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MAX LUCADO: From empty tomb to eternal home, what happens when we die
Several years ago, I received an urgent call to visit a dying man in the hospital. I didn’t know Ray well, but I knew him well enough to know he was paying a high price for his hard living. Though he’d make peace with God through Christ, his liver was in conflict with his body.
When his ex-wife phoned me, she was standing at his bedside. Ray, she explained, was knocking at death’s door. Though I hurried, he entered it minutes before I arrived. The hospital room had a “just happened” feel to it. The ex-wife saw me enter and looked up. With eyes and words, she explained, “He just left.”
Ray silently slipped out. Departed. One moment here. The next moment … where? He passed, not away, but on. Yet on to where? And in what form? To what place? And, once there, what did he see? We so desire to know.
Who in your life “just left?” When the breathing of your spouse ceased, the beating heart in your womb stopped, or the beep of your grandmother’s monitor became a flat-lined tone, what happened in that moment?
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And what will happen to you in yours? Barring the return of Christ, you will have one … a last breath, a final pulse. And … then what? What will we be after we die? What will happen? Answers vary.
Nothing, some people say. We will decay and or disintegrate. Death is a dead end. Our works and reputation might survive, but not us.
Or, we become part of the universe. Eternity absorbs us like a lake absorbs a raindrop. We return to what we were before we were what we are… we return to the cosmic consciousness of the universe.
Christianity, on the other hand, posits a new, startling idea. “Death has been swallowed up in victory” (1 Cor. 15:54 NIV). According to the promise of the empty tomb, my friend Ray awoke in a world so wondrously better than this one that it would take God himself to convince Ray to return to earth.
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This is the Christian hope. This hope is verified by the Easter miracle, that stunning moment we celebrate as Easter. Do you know this miracle?
It was Sunday morning after the Friday execution. The sky was dark. The disciples had scattered. And the Roman executioner was wondering about breakfast or work or his next day off. But he was not wondering about the fellow he had nailed to a cross and pierced with a spear. Jesus was dead and buried. Yesterday’s news. Right?
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Wrong.
“There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. The angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.’” (Matt. 28:2-6 NIV)
And out he marched, the cadaver-turned-king, with the mask of death in one hand and the keys of heaven in the other. He has risen!
AT CHRISTMAS, GOD FULFILLS HIS PURPOSE — AND GIVES US OURS
We know what happened to Christ when he died. What happens to those who believe him?
Simple, because the tomb is empty, the promise of Christ is not. If you trust Christ with your life, he will take care of you in death.
When you die, your spirit will immediately enter the presence of God. You will enjoy conscious fellowship with the heavenly Father and with those who have gone before. Your body will join you later. We believe this is true because of scriptures like this one: “We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:8 NIV).
When Ray’s ex-wife asked me what happened to him, I could rightly say, “He is away from his body and at home with the Lord.”
Have you made this the hope for your life? If not, doesn’t it make sense that you do so? Doesn’t it make sense that you know your destination?
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Travelers do. I’ve engaged in dozens of airplane conversations in my life. When I’ve asked, “Where are you headed?” people always have an answer.
Every traveler worth a flight mile knows that the purpose of the plane is to carry us from one place to the next. Do you understand that the purpose of this life is to do the same? You were made for more than airplane peanuts and in-flight entertainment. You were made to go home.
Jesus Christ rose from the dead, not just to show you his power, but to reveal your path. Just like he did for my friend Ray, He will lead you through the valley of death. He will lead you home.
“Death has been swallowed up in victory” (Cor. 15:54).
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DUKE: Faith Under Fire
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Dana White ‘wasn’t going to see 65’ before longevity expert intervened with strict new regimen
Longevity expert Gary Brecka said his work with Dana White led to startling blood test results, revealing that the UFC CEO may have only had a few years left to live based on his prior lifestyle.
Brecka, who spent 20 years as a mortality-modeling expert in the insurance industry, said on “Hang Out With Sean Hannity” that people in White’s inner circle “quietly” asked him to get ahold of the UFC president, reporting that he was falling asleep during important meetings.
The biohacker said he “tricked” White by telling the UFC boss he needed blood work and a genetic test to predict his life expectancy due to worries over White’s symptoms, while in reality, existing medical records and demographic data could have sufficed.
He said White was experiencing sleep apnea, low blood oxygen levels, aches and pains, among other ailments. But White’s blood test provided cause for concern even before the results were in.
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“His blood coagulated at room temperature. As a percentage, there was more fat in his blood than blood,” said Brecka, due to “lethal” levels of triglycerides.
After sending the blood off to the lab for testing, he got a call at 1 a.m. — a move usually reserved for emergencies. The results were dire, he said.
Given the life-threatening alert, Brecka said he immediately booked a flight to White and was on the ground in Las Vegas by 9 a.m.
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White was floored when Brecka rattled off a list of his symptoms based solely on his test results. It turned out the UFC president had “hyper-homocystinemia,” Brecka said, or the inability to break down an amino acid called homocysteine.
Homocysteine at high levels can irritate the interior lining of the arteries, causing them to “clamp down,” Brecka explained.
“And if you make the pipe smaller in a fixed system, the pressure goes up. So his [blood] pressure wasn’t being driven up because there was a malfunction with the heart. It was being driven because the pipes were too small.”
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Because the vascular system contracted, White began experiencing hypertension. “They start to medicate the heart for a crime it’s not committing,” since the problem actually lay in his arteries, Brecka said.
He put White on a strict keto diet and blood pressure monitoring regimen.
“He wasn’t going to see 65,” said Brecka, based on his preliminary evaluation of White’s lab results.
Ultimately, he was able to extend White’s predicted lifespan from his initial assessment of 10.4 years.
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ACTING LABOR SECRETARY SONDERLING: A fast-track way to get a job without college debt
Hollywood actor Patrick Ball recently made headlines for calling his $80,000 in student loan debt a “huge burden.” In an interview with Cultured magazine, Ball said he believes he would have died in debt if not for landing a starring role in the award-winning drama “The Pitt.”
Ball lucked out, but for most Americans, there’s no such happy ending. More than 42 million Americans have student loans, bringing the total outstanding federal-student-loan debt to over $1.6 trillion. The average borrower has an outstanding balance of around $40,000.
Pursuing a college degree makes sense for many individuals, but it’s not a one-size-fits-all solution. Too many students graduate to discover a drought of job prospects in their field while simultaneously struggling to afford student-loan payments. Even if they manage to land a job, the average annual salary of a recent college graduate is barely enough to sustain one person, let alone a family. The result is paralyzing debt and a stalled future.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. Under President Donald Trump’s leadership, the Department of Labor (DOL) is working hard to create alternative pathways for Americans seeking secure, family-supporting, in-demand careers. As we celebrate National Apprenticeship Week, we’re spotlighting programs that offer hands-on training, strong mentorship opportunities, and credentials that benefit workers and employers alike.
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Last year, Trump issued an executive order titled “Preparing Americans for High-Paying Skilled Trade Jobs of the Future” and set a goal of securing more than 1 million active apprentices. To achieve this mission, DOL partnered with the Departments of Commerce and Education to develop America’s Talent Strategy.
For too long, there’s been a mismatch between the training workers receive and the skills that employers seek. America’s Talent Strategy aims to change that by meeting the needs of employers and preparing more Americans to access high-wage careers. We’re realigning federal workforce programs with investments in private sector training and evolving skill demands as well as partnering with American businesses who are dedicated to employing new apprentices as key pieces of their talent pipelines.
That’s not all. The Labor Department has committed $3,500 incentive payments to partner employers for every registered apprentice hired. Under Trump’s leadership, we’re also streamlining the process for potential partner companies and slashing the red tape that discourages organizations from creating similar programs.
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Additionally, we’re breaking down the silos that have hampered how America prepares its workforce. Last year, DOL signed a historic partnership agreement with the Department of Education. Under this arrangement, DOL can support and influence a broader set of workforce programs previously spread across federal agencies. That means cutting redundant efforts, shrinking bloated government bureaucracy and giving more flexibility to states.
All of this has empowered the Labor Department to add more than 386,000 apprentices and more than 3,300 new Registered Apprenticeship programs since Trump took office last January. Apprentices enjoy an “earn while you learn” model, and those who complete their program can land an average starting salary of $86,000 per year — $20,000 more than that of recent college graduates.
These are significant steps toward closing our nation’s skills gap of approximately 700,000 jobs. But it’s also significant because of the lives we’re impacting.
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Brent Davis is one such example. For years, Brent struggled to provide for his family — until a friend urged him to apply to the Norfolk Naval Shipyard Apprenticeship Program in Virginia. Brent was accepted as a boilermaker apprentice, eventually becoming a journeyman in the shipyard and then an official Shop 41 Boilermaker. Brent graduated with glowing marks across the board for his workmanship. Thanks to his hard work and dedication, he was nominated for the Department of Labor and Industry’s Division of Registered Apprenticeship Outstanding Apprentice of the Year.
Shane Siler of Wyoming has a similar story. For 15 years, Shane worked in the food industry and dabbled in drilling and construction. But after he became a single father, he realized he needed to pursue a more stable and promising career path. Shane was attracted to the trades because they offered the opportunity to earn a full-time wage while still attending school. He joined a Registered Apprenticeship Program, and today he works as an Industrial and Heavy Commercial Electrician. The Registered Apprenticeship Program has empowered Shane to build a better life for himself and his son.
These stories are exactly what National Apprenticeship Week is all about. Our task is to equip Americans to find their place in an evolving economy so that testimonials like Brent and Shane’s are the standard — not the exception. Registered Apprenticeships have the power to strengthen our supply chains, fill skill gaps in industries critical to our national security, and ensure America stays on the cutting edge of innovation and industry.
Most of all, they empower hardworking Americans to achieve the American Dream. That’s something truly worth celebrating.
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