Written Word

2009-11-19T18:39:54-05:00

I haven't been very busy with my blog lately because I have been quite busy writing a book. Still involved in it and will be for some time. It's not a stand-alone book as it is a teaching aid for my book The Life of Christ in Five Phases. Of course it is titled The Life of Christ in Five Phases Teaching Aid. I am reaching beyond myself in this venture, but, I believe, not beyomd the will of God.
I have to admit that neither one of these books will appeal to the shout-and-dance Christian. Nevertheless the first book (not the Teaching Aid) should catch the attention of sincere, serious Christians. By the way, the first book is now available at http://bit.ly/U05x1 . Please, no stampeding!

Another Glimpse into The Life of Christ in Five Phases

2009-11-07T12:52:47-05:00

(This is an excerpt. To purchase the book, go here: http://bit.ly/U05x1 )

Three Aspects of God

To know Jesus of course we must have at least a relatively good knowledge of God. We know that there are these three divine expressions: God the Father; God the Logos or Word (John 1.1); God the Holy Spirit. The three, we are told, constitute the Holy Trinity. It would serve no good purpose to contend that there is no such word in the Bible as "trinity." That is not pertinent because there still remain undeniably a Father, a Logos or Word and a Holy Spirit, whatever one chooses to name the overall concept.

Of course we who comprise the "Oneness" movement are supposedly completely at odds with the Trinitarians. This writer cannot agree with this stance. When one studies the writings of the Trinitarian theologians (as opposed to the man who voices his unlearned opinion at the local barber shop) one can see that, although the words may be different, they are saying in essence what we are saying. After they go to great lengths to tell us there are three Persons in the Godhead, they then insist that the three are not actually three since the three are of one essence and think and agree as one. The main point here is that they are firm in their assertion that there is only one God.

Is there, then, such a wide gulf between them and us? While we stoutly and correctly maintain, as they do, that there is one God, do we not admit there are three distinct manifestations of the one God? We carefully avoid saying there are three persons as if fearful that will proliferate the one God. But one of the definitions of “person” is this: “Any of the three modes of being (Father, Son, and Holy Ghost) in the Trinity [Godhead].” (Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia © 1999).) That should not ruffle our Pentecostal feathers too much.

There are different spheres of operations for the three respective manifestations of God although there is a blurring of the boundaries at times. This is because whether one refers to the Father, the Son or the Holy Spirit, they are all one God. Each expression or manifestation of God is fully God, therefore each one shares the responsibility and/or credit for all the actions taken by the other two facets of God.

For example, Christ created all things (Eph. 3:9; Col. 1:16, 17) but we would not presume to say that the Father and the Holy Spirit were completely shut out of this activity. There is another example to buttress the premise that one manifestation of God does not operate independently of the other two: The Holy Ghost dwells in the hearts and directs the activities of the saints of God according to John 14:26 and 16:13. But in Acts 16:7 we read that the "Spirit of Jesus" (ASV, RSV, NIV) was He who directed the journeys of Paul and Silas. This Spirit of Jesus of course is the same One we call the Holy Ghost. The scripture's apparently chance reference to Him as the Spirit of Jesus helps to confirm our contention that the three are all one God and what one does is in effect done by all three. At the same time we must remember that God chooses to differentiate between the respective works of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, and that is the way we should view their operations.

http://bit.ly/U05x1

Master Your Ambition

2009-11-06T18:35:39-05:00

Ambition is a good quality to have in general, but for the child of God who has it, he or she should exercise care in how they handle it. Without ambition to power our small craft through the rough seas it will inevitably encounter, we would have no certain course and would drift aimlessly wherever the tide would carry us.

When ambition is present and is used correctly, It will power us to wherever the helm (steering mechanism) directs the boat. But, once again, we have to use ambition with care, otherwise it might overpower the helm and take us to the wrong port. Ambition is the push to succeed in what we are doing, and if it pushes us contrary to the helm (the will of God),we are in serious trouble. It will not then be an agitated sea or pounding waves that overwhelm us, it will be our excessive reliance on the thrust of our ambition. Ambition should never override the sure direction in which our helm is trying to take us.

There are various types of ambition that we might have in our journey on our personal high seas: 1) There is the obviously wrong type, the carnal ambition that is centered on self without regard to the will of God. That is a definite no-no for one who is supposed to be following Christ. 2) This second ambition type is as we discussed it above, the ambition or drive to succeed in the Lord's work that is so strong that we override the helm, which is the will of God. The thrust of our ambition propels us so strongly at times that we go outside of where the helm wants to take us, we venture outside of the will of God. When our "autopilot" (our conscience) signals "danger!" we brush it aside and insist, "I am doing the work of the Lord; nothing is going to stop me!" How dangerously foolish!

Paul cautions us to fight within the rules of the game. In the following letter to the Corinthians he likens our spiritual journey to a person running a race:

"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26 Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. 27 No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize." (1 Cor. 9.24-27 NIV)

At the end of many years of a glorious hard-fought race, Paul could speak to his spiritual son Timothy out of a wealth of experience:

"…if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor's crown unless he competes according to the rules." (2 Tim. 2.5)

Further in the same letter to Timothy Paul made this touching and eloquent observation:

"But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. 6 For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day --and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing." (2Tim. 4.5-8 NIV)

Paul did not break the rules in his ambition to succeed; he did not override the autopilot. He was very careful, in fact, not to reach beyond his "measure of faith," that which God had allotted him.

"For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you." (Rom. 12.3)

If ever there was a man of drive and ambition, it was Paul, but he kept the ambition strictly within the bounds of the will of God.

3) Now we come to the third type of ambition, one that is consonant at all times with God's purpose and direction for our lives. Once again Paul is a good example for this reason: Although his ministry was an outstanding and glorious one, in his day it was looked on by his fellow Jews as a contemptible thing – but it was in this very calling that Paul worked like a man driven, and he was certainly driven by an ambition that kept within his measure of faith.

Paul took a calling that was shameful to all but the Church and turned it around in his mind into what it really was: the "high calling of God in Christ Jesus." In similar manner he metamorphosed the cross of crucifixion from a low despicable state (which it was and rightfully still is today) into a glorious profession!

It is incumbent on us today to pursue whatever calling God has for us with the same unbridled enthusiasm, the same drive to excel, the same ambition, doing all we can, within the measure of faith allotted to us, to touch lives and to bring glory to the name of Jesus Christ.

"Whereof [Paul's apostolic office] I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power. (8) Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ…" (Eph 3:7-8)

Be passionate in your work, however lowly, and be driven to success – all within the bounds of the will of God.

Pattern Yourself after Christ - Carefully

2009-11-02T13:27:15-05:00

There is not, and indeed there cannot be, a perfect analogy between Jesus’ life and the lives of His followers. Of course it is only proper that we yearn to be like Christ, but at certain points we have to accede to the fact that Jesus’ divinity caused Him to display an aspect of Himself to which we can only futilely aspire.

But first let us look at the many areas in Jesus’ life in which we can properly strive to be like Him. After all, we are His offspring. Jesus showed many examples of compassion, examples we should seek to emulate, namely these: 1) He forgave sinners of their sins, which, upon close inspection, were sins against Jesus’ own divine Self; 2) Jesus was not too holy to associate with the lowest of sinners and with those who had the most dreaded affliction, leprosy. In these areas we should aspire to be like Him. As Jesus did, we can in love mingle socially with unrepentant sinners while at the same time living above the sins they practice. This is called witnessing. It is also called “letting our light shine.”

In our aspiring to be like Jesus, we should not be so fastidious (“finicky”) that we cannot touch and minister to those who are afflicted with loathsome diseases. Jesus was not so aloof from those He healed. It is true that Jesus healed some without touching them, but He touched the leper; He touched others who were sick. There are unfortunates of today who are sorely in need of a modern day Florence Nightingale or a Sister Teresa to walk among them where they live and share a bit of their misery and to give them a pencil thin ray of hope in the hellholes to which they are consigned by an unfeeling fate. (No, this is not God’s doing; it is the result of sin’s blighting a world that was originally created perfect.)

On the other hand, I repeat that there are some things that our lack of divinity preclude us from doing. While we are granted the privilege of praying as Jesus did in Gethsemane, we can never be, as He was (nor should we aspire to be), burdened with 1) the sins of an entire race of people nor 2) with the awful knowledge that in a few hours the Father will abandon us to the literal hell of being cut off from all sense of His presence. Jesus had known this abiding presence all His life, even when he was an infant and unaware of it. Nevertheless it was there and it kept the infant Jesus as it keeps all who are living in this world.

It is oftentimes the unaware sense of the presence of God and His Spirit’s unseen check on the actions of wicked men that keep them from going completely mad and indulging to the full their pursuit of wickedness. When Jesus was cut off from His Father, with whom he had the closest and most intimate relationship (Jesus was God come to earth as the Son of God, which is as close a bond as we can conceptualize), it resulted in torment greater than that He endured in Gethsemane and at Calvary. It is a matter of fact that the rejection by the Father was such a horror that it killed Jesus before the cross could end His life. That is why Pilate marveled that Jesus had died sooner than one could be expected to die by crucifixion.

“Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died.” (Mark 15.44 RSV)

For an indirect confirmation that Jesus did not die entirely by the trauma of being crucified, we have these words by the commentator John Gill:

“For death, by crucifixion, was a slow lingering death; persons that were in their full strength hung a great while before they expired; and the two thieves, which were crucified with Christ, were not dead when he was…” (John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible)

God does not need to bring us a special revelation; reason virtually shouts it at us: We cannot expect our lives to be an exact parallel of Jesus’ life. He was without doubt fully human, but He was also, without doubt, fully God. We are not.

It becomes increasingly clearer as I study the Word of God: Our individual lives are not to be exact parallels of the life of anyone who ever lived or is now living. We look at other lives that are blessed of God, living or deceased, and we are expected to use them for examples of godly living, but we are not to imitate them to the nth degree.

One prime reason is this: No human is perfect, therefore if we make our lives exact replicas of any human, we will be copying his or her defects and failures. We have already touched on why we cannot fully follow the example that Jesus set: we are not, like Him, divine. We are obviously faulty lumps of clay on whom God is working — but He has not perfected us yet. So we take the good examples from the lives of other godly men and women and we endeavor to be like Jesus in His humanity, and we keep our faith in the Almighty who will bless our efforts and bring us eventually to the perfection we seek.

'In the Beginning... God"

2009-10-30T14:19:45-04:00

We err, in a technical sense, when we posit that God created something (the universe) out of nothing. Where, and when, was that nothing? Scripture tells us that “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (Joh 1:1) There was no place and no time that God was not. It is logical to conclude therefore that when God created the heavens and the earth, He did not actually create them out of nothing. As a witness for my case there is this:

“The axiom, that out of nothing nothing comes, is not contradicted in the case of creation. The universe comes from God; it does not come from nothing.” (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia)

We have shown there can be no nothing where God is concerned; He fills all space and time, moving “nothing” completely out of the picture.

This is not to contradict Dr. Byron V. Johnson in His excellent treatise on “Creation,” in A Consensus of Pentecostal Thought (http://bit.ly/la55N ), Dr. Johnson writes,

“There were no preexistent materials from which God made the world. The things which are seen were not made of things which appear. Creation was ex nihilo, or out of nothing.”

and his statement is correct: There were no preexistent materials from which God made the universe. No piles of materials were lying around from which God constructed the worlds; there was nothing at hand. He had no matter to work with, so in effect He did create something ex nihilo, out of nothing. God did what only a God could do: He drew from His own mighty, ubiquitous Self whatever was needed to create all matter and space and time. It is an oxymoronic concept: Out of that which was eternal God assembled a whole noneternal universe, one that was not from forever and would not last forever. That was the eternal plan of God and if I am in error, show me my error (but don’t you dare try to limit God to your own weak human self!)

The universe that God made, as illogical as it may seem to our “rational” minds, was centered, not physically but in a divinely hierarchical way, on an insignificant planet in an insignificant cluster of planets now known as the Solar System. The Solar System, in turn, was centered, again not physically but in a divinely hierarchical way, on one of its lesser planets, the planet Earth. The Sun is actually the center of the Solar System, but in God’s reckoning the Earth is the most important object in the System because He created it for a special type of creature.

I cannot claim to know why God chose a little sparrow of a planet when there were planets of finer plumage and more regal bearing, preening their feathers, waiting to be chosen by the Creator. Whatever the reason for His choosing planet Earth, God made (not “created”) various creatures to inhabit it, one of which He (God) made in His own image and after His likeness. This of course was Man, the “special type of creature” referred to above, God’s premier feat in a series of once-in-an-eternity feats required for the making of a universe. There may be other intelligent creatures somewhere else within the vast reaches of the cosmos, but it stretches the bounds of credibility to think there is another for whom the Creator God would die.

Not only was there not another for whom the Creator God died, I believe that when God made man in His own image and after His likeness, that was sufficient proof there could be no more creatures like Man anywhere. My reasoning is this: God has said of Himself,

“Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any.” (Isa 44:8)

In a generic sense, it would seem that man is like God in that he stands alone in all creation. All men (and women) are one with Adam. He is their earthly father. All mankind comes from the one man and they bear a resemblance to their father. As a matter of fact there is also a theological/genetic association between Adam and his descendants: Adam sinned and all mankind became sinners before they were born. They too came under the curse of sin. In a sense they are all “Adam.” In all the searches of the cosmos our erudite scientists may conduct they will not find another like Adam, the single and singular Man-creature, though they poke their inquisitive noses into the remotest corners of the universe.

There – I think I have just painted myself into a corner of my own making!

More Intriguing Thoughts from 'The Life of Christ in Five Phases"

2009-10-27T13:58:44-04:00

The text below is an excerpt from The Life of Christ in Five Phases, The Introduction to Lesson Fifteen, “Jesus Christ – Forsaken of God and Man”

The Demeaning Death of Deity

I want to mentally immerse you in the sufferings of Christ because only by hard repetition of cruel facts can we humans begin to really see what the Savior endured for us in His hour of Passion. Let’s look once again at the way God chose to save mankind. Actually it was the only way that would conform simultaneously to His strict righteous code and His love and mercy. God was restricted by His own righteousness and justice to one method by which He could save mankind. There was only one path to take: God had to give His own life for the life of His fallen creature. God had to die.*

* Instructor’s Note: Perhaps you are wondering how God could be restricted in any way. you are protesting, “Why? He is God!” This is an interesting puzzle. I have maintained that God is all-powerful and that no one and nothing can successfully oppose Him, yet I am now saying that God had to die. First, remember that the Spirit of God did not die; the fleshly body that He inhabited died. And, secondly, God alone restricted God. His own righteous and just nature demanded death for sin, at which point His own love and mercy devised the means of salvation (a means we have already amply propounded in this work) for all who believe in Jesus Christ.

When the believer in Christ dies he loses only his natural life. There is no change in the most important aspect of existing, which is eternal life. As we step over the Great Divide between natural life and its abrupt cutting off in death, our eternity of being continues separate and serene. There is not the slightest ripple on the surface of our sea of eternity. That is what eternal life is all about. The term connotes more than mere forever existence: sinners will have that, but such existence cannot be called “living.” The “forever existence” for sinners only means existing in a damned state. Eternal life is life glorious and free, attended by joy and peace and praising the God who made such a state possible.

Jesus’ death was not nearly so simple as that of the ordinary righteous man. It was a tragedy and a travesty of justice that the Great Judge who does all things with equity and justice should have died with not the semblance of human justice shown to Him. Jesus’ death was, in fact, the diametric and extreme opposite of justice. How could there be such an egregious wrong committed on the only inherently just Man who ever lived? How could heaven bear with such utter disregard shown by a worm for its Creator?

In the tragedy of the Christ we see not just the death of a royal personage, but one who sacrificed divine majesty and glory for the sake of love. Yet there were no grand funeral rites, no formal obsequies that always attend the death of a monarch or person of renown. This Man was by far the greatest of all men; He was the God of heaven – and men spit on him and reviled Him before He died, and even after, when He hanged a lifeless corpse on the tree of shame, a soldier had the effrontery to thrust a spear into His side. Even in death Jesus was humiliated.

An Unbreakable Bond of Divinity

At this point we want to revisit only briefly the reason that Jesus, who was God Himself, had to die for mankind. We read of Jesus often referring to the Father with whom, He said, He was one. (John 10.30; 17.11, 22) It was true. The Father was always with Jesus just as He is always with us, even when we cannot sense His presence. No doubt, at some time during the forty days of temptation in the desert, Jesus must have experienced that black moment when He couldn't feel the Father’s nearness. But He knew, despite the lack of awareness of the Father’s imminence, that the Father was there.

In the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus had the foreboding that the same bleak hour was approaching Him again as He drew nearer to His crucifixion. But this time – on the cross when the dread moment actually came – it would be vastly different and an infinity worse. Jesus not only would not sense the presence of His Father – the Father would be completely gone and Jesus would feel the knife thrust through His soul... and cruelly twisted. When Jesus was finally impaled on the cross the Father would do the unthinkable: He would leave Jesus completely alone, something He never does (in this life) with the most inveterate sinner and the most confirmed atheist.

(The text above is merely a snippet taken from the book, The Life of Christ in Five Phases by Aaron J. Smith. To purchase this unusual book, go to this online address: http://bit.ly/U05x1 )

Let's Take Off the Blinders!

2009-10-26T13:36:44-04:00

In horse racing a horse that is somewhat “skittish” may have to wear blinders while he is racing. The blinders permit him to see only what is in front of him. In that way he will not be distracted by what is happening around him; he can concentrate solely on winning the race.

That is good for horses running a race; it is not good for believers who are running this race toward eternal life. We are not race horses; as believers we all have duties to perform in addition to the major one or ones that entail the gifts of the Spirit. Performing the additional tasks will help propel us toward the prize at the end of the race. We have more to do than fulfill just one major assignment, which assignment is using the gift God has given us. We are humans who have a plethora of human needs in our midst that have to be looked after. No one can fill the needs unless we as individuals fill them. Perhaps the following will illustrate what I am trying to say:

God has given me the ability to write. It is not world class, but I have a duty to use the gift. Consequently I am engaged in writing Christian articles and publishing them in my limited way. Being involved in this primary task, I have a tendency to put on my blinders and not see anything else. After all, this is the Lord’s work, however small it may be. Yet I cannot be so occupied in writing, although it is a task that is required of me, that I overlook the constant afflictions and needs of people all around me. Without doubt God intended for me to reach out and help others by the gift He bestowed upon me and it is good that I am doing this, but there are additional ways in which I should help the needy souls to whom I am reaching out. There are many needs that I have the ability to fill by the grace of God – and I would be remiss in my duty not to take of what I have and at least help fill a need of my brother or sister. There are gaping holes in the lives of my fellow creatures, holes that have to be covered over. If I have the means to do this or to assist in doing this, then the responsibility is mine whether I ask for it or not.

I want God to give me grace to diversify my interests as only He wills for me to do. I cannot be just a writer and nothing else. What kind of writer is effective who has no experiences from which to draw? True enough, God gives me my inspiration, but He draws it from the well of my experiences in great part. If the well is dry, there will be no inspiration. Just as God deals with men and women according to their individual personalities, He gives inspiration to preach or write as He finds it in the experiences of His people. But, after we have faithfully made use of our God-given gift, if we neglect the small things, the little acts of love, we are in effect putting our blinders on. Neither you nor I can expect to optimally help others if we ignore the tasks that are “too small.” It would be like running our race in a tunnel just large enough for us individually. We may properly have our eyes on the prize at the end of the tunnel, but by neglecting the “minutiae of God” we will have erected an impenetrable wall around ourselves. No one else can touch us behind the wall and we cannot touch anyone else. If I am not mistaken, the rules of this race make it mandatory that we love others. How can we love if there is no reaching out to touch?

If all I do is write, where is the praying heart and the listening ear? If I concentrate on my writing to the exclusion of everything else, where is the heart of compassion, where the getting down into my brother or sister's tragic experience? Where is the pain, the sorrow, the binding up of the cruel wounds inflicted by men whose only thoughts are on what is good for them?

I can ill afford to sit in my ivory tower and write about life if I have had no life outside of the ivory tower. Jesus prayed to the Father, “I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world...” If I ignore the many needs of others, I will have taken my own self out of the world. God wants us to stay in the world and not to participate in the evils thereof.

We would be wrong to wrap our gift or gifts in a cloth and bury them out of sight. There would be a price to pay for that. But we are wrong to get so engrossed in using our gifts that we bury the needy, the afflicted and the unsaved out of sight. There will be a price to pay for that also. So let’s all do what we can to fill the needs, great or small, that are plaguing the masses among whom we walk as lights of the world. Let us raise the effectual, fervent prayer, show love and mercy, give of our material and financial needs, and strive to be what God has envisioned for us. It can be summed up thus: Let’s use our gifts of the Spirit as we continually walk in love. If we walk in love, we cannot help but reach out and touch those who need us.

Another Revealing Look at 'The Life of Christ in Five Phases'

2009-10-24T15:42:11-04:00

(The book may be accessed here: http://bit.ly/U05x1 )

Here is another glimpse into the book that shows the many sides, facets and components of Jesus Christ who Himself is a facet of God. This snippet is not taken from the main text but from one of the ‘Instructor’s Notes’(#63) based on a remark in the main text that needed further expounding in an endnote mode.

“Looking with a discerning eye at Jesus’ time of suffering and death, we conclude that the passage of time does not diminish the extreme torment Jesus endured in His hour of pain and humiliation. Some of us mortals have experienced a certain moment of loss and/or pain that even the passage of years or decades can only assuage a trifle. Jesus, however, the God who came as a man, was in the unenviable position of being a mortal who was God who transcends all time. He is a part of Time and above and beyond such feeble restraints.

“Jesus lives in the forever Now in which things do not erode or grow less with the passage of time. He knew, from before Time was enclosed within the capsule of Eternity, what He, as a human, would suffer. Jesus knew from forever ”past” and He knows to forever “future” (I speak as though an eternal Being should have a past or future) – He simply knows and is forever conscious (fully aware), without any lessening of the great suffering, of the immensity of His sacrifice and the enormity of His torment.

“There can be no way that we humans, severely limited as we are, can get our minds around the torment Jesus endured. The small bit of this horrendous and wonderful awareness we presently possess , we are unable to articulate because of the shortfall of our intellectual and linguistic skills.

“All of what we have said here brings up, as a matter of course, something else we cannot fathom: How can God, in the person of Jesus, bear the awful knowledge of the complete loss of everything that was essential for life, mortal and immortal, and the continuing awareness of the exquisite pain He suffered? It is true that Jesus came out of His most torturous hour at a certain time in history, nevertheless it is inconceivable that He could carry such a mental and emotional burden (a burden that time could not diminish) throughout time and eternity and still be the perfectly whole and functioning God He is. It is completely beyond reason; but it is not beyond the love of God. And I must confess, through stammering – even fearful – lips ‘I am totally and awesomely overwhelmed by this Jesus!’ ”

Beware Following Every Charmer Who Plays a Pleasant Tune

2009-10-22T15:04:10-04:00

Remember the Pied Piper of Hamelin

This is a time of much hypocrisy. Many so-called Christian leaders are wolves who know when and how to skillfully don their sheep’s clothing in order to bilk the simple-minded. We are taken in by their religious con man’s talk and gladly give them our money, our possessions and, I’m afraid, our very souls. But this doesn’t have to be if we study the Word of God as we should (instead of looking in it for a key to a miracle). Nor does it have to be if those spiritual preachers and teachers who know God will stand in the gap and protect the flock of Christ by giving to them what they (the preachers and teachers) have learned by prayer and study and by being taught themselves.

Before we give our all to the con man/preacher, let’s be sure he is what he professes to be. There are several caveats or warnings we should observe. The first and foremost is this: Do not pledge your allegiance to the first personable, smooth talking man or woman who bobs up on your radar screen. Remember the legend of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. He played such a charming melody on his pipe that the children of the town all followed him to their doom. Never, never follow a smooth talker playing a pleasant tune. You will probably regret it.

There are still faithful shepherds of the various flocks dotted here and there all over the world. I wish I could clone each one several times over and send all of these righteous persons out to combat the spurious teachings that are being spoon-fed to gullible spiritual infants who don’t know their right hand from their left.

Jesus plainly told His disciples that they could tell a person’s spiritual state by the fruit they bore:

“Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? (17) Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. (18) A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. (19) Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. (20) Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” (Mat 7:16-20)

You will note that Jesus said that a good tree will not produce evil fruit, nor a bad tree good fruit. It is obvious that Jesus’ use of the term “fruit” was not referring to producing good works because we all know there are unrepentant sinners who do many good works. Some of them make no profession of knowing God. They simply have an intuitive feel for the underprivileged. God does not recognize their good works in a soteriological sense – they do not bring salvation to the doer of the charitable works; no amount of good works can do that – but frankly the world is better off for their acts of charity.

Not only do they give liberally to charitable causes (for what reasons only God and their own hearts can know), some of them work tirelessly for the unfortunates of the world and will give their last million to a project they deem to be worthy. But many of them are impenitent sinners. They lie and cheat and lust after one another like wild stallions in heat.

Nevertheless I thank God for these individuals and corporations while at the same time I pray earnestly for their salvation.

But back to the greedy, grasping leaders of the flock of God. Do they as individuals show the fruit of the Spirit? The fruit to which Jesus refers in Mat 7:16-20 is the fruit of the Spirit that Paul lists in Gal. 5.22, 23. He tells us,

“But the fruit of the Spirit is …

· Love	· Goodness
· Joy	· Faith
· Peace	· Meekness
· Longsuffering	· Temperance
· Gentleness

“…against such there is no law,” Paul concludes.

The “fruit” in the passage quoted above consists of character traits. They may lead to good deeds, but they are not of themselves good deeds. When we see a person who performs charitable acts and deeds for which we properly honor them, we have to go deeper into the person’s character traits to see whether he is a “good tree” bringing forth good fruit. It may take a while to really know the individual, but in time his character traits will be demonstrated.

Unfortunately many who do the good deeds mentioned above are guilty of the “works of the flesh” that Paul condemns in Galatians 5.19 - 21:

· Adultery	· Wrath
· Fornication	· Strife
· Uncleanness	· Seditions
· Lasciviousness	· Heresies
· Idolatry	· Envyings
· Witchcraft	· Murders
· Hatred	· Drunkenness
· Variance	· Revellings
· Emulations (envious imitating)

…and he adds, “they which do such things shall NOT [emphasis mine] inherit the kingdom of God.”

Choosing a leader/pastor is very much like picking a spouse. Check the prospective spouse’s record out first. Get some personal history on them. Pray while you wait. Wait while you pray – then open up your heart g r a d u a l l y to them.

In the instance of selecting a suitable mate from the throng of unsuitables out there, this may seem to be very unromantic, but a lifetime with the wrong mate is so unromantic also. Choosing the right church with the right pastor is a serious matter. There are more wolves skulking around than there are good leaders, and they are putting on their most beatific face and charming smile so that they can lure you into their trap. Use your head and wait. First impressions can be so wrong!

I have a good pastor. He is not perfect (sorry, Pastor!), but no pastor is. The pastor and I differ on some minor matters, but we can engage in a friendly back-and-forth verbal exchange about them without my feeling that he is looking on me as just another church member in his trophy case, and he is assured (I think) that I respect him for his knowledge, spirituality and genuine concern for my welfare.

I have seen this man at his most euphoric high and I have seen him – when he was low? – no, I have seen him when I knew He had to be discouraged, but I have to say truthfully, I could never tell it. He has been there for me in three personal losses, family members all. This pastor has preached and taught to the best of his ability by the grace of God, and the ability and the grace have touched me often. I don’t go out anymore, but I have been blessed to have had an excellent pastor all of my life. Cradle to grave. (Well I have not reached the grave yet, but give me a little more time…)

Of course these excellent pastors have taught me that “where much is given, much is required.” I feel overwhelmed by God’s blessings on my life, but it has come at a price and God has required much of me; and I am trying to give Him what He wants.

If you have an excellent pastor, listen to what he teaches and follow his counsel, or at the last day you may have to face those words that were meant for your edification and they will condemn you for all eternity.

I Am Hooked on God

2009-10-19T11:44:53-04:00

I often look at posts and other articles I have written in the past. I do so at times with some trepidation because I hope that I have improved with the years and therefore what I have written in the past may appear to be the scribbling of a child. But, not to worry – I haven’t improved that much, and some of these infantile “scribblings” are virtually crying out to me, “Use me!” and I inflict them on you once more simply because I feel they are once again right on target for at least one lone individual. You may be the one.

I Am Hooked on God

(edited reprint of September 2, 2005)

I am always pestering the Lord for a closer walk with Him. I have pled, and will plead until I leave this earth, for a more intimate relationship with my Jesus. He is answering that prayer, but in an unexpected way. That roaring wind named Katrina, which blew with such savage fury over the Gulf States before projecting its wrath miles inland, made me see God in a different and more appreciative light.

I don't know how this is happening. It wasn't primarily because God spared me and mine from the destruction and death that came with Katrina. I am of course grateful, but I know it was not my goodness that spared me; there were some believers in Christ who were devastated by the shrieking winds and the mighty force of the waters that came in their wake. No, that was not it; in fact, I might be the next in line for such damage when it happens again.

The relevance that the terrible catastrophe in the Gulf States has to my getting a more intimate relationship with God – who let it all happen – is hard to explain. My senses have been overwhelmed by nature's might and I know there is a God greater than nature who holds all nature and the entire cosmos in His hands. But that doesn't really explain my feeling closer to God, although it has something to do with it.

Perhaps God is showing me his power in this indirect fashion (I didn't suffer as the unfortunates did in the ravaged areas) because that was the unvoiced part of my plea to Him: along with a closer walk, it seems that I wanted a greater awareness of His power. I was not asking for miracles; I am filled up to my eyebrows with the emphasis on miracles, as though they were the main evidence that God is God. All I want is to perceive His power within my mind. I want to know it is there without becoming a “miracle addict.”

You see, technically I know the power is resident within Him. It is not as though I haven't seen it working in the universe, in the world all around me and in my own life (now there is the miracle!), yet I want to get into my mind and spirit an increased awareness of His might. I need a closer walk with Him and I yearn for a more effective ministry. I can’t be content with “seeing” more of God without telling others, saved and unsaved, about this altogether fabulous God I serve.

In some inexplicable way the desolation, devastation and despair that were etched in the faces of the poor unfortunate people who were blasted by Katrina have made me learn more about God; they have given me increased insight into His Word and His ways (even His love!) and are producing the more intimate relationship with Him that I urgently require. It appears that the more He blesses me, the more I need more of His blessings. I am a junkie, plain and simple, hooked on Divinity Himself!

The winds, the overpowering waters, the wrath of nature – these all tell me about the greater power and wrath of God that will someday be unleashed on a terrified earth. But contrariwise, the total despair and the abject suffering that I see on TV evoke from me a strong feeling of compassion, and I know it smacks of the little bit of divinity within me. Further, it is evident that God has never wanted such catastrophes visited upon men and women. This is not the way He created the earth.

God created the earth perfect and when sin entered the world it brought with it all manners of tragedies and turbulence and death. God does not want that for the creature he made pure and guileless. His love is loath to smite man at any time, but man's own intransigence has brought these many evils upon him. Nor can we overlook the just and righteous side of God that demands like punishment for like trespass, an "eye for an eye."

So I see and somewhat understand this God I serve and as I behold in Him love and mercy and truth and righteousness and power and terrible majesty, my soul is overwhelmed and I bow my head in worship before Him.

Can you understand this?

Attaining the Perfect Synchronization God Wants

2009-10-16T13:25:07-04:00

The Worldwide Christian Church is sometimes called the body of Christ. In fact, that is what Scripture terms it (1 Cor. 12.27; Eph. 4.12), and who are we to dispute what God says? Looking at the Church as a living body, we can see the terminology is so appropriate.

Let’s do a little fantasizing. Imagine, if you will, a human whose body – each part, each of the many muscles and each cell and operation – was so perfectly fit and synchronized with the head (mind) that there would be not the least malfunction or less than perfect working of the body as a whole. There would be no underperformance by any of the least esteemed and minuscule parts. A person like that could run a hundred yards in less than five seconds. He could also excel at endurance races and run a mile in fifty seconds or less. With proper training, this same finely tuned athlete could scale Mt. Everest in record time, lift prodigious weights and win the Tour d’France every time he entered. And athletic prowess would not be his only area of excellence. He would be a leading scholar in many fields of study. In short, such a person would be a superman or superwoman in all areas of achievement.

Now let’s extrapolate a bit. What would happen if the individual members of the body of Christ were all perfectly healthy in a spiritual sense and were all synchronized with each other and with the Head of the body, Christ? What a glorious organism the Church would be and what prodigious feats it would accomplish in the world! We would continually be attaining the full will of God wherever it would take us as a Church and as individuals.

Of course, the continuous perfect accomplishment of the will of God by each individual in the Church at any one time or in any one place will never happen in this lifetime. We are saved and led by the Spirit of God, but there is yet too much lacking in our knowledge of His will and in our giving ourselves over completely to doing His will, whatever it may cost us. We are pressing towards that goal, but we have quite a way to go before we attain it.

What we have to do now as individuals is to bend every effort, daily and by the moment, to see that we are doing all that God wants us to do. Sure, we’ll make mistakes. Sometimes we’ll not discern that we are not doing God’s full will, not because we actually do not know His will, but because we will subconsciously think it is demanding too much of us. It’s possible to fail in that way without realizing it. But, as we walk with God and grow in grace and knowledge, He will reveal our shortcomings to us and then expect us to correct them.

Some day we will all be perfected, and until that day we will keep on pushing and striving to be and to do all that we can by the grace of God. When God sees that we are making the effort to fulfill all of His will, He will bear with us, patiently waiting for us to grow. It’s not as bad to try and fall short as it is to give up trying. That would be extremely displeasing to God. We simply have to “hang tough” in our prayer life.

Hanging Tough in Prayer

There are some things that God wants us to have – things that we want as individuals or for the Church – yet He doesn’t give them to us without lengthy praying. Why is this so? At times God wants us to go through a season of petitioning Him long and diligently just because that is His will at that time. We have a strong example of continually praying for what God wills to give us in Elijah (1 Kings 18:41-46). He prayed seven times for the rain that he knew was coming. But he also knew that God wanted him to present the petition that God wanted all along to grant him. What Elijah experienced is an example to us today: If your petition is scripturally sound and if you believe, God will hear you.

Human logic tells us that if we pray in faith one time only, God will hear and answer. That happens often. But the reverse also happens often. Let’s look again at the example of Elijah: Elijah had prophesied, that is, he had spoken for God Himself, and foretold of the rains coming after three years of drought. It seems that he should not have had to pray for the rain even once since God had spoken through him and promised it. But not only did Elijah have to pray once, he prayed seven times – and I am sure he prayed in faith – before there arose from the sea a little cloud the size of a man’s hand. That was all that Elijah needed: he knew his God was about to send a gully washer. And it was so. The rain came down in torrents.

We should apply Elijah’s example to ourselves as individuals and as the body of Christ. As the body of Christ (the Church), we are all recipients of God’s grace and salvation, but we are far from being in perfect harmony. We are all saved, yet lacking the unity that God wants, and that we all should yearn for. We should all long for the “perfect body” with which we dealt in the first part of this discourse.

Of course a perfect body must have perfect members, all working together for the good of the body (Kingdom of God). The logical way to address this issue is for each member of the Church to pray concertedly for the good of himself and his brothers and sisters (members of the body) and for the overall welfare of the Church. As we members grow and prosper spiritually the body of Christ will be blessed accordingly.

We are not in a position to tell God how often and how long we should pray for a particular request. If He has made us know that praying for it once is sufficient, well and good. We can present our petition that one time and sit back and wait for the answer. But if we are close to God, there are times when we sense that once or twice or three times is not enough: God wants us to come to Him again and again with the same petition.

This calls, without doubt, for being sensitive to the will of God and praying in faith. We should ask ourselves two questions: 1) Is my petition within the will of God and 2) am I praying in faith? If we can answer in the affirmative to those two questions, then all that we need is a mountain of persistence. We need to take a firm stand, pressure God, and cry long and loud to Him. God always hears the prayer of faith. Without a doubt He will hear and answer in His own way and time, and the Church will grow in its effective witness and in the unity of the faith.

We are indeed one body, however many different labels may be applied to the individual members. Let’s put aside our differences and let us all together hang tough in our prayers to God.

Jesus - Savior and God: Revised

2009-10-14T17:42:58-04:00

Nothing surprises God. God has been aware, from before the advent of man or time or angels, of the most wicked deed and the most praiseworthy act before either one was committed. For instance,

· God Knew from an eternity ago that He would form man from the dust of the ground. God’s love was set on the creature He had not yet brought into being. The reason is obvious. God is love and love does not exist in a vacuum. It requires an object on which to lavish itself. That is the nature of love and where there is no object for love to expend itself, there can be no love.

· God Knew from forever past that the man creature He formed with such loving care would soon callously turn away from its Maker and go traipsing after the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life.

Lucifer the onetime illustrious Light Bearer implanted these evil imaginings in the mind of Eve, Adam’s companion who was made to be a help meet (suitable) for Adam. Quite a helper she turned out to be!

· God Knew from all time that He would sacrifice everything He possessed as the human Son of God, scratching and clawing at the dirt into which man had fallen, seeking by any and all means to raise man to life once again and forever, nevermore to die spiritually or naturally. Man would have the “more abundant life” that Jesus promised while He was on this earth. Jesus would die, but man would live throughout the never ending ages.

And then, at the right “time” in eternity God went to work. He created the angels and brought worlds into being out of complete nothingness. He spoke man into existence and displayed a power that would have amazed all creation if there had been a creation already there to be amazed. In whatever way we look at the story of creation, it is an astounding account of the power and wisdom and knowledge of God. God, the ultimate contrast to man, is perfect in holiness, wisdom, knowledge and power. God sustains Himself and is dependent on no one other than His own perfect Self. He decrees and it comes to pass. He desires and it is so. God is in truth a monolith (a single great force); He is a unique juggernaut, an invincible force that overcomes everything in its path.

On the other hand, God is the epitome of love, grace, mercy and tender concern. His power, to which we have just referred, is not greater nor stronger than His love, which will tolerate no hindrance to its desired good for mankind. There is much at which to marvel in love (a part of the essence of God Himself) and there are many angles from which to view it. It is a quality of God that is unique; there is only one of its kind. But of course we speak foolishly: all of God’s attributes are unique, and any good trait we possess comes from God. There is no good apart from Him.

What we need to stress also in this study is the perfect righteousness of God. There is absolutely no sin or flaw in Him. Sin is something God will not tolerate. Sin is at present all around man and even a part of him; but God only suffers this to be so now. In His own time He will eradicate this thing He utterly detests.

The text above is an excerpt from a pamphlet titled Jesus – Savior and God. To read the full pamphlet (12 pages) you may purchase it or download it free here: http://bit.ly/1kYHAd

Oh, the Love of God!

2009-10-09T12:44:02-04:00

The post below is essentially the same post I wrote February 22 of this year, (God Will Be to You What You Choose Him to Be); but it has significant changes. In the present post I am speaking both to you and to myself, trying to get us both to see what we really cannot see as the humans we are. But there is the truth out there – and I want us both at least to sense it – that God loved mankind with a powerful, self-sacrificing love, which, even though we cannot know the fullness of it, we should be continually aware of the unimaginable scope of the love of God in the person of Jesus Christ. It is awesome; it is indescribable.

God Will Be to You What You Choose Him to Be

I had started to write “God Will Be to You What You WANT Him to Be,” but there is a significant difference between what you want God to be and what you choose Him to be. It seems highly unlikely that anyone would want God to be contrary and vengeful, but if you continue to make wrong choices in life, that is precisely the kind of God you will eventually get. And you will not like that God. In fact, you will be terrified out of your mind by that God.

I have lately been engrossed in the biblical book of Revelation. It is a book unlike any other in the Bible. It is a book smelling of fire and smoke and brimstone, a book bulging at the seams with the terrible wrath of God. It is a book containing the awful and awesome accounts of the judgments of God. God will pour the judgments out upon men and women who had the audacity to defy Him and scorn His love that endured the agonies of hell for a horrendous moment that they might have the more abundant life forever.

The previous sentence, however, that treats of the judgments of God, has in it the very reason you will be judged one day without mercy. It will be because you dared to ignore the tremendous, impossible sacrifice God (in Jesus) made for you. You have in effect spat on the love of Jesus and continually ignored and rejected the terrible suffering He endured so that you might be saved and have eternal life.

God doesn’t want to hurt you in any way; He wants only the best for you. But what about you: how do you feel about God? It seems that you could not care less about the love of God or sacrifice or excruciating pain or Jesus’ dying of a broken heart. You are worthy of the lowest and vilest hell; but so have we all been before we accepted the salvation that Jesus purchased for us with His own blood. If you or I or any depraved, despicable sinner (which we all are without Jesus) dares to turn his back on such supreme love and exquisitely painful sacrifice, any one of us deserves whatever fate awaits him.

Jesus was divinity in a body, and because He was, 1) He loved more than we mortals can possibly grasp in our limited minds, 2) He sacrificed more for us than we could possibly sacrifice for Him as He had infinitely more assets, even as the human Jesus, than we have, and 3) Jesus suffered more than we could ever suffer for the reason we have stated: He was divine and each lash of the scourge, each pounding of the nails into His hands and feet tore at Him not only physically but emotionally. Jesus was God! and need not have, nor should have, suffered as He did at the hands of the creature He loved.

If you are not saved, have you ever seriously thought about what you are doing? Have you at any time pondered the irony of a God of all creation pleading with you – whose breath is in your nostrils – to come to Him when He actually doesn’t need you? What can you give God that He does not already have? What can you possibly contribute to Him who owns the cattle on a thousand hills, and the earth and the fullness thereof, and a trillion galaxies and wondrous objects in the cosmos of which we have not even dreamed?

This writing is both an appeal and a warning: It is an appeal for you to come to Christ NOW, while you have the opportunity. It is a warning that your time is fast running out, and when it does – the horrible judgments of God will overtake you and it will then be too late to accept Christ. He will then turn His back on you.

A Birthday Thank You and a Reminder: It Ain't Over Yet

2009-10-05T09:38:48-04:00

With this post I want to say a great THANK YOU! to all my friends and well-wishers who have sent me birthday greetings by phone, by email and by Pony Express. A special warm thanks goes to Faith Covenant Church of Jesus Christ (pastor Mark Moore Sr.) for the phoned in, on-the-spot group rendition of A Happy Birthday to You – the refurbished arrangement that I like so well.

Now I want to bend your ear (or your eyes) for a short while with this little memo:

Life Is Never Over Until It’s Over

Usually a person waits until the signal birthday years (30’s, 40’s, 80’s, 90’s) to dramatically look back over the years of their life and make an assessment of said life. I have decided not to wait until I am 90 years old; at 89 I am not sure how many years are left to me. Today is the best time to make my assessment of what I have done right and what I have done wrong and what I have failed to do. In doing this, my aim is not to praise myself nor to deprecate myself although God and you and the devil know there is way too much blame that rightfully belongs to li’l ol’ me. Yet praising or blaming myself or anyone else is not quite what God wantsn at this time. So I’ll put all that aside and, while still assessing my life, show how the mercy and grace and love of God have shone like a beacon through all of the conglomerate mess. That is what God wants - whatever praise and glory can accrue to His name.

No one knows as I how gracious God has been to me. You may know for your own life, but you still don’t know – either quantitatively or qualitatively – all of the little and the great things God has done in my life. And most of what He has done the rest of the world knows but little, and if they did know, those things that are so marvelous and needful in my life would seem like ho-hum stuff to them. Nevertheless they are all great, I daresay even life-saving, to me.

God has reached low to save me and He has reached high to keep me saved. He reached low into the depths of sin and plucked me out of it and, contrariwise, He reached high, when I was great in my own sight, to pull me down from that lofty dangerous perch and bring me back to a level plane, serving and worshiping Him. When I thought I was somewhat, God knew how to shake me like a dog would shake a rag doll in its mouth, and tumble me back down to the real world, in which I am just a speck of dust among billions of other specks of dust.

I guess the point is this: no matter my spiritual or emotional state, whether low or high, life is never over at that point. We are all in the ongoing process of being brought to the likeness of Christ. If God has done great things in us and through us, life is not over yet. If we have fallen from the grace and favor of God for the moment, life is not over yet. God is still working on us, in us and through us to perfect all of His will in our individual lives.

So – don’t rejoice too soon and overmuch when you have reached a mountaintop in your journey and don’t wallow overmuch in the muck of sin when you have temporarily been defeated – life is not over until it is over, and God is still on His throne watching over you whether in the thrill of victory or the agony of defeat. Faith in Christ is the ultimate victory.

Life Is Not Limited to This Life

2009-10-01T17:48:24-04:00

God did not create man, who is the excellence of His creation, to see him snuffed out like a candle in a short three-score and ten years. Lesser lives suffer the indignity of such final extinction, not man who was made in the image of his Creator; and God has taken care to show this truth to us in the following way: Life consists of a series of cycles or days, each of which mimics the complete life span of man. Every day has a morning and a night, a beginning and an ending. Early and midmorning symbolize the start and early years of life. Late morning, noontime and early afternoon denote the approach and entrance into middle age. Late afternoon and early evening are analogous to the nearing and entering into old age. Nighttime is death.

But night with its somber black shroud does not signal the end of existence. At the end of every night there is a bright morning, continually reminding the believer in Christ that the seeming finality of death is a lie and there is a new day following in its wake.

An Example from Nature

These naturally recurring cycles are meant to bring a message to the believer. Look at it: The normal man does not dread the approach of nighttime. Admittedly, the coming of night does bring with it a feeling of fatigue; but becoming tired is an accepted accompaniment of making it through the day. Just living through the day can of itself be a wearying thing, and for the average man a good night's rest is something to look forward to.

So it should be with the Christian. As his day moves inexorably towards night, he is expected to become weary with the rigors of living and long for the rest and release of the night. This is not being morbid or strange. It is the healthy, normal, natural approach to the end of the day.

An Example from Nature's Creatures

The caterpillar, a grubby little insect which is doomed to crawl on its belly all its days, at a certain time of life literally entombs itself in a coffin-like cocoon. It "dies," but only that it may emerge, in due time, a transfigured lovely butterfly. It willingly spins a shroud around itself and quits its present life. But this is by no means the end of the story for the caterpillar. God has ordained that this lowly creature should, in due time, awaken from its apparent death into a completely new life. It enters into a beautiful new existence, free from crawling on the ground, free from the tenacious grip of gravity, free to flit through the air on lovely gossamer wings. "Death" has greatly improved its appearance and habits.

While it was still a caterpillar it did not fear nor fight the termination of its life. It did what came naturally. If the caterpillar had had the intelligence of a man it very well might have had an unreasonable fear of the ending of its restricted life and fought to prolong it. But caterpillars do not have the reasoning ability of men. They go without fear into their dark night and, in due course, they awaken to the glorious end for which they were created.

Follow the Lowly Insect

The believer in Christ should be as "unsophisticated" as the caterpillar. With his vastly superior knowledge man should realize that death is merely a natural step forward in the continuum of his eternal existence. As ironic as it may seem, death is a divinely appointed part of life and ought to be accepted as such. To die is to live forever.

We have to face the reality that man is a grubby little insect that is doomed to crawl on its belly all its days. Then, at a certain time in its mucky life, it dies. But this lowly insect dies only that it may emerge, in due time, a transcendent glorified being, completely changed from its old appearance and habits. The glorified man will no longer crawl through the filth of the earth. He will no longer be held in the grip of gravity. He will be free: free from all cares and fears, free from disappointments and heartaches, free from sickness and death and tears, free to live eternally with Christ.

You're not through yet, friend. Whether you are eighteen or eighty, you have a demand laid on you by God to keep the faith and finish the course. Start living!