Secrets from Beyond The Grave

They are dead, they will not live;

They are deceased, they will not rise.

Therefore You have punished and destroyed them,

And made all their memory to perish.

--Isaiah 26:14

To the casual reader, these passages seem to contain opposite teachings. However, a closer examination of the context in which they were written reveals that there is no contradiction. The 1 Corinthians passage deals directly with the resurrection of the dead in Christ at the return of Christ. In context of the chapters before and after it, Isaiah 26:14 was dealing with nations that God was going to judge, making their memories perish, but the nation of Israel would endure. Poor Mr. Jenner fell for the oldest trick in the adversary's playbook--believing that the Bible is full of contradictions and lies. Both of these cemetery markers are a statement to the men who once lived. The statement is: We did not believe what was written in the Scriptures. This defines how these departed souls were remembered by their friends and those in their communities. Go with me now to the mountains of West Virginia. We have traveled by car through winding roads paved over rolling hills. We are about three miles from Davis, the highest town east of the Rockies. Just before reaching the old bridge at the quaint town of Thomas, we make a left turn and head toward a wooded area on a gravel road that appears to lead to nowhere. In a brief moment we see a sign that reads Rose Cemetery . This old-time graveyard has served as the final resting place for people from the surrounding community since the 1800s. Many of the markers on the backside of the road are so weather-worn they have become unreadable. Some have been broken and are leaning to one side, ignored centuries ago by surviving relatives. Some more recent monuments have plastic flowers lying lifelessly in front of the memorials, while others are well kept and manicured. We stop about fifteen yards from the entrance, turn off the ignition, and exit the car. What we want to see are two simple marble markers on the right side of the gravel road. The grass has been trimmed, and new plastic flowers are sitting in a small vase at the base of the tombstones. We pause and remember the two wonderful people who died years ago, both in their eighties. They were married for more than sixty-five years before the husband's departure. The wife missed her loving friend so much and followed him several years later. They were buried side by side. Today they still live, but at this moment only in our memories. He was always laughing and telling jokes. He was never sad, and the children and grandchildren never saw the couple argue and never heard them talk negatively about anyone. She was a great cook, and the aroma of her homemade vegetable soup would bring the family to the table before being invited to come. They are two of hundreds buried in this cemetery. Their grave markers are passed every week without notice, except by relatives and friends who visit occasionally to remember two special people whose physical remains are laid to rest in that small mountain cemetery. However, over the years, it is the simple words on the man's marker that people have