Last spaceship out - want to be on it?

Parents are notable for the sometimes fierce ways we protect our kids. Stay away from fire! Wear your bike helmet! Don't use drugs! Don't talk to strangers! And that's just high school...

It's not all on the prevention side. We champion the future for our offspring in sometimes measured, sometimes over-the-top, helicopter ways, "I've made a list of college campus visits and drafted some ideas for your admission essay. You've got to get a better internship lined up this summer!" 

Exaggerations aside, we're not the first generation to hand-wring over our kids from vulnerable youth to venerable adults. Moses moved an entire generation out of Egypt to seek a better way of life. British parents sent their kids out of the London bomb zone during WWII while Jewish families moved their kids behind false walls, or across secret border crossings to safe havens. As I write this, families are literally running for their lives in the Ukraine, Sudan, Afghanistan, China and so many other troubled areas. We need to pray and support these folks.

Fiction is no better than reality. Blockbuster sci-fi movies like to strike this same chord. Spaceships depart the dying (climate change) or exploding (asteroids) earth, desperate to find an inhabitable solar system for their next generation to thrive. Seats are always limited on these fateful excursions. Who goes? Who gets left behind? They like to serve up no-win, sweaty-palmed scenarios that rival our real world crisis in the news.

Fictional or not, what actions would you take if there was an unavoidable sense of urgency and you absolutely could not stay behind in peril?

1. Protect and reassure my child (niece, nephew, Godchild, neighbor, etc.) 

2. Prepare to flee; 

3. Determine where to go and the requirements of entry 

4. Do whatever is necessary to get my child to a better place

What if we were talking about eternity? Life after death? 

Death is absolutely unavoidable. Its timing is unknown - it could be any day, any second - and so the need for preparative urgency is extremely high, in the "red zone." 

This is what mystifies me. Some of the same parents who have so participatively mapped, guided and supported their kids college or career or athletic prep, take a wildly lax view of the same human being's spiritual status.

"They'll figure it out, there's time for that." But follow the logic.  Why can't the same child simply "figure out" school and athletics? There's "time" for that too?  "Well," an offended guardian might reply, "it's different. The time needed to prepare for college or athletics or a career is in the midst of an adolescent's formative years. They need a push in the right direction or they may fail - and later regret missed opportunities or bad choices."   Would they not also regret the opportunity to have spent eternity with their loving God? Are they aware that there is a choice to be made?

A "spaceship" is indeed leaving this earth. It is eternal life with the God of this universe. There are seats available until departure (John 11:25): 

1. Reassure your child that there is a God who loves them and has a loving plan for them.
2. Prepare them with an understanding of what Jesus taught: Humility, mercy, forgiveness, Grace, repentance, faith.  These are all positive ingredients that will enhance every other endeavor in their life.
3. Explain the inevitable choice before every one of us, since we have all sinned and need Jesus, including parents, teachers, employers, coaches and pastors. Call out to the Lord and be saved. Romand 10:13
4. Take every waking measure of your personal time, prayer, love and attention to make sure your child understands their age-appropriate accountability just as well as they understand their age-appropriate homework.  Certainly take no less time than you invest in other scholastics or arts or athletics. 

Not fiction: A foreign power will eventually invade your home and my home and will take possession of everything we love, including our children and other loved ones. It is death. Make sure everyone you love will be able to locate and follow the Light of Jesus.    2 Timothy 1:10

"It has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel."

What do you believe?

Waitress Faith - Is there a tip on the table?

 Our poor waitress!

After Covid, we returned to a popular dinner theater for their latest production. Ticket holders enjoy drinks and a delicious buffet before heading into the cozy theater-in-the-round for a show. 

You pre-purchase a combined dinner-theater ticket for each person. The only additional credit card charge might be an adult beverage or cocktail during dinner. That’s how we missed leaving a gratuity (tip) for our attentive and hard working waitress. I happened to spy some fine print at the bottom of our pre-printed tickets. “Dinner gratuities not included.”  Oh no! I had just signed our Visa bill for my bride’s glass of wine. That was much, much less than a tip for our combined meal value. “No wonder they print out the meal value separately on the ticket,” we both realized. It's to help you calculate an appropriate tip amount (and prompt you to do so)!

We quickly waved our waitress back over and handed her some additional cash. She accepted our tip with a smile and a warm thank you. “Do you get short-changed on your tips very often?” I asked.  “All the time,” she acknowledged, with barely a hint of irritation. “They should leave a note card out on the table,” my wife suggested, “for people like us who don’t study the ticket that closely. Something like ‘meal tips not included.’”

“They used to do that,” the young woman said, shaking her head, “but some people said it was ‘too pushy.”  My wife and I moved on to the theater and checked in with the hostess for the after dinner show. We chatted more about our waitress, impressed by her Graciousness - providing such a nice experience for us without likely expectation of any payback commensurate to her task. 

Salvation not included

We live, work and play on a planet of endless beauty and enormous resources. It’s easy to forget what a gift this is. It's not from some “mother earth” entity. Not from “nature.” All of it is a gift from God.

God isn’t pushy. He hasn’t waved a card or bill in our face that says, “Eternal life not included.”  Many of us are indeed appreciative of this life. Others take it for granted or undervalue it's worth. We’ll even say out loud from time to time, “I’m so thankful for the beauty all around us.” (‘Gee, that was a really great meal”). But there’s a second act, the portion after this life here on earth. It's what's on the other side of the eternal "theater" doors. This is the real reason we're here - the part after drinks and a buffet.

The price has been pre-paid, but not by us. Jesus did that on the cross. We can accept His gift with our sincere Faith in Jesus as our Savior, and by asking forgiveness for our sins. I read the fine print: "Whoever believes in me, though they die, yet shall they live." Jesus said that, the Apostle John wrote it the 11th chapter of his Gospel. No extra tipping (works) required. Just personal humility shown in our sincere faith and repentance. You can read more in John's gospel.

For many people around the world, life is miserable, difficult and dangerous - it's no buffet, not even close.  But for all of us, regardless of circumstance, there is promise of an eternal life on the amazing other side. Please check in with Jesus.   

"Behold, I make all things new."  Revelation 21:5

What do you believe?

I can remember my address - but not a bible verse

"I'm not one of those people who can remember bible verses."

Wait, not so fast. This is often an evasive way of saying, "I haven't really tried to commit any bible verses to memory."

You might be genuinely challenged by memory loss. In my age group of 65 and older, as many as 40% of us begin noticing some natural decrease in memory capacity. "It's right at the tip of my tongue," until someone fills in the gap of the particular word or name we were searching for.  Dementia and Alzheimer's disease are progressively - and heart breakingly - worse.

But we're not all diagnosed or over 65, and most people can remember what we want to and choose to. You might be surprised by the number of words and characters you can automatically access on demand (remember).

First, though, why even bother to memorize a bible verse or two?  Because...it's a living resource to encourage others with positive words from God ("God loves you!"  "Where does it say God loves me?"). It's a way of drawing strength and peace in our own struggles (Psalm 23, "He restores my soul"). In our  current cultural climate, it's an absolute necessity to provide true references to what God has taught us ("God sent his son, not to condemn the world, but to save the world through him").

How much "memory" do you need? 

"Repent and Believe" Mark 1:15.   4 words!  + 3 digits to included Gospel reference

With just those 22 characters of memory you can explain what Jesus taught as the heart of his ministry 2,000 years ago. 

"God is Love" 1John 4:8    4 words! 19 characters to reassure someone that God loves them.

"All have sinned" Romans 3:23   4 words!  22 characters to describe our shared condition and need for mercy and redemption. It's not "us" judging "them." We're all in this together.

"He saved us" Titus 3:5    4 words!  16 characters to begin the conversation of Jesus' redemptive role. There are many more verses like this, including those that mention Grace, redemption, mercy and forgiveness.

Where are you going to find spare memory like that?  "I'm not one of those people who can remember bible verses...."

Your home or apartment address including zip code is 40 to 50 letters and numbers. Similar effort to several of those verses and that's just one address!

A phone number is 10 digits, if you know at least 2 phone numbers, you have the capacity to commit those sample verses to memory with extra to spare.  Computer passwords are required to be 8 or more digits.   Three passwords gets you the words of Jesus. Birthdays, depending on the month, 13 or more characters. Movie titles,  restaurant names, web sites....you can quickly see that you're fully able to commit to memory those things you find important.

And here's a short cut - a memory saving device of sorts:

Select a few entire passages of scripture by book name and chapter number. There's no need to remember entire strings of words knowing you can find the chapter online or on your smart phone. Just remember the "location" and it's main purpose in your memory.

Acts 10   Peter summarizes for new believers the role and purpose of Christ's salvation

Psalms 23, 100 and 111   Navigate to them and read them aloud for encouragement and refreshment

Matthew 28   has Jesus' "final instructions" for sharing his Gospel throughout then world!

Matthew 5   is Jesus comprehensive "Sermon on the mount"

"I'm not one of those people who can remember bible verses...."  Memory is one of those remarkable gifts God has given us.  Let's take time and effort to apply it to His purpose. For those of you who can remember new movie titles, passwords, birthdays and addresses...you are living vessels for the Good News of Jesus! 

Psalm 119:11 "I have stored what you have said in my heart."

What do you believe?