Tag: Heaven

Posted in Church attendance, Church Unity, Evangelism, Life Inspiration

Ten Things that won’t be said in Heaven

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  1. What did the doctor say?
  2. Want to hear some good gossip?
  3. Is there a deacon’s meeting this week?
  4. Did you read the obituaries?
  5. Why are you sad?
  6. What’s the latest trend on twitter?
  7. Is that bread fresh?
  8. What church do you go to?
  9. A lost person’s name L
  10. Are you saved?

I’m sure there’s a million others that we could come up with, but those were at the top of my list this morning as I pondered that question. I find myself thinking a lot about Heaven, especially the more wicked this old world gets, and the more Christians are viewed as the enemy.

Monday’s are my Long Term Care Facility visiting day.  I spend about an hour with the residents singing songs, sharing the gospel and listening to their testimonies. Yesterday, every time I’d sing an old hymn, they’d talk about their childhood and remembrance of hearing it sung in an old country church. We are still blessed with many “Old Country Churches” in our part of the world. Unfortunately many have closed their doors because somewhere along the line the congregations drifted and no longer filled the pews. That’s a reality check for us all on Sunday mornings as we look around at the empty seats in our own church. At least it was for me.

It also brought me to those 10 questions…

  1. What did the doctor say?
    1. There won’t be any doctor appointments in Heaven, Glory to God!!!!
  2. Want to hear some good gossip?
    1. There won’t be any.
  3. Is there a deacon’s meeting this week?
    1. No board, business or bantering in Heaven. God’s got it all under control. He does here too… we just fail to listen.
  4. Did you read the obituaries?
    1. We’ll be living with the Good News. There will be no death.
  5. Why are you sad?
    1. What would we be sad about in a perfect land?
  6. What’s the latest trend on twitter?
    1. Twitter?
  7. Is that bread fresh?
    1. Oh yes!!!!!That brings joy to this bread lover’s heart. I love biscuits and hot rolls, but I love the Bread of Life so much more. It’s all good.
  8. What church do you go to?
    1. Glory to God the same one!!!! Why can’t we understand that now and play better together for those of us who believe in the blood bought path to Heaven through Jesus Christ.
  9. Are you saved?
    1. Of course, else we wouldn’t have made it there.
  10. A lost person’s name.
    1. The saddest of all. There will not be second chances when Jesus returns and yet we treat life as if we all have a thousand years before He returns to take the church home. Who of us doesn’t have a lost loved one that we can’t imagine life without? It will be the case if we don’t get busy…
Posted in Bible Journaling, Eternity, Family, Heaven, Life Inspiration, salvation

The Promise of Hope

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hope
Titus 1:2
In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;

There is hope! I wanted to put that across every social media site this morning in big bold letters. It’s won’t be found in a lottery ticket, in the government of the United States, it won’t be found in our family, friends or your critter. If there is a giant hole in your heart you cannot fill it with money, things or other people. If someone or someone is missing you have only one hope, and that’s Jesus.

I speak from experience, else I’d not write it.

When my family lost my brother Richard, I was but a child, and a lost child at that. I didn’t understand eternity. I was brought up in church, I’d heard about Heaven, but it was nothing more than a word. A misunderstood concept. But then… Jesus.

It’s what the world doesn’t want to hear. That Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, and nobody gets to Heaven without Him. Not hearing it doesn’t change it, and not accepting it only hurts you further because He is what’s missing in your life that fills the hole you have inside. He does not replace the person that caused the hole, He simply fills the void where they are and gives a bridge to seeing them again. That was the sweetest gift in my own heart today when I thought of the people I can’t see. Even some who are here on earth…

When I ask my Mother once why she wasn’t angry with God for taking my brother at the age of 19, she simply responded “Because He is my only hope of seeing Richard again.” My Mom had found the bridge back to my brother. When my Dad passed away I missed almost everything about him, except one thing, the faith he shared with me. He had Jesus and that bridged the gap between us. I knew it was not goodbye, it was “save a place for me at dinner.”

So when I see a social media post of despair, I want to bridge that gap in their heart by telling them that I truly do care and that Jesus is their answer to the hopelessness they’re feeling inside. He doesn’t replace the person lost… He is what the song writer wrote with the words “He built a bridge with only three nails and two pieces of wood, with one rugged cross, Jesus built a bridge.”

Glory to God for the bridge that I found in 1996. Glory to God for the preacher who preached the gospel. Glory to God for the patience that God had in waiting for me to come to Him. Glory to God for there is hope on earth and peace… His name is Jesus. Amen!

Posted in Christian Service, Heaven, Life Inspiration

Heaven is going to be so grand someday!

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darlene

Social media plays out almost like a movie script at times, and we’re all players and actors. Once our computer screen is closed or our smart phone is off, the show stops and the characters aren’t a part of our lives any longer. And then there are those that come right off the page and into our lives and they truly are sown into the tapestry, never to be removed. That’s Darlene Fick Quiring.

She is the friend of a friend on Facebook, who didn’t know me from the man on the moon, but by faith, after an invitation was given for me to sing and play fiddle at a revival, made it possible for me to go. We finally met face to face in Windom, Minnesota and her small stature was launched into a giantess by the sparkle in her eyes and the evidence of her passion to serve Christ. She’s encouraged me so many times, too many to count. So when I watched her life playout on social media today, my heart broke when her husband went home to be with the Lord, and I knew Darlene was hurting. I wanted to hop on a plane and go to the side of a friend who I feel like I’ve known forever. But we’ve spent little more than a few days together, so how can that be?

It’s a God thing… That’s the only way to explain it.

One of my favorite verses of all times is Jeremiah 1:5

Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

Somewhere before August 11,1962 God knew me. I was somewhere, I have to wonder if Darlene and I were in the same spot. Maybe not, but for certain we have a kindred spirit of sisterhood brought on by our shared faith. My heart is heavy for her this evening. If you don’t mind, whisper a little prayer that God will give here great comfort. I know He will…

My quickly drawn sketch doesn’t do her beauty and sweetness justice. But for me is was kind of therapeutic to bring her picture to pen. Heaven is going to be so grand someday when we all get home together…

Posted in Christian Service, Eternity, Evangelism

One more day to make a difference

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ONE MORE DAY

An early morning ritual for me is check the blog and Facebook pages of Rory Feek. I wonder each morning if this will be the day that the Lord calls his precious wife Joey home. I told the teens in my youth group last night that these are strangers and yet they’re not. We know them through the internet yes, but they are a dear brother and sister in Christ and their testimony for Him has been so very strong. She’s been asleep for days and I want the pain to stop for them both. But then I think… for every breath she takes, God has purpose, even when she’s sleeping. One more moment in time for Him on this side.

What will I do with mine?

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Isaiah 55:8-9 KJV

Reading through Isaiah 55 this morning, trying to grasp what lesson God would have me learn I   think about the wastefulness in our land and the things that I think matter. And even though I can ask “If today I took my last breath, would “this” matter?” I still wouldn’t grasp the concept of life. Joey and Rory temporarily put life in perspective for me, but then I let it slip from my fingers and go on about the mundane. Heaven is just too high for me to understand, but it doesn’t stop me from desiring it.

I can taste it…

Isaiah 55:1-2

Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.

While God has certainly satisfied my physical needs, the fatness for which my soul delights has a flavor that is beyond glory. It’s the unexplainable presence of God that makes me feel like I’m at His kitchen table this morning and He sits across from me sipping His coffee, listening to my banter and then He’ll speak, and I’m left breathless, thinking… golly that tasted good God. His thoughts are nothing like mine… mine are vanity… His are vast.

I can hear it….

Isaiah 55:3-4

3 Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. 4 Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people.

Just like King David, Joey will go on to meet with the Lord, but her breath will still breathe on in the lives of the people she touched. David could not have possibly understood that he would be in the daily conversations of God’s people thousands of years later, and we’d feel as if we know him, just like we feel we know Joey. And there will come a day we’ll be able to see them both, face to face, in full health. His ways are nothing like mine… mine are short… His are long.

Every breath we take has purpose. One more day for someone to know us, one more day to make a difference. What will you do with yours?

Posted in Christian Service, Eternity, Heaven, Life Inspiration

We are without excuse

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#WithoutExcuse

We’re without excuse. I look about me this morning and I’m grateful for the “raisin’ up” I had in the hills of West Virginia. This is where God placed me and by His grace I was placed in the hands of two wonderful Holy Spirit filled parents. But were I not, I’d still be without excuse. And though I was, that still did not guarantee me to become who I am; a child of God. We all get to grace the same way, by accepting what Christ did; not by being born into a certain family. The world is so full of excuses. This morning I’ve had my eyeballs full…

  • The World says: “So and so made me who I am.”
    • No, “so and so” may have hurt you, but you decided who you are.”
  • The world says: “All religions lead to Heaven.”
    • No religion is just the practice of a learned behavior, Heaven comes from a relationship with Christ. Side note: If you have a relationship with someone, you’re pretty close.
  • The world says: “We control our destiny.”
    • Only so far as God allows. So technically you don’t.
  • The world says: “There is no God.”
    • Those who say that are without excuse because we’ve been raised better.

Gene and Violet Hardway raised me, but God raised me up.

Amos 2:11-13 says

And I raised up of your sons for prophets, and of your young men for Nazarites. Is it not even thus, O ye children of Israel? saith the Lord. But ye gave the Nazarites wine to drink; and commanded the prophets, saying, Prophesy not. Behold, I am pressed under you, as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves.

It is God who put me in a higher place that I may have the privilege of sharing the gospel. Not because I am great, but because I am His. A privilege afforded anyone who accepts the holiness, sacrifice and will of God. He has a purpose for you just as He had a purpose for Israel, and still does. But they rejected Him. Here God tells them I raised up your sons for prophets. God selected and set into place men of God to shine the light to Israel but they chose to ignore it; continually falling back into the ways of the world until disaster struck and then they’d call on God.  But there came a day when God had been rejected one too many times. (His eyeballs eventually got full too I guess.)

Is America there? God raised up prophets and of those He set aside the Nazarite men, many in the prime of their life vowed themselves to the service of God to the extreme, and today we have as those as well. Sure, there are those in the ministry who do not walk the walk they profess, but there are those who do. They’re not perfect, no man is, but they live what they preach. America is without excuse. I speak collectively. I’m an American, but my country is not here, my homeland awaits on the other side of Jordan.

I understand Amos’ frustration at Israel. That’s how I feel about the arrogant lot of people in my face every day. Those who justify their immoral behavior because of how they were raised or treated. I am truthfully sorry for your heartache… but you’re without excuse. Someone else may have hurt you, but Christ, the Creator of all the earth,  loved you enough to die for you and longs to be in a relationship with you through the Holy Spirit and you have hurt and turned your back on Him. He who is your perfect friend and Father. You are without excuse.

The trash talkers of the waves tell the world that all religions are right. Tell me any other than Christianity who’s God died for them.  None. Tell me any other religion that has the moral standards that every human being in their soul knows is right. None but Christianity. Tell me any other that puts themselves in the role of a servant to a heathen nation that rejects them so they might be saved. None but Christian. … Yes… I’m with Amos!

Our destiny is written in the scripture of old. It’s done. Or in Christ’s words, “It is finished.” The only thing we control is self-will; God has the power at any time to stop the world from spinning and throw us into space. Dwell on that thought for a second. God has put the evidence of Himself through His creation before us and He sent messengers to tell the world of His desire to be our Father. I am one.

Amos prophesied that when judgement came, and it would, it would feel like a cart bogged down with weight to the point it couldn’t move. How many in America feel like that today? I love America… but I do not love what she has become. I love her people… but I’m not fool enough to think that God won’t wipe that arrogance off of their faces through judgement so harsh I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.   Saved and unsaved we are without excuse.

There’s no excuse for rejecting Christ.

There’s no excuse for not telling someone about Him.

Posted in Eternity, Heaven, Peace, salvation

Heaven’s Post Master Has a Message for you Today

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CHICK POSTAGEAs I ran along in the sermon of my friend Roger Carter…(I say “ran” because you’ll not likely walk through one. Once he starts preaching it’s like he’s been shot out of a cannon. He’s not stopping until he reaches his destination. He’s fun like that!), but along the way he said this, “Death is a change of address.” He had to run ahead without me for a little while because my mind got stuck on that thought and I couldn’t let it go. When someone we love moves a distance away we may be sad for a little while, but most of us adjust to the idea. We talk to them on the phone, or correspond by other means and plan for the next time we see them again; and we get excited in the planning process. But when someone dies the conversation is lost… and that’s tough. I don’t make light of it.

When I lost my Dad, I missed those conversations; his sense of humor, his love of family and music and most of all, his love of God. But because of his love of God and his personal testimony of a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, I might have moments of sadness but I have I eons of hope! My Dad simply got a new address, and I know that I know that I’ll see him again in glory and that makes this journey bearable. And in the mean time I ask God to tell my dad “Hey,” and go back to planning our reunion.

So what about that address?

Living in rural West Virginia has many advantages, but one advantage is our source of entertainment… each other. As I began this blog, my mind drifted back to the 1980’s when I worked as an ad manager for a local newspaper. The editor of that paper had moved to our area after retiring as an editor for the New York Times. He absolutely fell in love with West Virginia! But he did have days which caused him ponder his decision. One such day was when he went across the street to the local post office to mail a book to a friend in Canada. He was informed by our elderly post master that you couldn’t mail anything out of the country (and he was serious). After a lengthy argument with the old man, the editor returned to our office, half angry and half in hysterical laughter. I’m not sure if he ever convinced the post master that you could mail things out of country, or if he took his book to another post office, but none the less made for a great story and one we laughed about for years to come.

There’s no physical address for that country where God dwells with my friends and loved ones who have died, but there’s a spiritual address and it’s every bit as real as Grantsville, West Virginia. Are you planning for the trip?

RETURN TO SENDER

A child of God will return to sender in the blink of an eye when their day comes to leave this world. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:52 “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” That speaks of the day that Christ will call His church home. Many of us will go at once and a lost world will be left in turmoil. That day is likely very near. But for those who pass away before that day Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:8 “We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.”

Confident that he would be delivered, postage paid by the blood of Jesus Christ who paid the price for us to be able to dwell in that city not made of hands but by God Himself.

But what about those who haven’t made preparation?

TURNED TO CINDER

Jesus told a religious crowd the fate of a rich man who died without knowing God in Luke 16:23 when He said “And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments”. God doesn’t sugar coat Hell, and just because someone doesn’t believe it exists or chooses not to make a choice doesn’t make it an untruth and their choice is made. Hell is eternal separation from everyone. Look at the people in your life that you care about. Are you prepared to never see them again? It’s not only separation it’s also a place of fire, torment and gnashing of teeth and totally unnecessary. That address was never meant to be on the map, but because of sin and our rejection of God’s forgiveness by and through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus, it’s there.

Have you been marked postage paid, or are you lost in transit; having never accepted God’s gift of salvation? It’s the best gift ever! And it’s never undeliverable. No matter where you’ve been in life or what you’ve done, God’s grace is sufficient for all. Don’t spend another second in time without making that decision. Watch the news… and more importantly read the Word of God. Written thousands of years ago and yet they line up together with God’s warning that He’s going to return. Don’t miss the Post Master to Heaven!!!!

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Posted in Church attendance, Eternity, Heaven, Life Inspiration, salvation

Breaking up is hard to do

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chick ready

How quickly people fall away from the Lord and call it a “new direction” or perhaps they just don’t call it anything. They just ignore the fact that they are out of fellowship with God and pretend that they’re decisions will have no ramification in eternity. If I began to make a list of the friends and family who have fallen out on God I would soon run out of lines on a sheet of paper or perhaps I could write a book about each one and what a difference they made in my life at a crucial time in my spiritual growth, it would be easy to write because it would be truth and my days with them seem like yesterday and yet also another lifetime away. How exactly does one go from standing and testifying about what the Lord has done to walking out on God? And how does it not scare the pants off of them because at one point they knew what God had saved them from. They had a burden for the lost in their family, they cried out at the altar of grace for God to save their children and their family and then one day that just didn’t matter. It makes me nauseous and ever conscience that I could be there tomorrow.

Matthew 24:42-43

Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.

There is a bluegrass song about Matthew 24 that I used to sing with friends and it was always a reminder of the need to be ready; a favorite sung at revivals and funerals. Revivals and Funerals – the opposite ends of the spectrum. One speaks of new life and the other of death, and yet if the death is that of a saint of God their eternal life just began. Both of those services draw us into the realization that changes could possibly need to be made. Nobody likes the separation that comes with death, but it serves to remind us that it comes to all lest Jesus returns before it and we need to make preparation; not only for us but for those we influence.  It’s funny how Jesus is welcome at Weddings but not in the marriage, He’s given the glory for the blessing of a child but then those same children are not raised to know Him. His Name is spoken often in the message of a funeral but how often was His name spoken by the one who died? Someone’s family member is sick or injured and prayer requests abound but few or hollow praises are heard when the heartache is done and all is well.

Yes I’m going there this morning.

I’m frustrated and this is my only place to vent without going toe to toe with someone I love, or perhaps I should. Maybe it would knock some sense into them. Being the Jesus Chick doesn’t always get you a fan club, sometimes people would like to club you. They tolerate my saying grace over dinner just so it doesn’t lead into dinner conversations that lead into guilt. Oh, glory to God, now I’ve begun to meddle. I just need to get this off my chest and throw it out there in hopes that somebody will read it and determine to get themselves ready.

What spurred this thought this morning and broke my heart was the closing words in verse 43 “and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.”

So let me ask you… if Jesus comes back today will your house be broken? If the decision to claim Christ as Savior, Lord of your life has not been made by you or members of your family then your house will be broken. That’s where the rubber meets the road. Children don’t  just magically get  saved one day, seeds need to have been sown, life doesn’t always get better, sometimes it’s the worse that leaves you longing for the better of Heaven. This morning was not just a reality check for you, but for me. I need to do more, say more. Nobody will care if I talk about Jesus  when we’re all in Heaven, but they’ll certainly care in Hell if I didn’t.

Continue on weary soldier…

 

 

Posted in Eternity, Heaven, Life Inspiration

Pondering Eternity

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chick eternityI once heard that eternity can be understood by shutting yourself into a very small room and then imagining the remainder of the universe outside your door, and that’s only the beginning. Eternity is something we give little thought to in the day to days of life until something or someone causes us to ponder and desire to have a taste ourselves. The internet is filled with $1.99 wisdom on the subject and Satan and his doomsday tribe would love for you to buy it; ideas like reincarnation, soul sleep, deep self, or the end of existence. Because it brings you face to face with the reality of the means of passing to eternity most people don’t dwell much on the notion until life or death forces them to.

In my small world I’ve been dealing with it a little more than usual lately. A good friend’s funeral is tomorrow where I’ll say goodbye to his earthly body with a Funeral dove release. A local family lost a child yesterday, a friend of some of my Sunday School students. It causes questions from the young and old alike as to why God would allow that to happen. How do we explain it to a child who barely understands the death of an older person but now has to cope with the loss of someone their own age? How do we explain it to us? It’s tragedy, plain and simple. But in pondering those why’s I have been dwelling more on the where. There is no peace in the loss of someone we love, but there’s a bountiful supply in understanding God’s plan of reunion.

When David lost his son as told in 2 Samuel 12 he told his servants in verses  22-23 “While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who can tell whether God will be gracious to me, that the child may live? But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.” David had not read the $1.99 internet wisdom. He had only read the Word of God, the truth on all matters of life. The truth on life and death is that this is not the end… this is the middle, and the end never ends… oh glory!!! That causes my heart to leap with joy when I think about all those people that I have loved and had to say goodbye to. There is coming a day when we shall reunite for all eternity and there will be no more farewells, only “Stop by again!” Open ended invitations of lovin’ on each other.

Today, I don’t want to think about what I lost, I want to think about what they found.

They found what God Prepared

1 Corinthians 2:9 ~ But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

They found a Place Designed just for them

And not just any place, but a mansion!

John 14:2 ~ In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

They found Paradise (Better than any postcard scene)

Luke 23:43 ~ And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.

They found the Power Company! The source of all.

Revelation 21:21-25

And the twelve gates were twelve pearls: every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.  And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.  And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.

And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.

That is worthy of pondering. But before we get there we have to ask ourselves one question, “Just as the thief on the cross seen paradise by accepting Christ’s death as payment for his sin, have you done so likewise? Don’t miss your reunion day. Jesus told us “John 14:6 “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

That is the key that unlocks your story…

Posted in Christian Service, Evangelism, Life Inspiration

Stop! in the name of Love

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chick stop

Last night I taught our teens from the Francis Chan study on Crazy Love and managed to heap huge conviction upon myself. I hate that! But it’s necessary in your walk with Christ to look at life through the eyes of God, not the eyes of self. I measure up pretty good next to me… as a matter of fact we’re dead even. But line me up next the disciples, or Who we should be lining ourselves up to (Christ Himself) and I’m not so hot. I fall far short of who I should be. I don’t fall in to the completely lukewarm category but I have tendencies that no doubt make God’s stomach queasy.

Going through the motions:

Isaiah 29:13 says “Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:”

Does that not describe the church of modern day to a tee? Everybody’s a Christian (just ask them) but their lives certainly don’t back it up. SMO’s. “Sunday morning only folk.” If you’re one of them, I’m about to get on your last nerve. If we feasted on food like we feast on the word of God you could count our ribs. It’s truth. How on earth do we expect to survive in perilous times, when the only thing that’s going to get you through is the promises of God? And we don’t’ have them. I’m so proud of my group of teens at our church. Wednesday night we’re packed out! But the truth is, we could do better. That’s why I’ve been doing this Crazy Love series with them. I don’t want lukewarm Christians in my class, I want crazy kids who are sold out for Jesus Christ and they don’t care who knows it. I want them to look at their friends and understand if they don’t tell them about Christ, there’s a good chance no one else will either; and the end result is their friend will go to Hell.

Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 7:2 “It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart.” A funeral is better than a party? Yes, because a funeral brings the reality that our lives are like a vapor.

James 4:14

Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.

If we lived what we say we believe we’d be telling someone about Christ. As a gospel singer I’ve sang at a great multitude of funerals. They’ve not all been for saved people. As a matter of fact the very first funeral I sang for was for a lost soul. His family asked me to sing “Hello in Heaven,” because it was too late for the one whose funeral was being held, but it was not too late for the rest of their friends and family. That was a real eye opener for me as a young convert. I’ve been blessed to be among a congregation of people who try to live for Christ. We all fail. Daily. But we’re trying.

I encourage you to live for Jesus today and tell someone about His saving grace before it’s too late. Live the crazy love that we’re taught the disciples lived.  God likely will not ask you to give up everything you own and serve Christ, but are you willing to use what He’s given you to serve Him? What friend or family are you willing to let go to Hell? You’ve likely said none… but what are you doing to stop it?

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Posted in Humor, Life Inspiration

How much do you own?

Written by talk2shari Published Discussion Leave a Comment on How much do you own?

divine real estate

I need to share a story, totally stolen from my Pastor’s sermon yesterday, which I’m sure he stole from someone else’s sermon which they stole, and so on and so forth; just a vicious cycle of thievery but a great illustration none the less…

There was a wealthy, farmer in Texas who owned a large and productive ranch but he didn’t know Jesus. He invited the local pastor over one day, and desiring to impress the minister he walked him across his well-manicured lawn. He pointed to the east and told the man of God, “Look out there Pastor, as far as you can see to the east, I own it!” Then he pointed to west, and proclaimed again, “And Pastor, as far as you can see to the west, that is mine too,” he boasted proudly! He did likewise to the north and to the south.

The old Pastor without hesitation said, “That’s great!” But pointing skyward he asked “But how much property do you own there?”

There is wonderful humor and great truth in that tale. It will no doubt be one of my favorites for a long time. I get in a whiny way and wish that I had better, and more and greater and in reality I have all that I need and so much more than most that I’m ashamed that I ever complained. The Pastor’s message was right on time for me… they usually are. I’m sure I’m not the only one that gets their eyes so focused on the earth they lose sight of Heaven.

I turned 52 this year, it seems but yesterday that I was 16 and now I minister to 16 year old who refer to me as “Miss Shari” like a saintly old grandmother. Actually that’s a slight exaggeration, they are kind, but it’s quite apparent that the generation gap is looking more like a canyon. My heart breaks for them… because the world is so competitive for their soul. If it competes for mine the way it does at my age, I know, with as young as they are the competition is much steeper.

The world tells them they need the best car, the biggest house, the greatest technology and it’s wrapped up with a bow waiting for them to launch towards it, all with the intention of taking them further and further away from the will and way of God. It is my job as well as every other Sunday School Teacher and Youth Minister to draw their minds to Christ, which we know to be the greater wealth… but Satan is a sly dog.

So the farmer story hit too close home for me because I had turned into a whiny, sniveling brat who had desires that were obviously not of God or He would have already given them to me. And I’m pretty sure He doesn’t give them to me because I have the attention span of a puppy in a room full of squeaky toys. True story. The more bells there are ringing in my life the less time I spend with the giver of all. The difference between the farmer and I is that I own as far skyward as you can see, but I forget to brag about it.

So today I’m looking up… to where my riches lie.

In the book of Luke 24 verses 51-52, Jesus is traveling the last few steps on earth during this era of time:

And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy:

He’s coming back folks! The disciples knew it and they not only returned to Jerusalem with great joy, they spread that great joy. Tell someone today about the real estate deal of a life time that they’ll miss out on if they don’t know Jesus!