Epilogue of Raising Jeff

I waited for weeks thinking Jeff might appear at our home , knock and I'd be ecstatic.  I would imagine how God would bring Jeff back to life.  Would he open up the earth and bring him out of his casket -- they don't lock do they? Would God recreate a new body and then plant Jeff in our home one night?  I wondered if there was anything I was not doing to assist. 

Please bring Jeff back to life I prayed, then in an after thought, I prayed, please don't scare me to death if you do. 

A month went by. No Jeff.  I began rationalizing that maybe God didn't think Jeff deserved to come back, maybe the only reason He'd raise someone would be to prove a sacred point.  I figured maybe I wasn't a good enough Christian to -- don't be stupid, Grace is Grace -- I reprimanded myself.  There is a better reason for Jeff not coming back. 

I decided to approach my pastor, Dennis Leonard.  I told him about Easter and trying to raise Jeff. "That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard!" was Leonard's response.  I was shocked.  I expected various responses but not the one he gave.  "But you told us to do what is in Matthew 10:8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give".  Leonard said something to the effect that I was misguided but I heard him many times in church say this very verse and demand that we (congregation) literally follow his directive.  He's a fraud.  "How can you tell us to  heal the sick, and omit raise the dead It's all part of the same verse.  If one is possible then the other should likewise be?  I won't belabor the rest of what was said.  Needless to say, I left The Church According to Leonard.  A new journey was in the offing.