...time is the one commodity none of us is guaranteed. As we have seen this week, the end can come for our world or any of us today. On this Friday the 13th we are reminded that one Friday will be our last Friday. There is no guarantee that it's not this one.

As 9-11 will remind us on Monday and we have learned this week, death comes to us all so that God's children can step from this fallen world into his glorious presence. How does the process work? What happens when we die?

If only someone could offer a warranty for the powertrain inside my body and yours. Or guarantee a smooth future for our country and its politics. Or promise us that we won't die of cancer. As we saw yesterday, the death rate for the human race is still 100 percent. As we begin thinking about the five-year anniversary of 9-11 this Monday, it is appropriate to be sure that we are ready for death whenever it finds us and those we love.

Space flight is risky; the war on terror is unlike any other we've fought; the elements cannot always be controlled. But death comes to us all. Steve Irwin's father said that his son died while doing what he loved. But he would have died eventually, anyway. Unless Jesus returns first, we will all come to the end of this road and the beginning of the next.

I will never forget that day. A nine-month-old daughter of one of our church members had fallen victim to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. I was asked to perform the funeral. As I looked into that tiny casket, I suddenly saw the face of my own nine-month-old son. I had to step out of the room and gather myself. My sons are my greatest treasure. I cannot imagine the unspeakable pain of burying one. But death comes to all--some late, some early. What happens to those who die so young?

Hell is a real place, mentioned 23 times in the New Testament, 15 times by Jesus himself. Jesus calls it a place of "torment" (Luke 16:23). Hell is real, despite its unpopularity today. Sixty two percent of all Americans, including 52 percent of "born-again Christians, say that Satan does not exist. Only two percentof all Americans are worried about going to hell. But our ignorance and deceit do not change the fact that hell is real.

This week, our pastoral care minister and I sat down to discuss a memorial service he would be conducting for the family of a teenage suicide victim. As we talked about this tragic issue, it seemed to us both that a brochure dealing with this subject would be helpful for families in such times. What you are reading today is the result of that conversation.