If I Have Ever Worked With You.....

                As I have worked with you, there have been many times that I have wanted to share a few words with you.  I know I talk a lot already and I have already said more than my share, but when we work together, there is often much that goes unsaid, which should be said.

                As you know, I am a follower of Christ.  Some of you have been willing to listen to me share about my faith.  Some of you have asked questions and seemed to enjoy talking to me about what I believe.  Some of you have told point blank to leave you alone, which I have respected.

                Whatever our specific relationship has been, I want you to know that I am thankful for the privilege of working alongside of you, no matter how brief or intimate it may or may not have been.  I am thankful for several reasons.

                On Respect

Each of you has shown me proper respect.  Okay....Everyone except the guy who wanted to beat me up, and the one who called me “God-boy”.  Lol.  Everyone else.  I doubt that those two guys are reading this anyway.  And even if you are one of them, I’m thankful for you as well, just not for this particular reason.  Sure you have teased me on occasion, but it has been rather light and fun compared to what many believers have to face in the world.

On Sin

                You haven’t asked me to approve of sin.  That’s a biggy for me.  A lot of nonbelievers get all bent out of shape when a Christian doesn’t approve of something, but that is one thing you have not expected of me.  I prefer to think that it’s because you have all been intelligent enough to understand that God’s approval isn’t mine to give.

                On Trust

                Many of you have given me the privilege of sharing in your burdens.  Whether it has been asking me for a reference, asking for prayer, sharing the issues of your marriage, family relationships or the physical health of your loved ones, you have placed in me a level of trust I am not sure I have deserved.

                On Listening

                You have listened to me.  You don’t always take my advice.  Few of you have wanted to follow Christ as I have.  Sometimes you probably think I’m off my rocker, but you listen.  When I have asked you to stay clear of The Mason’s, you listened.  When I urged you to stay away from the bottle or the drug in your time of distress, you listened.  When I shared with you what I didn’t like about your favourite inspirational video, you listened.  Maybe you didn’t think it was that big of a deal, but there is a maturity in your listening, which I don’t always see in the world.  In fact, I believe it to be rare.

                On Easter

                When I think of you on this Good Friday, I do still hope that someday you will consider Christ for yourself.  It doesn’t matter if you weren’t “brought up that way”.  I’ve had people at work look at me and say, “But I’ve sinned.”  That’s kind of the point.  If you still want nothing to do with Jesus, it doesn’t change how I think or feel about you.  If the day comes when you do, I hope you’ll let me in on it.

                Happy Easter!

                Kevin

PS – Sorry for BX93 days, and the singing. 

Interesting Theological Discussion

Today was my day off. As usual, after breakfast, I sat down to read a story with my youngest son.

Today we read part of The Wizard of Oz and I found it quite interesting.

Upon meeting the Lion, Dorothy asked him,

"Why are you such a coward?"......"Its a mystery," replied the lion. "I suppose I was born that way."....."Maybe you have a heart disease," said the Tin Woodsman.

Didn't expect to find those themes in that story.

The World Below (Hoping I'm Wrong)

“Look on everyone who is proud and bring him low and tread down the wicked where they stand.  Hide them all in the dust together, bind their faces in the world below.”  Job 40:12-13

      What do you think about what God is saying here?  What do you think about a God who would cut down the proud?  Our world celebrates pride doesn’t it?  We like to be proud of many things.  Proud of our children, proud of our accomplishments and proud to be Canadian.  Proud to be liberal or proud to be conservative.  Proud of our bank account or proud of our sexuality. I’ve even heard of pride parades.  Maybe you have to.

  But I could be wrong.  Maybe God really is fine with pride and I’m too literal.  

  What really struck me about this passage however was the reference to binding “their faces in the world below.” Job 40:13  What do you think He could be speaking of when referring to the world below>  I have read Job a few times before this, but I can’t say that I remember this part.  I tend to feel alone in the way that I interpret these kinds of words.

  It isn’t like this passage stands alone in scripture in what it seems to be saying.  It refers to a ‘world below’, which would serve to be a place of punishment for the wicked.  Being more faithful to the passage, the wicked are to be trampled down, buried in the dirt, having their faces bound in the underworld.  No.  I’m not making it up.  That is what it says.

  I can be wrong.  Maybe there aren’t people who are bound up under the earth, but it certainly seems like that is what we find here.  Maybe hell isn’t a place of fire, but little more than a burning garbage heap.  If I wanted to convince you, I would bring out other references in scripture that speak on people being under the earth. 

  Yeah.  I think there is a world below.  You can call it what you want.  I think it’s really hot, and dark with no chance of parole.  Ever.  I can be wrong.  In fact, I hope I am.

  Truth isn’t the result of a well defended thesis or argument.  Truth is the exact representation of reality, so it doesn’t much matter if you believe me or not.

   What do you really think about life after death?  Have you ever considered the possibility, that what you believe about eternity, holds absolutely no bearing whatsoever over what actually is?  Can you afford to be wrong?