[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"\u002Farticles\u002Ffinal-deadline":3,"\u002Farticles\u002Ffinal-deadline-surround":69},{"id":4,"title":5,"author":6,"bibleBooks":8,"body":14,"columnName":52,"date":53,"description":20,"extension":54,"image":55,"meta":56,"minRead":57,"navigation":58,"path":59,"postType":60,"publication":61,"publicationUrl":55,"seo":62,"stem":63,"topics":64,"__hash__":68},"blog\u002Farticles\u002Ffinal-deadline.md","Final Deadline",{"name":7},"Dave Faust",[9,10,11,12,13],"Psalms","Hebrews","1 Corinthians","1 Peter","Romans",{"type":15,"value":16,"toc":48},"minimark",[17,21,24,27,30,33,36,39,42,45],[18,19,20],"p",{},"Deadlines are an unpleasant but necessary part of life. The time comes when bills must be paid, work finished, assignments turned in, lights turned off. In the office where we prepare this weekly magazine, deadlines never disappear—they simply give way to new ones.",[18,22,23],{},"Some say the term \"deadline\" originated during the Civil War, when soldiers held in prison camps were shot on sight if they crossed a line drawn in the sand outside the prison fence.",[18,25,26],{},"All of us face a deadline of a different sort: the moment when we cross the line from time to eternity. George Bernard Shaw said, \"Death has rather impressive statistics: one out of one dies.\" To the young, death may seem distant; but like an early autumn sunset, the shadow of death can overtake us sooner than we'd expect or prefer.",[18,28,29],{},"After Princess Diana's fatal car accident, TV news reports showed haunting video images taken by hotel security cameras just minutes before she died. As Diana and her companions stepped into the ill-fated Mercedes, they had no idea how soon their lives would end. Nor do we. Death can be as close as one faulty turn of a steering wheel or a sudden heart attack; and although careful people manage to postpone it, death is a powerful magnet pulling us downward toward the grave. Eventually it grasps even its most resistant prey. Moses lived to the ripe old age of 120, yet he wrote in Psalm 90:10 that our days \"quickly pass, and we fly away.\"",[18,31,32],{},"Of course, when you and I die, no one will hold elaborate ceremonies in Westminster Abbey watched by millions around the world, nor will newspapers eulogize our humanitarian efforts as they did for Mother Teresa. No, most of us will die a plain, ordinary death. There will be a few flowers, and the Twenty-third Psalm read by a preacher. Somber friends will speak in hushed voices and manage nostalgic laughs while dabbing at their eyes with handkerchiefs.",[18,34,35],{},"But wait. There's no such thing as a \"plain, ordinary death.\" When it's yours, it's singularly important. When it happens to someone you love, you can't just shrug it off.",[18,37,38],{},"And God doesn't shrug it off either. When his own Son died by painful crucifixion, it was no plain, ordinary death, but a supreme act of grace. Sinless Jesus paid sin's death penalty to free us from our fear of death (Hebrews 2:14, 15), and by his resurrection he opened the door to genuine hope (1 Corinthians 15:55-58; 1 Peter 1:3). Everyone needs this good news, since all of us are under sin's death sentence (Romans 5:1-21).",[18,40,41],{},"Recent surveys show that 81 percent of Americans believe in an afterlife, including 50 percent of those who claim no religious affiliation. In a poll cited by *U.S. News & World Report *(March 31, 1997), 87 percent of those surveyed think they themselves will probably go to Heaven. But we need to be sure. As Joseph Cook said, \"Pillow my head on no guesses when I die.\" Guesswork won't get us to Heaven; Jesus' work will.",[18,43,44],{},"Coroners sometimes perform a postmortem to determine cause of death. Maybe each of us should conduct our own \"pre-mortem\" so death won't catch us unprepared.",[18,46,47],{},"Are you ready for life's most important deadline? Only in the Lord can we truly rest in peace.",{"title":49,"searchDepth":50,"depth":50,"links":51},"",2,[],"From the Editor's Desk","1997-11-16","md",null,{},3,true,"\u002Farticles\u002Ffinal-deadline","column","The Lookout",{"title":5,"description":20},"articles\u002Ffinal-deadline",[65,66,67],"Biblical Theology","Christian Unity","Holy Week and Resurrection","WBVREAWkgiqf55ZkYx3CjsoOS30oOAvk9S7yA6zPMuo",[70,75],{"title":71,"path":72,"stem":73,"description":74,"children":-1},"Filling the Leadership Void","\u002Farticles\u002Ffilling-the-leadership-void","articles\u002Ffilling-the-leadership-void","“It’s like riding a bicycle, trying to catch up with a bullet train.”",{"title":76,"path":77,"stem":78,"description":79,"children":-1},"Finding the Beauty in a Sunset: What We Can Learn from Organizations That No Longer Exist","\u002Farticles\u002Ffinding-the-beauty-in-a-sunset","articles\u002Ffinding-the-beauty-in-a-sunset","Singer Dan Hicks recorded a Country-Western song with a funny title: “How Can I Miss You if You Won’t Go Away?” It’s no laughing matter, though, when treasured Restoration Movement institutions go away."]