Posted on 04/09/2013 1:22:06 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
"I'm sitting here with a loaded shotgun. I want my family back or I pull the trigger," Al* threatened over the phone. "And don't call the cops. I'll kill them before I let them put me in some institution."
What could I say to this troubled parishioner? His wife and son had left him, he had been demoted at work, and he felt the church was unsupportive of him.
"Well, God loves you and I love you."
"Yah, yah. But if I commit suicide, I'll go to hell! Right?"
Al's question brought up the age-old question: Do Christians who commit suicide go to heaven or hell? In second grade, my Sunday school teacher had hanged herself. "How could someone who led her class in singing 'Happiness is the Lord' be so sad?" I had questioned.
My questions continued into my adult life and ministry as
I talked with survivors of suicide attempts and read actual notes left by those claiming to be Christians who succeeded. For instance, sixteen-year-old Matt left the following note before ending his life with a .22 rifle:
You that heard me preach saw how God changed my life. He can change yours too!! When he does, you better not turn back. Discipline yourselves now!! Draw near to God through Jesus Christ now!!! If you don't . . . you may some day find yourselves hopeless. It's your choice.
GOD FORGIVE ME FOR NEGLECTING YOU AND FOR BECOMING SO COLD!! TAKE CARE OF MICHAEL AND MOM. HAVE MERCY ON MY SOUL. AMEN."
And then a barrage of questions from Genny, a once bright, intelligent Christian women who since heart failure had become mentally impaired-and was well aware of her disability. Genny repeatedly tried to overdose with her heart medication. "Why didn't God just take me when my heart failed? I want to go home to be with Jesus."
I've come to two conclusions as I've dealt with questions of Al, Matt, Genny, and others:
Christians are not exempt from depression and, at times, despondency.
William Cowper, who wrote the popular gospel song "There Is a Fountain" proclaiming Christ's forgiveness and love, repeatedly attempted suicide. Even saints like Moses, Elijah, and Jonah went through periods of extreme depression and, yes, suicidal thoughts (Numbers 11:10-15, 1 Kings 19:1-5, and Jonah 4:9). I half joke that I would have committed suicide during junior high, but I knew if
I did, my parents would kill me. (The first part of that sentence is no joke.)
I believe the Bible is clear that we go to heaven or hell based on our relationship to Jesus Christ.
Yes, suicide raises many spiritual and psychological questions, but one thing is certain:
God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God.
Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it (Ephesians 2:8-9). We obtain heaven only by our belief in Jesus Christ as our Savior. And we go to hell only by our rejection of Jesus Christ as our Savior (Hebrews 6:4-6).
After nearly an hour, Al finally agreed to unload his weapon and meet his wife and son at the local police station. He has since been reconciled with his wife and found a church where he feels more accepted.
While I still fear the midnight calls from those contemplating suicide, I am assured that God dearly loves those who feel so depressed and desperate, and He will judge their actions with His mercy and justice based on their relationship with His Son.
* All names have been changed.
-- James Watkins is the author of 16 books and a public speaker. His website is: http://www.jameswatkins.com/
How do you know that God didn't make an exception and allowed his last suicide victim to take their life?
But I digress, why would God inflict a mental illness so severe on an individual that would cause that individual to take his own life?
Our streets are filled with homeless prophesiers claiming the end of the world is coming tomorrow, are they crazy or are they true messengers of God?
What matters is your greater intent. If your intent is to commit suicide, presuming you are not mentally ill, you are guilty of a sin. However, if you die as a consequence of pursuing a greater good you have not sinned.
Peace be with you
The end result is the same, isn’t it? Is it ok, just because of the circumstance?
“To thine own self be true”
But you know that yet you continue to drop into these threads spouting your crap..........
Crap? Who the hell are you and why can't you read and understand 4 simple sentences. Here. I'll post them again in bold font so you won't miss them. And try and understand the last sentence. Hint. It's sarcasm. It alludes to the fact that people who commit suicide are not right thinking.
Now. If you still don't understand this, go ask an adult for help.
Well, it’s not like God doesn’t know you’re going to commit suicide.
and God knows your intent, right/ In fact, He knew you were going to commit suicide, before you were even conceived, didn’t He?
I hate these threads, it brings out everything I find disgusting about this alleged christian, conservative site..............
Yes, God is omniscient.
Peace and blessings
The Parable of the Lost Sheep
(Luke 15:1-7)
10 See that you despise not one of these little ones: for I say to you, that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father who is in heaven. 11 For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.
12 What think you? If a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them should go astray: doth he not leave the ninety-nine in the mountains, and go to seek that which is gone astray? 13 And if it so be that he find it: Amen I say to you, he rejoiceth more for that, than for the ninety-nine that went not astray. 14 Even so it is not the will of your Father, who is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.
And why would that be? Perhaps a mental illness problem that not even your God can prevent, or maybe he actually created?
False Conversions 'Suicide' for Churches, Pastor Warns
The suicide forest of Japan: Mount Fuji beauty spot where up to 100 bodies are found every year
How voluntary is “voluntary”? (Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide)
The Secret Suicides of Oregon (Becoming More Ssecret and More Strange)
The Practice of Assisting Suicide is on the Rise in the U.S. and Abroad
Suicide: The Unexpected but Proven Result
Study: suicide rates higher in Protestant nations than Catholic ones
Disclosing the abortion-suicide association
Radio Replies Second Volume - Suicide
The Sin of Suicide
Is a person diagnosed with schizophrenia even capable of recognizing God and Jesus Christ?
Or are they just selfish as you claim?
Seems like it must be ok with Him, otherwise, why create you if He knows you’re going to commit suicide and go to hell?
Catholic practice used to be that bodies of suicides could not be brought into the church for funeral Mass, and they were buried in unconsecrated ground in the rear of the cemetery lot. I remember seeing one such grave & being told, “He killed himself”. There was a large pine tree growing out of the grave next to the headstone.
Nowadays the Church usually declares suicides to have acted while not in their right mind & therefore guiltless, and are accorded Christian burial.
No different than a pregnant woman told that she could DIE if she gives birth and DOESN”T ABORT, but gives birth and dies in childbirth......TICKET TO HEAVEN!!!
These type of threads are certainly tricky. There are so many reasons as to why a person may or may not commit suicide or how that is even defined. For example, the wife of my husbands boss did not permit cancer treatment that may have cured her illness. She chose to carry her baby, deliver her and die from the cancer. Was that suicide? A person suffering from mental illness may commit suicide but is that any different than a person under the influence of drugs and walks out into traffic? Both minds were altered and both died. I think this type of thread may hit on some raw nerves for the simple reason that some of us have personally known people who have committed suicide. We have seen their struggles and we have seen how kind and loving they were when not in the grasp of illness. For someone to say that they are condemned is simply not OUR place. It is in the Lord’s hands and to be honest... that is exactly where it should be. Hugs, HT!
Those who commit suicide do not go anywhere...i.e.....they sit in limbo until their actual “termination” date arrives, (before we are born we decide when we want to die, God reviews and HE decides when our actual “termination” date will be) (this is my belief, you don’t have to believe and you don’t have to condemn me for what my belief is, we all have different theories) after limbo, they meet their maker, are reincarnated and come back to learn whatever lesson(s) they didn’t learn the last time on Earth.
No. Thou Shalt Not Murder. There's a difference, a big difference. At times it is necessary to kill in order to protect your own life or property. It is also necessary if you are sent to protect your country. It is not an easy question to answer but it is not kill=murder=suicide. No, not that easy.
I’d say it depends entirely upon whether or not the person in question was the “Poor of Spirit” (”Blessed are the...”)that Jesus spoke of.
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