Alzheimers

I am in agreement that a human remains a human to the last until death comes and swoops them away----either into the safe hands of Heaven's THRONE if that person has been saved or to the depths of Hell if not!

PS-----President Ronald Reagan is one of my all time heroes!!:thumbs: :thumbs:

 

Interesting question and interesting responses.
Now, if an Alzheimer's patient's brain necroses (Beth) and the thinking, recognition, and remembering processes seem to cease to function, is the Alzheimer's patient still saved since he no longer knows or remembers who Christ is ?

 

Of course. You are forgetting God's grace in this regard.

 

Salvation has nothing to do with what we remember----but it has EVERYTHING to do with what the Lord Jesus has done-and what HE does He remembers!!!

:type: :type:

 

Of course they are human and have a soul till death.

Keep in mind that the diagnosis is quite often an educated guess. My father had a diagnosis of Alzheimer's and then two years later it was rescinded. My mil has Alzheimer's, but once again that is a label that has been given by the gerontologist. He said there is no conclusive test.
And they all progress in the disease in different ways and different timing.

 

Yes. Likewise for a patient in a coma.

 

What about in the middle of the spectrum? Aren't soldiers and noncombatants affected by wars human beings too? Yet we somehow try to argue that God wills that these people should be killed. What about capital punishment? We arbitrarily take lives as punishment even though many on death row have been found to innocent.

 

But don't you believe that we have more value than the Iraqi's we kill in battle? This seems like hypocrisy to me.

 

My mother is 93 years old and has Alzheimer's but thankfully still has periods of clear thinking. My aunt, her sister, is 95 and has an extreme case of Alzheimer's. Both taught the deaf for over 30 years. My mother was smart enough to buy extended care insurance but my aunt did not and this good Christian woman ran out of money last year.

She is able to stay in the nursing home only because of Medicaid. Please, everyone, think about my aunt the next time you rant and rave about government "handouts." If it weren't for Medicaid my poor aunt would be out on the street at age 95 with severe Alzheimer's.

 

I'm just amazed that this question is even asked. I don't have time to read the whole thread right now, but I deeply hope that your own answer is a resounding "Yes!" I'm encouraged that everyone who answered the poll said yes.

My beloved father preached the Gospel for 60 years, contracting Alzheimer's in his 60's. The day came when he could no longer drive. He was still human. The day came when he could no longer preach his "sugar stick" message, "It Pays to Serve Jesus." He was still human. The day came when he might wander off and get lost, but he was still human.

When the disease had taken its toll and ravaged him, and he went into the hospital for the last time before being put in a care center for his last days, my Mom asked him what to put for "religion" on the form she had to fill out for him. He said clearly, "I don't have a religion, I have a Savior!" He was still human and still born again and still loved by God and his friends and family. I thank God for him.

 

I understand where you are coming from, I also don't understand how Christians can appear to not care at all or at most very little for the deaths of civilians during war. Especially the deaths of woman and children. In my life I have never voted for a democrat because of their position on abortions, but it also saddens me greatly at other killings as well. It almost seems like if an Iraq woman had an abortion people would be angry, but if she delivered and a day later she and her infant were killed by a bomb people would no longer care at all. I just don't understand that lack of compassion, that lack of love for a human life.

 

The new nature

I think you post a viable question. I would say, yes, still saved, because he or she was sealed by the Holy Spirit at the moment of regeneration. The new nature, the indwelling Holy Spirit, the Mind of Christ, is not who is affected by the Alzheimer's.

Just a little story....One day, while looking through the members' directory at a church we had just started attending, I found the picture and name of a very old woman. Her listed address was in my home town. Well, I went to the nursing home, and to my dismay, discovered that she was no longer in residence there. The facility was able to direct me to another nursing home, the next town up. (Her own money had run out, and as soon as she was placed on medicaid, she was shipped to a state facility)

I went there, and found a woman very far along in Alzheimer's....nonverbal, bed-ridden. I went to the pastor and asked about her...honestly, he didn't know that much about her....he hadn't met her. He mentioned a few friends she had in the church who still attended. I sought them out, and found that this lovely woman was a very Godly sister....her late husband was a deacon, while she herself often served the ladies.

Armed with that info, the next time I visited her I brought my Bible. I tell you, as soon as I started reading Bible passages to her, she reached out, held my hand and had tears glistening in her eyes. I've never forgotten that experience, having learned that while we might not be able to communicate with a saved brother or sister, the Word can still minister to them.

 

That was a very moving post, thank you for sharing it!

 

Because of my strokes and the damage to my brain, I am a candidate for alzheimers or at least dementia. It is a humanly frightening thing. I am assured, however, that God is good to His word, and I am secure in His eternal hands.

My experience over the past 15 years and working with such people, I have learned that they are able to comprehend much of what happenned some 40-50 years beforehand in their lives. Details may be shortlived for the moment, but one can actually have a short conversation providing one can keep in that context.

I don't know what day it is half the time. I mark my calendar daily to let me know. I don't always believe the date on my computer and wife must remind me. I need a note going to store because I will forge why I am there,,even if only for milk.

Part of my therapy is to keep doing what I am doing. Getting involved in short discussions. Reading a few paragraphs of a book at a time..not whole chapters..sometimes even a paragraph is enough. I cannot tell you how difficult it is just to type this and keep my concentration on what is written.

How important it is just to keep in touch with any person suffering such memory loss. Every little bit helps to keep one's mind focused on reality.

As one example, I get confused when every poster includes the entire quote of a previous poster. I keep thinking I am going back to something previously written,,or am I just assuming it was so.

For someone who could remember the names of every person who newly visited my church and name then when leaving, and to-day I can't always remember the names of people I have known here in my village for 30 odd years, this is very difficult.

So, be patient. Take the time to listen, and truly care for these people.

Cheers, and bless,

Jim