Remembering Hal
By Tom Gilbreath
I’ve heard many stories through the years of Hal Lindsey and other well-known Bible teachers (often before they were well-known) getting together at Hal’s house for marathon talkfests. Sometimes they went far into the night. They talked about God, heaven, and the deep things of God’s Word. I’ve often thought how great it would have been to quietly listen in on one of those sessions.
Well, it won’t be long. Imagine sitting in the heavenly equivalent of a coffee shop with Hal and others. Sounds of laughter and animated discussion fill the room. Entering heaven does not mean we will know everything. We will be exploring the eternal depths of God forever, and such discussions will be part of that ongoing exploration.
Peter, Paul, or both, might drop in. Moses and Elijah might be with them. If that sounds farfetched, you need to remember the eternal nature of heaven. It lasts forever. Without time limits, we will be able to enjoy old friends and new, from all generations and in every possible combination, again and again and again.
Best of all, Jesus will join us. In this month, we celebrate the Lord’s incarnation and birth. At His incarnation, Jesus took human form. That is still His form and will be forever. Both as God and man, He will sit at the table with us.
Hal Lindsey left planet earth on November 25, 2024. But his death was only superficial — neither complete nor permanent. 2 Corinthians 5:8 (NKJV) says, “We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.”
Today, Hal is “present with the Lord” — face-to-face, eye-to eye, smile-to-smile. Hal’s death here on earth was real, but it in no way diminished his eternal life in Jesus. That’s why I say it was “only superficial.” Spurgeon said, “Death cannot kill a believer, it can only usher him into a freer form of life.”
On social media, I noticed several people express disappointment at Hal not being around for the rapture. But that’s not quite correct. Hal will be there. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 describes the rapture with these words. “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
A famous American spiritual calls it “that great gettin’ up mornin’.” The dead in Christ will be right in the middle of the rapture event! They will get their new resurrection bodies just before those who are “alive and remain” get theirs.
Jesus said in John 11:25-26, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.”
While we mourn our loss, we remember that it is only temporary. We will see Hal again, along with all those who have died in Christ. With our own eyes and in our own bodies, we will see and experience the ancient promise — “Death is swallowed up in victory” (1 Corinthians 15:54, Isaiah 25:8).
Heaven’s grandeur is beyond human description, but it is not just magnificent. It is also personal — as personal as a cup of coffee with great friends, or private time with the greatest Friend of all.
