4/13/09

The right direction?

Everything was black; I couldn't see a thing, but I could hear voices. What I heard was unsettling; we are losing him, go faster!! Then I began to see a fog like light in the far distance and finally the fog became a bright light, then all was black again. I found out later that my heart had stopped, but the paramedics had brought me back. It was 1974; a full decade before I even heard of out of body experiences, but I am telling you the truth; this really did happen to me. However, it did make me think and caused me to study the Scriptures and really examine the Christian faith. People will believe what they will, but as for me, I know what I saw and only I know the changes the God of Heaven has worked within me. Think about this passage from the book of 1st Corinthians and see what I mean.

1Co 15:1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand,
1Co 15:2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you--unless you believed in vain.
1Co 15:3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,
1Co 15:4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
1Co 15:5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
1Co 15:6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.
1Co 15:7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.
1Co 15:8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.
1Co 15:9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
1Co 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.
1Co 15:11 Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
1Co 15:12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
1Co 15:13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.
1Co 15:14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.
1Co 15:15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised.
1Co 15:16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.
1Co 15:17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.
1Co 15:18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
1Co 15:19 If in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.
1Co 15:20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
1Co 15:21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.
1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Co 15:23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.
English Standard Version
How many people would it take to convince you? How close would you have to come to death before you would even begin to believe? I had to come very close because I was taught that religion was bunk, stuff only soft hearted fools believed in. Well, everybody is different and only you can convince you, but one thing is for certain; we all will die. When that time comes, I hope you are going in my direction because I would like to be with friends, forever!

What will you do?

Ever felt like this? You are in the spotlight and everyone is watching; your next move is probably the most important one you will ever make and now its up to you. What will you do? The answer is ... what you MUST do. The Bible tells the story of just such a situation in the book of John.

Joh 19:13 So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Stone Pavement, and in Aramaic Gabbatha.
Joh 19:14 Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, "Behold your King!"
Joh 19:15 They cried out, "Away with him, away with him, crucify him!" Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify your King?" The chief priests answered, "We have no king but Caesar."
Joh 19:16 So he delivered him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus,
Joh 19:17 and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called the place of a skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha.
Joh 19:18 There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them.
Joh 19:19 Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews."
Joh 19:20 Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek.
Joh 19:21 So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, "Do not write, 'The King of the Jews,' but rather, 'This man said, I am King of the Jews.'"
Joh 19:22 Pilate answered, "What I have written I have written."
Joh 19:23 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom,
Joh 19:24 so they said to one another, "Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be." This was to fulfill the Scripture which says, "They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots." So the soldiers did these things,
Joh 19:25 but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.
Joh 19:26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son!"
Joh 19:27 Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother!" And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.
Joh 19:28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), "I thirst."
Joh 19:29 A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth.
Joh 19:30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, "It is finished," and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
English Standard Version
Jesus had performed many miracles and coming down from the cross would have been just another. However, that was not the plan. A sacrifice had to be made and Jesus did what he had to do because he really was exactly who he said he was. Neither your or I could have done it, only Jesus. The spotlight was on him and he made the correct choice. The question is... when you are confronted with the realization of what he did for you.... What will you do?