Phil Mickelson, on national television, partially attributed his winning the Augusta National Masters to his deceased grandfather whom he believed gave the ball a bit of a nudge, causing him to win the 2004 Championship. It seems to me that we are hearing these kinds of "sentimental" ideas more and more. Just a few years ago we were unfamiliar with the idea of the dead giving assistance to the living! Could it be that we are tolerant of such notions, and at the same time intolerant of anyone who would dare spoil these "sweet" moments with references to Scriptural truths?

When my father died someone suggested, "Your dad will be pulling for you, putting in a good word." I knew my friend was showing compassion, but her concept was totally inaccurate. In this post-modern world we are without a standard, without truth - anything goes. The Scriptures do not say any deceased man or woman has the power to give assistance or bring us into harmony with anyone. "For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (I Tim. 2:5 NAS). God could have said He is God and Christ is the mediator and left it at that; however, He gave us specific numbers and a specific gender that we can understand - the numbers one and the man Christ Jesus.