On The Other Side

Yet we have this assurance:
Those who belong to God will live;
their bodies will rise again!
Those who sleep in the earth
will rise up and sing for joy!
For God's light of life will fall like dew
on his people in the place of the dead!

-- Isaiah 26:19, NLT

The phone message stated that our brother in Christ, Rob M., was found by his roommate Matt H. yesterday morning, dead in his bedroom.

Rob had moved to Dayton from Washington, D.C. last year to do post-graduate work at Wright State University. He had a steady girlfriend, who still lives in the D.C. area.

I remember first meeting him, and I didn't at first recognize that he was originally from Africa. His tall, powerful stature and warm smile will be missed. He taught my daughter's class on Sundays for awhile.

I don't know any more details about how he died, but our midweek service on Wednesday is going to be a memorial service for him.

Rob was in his mid-20s.

"Sometimes I wonder what it's like
To be living life on the other side"

-- Michael W. Smith, "Worth It All"

I talked to Keisha about this a little bit tonight. She doesn't remember who he is by name, but I know she will remember when she sees a picture of him. We read some passages in the Bible about death and dying, such as Deuteronomy 34:1-8 (Moses) and Isaiah 26:19 (quoted at the beginning of this post). Keisha's experiences with death have been very few. She's been to a couple funerals with us, but no one close to her has died yet.

I told her that people cry when people die because they miss the one who has died, just like the Israelites did when Moses died.

Please pray. Thanks!