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IS
OLD CHARLIE BURNING IN HELL?:
Does God really consign the
suicide, the drunkard, the murderer to fry forever in an underworld blast
furnace? Or is that just another of Satan's lies?
Copyright 1993 / Leslie A Turvey
laturvey@becon.org
There's a religious group whose god demands more of its membership
than most people can handle.
One of the group, pressured beyond his human capacity, committed
suicide. His wife, Vickie, left the group and was interviewed by ABC's
20/20.
The discussion got around to her husband's fate. The interviewer
asked, "He's gone to hell?" Vickie's soulful response was,
"Yeh."
But has he? Do those who can no longer accept news of rape and
murder, war and starvation, uncertainty of the future, and the demands of
fear religions, burn forever in hell if they collapse under it all and
take their own lives?
Does the murderer who is executed before he "gets saved"
suffer for all eternity in some nether region, while Satan and his demons
cackle with glee?
And what about old Charley who beat his wife, and couldn't keep his
hands off his niece, and who died in a drunken stupor? Does his obituary
say, "In hell forever?"
To read the obits one might think everyone who dies goes to heaven
to be "in the arms of the Lord."
People who write death notices, it seems, would like to believe old
Charley, and the murderer, and the suicide had a death-bed repentance. At
the last moment Jesus forgave all those reprehensible sins, and pronounced
those wonderful words, "Well done you good and faithful servant.
Enter into the joy of your lord."
But old Charley and the murderer and the suicide are not in the
arms of the Lord. Neither are they providing entertainment for a horned
devil in a red costume.
Your bible tells a different, and more wonderful story than you've
ever heard.
The go-to-hell story is a lie concocted by Satan to bring fear and
discouragement to anyone he can. But the truth brings astonishing good
news for the world.
God has an amazing and exciting future for Vickie and her husband.
It's a future that begins with the return of Jesus Christ to earth, and
continues with the resurrection of her husband so he can be taught
Christ's true way of life -- love, peace, and happiness -- and so they can
both live a more wondrous happily-ever-after than anyone can imagine.
Take heart if you're discouraged. That same spectacular future
waits for old Charley, and for the murderer, and for
you.
You may
contact the Life Lines author at laturvey@becon.org.
IS
GOD LOSING THE BATTLE?:
It seems like God is doing
a rather poor job of saving the world. The score is Satan 5: God 1. And
they're nearing the end of the game.
Copyright 1995 / Leslie A Turvey
laturvey@becon.org
Is God trying to save the world before it's too late? If so he's
not doing a very good job.
In two thousand years he's saved less than one in six people, if
being a Christian is equated to being saved.
Is salvation something you can have today? Is it something you can
lose out on if you die in a car accident on your way to be baptized? If
you're saved, can you become un-saved?
Some religions preach once saved, always saved. Great! Give your
heart to the Lord at a Saturday night tent-meeting; resume your old
sensual life on Monday. Your salvation is sure.
At least one denomination preaches predestination. If you're
predestined to go to heaven, nothing you can do will prevent it. If,
however, God has predestined you to go to hell, nothing you can do will
prevent that fate either. So you may as well live a life of
licentiousness. It won't make any difference in the end.
God wants every human to be saved (II
Peter 3:9). He's got a marvelous future for mankind, but the future
isn't now.
God is teaching people here and there his laws, his holy days, and
all the things they will need to know to teach others. What they're
learning is not the average Sunday-go-to-meetin' form of Christianity.
At a time yet future will come the most horrendous time in history,
when Satan pulls out all the stops to destroy mankind (Daniel
12:1). Few humans will survive: those who do will know man doesn't
have the way to peace.
Then comes the first resurrection. The apostles, martyrs, and
people through the centuries who have died living God's way of life will
be brought back to life and changed from flesh and blood to spirit
composition (I
Corinthians 15:50-55). They will not die again (Revelation
20:6). They are saved.
Their job as members of God's family is to rule those who survive
the holocaust, to heal their wounds and diseases, and to teach them the
way of peace. They will rule, with Christ a thousand years (Revelation
20:4,6) and as each person chooses to live God's way, they too will be
saved.
A first resurrection implies at least one more. This comes at the
end of the thousand years. The billions of people who have ever lived will
be brought back to life and have their first opportunity for salvation (Revelation
20:12).
The earth will, by now, have been renewed, and God will come to
live with mankind. The light years of space will no longer separate us (Revelation
21:-22:21).
Despite a utopian world governed by God's perfect law, there will
be an incorrigible few who will refuse God's way of life. They will be
destroyed: burned to ashes. We won't even remember they existed (Malachi
4:1,3 / Ecclesiastes
9:5-6).
No, God isn't losing the battle. He's giving you time to learn how
you can be -- future -- saved.
You may
contact the Life Lines author at laturvey@becon.org.
THE
NON-STICK STICKY STUFF:
Peter
seemed like a total failure, yet God used him powerfully. Failure seems
necessary for success, so don't give up. Your success may be just a step
away.
Copyright 1995 / Leslie A Turvey
laturvey@becon.org
The story is well known of Thomas Edison's ten thousand attempts to
produce a working electric light bulb. Edison refused to call them
failures: he said he succeeded in finding ten thousand ways it didn't
work.
The Colonel went from restaurant to restaurant day after day to
promote his chicken recipe. Day after day, restaurant after restaurant, he
met with rejection, until at last he made one successful call. Kentucky
Fried Chicken: what more needs to be said?
George Herman Ruth swatted a total of 714 home runs in
regular-season play. But during his 22 years in the majors, the Babe was
also the strike-out king.
The road to success is paved with setbacks, many of your own, and
some of others.
One person's failure will often lead to another's success.
Sometimes the person simply gives up too soon. Many times another person
sees the challenge from a fresh point of view.
An example is that of an unsuccessful adhesive. The result of the
developers' experiments was a sticky substance that wouldn't stick. They
filed their formula, and quit trying to make it succeed.
A preacher couldn't handle the slips of paper he used to mark
references in his bible for his sermons. He needed paper with a non-stick
sticky backing. Out came the formula, and today the yellow note pads are
familiar to everyone.
One of the biggest failures of all time was a disciple of Jesus
Christ. The impetuous Peter tried to walk on water, and actually took
several steps. But he got his eye off the goal and sank (Matthew
14:28-30).
Another time Jesus told his students of his coming suffering and
death. Peter's retort was such that Jesus called him Satan (Mark
8:31-33). So much for Peter's success in the art of repartee.
"Not me, Jesus," Peter said on the Mount of Olives.
"I won't desert you. I'll die with you if I have to (Matthew
26:31-35)."
The story is related every spring. It's hard not to experience what
Peter felt when he realized he had failed again (Verses
69-75).
But Peter's failures are eclipsed by his success.
It was Peter who confronted the Judeans and told them the disciples
weren't drunk, but the preaching they heard in their own language was a
fulfillment of Joel's prophecy (Acts
2:5-42).
It was Peter whom Christ used to heal a man who had been crippled
all his life (Acts
3:2-8).
It was Peter who was chosen to bring the message of Christ's
kingdom to the gentiles, and to introduce them to the Christian church (Acts
10:45). The same episode shows the holy spirit being given to the
gentiles for the first time.
Failure seems necessary for success, so when things look like
they're going wrong don't give up. Your success may be just a step
away.
You may
contact the Life Lines author at laturvey@becon.org.
O,
For A Bit Of Peace and Quiet:
Jesus Christ recognized the
mental and spiritual refreshment that comes from time spent away from the
noise of the day. Why don't people today take an hour just to listen to
the grass grow?
Copyright 1986 / Leslie A Turvey laturvey@becon.org
What is there about quiet that people fear? Why can't they live
without noise?
From the moment of waking in the morning, 'til the last light goes
out at night, in most households the sonance of the television assails the
ears. Or the discordant din of hard rock and heavy metal blares from the
radio.
In his essay Journey Through Love, John Hillaby calls noise the
ultimate insult. He says, "It kills what is left of many things we
have loved: music, beauty, friendship, hope, excitement, and the
reassurance of nature."
People want peace, but it seems they don't want quiet. Yet what is
more peaceful than quiet?
Fortunate is the person who lives away from the tumult of the city.
His music is the singing of the birds, the chirp of the crickets, and the
croak of a bullfrog in a nearby pond. Yet the peace which nature affords
him is seldom appreciated. The roar of the crowd drowns it all out while
he watches a game on the tube.
In years gone by the gentle clip-clop of the horse's hooves could
lull a young swain to sleep after an evening of courting on his young
lady's verandah swing. The lad's homeward rest would be broken only when
the carriage came to a standstill in front of the barn. Today the courting
is done on a noisy dance floor, and the car radio drowns out any thoughts
the couple might otherwise enjoy on the way home.
Frances Mossiker wrote, in Pocahontas, "The stillness within
us is not something to be dreaded, but rather to be sought as a reservoir
of spiritual strength."
Throughout the gospel accounts Jesus is found on a hillside away
from the crowds. Matthew records one such time in
chapter 14, verse 23: "And when he had sent the multitudes away, he
went up into the mountain apart to pray. And when the evening was come he
was there alone." Jesus recognized the mental and spiritual
refreshment that comes from aloneness in the seclusion of the hills.
John Hillaby noted that silence is used for worship, respect, and
anticipation, and love. But how little respect, how little love is shown
when one person's noise -- sometimes it's simply talking -- invades
another's quiet?
No one needs fear the quiet. It creates an atmosphere conducive to
reading, meditation, and contemplation. But people today are so
conditioned to being entertained they have nearly lost the appreciation
for a good book. Meditation seems to be reserved for a few devotees of
oriental practices. And contemplation requires thinking, something too few
people do any more.
The French essayist, Michael Montaigne, knew the value of getting
away from the noise of the world when he wrote, "A man should keep
for himself a little back shop, all his own, in which he establishes his
true freedom and chief place of seclusion and solitude."
Would that the world would allow it.
You may
contact the Life Lines author at laturvey@becon.org.
THANK
YOU, LORD JESUS:
One person's prayer gives
thanks to God that he can steal, commit adultery, and murder others.
Copyright 1999 / Leslie A Turvey laturvey@becon.org
"Lord Jesus, release me from any thought that I must keep the
religious laws and regulations. Thank You that when I have eaten and have
been nourished with the real spiritual food, I am freed from the burden of
regulation-keeping. Hallelujah, I can have the real rest. Amen."
This is a prayer many of you may have read from a fellow Internet
writer. It's a prayer I trust will not be honored in heaven.
Before you condemn me as a heretic, consider what the prayer really
says. It begins by saying, Lord Jesus, release me from any thought that I
must not have any gods before you. That sure lifts a burden Lord. Now I
can let my favorite TV sitcoms, my baseball practices, and my neighborhood-famous barbecues be more important than you, and not have to
feel guilty about it.
The prayer continues, thank you for allowing me to have pictures in
my home purporting to portray you Jesus. I guess it would be also be okay
to hang a photo of Adolph Hitler and tell people he's my brother.
Oh yes, Lord, thank you for allowing me to use your name loosely,
or not to use it at all depending on whether it suits my purposes.
This marvelous prayer also says, thank you Lord that I no longer
have to keep that horrible Sabbath you commanded. Instead I can spend an
hour each Sunday, a day somebody decided was better, listening to an
easy-to-swallow sermon, and singing a few nice hymns. Then it's party time
at the beach, knowing I've done my duty for another week.
You know, Lord, the writer seems to continue, my parents are
alcoholics, and the man I call my father might not be my father at all.
Well, thank you Lord Jesus, I no longer have the obligation to honor my
parents. What a blessing that is to me. It's hard to honor scum like them.
My neighbor is just as bad, Lord. He lets weeds grow all over his
property, and his house is a shack: his garage even worse. Jesus, I thank
you for giving me permission to murder him and burn everything to the
ground. It certainly will make the neighborhood neater. There's only one
hitch, Jesus. The laws of our country were based on your burdensome
regulations, and there's an archaic law on the books that prevents me from
doing that.
But Wow! Lord Jesus. Now that you've released me from that
oppressive adultery law, I can visit the young divorcee down the street.
She's been making eyes at me lately, and I'm sure my wife won't mind.
After all, she's free of your old laws too.
Of course, if I catch a disease from her I'll expect you, as
Yehovah Raphah, to heal me. But wait. How can I do that? The Lord who
heals you is an old testament God, and the old testament is done away
with. I'll have to give that some thought.
There's a lot of neat things I'd love to have, Jesus, but I can't
afford them. You know I've always wanted a Mercedes SL. Well, you've given
me permission to steal a brand new one from the showroom downtown. But I
can't do it until you convince our old-fashioned legal eagles to change
the human laws so I won't go to jail.
The prayer continues, Lord Jesus, you know you brought your
crucifixion on yourself, don't you? When nobody could be found to testify
against you, a couple down-and-outs were bribed to lie about you, and you
were executed on their say so. You must have been out of your mind when
you eliminated that business about not bearing false witness. But I'm glad
you did, because I love to gossip, and gossip doesn't always tell the
truth.
One of your old oppressive laws took care of any contingencies not
specifically referred to in the other nine. You know, Lord, that was the
hardest one to keep because it covered so much. But you've made life a lot
easier since you nailed that one to your cross.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for letting me know I no longer have to keep
your musty old ten commandments. "Hallelujah, I can have the real
rest."
But now what? Nobody else has to keep them either. This whole thing
could backfire on me. Maybe I don't have real rest at
all.
You may
contact the Life Lines author at laturvey@becon.org. |
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Tell
Us SMOOTH THINGS:
Do you wish your minister
would lift up his voice like a trumpet, and show the people their
transgression? Or are you happy letting him simply tell you what you want
to hear?
Copyright 1998 / Leslie A Turvey laturvey@becon.org
Some time ago a reader complained about one of my columns. She said
Life Lines should be sermonettes, not criticism. Something I wrote had
offended her.
More recently a reader said I should be gentle in my writing.
Pierre Burton wrote a notable book titled "The Comfortable
Pew." Christians today sit comfortably in their pews, listening to
feel-good sermons that tell them what they want to hear.
But is that what Christianity is about? John Homer Miller said,
"What is a sermon for but to do two things. First, it should comfort
the afflicted, and second, it should afflict the comfortable."
There are few truly afflicted in the Christian community today. The
pews are comfortable, both physically and spiritually. Perhaps they should
be torn out and replaced with flat benches like the Amish use.
An itinerant preacher once told me our people are "gospel
hardened." Maybe today's sermons should be tossed into the trash, and
replaced with some old-fashioned, hell-fire-and-brimstone preaching.
Every December Jesus is portrayed as the Prince of Peace. And there
seems to be biblical authority for the name. Isaiah
9:6 states, "Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and
the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called
the Prince of Peace."
But what did Jesus say of himself? Read in Matthew
10:34, "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came
not to send peace, but a sword."
Jesus has not yet come as the Prince of Peace, else we would have
world peace today. Do we? Not even within families.
The same Isaiah who said Jesus would return as Prince of Peace, was
commanded, "Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet,
and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins
(Isaiah
58:1)." But where are the "Isaiahs" today? Instead of
preaching like a powerful trumpet whose voice reaches far beyond the
stained glass of the
church building, today's ministry tootles on a little tin flute that's
barely audible past the fourth row of pews.
Maybe that's why so many churchgoers sit in the back seats. They
don't want to risk hearing the truth. They're like the people of whom God
said, "This is a rebellious people, lying children, children that
will not hear the law of the Lord: which say to the prophets,
'Prophesy not unto us
right things. Speak unto us smooth things. Prophesy deceits (Isaiah
30:9-10).'"
And so their ministers do just that. They teach that God's law was
"nailed to the cross," even though Jesus said he didn't come to
destroy the law (Matthew
5:17). They speak smooth things so as not to disturb their
parishioners' complacency.
Indeed, if they lifted up their voice and told their people their
sins, they would be as Herman Melville said, "Let any clergyman try
to preach the truth from its very stronghold, the pulpit, and they would
ride him out of the church on his own pulpit banister."
So, if Life Lines steps on some people's toes, I offer no apology.
When the day comes that Christianity's leaders begin trumpeting the truth,
then I will hold my peace.
You may
contact the Life Lines author at laturvey@becon.org.
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TELL
THAT TO YOUR HEART:
A
Christian doctor takes a heart patient off pork and shrimp and oysters.
But he's not trying to turn his patient into a Jew.
Copyright 1999 / Leslie A Turvey laturvey@becon.org
What a ride! The crushing pain in your chest dulls the wail of the
siren while paramedics keep watch over your vitals.
Glaring lights and a jumble of voices adds to your terror as you
wonder What's happening to me?
You don't even feel the needle as a nurse extracts a sample of
blood from your vein. One voice stands out momentarily, and you hear it
say, "...to the lab." As you again drift out of consciousness
the word "electrocardi..." penetrates your mind.
At last you awaken. Through the haze that fogs your mind you
realize you're in a hospital. You're aware of a dread quiet disturbed only
by the slow drip, drip, drip of liquid from the IV, and the beep of a
monitor counting the beats of your heart.
Your chest is heavy from the pain that brought you here. Your
breathing is labored, and a terrible feeling of aloneness grips you. The
dim lights fade as you again drift into the comfort of sleep.
The aloneness is gone, as you're wakened by sounds of the morning's
busyness in the hospital corridor. An angel in white asks how you are
feeling, and writes something on your chart. "Your wife is here.
She's been with you all night. Just went down for breakfast in the
cafeteria. I'm sure she'll be back soon."
A few days later you're moved from Intensive Care to a private
room. Your wife reads you the many cards you've received, and tapes them
to the wall where you can see them. She tells you the minister was in
yesterday, but you were sleeping. "He said he'll come back when
you're
wider awake."
A familiar face appears at the door. "Hey doc," you
exclaim, as much as your weakened body can exclaim, "my wife tells me
the old ticker gave everybody a scare."
"Sure did," comes the reply. "We thought we'd lost
you a couple of times. But the team kept working, and between them and the
grace of God, you're going to be OK.
"But," he adds, "you'll be here a while longer, so
don't get too anxious to go home. And when you do go home, you'll be on a
special diet. No more pork or bacon, no more shrimp or oysters. Your wife
has the list."
Your family chose this doctor because he was a Christian. But now
he's talking like he'd just come from the synagogue. "You trying to
turn me into a Jew, doc?"
"Not at all, but the list I've given your wife comes right
from the bible. It's old testament, but just as valid today."
"Those old laws were done away with when Jesus was
crucified," you argue. "We don't have to keep them any
more."
"Tell that to your heart," counters the doctor.
"You've been a pork eater all your life, and it finally put you in
here. You see, God didn't give his dietary laws to restrict the people,
but to keep them free from disease. God's laws were given for the benefit
of the Israelites, and for
us today.
"You'll have plenty of time to study his laws while you're
here. Forget what you've been told, and look at the bible as a book you've
never read before. You'll be amazed by what it says...and what it doesn't
say."
You may
contact the Life Lines author at laturvey@becon.org.
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STOP,
LOOK AND LISTEN:
We generally listen with
our ears. But we should also be listening with our mind.
Copyright 1999 / Leslie A Turvey
laturvey@becon.org
Some railway crossing signs still bear the safety motto,
"Stop. Look. Listen." It's excellent advice for all of life.
In the early '80s Leonard Zunin published "Contact: The First
Four Minutes." His book detailed the most important four minutes of
your day: the first four minutes after meeting anyone.
The first thing to do is Stop. You may have exciting news to tell
the world, but is the world ready for it? Can it wait until you learn what
kind of day the other person's having?
You meet good ol' George coming out of a florist's shop. "Hey,
George," you exclaim excitedly. "Guess what? I just won the
lottery." George replies he's just ordered flowers for his wife's
casket. She died of a heart attack last night.
Suddenly your windfall doesn't seem very important, does it? Had
you stopped, you may have seen the sadness in George's face before you
began spouting your news.
The next advice is Look. Look at the person. The slouch in his walk
may indicate a bad day; a spring in his step, and a cheerful smile would
indicate otherwise.
And when you talk with him, Look into his face. It's difficult to
show interest in what he's saying, if your eyes are wandering all over the
place. And you'll not likely hear everything he's saying, either.
The final word of advice is Listen. People don't always say what
they mean, so it's important to spend those first four minutes listening
intently, not just with your ears, but with your mind.
George may hand you his house key and ask you to pick up a
six-pack. "Leave it in the fridge, so it'll be there when I get
home."
Did you hear his message? Beer is a social beverage. George doesn't
want to come home to an empty house. He wants someone there for comfort,
and to share memories of his wife. The fact that he gave his house key to
you, rather than to someone else, says you're the someone he wants to be
there for him.
Jesus stopped. It may have been late in the day. We're told in Matthew
19:13-15, Jesus stopped. He didn't start talking about his own
interests, how tired he was, his desire to rest. He stopped, and took an
interest in the parents' desires, that Jesus bless their little children.
Paul tells us that Jesus' mind was set on looking on the needs of
others. In Philippians
2:4-5 he wrote, "Look not every man on his own things, but every
man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also
in Christ Jesus."
From Matthew to Revelation, Jesus Christ says nine times, "If
any man have ears to hear, let him hear." And in James
1:19 we're admonished, "...let every man be swift to hear, slow
to speak...."
Peter listened with his ears rather than with his mind. Acts
10 shows Peter having a vision of all sorts of beasts, and being told,
"Rise, Peter, kill and eat." Only when God revealed the vision's
meaning, did Peter hear what God was saying: Peter, a Jew, could dine with
gentiles.
When you read the bible do you Stop to consider what you've read?
Do you Look to all the related passages from Genesis to Revelation? And do
you Listen with your mind to what God, not man, is telling you from his
word?
Stop, Look, and Listen. It's good advice at railway crossings, and
in all of life.
You may
contact the Life Lines author at laturvey@becon.org.
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THE
SOLUTION!:
Is
bringing the bible back into the classroom the solution to our problems
today? Give it some thought before you answer.
Copyright 1999 / Leslie A Turvey laturvey@becon.org
Violence in our homes. Violence in our schools. Violence in our
streets. What is the solution?
Some people say, "Bring the bible back into the
classroom," and they're right. But only partly right. We need to
bring God back into the classroom.
And even that's only partly right. We need to bring God back into
our homes, our communities, and our government.
Recently a prayer was given at the opening of the Kansas State
Senate. The minister, Joe Wright, offered his prayer from the standpoint
of the bible: We have failed in this. We have failed in that. And he was
specific about what this and that is.
It wasn't a lengthy prayer: ninety seconds perhaps. But before the
minister finished several of the senators had walked out. It seems the
prayer wasn't politically correct.
But it was God-correct, and that's what made the difference.
Why has God been taken out of our classrooms, our communities, and
our government? A Life Lines reader wrote, "What keeps us from
God?...it is a wrong image of God. Because Jesus sends unsaved sinners to
the pit [hell] people live in fear of it...." He added, "...some
people are paralyzed by the fear of hell and can't even begin to think
that the same God who made hell could love them."
Yes, we do have a wrong image of God. The god of this world, Satan,
has convinced us the eternal, loving God created hell, and sends people
there. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The God we need in our lives is the loving God of Deuteronomy
28 who says, "If you will always listen to the Lord your God, and
do what he commands, he will set you above all the nations of the earth.
You will be happy in the city, and will enjoy your work. Your children
will be
cheerful, and will bring you honor.
"Your harvests will be plentiful, and your cattle and sheep
will increase. Your food will be wholesome, and you will never go hungry.
"Your homes will be safe, and you won't fear anyone when you
go out. You'll be safe from your enemies because they'll flee from you.
"The Lord will fill your storehouses, and will bless you in
all that you do in the land he has given you.
"If you keep God's commandments he will make you a special
people, and all the nations will respect you. You will lend to other
nations, and not have to borrow.
"The Lord will make you the leader, and not the follower. Nor
will you be subjugated by others, if you always listen to the Lord your
God, and do what he commands."
What wonderful promises. What a wonderful God. This is the God we
need to bring into our everyday lives at home, in the schools, at work,
and at leisure.
But when? Tomorrow? Next week? Next year?
In Exodus
32:29 Moses said, "Consecrate yourselves today to the Lord...that
he may bestow upon you a blessing..."
We can't wait. We need to bring God back into our lives today. And
when will he bring these blessings upon us? The same verse says,
"this day."
You may
contact the Life Lines author at laturvey@becon.org.
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SIT
DOWN! YER "ROCKIN THE BOAT!":
The
Bereans searched the scriptures to see whether Paul knew what he was
talking about. But today, when someone rocks the doctrinal boat,
Christians would rather argue.
Copyright 1999 / Leslie A Turvey laturvey@becon.org
One thing I've learned writing Life Lines is people don't want me
to rock the boat. Problem is, I am a boat rocker.
Christians tend to get comfortable in their easy chair of beliefs,
and are lulled to sleep knowing they're secure in what their minister
preaches.
Then comes a Life Lines column that rocks the boat, and upsets the
easy chair. What happens? They panic.
This happened recently. In one sentence tucked in the middle of
"All you did was argue" I wrote, "Christians argue
vehemently about concepts, such as the rapture, which has no basis in the
bible."
The entire article was about disagreement between Christians, and
had I omitted the last phrase in the sentence, my readers would have said,
Yep. Christians sure do argue. Zzzzzzzzzzz.
But what a panic I caused by rocking the boat. Readers from
everywhere wrote to prove the rapture is in the bible. And like Stephen
Leacock's Lord Ronald, they flung themselves upon their horse and rode
madly off in all directions.
Some wrote to give me derivations of the noun 'rapture.' As a
journalist I have a love affair with my dictionaries, and find they all
pretty well agree. But some people found dictionaries which disagreed.
Strange.
One wrote to say the rapture is, "...being in a state of high
physical emotion when we worship we are translated in to the kingdom of
God at the new birth when our sole is redeemed by the blood of Jesus we
become a spirit as God is a spirit the inward man."
It's obvious the writer was in a real panic. His sentence, being
unpunctuated, makes no sense, and he forgot to check his spelling.
What I see in his sentence is, rapture is "being in a state of
high physical emotion...we become a spirit..." In other words we
become invisible.
Jesus said so. Check it out in John
3:8. Jesus told Nicodemus one born of the spirit is invisible as the
wind. Now I ask, have you seen an invisible person?
One person took me step-by-step through the scriptures in an
attempt to prove the rapture theory. Others quoted a couple verses
thinking that would suffice.
There was agreement on some points, but there was no consensus. One
person wrote to remind me there are several rapture theories: the secret
rapture, the public rapture, the partial rapture, the pre-tribulation
rapture, and the post-millennial rapture. And even he may not have the
entire list.
When I write Life Lines, my intent is not to provoke argument, but
to get people thinking about Why they believe What they believe. If no one
rocks the boat most Christians would go about their life without ever
questioning their beliefs. Oh, they'll argue them, but they won't
question.
The bible says, "Prove all things; hold fast that which is
good (I
Thessalonians 5:21)." It does not say hold fast that which your
minister, or your denomination teaches.
The Bereans didn't take Paul at his word. They searched the
scriptures every day to see whether he knew what he was talking about (Acts
17:10-11). Only when they had proved it for themselves, did they
believe (verse 12).
A gentleman I hold in high esteem often said, "Most people
change the meaning of God's Word to make it conform to their belief,
rather than changing their belief to make it conform to God's
Word."
That is, until someone stands up and rocks the boat.
You may
contact the Life Lines author at laturvey@becon.org.
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SHE'S
STILL MY MOM:
A
Tribute
Copyright 2000 / Leslie A Turvey laturvey@becon.org
Three times nine. Twenty-seven. Four times eight. Thirty-two. My
mother drilled the times tables into me until I hated it.
She was always on my case about spelling. And she made me do girls'
work: I had to dry the dishes every night. Sometimes I even had to wash
them. Yech!
Mom made sure I had a nickel allowance each week, and let me go to
Gannam's store for candy.
She inspected to see that I washed behind my ears, and was dressed
warm on a cold winter day. And she worried if I was ten minutes late
arriving home from school.
More girls' work. I had to make my bed in the morning. But Mom
always waited 'til I was out of the house to redo it so it was decent.
Mom kept an open ear while I practiced the Hawaiian guitar, and was
certain to be in the audience when I played solos at my teacher's annual
recital.
Mom wouldn't let me go anywhere on Saturday until the lawn was
mowed in the summer, or the walks were shoveled in the winter. And there
was an acre of lawn, and a mile of walkways. At least it seemed like that
when I was young.
It was Mom who packed my sandwiches in brown paper bags that got
soggy when it rained or during snowball fights, and tore through spilling
my lunch into the snow. There were no plastic bags or lunch boxes back
then.
Mom was always home when I returned from school, or skating on the
lake, or swimming in the canal. And she had mugs of hot chocolate ready
when the gang came in from tobogganing down the giant hill in the park.
Mom loved writing and, when I wrote essays for school, through her
encouragement she instilled that love in me. She had some great ideas to
help my spelling. I still use her method to spell the country across the
Atlantic: E U Rope, and there's no prize in surprise.
She still doesn't know some of the shenanigans I got into when she
wasn't around, and I'm not about to tell her now. I'll let her go on
believing I was a perfect little angel!
I'm sure Mom wondered if the world would ever be the same when I
got my driver's license. She definitely wondered why I married the girl I
did, yet sorrowed with me when she died.
Mom has learned to accept my religious choice, even though she
doesn't embrace it. She maintains her Baptist beliefs, and that's OK.
Those beliefs set a firm foundation for my life.
Mom will be eighty-three this year, yet she can shop half the mall
while I'm still extricating my arthritic body from the car.
Despite the drilling of the times tables, and making me do girls'
work, and exacting child slavery, she's still my Mom. And I love
her.
You may
contact the Life Lines author at laturvey@becon.org.
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SHE
SERVED HER LORD WELL:
A
stroll through a cemetery reveals much about its inhabitants --or what
their survivors thought about them. How will your loved ones remember you?
Copyright 2000 / Leslie A Turvey laturvey@becon.org
What would you like your grave marker to say?
A Life Lines reader heard this question on television, and wrote,
"It really made me think." It's a question that should make
every one of us think.
When my first wife died at age twenty-four, I felt she deserved
something better than At Peace, or Gone Home, or any of the other trite
expressions seen on many grave stones. But what?
As I reviewed her life, I realized Jeannette had truly committed
her life to Jesus Christ. She sang in the choir, taught Sunday school, and
was active in the young people's organization.
But her life was more than that. Despite the intense pain she
suffered during our three years of marriage, Jeannette found ways to help
others. She loved, and was loved in return. She gave more of herself than
she ever received.
Even in death Jeannette was able to serve. During her final stay in
the hospital she underwent an experimental treatment that led to the
development of the world's first workable renal dialysis system. I'm sure
Jesus Christ nodded in agreement when I had engraved on her stone,
"She served her Lord well."
When I visit Jeannette's grave I sometimes wander through the
cemetery to read what's on the other stones. Many are engraved with
crosses and flowers. Some simply state the name and dates. A few include a
statement of love. One, erected long before the person died, enumerates
his noble accomplishments as a medical doctor, head of a department at the
hospital, and on and on and on. It's an magnificent obelisk, engraved from
top to bottom with his ego.
But as I view the more modest stones, I wonder if Maude McKenzie
did nothing more than live ninety-six years. Or whether Henry Johnson
lived such a mundane life no one could think of anything to say about him
on his stone. Nellie Brown is simply At Rest. And the Godfreys, Tom and
Suzanne, are Together Forever.
Computers have made it possible to engrave photographs on the
granite markers. We live in a shipping community, so it's not unusual to
see stones depicting the ship on which the deceased sailed for many years.
The local lighthouse keeper's stone has a picture of the beacon which led
thousands of ships to safe harbor.
Some of the saddest grave stones are found in the little
century-old private cemeteries across the country. One, near our home in
the township, has four or five limestone markers with the names of one
family: a child, six years old; another child, eleven. Mother died in her
forties; her
younger sister died the same year. Research of the dates put these deaths
right in the middle of a diphtheria epidemic. These limestone markers,
likely quarried and engraved by a sad old man whose family died one person
after another, bear no memorial but the tears he shed while he chiseled
the name of another loved one.
The day is fast approaching when we'll be lowered into the earth,
and a marker will be erected in our memory. In the judgment Jesus Christ
won't be swayed by what is written on our stones. His judgment will be
based on how we lived, how we treated our fellow man.
But our history will be engraved on those stones: our names, year
of birth and year of death. And, if the ones erecting our stone see
something special in us, they may add a line of love or praise.
The television program asked, "What would you like your grave
marker to say?" The response admonished, "Then live such a way
that will make it happen."
You may
contact the Life Lines author at laturvey@becon.org.
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SATAN'S
FAN CLUB:
Satan has a fan club.
Should we create one for Jesus? The author is not impressed with the idea.
Copyright 1999 / Leslie A Turvey laturvey@becon.org
Everybody of note, today, seems to have a fan club. Even Satan.
A reader said he'd been nominated as an official member of the I
Love Satan fan club. The email instructed him to sign the letter and send
it to five other people.
The reader continued, "The evil of this world is by no means
ashamed of what they are doing," and that is true. He added the I
Love Satan letter presented him with a challenge, which he passed on to
several people on his personal mailing list.
The challenge? To declare you and me official members of the I Love
The Lord fan club. His instructions considered, if Satan's fan club is
sending letters to five other people, then we should work twice as hard
and send I Love The Lord letters to at least ten.
I did not add my name, nor send the letter to others. Am I ashamed
of Jesus Christ? Am I afraid to be known as a Christian? No. I didn't send
it on because I don't believe it will do one whit of good.
Who is on your mailing list? I'll wager it doesn't include members
of the I Love Satan fan club. If it does, I'd have to wonder about you.
After all, birds of a feather flock together.
So who would you be sending the letter to? The party faithful,
right? Those who are already members of the I Love The Lord fan club.
Another reason I didn't send the letter is because I find nowhere
in the bible that Jesus said, By this shall all men know that you are my
disciples, if you're a member of my fan club.
But I do read in John
13:35 that he said, "By this shall all men know that you are my
disciples, if you have love one to another."
OK. So all I have to do is love my fellow members of the I Love The
Lord fan club. Well that's pretty easy. It's also pretty safe.
I sit in my study tapping the keyboard, and watching the message
unfold on the screen. Then I send it to a thousand people, none of whom
know the others are on my mailing list. And the people on the street have
no clue what I'm doing.
When Jesus said we're to have love one to another, did he mean just
between the members of his fan club? I believe he means we're to also
express love toward the members of the I Love Satan fan club.
I often hear about witnessing to others, and that's a way to show
our love. We'd do far more good, as nominees for membership in Satan's fan
club, if we wrote a letter to the nominator thanking him for writing, and
for giving you the opportunity to invite him to meet Jesus Christ, the one
person of note who truly loves him.
The sacrifice of a few minutes may have far more benefit than
sending I Love The Lord fan club letters to ten, or a hundred, or a
thousand of the party faithful.
Jesus said, ". . .joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that
repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no
repentance (Luke
15:7).
You may
contact the Life Lines author at laturvey@becon.org.
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ROLL
AROUND HEAVEN ALL DAY? NOT ME!:
What
would you create if you had the power? What if you had all eternity to do
the things you'd really like to do?
Copyright 2000 / Leslie A Turvey laturvey@becon.org
Why should I give up fun in this life just to live forever without
much fun?" This question, posed by an unbeliever to a Christian,
points to a certain truth. That truth is, many people are unconverted
because Christianity gives very little hope.
Now, before you dash off a slather of hate mail, consider this:
Christianity requires that a person give up the excitement of wine, women,
and song, for what? To sit in church for an hour every week, to hear
stories of the little Lord Jesus, to be told he'll go to heaven as long as
he gives his heart to the Lord, whatever that means.
But what will he do in heaven that will make it all worth while?
Strum a harp? The poor fellow couldn't carry a tune in a bucket. How will
he ever learn to play a harp?
Maybe he'll sprout wings and flutter from cloud to cloud eating
cream cheese, like the cute little blonde on TV.
Or maybe he'll be like the woman who said she would just sit at
Jesus' feet and gaze into his beautiful face for ever and ever.
The alternative, at least, will be exciting. He'll dance the
hotfoot forever, and scream and howl just like some of the so-called music
groups he dances to today.
Herman Melville wrote, "Try to get a living by telling the
truth, and go to the soup societies. Let any clergyman try to preach the
truth from its very stronghold, the pulpit, and they would ride him out of
the church on his own pulpit banister." And therein lies
Christianity's problem today. It's easier and more convenient -- to say
nothing of protecting one's position and pocketbook -- for the ministry to
continue propagating the fables man has taught for too many years.
Your bible tells a far more wonderful story than you've ever heard
from the pulpit.
In 1
Corinthians 2:9, the apostle Paul calls upon a statement by Isaiah
that says nobody has seen, or heard, or even imagined the things God has
prepared for those who love him. So whatever that is, it has to be better
than just rollin' around heaven all day.
But I can imagine an infinitesimal bit of it. When you consider
there are billions of planets and solar systems within and beyond our
milky way, can you believe they were all created for a few specks of dust
to gaze at while we live on this earth? I can imagine, some day, having my
own planet -- perhaps my own solar system with many planets -- to populate
with creatures of my own design, and having them receive life from our
eternal heavenly father.
I can imagine building cities that would make today's motion
picture set-makers gape with wonder. I can imagine planting vast vineyards
and fields, with crops so abundant that my workers won't be able to
harvest it all before the time to plant comes around again. I can
imagine....
But wait! Why should I talk about my imaginations? How about you?
What are some of the things you'd like to do using perfect tools, pure
seed, the finest of building materials? How big would you like your family
to be, knowing your children will obey you perfectly, yet have the freedom
to design and build according to their own envisioning?
Would you design your own mass-transit system, fueled by a power
source unknown today: pollution free, and non-injurious to man or animals?
Might you build a magnificent amusement park that would make Six Flags
look like kiddieland?
The exciting thing is, anything you want to do will be possible,
providing it is within the will of God and Jesus Christ. And Christ said,
"I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it
more abundantly (John
10:10)."
Jesus wants us to have a wonder-filled life now, but he doesn't
want it to stop when we die. He has a marvelous ever-after prepared for us
that is so stupendous, our limited imagination cannot possibly fathom
it.
You may
contact the Life Lines author at laturvey@becon.org.
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REST
IN COMFORT:
When does the soul go to
heaven? Your answer may influence you to spend a lot more money on your
loved one's casket than is needed.
Copyright 1997 / Leslie A Turvey laturvey@becon.org
Comfy caskets. E-Z Rest biers. Boxes for claustrophobic corpses:
the bottom lowers when the top is closed to allow space above the face.
One has to ask Why? What difference does it make whether the
deceased rests on the solid bottom of a coffin, or on a comfortable foam
mattress?
We have some strange thoughts about death, don't we? Most
westerners believe in a go-to-heaven concept for their loved ones. But
when the time comes to choose a casket (coffin sounds so morbid) it seems
the body's comfort must be considered.
If the deceased goes to heaven, at what moment does the soul leave
the body? If at the moment of death, then the remaining flesh and bones
know nothing of their comfort, or lack of it. If the flight is made after
the funeral, then maybe comfort is important.
Let's consider the opposite for a moment. If one can believe the
obituaries it seems nobody goes to hell. But suppose hell does become the
eternal fate of the deceased, what will a little comfort in the coffin
mean compared to an eternity in searing flames?
Now, if the soul is in heaven looking down on mankind, perhaps it
sees the comfort provided, and smiles a bit because it's in far more
comfort than the body on the E-Z Rest mattress. But, if the soul is in
hell a comfortable coffin certainly won't ease its agony.
What does the bible say about the state of the dead, since that's
where most people claim to get their heaven-hell ideas?
Ezekiel
18:20 says, "The soul that sins, it shall die." Does die
mean die, or does die mean live? The heaven-hell proponents say to die
means to live forever some-where else.
Romans
6:23 tells us, "The gift of God is eternal life." Therefore
living forever in hellish flames is a gift of God. Say what?
Another scripture, Ecclesiastes
9:5 says, "The dead know not anything." Where do we go with
this? If die means live forever, then the souls in heaven don't know
they're there. And the soul in hell cannot feel the flames, so what value
is the punishment?
I was recently able to show two aging sisters that the bible really
says nothing of heaven or hell as the abode of the dead. Instead, it
promises eternal life more magnificent than anyone could ever imagine.
After the bible study the sisters told me I had lifted a real
burden from them. Their religious background had them concerned about the
fate of one of their loved ones who had died, apparently in an unrepentant
condition.
If you really want to know about the state of the dead, set aside
all your pre-conceived notions, then search the bible with an open mind.
You'll be amazed by what it says. And you might think twice about spending
the extra money for a coffin with an E-Z Rest mattress.
You may
contact the Life Lines author at laturvey@becon.org.
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