Do you dare to disturb the universe?

What went wrong?  Who messed up?  Where and when did the message get lost?  Is it too late?

These are some of my convoluted thoughts this morning as I ponder a recent conversation with some elderly folks.  And the reason I specify that they are elderly (which to me, by the way, means those who are over the age of seventy) is because surely...surely after all of these years, surely after all that they have witnessed in these decades and changes of the century, surely somewhere along the line they have heard that Jesus Christ came to save sinners, to promise salvation, and to prepare a place with Himself for them to reside.

These people by most's accounts would have the record of having lived a "good life."  They aren't murderers, raised good families, lived peaceable lives, and mostly have stellar reputations in their communities.  Brought up by a God-fearing woman, the gospel was taught to them at a young age.  So now, now that they are in their golden years and have had time and ample opportunity to reflect, how can they speak so frivolously about what comes next?

"I don't believe in God," said one.

"I believe in some sort of higher power," said another.

"Oh yes, I believe in Jesus Christ but I don't believe in heaven," stated one more.

Intrigued and shocked and dismayed and bewildered and confounded and just overall flabbergasted, I pursued my line of questioning with quiet questions and earnest interjections to try to gain a semblance of understanding, and instead I was left with...hmn.  How to say?  I was left with sadness.  Worldly sadness.  My earlier readings in Galatians where Paul asked who had so easily bewitched them as those peoples had strayed from the lessons they had been taught flooded my mind as I too realized this type of thinking can only come from one place.  These older souls have been bamboozled by the master of deception, the king of lies, and the stealer of joy.  Their (perhaps) once acceptance that there was no other way to life and peace and salvation had been trampled out by men and women who perverted the gospel, who made a mockery of it, and by those who convinced through their conniving ways that God wasn't even necessary, that He doesn't exist, and they were given just enough doubt to hope and believe that there is "something out there" that will fix them--should they admit, that is, that they are broken, unwhole, and unwell.  Unfortunately, that "something" has been twisted into a false representation of a savior that many flock to as they believe there is no need of God but rather that that higher power is within themselves.  Their worship is inward to self rather than upwards to my Christ Jesus.  They have been deceived and now give acclaim to those who promise their needs will be fulfilled should they just believe that power can be obtained through worldly measures.

Sigh.

So, what now?  What is the next step?  Is there a next step?  Remember, I mentioned these are old people.  Old!  Oh no, not out of the picture yet but their lives are more likely to end sooner than later.  Throughout those lives, I feel sure that Jesus has been presented to them.  Not always in a positive way, however, which is why I wonder:  is there time to change their minds?  Is there time to convince, to show, to assure them that He most definitely exists, that He most definitely loves them, and that He most assuredly doesn't want their lives to end this way?

"Hey, I guess they're right. Senior citizens, although slow and dangerous behind the wheel, can still serve a purpose."

This is a quote by Lloyd from the movie "Dumb and Dumber." While funny, in part, it is also quite true.  There's a reason why we still have these seniors with us.  There's a purpose for their continued lives.  Maybe it's so you and I can tell them once more about Jesus, the real Jesus.  Maybe it's so they can hear and see Him alive in us.  Maybe it's so they won't die and when we all stand around their gravesides, we won't be wondering if they "made it" but instead will have that quiet faith and assurance that indeed we will see them again, but better still?  That they have come to know Christ Jesus as their personal Saviour and Lord.  I've been there, friend, wondering if my dad got saved before he died, wondering if my mother's faith was in Christ or in her own works, hoping that my aunt's professed salvation was real, seeing my mother-in-law lowered into the ground and wondering if her hardened heart had been softened by my Lord's sweet love.  

Yeah, I'm being blunt and some may say judgmental but my word:  we've got to stop wondering and start finding out, start witnessing not with pious words and religious threats but by God, by God, through our lives that are supposed to evidence Christ's salvation!  I'm pretty sure they've heard of Him by now.  It's time to show them through our lives, through our fervent living, and mostly by our loving actions that Jesus is real, that God's not dead, and that through His marvelous gift of His Son, that we can all live too.  We don't have to wonder if we'll make it, hope we get there, or spend countless moments struggling to understand this alleged higher power that is playing with our destinies and wondering if we just do that one special thing that our lives will be made well after all.

Acts 4:12 tells us: "Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Check up on the senior citizens in your orbit, friends, and make sure they have one last opportunity to know the truth, will you? You might not get the answer you hope for and you might be as confused as I am after talking to them but at least you will have done your part of asking, of perhaps planting a seed--or better still of watering one that is trying to break through that tough soil that has been buried and is now ready to rise, to break through, and to see the Son. Now that would be spectacular!

Let's pray!

Father God, as I penned these words this morning, I did so with a heavy, hopeful, hurting, and hesitant heart. How these folks could be so bewitched is beyond me when Your Word has been evidenced for so much of their lives. And I know it has, Lord, for we are in America. Your Word has not been banned nor hidden from those who seek it. Your people are all around but also Lord, those who mislead and pervert Your Word are all around as well, and sadly, often moreso evident than those who truly know You.

Lord, I pray this morning for boldness for me, for my fellow saints, and for those preachers who have the calling to preach Jesus. May He be lifted up, His offer presented, and His sacrifice appreciated and accepted as we all check up and make sure of our salvation. May Your children not shy away from the hard stuff, Father, but instead, with loving hearts, risk the wrath in hopes of showing them the light, Your light. I ask these things in the name of Jesus, who saved my rotten soul, and offers me hope and assurance. Amen.

Clouds on the Horizon

May 11, 2015

How many of us are trusting our important documents, pictures, and private matters to a "cloud" that we cannot see?  You know the ones I'm referring to, right?  Google has one, as does Amazon.  Other sites use them as well to "store" our things in...in where exactly?  A "cloud"?  A "cloud" that I cannot see yet can access anytime, anywhere, as long as I am logged into that source?  Sounds pretty strange to me and yet...

It works.  Whenever I go to check on my blogs, my photographs, my messages, I can be in a place that was different from where they were sent from.  I can be in another town, another state, and (I'm assuming because I get messages from folks) even other countries.  While I cannot physically hold these notes, pics, and documents in my hand, I can view them on my electronic devices.  How wild is that?  If we had told our parents and grandparents this would one day be the future, for them to forget about filing cabinets and saving all of those tax returns, check stubs, and marriage certificates, to not worry about making scrapbooks (eek!!) because who really would develop those treasured memories and spend all of that time pasting and prettying them up in albums, or to not keep their journals and private thoughts in books anymore but rather store them in this unseen cloud, what would their responses have been?

They might surprise us.  They might tell us that for most of their lives they have been storing up treasures where neither moth nor mold could corrupt them.  They might have told us that those memories of all the good times (and the sad ones too) are being kept in a record indeed up in the sky, where thieves cannot steal them.  They might even tell us about how all of those tears we've cried are stored in a jar on a shelf.  They might tell us that this newfangled cloud isn't so new, isn't so amazing, nor is it as unbelievable as it seems.  

For you see, they've been trusting in an unseen Hand for eons now.  They've been placing their trust in a Man Whom they've never seen face-to-face, yet their lives are in His hands.  They might tell us about their unspoken prayers that keep getting answered--and they didn't even have to write them down first to be uploaded to this storage device in the sky!

Let's not sell our senior citizens too shortly.  They still have a thing or two to teach us.  Why not take the time today to invest some of your time with one or two and see what other marvels that you think you've recently discovered can't even compare with the mysteries they have to tell you all about?  I daresay it just might be the most fascinating conversation you've had in a while--although it will require putting away your electronic appendages and sitting a spell with a real-live, genuine, person.  I also think you might just have the time of your lives doing so!

Let's pray!

Dear Lord God, as technology continues to evolve and amaze, allow us to remember that there is nothing new under the sun.  Remind us that the stories of old are worth retelling as they teach us about Your Book of Life, Your eternal records of our lives, and Your etching in even Your own hand which can tell us the most personal story we've ever been a part of.

Thank You for being such a personal God, Lord.  Thank You for always having time for us.  We look forward to that day of cloud watching from a different vantage point as You reveal to us those things that we cannot see.  We love You.  I love You!  In the name of Jesus I pray.  Amen.