We all die. Lots of people claim to have all the answers about life and death, including a lot of Christians, but very few, if anyone of us know, provably with our knowledge and science, what is on the other side. There are some who claim to have seen things beyond, as during out-of-body, or near-death-experiences, but even though some of them sound plausible, and maybe some are real, I have seriously come to doubt most of these stories. By and large, unless we are believers, we do not know what awaits us, and if we are believers, we only know it through our faith.

People of every stripe and nationality all wonder the same things. Why are we here, what should we be doing, and what happens next? We search and research every available source of information, but to no avail. People put their trust in government leaders, many of whom only “lead” as far as their bank accounts allow. Sadly, it’s the same for most of today’s religious leaders.

As I write this post, I wish I could provide some definitive answers, but unfortunately, such is God’s plan that we cannot provide proof of His promises for us, that they must be exclusively accepted by faith. Can you imagine how crowded the ark would have been if Noah could have proven the things of which God warned him? Now for those of us who have been blessed with faith (which comes as a result of His Word), we understand the infallible truth that GOD ALWAYS DOES THE RIGHT THING! We might not understand what He’s got going on, and we might not even agree with what we think is His plan, but any time our understanding gets cross-threaded with God, we have to step back and just take that proverbial deep breath; we have to realize that whatever happens according to God’s plan, it is the right thing.

There is hope. When we choose to stop worrying so much over the predicament that has become our world, I have found, no I have been blessed to come to the realization, that Jesus is real – very real. No matter the intricacies of the world’s condition, the deception always challenging our sensibilities, we have a friend. Jesus Christ is waiting at the door with a patient and gentle knock. The world is sliding into chaos, and if we can’t see it, we’re blind by choice. Jesus can and will open our eyes and lead us through every obstacle before us.

This post is directed to those who are frightened and confused at the impending destruction of the world they have come to call home. Look at Gaza, at Kosovo, at the Ukraine, at Iraq – all those people watched as bombs destroyed their homes, killed their loved ones. What hopelessness must have raged in their hearts to see their whole world destroyed? The fact is that more nations await this same level of destruction, it’s just a matter of time. The great dragon, the enemy of God and mankind, has made these things happen. His work is there for all to see, just look at pictures in the news of Gaza right now. This is what Satan’s work looks like. Satan brings only destruction. Beyond his control, however, is the authority and power of God, who is able to render Satan’s viciousness of no threat to those who trust Jesus.

As followers of Christ, we are given the option to “zoom out”; to see the bigger picture, both in time and space. If one zooms out far enough, the dividing line between this world and the next life becomes invisible. We are able to see more of God’s immaculate plan, that when you step back far enough it’s easier to understand that we can already be in His kingdom in this life, if we so choose.

He gives even the most evil among us the opportunity to repent of wayward lives and come to the cross in preparation for the next existence. We are able to better understand that God does indeed have a plan and His plan is that through acceptance of Jesus Christ as the Son of God Who came to the world and created a church, a highway if you will, that leads us to Him.

It has become impossible nowadays, to see anything on the news, either mainstream or social media, that doesn’t involve unbelievable destruction. We are faced with the end of our very human existence, it’s undeniable now. Yet there is still hope, at least for this last short while, to reach an understanding that in the end, God will take control of this world and mete out justice to His enemies and the enemies of His people. He will also reward His people who stood by Him in an evil world. Jesus Christ very much wants us to be His people, He offers shelter from this insidious storm that Satan has contrived.

Jesus Christ created a ministry about two thousand years ago. It has lasted, and will last, forever. It’s important to understand that His ministry and His words have been under the most intense scrutiny of all studies of mankind, and if even one untruth could have been proven, His ministry could not have stood, but Jesus did not lie about anything. Sadly, false prophets have arisen through the years and we still have plenty of them, but the true church itself is founded on consummate truth, and its Founder, Jesus Christ said that He is able and willing to forgive us of our awful lifestyles and by His own blood, cleanse us spiritually whereby we are able to come into His Kingdom, a place of unimaginable joy and peace. With the world spinning out of control, that’s quite an encouraging promise.

If you’re tired of fretting and worrying about the piteous state of the world and the threats we face, try opening the Bible – start with the 5th chapter of Matthew – read His message and get to know Him, as mentioned earlier, there’s no way to prove He exists, for if there was, we wouldn’t have to have faith. Faith is important to Him. Find a Christian preacher and get yourself baptized and fasten your seat belt, because we’re all in for an eventful ride, but in His care, we need not worry anymore. Especially about what’s on the other side.

God Bless,

MK

Once, a long time ago, there was a man who lived over in the Middle East. He was a particularly good man and he had several friends. His mother knew him better than most mothers know their sons, and even when he was very young, as a matter of fact before he was born, she knew he would grow up to be a very special person. He had an aunt and a cousin who were also privy to who he was and they were pretty excited about him too.

This man did grow up to be a special individual, in fact he became the most influential person who ever lived. Not much is known about his childhood, other than a few snippets – things that his mother probably remembered and passed along to one or more of the multitude of writers who chronicled his life. Although he must have been an extraordinary child, if there had been many mentionable things concerning his youth, surely some of the many writers of his life’s stories would have known and related it in their journals. There’s this one story about him being left behind in Jerusalem when his family left to go home from an event there and they had to go back and find him, and that’s about it. His family went back to look for him and where they found him and what he was doing was a very remarkable event. Other than that, my guess is that he wasn’t that unusual as a kid.

When he got grown however, he gathered several followers from among the peasantry of the area. Fishermen and other guys who had shown curiosity and interest in things he had to say were so enthralled by this fellow that they determined to put their lives aside and hang out with him. Lifelong fishermen just walked away from their nets and boats, such was his righteous allure to them. Little did they know at the time that this new direction would be a permanent, life-consuming pursuit – as it still is today when we learn of him. He was turning out, as they saw it, to be a surprisingly wise man who spoke things they had not heard before. He spoke with confidence and seemed to have an intimate knowledge of God, to whom he continually referred as his Father. Those guys eventually came to be known as his disciples, or followers who spent much time with him as his fame would grow. They also came to love him immensely, for they learned that he loved them profoundly. The cousin mentioned earlier, although not actually one of his group of followers, turned out to be the one who baptized him.

He actually first gained notice at a wedding feast in a place called Cana. There was apparently a party atmosphere, and several people were there. Might have even been more folks there than the organizers anticipated, because during the reception they ran out of wine. From the gist of the conversation, the guests had already had a good bit of the spirits and weren’t ready to shut down the gala just yet, but what do you do? No more fruit of the vine, but no one was ready to go home. Jesus’ mother – yes Jesus was His name (and references to Him will be capitalized henceforth), maybe acting on a hunch, took Him aside to give Him the sad news about the wine shortage. This had to be an obvious hint, and He almost seemed a bit exasperated, as this thing He was about to do wasn’t exactly what His ministry was about – He even called her “woman”, but such was His compassion, His absolutely boundless love for His fellow people (and Mom knew this), that she simply told the servants to just do whatever He told them to do – I can imagine her trying to hold back a big beaming smile, knowing that because of His precious compassion, He would do what needed to be done to take care of the situation. Although this act wasn’t the essence of His purpose, it will nevertheless go down as one of the most remembered events in all of history – it was Jesus’ first miracle.

He told the boys to round up some jars and fill them with water – yep, fill them all the way up. They were big jars too. Six of them, big old clay jars like they had back in those days. Once they filled them up with plain water, He performed His miracle, He then told them to give the master of the feast a shot of the water-become-wine, and lo and behold, the master said this wine was better than what they’d had at first. But then, what did you expect? This was Jesus, the Son of God, making His debut in what was to become the greatest life of miracles and hope for mankind that there has ever been on this earth. He wasn’t going to give His friends any second-rate juice, no He made the good stuff. And to the joy of all, the party resumed. But you need to know, there was no crazy or bad stuff going on there. Just some people having a good time and enjoying a wedding feast. This man was the Son of God. And He is now and forever the Son of God.

Somewhere later on down the road, His disciples came to realize just who this man was (and still is). He ended up giving up His life for them. And for you and me. I love Him, and we have a bond that reaches across that vast chasm that separates us for now, but I know He loves me too. What a feeling to know that! And He made some really good wine, and plenty of it!

Get out your Bible and read about Him and find out what He means to you. He stands at the door of your heart, patiently waiting for you to ask Him in, and when you make the decision to trust Him, hang on for the ride of your life! It’s kind of like getting a buzz and realizing you can’t drive so you need to give Him the keys. He knows exactly where to take you if you let Him. Sometimes He takes us over bumpy roads and sometimes through terrible storms, but He does that for our benefit. It’s scary at times, but we get to the point where we finally realize He has everything under control, then we can relax and have peace – peace you never dreamed was possible in a world full of turmoil. Such is His love for us. We’ll never regret getting to know Him. I can promise you that with complete confidence. Most of us know our driving is terribly impaired when we’re inebriated – drunken by consuming too much of the worldly wine – the drink of sin that corrupts the world and it inevitably leads to a catastrophic crash. He told the brethren at the last supper that He wouldn’t partake of the fruit of the vine again until He drinks it with them (and us) in Heaven, so He’s always sober.

I used to drink way more than what was good for me, but with His help I swore off many years ago, not saying I could drive for you, because I can’t, but He’s always available – the penultimate designated driver.

I can’t wait to try some of His Heavenly home brew when we get There.

So for now, why not just hand Him the keys?

MK

There’s a creek running across the property that comes from up in the woods.  It starts up on the neighbor’s land high up the ridge and empties into the big creek in the bottom of the holler.  The resident old-timer out here says there was an old sawmill up there, somewhere close to where the neighbor’s property and our land meet, but there’s no sign of it today.  There’s an old, galvanized tub in the creek bottom where I suspect the mill might have been, but I don’t have any idea whether that rusty old tub had anything to do with a sawmill, but who knows?  Anyways, whether it did or not, it’s the only sign of anything man-made out there.

I like to walk up there and enjoy the serenity – it’s one of those places where you can chill out and get your thoughts together – and enjoy the company of Jesus.  He’s always there to hang out with me and listen to my problems and accept my thanks for the place, but mostly He’s just simply there.  And that’s more than a mouthful to try and get across to a person who doesn’t know Him.   It’s hard to explain, this faith I have, but it’s real.  If you haven’t experienced His wonderful presence, don’t let any more of your life pass by without getting to know Him.  You will never regret a moment of it.

One day – and I’m pretty sure it’s going to be soon – we’re going to see Him return in all of His glory.  Most of us have a vision of Him as a lowly carpenter, a preacher with no wealth or standing in society, but trust me when He comes back, the world is in for the biggest shock of all time.  Our Savior will be the most glorious, powerful figure you could ever imagine.  Although everyone on earth will be completely awestruck, unimaginable fear will overwhelm the hearts of all who denied Him.   At the moment we see him, we will realize just how puny all of our weapons – in fact, all of the pursuits and accomplishments of mankind through all of history – really are.  The very skies will be opened in a flash of dazzling brilliance as multitudes of angels fill the whole realm of space, time, and thought.  It will be huge!  Incredible lightning, thunderous voices of fearsome angels will resound and echo across the universe, and a Savior come to claim His own and exact vengeance upon all who chose to be servants of the stranger who has wreaked havoc on His people for all the years.  It will be a fearsome thing to fall into the hands of the living God!

As I stroll through the peaceful, silent woods, I think of the contrast on that day when human beings, those who survive the horrors of tribulation, flaming hailstones, pestilence, disease, war, and all of the other horrors that will have been unleashed upon humanity, will literally cry out – some in fear, but some few in sheer delight and relief.  Amid scenes of destruction and horror that the mind cannot fathom, mighty men will scurry into their holes in the earth in piteous and futile attempts to hide from the face of this God who is filled with wrath and indignation.  The righteous, those who have been faithful to Him, will be able to stand and face Him with unimaginable joy in their hearts. What kind of thoughts will His people experience, seeing those fellows who were the “elite” – those whose riches gave them mastery of armies and nations?  I’m pretty sure we’ll pity them at that time.  But do you know what?  Anticipating the horror they will go through at the judgement of God, we should pity them now.

A human soul is worth more than the value of the whole world to the Lord.   As I watch a gentle southern breeze caress the budding trees, I can feel the tenderness with which He nurtures us.  He really doesn’t want any of us to perish and it goes against His design, even for souls of the rich to be lost.  His tender mercy is revealed to us in so many ways, it’s a shame that Satan has deceived so many and that they disregard the opportunity for becoming saved so that they would have opportunity to spend all of eternity in the presence of absolute joy and love.  Jesus said that (human) eyes have not seen, nor ears heard, nor has entered into the mind of man the joy that awaits those who love the Lord.  Let that one sink in.

I know there are many folks who don’t know what it’s like to enjoy a day out in the woods, watching the thrushes flit about, hearing the beautifully insane call of the pileated woodpecker echo through the holler, maybe catching a glimpse of a shy doe strolling through the glen with her curious fawn in tow.  For those folks, I feel pity, because some of the most wonderful experiences of life are being missed.  God is out here in His creation, and although He’s a lot harder to find in some big city with sirens and horns blaring, He’s there too, nevertheless.  I’ve written posts about such like Where the Poor Go to Weep – Folk Potpourri and Thoughts on Creation on a Beautiful Spring Morning – Folk Potpourri in which I try to share this country experience in spirituality with folks who don’t have opportunity to see it for themselves.  Mostly though, I try to get people to thinking about what lies ahead, after we finish with this stage of existence and enter into the next.

I constantly read people’s opinions on social media chats and such and I pay particular attention to the endless comments of those who claim not to believe in God or the afterlife, they put forth arguments that sound reasonable enough if one insists on ignoring evidence of God’s presence.  I guess it’s easy enough to disregard people like me who keep trying to help them open their eyes, but us guys who are sincerely trying to get them to take a serious look are doing it from our hearts.  The Lord has given us faith – a precious commodity, and indeed, we believers realize just how precious it is, but we can’t go so far as to put our own thoughts – our own faith – into other people’s heads.  Once in a while I have the heart-lifting experience of running across someone who is willing to actually give thought to the possibility of the existence of Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and even though they don’t usually immediately become believers, you can tell that God is at work in their heart and if they continue with their honest curiosity, it will only be a matter of time.  “Blessed are the pure at heart, for they shall see God.”  I pray earnestly for these folks.

If only people could hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ and understand that He is exactly who He says He is, if all of us could just trust that the Gospel of His life, death, and resurrection is the absolute truth, and that He is the Son of God who came here to the earth to teach us of a better way and to be the ultimate Sacrifice Who would make it possible for us to connect with the Heavenly Father, what a joyous and peaceful life they could enjoy!  There would be no need to succumb to the macabre fear that is darkening the world today.  He promised us that as believers we have nothing to fear – we must focus, and stay focused, on what lies ahead after this life, this world which is no more than a test in which we must decide where we choose to spend eternity.

Ignore the foolish people and so-called evangelists – obscene, wealthy fellows who preach no more than distractions from Christ.  Incredibly, they are some of the principal elements of Satan’s attack on goodness, wholesomeness, righteousness, and many are those who are ensnared by them.  Jesus told us that the gate is wide that leads to destruction.  I get a mental image of a huge herd of sheep all being led through a huge wide gate into what they presume will be a wonderful pasture, but they cannot see in beyond the gate.  In reality, what awaits them is a great, dark abyss for which they are ignorantly, but not innocently, heading.  Then there are a few sheep fighting their way out of the crowd, often enough through some serious obstacles, but they are on their way to a narrow, tiny gate beyond which they, through faith, know an unimaginable paradise lies.  They will not be distracted, they hear and know their Shepherd’s voice, a voice to which the big crowd never listened; those ones don’t know His voice at all, by their own choice, even most of the folks who claim to know Him only listen only the deceiving voices of their false preachers.

In God’s grand scheme, and as we are admonished in the Bible, this life we currently live is a very short moment in time.  In fact, if there was any such thing as a graph depicting eternity, a dot representing all of human existence wouldn’t even be detectable on it.  The time that has passed since Jesus ascended to Heaven is but a brief moment, maybe like you’d think about going to the grocery store and coming home.  The Bible constantly speaks of the fact that we are living in the last days, not as we imagine the last days, but as God sees it.  When we think of “last days”, we think months or weeks, or maybe even a few years, but when the Word mentions the last days, even though there are many references to the end times as we understand them, He is most often talking about the entire period of time after Jesus appeared and left to go to Heaven.  As we watch the dark times that are enveloping the whole world right now, I believe that we are approaching the last days as we humans think of them, in other words, I believe the time is drawing nigh for our encounter with eternity, and that some – maybe even most – of us alive today will see it in our lifetime, possibly very soon.

Imagine the apocalyptic happenings when Heaven and His host is revealed.  Mighty Angels with thunderous voices making great proclamations, intense, never-before witnessed lightnings, earthquakes, the very heavens shaken with the mighty and angry Creator of all things looking down in extreme wrath.  Now imagine that the anger of this awesome Being is directed at you – when you find yourself in the unenviable position of having chosen to be His adversary because you rejected His Son. His beloved Son who had to die an excruciating death in which the very heavens were agonized, on a cross long ago just so you could be saved, but even after He went through all that, you rejected Him.

Even though Jesus was dying, hanging by the cruel nails onto that cross in what had to be excruciating pain, such was His unimaginable love for mankind – even His tormentors – His last thoughts were to pray to the Father for their forgiveness – yes, He loved them (and us) that much!  His unbelievable love is the most potent force in all of creation, God Himself is Love.  When a person becomes a believer in Jesus and makes the decision to follow Him, that person begins the process of immersing himself/herself in that profound universe of God’s infinite love and will forever live in His blessed presence!

We have opportunity while we’re here on earth to experience small glimpses of His love.  We can see it in a dogwood bloom, or hear it on a summer evening whippoorwill song echoing through the holler.  When you see a newborn fawn wobbling up to his mother in a peaceful green meadow, you see God’s handiwork.  This is the world God intended for us to inhabit and enjoy, and though most who read these posts don’t get to see things like this, I’m happy to share the experience as much as my words allow.  I’m happier to share the experience of knowing Jesus though.  Being able to get to know Him is the most important thing in this existence, and I hope and pray the readers will do so.  Get yourself ready so you don’t have to find yourself in fear and dread on that awesome day when He returns.  You’ll be forever glad you did.

Now I have to go out and check on the progress of this year’s dogwood bloom – it looks to be another nice one.

God bless you all.

MK

Though many of us knew it was coming; we couldn’t realize the ferocity that would be unleashed.  As we looked into the sky at the approaching darkness with trepidation, prepared as we felt necessary, we understand now that the vicious gale blows against our very souls, thus many of us realize just how ill-prepared we were.  We did not expect to face the darkness it would bring.

A solitary lighthouse stands on a prominent rock in the midst of an endless sea, its mossy stones carefully laid one upon the other over the years of its building.  It was erected by the Master Builder to withstand such storms as now assail it and on this night of the expansive dark storm, each successive frothing breaker is more violent than the last.  A great wave of hatred lashes a tremendous explosion into the psyche of the structure, always followed by another – often one of near-uncontrollable anger which threatens to undermine the very foundation supporting the tower.   Then out of the impenetrable darkness roars yet another – this time a gigantic mountain of inconsolable fear, perhaps the most threatening of the whole lot.  Oh, how these merciless waves take hearts away and destroy men who do not seek the Light!

Once in an unexpected while and blessed, there comes a peaceful, serene occasion between the violent upheavals. A precious time in which the stalwart lighthouse finds itself standing tall and still lighting the way for travelers upon the malevolent waters.  It is during these interludes that the keeper understands, yea, and renders gratitude to the One where the strength to endure the storm resides.  It is the Foundation – the Rock upon which the whole structure stands marvelously undamaged.  Through all of its years, because of the wondrous Light possessed, it has ever gained victory over storms of hate, jealousy, anger, vice, and all other malevolent depredations – because it has been built upon the Rock. 

The wise keeper gathers his strength, understanding that the gale will inexorably return, ever in greater fury than in pastimes.  He knows his lamp must be kept burning, even and especially amid each emerging tempest which threatens to extinguish its light of hope; he also has been given to understand that the sea is not the enemy. The sea is stirred by, and at the mercy of, the fearsome and malevolent storm.  Those gigantic and terrible breakers of hatred, anger and such are the real threats, to be endured, withstood until that Day upon which an unimaginably peaceful and serene expanse of calm and joy shall arrive and prevail.  Brilliant, snow-white beaches will reflect a new Light which shall forevermore put away darkness and fear. On that Day, though worn and bedraggled, the good keeper will be restored and rewarded for sharing his light – by the Maker of the sea and by whose mighty hand the lamp was lit at its beginning.

May the majestic light of Jesus shine before you on your voyage across the stormy sea.

MK