The Prodigal Pig

Luke 15:20 - So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. (NIV)

As a boy, I worked summers on my uncle's pig farm. Every week, I pumped out the sewage pit running the length of the pig barn with the "honey wagon". 

One particular day, I backed up to the barn and pushed the suction hose between the large grates and into the liquid "soup" below.

Hearing squealing, I ran inside and jumped over the pen to where I had slid the hose down, and looked down to find that a pig had fallen into the "soup"!

I yelled across the yard for someone to "Get my uncle, and come quick!" 

I ran back into the barn, grabbed one of the grates over the sewage pit and swung down into the mess below. The liquid was well over my waist! 

The startled pig started a frantic swim for the far end with me pursuing. At the end of the pit I grabbed him by the ears and started my journey back to the open grate above. 

My uncle lowered a ladder, and I grabbed the slippery pig around his belly and lifted. Partway up the ladder, he kicked up a fight, and we both fell back under the surface. 

Sputtering and exasperated, I grabbed Mr Pig and this time got him high enough so that my uncle could grab him and pull him out. 

I was greeted with howls of laughter for my lifeguard efforts as I stood under the sun and got hosed down in my "birthday suit" to get cleaned off. My clothes were ruined and had to be buried.

I think of the rebellious son in Luke 15 who crested a hill and was spotted by his father "a long way off". Despite the repulsive condition of his son, the father ran to him, fell on his neck, and welcomed him with kisses. Such love surpasses our understanding.

Are you wandering? Do you feel no one notices you, no one cares? God knows and God cares. There is always a way back.

God has welcomed us into His presence. He has cleansed us from our sin through Jesus Christ. He has cleansed us and allowed us to sit in His banqueting house, despite our prodigal ways and the ravages of sin that mark us.

1 John 3:1 - How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! (NIV)

Prayer: Father in heaven, help us to cultivate compassion for others in our lives. Help us to realize that with You, there is no such thing as a "disposable" human being. Today, if we are people who are wandering like the "prodigal" of whom Jesus spoke, give us the humility to return to You, to Your ways, to Your Word. Amen.

Don Copp dcopp@canada.com
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Thanks to http://daily.presbycan.ca

Acrostic for SALVATION

Sin: separates us from God, and hurts us and others. It is something we have all done, but can’t pay the penalty for. Romans 3:23, 6:23.

Atonement: Christ’s death paid the price for my sin. Romans5:6-15.

Love: God loved us so much that He sacrificed Himself for our sin. Luke 19:10.

Victory: With the help of God the Holy Spirit, it is possible to live a holy life, victorious over temptation, including the temptation to take credit for our own salvation. Psalm 13:5-6; John 17:6-26, Romans 6:1-2, 1Thessalonians 5:5-11.

Attractiveness: A victorious life should be attractive to other people. John 7:37-39, Acts 16:25-34.

Teaching: Jesus told his disciples to teach all nations, and to make disciples of converts. Converts should learn from the Bible on their own, and be part of a teaching church. Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:15-16, Luke24:45-49, 2 Peter 3:17-18.

Immortality: Believers, whose sins have been paid for, are promised immortality with Christ. Ephesians 1:11-14, Romans 6:23

Overcoming: The church, and individual Christians, seem to be weak, at times. But Christ has promised that the true church – composed of actual believers, not necessarily church members – will endure. Matthew 16:18, Revelation 2:8-11.

New life, with purpose, and with fruit: Those who have experienced salvation should manifest the Fruit of the Spirit. (Galatians5:22-23) They will also participate, often with others, in attracting new believers, especially by serving, giving, testifying and praying. John 15:8, Acts 6:7, 11:27-29, Romans 12:4-8, Matthew 25:31-46. They will have intimacy with God. Matthew 10:16-20, John 14:16-16:15.

The 33’: A Beautiful Illustration of the Gospel of Grace

On a Thursday afternoon in August 2010, thirty-three miners were digging, hauling and drilling rock, deep beneath the Atacama Desert, in Chile. A mineshaft above the workers exploded and then collapsed. The 33 Chilean miners were trapped in rubble some three miles underground. For about two weeks, the world assumed the men had died.

Then, 17 days after the collapse, a drill bit returned to the surface with a message taped to it written in bold, red letters: “Estamos bien en el refugio, los 33.” (In English, “We are well in the shelter, the 33 of us.”)

One source records that, “Once the rescuers, and the world, knew that the men were alive, Chile implemented a comprehensive plan to both care for the workers during their entrapment and to rescue the miners from the depths.”

In the same way, when God looked down and saw humanity trapped in the contaminated rubble of sin, He implemented a two-prong rescue plan: First, to sustain us during our entrapment in this fallen world; and second, to rescue us out of this darkness. This is why Jesus left heaven and came to earth, on a rescue operation.

Jesus spoke about this rescue plan when He said, “I have come that you may have abundant (or full) life.” He came from Heaven to give us peace and purpose during our time in this dark world. He also came to rescue us out of the depths entirely. He referred to this escape plan when He said, “My kingdom is not of this world.” He didn’t come to make Rocky Flats into heaven. He came to light the way out of Rocky Flats, to drill to an escape route for you.

This is why Jesus spoke, time and again, of another Kingdom, another world and of “eternal life.” He said, “I go to prepare a place for you…and I will return, to take you there with me” (John 14). And “He who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.”

The government of Chile spent more than $20 million dollars attempting to retrieve those 33 miners. It spared no expense.

Does $20 million seem like a lot to spend on 33 people? Not if you love the people who need rescue, or especially if you love one of them deeply. In the same way, God so valued and so loved you, that He spared no expense to rescue you. God does not desire for anyone to die in the hopelessness of this contaminated world. (1 Tim. 2:4, Titus 2:11)

“For God so loved the world, that he gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16)

John S. Dickerson

God Stoops Down

An old (American) Indian chief constantly spoke of the Lord Jesus and what He meant to him. “Why do you talk so much about Jesus?” asked a friend. The old chief did not reply, but slowly, deliberately gathered some sticks and bits of grass. He made a circle of them. In the circle he placed a caterpillar. Still silent, he struck a match and lit the sticks and grass.

They watched the caterpillar. As the fire caught around the circle, the trapped caterpillar began to crawl around rapidly, seeking a way to escape. As the fire advanced, the helpless caterpillar raised its head as high as it could. If the creature could have spoken, it would have said, “My help can only come from above.”

Then the old chief stooped down. He extended his finger to the caterpillar which crawled up his finger to safety.
The serious chief said, “That was what the Lord Jesus did for me! I was lost in sin. My condition was hopeless. I was trapped. Then the Lord Jesus stooped down in love and mercy and He drew me out of the horrible pit of sin and shame. How can I help but love Him and talk of His wondrous love and care?”

Get Her In!

I love a story told by Robert Coleman in his book The Heartbeat of Evangelism concerning an eminent preacher of a past generation, Dr Charles Berry. 

In his younger days, Berry had struggled with the concept of the cross and its meaning. When he began his ministry, like many people with humanistic training, he had looked upon Jesus more as a great moral teacher than a divine Saviour. He viewed Christianity as essentially living a good life.

Late one night during his first pastorate in England, while sitting in his study, he heard a knock. Opening the door, he saw a poorly dressed Lancashire girl. “Are you a minister?” she asked. Getting an affirmative answer, she continued anxiously: “You must come with me quickly. I want you to get my mother in.” Imagining that it was the case of some drunken woman out on the streets, Berry said, “Why? Go and get a policeman.” “No,” said the girl, “my mother is dying, and you must come with me to get her in—to heaven.”

The young minister dressed and followed her through the deserted streets for more than a mile. Led into the woman’s room, he knelt down beside her and began describing the kindness of Jesus, explaining that he had come to show us how to live unselfishly. Suddenly the desperate woman cut Berry off. “Mister,” she cried, “that’s no use for the likes of me. I am a sinner. I have lived my life. Can’t you tell me of someone who can have mercy on me, and save my poor soul?"

“I stood there,” said Dr Berry, “in the presence of a dying woman, and I had nothing to tell her. In order to bring something to that dying woman, I leaped back to my mother’s knee, to my cradle faith, and told her of the cross, and the Christ who was able to save.” Tears began running over the cheeks of the eager woman. “Now you are getting at it,” she said. “Now you are helping me.” And the famous preacher, concluding the story, said, “I want you to know that I got her in, and, blessed be God, I got in myself.”

Dick Tripp

I COULD HAVE DONE MORE

Oskar Schinler

The film Schindler's List chronicled the heroic efforts of a German industrialist named Oskar Schindler. Through his unselfish activities, over a thousand Jews on the trains to Auschwitz were saved. After Schindler found out what was happening at Auschwitz, he began a systematic effort to save as many Jews as he could. For money, he could buy Jews to work in his factory which was supposed to be a part of the military machine of Germany. On one hand he was buying as many Jews as he could, and on the other hand he was deliberately sabotaging the ammunition produced in his factory. He entered the war as a financially wealthy industrialist; by the end of the war, he was basically financially bankrupt.

When the Germans surrendered, Schindler met with his workers and declared that at midnight they were all free to go. The most emotional scene of the film was when Schindler said good-bye to the financial manager of the plant, a Jew and his good and trusted friend. As he embraced his friend, Schindler sobbed and said, "I could have done more." He looked at his automobile and asked, "Why did I save this? I could have bought 10 Jews with this." Taking another small possession he cried, "This would have saved another one. Why didn't I do more?" (James Forlines, Men's Beat of Free Will Baptist Foreign Missions, April 1999, 4.)

One day Jesus is going to split the eastern sky and come for His own. It will not matter then how much money we have in a mutual fund or how many bedrooms we have in our homes. The temporary satisfaction we have in vacations and nice cars will be gone. Only what we have done for the cause of Christ will matter. The Privilege we have only now, is to use God's resources for things that eternally matter.

(From a sermon by Matthew Kratz, The Grace of Giving, 6/11/2011)

Important Recall Notice

The Maker of all human beings is recalling all units manufactured, regardless of make or year, due to the serious defect in the primary and central component of the heart. This is due to a malfunction in the original prototype unit code named Adam and Eve, resulting in the reproduction of the same defect in all subsequent units.
This defect has been technically termed “Subsequential Internal Non- Morality” or more commonly known as SIN, as it is primarily characterized by loss of moral judgment. Some othersymptoms are:

• Loss of direction
• Foul vocal emissions
• Amnesia of origin
• Lack of peace and joy
• Selfish or violent behavior
• Depression or confusion in mental component
• Fearful

The manufacturer, who is neither liable or at fault for this defect, is providing factory authorized repair and service FREE of charge to correct the SIN defect. [The number to call in your area is F-A-I-T-H. Simply believe that Christ died for your sins, was buried and rose again, and your unit will be regenerated. No matter how big or small the SIN defect is, Christ will repair and replace it with]:

• Forgiveness
• Love
• Joy
• Peace
• Longsuffering
• Gentleness
• Goodness
• Faith
• Meekness
• Temperance

Please see operating manual HOLY BIBLE for further details on the use of these fixes. [See sections I Cor. 15:1-4; Eph. 1:7; and Gal. 5:16-26].
WARNING: Continuing to operate the human unit without correction voids the manufacturer’s warranty, exposing the owner to dangers and problems too numerous to list and will result in the human unit being permanently impounded. [For free emergency service before it’s too late: call upon the Lord Jesus Christ who loved us and gave Himself a ransom for our sins].
DANGER: The human units not receiving this recall action will have to be scrapped in the furnace.
This action was authorized by the Creator.

The God Who Hung on the Cross

A painting, by a survivor, Vann Nath, on how Cambodians were killed at the pit.

In her book The God Who Hung on the Cross, journalist Ellen Vaughn retells a gripping story of how the Gospel came to a small village in Cambodia. In September 1999 Pastor Tuy Seng (not his real name) traveled to Kampong Thom Province in northern Cambodia. Throughout that isolated area, most villagers had cast their lot with Buddhism or spiritism. Christianity was virtually unheard of.

But much to Seng's surprise, when he arrived in one small, rural village the people warmly embraced him and his message about Jesus. When he asked the villagers about their openness to the gospel, an old woman shuffled forward, bowed, and grasped Seng's hands as she said, "We have been waiting for you for twenty years." And then she told him the story of the mysterious God who had hung on the cross.

In the 1970s the Khmer Rouge, the brutal, Communist-led regime, took over Cambodia, destroying everything in its path. When the soldiers finally descended on this rural, northern village in 1979, they immediately rounded up the villagers and forced them to start digging their own graves. After the villagers had finished digging, they prepared themselves to die. Some screamed to Buddha, others screamed to demon spirits or to their ancestors.

One of the women started to cry for help based on a childhood memory—a story her mother told her about a God who had hung on a cross. The woman prayed to that unknown God on a cross. Surely, if this God had known suffering, he would have compassion on their plight.

Suddenly, her solitary cry became one great wail as the entire village started praying to the God who had suffered and hung on a cross. As they continued facing their own graves, the wailing slowly turned to a quiet crying. There was an eerie silence in the muggy jungle air. Slowly, as they dared to turn around and face their captors, they discovered that the soldiers were gone. 

As the old woman finished telling this story, she told Pastor Seng that ever since that humid day from 20 years ago the villagers had been waiting, waiting for someone to come and share the rest of the story about the God who had hung on a cross.

Doris I. Rosser & Ellen Vaughn, The God Who Hung on the Cross (Zondervan, 2003), pp. 35-37

Prairie Fire

Some people try to punish themselves for their sins. They do not stand on the promises of forgiveness and Christ's propitiation.

"Many years ago, a father and his daughter were walking through the grass on the Canadian prairie. In the distance, they saw a prairie fire, and they realized that it would soon engulf them.

The father knew there was only one way of escape: They would quickly begin a fire right where they were and burn a large patch of grass. When the huge fire drew near, they then would stand on the section that had already burned.

When the flames did approach them, the girl was terrified but her father assured her, 'The flames can't get to us. We are standing where the fire has already been.'"

- Erwin Lutzer, Failure, The Back Door to Success.

The Empty Bird Cage

There once was a man named George Thomas, a pastor in a small New England town. One Easter Sunday morning he came to the Church carrying a rusty, bent, old bird cage, and set it by the pulpit. Several eyebrows were raised and, as if in response, Pastor Thomas began to speak...

"I was walking through town yesterday when I saw a young boy coming toward me swinging this bird cage. On the bottom of the cage were three little wild birds, shivering with cold and fright.

I stopped the lad and asked, 'What you got there son?'

"Just some old birds," came the reply.

"What are you gonna do with them?" I asked.

"Take 'em home and have fun with 'em," he answered. "I'm gonna tease'em and pull out their feathers to make 'em fight. I'm gonna have a real good time."

"But you'll get tired of those birds sooner or later. What will you do?"

"Oh, I got some cats," said the little boy. "They like birds. I'll take'em to them."

The pastor was silent for a moment. "How much do you want for those birds, son?"

"Huh?? !!! Why, you don't want them birds, Mister. They're just plain old field birds. They don't sing - they ain't even pretty!"

"How much?" the pastor asked again.

The boy sized up the pastor as if he were crazy and said, "$10?"

The pastor reached in his pocket and took out a ten dollar bill. He placed it in the boy's hand. In a flash, the boy was gone. The pastor picked up the cage and gently carried it to the end of the alley where there was a tree and a grassy spot. Setting the cage down, he opened the door, and by softly tapping the bars persuaded the birds out, setting them free.

Well, that explained the empty bird cage on the pulpit, and then the pastor began to tell this story...

One day Satan and God were having a conversation. Satan had just come from the Garden of Eden, and he was gloating and boasting. "Yes, sir, I just caught the world full of people down there. Set me a trap, used bait I knew they couldn't resist. Got 'em all!"

"What are you going to do with them?" God asked.

Satan replied, "Oh, I'm gonna have fun! I'm gonna teach them how to marry and divorce each other, how to hate and abuse each other, how to drink and smoke and curse. I'm gonna teach them how to invent guns and bombs and kill each other. I'm really gonna have fun!"

"And what will you do when you get done with them?" God asked.

"Oh, I'll kill 'em," Satan glared proudly.

"How much do you want for them?" God asked.

"Oh, you don't want those people. They ain't no good. Why, you'll take them and they'll just hate you. They'll spit on you, curse you and kill you!! You don't want those people!"

"How much?" He asked again. Satan looked at God and sneered, "All your tears, and all your blood."

God said, "DONE!" Then He paid the price.

The pastor picked up the cage, opened the door and then walked from the pulpit.

Conviction of the Holy Spirit

One night when I arose to preach in the Chicago Avenue Church I saw sitting just to my left in the front seat underneath the gallery one of my deacons and side by side with him a flashily-dressed and hard-looking man. I at once concluded that he was a sporting man and I said to myself, “Deacon Young has been fishing to-day.” It is a good thing to have deacons that go fishing on Sunday—fishing for souls.

Every little while as I was preaching, I would turn around and look at that man. His eyes were riveted upon me. He was paying the closest attention. Evidently the whole scene was strange to him and some power, mysterious to him, had taken hold of him. When we went to the inquiry room below, Deacon Young brought him along.

I was late talking to inquirers that night, and about eleven o’clock Deacon Young came over to me as I finished with one inquirer and said, “Come over here and talk to a man that I have.” I went over. It was this big sporting man. He was shaking and groaning with emotion.

“Oh,” he groaned,” I don’t know what is the matter with me. I never felt like this before in all my life. I never was in a place like this before,” he continued. “My mother keeps a gambling house in Omaha, and we are Roman Catholics, but this afternoon as I was going down the street over here, I saw some of your men holding an open air meeting. As I passed, one of them rose to speak. I had known him before when he was leading a wild life, and out of curiosity I stopped to listen. I listened until he was done speaking and then continued on my way, intending to go down on Cottage Grove Avenue to meet some men to pass the afternoon gambling. But I had not gone two blocks before some strange power took hold of me and brought me back to the meeting. When the meeting broke up, this man (pointing to Deacon Young) brought me to your church to the Yoke Fellow’s Supper, and then to the meeting afterwards, then took me up-stairs to hear you preach. Then he brought me down here. Oh,” he groaned again, “I don’t know what is the matter with me. I feel awful. I never felt this way before in all my life.”

“I will tell you what is the matter with you,” I said. “You are under conviction of sin. The Spirit of God is dealing with you. Will you take Christ as your Saviour?”

The huge man fell on his knees on the floor and commenced to cry to God for mercy. Jesus Christ met him there. His sobs ceased, a look of peace came into his face and he left the building rejoicing in Christ. 

-- R. A. Torrey

From R.A. Torrey's Anecdotes and Illustrations

Let Me Tell You How I Save Myself!

The first thing we need to understand is we cannot save ourselves. Imagine being on a ship in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and falling overboard. Because no one saw you fall in, the ship continues toward its destination, leaving you hopelessly stranded.  

After treading water for several hours, you find yourself surrounded by sharks. You face certain death at any moment. Exhausted from trying to stay afloat, you slip underwater and begin to drown. Somehow, you force your way to the surface for one more gasp of air.

As you are about to go under for the last time, a helicopter appears miraculously out of nowhere. The rescue squad inside the helicopter throws out a rope and lassos your hand, pulling you out of the water just seconds before the sharks move in for the kill. The helicopter flies you back to shore, where you receive treatment in the hospital.

After you recover, you begin to brag about how you saved yourself.  "I'm really proud of my hand. This hand saved me. Let me tell you how I found the helicopter in the middle of the ocean...."

           

Just like we can't save ourselves if we were stranded in the Atlantic, we are also helpless to save ourselves from hell. God doesn't want our help, either.  Because Jesus does all of the saving, we have no right to brag about anything we have done.  

 "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9).  

(Kent Crockett, The 911 Handbook, Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2003, 221)

Jarhead the Bear

It took ten days for Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) biologists to catch a black bear cub that was running around with a clear plastic jar stuck on its head.
"They were ultimately successful, but it took extraordinary efforts from both FWC employees and local residents working together," FWC said in a news statement released with these photos on Friday.

Jarhead and a sibling elude biologists trying to capture it.

(FWC photo)

"The 6-month-old cub, its two siblings and mother were regular visitors to unsecured trash containers in a small community near Weirsdale, in the Ocala National Forest. One day in late July, FWC dispatch got a call from one of the residents concerned about a cub running around with a clear, industrial-size plastic jar stuck on its head. The jar made it almost impossible for the cub to eat or drink, FWC said.

The agency's Mike Orlando, Brian Scheick and Cathy Connolly, and Mike Connolly, a bear-response agent for the agency, knew that if they didn't catch the cub, affectionately dubbed "Jarhead," it would die, so they developed a plan to trap it.
"It was a lot easier said than done," Orlando said. "The residents were really great about calling us when they saw the bears, but it seemed like we were always about 20 minutes behind."

The team set traps in different areas, hoping to catch the mother and tranquilize her, which would then allow them to catch the cubs, FWC said. "Unfortunately, the good mother bear refused to be tricked by the baited trap."
After eight days of sightings, two days went by when nobody saw the bear family, the agency added.

"The team feared the cub may have finally succumbed to his condition. Ironically, the day the team resigned to pull the traps and head home, Orlando got a call from FWC dispatch. A resident had called to report the bear family was back. The team rushed back to the community.

"Orlando found the mother and was able to shoot her with a tranquilizer dart. Then Orlando and Scheick literally caught the cubs by surprise and managed to grab Jarhead. But the tough little bear lived up to its U.S. Marine moniker and did not give up without a fight.

"Eventually, they subdued the cub long enough to get the jar off its head, and then let it go to rejoin its siblings. The team, with the help of some concerned residents, placed the mother bear's sleeping body in a trap, and eventually the cubs joined her."

Biologists monitored the bear family overnight after removing the jar from the cub's head.

(FWC photo)

After observing the family overnight in the trap, and making sure it was able to nurse, biologists released the family in a nearby, less populated area, FWC said.

Jarhead scampers behind its mother back to the woods after biologists 

released them from an overnight stay in the trap.

(FWC photo)

"Although the story appears to have a happy ending, it truly illustrates one of the worst things that can happen when wildlife gets into garbage," the agency concluded.
The FWC has not gotten any further reports of the bear family. "And that's good news indeed," the agency said.

Posted by David Braun from media materials provided by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/blogs/news/chiefeditor/2010/08/bear-relieved-of-plastic-jat-stuck-on-its-head.html 

If people make so much effort to free a bear from its trapped situation, we may be able to learn from them. Shouldn't we make every effort to evangelize and free the people around us from the traps of sins and death?

Why Ask Me?

An Amish man was once asked by an enthusiastic young evangelist whether he had been saved, and whether he had accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior?

The gentleman replied, "Why do you ask me such a thing? I could tell you anything. Here are the names of my banker, my grocer, and my farm hands. Ask them if I've been saved."

Wait And See

A missionary reports that one native resisted baptism, stating, "I will wait and see just what this means in their lives." 

After many watchful weeks, the native said, "I too want to be baptized; I have watched those persons who were baptized, and it has made a difference.  I want Jesus to do for me what he has done for them."

Amazing Catch! Toddler Falls 7-floors, is Saved by Passerby

"It's a real miracle."

"For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone." -Psalm 91:11-12

An 18-month-old boy survived after falling seven floors and bouncing off a Paris cafe awning into the arms of a passer-by, witnesses said Tuesday.

"My son saw a little boy on a balcony. He had gone right outside the railing... I said to myself I mustn't miss him," the toddler's saviour, local doctor Philippe Bensignor, told AFP, recounting Monday's drama.

"I had time to move from side to side to get in the right position," he added. "The little boy was fine. He cried a little bit but calmed down straightaway."

An official involved in investigating the incident said the boy had been left alone in the family apartment in northern Paris with his sister by their parents, who were taken into custody afterward.

"It's a real miracle," said the cafe's barman, who gave his name as Gaby, pointing to a small tear in the awning where the toddler bounced off.

"We were closed yesterday but the mechanical device for closing the awning wasn't working."

PARIS (AFP)

God sent His Son to catch us so that we do not fall into eternal damnation. Praise the Lord.

Is Your Ticket Confirmed?

Sometime when you're in an airport, observe the difference between passengers who hold confirmed tickets and those who are on standby. The ones with confirmed tickets read newspapers, chat with their friends or sleep. The ones on standby hang around the ticket counter, pace and smoke, smoke and pace. 

The difference is caused by the confidence factor. If you knew that in fifteen minutes you would have to stand in judgment before the Holy God and learn your eternal destiny, what would your reaction be? Would you smoke and pace? 

Would you say to yourself, "I don't know what God's going to say--will it be 'Welcome home, child,' or will it be 'Depart from me; I never knew you'?  

Bill Hybels, Too Busy Not To Pray,  IVP, p. 113.

Put On The Lord Jesus Christ

I was weeping in the most bitter contrition of my heart, when I heard the voice of children from a neighboring house chanting, "take up and read; take up and read." 

I could not remember ever having heard the like, so checking the torrent of my tears, I arose, interpreting it to be no other than a command from God to open the book and read the first chapter I should find. 

Eagerly then I returned to the place where I had laid the volume of the apostle. I seized, opened, and in silence read that section on which my eyes first fell: "Not in revelry and drunkenness, not in licentiousness and lewdness, not is strife and envy; but put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts." 

No further would I read, nor did I need to. For instantly at the end of this sentence, it seemed as if a light of serenity infused into my heart and all the darkness of doubt vanished away.  

Augustine of Hippo

November 13, 354 – August 28, 430 

The Trickiest Questions

“What about all those people who never heard of Jesus, like people in Africa? Do they go to Hell just because they never heard of Him?”

 
Those are the Trickiest Questions, and they are usually asked by people who don’t want to consider their dismal eternity. 

Please read this article by my friend Tony Yu that explains this more clearly. Then read how I answer this question when it’s posed to me.

True or False: You mean I’m going to Hell just because I don’t believe in Jesus?
The correct answer is “false”.

If you said “true” you have fallen for one of the most subtle deceptions. Please read on before you label me a heretic and a blasphemer.
The key to understanding the correct answer is found in John 3:17-18:

For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Did you catch that? Humanity’s condemnation has nothing to do with Jesus. We were condemned before Jesus ever stepped foot on earth. It was our need for a Savior that moved God the Father to send God the Son. This need predated Jesus’ arrival on earth. We would all still be condemned if it wasn’t for Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. The best way to explain the principle is with the following illustration:

Sin is the disease, hell is the prognosis, Jesus is the cure.
Is it clear now why the correct answer is “false”? We are not going to Hell because we don’t believe in Jesus. We are going to Hell because we are sinners. 

Every single one of us, because of our sinful nature, is inexorably and irrevocably headed for Hell. Everyone of us has sinned by breaking His 10 Commandments. All have lied, stolen, blasphemed, looked with lust (which is adultery), or hated someone (which is murder). This is the only way that God redeems mankind: to put His own Son on the cross to atone for our sins. 

To say that we are going to Hell because we do not believe in Jesus is tantamount to blaming God for our well-deserved fate. Adam tried to do that in the Garden of Eden when he said “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.” (Genesis 3:12)

Here’s another way to look at this. Imagine you are walking in the woods when all of a sudden you feel a sharp pain in your calf. You look down and see a snake slithering away. You’ve just been bitten by a black mamba. You go to the doctor and he tells you that he needs to administer anti-venom right away or you will surely die. At this point you self-righteously say to the doctor, “Do you mean I’m going to die just because I refuse your anti-venom?”

First, it’s silly to get mad at the doctor. He’s trying to save your life. This is what people do when they get mad at God because Jesus is the only way to Heaven. Rather, we ought to be glad that there is any way at all to Heaven.

Secondly, it is technically true that you will die if you refuse the anti-venom. But the root cause of your impending death is the snake’s venom and your own stubbornness—not the anti-venom. Similarly, you won’t go to Hell just because you don’t believe in Jesus. You are headed for Hell because you have sinned and you won’t believe in Jesus.

Why does it matter?

Is this an exercise in semantics or spiritual trivia? No! There are real-world implications. The enemy did not craft this deception for fun and games. He had a goal in mind when he did this. 

The trickiest part of this question does not lie in the fact that most people—even Christians—get it wrong. The most deceptive aspect of this question is that it’s not even a question. For most who pose this question—especially if there is poison in their voice— it is a statement disguised as a question.

This is what most people are actually asserting when they ask, “You mean I’m going to Hell just because I don’t believe in Jesus?”:

• This sounds arbitrary and capricious. It doesn’t make any sense.

• God could never send people to Hell just because I don’t believe in some ancient rabbi.

• Christianity is nonsense.

• You are a fool.

Just as the word of God is the Sword of the Spirit, this question is a weapon formed by the enemy to attack God’s servants who are obedient to the Great Commission. Be on notice Christian. 

When an non-believer asks this question, you are most likely being attacked spiritually. You and God are being mocked and discredited before an unbelieving audience. 

If you have a heart to reach the lost and yearn to serve the Lord you need to have the right answer to this question. Fortunately, not only can you deflect this attack, you can turn this attack back upon the one asking the question and go on the offensive (but always in love).

The following is a sample script of how you can effectively defend the faith:

Him: You mean I’m going to Hell just because I don’t believe in Jesus (sarcasm in his voice)?

You: Actually, NO, you’re not going to Hell because you don’t believe in Jesus.

Him: What (stunned)? I thought you Christians think we have to believe in Jesus to get to Heaven.

You: Jesus has nothing to do with you going to Hell. All of human-kind was headed for Hell because we are all sinners. Hell is mankind’s eternal destination because we have all sinned. Jesus came to change all that.

Him: Oh (flabbergasted).

You: Do you understand how you’ve sinned? Do you know what sin is? Would you like to see how you’ve broken God’s law? (You then take this opportunity to go through a few of the Ten Commandments…Have you ever lied, have you ever stolen anything…etc.).

******

Steve’s note: This is how I answer someone who asks me: “What about all those people in Africa who never heard of Jesus?”

Me: If you are so concerned about those people you should get saved now—then become a missionary so you can tell those people about Jesus.

Source: Stone The Preacher 

http://stonethepreacher.com/2010/10/19/atheist-tuesday-the-trickiest-questions.html#more-6091