Being Bold About Fear

Posted on February 2, 2012 by russellmckinney

In the wake of the infamous terrorist attacks of 9-11-01, our small county held a special service in the high school gymnasium. The service was for the benefit of the students, many of whom were emotionally shaken by the attacks. Those kids were asking, “How can we have any confidence in the future if this is the new state of the world?”

One of the service’s primary organizers was Mary Sue Ledford, who had been my English teacher my freshman year and my friend and supporter ever since. When she called to ask me if I would be one of the speakers, I was honored. But it was a particular quote from Mary Sue that stood out the most from that conversation. She said, “Russell, I will not live in a county of fear.” Even though I had known her for years, I had never heard her speak with such passion. She meant what she said down to the core of her being.

Several years have now passed since that conversation, but sometimes I find myself thinking back to Mary Sue’s quote. For obvious reason, it comes to my mind when I am facing some daunting challenge or potentially perilous situation. When my first instinct is to shy away or pull back from the problem, her words remind me that fear is no way to live.

Of course, the Bible is certainly not silent on this issue, particularly when addressing the Christian. Consider the following verses (all from the N.K.J.V.):

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. (2 Timothy 1:7)

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. (1 John 4:18)

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” (Romans 8:14-15)

Peace, I leave with you. My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. (John 14:27)

It’s been said that courage is not the absence of fear; it is doing what you ought to do in spite of your fear. I like that. And it is with that thought in mind, as well as Mary Sue’s quote and these verses that I have listed, that I ask you, Christian, “Are you somehow letting fear dominate your life these days?”

Perhaps you are scared about an upcoming event. Perhaps you are scared about what some problematic person is going to do. Perhaps you are scared about the state of the world. I don’t know your circumstance, but I do know that people can be scared of all kinds of things. All I’m saying is, whatever your big, bad thing is, face it head on with a courage befitting a bona fide child of God.

Never forget that you are not alone in the fight. God is your heavenly Father, Jesus has promised to never leave you or forsake you, and the Holy Spirit dwells inside you. So, really, with the triune God right there in the fray with you, what could you possibly have to fear? There is absolutely nothing that He can’t help you handle.

Posted in Adversity, Attitude, Comfort, Courage, Depression, Doubt, Encouragement, Faith, Fear, God's Omnipresence, Needs, Personal, Problems, Spiritual Warfare, The Holy Spirit, Trials, Trusting In God, Worry | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

A Contest No One Can Win

Posted on January 31, 2012 by russellmckinney

Imagine a contest where the stated goal is: “Jump up and touch the moon.” Contestant #1 is an eighty-year-old woman with a walker. She steps up to the line and gives it all she’s got, but her jump doesn’t even register as measurable. Contestant #2 is Russell Mckinney. He steps up to the line and has a go, but his jump peaks out at about two inches. (I could have done a little better back in the day.) Contestant #3 is a bench-warmer on his high-school team. He takes his turn at the line and gets off what is easily the most impressive jump so far, which puts him in the lead. Finally, contestant #4 is NBA all-star Lebron James. His liftoff from the line is breathtaking to watch. The muscles in his powerful legs ripple as he soars straight up into the air. Higher and higher he goes, putting so much distance between his jump’s verticality and the high-schooler’s that second place isn’t even worth mentioning. When James finally comes back down he is quickly declared the obvious winner.

Actually, however, none of the contestants won. Remember, the contest wasn’t held to see who could jump the highest. It was held to see if anyone could jump up and touch the moon. Lebron got the closest to meeting the goal, but even he failed miserably at it.

The Bible teaches that earning your way into heaven by way of “good works” is like that contest. The goal is an impossibility from the start. Oh, sure, some may produce more “good works” than others. But, in the end, it’s laughable to think that anyone could get even remotely close to actually achieving the goal. It just can’t happen, and here’s why:

-Every human being is a born sinner (Romans 3:10; Romans 3:23; Ecclesiastes 7:20).

-Our inborn sin nature comes from Adam, the father of our race (Genesis 3:1-24; 1 Timothy 2:13-14; Romans 5:12).

-Our nature of sin compels us to commit acts of sin, which makes us not only sinners by birth but sinners by choice (Isaiah 53:6; Romans 3:11-18).

-To break just one of God’s laws is to stand guilty of breaking them all because keeping God’s law is an all-or-nothing type of deal (James 2:10).

You see, once you understand the setup, you’ll realize that salvation (and by implication entrance into heaven) can NEVER come by way of “good works” (Titus 3:4-7; Ephesians 2:8-9). It is, instead, a gift that God gives to the sinner, a gift He extends in grace (unearned favor) to the one who places his or her faith in Jesus Christ as Savior (Ephesians 2:8). This singular-moment-in-time decision is also described in scripture as: believing in Jesus (John 3:16); coming to Jesus (John 5:39-40); receiving Jesus (John 1:12); trusting in Jesus (1 Timothy 4:10); calling upon Jesus (Romans 10:9-13); and opening the door to Jesus (Revelation 3:20).

I challenge you right now to take your Bible and read all these references that I have listed in this post, and let their truth wash over you. When you do you’ll see that the whole idea of someone earning their way into heaven by way of “good works” is patently absurd. Salvation is a gift, and like any gift it must be accepted to be owned. And since this gift is all wrapped up in the person of Jesus Christ, the only way to accept it is to accept Him. To reject Him is to reject the gift. The various terminologies that I cited at the close of the previous paragraph are all just different ways of describing the acceptance of the gift, but whatever you do, ACCEPT THE GIFT!!! If you don’t, you might as well be trying to jump and touch the moon to earn your way into heaven.

Posted in Assurance of Salvation, Belief, Bible Study, Depravity, Eternal Security, Eternity, Faith, Heaven, Salvation, Sin | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Why Do the Wicked Prosper?

Posted on January 26, 2012 by russellmckinney

Why do the wicked prosper? It’s a question that goes back at least as far as the time of Job, a man who lived during or perhaps even before the patriarchal age of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In Job 9:24, Job says, “The earth is given into the hand of the wicked…” Likewise, in Job 12:6, he says, “The tents of robbers prosper, and those who provoke God are secure…”

Asaph, who was a prominent singer and musician in the Israelite worship of King David’s time, also struggled with the question. In Psalm 73:3, he says, “For I was envious of the boastful, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.” Later on, in verse 12 of that same Psalm, he says, “Behold, these are the ungodly, who are always at ease; they increase in riches.”

I’m sure that an entire book, or even a whole set of them, could be written in answer to the question, “Why do the wicked prosper?” That’s why I won’t even try to use this simple blog post to list every last reason. Instead, I just want to offer one reason, and that one reason is this: Much of the prosperity of the wicked can be attributed to Satan, not God.

Now please don’t get all technical on me here. Yes, I know that Satan can’t do anything that God doesn’t allow. However, with that understood, I want to take you back to the story of Satan tempting Jesus in the wilderness. You can find it in Matthew 4:1-11, Mark 1:12-13, and Luke 4:1-13. Do you recall what Satan’s third and final temptation was? Matthew 4:8-9 describes it this way:

Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.” (N.K.J.V.)

You see, there it is, proof positive that Satan has plenty of “stuff” to give those who do his work. And if you doubt that he holds that much stroke in this world, you should also read John 14:30, 2 Corinthians 4:3-4, and Ephesians 2:1-2. Those passages teach that Satan is nothing less than the ruler of this world. Consequently, he has an abundant supply of money, power, possessions, fame, and worldly success to dispense to suit his purposes.

So, the next time you see someone who is obviously wicked and yet just as obviously prosperous, take a moment to consider that the person’s prosperity most likely comes from the hand of the devil. I’ve often used the line, “God won’t bless a mess.” That line still holds true, but the fact is that Satan will and many times does bless messes that are pleasing to him.

Posted in Business, Money, Prosperity, Satan, Temptation, The Devil | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Don’t Bail Out

Posted on January 24, 2012 by russellmckinney

Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?” (John 6:67, N.K.J.V.)

A pilot announced to his passengers that three of the plane’s four engines had conked out. A few seconds later he came out of the cockpit, walked to the back of the plane, and put on a parachute. He opened the back door and just before jumping said, “Don’t worry folks, I’m going for help.”

This world is filled with people who will bail out on a difficult circumstance when the going gets tough. And they won’t be going for help, either. Sadly, in too many instances, this even applies to how we Christians follow Jesus.

One of the most somber questions that Jesus ever asked is found in John 6:67. Let me set the context for you. A tremendous crowd of 5,000 men (not counting women and children) gathered around Jesus near the slope of a mountain that hovered over the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus taught them (Mark 6:34), healed their sick (Luke 9:11), and miraculously fed the entire crowd by using a young boy’s lunch of five loaves of bread and two small fish (John 6:5-14).

In the wake of all that teaching and miracle working, the crowd began having thoughts about taking Jesus by force to make Him their earthly king (John 6:15). But Jesus wanted no part of such an election, and so He dispersed the crowd and commanded His twelve apostles to get into a boat and cross over to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (Matthew 14:22; Mark 6:45). Then He Himself went up into the mountain alone to pray (Matthew 14:23; Mark 6:46).

That night a terrible windstorm swept down upon the Sea of Galilee, preventing the twelve from making much headway to the opposite shore (Matthew 14:24; John 6:18). Finally, with them exhausted from their rowing (Mark 6:48; John 6:19), Jesus walked on the water to reach them (Matthew 14:25; Mark 6:49-50), joined them in the boat (Mark 6:51), and calmed the storm (Mark 6:51). At that point, the boat was miraculously transported to the other shore (John 6:21). (For the record, this is also the story in which Peter attempts to walk on the water to Jesus: Matthew 14:25-33).

The following morning many of the original crowd of 5,000 got into boats and crossed over the Sea of Galilee to find Jesus (John 6:22-25). They caught up with Him in Capernaum (John 6:24). Shortly afterward, Jesus accused these people of only following Him for the miracles He could do for them (John 6:25-27). Then He launched into a weird teaching about Him being the bread of life and how they needed to eat of His flesh (John 6:28-59). You talk about throwing cold water onto a fickle bunch! When the teaching was finished, many in the crowd — many who had been calling themselves disciples (learners) of Jesus — turned away and never followed Him again (John 6:60-66). Just as He had said, they were only interested in following Him as long as the miracles were rolling and the teachings were pleasant and easy to understand.

It’s at that critical moment that Jesus looked at His twelve apostles and asked them the penetrating question, “Do you also want to go away?” Truth be told, some of them, particularly Judas Iscariot (John 6:70-71), may have. But Peter spoke up before anybody else could answer and said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also, we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (John 6:68-69). Good for you, Peter!

Tell me, Christian, are you right now going through a difficult time with the Lord? Are you confused? Are you frustrated? Are you out of heart? Trust me, you aren’t the first to go down such a road. The question is, how will you respond? Will you turn back from following Christ? Or will you, like Peter, understand that turning away from Him is akin to turning away from the source of life and truth?

Please understand that I’m not talking about a Christian possibly losing his or her salvation. As the old saying goes, “once saved, always saved.” What I’m talking about is breaking fellowship with the Lord and bailing out on what He is trying to teach you through your difficult times. Such a bailout might provide a modicum of temporary relief, but in the end you’ll come to know all too well that you should have stayed on the plane or in the boat with your Savior.

Posted in Adversity, Backsliding, Choices, Christ's Miracles, Commitment, Complaining, Decisions, Depression, Disappointment, Discipleship, Disobedience, Doubt, Eternal Security, Faithfulness, Fear, God's Will, Obedience, Perseverance, Problems, Rebellion, Service, Suffering, Temptation, Trials, Trusting In God, Truth, Waiting | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Secret Sin

Posted on January 20, 2012 by russellmckinney

It’s been said that your character is what you are when no one is looking. However, it’s also been said that you can fool some of the people all of the time, all of the people some of the time, but you can’t fool God any time. In other words, God is always looking. And so what kind of character does He see on display from you when no one is looking?

When I was a kid I got a snazzy new tape recorder one Christmas. In the days that followed, I had a blast with that thing. One of my favorite pastimes was covertly recording the conversations between my mom and dad. You just never knew when you’d catch some bit of gossip, some unguarded moment of candor, or some discussion that they’d rather have not had immortalized on cassette tape. I thought it was all funny, but they weren’t always amused when they heard the playback.

Years later, in a clear case of the apple falling in close proximity to the tree, my youngest son, Royce, received a Nintendo 3DS for Christmas and tried to secretly record some of my conversations. Fortunately for me, I caught him before I could utter any blackmail-worthy remarks. Unfortunately for me, God’s tape recorder is always running. Actually, He has a video machine, not a tape recorder.

It’s with this in mind that I’ll ask you if you’ve been committing some supposedly “secret” sin lately? If you have, just know that “secret” sin on earth is open scandal in heaven. You might be fooling some of the people all of the time or even all of the people some of the time, but you aren’t fooling God any time. Furthermore, the Bible still says, “…be sure that your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:23). And if you don’t believe that, the only person you are fooling is yourself.

Posted in Adultery, Alcohol, Backsliding, Character, Conviction, Drugs, Gambling, God's Omnipresence, God's Judgment, God's Omniscience, Guilt, Homosexuality, Honesty, Hypocrisy, Lesbianism, Lust, Lying, Personal, Personal Holiness, Racism, Rebellion, Repentance, Sin, Sowing and Reaping, Temptation | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

The Building with the Golden Windows

Posted on January 18, 2012 by russellmckinney

Contentment is one of those subjects that is easy to talk about but hard to master. Let’s say that my neighbor buys himself a brand new Corvette. The car is “please notice me” red. The interior is “please don’t get me dirty” white. The engine is the factory option “you can’t unrun me” high performance. The wheels are “you can’t afford me” aluminum. And to top it all off, he starts wearing a shirt that reads: “Real men drive Corvettes.” Well, how long do you think it will take me to become discontented with my “it’s all I’ve got” Subaru?

I want you to take a personal survey. Ask yourself this question: “Is there anything in my life right now with which I am not content?” Perhaps it’s your car. Perhaps it’s your home. Maybe it’s your job. Maybe it’s your financial situation. It might be your appearance. It might be your relationship status. But is there something that is currently killing your contentment?

As I was growing up, my dad would often say to me, “Russell, you can’t be satisfied with anything.” I remember how I always chafed at that accusation because I honestly didn’t believe that it was true. I used to think to myself, “No, he’s wrong. I can be content, just not with what I’ve got to work with right now.”

Unfortunately, as I’ve grown older, I’ve been forced to learn that my father was right about my contentment level. If that level was a thermostat it would be set very, very low. I’ll now freely admit that it doesn’t take much to get me to looking over the hills and thinking, “How much better my life would be if I was over there.” Seriously, if God had let me move every time I had felt an urge to do so, my primary vehicle would have become a U-HAUL long ago. As for Tonya and the boys, I guess they would have felt like a military family that moves from one base to another, never staying anywhere long enough to put down roots and build lasting relationships.

Somewhere, years ago, I read a silly little line that has always helped me. It goes like this: “If the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, it’s because it’s growing over a septic tank.” That line has often come to my mind when God has turned down my latest urge to bolt and run and seek my fortune elsewhere. Have I usually got problems in my current location? Yes. But would I be problem free if I moved to that latest place that has caught my fancy? Nope. It would just be a new set of problems, perhaps even worse than my current ones.

You can learn some things by watching children’s television shows. I can’t remember if I was babysitting Ryan or Royce, but one of them was watching a kids’ show one day when a thought-provoking cartoon segment aired. It was about a little girl who lived in an apartment building in a big city. Every morning she would look out her window and stare longingly at the building with the golden windows that sat on the other side of the city. Oh, how she wanted to live in that beautiful building!

So, one morning she made up her mind to go and see the building up close. She got herself dressed and headed out to find it, and all day long she searched and searched but was unable to find the building with the golden windows. Then, late in the afternoon, just as she was about to lose all hope, she turned around and saw the building. But it was way over on the other side of town. She then ran and ran and ran until she finally arrived at the building. That was when she realized that it was the building in which lived. She thought, “How is this possible?” After pondering the situation for a while, the answer came to her: The sun which cast its light upon the one building in rising in the morning was casting its light upon her building in setting in the evening.

Okay, so why am I telling you all this? I’m doing it to help you realize that where you are right now is a wonderful place if it is where God wants to be. That doesn’t mean that God never relocates people. Sometimes He does. But right now, if He has you living in a certain place, working a certain job, maintaining a certain financial level, driving a certain car, etc., you need to learn to see the golden windows in those things. They really are there. You just have to recognize them.

I’ll leave you now with some words from the apostle Paul. They are words that I know very well because they have haunted me many times. The haunting stems from the fact that I still can’t truthfully make the statement that Paul makes. In Philippians 4:11, he says:

…I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content. (N.K.J.V.)

I can’t speak for you, but I haven’t completely learned that yet. No, my classes are still in session. I’m hoping, though, that I can earn that degree one day. But until then, I need to keep looking for those golden windows of where God has me.

Posted in Adversity, Attitude, Change, Children, Complaining, Contentment, Depression, Desires, Disappointment, Faithfulness, God's Provision, God's Will, Impatience, Jealousy, Needs, Personal, Praise, Problems, Prosperity, Temptation, Trusting In God | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Making Perception Align with Reality

Posted on January 16, 2012 by russellmckinney

The owner of a candy store noticed that one of his salesgirls would have customers lined up waiting for her even as his other salesgirls stood by doing nothing. Perplexed by this, he went to the girl and asked for her secret. She answered, “The other girls scoop up more than the requested amount of candy and then start taking away. I scoop up less and then add to it.”

It’s all about perception, isn’t it? Those customers were perceiving themselves to be getting more candy from that salesgirl, even though they really weren’t. They were forming an opinion about her and altering their behavior toward her accordingly.

We Christians must admit that the perception lost people have of us oftentimes isn’t all that glowing. They perceive us to be hypocritical, judgmental, bigoted, closed-minded, ignorant, irrational, and angry. Unfortunately, of course, some Christians can legitimately be classified under each of those adjectives. Ah, but there are other Christians who must be classified differently, and these are the ones who can’t be so easily explained away by lost people.

A world traveler visited the land of what had once been a savage race of cannibals. Actually, the only reason the man could even visit the land was because Christian missionaries had previously blazed the trail, learned the language, and won many of those cannibals to Christ. As the traveler struck up a conversation with one of the natives, he couldn’t resist sharing his views on Christianity with the native. The traveler said, “I myself have no use for the religion. I don’t believe the Bible to be anything other than a man-made book, I don’t believe that Jesus was God in the flesh, and I don’t believe that I will somehow be changed if I believe in Him as my Savior.” To that, the native answered, “My friend, if Jesus does not change lives, you would be in a pot by now.”

Is that story real? I doubt it. But could it be? Absolutely! As 2 Corinthians 5:17 says:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold all things have become new. (N.K.J.V.)

The test that we Christians must pass daily is that of making the reality of the change Jesus has worked inside each of us align with the world’s perception of us. Putting it another way, we’ve got to act “new.” If we continue to commit our same old sins and hold to our same old wrong attitudes, that will create a false perception of us. Lost people will look at us and think, “I guess that ‘Jesus thing’ didn’t work out so well.” On the other hand, if we exhibit a genuine change from cannibalistic to cordial (to go back to my illustration), from hypocritical to holy, from angry to affable, from judgmental to just, etc., then they won’t be able to dismiss us so quickly. That, you see, is why it is so important that we walk the walk in addition to talking the talk.

Posted in Attitude, Backsliding, Change, Discipleship, Doing Good, Dress and Appearance, Faithfulness, God's Work, Honesty, Hypocrisy, Influence, Missions, Personal Holiness, Righteousness, Salvation, Service, Sin | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

My Post-Holiday Funk

Posted on January 12, 2012 by russellmckinney

Financially speaking, this month of January tends to be a more trying month for me and Tonya than other months. You don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to deduce the reason: Christmas hangover. It’s not that we go wild with Christmas shopping and cross the line into sin with it. It’s just that spending any amount of any month’s “extra” income on presents affects the next month’s checkbook. That’s simple math.

A preacher reminded a financially strapped church-member that 1st Thessalonians 5:18 says: “in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” The church-member said, “I don’t see what I have to be thankful for, preacher. I’m buried in debt. I can’t pay my bills. I can’t make my payments. And I just lost my job.” The preacher thought for a moment and answered, “Well, be thankful that you aren’t one of your creditors!”

No, it’s not that bad with my family’s finances, but it’s not helping matters that I’m also suffering from some kind of post-holiday, winter malaise. For whatever reason, I’ve been having trouble getting energized this new year. During the holidays, with Tonya and the boys home from school, we all got off schedule by sitting up later and sleeping in later. When school started back, they got back on track, but I’m still having trouble breaking out of that pattern. I’ve got to fix that. Also, I had been doing an excellent job of getting in thirty minutes of daily exercise leading up to Christmas, but I’m now on my third week or so of taking a break from that. I’ve got to fix that too and get back on that exercise machine.

I was listening to the radio a few days ago and actually heard a disc-jockey address what I’ve been experiencing. He said the post-holiday letdown is very normal and that it is brought on by eating too much, not getting enough exercise, and sleeping too much. I thought, “Wow, he must be following me around!” At least I was encouraged that my problem is fairly typical.

Oh, and another thing that isn’t helping my mood or energy level these days is the weather we’ve been getting here in the mountains of western North Carolina. Like a lot of other folks across the country, we’re mired in one of those winters that doesn’t know it’s a winter. Since the beginning of December we’ve had unseasonably warm weather and a lot of rain. Such weather just kind of wears on you when you’ve grown up in these mountains and are used to subfreezing temperatures and snow. As I recall, we’ve only had two snowfalls so far this winter. One was a barely measurable trace that got the grass white for a little while, and the other one was a couple of inches that didn’t exactly get everyone buzzing, either. The forecast does call for the possibility of an inch or so tonight, but, again, that’s not enough to really get our juices flowing around here.

Anyway, I just thought I’d share some of this info with you guys, my readers, today. Maybe someone else out there is experiencing some of the same post-holiday funk that I’m experiencing. If you are, I invite you to join me in slipping back into gear and getting back up to speed. This new year is a big new adventure that is just lying there waiting for us, and God wants to do great things in us, for us, and through us during it. So, let’s stop sulking around, overeating, oversleeping, and worrying about our finances and start living with the faith, energy, zest, zeal, and confident expectation with which He would have us. And, yes, I’m preaching to myself on that.

Posted in Attitude, Christmas, Dieting, Gluttony, Money, New Year, Personal, Thankfulness, Weather | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Now That’s a Good Question

Posted on January 11, 2012 by russellmckinney

A great debate was held between a devout Christian and a staunch atheist. The Christian was allowed to speak first, but without saying a word he simply pulled an orange from his pocket and began to peel it. Then, with thousands of eyes watching him in curiosity, he separated the orange into slices and ate each slice.

The Christian then looked over to the atheist and asked, “How did the orange taste?” The atheist, with a smirk, answered, “I don’t know because I didn’t taste it.” To that, the Christian responded, “Then why do you talk against Christianity and salvation? You haven’t tasted or experienced the blessings of salvation and the joy Jesus gives to those who serve Him. So, how can you intelligently debate something of which you know nothing?”

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him. (Psalm 34:8)

Posted in Atheism, God's Love, God's Provision, Salvation, Trusting In God | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The Young Man & His Reason

Posted on January 5, 2012 by russellmckinney

A Christian once asked a young man if he wanted to believe in Jesus Christ as his personal Savior. The young man answered, “No.” When the Christian asked him to give a reason for his refusal, the young man said:

Several years ago, I was in a man’s kitchen. When he found me there he swore at me and kicked me out. That man was a professing Christian, and from that time I decided never to have anything to do with religion. And I never have to this day.

After hearing that, the Christian asked the young man to write the reason down, word for word, and sign it. The young man played along and did so. Then the Christian handed the signed document back to him and said, “Take this, and when you are asked for your excuse on the day of judgment, hand this up.”

We should learn two lessons from this illustration. First, we Christians should mind our behavior because we do untold damage to the cause of Christ when we our lives slip into sin and compromise. Second, there is no valid excuse for refusing to believe in Christ as Savior. If you think you have one, write it down, sign it, and carry it with you always. You can try using it in the afterlife, but don’t expect it to work.

Posted in Belief, Coming Judgment, Death, Evangelism, God's Wrath, God's Judgment, Hell, Salvation, Witnessing | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment