Vantage point

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Waking the dead

“You don’t know me,” the letter began, “but I’m hoping you can help.” The writer told of an uncle who lived in the town where I pastored at the time … and he was worried about him.

“My uncle has never known Jesus, and now he is dying,” he wrote. “I go to an Assemblies of God church, but he has never been a churchgoer. Can you go and tell him about Jesus before it’s too late?”

Of course I would go, but I was concerned. In-home hospice situations can present more obstacles than hospital ministry when the family is not Christian.

I made the call. “Come if you want,” the voice at the other end of the line said, “but it probably won’t do any good. He hasn’t been conscious for days.”

I went quickly, desperately praying that God would give me two miracles: (1) that He would awaken Bill and (2) that Bill would receive Christ. Two long shots indeed.

I arrived at the home and rapped on the door. I was met by Bill’s son, there on death watch with the family. He reiterated the futility of my visit but ushered me into Bill’s room. He left me alone with his father.

Bill was not awake. I spoke to him … and prayed. Then he stirred and his eyes opened. With a calmness that belied my inner sense of desperation, I shared the gospel with him, then asked if he would like to invite Jesus into his heart.

“Not yet,” he said. My heart sank.

“Call my son in here first. I want him to receive Jesus too.”

I led in the sinner’s prayer, and two men, both in tears, were ushered into God’s kingdom. Shortly after I left, Bill fell unconscious once more. He never awakened again.

I had asked for two miracles; I received three.

Ken Horn

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