The Simple Gospel

Beware of the complicators. It may be there is money in complicating things--a living even. There is fame, too. Then there is the work of the Devil, confusing people.

A centipede was happy quite, until a frog in fun,
Said "Pray, which leg comes after which?"
This raised her mind to such a pitch, she lay distracted in a ditch,
Considering how to run.

In the matter of salvation, where we begin our walk, it is very simple.

But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: John 1:12

The Gospel of John is so simple, yet so profound. Many missionaries begin with it, when introducing the Gospel message. If you don't have time, or are just plain worn out, read the first ten chapters. You will be well informed.

Beyond salvation, you may read 1st Corinthians 15:3 and 4. It is called the Gospel in a nutshell.

Wasn't that simple?

Going to Heaven

We all are singing "Nearer My God to Thee: but we keep on takin' vitamin B.
Nipsy Russell

If there was a contest for who wants to go to heaven the most, I figure I'd be at least in the top ten, maybe win the prize. It has been my experience that life gets "used up". Not bad, but you want more. You want the sorrow removed, forever. Sorrows build up like logs at a dam. They need to be taken away.

When I was a child, about eight, my little cousin died. I was told she was in heaven. So I wanted to go there too. Death was a small price to pay. I became heavenly minded. I wondered if angel food cake was really eaten by angels? Sounds spacey I know, but it is how I thought.

Now, I feel the same way. I have heard more about heaven. There is not a lot written about it. But maybe we should learn it? What if a child was taught about what we do know? Before they are told, "Be sure to be home at suppertime," they should learn where their real home is?

Let Me See Your Eyes

An old man was asked if he had seen a change in people during his life time. He explained that he had.

"People used to smell different," he said. "Not bad, just different." He went on. Some people had the aroma of coffee, some tobacco, some even like oak, and others, like moth balls. Houses too, each had its own smell. "Now everything is the same,", he lamented.

Maybe this could be explained by his declining sense of smell, but I think he is on to something. Not just odors, but personalities seem to be declining. Could we have become standardized?

I saw a family seated at a restaurant table all using electronic devices. They were all in contact with others, but not one another. Can a thousand "likes" by strangers ever replace one good friendship?

Have people lost the zip we once had? I took a really old magazine to work. It had Harpo Marx on the cover. His chest and legs were decorated with medals. He was imitating a dictator as he saluted. A young man looked at the date on the cover. "I wish I had lived then," he said.

It's probably me, but I see a lot of dead eyes. In many ways our culture has become a bad remake of an old movie. It was better the first time.

Truth is Like Raising Tulips

Much of Holland is below sea level. Yet they raise such beautiful tulips and jet them around the world. Giant diesel powered pumps keep the sea away.

We try to maintain simple Bible truths, yet error keeps pressing in, like the sea. I heard a commedian say, "Opportunity only knocks once, but failure keeps pounding, pounding, pounding..." Kind of like that with truth. You are never done.

Is it just human nature or the Devil? It has been said that whenever a church is built, the Devil opens a chapel in it. A young lady that I correspond with says there is error in her church, and she does not get the answers she needs. She is studying on her own. Sometimes with her oldest child.

The world is not neutral. If you are studying the Bible, have your pumps ready.

Your Reward is Coming to You

And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. Rev 22:12

What a wonderful promise. A little hard on people who say, "He's gone to his reward." But keep saying it and soon the words of Jesus will be forgotten.

Have I got a reward? I am not assuming. I do know that Lord Jesus is working on my mansion. I can only dream of what that will be. A friend said she is looking forward to her mansion. "Just think, we can show each other our rooms, and we won't have to leave the doors open."

Maybe we should think more often about our rewards? It can really lift your spirits.

So many are striving to be saved by being "good enough", like old infants working on being born.

Death by Peanut Butter

As Judy Tenuta used to say, "It could happen." It almost did. It's awful how I gobble my food. I made a peanut butter sandwich, just one slice of bread folded over, no big deal. About half way through it, I felt it wasn't going down. Then I couldn't breathe, at all. I quickly went to the kitchen and poured a glass of water. I sat on the floor and drank a little. I knew this was it.

The idea that we have about four minutes of oxygen stored in our blood may be true. That is about how long until you die. But before you die you pass out very quickly when air is cut off, and I was close to passing out.

I thought "This is how they'll find me". Even in my old age I wanted to do The Big One. To do something memorable, as if to justify my existence. In a flash I realized my life had been my big one, not big at all, but it was all I had. A bunch of little things, done by a little person.

The water worked, my air was back. Stroke victims often have trouble swallowing. I had been marginal, no thickener for my coffee. But I was told to eat and drink slowly, and I did. I was x-ray certified that I could swallow ok. I drank some barium, as in "bury 'em". But now I had been careless and almost died.

God gave me more time to live.

New Jerusalem Hunger

He was near death. Wasting disease his friends called it. Nutrition didn't help, nothing did. He had declined slowly, with rare moments of seeming health. But something was very wrong, mentally and physically.

Doctors were puzzled by his case, and searched their databases for causes without any answers. He had been put in a room near the nurses desk, then transferred to the intensive care unit.

His blood work was within normal limits--pretty good, actually. There was something going on that no one seemed to understand.

A nurse spoke about it. She was from the islands. She knew. Christians from her home had a legend. Certain people, otherwise healthy, would just waste away. Food didn't help, nothing did. They had a name for it. It was called the New Jerusalem Hunger. The only remedy was death or the rapture.

An attendant who had been to his room earlier had seen his Bible open on his bed. He had been reading Revelation, she said. "It's like that old song, he's got it bad, and that ain't good."

And I John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. Rev. 21:2