I never actually called him "Uncle Jimmy", but Lindsay did. That's how she always knew him, growing up with Jimmy right down the street in Columbus, Ohio. It has been a tough week for our family... Jimmy took his own life a couple days ago, leaving behind a 14-year-old daughter and a whole bunch of hurting family. Jimmy was loved, big-time. And he will be missed until we see him again.

I'm here in Ohio right now with the family, just spending time with them, not saying too much, not offering any verses or horribly unhelpful statements like "He's in a better place now". That doesn't help anyone. Not when they want him here, with us, with his daughter. I believe he IS in a better place, but we are here.

Some people have asked us a very common question in the Christian circle: "Was he a Christian?" The answer is yes, and that was what we said. But would you like to know what I was thinking when it was asked?

I really hate that question.

The person who asks that question always does so out of love and concern, because what they are REALLY asking is "Is Jimmy in Heaven or Hell?"

Can I tell you something, my friends... and don't take this the wrong way, because many of you have asked that question many times, and like I said, it is always from someone who cares. And I know you care. But I've been thinking about that question for a long time now...

It is such a horrible and insensitive question. I know it doesn't come from an insensitive heart, but it is.

Because what if I say no? How would you respond? How can you possibly be encouraging in that moment? How will anyone draw closer to God in a moment like that?

How about a new question... like, "Can you tell me about them?"

"What was your favorite memory of them?"
"What did you learn from them?"
not... "Are they currently being punished for all eternity?"


What the heck have we done with the best news ever?

This message of Jesus, "the gospel" as the early followers started calling it, is better than we think. Why have we reduced, chopped down, and distorted the brilliant and beautiful and hope-filled message of Jesus to a matter of heaven and hell? It has been cheapened into a transaction where you and I make a deal with God... we believe something and he doesn't send us into some place of eternal torment... Are you kidding me?

I believe the gospel. It has saved me many times. I believe Jesus when he says he has come to restore all things. I have been restored, and am being restored more and more each day. I believe that we are forgiven because of Christ. I believe that Jimmy sees clearly now how GOOD this "good news" is.

But I also believe that God isn't stupid and small and so horribly uncreative that he would set into motion a movement, a so-called "good news" that is simply about heaven and hell. I believe that it is so...much...better...than that.

And I think it is time for some new questions.

Do you like the kind of person you are becoming?

What if you don't die today, or tomorrow, or the next day, or until you are 100 years old?

How good is this gospel to you right now? What difference has Jesus made in your life?

I think this may be why there are 4 billion people saying "No thanks" to Jesus. They haven't been asked the right questions. They haven't actually seen a clear picture of who Jesus is, and what he has done.

Hebrews 2:9
But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.