ARE YOU READY?

“And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:” (Hebrews 9:27)

My mother used to kid about one of her father’s ironic and bizarre sayings: “People are DYING who’ve NEVER died before!!”

Well, my maternal grandfather, J. Philip Richard, died himself on January 12, 1960. This evening, however, I found myself thinking of his old saying. Indeed, people ARE dying who’ve never died before! This week it’s been Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, and Michael Jackson. (I know this is another morbid thought, but somebody must have won “The Death Pool” on the Howie Carr Show!) My friend John Ventresco from New Hampshire is probably the biggest Howie Carr fan I know. I saw John just a couple of days ago- ironically, at his brother’s WAKE! (For you non-New Englanders, a “wake” is a “funeral home visiting hours”.)

Yes, people are dying who’ve never died before. The celebrity whose death has saddened me the most is Michael Jackson. Did it surprise you that he was 50? I knew Michael was born in 1958. The Jackson Five’s first big hit was “I Want You Back” in 1969. At the time, Michael was 11, but it was CLAIMED that he was just 7. It was part of that “little kid image”. As Eddie Murphy said in the first “Beverly Hills Cop” film, “Michael Jackson is Sitting On Top of the World!” Indeed, he was. He had it all! Or, DID HE? Would you have really wanted to be Michael Jackson? Did you know Michael Jackson was a Jehovah’s Witness? He was, at least AT ONE TIME. I don’t think he’d “practiced” the “Watchtower faith” for many years. Can you see Michael Jackson ringing the doorbell and trying to sell you an “Awake” magazine? I think most of us would tell him to “Beat It!” (Pun intended!) The Watchtower faith is a false religion, but I guess what’s even worse is becoming an American idol, YOURSELF. An “idol” , after all, tries to stand in the place of God. Michael started out as a cute black little boy. He died as a white? and effeminate individual. I understand he’d wanted to play Edward Scissorshands instead of Johnny Depp. I think MIchael might have done a better job with that film! Michael had millions. He was famous. He had his own amusement park. There were those “sleep overs” (we won’t talk about those!). There was his marriage to Lisa Marie Presley. There was the “Thriller” album, and the “moonwalk”. Would you have wanted to be Michael Jackson?

Michael Jackson couldn’t just anonymously hop in the car and go to the mall. He couldn’t go to the beach. He couldn’t just take a walk, or have breakfast at McDonald’s while casually reading the Los Angeles Times. He couldn’t just go for a walk down a busy street. Is Michael Jackson in Heaven? Unless there’s been some miracle which we have no right to expect, he’s lost.

Yes, people are dying who’ve never died before. If you went into cardiac arrest within the next 24 hours, would you be ready to stand before God?