What happens when you die ?

[Sudsy]

I don't think we ever "resurrect" these mortal bodies, but we are given something much better. Otherwise, there will be a lot of old, ugly people in heaven, and a lot of them would still need to get on a weight loss program.

Yes, I'm looking forward to a new immortal body. Just how we will be like Him, I don't know but scripture says we will be like Him.

[JimFoxvog]

The casket makes carrying the body a lot easier, which was its original purpose.

A good point. The handles are good, but it adds a lot of weight. I've helped lower a few into graves I've hand dug. I think a sturdy plank that could be reused should do fine.

[Josh]

The casket makes carrying the body a lot easier, which was its original purpose.

A good point. The handles are good, but it adds a lot of weight. I've helped lower a few into graves I've hand dug. I think a sturdy plank that could be reused should do fine.

I would be fine with that, but the pallbearers might not want to just "roll 'im in".

[Szdfan]

So a while back, they dug up Beethoven’s grave. When they opened the casket, they found the famous composer and musician furiously erasing a sheet of music.

“What are you doing?” someone asked.

Beethoven replied, “Decomposing.”

[ken_sylvania]

[
I still do not see an eternal torture pit idea in this. Just the destruction of those that will not obey, where their dead bodies are naturally eaten by worms, and garbage is burned. And you see the dead "carcases of the men that transgressed", not someone alive in a flame asking for water.

This fits with my own current understanding of hell also. I find the interpretation of never ending torment and all the justification that goes with this belief, quite not like Jesus who even asked the Father to forgive those who were crucifying Him as they did not know what they were doing,

But then again most people I have known who say they believe in unending torment don't have lives that live up to this belief as they are not out spending as much time as possible pleading with people to not go there and be saved. Real belief will change not only our agreement in our minds but in how we live out a belief.

Which is why I have concluded that you do not really believe there is any kind of punishment after death at all. Because if you did believe that sinners will be punished and separated from God after death, you would be spending as much time as possible pleading with people to repent and be saved so that they would not face destruction and annihilation.

[JohnHurt]

So I am considering cremation. If you have Biblical reasons not to be cremated, consider 1 Cor 13:3 where it is something you do to save money.

Cremation isn't cheap, takes lots of energy, and pollutes. Have some friend dig a hole and put the body in it.
https://www.usurnsonline.com/burial/home-burials/

Rabbit Trail: My son thinks that if we have just one burial on our property, we can declare a large part of the property as a "cemetery" and it would no longer require property taxes. Since "allodial title" is nearly impossible now, he thought one of us should "volunteer" (after we die, of course) to be interred out past the garden so the rest of us won't have to pay for the very limited rural county services we never use anyway, like schools and "police protection".

You can also fully depreciate your farm, farm machinery, houses, commercial property, etc. for tax reasons, with the property in grandma's name, and when she passes and it goes through probate, those that inherit can start with a brand new tax depreciation schedule with a tax basis equal to what the property was worth when she passed - like it is has never been depreciated. I told my tax attorney that we were lining up all of the old people in our family for this purpose, and had him in stitches. You have to break it up to keep the total amount less than what would invoke the inheritance tax, but it would work. You just need a lot of old people with one foot on a banana peel.

[Josh]

Rabbit Trail: My son thinks that if we have just one burial on our property, we can declare a large part of the property as a "cemetery" and it would no longer require property taxes.

There is some influencer on TikTok saying this but that is entirely incorrect. All a cemetery does is make a property harder to sell.

Since "allodial title" is nearly impossible now, he thought one of us should "volunteer" (after we die, of course) to be interred out past the garden so the rest of us won't have to pay for the very limited rural county services we never use anyway, like schools and "police protection".

My family has a few family cemeteries on old land that has since been sold. The cemetery itself generates no taxes seeing as it has no value but it’s not that big. I guess if you can find enough dead bodies you can turn your entire land into a cemetery and then… live sleeping next to tombstones?

You can also fully depreciate your farm, farm machinery, houses, commercial property, etc. for tax reasons, with the property in grandma's name, and when she passes and it goes through probate, those that inherit can start with a brand new tax depreciation schedule with a tax basis equal to what the property was worth when she passed - like it is has never been depreciated. I told my tax attorney that we were lining up all of the old people in our family for this purpose, and had him in stitches. You have to break it up to keep the total amount less than what would invoke the inheritance tax, but it would work. You just need a lot of old people with one foot on a banana peel.

Yes, that’s true you can reset your basis for capital gains and depreciation including with a generation skipping transfer. One reason not to do this is all those assets would become a basis for repayment of Medicaid if someone ends up in a nursing home.

[Sudsy]

[
I still do not see an eternal torture pit idea in this. Just the destruction of those that will not obey, where their dead bodies are naturally eaten by worms, and garbage is burned. And you see the dead "carcases of the men that transgressed", not someone alive in a flame asking for water.

This fits with my own current understanding of hell also. I find the interpretation of never ending torment and all the justification that goes with this belief, quite not like Jesus who even asked the Father to forgive those who were crucifying Him as they did not know what they were doing,

But then again most people I have known who say they believe in unending torment don't have lives that live up to this belief as they are not out spending as much time as possible pleading with people to not go there and be saved. Real belief will change not only our agreement in our minds but in how we live out a belief.

Which is why I have concluded that you do not really believe there is any kind of punishment after death at all. Because if you did believe that sinners will be punished and separated from God after death, you would be spending as much time as possible pleading with people to repent and be saved so that they would not face destruction and annihilation.

I believe God is just in how He will punish unbelievers for their unbelief. Unbelievers will get what they deserve and according to scripture this is not unending punishing. My understanding of the Gospel is more of a current affect on one's life with the end result to be with the Lord. Although my father preached a 'hell fire' message as to why one should be saved, I don't see this as the NT pattern of the early Christians. But he did practise what he preached and was very active in soul winning.

I will admit that my weak involvement in evangelism lately is not loving people as Jesus did and desiring that none should perish but that all should come to repentance. If you want to judge my short comings to evangelize you could say that I do not have enough appreciation for the free gift of salvation and what that gift is all about to move me to want it for others also. It is not about punishment but rather how wonderful it is to be saved from sin. Problem for many of us is that we are not living in the abundant life that Jesus promised us or if we were, we would want it for everyone and couldn't keep it to ourselves.

I have experienced periods in my life when my life in Christ was so abundant that I just could not help but share Jesus with others. There is a whole dimension of living in the Spirit that rises far above all the interests and concerns we share on these forums. But if one doesn't believe that, they will never know what it can be like.

And to move into that spiritual abundant way of living requires giving up investing in the life we are surrounded by. As long as I am in this body I will be at war with my fleshly desires and earthly interests. Some Christians go about this as strictly a 'giving up' way to live but that won't get us to the abundant life. When I pursue a moment-by-moment walk with the Lord by the Spirit, the life I take on just makes the fleshly way fall off. It really isn't a 'giving up' as it is a 'taking on' that results in the old way of dying.

So, after all that rambling, I understand the Gospel as the entrance into the abundant life Jesus promised rather than the escape from unending punishing. And if I am living in this abundant life experience, I will desire it for others and will naturally want others to have it too.