Endless Hope, Hopeless End?

 A man in Louisiana explained why he refuses to buy life insurance: “When I die, I want it to be a sad day for everybody. Believing that man is nothing more than a pile of material (if magnificent) molecules, millions find it impossible to view death with anything but gloom and despair. What is it like to face death with no more hope than human reason (unaided by faith in God and His revelation in the Bible) can give? The skeptic Ingersoll, while dying (1899) exclaimed, “O God, if there be a God, save my soul, if I have a soul.” The great French skeptic Voltaire (1694-1778), contemporary with American patriot and statesman Ben Franklin, argued that human reason alone was a sufficient guide in life without a revelation from God. But human reason failed to comfort him as he

neared the end of his life. The thought of what was beyond the grave terrified him. On his deathbed he told his physician, “I am abandoned by God and man. I will give you half of what I am worth if you will give me six months of life.” When the doctor told him he

could not comply, Voltaire said, “Then I shall go to hell.” Bertrand Russell, another famous unbeliever, affirmed his life was built on the foundation of unyielding despair. He issued a joint statement with the brilliant big-brained Albert Einstein, just two days before Einstein’s death, confessing that “those of us who know the most are the gloomiest about the future” (quoted by Ravi Zacharias in "Can Man Live Without God?", p 74). David Hume was an atheist philosopher famous for his religious skepticism. His deathbed is said

to have been a horrible scene as he cried out, “I am in flames!” Thomas Hobs, a political philosopher, said as he neared death, If I had the whole world at my disposal, I would give it to live one more day. I am about to take a leap into the dark.” All these were brilliant,

accomplished men loaded with tons of human brainpower. But they all discovered that human brilliance, intellect, reason and brain power alone are no match for the power of death and the hopelessness that accompanies death without Christ. Atheists and materialists sometimes boast they can die without fear. While that may be true in some cases, they want us to forget that they also die without the hope Christians have (see 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).

Contrast this doom and despair with the hopeful and confident words written by the apostle Paul from a prison cell as he awaited certain and imminent death: “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing” (2 Timothy 4:6-8). For Paul death was not the end, and it was not a “leap into the dark.” He was not in despair and was not gripped by a sense of doubt, fear, doom or gloom. For Paul death was not an end but a new beginning! Not a descent into hell – but a transition into a glorious forever, at home with God (verse 18)! Not a hopeless end, but an endless hope. And the difference was not human brilliance or reason alone – the difference was Jesus Christ. How about you? Are you headed for a hopeless end or an endless hope? Jesus will be faithful to you when you die if you are faithful to Him while you live. Are you listening? 

    By: Dan Gulley, Smithville TN     

Unpopular Preachers!

 A preacher was having a tough ministry. His work was not going well and he was not appreciated by many in the congregation. Things were falling apart, attendance was low, finances failing. After one particularly poor bad Sunday morning sermon he received an anonymous note – “The last train out of town leaves today at 3 p.m. Be under it.” History bears out truth-preaching preachers sometimes displease men and women. The bigger question is whether or not God is pleased. Jesus Christ preached truth. In John 8:26 Jesus told a group of Jewish leaders who opposed Him, “... He who sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him.” But what God had to say was not what those close-minded men wanted to hear, so later at John 8:40 Jesus stated,

“But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God.” They finally did kill Him, but not for long, and He and the truth He told ever lives on. Jesus always pleased God (John 8:29), but that wasn’t enough to please some people. The prophet Jeremiah preached the Word of the Lord for forty years. He spent part of that time in prisons and dungeons for telling God’s truth (Jeremiah 38:6). John the Baptist’s preaching literally caused him to lose his head – to King Herold’s executioner’s axe, that is; all because John had the gall to tell Herod his marriage was unlawful in the sight of God (Matthew 14 * Mark 6). John’s case reminds us God still has a little something to say about marriage, and that preachers who are true to their God-assigned task will remember they answer to a higher authority than kings, Presidents, public opinion polls, the Supreme Court, liberal preachers and churches, popular pop icons, and people who don’t want to change their ways. Jesus’ apostles were often accused of causing trouble and suffered for preaching Christ  (see Acts 4:3, 17ff; 5:18-42; 16:20-24). So dangerous was it to be a prophet over the course of Old Testament history that Jesus plaintively lamented in Matthew 23:37, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.” The historical record testifies that truth-tellers and preachers who are popular with God are always unpopular with some people.               

 All this is what makes the words of 2 Timothy 4:1-5 so important in every time and place. Wherever you live, whoever you are, whatever church you’ve been in or are in or even if you’re not in one, this is what God expects of the preacher: “I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when        they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” If the preacher is the real deal, those words are his guide. Hopefully he is kind, patient, and loves not only God but people. But he will preach the Word whether it pleases people or not. And God is on      public record – His truth will not please everybody. Never has. Doesn’t now. Never will. Still, we must preach the word. That will make us popular with God, but not all people. Every preacher is unpopular with       someone. The vital question is, is it people with fable-loving and itching ears, or with God? Think about it.

Dan Gulley, Smithville, TN 

What Do Broccoli and the Bible Have in Common?

 

Let’s think about broccoli and the Bible. First, broccoli. It is common knowledge broccoli is a nutritional powerhouse loaded with vitamins, minerals, fiber and antioxidants. The list of healthful benefits for those who ingest broccoli are too numerous to list, but include things like reduced blood sugar and cholesterol levels and reduced inflammation in body tissues. Some research data (not yet definitive but encouraging) suggests broccoli even contributes to protection against certain kinds of cancers. The list goes on. So here is a question to ponder – if broccoli is so good for your physical health, why do some people absolutely refuse to eat it? Former President George H. W. Bush spoke bluntly to that very issue! “I do not like broccoli,” Bush told the New York Times in 1990. He even banned broccoli aboard Air Force One! When that news leaked out, broccoli growers dispatched 10 tons of the health-giving veggie free to Washington. The feisty President dug in his heels and proclaimed, “I haven't liked broccoli since I was a little kid and my mother made me eat it. And [now] I'm President of the United States, and I'm not going to eat any more broccoli!” Bush just didn’t like broccoli, and no amount of preaching and persuasion about its many benefits toward good health could change his mind.                 

 Now think about the Bible. Why do many people refuse to include the Bible in their diet and “eat” it’s truths? The Bible is loved by many as the “Good Book.” John Adams spoke even more highly of the Bible when he observed, “The Bible is the best Book in the world.” Many, of course, disagree and point to extreme and egregious attitudes and actions on the part of some who misunderstand, misrepresent and misuse the Bible. Others point to sad but real-life examples of people who loudly profess faith in Christ and talk a big talk but fail miserably to walk the walk. The Bible word for such people is “hypocrites” – and their “example” helps to empower critics of God and His word (see Romans 2:21-24). Be all that as it may, the two-thousand year-old words of the apostle Paul to Timothy continue to make this high claim about the Bible: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable (‘beneficial’ [NASB] * ‘useful’ [NIV]) for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim.3:15-17). We can’t unpack those words here. But it is clear Paul is saying the Bible is not only the Good Book – it is God’s Book – and as such it is good for you and for me! I know the Bible has critics who disagree with those statements, and they offer a myriad of  “reasons” why they won’t consume its teaching and recognize its authority over their lives. The Bible admittedly includes some things “hard to understand” (2 Peter 3:16). But consider this. In John 6:60, after Jesus taught “he who feeds on Me shall live because of Me” (vs 57) “many of His disciples, when they heard this said, ‘This statement is very unpleasant; who can listen to it?’ ” Verse 66 tells us, “From that time many went back and walked with Him no more.” The problem was not that what Jesus said wasn’t true and wasn’t good for them. He offered them the bread of life (6:48, 51)! The problem was they just didn’t like it, and they refused to eat it. That’s what broccoli and the Bible have in common – they are both really good for you, but some people just don’t like them! Think about it.

     Dan Gulley,  Smithville, TN

Used Christians!

 

                           

Somewhere I ran across this quip by a lady named Greta K. Nagel: “You can still drink from a chipped cup.” Her quote reminds us usefulness is not impaired by imperfection. Most of us have drunk from a chipped cup! Nagel’s quote went on to say, “There are many reasons God shouldn’t call you into His service ... But don’t worry, you’re in good company.” Her point was that some of the greatest people God used in Biblical history to accomplish His plans and purposes had serious moral and spiritual chips and cracks in their character, at least on occasion. A partial listing includes Moses who couldn’t talk right (Exodus 4:10) and killed a man (Exodus 2:12-13); David who had an affair (2 Samuel chapters 11-12); Elijah who suffered  burn-out (1 Kings 19); Samson who had long hair and multiple chips and cracks in his character (see Judges 13-16); Noah who once got drunk resulting in something really bad (Genesis 9:21ff); Peter who cursed and swore three times he didn’t know Jesus even as Jesus suffered painful beatings and humiliating treatment by those orchestrating His death on a cross (Matthew 27: 66-54); Timothy who suffered from ulcers or some other kind of stomach-related problems and apparently tended to be a little shy and timid (see 1 Timothy 5:23 * 2 Timothy 1:6-8). And last but not    least there was Saul turned Paul who, because of His efforts to persecute Christians out of existence before his own conversion to Christ, was the great persecutor of Jesus and His church (Acts 9:1ff). Even a surface reading of the Bible makes clear that over the centuries of time covered in the Bible, Christ was the only flawless, sinless individual who ever showed up! There were no chips or cracks in His moral or spiritual character. He was the sinless, peerless, pure and holy Son of God, Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21 *    Hebrews 4:15 * 1 Peter 2:21; 3:18). Regarding perfection, Jesus is truly in a class all by Himself! 

 God used imperfect people in the past, and He can use you in the present. He’s not expecting that you won’t have a chip or two in your cup. But be careful – none of what has been written here is to say He does not have some criteria and does not make some demands if you want Him to use your life to bring glory to Himself and good to the church and to the world. Words from the apostle Paul in 2 Timothy 2:19-21 tell us the kind of traits God expects on anyone’s spiritual resume if he / she desires and expects God to        use them – “Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: ‘The Lord knows those who are His,’ and, ‘Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.’ But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.” A careful study of the books of 1st and 2nd Timothy makes clear God was calling Timothy to place Himself at God’s disposal and to serious responsibilities, in spite of apparent limitations mentioned earlier in this little article. The people God is willing to use don’t have to be flawless, but they are required to be faithful. They must maintain a serious commitment to “depart from iniquity” – be a “vessel [instrument] for honor”, be “sanctified” (that is set apart) in order to be “useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.” Christ will serve His living water in a chipped cup. What He won’t do is serve His bread on a dirty plate. The issue is not will God use you – He clearly is. The issue is how willing are you to be used by God.  Are you a used Christian?  Think about it.

  Dan Gulley, Smithville, TN

Heaven - Don’t Miss It For the World!

 Robert M. Edsel published a very interesting book in 2009 entitled “The Monuments Men.” The book tells about a group of men in World War II who traipsed through bombed-out Europe tracking down and recovering valuable paintings, statues and other cultural treasures filched by Adolph Hitler and his high-powered Nazi thieves during the war. “Monument man” Walter Hancock was with the U. S. army as it moved quickly cross Germany toward a rendezvous with Russian troops at Dresden (yes, we were allied with Russia against Hitler at that time!). Hancock wrote his wife a letter that told her his 16-hour days were spent, “half in the pain at seeing beauty needlessly destroyed by those we might have hoped would show more signs of being civilized, and half in the joy of seeing spring days returning to rural Germany.” The letter continued: “How can I describe the strange, strange combination of experiences each day here in this beautiful place brings?! ... Flowering trees everywhere and the charm of the romantic little towns and the fairy tale countryside is enhanced by all this freshness. And in the midst of it all – thousands of homeless foreigners wandering about in pathetic droves. Germans in uniforms, mostly with arms and legs – or more – missing. Children who are friendly, older ones who hate you, crimes continually in the foreground of life. Plenty, misery, recriminations, sympathy. Such an exaggerated picture of the man-made way of life in a God-made world. If it doesn’t prove the necessity of Heaven, I don’t know what it all means. I believe that all this loveliness showing through the rubble and wreck are just foreshadowings of the joys we were made for.” Hancock’s words described both hurt and hope, beauty and brutishness – all mingled together as the world sought to right itself after a terrible, horrible World War II.”

 Consider this – in the world as God originally made it, Adam and Eve had access to a beautiful place the only true Paradise that ever existed on earth. There was no sin, sickness, sorrow, suffering, or death; no war, want, hunger, hatred; no prejudice, poverty, perversion, and no pandemic viruses! They lived in the presence of God who sometimes walked in the garden (Genesis 3:8). The only time when all was right with the world was before mankind, with the devil’s help, created a man-made way of life on God’s earth –  a world now marred by all the sin and misery and sadness we sometimes see and hear and / or experience. The simple if sobering fact of the matter is that if there is ever to be a place of true, ultimate beauty and blessing, a place free of sin, stress, suffering and death, a place where God is ever-present and where we live forever in peace, harmony and eternal happiness – Heaven is a necessity! And according to the Bible, Heaven is a reality! Hours before His death on the cross, Jesus assured His troubled, worried disciples: “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am you may be also” (John 14:1-3). We live in a fallen, devil-dominated world where sin makes for a lot of man-made misery. But another God-made world awaits those who are faithful to God and His Son, Jesus Christ – a place of              eternal beauty and bliss beyond description, a place where the soul is at home with God, forever. Read about it in Revelation 21-22 – it’s out of this world!  It will be an eternal God-made world, unmarred by the miseries man’s sin has made in this one. Don’t miss it for the world (1 John2:15-17). Think about it. 

    Dan Gulley, Smithville, TN

Your Faith – Firm or Fragile?

 A  number of years ago I was challenged by the following words from an anonymous preacher: “Wherever the apostle Paul went, there was a riot [after he preached]. Wherever I go, they serve tea.” On a more personal note, when I preach, there is sometimes a potluck afterwards. My aim is not to put-down tea or potlucks. My aim is to point out Paul’s faith was firm and durable, not fragile and easily broken. The gospel Paul preached promised a crown in the hereafter, but the path to that crown called for taking up a cross of self-denial and possible suffering in the here-and-now. Late in Paul’s career, after years of self-denial and suffering, he urges Timothy, his partner in the gospel, on with these words in 2 Timothy:8-10 – “Remember that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, was raised from the dead according to my gospel, for which I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even to the point of chains; but the word of God is not chained. Therefore I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.” Preaching Christ brought Paul as much trouble as it did triumph, more loss than gain (materially), and as much suffering as personal satisfaction. So how was he able to prove tougher than anything the devil and demons in hell could brew up and throw at him? The key words of the text quoted above reveal the secret to his “stick-to-it, see-it-through, finish-the-race” at all costs mentality – “Jesus Christ ... raised from the dead ... the word of God is not chained ... obtain the salvation in Christ Jesus ... eternal glory.” Paul believed what he preached! His soul was soaked in convictions about Jesus Christ and the reality of Christ’s triumph over death and the tomb; convictions about, heaven, hell and the salvation of souls in eternity. Convictions so dyed into the fabric of his soul      they couldn’t be beaten out of him. Convictions so powerful that prisons and unpopularity and suffering couldn’t lessen or eliminate them or make him quit his faith or his ministry. Paul’s faith was a force in his life. It proved stronger and more firm than any foe he ever faced or suffering he ever endured.

 John Piper, an American Reformed Baptist preacher and author, gave a speech in 1989 at a conference to an assortment of denominational preachers. The speech was entitled, “Brothers, We Must Not Mind a Little Suffering.” He stated, “One of the pervasive marks of our time is emotional fragility. I feel as though it is hung in the air we breathe. We are easily hurt. We pout and mope easily. We break easily. Our marriages break easily. Our happiness breaks easily. And our commitment to the church breaks easily. We are easily disheartened, and it seems we have little capacity for surviving and thriving in the face of criticism and opposition ... We need help here. We are surrounded by a society of emotionally fragile quitters ...” Those words jar me and compel me to ask questions about my own faith (will you ask them, too?): Is my own faith firm and durable, like a piece of tough leather? Or is it fragile and flimsy, as easily broken as a thin piece of peanut brittle? How “emotionally fragile” am I? Are my feelings easily hurt? How much time do I spend pouting and moping? How easily is my commitment to the church broken? Do I not only survive but thrive in the face of criticism and opposition? Jesus Christ was not an emotionally fragile Savior. Paul was not an emotionally fragile Christian. The question here is not is your faith too fragile to die for Jesus. The question is, is your faith too fragile to live for Him? What are you willing to endure now in order to secure eternal glory in eternity? Is your faith fragile, or firm? Just asking.

   Dan Gulley, Smithville, TN

Do You Ever Mention Him?

 A man commented about a preacher he knew, “He speaks very well, if he just had something to say.” The church of Christ has something to say. Jesus Christ saw to that 2,000 years ago when He charged His disciples, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:15 -16). The early church was committed to that God-assigned commission. Their irrepressible resolve to tell Christ’s gospel is seen in the words of the apostles Peter and John in Acts 4:19-20. When opponents of the gospel commanded them to stop preaching Jesus, “Peter and John answered them, saying, ‘Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than God, you judge. For we cannot but speak the things we have seen and heard.’” They had something to say and nobody in hell or on earth would stop them from saying it. In Acts 8:4, severely persecuted Christians “scattered,” but then “went everywhere preaching the word.” Early Christians believed the gospel was a message that could save the souls of men and women from sin and reconcile lost people to God. They believed the gospel gave them something to say. They believed God meant for them to say it, and so they refused to stop saying it. The apostle Paul declared to the elders of the ancient church at ancient Ephesus in Acts 20:26-27, “Therefore I testify you this day, that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not shunned [or avoided] to declare to you the whole counsel of God.” Paul was confident that in God’s court no one at Ephesus would be able to truthfully) accuse or charge that he had been silent concerning any part of God’s gospel. No one could say to him, in the words of the sobering old gospel song, “You never mentioned Him to me, you helped me not the light to see. You met me day by day, and knew I was astray, Yet never mentioned Him to me.”

 The contemporary church of Christ still has something to say. As regards sin and salvation, heaven and hell, and where souls will be for eternity, what the church has to say is the most important, imperative, vital and urgent thing that can be said. The question is not do we have something to say. We have as much to say and the same thing to say as those early Christians did. It haunts me to think of the day when I will stand before God, that someone I met day by day, someone I knew was astray, might look at me and say, You never mentioned Him to me.” Yet, too many saints are silent. How often do you tell about what you have “seen and heard” in the gospel of Jesus Christ? If you are truly a Christian, somewhere, somehow, somebody mentioned and talked to you about Jesus Christ and the gospel, and you chose to follow Him. Fundamentally, our God-given task is not to “bring the whole world to Christ” but to “take Christ to the whole world.” Somehow, someway, every Christian needs to be active in that mission. Words written by Brother David Sain continue to convict me: “... if we do not believe that people who have not believed and obeyed the gospel are lost, we have no valid reason to evangelize. I remember H. A. Dixon saying there are two reasons why we are not more concerned and more active in confronting people with the gospel. First, he said, we are not convinced that they are lost if they do not obey the gospel; second, we are not convinced we are lost if we do not try to teach them” (The Spiritual Sword, January 2003, p 40).  May I remind you, Christian friend, you have something to say. Are you saying it? Do you ever mention Him?

                      Dan Gulley, Smithville, TN