I’ve Read the Back of the Book, Part 2 Two weeks ago I wrote about the final destination of satan, the Antichrist and the False Prophet. I’ve read the back of the Book and the Bible is clear in Revelation 20:10: “And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast [the Antichrist] and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” What a blessing that God has given us His final playbook. Two weeks ago we looked at Revelation 19 and 20 and saw God’s plan for the final judgment of evil. satan has been playing the spoiler since his defeat on Resurrection Sunday two thousand years ago, attacking everything God has created and especially those men and women who love Him. But that will come to a fiery end one day. And that fact should encourage us no end. Today I’d like to take a look at Revelation 21 and 22. If two weeks ago was “out with the bad,” today will be “in with the good.” After the final judgment of those men and women who have rejected God, chapter 21 opens with an amazing description of where and, to a degree, how, we will spend our eternity- those of us who have surrendered our lives to our loving God. “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’ He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’ Then he said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.’ He said to me: ‘It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children (21:1-7).’” That sounds wholly, breathtakingly wonderful to me. No more tears or death or mourning or pain. You can stop right there - I’m sold! Oh, but there’s so much more. God will make all things new. Everything familiar to us, all the ways we live our lives, everything we’re used to, even the laws of nature, will be different, and so much better than anything we could possibly imagine. I’m just as tempted as you are sometimes to ask all my questions. “Will animals be there?” “What will we do all day?” “How could we not get bored sometimes?” “Will our glorified bodies look like young people or like we look now?” “What will babies who died look like?” “Will we recognize our loved ones?” “Will we miss our loved ones who aren’t there?” “What will worship be like if Jesus is right there with us?” We could ask a thousand questions. But I must be content to not get answers, and to rest in the knowledge that 1) my feeble mind couldn’t possibly comprehend the wonders God has in store for me anyway and 2) I mustn’t overlay my finite knowledge of how life works onto God’s way of operating. Thinking about the unknowns of heaven in the familiar terms of what we understand and know here on earth is a mistake, but a mistake we can’t help but make, because we don’t have any frame of reference except an earthly one! Let me highlight a few more things about eternity. Here is a description of the New Jerusalem, also found in Revelation 21. I have left the verses in the text so you can see that I’m skipping a bit. “The Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. 11 It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12 It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. 16 The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia [1400-1500 miles] in length, and as wide and high as it is long. 18 The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. 19 The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. 21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass. 22 I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.” What an incredible place! There’s so much to write about here, but let me limit myself to just two observations. First, did you notice that, in verse 16, John tells us that the city is as high as it is wide and long? I can’t even comprehend that! A city that is 1400-1500 miles high? And second, the sun and moon are no longer necessary, nor are lights or lamps, because God provides the light. Here on earth, when an object blocks a single light source, what results? Right - a shadow. In my very limited understanding of the text in Revelation, however, it appears that darkness will no longer exist, and in that case, no shadows will exist. You will never need a flashlight to walk into a dark closet. You will never need to strike a match or light a candle or flip on a switch. Light will be everywhere, all around us! How can that possibly work? Now, see, there I go, trying to understand God’s infinite heaven in terms of my own earthly experience. We just can’t help ourselves, can we?! C.S. Lewis addresses heaven in the last of the seven books in the Chronicles of Narnia, The Last Battle. In it, all the heroes of the Chronicles have entered heaven. The Unicorn puts it in perspective: “I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now. The reason why we loved the old Narnia is that it sometimes looked a little like this.” Kinda makes you homesick to read that, doesn’t it? And hopefully the combination of Lewis’s interpretation and what you read in God’s Word removes any lurking fear in your heart about going to heaven, and provides you with some comfort when you think of your loved ones who are already there. And one last passage from the Word: Here are the first several verses of Revelation 22. “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever (22:1-4).” Let me wrap this up with one more very inspiring quote from The Last Battle. Let it encourage you if, as you’re aging and maybe declining just a bit, you feel like you’re coming to the end. You’re not. Steven Curtis Chapman, in his song The Glorious Unfolding, sings that “this life we’re living is just the beginning of the beginning.” But back to The Last Battle: In the last paragraph of the book, the author/narrator steps in and concludes the Chronicles, “And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.” Hallelujah!

DO YOU REMEMBER? I had been in my new job as Residence Life Director at National American University in Rapid City, South Dakota, for about a month. My office was just off the dormitory’s front lobby/lounge, and on that Tuesday morning, I was preparing to meet with a representative of a local international Christian ministry. One of the students had turned on the television in the lounge, and a small group had gathered to watch, slack-jawed, the horrifying events occurring on the East Coast. I arrived just in time to watch the first tower collapse at about 8:00. And the second tower half an hour later. When my appointment arrived, we canceled our meeting and spent the rest of the morning watching the news as shocking reports came in from the Pentagon and Pennsylvania as well as New York City. I have no doubt that you also remember where you were and what you were doing that Tuesday morning, September 11, 2001. That terrible day ranks right down there with Pearl Harbor in 1941 (we have a handful of folks in our group who were born by then, though they probably weren’t old enough to remember it), the 1963 Kennedy assassination and the 1986 Challenger explosion. We typically remember many details about the days that rocked our world. Just to refresh your memory of what happened that remarkable day, allow me to include an excerpt found at https://www.history.com/articles/9-11- attacks. “On September 11, 2001, terrorists linked to the Islamic extremist group al Qaeda - founded by Osama bin Laden – hijacked four commercial passenger airplanes and carried out suicide attacks against targets in the United States. Two of the planes were flown into the World Trade Center in New York City. Within a few hours, both of the twin towers collapsed into rubble, demolishing a large section of lower Manhattan. A third plane hit the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C. The passengers and crew of the fourth plane fought back, and the plane was downed in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Almost 3,000 people were killed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks...The shocking events of September 11 were televised globally and left much of the world reeling in horror.” I’d like to pull two applications from the twenty-fifth anniversary of September 11th. First, it is important for us to live every day as if it were our last. As I write this, Erin and I are packed and ready to fly to Seattle this afternoon. We will be attending the funeral of a man who was one of my father’s closest friends for many years, a man I loved as an uncle, though we weren’t related. We have every expectation that the plane will make it safely to Seattle. However, it might not. If it does not, remember me fondly! But we can say the same thing every time we get in our vehicle. We have every expectation that we will make it safely there and back. However, we might not. We are not guaranteed tomorrow even when we stay home. We all know people, or know of people, who have died in their home, the place we all consider the safest. I don’t write this to be morbid or pessimistic. But we all know, whether we want to admit it or talk about it, that God could call us home at any time. On the more encouraging side, I recently heard a man preaching on the radio that no one dies before God’s time for them on earth is up. In other words, none of us will die before God says, “It’s time to come home.” That’s comforting to know. So, are you living each day like it could be your last? Am I? None of those 2977 people killed twenty-five years ago woke up that morning knowing it would be their last day on earth*. All of them had plans for the future; all of them expected they would have more time to love their families. With that reminder, I encourage you (and I encourage myself) to take your Christian life up a notch. Love a little harder and love a little stronger, extend a little more grace, forgive a little more readily, listen a little more and judge a little less, show a little more compassion and stand up a little taller for the cause of Christ. Our time on earth is short, and it’s shrinking every single day. How are we using the time God has given to us? I encourage you (and I encourage myself) to spend more time on the few things that matter instead of on the many things that don’t. Spend more time with God. Many of us are limited by distance, but if possible, spend more time with your family and the people who matter to you. And use every day to bring God as much glory as possible. The second application I’d like to draw is about remembrance. Today we commemorate the 25th anniversary of a day none of us will ever forget. However, there is a day in history that makes 9/11 look like a picnic in the park. It is Good Friday, the day that Jesus died in our place on the cross (I had a friend in college who used to call a payday Friday Good Friday and a Friday without a paycheck Passover). May we never let fade the significance and the tragedy of that horrible day. The world has swept it under the carpet - may it always be in the forefront of our minds and hearts. It’s the day that a perfect Man took all the justified wrath of the Father – wrath meant for His enemies, those who had broken His perfect laws, i.e., us. Look at Romans 5:6-11 “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” We who were enemies of God have been reconciled to Him through the death of Jesus on the cross. When God looks at you and me, instead of our sin, He sees the shed blood of Jesus. What an amazing thing! Good Friday is a day we should never forget. It’s the day God took us from the slave market of sin, redeemed us by taking our deserved place on the executioner’s block and set us free. We’ve been bought with a price, that of the precious blood of Jesus (I Corinthians 6: 20). The cross began the process of our redemption. The empty tomb finished it. A dead-and-buried savior has no power to redeem anyone. But a risen and triumphant Savior fulfills all the prophecies and brings new life to all who trust in Him! The resurrection of Jesus is far and away the most astonishing event in the history of the world. We remember and celebrate it hand in hand with Good Friday. Read what Paul says to the church in Ephesus. “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:4-10).” We remember the attacks of September 11 every year at this time. Let’s remember the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus every single day. It brought us new, triumphant life from despair and death! And if you have never given your heart to Jesus and received His forgiveness for your sins and the eternal life He offers , I encourage you to do so today. He died and rose for you, too. And He waits with open arms to welcome you to His family as His child. If you’re not sure how to do that, please contact me through our church website, www.hannaford.org. I’d consider it an honor to show you how. You will never make a better decision in your life! * If you’re wondering why my number doesn’t match the official death count, I’m not including the nineteen men who committed suicide.

I'VE READ THE BACK OF THE BOOK, PART 1 I noticed something about my wife Erin very early on in our relationship, and it puzzled me. When she begins a novel, she thumbs through the last few pages. The first time I saw her do that, I was appalled! “Why would you look at the back of the book before you even start?” She said she simply wants to know how it ends. All these years later, though I accept her mindset, I still don’t understand it. Wouldn’t you want to enjoy any plot twists along the way and appreciate the story not knowing how it ends – and maybe value the ending? That’s how I feel about reading fiction. My attitude toward God’s Word is very different. I love knowing how it’s all going to end. I revel in it! The Book of Revelation is one of my favorites. Yes, there are some difficult passages and yes, some of the symbolism John uses is difficult to understand (I imagine he found some difficulty describing a lot of what he saw, too!), but I love reading the back of the Book! We are in the middle of difficult times. Jesus spoke about some painful indicators that His return was nearing. He called those indicators “birth pangs” – precursors to the labor of the Great Tribulation. We recognize many of those pangs when we observe our world right now. Wars and rumors of wars (Matthew 24:6), nation rising against nation and kingdom against kingdom (Mark 13:8), earthquakes, plagues, famines, terrors and great signs from heaven (Luke 21:11), increasing persecution of Christians (Mark 13:9), Christians falling away from the faith, rampant hatred (Matthew 24:10), the rise of false prophets (Matthew 24:11), an increase in lawlessness and the cooling of hearts (Matthew 24:12). It’s very easy to get discouraged as we see these things happening around us. None of them are positive. We don’t like to see the world we once knew slowly deteriorating and evil rising. But please keep in mind that it’s all part of God’s plan. I almost feel sometimes, as I read the headlines, that I have a front-row seat to God’s strategic planning sessions. Of course we don’t know very many of the details, but how gracious of Him to share the ending of history with us, His children. The Book of Revelation is definitely a behind-the-scenes look at God’s plan for the end of time. Where others flounder and even despair, we have hope, because we’ve read the back of the Book! And we know that God wins! satan and his demons have been so active and destructive in this world for so long, it’s wonderful to read about how they get what’s coming to them (that’s not a typo at the beginning of this sentence – I recently heard (or read – I can’t remember which) a pastor say that he doesn’t feel the name of satan merits capitalizing, and I thought that was great). In Revelation 19, we read about Jesus returning to earth riding a white horse, followed by the “armies of heaven,” also on white horses. Ironically, however, He doesn’t need an army to vanquish His enemies. He does all the work Himself. Here is Revelation 19:19-21. “Then I saw the beast [the Antichrist] and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse and his army. But the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed the signs on its behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. The rest were killed with the sword coming out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.” The next chapter describes the immediate aftermath of that one-sided battle. Revelation 20 begins with this narrative: “And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or satan, and bound him for a thousand years. He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time.” After that one-thousand-year physical reign of Jesus on earth, often called the Millenium, satan will be released. Immediately, he will gather all the resentful and rebellious of heart for one last throw against God. The narrative of Revelation 20:9 is stunning in its brevity. “They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them.” Every time I read that, I smile inside. Such mounting drama, such a threat against God’s people. The good guys are surrounded! Oh no! What will they do?! And then ZAP! “But fire came down from heaven and devoured them.” Just like that, no more threat. Game over. Please understand that I don’t wish ill on anyone. I’ve never had an enemy (that I knew about). I don’t want anyone to go to hell. But don’t you agree that there is a very real sense of satisfaction deep inside you when you read that verse? We are bombarded with animosity by those who hate God; we have been all our lives. And we’ve all prayed for justice to be done. “God, step in! Please do something!” Well, here it is. God does something. Boy, does He. And it’s all over in a moment. Well, almost all over Revelation 20:10 is the final capstone of judgment on satan: “And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” No extra language, no embellishment, no drama. Simply God taking care of business. After all the plagues and suffering of the Tribulation, this is almost anticlimactic. I love seeing God hand down judgment to satan after all the millennia of satan’s rebellion and his causing such mayhem and grief and heartache on this earth! Whenever I’m discouraged about satan’s attacks in my life or the life of my family, or even in our country and our world, I’m always encouraged when I think about what’s going to happen to him in the end. I hope you’re encouraged, too. We are still in the middle of the war, fighting our battles daily. Battles for purity, battles for justice and holiness and truth. And we will continue to fight until either Jesus calls us home to heaven or He comes back for us. It’s encouraging to know that, as powerful as satan is (and never underestimate him – only God is more powerful), he is a defeated foe. In sports, at the end of a season, there is often a tension-filled race for playoff spots. But by that time, many teams have been eliminated from contention. They have no post- season to play for, so they act as spoilers. “I know I’m not going to make the playoffs, but I’m going to do my best to keep you from making them, too. My goal is to spoil your chances.” That’s what satan is doing. He’s already lost the war. He’s been defeated by the cross of Christ. When Jesus rose from the dead that incredible Sunday morning, after taking the sin of the world on Himself and dying on the cross as the final sacrifice for all mankind, satan was vanquished. The head of the serpent was finally crushed (Genesis 3:15). But God did not de-fang him. He is still “the prince of the power of the air (Ephesians 2:2)” and he is still “the god of this world (II Corinthians 4:4).” And he continues to do everything in his power to destroy those who love God. We can rejoice that satan is defeated. And Revelation 19 describes his final destination – “the lake of burning sulfur…to be tormented day and night for all eternity.” So be encouraged. As powerful as he is, satan is simply playing the spoiler. God is in control. His plan for the end of history is set and He will accomplish it. I’ve read the back of the book and God wins. And as His children, we win, too!  Rejoice in that today.

PLEASE, GOD For those of us with a child or children who don’t know God. Colored markers on a white page. A brown cross on a green hill. A childish orange sun surrounded by childish, blue-outlined clouds. “Jesus saved me from sin” A plain white sheet of paper, wholly covered by a child’s ballpoint scrawl. “I am a chiled of God. I asked Jesus into my heart and he caim into me heart. I love him. He ceaps me safe. He is the best.” Tucked away in a file, forever in my heart, a father’s heart. Decades have passed. You don’t believe it anymore. How does such tragedy creep into a family? You don’t think it’s a tragedy. You grew up. You grew away. You grew apart. How did this happen? Truths I hold dear, cast away like so much detritus of youth. The One I love with all my heart, the One who sacrificed Himself and died a horrible death so that I could be set free forever, dismissed as a fairy tale. Everyone else’s kids love Jesus. Everyone else’s kids are raising their kids to love Jesus. What did I do wrong? I’m sure I didn’t pray as much as I should have. I’m praying now. I’m sure I didn’t lead well enough. I’m sure I didn’t listen as well as I could have. I’m trying to listen now. How could I have let this happen? Forgive me. Am I responsible? Yes. And no. Insidious black tentacles crept into our home, wrapped around precious souls and took them away. I didn’t even see them. The day she stands before you all alone, vulnerable. Will I witness it? Will childlike faith stand up against adult rebellion? Will she be escorted away to an eternity without You, Lord, while I watch? “Oh, God, please no…” How can heaven be heaven without my children? Selah God, Your Word says there is always hope. You desire all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (I Timothy 2:4). But love isn’t love if it is forced, so You never force. But the Hound of Heaven does pursue. My voice is silenced but Yours is not. I lift to You my chiled – my baby, the one who drew the crude cross with a brown marker twenty-some years ago. Do You see her there? Running away? Her brother, too? And her sister? They are blind and deaf, but far from dumb. Adults, making adult, informed decisions. Father, do what You must to wake them up. To get their attention. Pull them into the love of Your embrace. Break them. Just as You broke me.  Do what You must do…but please…show mercy.

FEAR I am going to offer you the opportunity right now to show grace and compassion and mercy to a fellow believer – me. A few weeks ago, at the Thursday morning men’s breakfast, the topic of the devotional was fear. We went around the room and spoke of our greatest fear (a fearful proposition for a bunch of guys, let me tell you). The fear of heights came up several times, dementia was mentioned and one man said his fear was dying a long, agonizing death like his father did with cancer. Mine is water. Now, please take a moment to refer back to the first sentence of the devotional! This is your opportunity to refrain from laughter, derision and all statements that sound anything like, “You have got to be kidding!” And always remember, one man’s fear is another man’s forte. Some are afraid of heights; others make their living there. Some are afraid of public speaking; others thrive on it. Some are afraid of reptiles; others keep them as pets. Some are afraid of needles; to others they are indispensable tools. Every couple of years, my wife Erin’s extended family gets together for a family vacation. The grandparents, the parents, the siblings, the cousins, it’s just a big family-fest for a few days. And invariably, it’s a location on water. We’ve rented several different lake houses over the years – Sand Point, Idaho is always a winner. One year we even rented a mobile houseboat for a week on Lake Roosevelt, in Washington. The young ones spend all day enjoying jumping off the dock (or deck), swimming, waterskiing, tubing, fishing, kayaking, you name it. I do not. I’d much rather spend several days exploring a nice dry canyon somewhere in the Southwest, or enjoying hikes from a cabin somewhere high in the mountains. Anywhere else but a lake or a river or the ocean. But it’s always water! I don’t like to be in water. I don’t like how it gets in my nose and my eyes and my ears (and refuses to leave). I don’t like the way sound disappears when I go underwater. I don’t like thinking about what could be swimming around down there, looking up at my potentially delicious silhouette. I don’t even like to be on the water, mostly because that’s a great way to end up in the water. But enough about me. How about you? What is your greatest fear? Clowns? Public speaking? Spiders? Heights? Flying? Snakes? Germs? Needles (that’s called trypanophobia, by the way)? Choking? Dentists? Illness? AI? Small spaces? Large spaces? Lightning? In several articles I have read, the fear of heights is far and away the most common among those polled. Or maybe your fear is a bit less concrete than those I just mentioned. Maybe it’s the fear of failure? Not measuring up? What other people think of you? Death? Not being enough? Loss? The fear of missing out (FOMO)? Rejection? Abandonment? I didn’t get a clear idea about which of these is the most common, but many people suffer from these fears. The greatest fears of the aging population – us – are exactly what you might think. I’m pretty sure we all have experienced, or are right now experiencing, one or more of these: losing our independence, cognitive decline (I think about that one often, as both of my parents died of complications related to dementia), declining physical health, outliving our financial assets, becoming a burden, being forgotten. Fear is natural. We’re human, after all. Everyone is afraid of something, right? But it’s not a healthy way to live. We all learned about the fight-or-flight reflex when we were in school; how the body is designed to protect itself either by vacating the area or striking out at the threat, depending on how we perceive the situation. And how, either way, chemicals like adrenaline are released into the bloodstream that heighten awareness and readiness to act. And how, if those chemicals keep getting released into the body long-term, it eventually begins to wear down. Studies have shown that living in a constant state of fear is harmful. I’ve always thought about that fight-or-flight reflex as being related only to the fear of heights or snakes or water or small spaces or public speaking; those tangible, right-here-and-right-now, credible-threat-to- my-well-being-in-this-very-moment types of fears. But I think there is also a certain amount of physical damage that happens to us when we are constantly exposed to that last set of fears I mentioned above: declining health, running out of money, losing our independence, becoming a burden, etc. It runs under the radar because it’s not flashy and glamorous like the fear of heights or spiders. These fears are quiet. No one talks much about them (of course, no one really talks much about the flashy ones either, until they’re put on the spot at a Thursday morning men’s breakfast!). So let’s move away from the “phobia-type” fears like public speaking and water, and focus on the deeper fears common to the aging population; the ones that might cause you to lose sleep more often than you’d like to admit. Every sermon on fear I can remember has stated in some way that fear is simply a lack of trust in God, and that it comes from trusting too much in the things God has created and not trusting enough in God Himself. That fear is rooted in the belief that God does not have my back; deep down, I don’t believe He will come through on His promises to me. That’s not easy for us to hear about ourselves. “Don’t tell me I don’t trust God! Don’t tell me I doubt His goodness and provision.” But join me and let’s really drill down. Do you have any of these fears? “I can’t get around anymore like I used to. How will I function if my condition gets worse? Maybe I’ll have to go to a “home.” How will I function if I lose my spouse (many of you have come face to face with that one)? I’m afraid of physical suffering and disease. How am I going to live if my income can’t keep up with rising costs? My memory is slipping and I’m afraid that I’m getting dementia. What if I forget my family? What if I forget Jesus? Will I still go to heaven? The kids and grandkids don’t come around much anymore – maybe they’re going to stop coming altogether, and I’ll be forgotten. I’m not afraid of going to see Jesus, but I’m afraid of dying.” The best course of action is always to go to God, to lay your fears at His feet – honestly, with no pretense, no pride, admitting humbly, “God, I’m simply afraid. I know I shouldn’t be. But I am. Please help me. I know You will never leave me alone, even if all the things I’m afraid of happen. I’ll always have You.” I picture myself often as the father in Mark 9. He came to Jesus because his son was cruelly demon- possessed. He said to Jesus, “If you can do anything, take pity on us and help us!” Jesus replied, “If you [I] can! All things are possible to him who believes.” And I think we can all relate to the statement of the father in response: “I do believe; help my unbelief.” Or in the case of fear, “You tell me not to be afraid, Lord, so I’m not going to fear…(a five-second pause)…Help my fear, Lord!” God’s Word, we know, also has a lot to say about fear and our response to it. When I was trying to simply survive every day as I walked through my divorce almost thirty years ago, Isaiah 41:10 made a big impact on me: “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” The thought of being upheld by the hand of God has always been extremely comforting to me. Matthew 10:29-31 is very encouraging, too. “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” And how about the one almost everyone has heard of, II Timothy 1:7: “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” Finally, Joshua 1:9, a verse we can all take comfort in. “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” John Piper, retired pastor and author, wrote an article titled Not Dead Yet: Fighting Nine Fears of Old Age. It’s dated March 16, 2023 and you can access it on the Desiring God webpage. This was his closing, very appropriate paragraph: “Therefore, trust Christ. That’s the issue in this room right now. Do you trust Christ and his purchase of all these promises? Do you trust his word? Trust his promises of ever-arriving future grace. He’ll always be there. Be glad in him. Be freed by this gladness for service, not self. Glorify him by your gladness in him and your service to others. And let’s pray for each other. We’re going to help each other die well, right? And to live well till then.” How about Isaiah 41:10 one more time? “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”  Fear not.

THE HARP This year I’ve been spending a portion of my mornings with God in a devotional featuring excerpts from the writings of A.W. Tozer, a pastor and writer of the last century. A recent excerpt was from his book Worship: The Missing Jewel . “Man was made to worship God. God gave to man a harp and said, ‘Here above all the creatures that I have made and created I have given you the largest harp. I put more strings on your instrument and I have given you a wider range than I have given to any other creature. You can worship Me in a manner that no other creature can.’ And when he sinned man took that instrument and threw it down in the mud and there it has lain for centuries, rusted, broken, unstrung; and man, instead of playing a harp like the angels and seeking to worship God in all of his activities, is ego- centered and turns in on himself and sulks and swears and laughs and sings, but it’s all without joy and without worship.” Tozer called this the “greatest tragedy in the world today.” I agree with his assessment. Yet there is hope. Because a couple of millennia ago, God came to earth in the form of the man Jesus. And by dying on the cross in our place for our sins and by rising again from the dead, He picked up that abandoned harp from the mud, and He cleaned it, and He restrung it so that it’s like new, and now He presents that harp to every man and woman on earth. And He asks, “Will you take this harp and worship Me with it? Will you bow your knee and surrender your life to My will? Will you repent of your rebellion against Me and pledge your allegiance to Me? And will you receive the resulting forgiveness and joy and eternal life?” We stand surrounded by millions, some even our own loved ones, who have emulated Adam; they have taken the offering of that harp from Jesus and cast it back into the mud. In fact, there are only two kinds of people in the world today – those who have cast down the harp and continue to rebel, and those who play that harp and so worship their Father. If you are in the first group, today is the day to pick up the offered harp, humble yourself, bow your knee, surrender and repent, and by doing so receive forgiveness and eternal life. The psalmist, as you might imagine, whom we often picture playing a harp, or lyre, had a bit to say about the physical instrument he played, and we can apply that to our lives of praise and worship. In Psalm 33:2, he says, “Give thanks to the LORD with the lyre; make melody to him with the harp of ten strings!” David, in the middle of running for his life from Saul, wrote, in Psalm 57:8, “Awake, my glory! Awake, O harp and lyre! I will awake the dawn!” Psalm 71:2 says, “I will also praise you with the harp for your faithfulness, O my God.” Even King Hezekiah, probably not exactly famous for his musicianship, when God healed him of a terminal illness and gave him an extra fifteen years of life, got out his harp and wrote, as recorded in Isaiah 38:20, “The LORD will save me, and we will play my music on stringed instruments all the days of our lives, at the house of the LORD.” Now, I couldn’t play a real harp tunefully to save my life and, frankly, I’m not a fan of harp music, but I can “play” mine to bring glory to God with my life. And for those of us who made the decision (many of us more than a half- century ago) to take the offered harp from Jesus, we can and must worship Him with it. To quote Tozer, we have been blessed by God with the ability to worship Him “in a manner that no other creature can.” All creation unquestionably lifts the name of the Lord, it Creator, in worship and praise. Psalm 148:1-10 states it clearly: Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD from the heavens; Praise Him in the heights! Praise Him, all His angels; Praise Him, all His hosts! Praise Him, sun and moon; Praise Him, all stars of light! Praise Him, highest heavens, And the waters that are above the heavens! Let them praise the name of the LORD, For He commanded and they were created. He has also established them forever and ever; He has made a decree which will not pass away. Praise the LORD from the earth, Sea monsters and all deeps; Fire and hail, snow and clouds; Stormy wind, fulfilling His word; Mountains and all hills; Fruit trees and all cedars; Beasts and all cattle; Creeping things and winged fowl. Yes, all creation offers its worship to God. However, no sea monster or cedar tree or star of light or stormy wind or winged fowl has nearly as wide a range of praise and worship of God as we humans do. Unlike all those other things, as magnificent as they are, we alone were made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). He placed within us a divine spark so that we can worship Him like nothing else in creation can. What an honor and privilege to “play our harps” for Him who died for us. Living your life, with its heartaches and disappointments and sorrows and tears; and with its joys and celebrations and victories and laughter; living our lives every day to His glory, that is the calling of we harpists, “we few, we happy few.” Granted, you might currently be a bit rusty – maybe a bit out of tune, maybe not quite remembering how the melody goes sometimes. Maybe you haven’t played your harp for a while. Maybe you haven’t been walking very closely with God lately, and certainly haven’t been spending much time, if any, worshiping Him. Acknowledge your failure to God, then go grab your harp and play it - live - like He wants you to! And all of us hit a wrong chord on occasion – sin will continue to plague us until the day we die. But we correct those mistakes with God as they happen. And God is pleased that we play, that we live, for Him. We play to His glory with this instrument - this body and mind and soul - that He gave us, and we lift Him up as our Savior and Lord. Rejoice in the music and never stop playing your harp! Our music; that of we, His children, rises to God and He is delighted with us! He is delighted with you!

STARVATION It had been some time since the man had eaten. Several symptoms had begun to manifest themselves. He felt very weak; his muscles had begun to atrophy. He knew that if he didn’t get some nourishment soon, other symptoms would surface; his current irritability would lead to apathy, anxiety and potentially severe depression. His mental ability would suffer. His body temperature would begin to drop, leaving him constantly chilled, and his heart would no longer function normally. Starvation would slow his metabolism, thin his skin and compromise his immune system. What a horrible position to be in; to die for lack of food. But this man is a bit of a special case - different from all of those who have perished from starvation over the centuries. Because this man has access to all the nutritious, wholesome life-giving food he desires! He simply chooses not to eat! He’s too busy, he says; he doesn’t have time to sit down to a good, nourishing meal. Eating is boring, he says; he has many more interesting things to do. He’s not smart enough to use the different utensils, and the food is very complex, he says. Only professional chefs could understand it. Food is not relevant to his life, he says. It’s so old- fashioned! He just doesn’t feel like eating, he says. He’s looking elsewhere for his sustenance. “That’s ridiculous,” you say. I agree. You’re absolutely right. No one in their right mind would give those excuses and, as a result, get weaker and weaker. Why, then, do so many Christians give the same excuses when it comes to spending time reading, studying and meditating on God’s Word? God has provided the life-giving food of His Word. We all have easy access to it any time we want. Many of the symptoms of a failure to read, study and meditate on the Bible are similar to those experienced by people starving to death. Our spiritual muscles will become weak. We will become irritable, apathetic, anxious and even depressed. We will become spiritually cold, and our hearts will not function the way God designed them to. We will become lethargic, thin-skinned and our defense against the enemy will lack power and energy. An unknown author wrote this inspiring paragraph: "This Book is the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners, and the happiness of believers. Its doctrines are holy, its precepts are binding; its histories are true, and its decisions are immutable. Read it to be wise, believe it to be safe, practice it to be holy. It contains light to direct you, food to support you, and comfort to cheer you. It is the traveler's map, the pilgrim's staff, the pilot's compass, the soldier's sword, and the Christian's character. Here paradise is restored, heaven opened, and the gates of hell disclosed. Christ is its grand subject, our good its design, and the glory of God its end. It should fill the memory, rule the heart, and guide the feet. Read it slowly, frequently, prayerfully. It is a mine of wealth, a paradise of glory, and a river of pleasure. Follow its precepts and it will lead you to Calvary, to the empty tomb, to a resurrected life in Christ; yes, to glory itself, for eternity.” Psalm 119 is a treasure-trove of praise and wisdom related to God’s Word. The Word is mentioned in nearly every verse, though by many different names. I went through the psalm and picked out just a few encouraging passages: “How blessed are those who observe His testimonies, who seek Him with all their heart. (:2) Open my eyes, that I may behold wonderful things from Your law. (:18) Your Word has revived me. (:50) The law of Your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces. (:72) How sweet are Your words to my taste! Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth! (:103) Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. (:105) Sustain me according to Your word, that I may live. (:116) Therefore I love Your commandments above gold, yes, above fine gold. (:127) The sum of Your word is truth, and every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting. (:160)” Another classic passage regarding God’s communication to us is Psalm 19:7-11: The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether. They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them Your servant is warned; in keeping them there is great reward.” A Bible in the hand is worth two on the shelf. So go get yours right now. If you have been reading consistently, more power to you! Keep on! But if you haven’t been consistent, get started right now. Have a good hearty meal; you’ll feel stronger immediately. Set goals for your time in the Word each day, but don’t get legalistic about it. If God speaks to your heart and you feel convicted or thrilled after just a verse or two, fantastic! Take that and run with it for the day. The point is not to check a box, but to meet with and worship your Father and let His love letter flow into your heart and give you strength and encouragement. Like you, my wife Erin and I have enjoyed many wonderful meals out. The food is delicious; the ambience is often wonderful (A man once took his wife and several young children out to a nice restaurant. When the check came, the price shocked the man. He called the waiter over and gasped, “How can this bill be so large?” The waiter sniffed. “You’re paying for the ambience.” The man turned to his family and shouted, “All right! Which one of you kids ordered the ambience?!”). But I’ve found over the years that, as much as I enjoy the novelty of going out to eat at a nice restaurant, one of Erin’s homecooked meals just flat-out tastes better. When we were first married, I couldn’t quite figure out why that was, but one day it hit me; it’s because I know the cook! I know and love the cook, and the cook knows and loves me, and the meal was made with love. And I can taste it in the food. The restaurant food is good, but I have no relationship with the chef in the kitchen. The food sustains the body but not the soul! So it is with the Bible. We know the Cook and love Him, and the Cook knows and loves us, and the meal was prepared with unfathomable love. There is relationship there, and it makes all the difference. So don’t be the guy or gal who starves to death sitting at a table filled with good, wholesome food. Dig in, partake, enjoy! The Cook, our Lord and Savior, our heavenly Father, prepared it just for you!

TRAUMA AND HEALING I recently spoke with a friend who just received a devastating health diagnosis. I was surprised at how calm he was as he told me about it, but he admitted later in the conversation that he hasn’t yet fully processed the crushing ramifications for his and his wife’s future. I have another friend who, with his wife, several years ago, lost his adult son in a freak accident. I have a friend in another town whose wife died unexpectedly while on a business trip. While going through her things, grieving, my friend found that she had been committing adultery and was on a tryst with the other man when she died. Many mothers of servicemen and servicewomen have opened to the knock on their front door only to find two solemn military officers in full uniform standing on the porch, who regretfully inform her that her son or daughter has been killed. The teenage son of a family that lived near where I grew up, crashed in the street on his longboard (think skateboard, but twice the length), injuring his brain. He can speak and move but has never fully recovered from the injury. He is now in his forties and still lives with his parents, upon whom he relies completely. Several years ago, I received two devastating calls on the same day. The first, mid-morning, informed me that my mother had died of her dementia before dawn. The second, in early evening, notified me that my father, who was expected to live for another month or two, had died just an hour or two before. A few months ago, my sister-in-law’s home here in Helena burned. It was a total loss. We have a lady in our senior group who experienced the same destruction. I found out yesterday that last Sunday (July 19), one of my father’s best friends when I was a child, a man with whom my dad taught elementary school and who served on our church board for many years, and whom I considered closer than some family, finally lost his long and valiant battle with Parkinson’s. Almost weekly we hear about the destruction of a home or neighborhood and the resulting casualties by some weather event; people whose loved ones are understandably shocked and horrified by their loss. A young man that my wife and I knew many years ago was fairly recently convicted of shaking his young baby to death. The child’s mother came home to find her baby dead. I could go on and on, but for the sake of our broken hearts, I’ll stop there. I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if you have experienced something just as terrible as, or even worse than, the events I’ve just described. The death of a loved one, a life-altering or life-threatening diagnosis, the destruction of property, damage to reputation, physical injury, betrayal by someone close - all of these have the power to shatter us. What are we to do when such devastation knocks down our door? A cursory search of the internet provided a wealth of conventional secular coping strategies. These include 1) seeking professional help, 2) maintaining your routines, 3) allowing yourself to grieve, 4) accepting the loss, 5) avoiding alcohol and drugs, 6) not suppressing your emotions, 7) finding purpose elsewhere, 8) building a support group, 9) engaging in mindfulness, 10) setting realistic goals for the future, 11) staying connected with those you love and 12) talking about it. Not a single one of these strategies sounds like a bad idea to me (though I’ve never been sure quite what “mindfulness” is). However, if you are a Believer, someone who has repented of your sins and surrendered your heart and life into the keeping of your Savior, Jesus Christ, who died in your place on the cross, and if you are someone who lives in the hope of eternity in heaven, then you surely see that something is missing. Where is God in that list of coping strategies? The world leaves Him out of the recovery process! It says, “Rely on yourself and others to get past the trauma.” “You have all the resilience and power that is needed to move on.” They would never say it this way, but how about this old phrase: “Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps!” But oh, what they’re missing! Who among us has not felt, while praying in times of desperate loss, that tide of inexplicable peace washing over us? Who among us has not felt, when in agony over crushing news, the warmth of God’s love rising within us and the strength of God’s power flowing through us, keeping us from despair? Those who do not walk with God know nothing of His loving care for His children. In 2008, Christian songwriter Steven Curtis Chapman and his wife Mary Beth, lost one of their little girls in a heartbreaking incident. One of their older sons, arriving home, unintentionally hit the girl with the family SUV. Unimaginable agony for the family. Chapman later wrote a song for his wife called Together and included the following lyrics: “And we’ve crawled on our hands and knees, through valleys cold and dark and deep, sometimes not even sure if we could make it out alive.” Maybe you’ve been there, too. Maybe you’re there right now. The valley is deep, and you’re not sure where you’ll find the strength to climb up to the heights again. Even lifting your head to look up is difficult. It’s dark, and you can’t see any path ahead that will bring you back up into the light. The darkness is terrifying; it paralyzes you with fear. And it’s so cold. You’re finding it difficult to concentrate because all you can think of is the frost. Warmth is a distant memory. Worse, your heart is beginning to get numb from the cold. You can no longer feel, and part of you is pleased at that, because allowing yourself to feel just brings back the pain. But the better, wiser part of you knows that only by facing the pain can you get past it. You and I have had to navigate some pretty deep valleys. I hope your experience, like mine, has shown that “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” (Psalm 46:1) We are not alone; never for one second on this path are we alone. What a comfort to know that God has promised to “never fail us or forsake us.” (Hebrews 13:5, quoting Deuteronomy 31:6) And David wrote, “Incline Your ear to me, rescue me quickly; be to me a rock of strength, a stronghold to save me. For You are my rock and my fortress; for Your name’s sake You will lead me and guide me.” Psalm 31:2,3 So when the valley is the coldest, hold tightly to the warming Hand of the One who both created you and died for you. When your thoughts understandably turn toward the dark of pain and despair, remember God. As much as, at times, you may not want to, cry out to Him for His presence and help. He is the only One who can bring healing. Some of those secular coping strategies are well and good and may provide some relief, but deep, true, lasting healing and health only come from God. He will never turn away from you. And when the valley of the shadow of death seems to be never-ending and the climb impossible, simply keep moving onward and upward. We’ve all probably been on a hike where at some point we didn’t think we could make it to the top. But we just kept going, maybe slowly and painfully, but eventually we reached the sunlit peak and looked out over the incredible expanse that took our breath away, and we realized that the pain of the climb was worth it. The climb will be worth it. For further encouragement, listen to (or better yet, sing) the old hymn “It is Well with My Soul.” And if you have never heard the story of Horatio Spafford, the man who wrote the lyrics, look it up. Knowing the story will bring new meaning and power to the lyrics. Also, Mercy Me has a fairly new song called, “Make It Well” that I find very encouraging. The first time I heard it, I was okay until the line, “Jesus could You please just sit and cry with me ‘til I can sing ‘It is well with my soul.’” Then it was tissue time! For more Scripture encouragement, meditate on the following passages:  Mark 4:35-41, Psalm 23, Psalm 28:6-9, Psalm 46, Psalm 121.

DENY YOURSELF AND TAKE UP YOUR CROSS Mark 8:34-36 is a passage in which Jesus uses some of the most powerful language in the gospels to make His point. This section of Scripture is not for the faint of heart. It strikes directly at the soul of those who are more interested in playing at being a Christian than truly living a life pleasing to God. Prayerfully give it a read. And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? For what will a man give in exchange for his soul? We will only take the time to examine the first verse, verse 34 today. Jesus said, “If you want to truly follow Me, deny your will in favor of Mine and be ready and willing to die.” Some folks interpret Jesus’ first statement, about self-denial, to mean that you are never allowed to do anything you want to do, or anything that brings you pleasure. The entire monastic movement of the Middle Ages was based on that premise. Many people have lived and died under the false assumption that God wanted them to live sterile lives throughout which they were to deny themselves all enjoyment. But that is an incorrect interpretation of the words of Jesus. Many passages of God’s Word speak of the joy of serving Him. I’ll just list two for now, but I encourage you to do your own study regarding the joy of the Christian life. Psalm 16:11 says, “You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.” And Psalm 95:1: “O come, let us sing for joy to the Lord. Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation.” We are to live joy-filled lives. After all, we were chosen by God to live for Him while we’re here, and we have eternal life awaiting us! Who should be more filled with joy than a Christ-follower? Unfortunately, we’ve all known some pretty sour Christians who pointed to that statement of Jesus in Mark 8:34 and said, “Stop enjoying yourself; Jesus said we are to deny ourselves.” But Jesus wasn’t saying that we should deny ourselves joy or wholesome pleasure. He was saying that we should deny ourselves those sinful, selfish desires that are constantly threatening to overwhelm our longing to serve and follow Him and do His will. That self-denial is a challenge we will face every day for the rest of our lives. We are called to bear up and stand firm beneath a constant barrage of temptations to replace God’s will with our own. To run ahead of God when we should sit still or, to sit still when we should be moving forward; to dawdle along the way of service to Him when we should be moving forward with purpose, or to run ahead heedlessly when we should be proceeding with caution; to focus on something other than the matter at hand, or to lose focus altogether; to make our own plans instead of following God’s best plan, or to wing it with no plans at all when we should be thinking ahead; to enlist assistance elsewhere when we shouldn’t, or to do what God asks of us all by ourselves when we should be asking for help. Those are examples of times when we are trying to do what we feel God is asking of us, but failing miserably. There are other times, though, when we aren’t even trying; we simply jettison what we know is right and jump into sin with both feet, like a child jumping into a deep mud puddle, reveling in our rebellion until God inevitably brings us up short. No matter how you slice it, denying ourselves and our desires every moment in favor of God’s will is extremely challenging. But if that weren’t difficult enough, we are also to “take up our cross and follow Him.” That is the second part of this famous statement in Mark 8 (and in Matthew 16 and Luke 9 if you’re interested in reading other versions as well). The statement “taking up your cross” loses almost all its punch here in the 21st Century, but to those listening to Jesus in the 1st Century, it could only mean one thing: death. The cross, to those listeners, was the ultimate symbol of death. Today, when we use the phrases, “We all have our cross to bear,” or “I guess that’s just my cross to bear,” we’re typically referring to a loud neighbor, a temperamental snowblower, a niggling pain or maybe some family strife. Back in the time of Jesus it meant death, pure and simple. People back then didn’t use a cross as jewelry or a household decoration. And “carrying, or bearing, your cross” didn’t mean your sister was difficult, or that you had to go shovel another four inches of snow, it meant a terrible death was imminent. This year, I have been reading a book, published by The Voice of the Martyrs (VOM), called Extreme Devotion. Each morning, I read a devotional based on the story of a man, woman or sometimes even a child, who has been imprisoned, tortured or killed because they named the name of Christ and served Him. Many of those stories are incredibly inspirational. But reading them has often caused me to ask myself, Could I stand firm like that? Am I ready to be imprisoned and maybe tortured and perhaps even killed for Jesus? Do I have the courage to stand faithfully in the face of pain and even death? How about you? Spend some time thinking and praying about that. Because that is the expectation Jesus lays out for us in Mark 8:34, if we desire to be His true followers. I’d love to be able to say, categorically, emphatically, without the shadow of a doubt, absolutely, yes! I would be willing to die for my faith. But maybe I speak for you, too, when I say, “I’d certainly like to think so, but I sincerely don’t know for sure. I’ve never been put in such a situation. I certainly hope I would be willing to die and die well. And I hope I would have an opportunity to testify to the love and salvation that Jesus offers so that those executing me and those looking on might give their lives to Him.” I’ve read many such stories in the VOM devotional. Currently, I can’t imagine a scenario in this country where such a thing would be required of Christians, but I suppose, given the continuing rise of evil we see all around us, it could happen. It certainly will during the Great Tribulation. The words of Jesus in Mark 8:34 raise the stakes of the Christian life far above the typical attitude of: “Sure, I go to church once in a while. Pray? Yeah, on occasion, especially if I’m in trouble of some kind. The Bible? We have three or four in our house. I’ll pull one off the shelf every month or two and read a chapter. And sometimes I need to find a verse about respect to throw at my wife or kids. Daily reading and study? No. Who has time? I wish I did. I really do. I’d probably learn a lot about what I should and shouldn’t do. I pretty much wing it and try to be good. But I did ask Jesus into my heart a few years ago and of course I love Him. No, I don’t really ‘take Him with me out into the world,’ if you want to put it that way. My relationship with Him is just between us.” I hope you don’t see yourself in those statements. The words of Jesus in Mark 8:34 don’t allow for those attitudes in a Christian. His teaching raises the stakes of the Christian life as far as they can possibly go – to a complete denial of self-will and a committed willingness to give our very lives for Jesus. Judas betrayed Him. Peter denied Him. The other ten forsook Him. No one was willing to die with Him. Would you have been willing to be arrested and drag your cross through Jerusalem with Him to Golgotha that day? Would I? I honestly don’t know. I hope so. Because, contrary to some of the current teaching of watered-down, anemic, fainting Christianity, that is exactly what He calls us to.