How would you have handled this?

[JTC]

Thank you for these replies. I have been doing exactly what Sic said. I'm very aware that saying something at the wrong time can push someone further from the Lord rather than closer. He caught me off guard with the story of how he almost died and saw nothing. But as Bopeep said he hadn't really died. I also think most people who flatline and are revived see nothing. But I can't recall where I learned this and I was to find out in the next 5 hrs this man is intelligent. He probably would have asked for statistics and I have none. This was also supposed to be a 1 hr job. But this building is about 100 yrs old and pipes were rusty, nuts wouldn't come off, and his supervisor didn't have all the needed parts. So my guy had to go to a store. That took at least 30 min. The point is I didn't know I'd be speaking to him so long. I also had no idea that because his wife is stuck in India he goes home to an empty house each night. He's almost as alone as I am and he longs for intelligent conversation as much as me.

After I stopped believing God was real at 18 getting me back to God took the Lord a good 10 years. Looking back He used many people and most of them never mentioned God. I even think 3 were angels. 2 said things they shouldn't have been able to say without inside knowledge of the struggle going on within me. And 1 handed me a small booklet that was John's Gospel in the brand new NIV. I was dumb back then. I wanted to read the Bible but Old English is like a foreign language to me. I fully believed the KJV was all there was. And then this funny looking short man walks up to me in a mall, hands me the booklet and then disappears into the crowd. It wasn't much of a crowd but I couldn't find that guy because I wanted to thank him. Where did he go, and how did he get away so quickly. And why did he only hand 1 of those to me, usually when people hand out things of God they hand out more than 1. And why me? That night was the beginning of my reading the Bible. A skeptic would call all these things coincidences. But skeptics don't believe there's an invisible all powerful God that has legions of angels to do his bidding as well as many people who do our best to help out on Earth. Maybe me and the plummer are like that. I did drop several hints.     

[ayin jade]

On 6/21/2016 at 10:30 AM, JTC said:

Yesterday I had a 62 yr old plumber here. When he arrived I didn't know he'd be here 5 hrs nor that was talkative.

He told me early that there's nothing after death. I think this is his problem believing in God. I asked why? His answer was because he had a heart attack at 43 and he died. He said they paddled him 4 times and were just about to call the time of death when his heart started to beat again. I asked if he saw anything? He said no nothing, no light at all, no people he knew, it was just darkness. He had no awareness of anything. I think he was disappointed. He concluded this life is all there is. I really didn't know what to say. All I thought of is there are a lot of possibilities for why that happened. Over the next 5 hrs I found out this man is a good man. Not a typical person of the world at all. He spent most of his life caring for his mother because his siblings deserted her. He often gets the short end of the stick because he doesn't lie and when he has a job he does it right, no matter how long it takes him. I then found out he's married to a woman from India who was brought here as a sex slave. I guess he helped free her. But now our dear country (sarcasm) won't let her back in. He looks forward to moving there when he can. 

I never actually told him I'm a Christian or that God is real and I know he needs to pray to God even if he doesn't believe in him. No sooner did he leave and I felt convicted. I still do which is why I'm writing this. Why didn't I? Well, I didn't want to put him off even more from God. I was also being selfish and I wanted him to finish the job. I did tell him next time he's in this building to feel free to come in for lunch. IMO this man has the love of God in him. Oh, I think he was raised a nominal Catholic (like me) and that heart attack where nothing happened made him doubt everything.

How else may I have handled this? 

My friend died today. He is saved so I know where he is and that brings me comfort. I have been thinking of his eternity and it brought to mind this thread. 

Your plumber may have physically died (heart stopped beating), but it seems doubtful that his spirit left his body. That may be why he saw nothing. As for the rest ... its a sinful fallen world. 

[missmuffet]

17 minutes ago, ayin jade said:

My friend died today. He is saved so I know where he is and that brings me comfort. I have been thinking of his eternity and it brought to mind this thread. 

Your plumber may have physically died (heart stopped beating), but it seems doubtful that his spirit left his body. That may be why he saw nothing. As for the rest ... its a sinful fallen world. 

It is really a comforting feeling to know when someone is saved. You know where they are going and that you will see them again. I have observed those who lose loved ones who are saved and they know that person is saved and those who are not saved. They ones who are not saved have a more difficult time coping. Of course everyone grieves when a loved one dies but it does not seem to be as hard.

[markdohle]

22 hours ago, bopeep1909 said:

It is really a comforting feeling to know when someone is saved. You know where they are going and that you will see them again. I have observed those who lose loved ones who are saved and they know that person is saved and those who are not saved. They ones who are not saved have a more difficult time coping. Of course everyone grieves when a loved one dies but it does not seem to be has hard.

Sorry for my 1ast response, I don't know why I misunderstood your post.....getting old.

IN some books written about NDE's, they do talk about this.  This is there findings, at lease for some.... if someone has a negative experience it is often shoved under.  Or he did not have one.  Not everyone has an NDE when the come close to death, or die for a short time. 

The way he acts, his heart seems to be open for he seems like a loving honest person.  Pray for him, perhaps that is why he came into your life.

 

Peace

Mark

Edited June 28, 2016 by markdohle
my first resoonse was way off mark, so redid it.

[JTC]

16 hours ago, ayin jade said:

Your plumber may have physically died (heart stopped beating), but it seems doubtful that his spirit left his body. That may be why he saw nothing. As for the rest ... its a sinful fallen world. 

Thanks, this is great. Too bad I didn't think of it but this is what I was looking for. I don't think his spirit left his body neither.

Something else happened that I only just remembered. We were having some great conversations. Apparently we're both 60+ and kind of lonely. Anyway, right before he left he said there's only 1 God and His name is Yahweh (I think that's how you spell what he said). My plumber really caught me off guard, again, because here I was thinking this fellow doesn't even think God exists and then he says this. I think there are several names for God that sound like this. (excluding Jehovah. He wasn't a JW, I've had too much experience with them and 1 of them could never stay 5 hrs without preaching their beliefs) The name he said reminded me of what a Jew for Jesus would call Jesus. Or does Yahweh mean God? I wasn't sure so rather than say the wrong thing thing I said "actually God has many names, such as Elohim." He didn't disagree. Maybe we are both believers and since he was stuck here all afternoon neither of us wanted to cause an argument. I sincerely hope he accepts my invitation and stops in for coffee next time he's here. 

[JTC]

I found the correct spelling of the name my plumber said. Yeshua.