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"A Voice From Beyond The Grave"
 
The following is a document that Pastor Marr wrote in preparation for his death.


I speak to you from beyond the grave.  While I was still in the body, I once wrote:
_______________________

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"I’m unusual.  I look forward to dying.

 

Oh, yes, there is the normal tug of this life and this world.

 

In spite of the pain, I’ve endured and continue to endure, there are good things, too.

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The beauty of the trees, the flowers, the hills and mountains, the nearby Niagara Falls.  The beautiful birds with their sweet songs. Friends and family. God and His love.”
_______________________

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It wasn’t really the dying that I looked forward to.  It’s what I knew followed, what I’m enjoying now.

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The unpleasantness of dying is just the prelude to a perfect eternity.

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I couldn’t stand the imperfections of this world. I found that even the most wonderful things this world offers are flawed by imperfections of all kinds. Moreover, they’re fleeting at best.

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I hated the certainty that the beauty of the new warm green of spring and the magnificent multi-colors of fall would be followed by the cold grey-brown bareness of winter.

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I couldn’t stand the hurtful imperfections that are the common lot of all mankind. I loathed my own imperfections most of all.

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I longed for the day when I would at last escape all the uncertainties, failures, follies, stupidities, and imperfections of all kinds that were so obviously mine.

And now, thank God, I have. I haven’t died at all. My body is returning dust to dust. But my soul, the real me lives on.

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Right now I’m with my Savior and my God, the personal, all-powerful, all-knowing, everywhere -present, eternal, and infinite God who created all that is.

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You can see Him everywhere. Look up at the stars. Look out at the world. Look in at your body, and most notably at your brain.

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Billions of brain cells work together to accomplish the most marvelous feats. Every organ plays its role in the human body; if it weren’t there, or if it weren’t designed to work exactly as it does work, the body wouldn’t function. When almost any organ stops functioning, the whole stops functioning. And your body dies.

 

There are billions of stars in our galaxy and billions of such galaxies in our universe. Suspended in space, they operate in the most awe-inspiring order.

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The earth’s ecosystem is so marvelously balanced that, from tigers to microbes, vultures to rabbits, it functions to keep everything in it functioning.

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Every creature is provided with all it needs to operate adequately in its environment.

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As scripture puts it, it’s only “the fool” who “has said in his heart, there is no God.”

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A noted biologist declared that the probability of life originating by accident is comparable to the probability of the Unabridged Dictionary resulting from an explosion in a printing shop.

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It’s the devil’s lie that there’s no God, no life after death, no eternally perfect place prepared for God’s then-perfected children.

 

A long time ago this same devil told another lie. He told Eve, the mother of the race, “You shall not surely die.” When he told that lie, he introduced into the earth and the human race not only death, but all the anguish, and hurt, and pain, and suffering, all the uncertainty, frustration, loneliness, sin, and evil that have cursed mankind ever since. And he arranged to take men with him into the hell that God had provided for the devil and his angels.

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But the God who created mankind loved you too much. He wanted no part in this. He arranged for an end to all the pain, suffering, sin, and hell for all of those who would accept His way out.

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He sent Jesus, His sinless Son, to die on the cross, taking our sin and punishment on Himself. And His Spirit is pursuing you relentlessly, calling you to turn from your sin and receive Him as your Savior and Lord.

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Do you really want to choose the devil’s way, not God’s?  Do you really want to choose your sin, not your Savior?  Do you really want to choose hell, not heaven?

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“But,” you say, “I don’t believe there’s a heaven or hell where I’ll live on after physical death.”

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My dear friend, that really doesn’t make a bit of difference. A minute after you’re dead you’ll be a believer. But then it will be too late.

 

So, to seek God and His salvation must be right now the very most important concern of your life.

 

I call to you from beyond the grave. I urge you most earnestly to pray simply, something like this:
_______________________


“Dear God, I know I’m a sinner. I’ve done things that displease you.

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I want you to save me from my sins and their deserved punishment.

 

So, as best I know how I take Jesus to be my Savior and Lord right now.  And I ask your help to enable me to live in such a way as to increasingly please you and help others to know and love you too.

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Thank you for forgiving my sins and cleansing me of them.

 

Thank you for preparing a place for me in heaven.  Amen.”
_______________________

 

Then start reading your Bible beginning with the Gospel of John. Talk to God often in prayer.

 

Get together with others who love the Lord Jesus at a Bible-believing church or wherever you can.

 

Tell others often what the Lord has done for you, and encourage them to pray the same kind of prayer you’ve prayed.

 

Pastor Ron Marr

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“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

 

- The Lord Jesus Christ, Our Savior

"Testimonies from Pastor Marr's Memorial Service"

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The memorial service for Pastor Marr was a special time that appropriately honored Pastor Marr and abundantly glorified our Lord Jesus Christ!


The service was simple and included a "formal" program, a time of "open" testimonies, and ended with fellowship and refreshments.

 

The "formal" service:
 

Members of Pastor Marr's family shared touching thoughts and memories.
His grandchildren sang a couple of worshipful songs.

 

Our pastor shared briefly and read Pastor Marr's message from beyond the grave.  (You can read this message on the left side of this page.)

 

The "open" testimony time:
 

A common theme that everyone testified about was Pastor Marr's belief in prayer.  For those of us blessed to have known him, we experienced this reality.  One could be speaking with Pastor Marr about an issue and in the middle of the conversation; he would simply begin to pray about it.

 

One woman stood up to testify of how Pastor Marr had impacted her life.

 

It was amazing!  She had only known him for four months (the last four months of his life) while he was in the nursing home.  She met him while visiting her mother, who was also in that home.  Pastor Marr had prayed with this woman and had given her some of his literature.

 

Imagine the impact that God helps us to make on people's lives.  During the time of Pastor Marr's life when he was in pain and at his weakest, longing to be in Heaven with his beloved Jesus, he ministered to this woman.

 

This "stranger" attended Pastor Marr's memorial with a crowd of people that she did not know, simply to testify of how God had used Pastor Marr to touch her life.

 

Who's life are you touching today?  Are you touching them for Jesus?

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