by Joy Ibsen (2015)
What happens after death? What is the meaning of life? If you have ever wrestled with these questions, or experienced answers, you will want to read this book. When someone we care for dies, we have the fantastic opportunity to experience a glimpse of eternity intertwined with present reality. We stand naked before the unknown, vulnerable--unhindered by usual earth time restrictions and preconceived borders of what is possible and we are open to new experiences, new truths. When ordinary earth time merges with infinity, mortality and eternity come together, the mystery of life deepens and sometimes we can perceive and respond to a reality beyond our usual capacities. Even if it is for only a nanosecond, profound changes can occur which last our entire lives. Our consciousness expands permanently. We are forever more aware of the marvelous complexities and interfacing of life and afterlife--the eternity connection--and open to perceiving its truths in everyday life. Here and Hereafter is a book of stories about life-endings--death; it is also a memoir. The stories are based on real life and death problems-- illness, accidents, errors in judgment, suicide, alcoholism, assassination, old age. The characters in the stories are real people in various roles and stages of life-- baby, child, teenager, college student, wife, husband, grandparent, father, mother, national leader, community leader, teacher, minister, patriarch, poet or politician--and yes, even a dog. Each story stands on its own but like life, the sum is greater than its parts. This book is also about spiritual legacy. What is the spiritual legacy you were given? What about it have you embraced? Enhanced? Discarded? How will you approach your own life-ending? What story can you pass on to others?
Victor Lee Austin
"In this personal story of love and loss, a seasoned pastor-theologian shares how caring for his wife during her long and painful struggle with brain cancer brought him face-to-face with his God and with his faith in unsettling ways,"--NoveList.
Faye Aldridge
Burke Aldridge passed away in 2005 at Baptist Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee. Before Burke?s death, he told his wife he would send her a fax from Heaven to let her know he was all right. Since his death, two doctors?who did not know each other?have seen Burke appear in their homes, and they both received similar messages from him. The doctors faxed letters to Burke?s wife, Faye Aldridge, documenting their after-death encounters and the content of Burke?s message. A Fax from Heaven tells this story, along with many other miraculous true stories as told to Faye Aldridge. The author has included many of her own inspiring lived experiences. These extraordinary events are God?s messages of hope. He is with us, and He reveals Himself in supernatural ways to those who listen with expectant faith. This book shares true stories of real people and real life-changing events in their lives!
Betty T. Smith
When her husband announces that he has been unfaithful and asks for a divorce after twenty-eight years of marriage, it appears to Betty that her dream has died. However, in the midst of her pain, God gives her a promise of restoration. Clinging to that promise, she chooses to stay faithful until her husband's return, however long it may take. With candor and courage Betty Smith shares her highs and lows, from the courtship, to the birth of her children, to seeing the man she loved walk out the door, and how she weathered the storm by standing on the promises of God. Nothing Wasted is a love story, not just between Betty and her husband, but also between Betty and the God who was always there, always faithful, and who never let her down.
Tom Ito
Examines the assassination of President Lincoln, focusing on the questions that remain open about conspiracy as well as Lincoln's mysterious premonitions of death.