"Any message about death bothers us. We try to ignore even thinking about it. We suspect those who talk about it of being morbid. Occasionally we will talk about what heaven must be like, but most of the time the subject of death is taboo.
How different the first Christians were! Paul spoke much about death. In fact, our resurrection from the dead is referred to in the New Testament as our “blessed hope.” But nowadays, death is considered an intruder that cuts us off from the good life we have been accustomed to. We have so cluttered our lives with material things that we are bogged down with life. The world has trapped us with materialism. We can no longer bear the thought of leaving our beautiful homes, our lovely things, our charming sweethearts. We seem to be thinking, “To die now would be too great a loss. I love the Lord, but I need time to enjoy my real estate. I’m married. I’ve yet to prove my oxen. I need more time.”
Have you noticed there is very little talk, nowadays, about heaven or about leaving this old world behind? Instead, we are bombarded with messages on how to use our faith to acquire more things. What a stunted concept of God’s eternal purposes! No wonder so many Christians are frightened by the thought of death. The truth is, we are far from understanding Christ’s call to forsake the world and all its entanglements. He calls us to come and die, to die without building memorials to ourselves, to die without worrying how we should be remembered. Jesus left no autobiography, no headquarters complex, no university or Bible college. He left nothing to perpetuate his memory, but the bread and the wine."
thank God for His message spoken forthrightly in truth!
thank God for messengers who never white-wash the truth
who preach the whole truth - and nothing but the truth
servants who are unafraid to speak out those "unpopular" truths.
you know, the ones that might "rock the spiritual boat"
the ones that might make people "uncomfortable."
i mean, how many messages have you heard that mention the actual words
sin
hell
death
not many!
those words are white-washed, and may be casually mentioned as
sin?
let's call it "our faults" ... "our failures" ... or "our mistakes"
hell?
don't even go there!
death?
hey, keep focused on the positive
tell people about the "benefits they will gain" if they "choose God"
no need to warn them (as Jesus blatantly did by the way) of an impending eternity in hell, if they don't "repent"
our politically correct society has made the gospel message palatable for our generation
i don't want a palatable, watered-down version . . .
"Lord, thank You for truth!
may i always want the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth!"
