Don't Believe Everything You Read

With the unusually high number of actual celebrity deaths that have taken place in recent weeks there has also been a slew of false reports about other famous people that have supposedly died. While checking my Twitter page last week I saw a few tweets that said actor Jeff Goldblum (pictured here) had been killed on a movie set in New Zealand.

After a quick Google search and checking a few reputable online sites, I saw no report of his death and guessed correctly that it was a hoax. But Goldblum isn't the only actor that has been reported to kick the bucket recently. I've also read that stars like Harrison Ford and George Clooney had died. (For what it's worth, they're still around).

Actor Rainn Wilson, who plays the immortal Dwight Schrute on NBC's The Office, showed his funny side when he broke the story on his Twitter page that he, too, had apparently died on a movie set in New Zealand. CNN.com writes that Goldblum also took it all in good fun when he appeared on the Colbert Report:

"In the episode, host Stephen Colbert jokes that he thinks Goldblum is dead even as the actor appears on stage beside him.

Goldblum then posts to Twitter to try to prove that he is still living.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I have huge news," Colbert says, upon reading Goldblum's tweet on his phone. "The dead can Twitter."

Goldblum then reads his own false obituary into the camera."

Very simply, don't believe everything you read. With the popular of online social networking, news, whether it is true or not, travels more rapidly than ever before. So anytime you see a friend or an online site posting something outlandish, make sure you double-check your sources before spreading the information on. Check the sites for established newspapers online for breaking news and visit http://www.snopes.com/ to check on newer rumors or potential urban legends. Your friends will thank you for it.

Brennan Manning on Fear

From Brennan Manning in The Ragamuffin Gospel:

"There is one barrier to love that deserves special mention because it is so crucial to the second call of Jesus Christ - fear. Most of us spend considerable time putting off the things we should be doing or we would like to do or we want to do - but are afraid to do. We avoid it because of our inordinate desire to be thought well of by others. So we come up with a thousand brilliant excuses for doing nothing. We put things off, waste the energies of life and love that are within us...

Each of us pays a heavy price for our fear of falling flat on our face. It assures the progressive narrowing of our personalities and prevents exploration and experimentation. As we get older we do only the things we do well. There is no growth in Christ Jesus without some difficulty and fumbling. If we are going to keep on growing, we must keep on risking failure throughout our lives.

When Max Planck was awarded the Nobel prize for his discovery of quantum theory, he said, "Looking back over the long and labyrinthian path which finally led to the discovery, I am vividly reminded of Goethe's saying that men will always be making mistakes as long as they are striving after something."

You know, in spite of the fact that Christianity speaks of the cross, redemption, and sin, we're unwilling to admit failure in our life. Why? Partly because it's human nature's defense mechanism against its own successful image our culture demands of us. There are some real problems with projecting the perfect image. First of all, it's simply not true - we are not always happy, optimistic, in command. Second, projecting the flawless image keeps us from reaching people who feel we just wouldn't understand them. And third, even if we could live a life with no conflict, suffering, or mistakes, it would be a shallow existence. The Christian with depth is the person who has failed and who has learned to live with it."

Thoughts on Death & Dying

Along with many others, I have thought a lot this past week about the topics of death & dying. The number of celebrity deaths has been abnormally high, but on a personal level, I have a very close friend that is likely near the end of his life here on earth.

One of my favorite writers, Randy Alcorn, addresses this topic on his blog. Randy is a thoughtful apologist on a number of topics and, more specifically, is an authority on heaven. Alcorn comments:

"God uses suffering and impending death to unfasten us from this earth and to set our minds on what lies beyond. I’ve lost people close to me. (Actually, I haven’t lost them, because I know where they are—rather, I’ve lost contact with them.) I’ve spent a lot of time talking to people who’ve been diagnosed with terminal diseases. These people, and their loved ones, have a sudden and insatiable interest in the afterlife. Most people live unprepared for death. But those who are wise will go to a reliable source to investigate what’s on the other side. And if they discover that the choices they make during their brief stay in this world will matter in the world to come, they’ll want to adjust those choices accordingly."

Death is always hard to deal with and when it happens to someone close to you it is even harder. As a Christian, I believe that death is merely the passing into a better life for the believer in Christ. But knowing that doesn't necessarily make it easier for those of us left behind. We must still deal with the emotions of grief, sorrow, sadness, anger and loneliness. We must wrestle with our questions before God (even though we may not receive the answers we want) and move on with our lives while keeping our loved ones in our remembrance.

I encourage you to check out Randy Alcorn's article "Looking Forward to Heaven", as well as a wealth of other resources on his Eternal Perspectives ministry website here.