometimes, friends, we have to go through the little valley before he can take us to the mountaintop of our destiny.
• 26:17
  Ron Meyers: I want to give you a date Sunday night, april 7, 1st Baptist Church in Gulfport, the Love and Light Tour starring Jordan Feliz and Colton Dixon.
• 26:30
  Ron Meyers: More details coming out on that very soon.
• 26:32
  Ron Meyers: Friends, in the meantime, remember this that I love you, jesus loves you, and when you do life with Jesus, you will remove the hell out of your life.
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: Get the hell out of your life is underwritten by the Christmas City Gift Show.
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: We invite you to come shop with over 255 vendors from all over the United States From November 8th through the 10th inside the Coast Convention Center located on the beach in Biloxi, mississippi.
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: You can find more information at ChristmasCityGiftShowcom.
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, and if you would like to share your story of what God has done in your life or listened to previous episodes, please visit our website, thepromoterorg.
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: Join us next week for another episode of Get the Hell Out of your Life Real stories, real struggles and real hope.
• 27:25
  Speaker 7: We would like to express our gratitude to Coffee News for their support of this program.
• 27:30
  Speaker 7: Are you tired of scrolling through the same old news feeds every morning?
• 27:33
  Speaker 7: Then switch things up with Coffee News.
• 27:36
  Speaker 7: Our publication is filled with interesting stories, brain teasers and uplifting quotes that are sure to brighten your day, and now you can access Coffee News anytime, anywhere, by visiting our website.
• 27:47
  Speaker 7: So, whether you're sipping your morning coffee at your favorite cafe or browsing online from your desk, we've got you covered.
• 27:53
  Speaker 7: Start your day off right with Coffee News at ReadCoffeeNewsOnlinecom.