God says no. This is not how my story is going to end.

I have started listening to my friend Paul Vander Klay's videos. I mostly listen via his podcast rather than watch the videos on YouTube. Paul started making videos in response to Jordan Peterson's videos and books. I don't know much about Jordan Peterson yet, but besides discussing Peterson,  Paul interviews people who follow him. Paul interviews "regular people," not celebrities. There are many times where amazing things happen.

One of those times, for me, is in the video below (starting at 28:24). Paul is talking with a man named Jeff. The whole interview is great. They talk about C.S. Lewis and many things. At this point in the video, Jeff asks Paul to talk about death. Paul's sister died very unexpectedly recently, and Jeff's father, an alcoholic, passed away recently, too.

Take the time to listen. My favorite part is about 20 minutes starting at this point, 28:24.

So many things.

"Death is an unacceptable end to the story."

"Jesus got up, and we get to get up, too."

"The bodies have been stacking up in the ground for thousands of years, and the Jesus story is that's not the end. The door has been kicked open."

"When Jesus confronts the grave, he looks at it all, and God says No. This is not how my story is going to end."

"Why am I not an atheist? I couldn't stand it if I were because I can't stand to watch the suffering of this world and everything that people have lost and suffer and think that is the end. No. No."

"The kinds of suffering that you saw in your father's life will be turned to glory. And I don't know how. But I do have inklings" that is true. "I see that God can use suffering with meaning and make glory. Suffering plus meaning makes glory. What that means is there is hope for those who lie in the grave. And I am not going to live in the world without that hope."

"Our works follow us. I believe what the apostle Paul says, that we do not labor in vain. And I believe that Jesus did not labor in vain. On one hand, yes, I grieve my sister. On the other hand, I know that my Redeemer lives and I know I will see my sister"

"When it comes to doing a funeral for someone for whom you don't know what the testimony of their life indicates in terms of their participation in the age to come, all I can say is, my God is good, and he will do what is right."