Explain This.


Crashed Toyota Matrix

Image via Wikipedia

A man was in a multi-car accident.  It wasn’t fatal for anyone involved.  But the incident rattled the very soul of each survivor.  Parts of automobiles lay in every direction for 50 yards.  Air bags deployed now lay like fading mushrooms.  Doors sprung open display the vulnerability of the flesh of man.  Tears on the faces of the women, and the wide eyed faces of the men, testify to the shock.

The miracle is that no one was hurt.  Not even a scratch on any of them.  The wonder of their situation began to sink in.  And, as they stood together, one by one they began to laugh.  Six people stood among carnage laughing.  When the police finally arrived, the scene was a bit macabre.  The ambulance and fire crews had no work. Officially, the only work was cleanup and writing.

Later in the month those six people gathered at a café to share their joy at being alive.  As they sat around the table and recounted the possibilities, they began to slowly notice something.  There were no words to describe their encounter.  Each of them could tell their story but what words could describe the shock, horror, fear, and anxiety in those fateful moments?  Language was the barrier which could not be surmounted.  And they eventually sat silent.  Each of them began to break down in different states of tears.  At this point they realized just how alone they were.  Unable to tell the completeness of the story, even to those who were involved, isolation was almost a tangible element between them.  Such violence gone silent.

Though their experience is unique, we all understand the limits we face each day.  I want to tell someone something.  But the words don’t always come out quite right.  And there is always need to clarify.   Yet, the clarification itself isn’t clear!  What frustration!  Yet, what a common bond between lay us all.  Even if we say, “Here, let me show you”.  The message is filtered through the mind and heart of the receiver and the sender.

With this foundation, I present the reason for this entry:

I have warned about the reality of God’s promise to the wicked.  Unfortunately, I haven’t been there to see it happen.  And even if I had seen it with my own eyes, how could I relate it to anyone?  But I believe with a fever that such things are going to occur.  I have also spoken loudly about the promise of God to those who accept the Lord Jesus’ sacrifice.  Though I haven’t received it in full, I believe it with a severe passion.

Like those in the accident, how can I hope to explain what I know to anyone?  Even other Christians are hard pressed to share their experience of Jesus with each other.  And these people have a common bond beyond this world’s perception!  We use words like glorious, joyful, peaceful, amazing, and such.  But none of them can hold even one sliver of a moment in His presence in prayer.  Nor can they relate how amazing it is to experience the reality of His forgiveness after we have knowingly sinned before His very face.  How can any of us hope to convince the wicked of their plight?  It has to be a God thing, this conversation about what is coming.  It is God who communicates the completeness of His promises to each one of us.

Hell is real.  The promise of God to utterly wipe out the very souls of the wicked (history, name, hopes, and work) is true!  But these are just words, aren’t they?  If you don’t believe, what can be said to you?

This post is a venting of frustration.  Because I know that if you don’t believe, there’s nothing more I can do for you.  You will, indeed, experience a horror far more real and lasting than those possibilities of the accident I spoke of. And, if any of them had died, they would still face the Most High God.  There is a “second death”.   Yet, those promises of God to those who believe are to be like the six who survived without a scratch.  There is eternal life!

Consider that story.  If those people realized they couldn’t even share among themselves, how could they hope to explain it to others?  A life shattering miracle happened to them.  But that “happening” is uniquely theirs alone.  Salvation is absolute and real.  And, to those who are actively living under the rule of Jesus, life in the Lord is more real than the things of this world.

Please consider my words.  The accident coming on the unsaved is going to be no accident.  If you’ve read this, it is much like someone having a vision before the drivers left their house, office, ball game, or wherever they began their fateful trip.  And the one who had the vision warned the driver to stay a moment longer.  Would any of those drivers listened to the one who had a stern face?  Would they have stayed a moment longer?  Please consider the promises of God in Christ Jesus.  Come!  Come share in the reality of the forgiveness of God in His Lovely Son.

By His Grace.

Our Day is Here


We have left all to follow after the promise of Jesus.  The world scorns us as fools, for we do not any longer live as they.  Let them laugh, scorn, whisper against us, and mock the Lord we serve.  We are compelled to seek His face.  He has spoken to us as to the burden of sins which are sure to drag us into oblivion.  And with this speaking He has announced to each one of us the promise of eternal life in His Holy Son.

Let them consider Jesus’ people as human waste. 

Their day is fast approaching. 

Let them live in filth of soul. 

Their day is fast approaching.

Let them be first.

Their day is fast approaching.

Let them win according to the world’s definition of the word “win”.

Their day is fast approaching.

The Christian’s day is here!

God cannot lie, and He has promised life to all who:

Call upon the Holy name of His Son,

And who submit themselves to His Holy Rule;

To rid themselves of every evil thing which brings Him shame.

Their day is coming.

Our day is here!

 

By His Grace.

Who’s Your Hero?


A cool old guy in ginza, Tokyo

Image via Wikipedia

I am often struck with a deep sense of sadness and awe at how men praise each other yet offer no praise to the One who made men.  Though I have had my heros among men, this foolishness no longer has any attraction for me.

I was looking within my heart, the other day, to see who I admire among men.  I was looking for that particular “hero”.  I was looking to find the one who inspired me to continue toward what is better or best.  And I was amused to find no one rise to the top.  There have been many who have set a good example for me to consider.  But none rise far enough to become my hero.  Most of those who have held that position in my life were men who denied God His rightful place.  And they held that place within me before I knew the Most High God through Jesus. 

Does a man live well without a hero?  The answer is: “My people die for lack of vision.”  No man can render anything more than destruction without finding The source of creation and life.  Though most live with a hero who is far less than “good”, who they aspire to become will dictate where the arrive.  If my hero is the one who puts together a thatch hut, a thatch hut is what I will build.  If  my hero is he who has built a castle, a castle is what I will build.  And if my hero is He who lives forever, living forever is that to which I will aspire.

Who’s your hero?

 

by His Grace.

Faith? What Faith?


one of the most laughter inducing photos i've ...

Image via Wikipedia

“They will have a form of godliness but deny the power of it”.  Why? 

Have you ever asked yourself why you shrink back from becoming a power house?  What is it about us that we are willing to accept the thought of eternal life and peace in this life.  But we shudder at the thought of becoming a serious witness for the Lord in any place He chooses.  Why are we so very timid about our faith?

Is it because we really don’t have any faith?  Is it possible that all we’ve done with the Lord God of Life is receive the idea that He can do certain things?  Maybe we don’t really believe that God is able, willing, and yearning to display His power through His people.  “Oh, that stuff is fine on the mission field.  But it’s got no use where I live.”

While you’re busy thinking today.  And you will certainly think.  Take a good look at your witness for the Lord.  How come it’s so very tiny?  I’m not asking you to raise the dead by the power of your Lord.  I’m just asking that you be honest about the faith you think you have.

 

By His Grace.

The Deal of Eternity.


White Flower

Image by doug88888 via Flickr

The Lord.  The Lord Most High is calling.  “Make your paths straight before My sight.  I have offered you My Son, that you might clothe yourselves in His Righteousness.”

“He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels.” (Rev. 3:5)

We walk according to the ways of man.  But God offers us His way.  Seek His offer and submit to His leading.  There is no other way to Life.  All who ignore His offer will not see Life.  But to the extent you receive His offer, you will not be put to shame. 

By His Grace.

The Swatter is Coming.


Common house fly (Musca domestica).

Image via Wikipedia

The fly buzzes my head.  And he gives no thought that he is irritating me to violence.  He does not notice as my hand reaches for the fly swatter.  And he takes no notice of how I have dressed myself in patience for his destruction.  I will wait for him to lite in a place of my convenience.  Then I will unleash his end.  What was tethered in patience will become a lightning end.

So it is with the wicked against the Lord.  They give no thought of how irritating they are becoming to the Lord.  They do not notice how their lives are headed toward a place the Lord has established, the place of their destruction.  They speak and rail against Him while they take no notice of how He is dressed in an eternal patience.  They are the ones who count the minutes.  The Lord only counts for the sake of those who number, for eternity has no number of days.  He waits for them to lay down in the dirt; their days spent in rebellion and hatred for His Righteousness.  And then, He unleashes His perfect and Righteous Judgment upon the wicked.

By His Grace.