Good Friday

Today is Good Friday and as I sit and reflect on the meaning of this day, I am humbled by the love and sacrifice that our Lord has made.

During the lessons this week, I've challenged the youth and Royal Ambassadors to look beyond the busyiness of the week... to look beyond the time away from school... to look past the candy and to stay focused on Jesus on this week of all weeks.

As 9:00 this morning rolled around, I thought about that point in time some 1976 years ago when Jesus was brutally beated, humilated and crucified on a cross.

It's unfathomable to think about the shame, scorn and separation that He went through in my place, so that I could have eternal life. To think that Jesus was thinking about me while he suffered and died is almost too much to comprehend.

The song, Wonderful Cross, taken from an old hymn comes to mind.

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of Glory died
My richest gain I count but loss
And pour contempt on all my pride
See from his head, his hands, his
feet
Sorrow and love flow mingled down
Did ever such love and sorrow meet
Or thorns compose so rich a crown

O the wonderful cross, O the wonderful cross
Bids me come and die and find that I may truly live
O the wonderful cross, O the wonderful cross
All who gather here by grace draw near and blessYour name

Were the whole realm of nature mine
That were an offering far too small
Love so amazing, so divine
Demands my soul, my life, my all

Wow... Lord Jesus, help me to honor you especially during this week; the week that we celebrate your glorious resurrection and outpouring of your love.

Because Truth Matters,
George

Evangelism - Part 2 (Open Air Preaching)

Moses, Jonah, John, the Baptist, Jeremiah, Amos, Isaiah, RA Torrey, Charles Spurgeon and Billy Graham.

That's some list! What do these people have in common? Open air or street preaching.

Peter was an open-air preacher, Paul was an open-air preacher, and so were Elijah and Ezra. Most importantly is the fact that Jesus, Himself was an open-air preacher. In looking at styles of evangelism, it's important that we look to the Bible as our source and guide and not man. God says that our ways are not His ways, so it doesn't matter what Willow Creek or Mars Hill or Northpoint does. What matters is our faith and obedience to our Lord and His call.

So, in keeping with using ONLY the Bible as our rule for ministry, let's look more at evangelism..

Every great sermon recorded in the Bible was preached in the open air; the sermon on the Day of Pentecost, the Sermon on the Mount, the sermon on Mars Hill, etc.

Some people may argue that open air or street preaching is not personal and that we as Christians need to develop relationships with people to show then that we are "just like them" and then we can invite them to our church because it's relevant and caters to them.

I will say that in that statement, there is some truth. Having a relationship with someone makes it easier to connect with them and makes them more open to hearing what you have to say because they (hopefully) trust your opinion. That is a valid method of witnessing, but not the only one.

I will also say this. There are people that we will never reach if we simply play the part of the matchmaker and invite people to church so they can get accept Jesus. We have to go to where people have no Christian friends, to where people who won't go to church are and compel them.

Let me stop there for a moment and take a small tangent... I am NOT saying that we need to hang out in bars to evangelize. We are to be separate from the world, but still have to go into it to accomplish God's will. We are a holy people, called out and set apart, called to go and love and bring people out of the world, not go and show them that we are just like the world.

Anyway, let's look at the Bible, because that IS the final authority in ALL things.

"Then the Lord said unto me, Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah, and in the STREETS of Jerusalem, saying, Hear ye the words of this covenant, and do them." (Jeremiah 11:6)

"Whom we preach, WARNING EVERY MAN and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in CHRIST JESUS." (Colossians 1:28)

"In those days came John the Baptist preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, REPENT YE, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matthew 3:1-2; see also Mark 1:4; Luke 3:3)

Well, that's it for now. See you in the next part.

Because Truth matters,
George

Evangelism - Part 1 (Livin' the Life)

In thinking about evangelism, I thought that it was time to put some thoughts down about sharing Jesus. Every day 150,000 people will die. A large majority of those are not Christians.

Please go back and reread that. Seriously, go. I'll wait here...

OK, ready?

There are many methods that are talked about in today's world in dealing with the subject of evangelism, from relational to street preaching. They all have their pluses and minuses. I'm going to be looking at some methods during the next few posts.

What brought this up? We were listening to Glenn Beck last night and he had Kirk Cameron on. He was talking about Kirk's life and Kirk unashamedly used the opportunity to share his faith and the way that Jesus changed his life. We were watching, practically cheering during this time.

We've seen Bono, Rob Bell and Joel Osteen waffle on their convictions and dance around the room when the tough questions are put to them. We were thinking, finally, here is someone who is unshamed to speak the truth about the Truth. There was no emergent, seeker-sensitive mumbo-jumbo, just the Truth.

Very refreshing!

Because Truth matters,
George

Come and see!

"Come and see!" That was the call of our youngest daughter one night this past week. She came running in from outside and called out to me, "Come and see, Daddy! The sky is so pretty. It's beautiful!"

At the time, I was up to my elbows in chicken getting ready for dinner. I quickly washed my hands and ran to the back door. We opened the back door and there it was; a beautiful sky, just as I had been told.

She told me to take a picture, so I ran into thehouse, grabbed my camera and did just that.

How unaware I was at the beauty that was going on just outside our walls. Had it not been for Jules, I wouldv'e missed it. Sunsets seem to be gone in just a few minutes.

I wonder... Are there people that you are close to or see on a daily basis that need to see the light of Jesus? Are you excited about telling people about Him?

Who could you run to, grab there hand and lead them to "Come and see!" before it's too late?

Because Truth matters,

George

Would You Like to "GIga-size" That?

Who hasn't been through a fast food establishment and after placing your order, asked if you would like to "up-size", "mega-size", "go large" or "king size" the order? What this usually means is an upgrade to a half a gallon of soda and a bucket of french fries. That can't be good for you.

Now, in being honest here, I've gotten the larger portion a time of two, but just found out that, to quote my mom, "my eyes were bigger than my stomach". I usually ended up really full and feeling sick afterwards. Pouring all of that sugar and fried food into my body had an adverse effect.

I was recently reading an article on "Gigachurches". Yes, you read that correctly; not megachurches. Gigachurches. Those who are familiar with computers know that "giga" is a LOT more that a "mega" anything. It means more speed, power, etc. and is better, but is it the same for churches?

The following list of the Top 10 largest churches is from the previously mentioned article.

Top 10 Largest U.S. Churches

1. Lakewood Church, Houston Texas – Joel Osteen (47,000)
2. Willow Creek Community Church, South Barrington, Ill. – Bill Hybels (23,500)
3. Second Baptist Church, Houston – Ed Young Sr. (23,198)
4. Saddleback Church, Lake Forest, Calif. – Rick Warren (22,000)
5. LifeChurch.tv, Edmond, Okla. – Craig Groeschel (19,907)
6. Southeast Christian Church, Louisville, Ky. – Dave Stone (18,013)
7. North Point Church, Alpharetta, Ga. – Andy Stanley (17,700)
8. Thomas Road Baptist Church, Lynchburg, Va. – Jonathan Falwell (17,445)
9. Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. – Bob Coy (17,000)
10. The Potter's House, Dallas – T.D. Jakes (17,000)

While I don't discount the hearts or passion of these churches, for me, it raises a red flag... Numbers do not neccessarily mean Christian converts.

Other churches like Elevation Church in Charlotte, N.C., pastored by Steven Furtick have seen their congregations experience viral growth. Elevation has experienced a growth of 444 percent.

To quote from CH Spurgeon,

"It is a serious injury to a person to receive him into the number of the faithful unless there is good reason to believe that he is really regenerate. I am sure it is so, for I speak after careful observation. Some of the most glaring sinners known to me were once members of a church; and were, as I believe, led to make a profession by undue pressure, well-meant but ill-judged. Do not, therefore, consider that soul-winning is or can be secured by the multiplication of baptisms, and the swelling of the size of your church. What mean these despatches from the battle-field? "Last night, fourteen souls were under conviction, fifteen were justified, and eight received full sanctification." I am weary of this public bragging, this counting of unhatched chickens, this exhibition of doubtful spoils. Lay aside such numberings of the people, such idle pretence of certifying in half a minute that which will need the testing of a lifetime. Hope for the best, but in your highest excitements be reasonable. Enquiry-rooms are all very well; but if they lead to idle boastings, they will grieve the Holy Spirit, and work abounding evil"

- Spurgeon, What Is It To Win A Soul, Chapter 1

I'm not saying that large churches are bad, but one has to be very careful of "claiming a number of salvations" as well as making sure that all of these people are properly shepherded and discipled.

Because Truth matters,
George

Because Truth Matters

What is Truth? I know some people may just read that question and say, "Well, truth is something that's true." It sounds simple enough, but what makes something true?

I used to teach Adult Sunday School at a former church and our class once did a study on Truth. I remember it because of the depth of information that we covered along with the intense Bible study just made everyone's brain hurt; but we did learn a lot from it.

There are things that can be defined and redefined and that still doesn't change the fact that certain things, like Truth stay the same.

There are some misguided people that cast aspersions at others in some self-righteous way of defending their man-centered views and Heaven help you if you disagree with their version of the truth.

It's interesting to note that the word aspersion has it's root meaning as "sprinking". It's interesting as some are in the habit of sprinkling just enough truth with just enough man-centered falsehoood in sermons or gossip, um, I mean conversations with others; or that some "sprinkle" as in dropping viscious, yet veiled ad hominem attacks at others, labeling then as weak-minded, legalistic, divisive or pharisitical. The most recent one that I've read was about the former Slice of Laodicea website. It's horrible the anger that some "Christians" have when others are simply pointing them to the Truth.

OK, so what really matters? The only mirror that we should hold to our face or another person is the Word of God. What you say doesn't matter. What I say doesn't matter. What God says does matter and is the ONLY TRUTH.

The actual topic of Truth would take an entire series to discuss, so I will leave off for now with the fact that Jesus said in John 14:6,

"I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to
the Father but through Me."

This week, I've read about sermons featuring poker, Napolean Dynamite, business books and a myriad of other topics. All of this deals with the entertainment factor of grabbing someone's interest with culturally relevant ideas.

Do you know what is culturally relevant? If you don't know Jesus, you are a lost sinner and will spend eternity in Hell, forever seperated from God. The Good News is that Jesus dies on the cross so you don't have to. He died in our place and offers His sacrifice as a free gift; the gift of grace, God's unmerited favor.

The Bible is relevant just as it is. What a sad thing it must say for us as a culture that we have such short attention spans that if churches aren't doing things bigger and grander with each "production" that we're worried that "we" won't reach people.

Ahhhh.... wait a minute...

Who is trying to "draw" the people?

John 12:32 states,

"And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men
to Myself."

It's not about being fed, becoming a social agency, musical styles or whatever music the "world" listens to. It is soley, undeniably about our Lord and Him alone. That's it... simple, eh?

It breaks my heart at the well-intentioned, yet man-centered entertainment centers that a lot of our churches have become. It's time that we stop sacrificing the Word of God on the altar of worldliness. It's time that we stop the flow of vitriol that seeps and spews from blogs, webcasts and pulpits. It's time that we stop the man-centered worldliness that is slowly infecting our churches in front of our eyes.

It's not about opinion, style or different methods... Simply, read the Bible. It's your blueprint. Don't take my word for it. I make mistakes. I used to tell my Sunday School class to be a Berean and search the scriptures and test everything. We are to stand behind God, not man or a personality.

Oh, Lord, how can we forget and have it any other way? Heavenly Father, search my heart and bring to mind anything that I need to confess and please remove anything that I have placed in a position that you alone should occupy.

Because Truth matters,

George

Quiz

I recently read about this quiz about the "Christian faith". I took it and found that I need to be able to more accurately define the essentials of the Christian faith in order to effectively defend it.

The answers follow below in blue. My hope is that this will spur you on to know what you believe.

Caveat: You have to answer from memory. No internet/Bible/commentary helps allowed. Note: This is NOT intended to be an exhaustive doctrinal overview, just a few example questions for Christians.

1. Name the Ten Commandments... in order :)

2. Name the 12 Apostles

3. Give a concise biblical definition of sin

4. What is God?

5. What offices does Christ execute as our Redeemer?

6. How do we partake of the redemption purchased by Christ?

7. What does the term, “effectual calling” mean?

8. Give a concise definition of “justification.”

9. Give a concise definition of “sanctification.”

10. What duty does God require of man?

11. Where is the moral law summed up in the Scriptures?

12. What words from God are the preface to His Ten Commandments? Also, where in Scripture are the Ten Commandments found?

13. What do we pray for in the First Petition of the Lord’s prayer?

14. What about the Second Petition?

15. The Third?

16. The Fourth?

17. The Fifth? The Sixth?

18. How does the ministry of the Law bring us toward Christ?

19. How does the ministry of the Gospel help you in your accursed state?

20. What is prayer?

21. What is repentance?

22. What is meant by the “communion of the saints”?

23. What is the Bible?

Okay, okay, I’ll stop there. Answers can be found below.

Keep scrolling down...

1. The Ten Commandments

1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.
3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
4. Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy.
5. Honor thy father and thy mother.
6. Thou shalt not kill.
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
8. Thou shalt not steal.
9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
10. Thou shalt not covet.

2. The Twelve Apostles

Simon Peter, James, John, Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James, Thadeus, Simon, Judas

3 . Sin is any lack of conformity to or transgression of the Law of God.

4. God is a spirit, infinite, eternal and unchangeable in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth.

5. Christ executes the office of Prophet, Priest and King.

6. We are made partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ by the application of it to our hearts by the Holy Spirit.

7. Effectual calling is a gracious work of the Spirit, whereby he causes us to embrace Christ freely, as he is offered to us in the gospel.

8. Justification is an act of God’s free grace in which he pardons all our sins and accepts us as righteous in His sight, only because of the righteousness of Christ, imputed to us and received by faith alone.

9. Sanctification is a work of God’s free grace, wherein we are renewed in the whole man, after the image of God and are enabled more and more to die to sin and live unto righteousness.

10. The duty that God requires of man is obedience to His revealed will.

11. The Moral Law is summarized in the Ten Commandments.

12. The preface to the Ten Commandments is found in these words: “I am the Lord thy God which has brought thee out of the land of Egypt and out of the house of bondage.”
The Ten Commandments are found in Exodus 20:2-17 and Deuteronomy 5:6-21

13. In the First Petition of the Lord’s Prayer, Hallowed be thy name, we pray that God’s name would be held holy among us.

14. The Second Petition of the Lord’s Prayer is, Thy Kingdom come,. The Kingdom of God comes indeed by itself but in this petition we pray that it would come unto us also.

15. In the Third Petition of the Lord’s Prayer, Thy Will Be Done, the good and gracious will of God is done indeed without our prayer, but we pray in this petition that it may be done among us as well.

16. The Fourth Petition is, Give us this day our daily bread. God gives us daily bread without our prayer, but we pray in this petition that He would lead us to know it and receive our daily bread with thanksgiving.

17. The Fifth Petition is, And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. In this petition that our Father in heaven would not look upon our sins nor on their account deny our prayer, for we are worthy of none of the things for which we pray. Neither have we deserved them. But we pray that he would grant them all by grace for we daily sin much and really deserve nothing but punishment. So will we also heartily forgive and readily do good to those who sin against us. The Sixth Petition is, And lead us not into temptation. God indeed tempets no one but we pray in this petition that God would guard and keep us so that the devil, the world and our flesh may not deceive us nor seduce us into disbelief, despair and other great shame and vice. And though we are attacked by these things, that still we may finally overcome and obtain the victory through Jesus Christ.

18. The ministry of the Law brings us to Christ by bring me to know my sin and the wrath of God against me for it.

19. The ministry of the Gospel brings us to Christ by teaching us the value and virtue of the death of Christ and the riches of His grace to lost sinners, by revealing the promise of grace to such and ministering the Spirit of grace to apply Christ and his promise of grace to me, and to keep me in Him.

20. Prayer is the calling upon God in the name of Christ, by the help of the Holy Spirit, according to the will of God.

a grace of the Spirit, whereby I despise my sins and myself for them, and confess them before the Lord, and mourn after Christ for the pardon of them, and for grace to serve Him in newness of life.

22. The communion of the saints is the fellowship of the church in the blessings of the covenant of grace.

23. The Word of God which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. It is God breathed, without error and is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify God and enjoy Him.

Here ends our quiz. The answers are paraphrases taken from both the Westminster Confession of Faith and Luther’s catechism. There are many evangelical Christians who could not answer most of these most basic questions with any clarity because they have never been taught the basics. Before we worry about what rock song played during a certain movie, we should know what we believe and why. The questions are not intended to be a complete summary of Christian doctrine, just a sampling.

The Wondrous Cross

Today is Good Friday and as I sit here and think of what happened 2000 years ago, it really makes me think and wonder about this day in history, or should I say HIStory.

It's Spring and traditionally, it's supposed to be warming up, maybe some rain, etc. In direct contradiction to this, it was snowing here today. Yes, snowing! OK, so they were flurries, but still!

Today, the high in Jerusalem was 77°. I know my thoughts don't sound like they are going anywhere, but in thinking about today, I've just starting thinking and wondering what the day was like when they crucified Jesus. I'm talking about more than the weather, but that just added another detail to my thoughts.

From His condemnation to "It is finished," came from the lips of Christ, the day was one of trial, tribulation and torture and yet we call it "good". In God's ultimate love, He willingly layed His life down as a living sacrifice for me... and you. It's hard to think about the events of that day and to think that Jesus went through all of that for me. I was the one who nailed Him to the cross with my sin.

To quote Isaac Watts,

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.

See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

His dying crimson, like a robe,
Spreads o’er His body on the tree;
Then I am dead to all the globe,
And all the globe is dead to me.

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.

I love the "modern" addition as well...

Oh the wonderful cross
Oh the wonderful cross
Bids me come and die
And find that I may truly live

Oh the wonderful cross
Oh the wonderful cross
All who gather here
By grace draw near
And bless Your name

Thank you, Jesus. Thank you for you everlasting love and mercy and grace.

Is Water Baptism A Part of Salvation?

Is water baptism a part of salvation? This is a discussion that a good friend and I are having. There are basically two answers to this; yes and no.

There is a saying that goes like this, "Give me the Reader's Digest version", which means, the short answer without a long drawn out discussion. The "Reader's Digest" answer is: No

I am one, however, that likes to followup an answer with an explanation, so here we go...

My friend points to Acts 2:38 in the NASB, which says,

Peter [said] to them, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

I am of the school of thought that says that baptism is the outward sign of our obedience to the Lord and our profession of faith as a Christian and that it is not a component of salvation.

Now, the quote above looks pretty straight forward. I can read that and think, "OK, that's what is says," however, before we conceed that point, we have to interpret scripture in light of scripture.

John MacArthur, in his book, The Crucified Christ, makes an intersting point here...

People say, "Look, Acts 2:38 says, 'Repent, and be baptized . . . .' How do you get around the fact that Peter said you've got to get baptized to be saved?" Well, it's very simple, actually. Luke 18 contains a helpful illustration. Look at verse 18: "And a certain ruler asked Him [Jesus], saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" Now, that's a good question. In fact, it's basically the same question the people asked in Acts 2:37. Skipping down to verse 22b, Jesus answered his question, and said, "Sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven . . . ." Is Jesus saying that salvation is an issue of economics? Is He saying that in order to be saved, a person has to hock everything and then give all the money to the poor? Of course not! Salvation isn't a question of economics. It isn't a question of giving all one's money to the poor. You say, "Well, that's what He said!" No, that's not what He said. Look again at verse 22. After telling this man to sell all that he had and to give the money to the poor, Jesus then said, ". . . and come, follow Me." In other words, Jesus was saying, "There's a barrier in your way, fella. You're never going to know salvation until you give up your one big hang-up - money." You see, Jesus read his heart and knew that this young ruler loved money. And the reason we know that Jesus' analysis was correct is because the guy turned around and went home. He wanted his money more than he wanted eternal life.

The point is this: It's not until you want Jesus Christ more than anything else that the conditions are removed. As long as God knows there's something in the way, He'll point it out. The biggest stumbling block to Jewish conversion was the fear of persecution, being "unsynagogued," and being put out of their whole Jewish world. So Peter says, "I know that's your problem. so that's what you're going to have to get out of the way." They had to be baptized as a public acknowledgment that they were naming the name of Jesus Christ - fully aware of what it was going to cost.

The Word of God, then, does not teach baptismal regeneration. It simply indicates, here in Acts 2:38, that the Jews were to be baptized in response to what had happened in their life. It was to be a public confession of their new union with Christ . . . and it was a high price for them to pay.

It's been argued that the "for" in Acts 2:38 makes baptism a part of the process. Let's go back to the Bible.

There are instances of people being saved without being baptized.

In Luke 23:43, Jesus is dying on the cross,

And He said to him, "Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise."

The first question that springs to mind is how can the thief be saved, if baptism is required? He was dying along side of Jesus.

In looking at Acts 10:44-48, Cornelius' household became believers, received the Holy Spirit, and began speaking in tongues, before being baptized in water.

While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message. And all the circumcised believers who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out upon the Gentiles also. For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God. Then Peter answered, "Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?" And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay on for a few days,

This is significant because tongues is a sign-gift given to believers. Also, verse 46 says they were "exalting God." Unbelievers don't praise God. They can't because praise to the true God is a deep spiritual matter that is foreign to the unsaved.

As my friend and I talk more on this subject, I'll keep posting

The Testimony of the Lamb

This morning, I was listening to a man give his testimony. He had come from an abusive home as a boy and had been in prision, had a bad marriage and had taken drugs and drank heavily.

After a near-death-experience, where he says that he died on an operating room table after having been involved in a fight, he claims to have seen a glimpse of hell that scarred him more than anything that this hardened man had ever experienced.

After his experience, his wife accepted Jesus as her Lord and Saviour and they went to church for the first time.

It was sitting in the back pew that this man heard the preacher talk about Jesus as the Lamb of God who took away our sins. This resonated in him and got his attention.

He continues...

As a lonely 9 year-old boy, he grew up in an abusive home in rural Pennsylvania. One day, while coming home from the school bus stop as was usually the case, he passed through a neighbor's field and the kind lady that lived there called him over and said that she wanted to give him a present. She gave him a baby lamb.

This man, Mr. Reagan, goes on to tell of the lamb and he becoming friends. He said that it was his only friend.

Anyway, the lamb was very curious and would come up to him and follow him whenever he was outside. It would always meet him at the edge of the property when he would come home.

One day when he came home, he saw his father working on an old car that had a flat tire. His dad was angry and was swearing. The boy went out of his way go steer clear of the situation and as he rounded the opposite side of the car that his father was working on, he saw his lamb, his only friend, lying near by.

He screamed and ran up to it and found the pure white lamb dead and covered in blood from being hit by his father with a lug wrench. The image was so vivid.

He ran away screaming and that day scarred him for the rest of his life; until this day, when the Holy Spirit softened his heart. He understood the sacrifice of our Holy God, who sent his only Son, to be the Lamb, the perfect sacrifice for us.

Ron wept for the first time in many years and gave his heart to Christ that day.

Hearing this story weighed so heavy on me. It calls me to remember, that I need to be ever mindful of the mercy, grace and love that our Father has for us.

13 percent

I recently heard a sermon from Central Christian College of the Bible and it talked about being aware of people around you and how often people die. The statistics given were that 2 people die every second on Earth.

At the end of the day, that is 230,000 people. Of those who pass away, only an estimated 30,000 are Christians and will go to Heaven.

What an alarming statistic that only 13% of the people who die every day go to Heaven.

It certainly makes me feel my calling to ministry even more. I know that I have to proceed according to God's will and timing, but it seems so much more urgent when I'm presented with those numbers.