I have been on a journey for 66 years now. That journey has been full of micro-journeys of various lengths and purposes. The first 21 years were immersed in “growing up” and educational pursuits. Thankfully, I had loving parents who invested what they could in my development and, for the most part, encouraged my endeavors. The next forty years of this journey were invested in career, marriage, raising a family, and finding my way through heartbreaks and successes. However, the last 6 years have been the most eye-opening and edifying.
At the year 20 marker in this travelog, I took a detour that was to forever impact my life. While in college, on a quiet winter night in my apartment bedroom, I accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior. This was the result of a friend’s year-and-a-half persistent sharing of the Gospel and why it mattered. The early part of this new road was exciting and filled with all sorts of gnostic signs and roadside attractions. I had to prove to others that this Word of God was real. I was also proving it to myself. My salvation was very positive, but because I decided to accept Christ, I found the love of my life and married her. Had I not been on this road, she would not have acquiesced to further journeys with me.
The time between the 22- and 60-year markers was characterized by varying levels of commitment, understanding, and passion for my Biblical worldview. The last six years have been the most edifying and growth-filled in this aspect because I finally took the time to understand what God meant when He said we are to read, meditate, and pray over His Word every day. The understanding and growth this has opened for me has been exhilarating and demoralizing. God has walked with me through this time, providing His Word, guidance, and support.
During the last six years, I have learned to let God be God, to be still and know He is God (Psalm 46:10). Embracing that truth and the absolute truth of the Bible has opened many doors to stronger faith and understanding. I have seen God act through the gifts of the Spirit just as He said He would. I learned that He had never stopped acting, but that I wasn’t looking and didn’t have the faith to believe. As I began to embrace these new experiences, I found friends who had traveled the same route or were in the process of doing so. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, C.S. Lewis, G. K. Chesterton, and Eric Metaxas provided beacons to follow and reinforcement of experiential learning.
Still, my perpetual conundrum was how so many people can see the same truth, substantiated facts, and a reasoned presentation, yet reject it all in favor of their “feelings” or the lies of education and media. As C.S. Lewis adroitly communicated, when are we going to move beyond feelings to reality? The current political, media, and anti-science landscape provides a plethora of opportunities to point out fallacies in thought, on all sides. But when those fallacies intersect with the truth of the Bible, and the truth is still rejected, I have been at a loss to understand.
In that last statement, I have found the answer and understanding. When a political, scientific, or media claim is rejected despite verifiable facts, those refusing to believe are not rejecting the facts but are rejecting the Bible and God’s Truth. They love their sin, their pagan beliefs, their witchcraft, and their demonic worldview. For some, it is an overt rejection driven by a deceiving spirit; for others, it is the same rejection without understanding the why behind their thoughts. They blithely and blindly follow friends, the media, or their “feelings” into a pit of demonic activity. It feels better to sin rather than investigate the claims. Rather than standing up and critically thinking about the evidence presented, they head over the cliff with the rest of the herd.
To be sure, those holding an opposite worldview from mine believe that I and those of my ilk are committing the same transgressions. I understand their thought process, but not their conclusion. Since you will not investigate fact and truth, I have but one question: when your life is demanded of you, be it today, tomorrow, next week, or next year, where will you spend eternity? Outside God’s Word and God’s Kingdom, you have no assurance. Regardless of how good you think you are or how magnanimous your political stance is, without Christ as your Lord and Savior, you are headed to a fiery eternity. This eternity is not a party with your other pagan or sinning friends. It is described as an eternity of loneliness, separation, and pain. Nobody will be there to comfort or help you. Choose this day whom you will serve (Joshua 24:15).
Then my thoughts and prayers move to those who have and do profess Christ as Savior, but choose anti-Biblical positions on Israel (the people, not the government), abortion, LGBTQ, national sovereignty, etc. I do not doubt any man or woman’s profession of faith, but when looking for the fruit of their walk, I find them lacking in Biblical Truth. What does God do with you? We all walk the line of responsibility to God. If you are ready for the day Christ confronts you with your beliefs and life, then that is on you. I can’t say how God will handle you on earth, but I am reminded of Saul, Solomon, King David, and others who professed God but did not follow His teachings. I encourage you to read and meditate.
In the end, the realization that not all will come to Christ has been challenging to embrace. There are friends, family, and colleagues I will likely never see on earth again and will assuredly not see in heaven. That still breaks my heart, but God gives us all the same chance. I continue to pray with the remnant that God will withhold His mighty Hand so that more will come. I am thankful for those trapped in the Muslim faith who are awakening to Christ, the awakenings and revivals among Gen Z, Gen Alphas on campuses, and the remnant churches that unashamedly teach God’s Word. People of all ages are coming to Christ. If America reverses its slide into non-existence as indicated in Revelation, that will be a blessing for a time. If not, while able and alive, I will pray, teach, and try to reach as many as I can. I will occupy until He comes (Luke 19:13).
My Savior is not a President or any man, government, or organization. I am a Pilgrim, passing through and doing God’s work while here (John 15:19, 17:14-16, and Romans 12:2). My freedom comes from Christ, not a government (John 8:34-36). My journey is not quite over yet, and I have more to do. I have accepted that some will choose not to come and will reject Truth in favor of their worldview and/or feelings. Unless the remnant church, our government, and we the people appeal to heaven as the Founding Fathers did, America will continue its spiral into a socialist/communist/atheistic non-existence. Many will leave this mortal coil without finding their freedom because of the loss of God’s covenant with this land and its people. They will visit upon themselves the Sheol God describes in His Word. God will remain true; His love never fails. We will have failed Him and forced this avoidable travesty.