Preaching on hell is not something I like to do, but every so often I need to. You see, to love people is to warn people, especially when their next step could be their last.
Category Archives: Future
If You Think It’s Hot Here…
“There’s a Hotter Place”
If you think that it is hot here,
Then you might be surprised to know
There’s another place that’s far, far hotter,
A place where you never want to go.
Here the summer has certainly parched us.
Here the crops are all failing fast.
But there’s another place where it’s much, much hotter,
And the heat wave lasts and lasts.
Here you can find you a bucket
With ice and cold water or beer.
But there’s a place where it’s so much hotter,
People beg for the drop of a tear.
Oh, you think it’s so terribly hot here,
You avoid it be staying inside.
But there’s a place where there’s no hiding from it:
The Hell of the lost who have died.
by: Anthony C. Baker
One Picture, Two Truths
Courthouse Queue
I don’t use United Kingdom words that often, but I will shine my torch on one this day: queue (I would spell it differently).
Yes, today I was standing in line, or, rather, I was in queue to register my daughter’s car at our county courthouse. While standing there, looking down and noticed something fairly profound and had to take a picture.
…and I sucked in my gut so you could see my feet.
Literally, there at my feet were two completely profound statements! One would have been enough, but two? Yes, two statements in one picture. Two thoughts worth pondering. Two very real truths.
First Truth
“Wait here until called for service.”
Now, I know that we should always be about the Lord’s work, serving as we go. But when I look at this all I can think of are those who rush ahead into something God never called them to do – or be.
Believe it or not, rushing ahead of the line (or cue), not waiting for God to give the go-ahead, can be devastating. How many have sold all to go to the mission field, only to find out later they were not meant to be there? How many have rushed to stand behind a pulpit without a firm confirmation of their calling?
People have done many things without waiting on God, from ministry to marriage, and have lived to regret their hastiness. Oh that we would be more like David when he said, “I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope” (Psalm 130:5).
Maybe you have already been called, but asked to step back in line for a moment. Be patient! Wait upon the Lord as He renews your strength; lifts you up on eagles’ wings; so that you may once again run and not get weary; walk, and not faint (Isaiah 40:31).
Second Truth
You are next.
Did you hear the one about the man who’s mother-in-law drove his brand-new truck off the side of a bluff? He had mixed emotions.
Knowing you are “next” is great if what you’re next in line for is a good thing. But what if you’re next in line for something bad to happen? Knowing you are next is not good news, is it?
Well, believe it or not, there are people reading this that are next. Next for what? I don’t know, but they should be ready. You might be next in line for a heart attack or cancer. You may be the very next one in your family to get married, or have a child. Or, you might be the next one to get a terrible phone call in the night.
“Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.” – Proverbs 27:1
Either way, you are next for something, and only God knows what that is. Are you right with Him? Are you willing to follow where He leads? Don’t be afraid, just put your faith in Jesus Christ and let Him guide you through what’s ahead.
“Next!”
Update: Not six hours after publishing this, I had to take my wife to the Emergency Room. As of this moment (Saturday evening) she is still in unexplained chest pain. She is now in the hospital and I’ve been awake close to 40 hours.
What’s next? Nobody knows. But God is still good!
Filed under Faith, Future, Life/Death, the future
Time to Refocus
Tick Tock
It feels like the year is already flying by and not enough has been accomplished. Too much needs to be done, and I need to be focused. This is no time to be spinning my wheels and going nowhere.
Therefore, in this post I am going to share with you something very intimate. The following is a list of my personal ministry objectives…personal goals for which I feel I’m called to strive. I would appreciate your prayers for my family and me as I remind myself of what’s important – and what’s at stake.
I’ve gotten distracted, unfortunately. Now’s the time to refocus.
My Personal Ministry Objectives
I. To bring glory to the name of Jesus Christ in all that I do (Psa. 19:14) and go through (1 Pet. 1:7).
II. To “give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine” (1 Tim. 4:13) and “to prayer, and to the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:4).
III. To be known as a humble and consistent husband and father whose household serves the Lord (Josh. 24:15; 1 Cor. 15:58); a forgiven sinner who understands grace (1 Tim. 1:15); and a fearless soldier of the Cross (Mark 8:34) who never compromises the truth (1 Tim. 4:16).
IV. To affect future generations yet to come as children are grounded, parents are strengthened, singles are emboldened, and the aged get a second wind (Josh. 4:21-24; Pro. 22:6).
V. To promote the preaching and teaching of the Gospel in every part of the world (Acts 1:8) through discipleship and missions.
Do you have any objectives? What are they?
Scriptures Referenced:
- Psalm 19:14 – “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.”
- 1 Peter 1:7 – “That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:”
- 1 Timothy 4:13 – “Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.”
- Acts 6:4 – “But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.”
- Joshua 24:15 – “And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that [were] on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”
- 1 Corinthians 15:58 – “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”
- 1 Timothy 1:15 – “This [is] a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.”
- Mark 8:34 – “And when he had called the people [unto him] with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”
- 1 Timothy 4:16 – “Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.”
- Joshua 4:21-24 – “And he spake unto the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What [mean] these stones? Then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land. For the LORD your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you, until ye were passed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red sea, which he dried up from before us, until we were gone over: That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the LORD, that it [is] mighty: that ye might fear the LORD your God for ever.”
- Proverbs 22:6 – “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”
- Acts 1:8 – “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”
Filed under Christian Living, Future, ministry, Preaching
Surgery Day
Sometime this afternoon (after 12 p.m. EST), I don’t exactly know when, a surgeon, a man highly skilled in his art, will open up my flesh and attempt to correct a problem which has been bothering me for several months. I’m going under the knife.
Oh, it’s not a big surgery, like having my brain removed and replaced with a turnip (that only happens when conservatives become liberals, and the government pays for the operation). No, I am having my hand operated on, specifically my left thumb. Why? It’s not working the way it should, or rather, “designed.”
Even for small surgeries like this, but especially when one is going to be put to sleep, one is asked serious questions about life and death.
- “Do you have a living will and power of attorney?”
- “Who do we contact if something goes horribly wrong?”
- “If you were to do something in your sleep to make the anesthesiologist screw up, would you prefer a priest or a generic Protestant?”
The fact is that no surgery is a “little” surgery when it requires one to be anesthetized. Let’s face it, even though I’m only going to be having my thumb and hand cut on, I literally could die today. Yes, things like that happen.
This could be my last post. Sobering, eh?
But I’m not worried; my eternity is secure.
This operation has also gotten me thinking about spiritual surgeries, the kind when God has to come along and cut on our hearts. Fortunately, there is no need for anesthesia or living wills, but it’s surprising how many people refuse to let Him operate, even when the end result would be much better health.
Why is it I am so willing to allow a human doctor to put me under and cut me open when I’m so unwilling, at times, to trust my Creator with cutting away the things that make my spiritual life sick? Why would I want to be less effective in my walk with God any more than I want my hand to be crippled? Makes no sense, does it?
So, I’m having surgery in just a few hours. Pray for me.
In the meantime I’m going to be having a consultation with my heavenly Doctor. The great thing is that when He does His cutting, the Sword He uses not only cuts, but heals, too. Recovery time is up to me and how quickly I want to obey.
God bless!
UPDATE: I am still alive, but typing is a tad bit limited. My left thumb was cut open at the palm to release the tendon which makes it bend. I was suffering from an acute case of “trigger thumb.” Now let’s just pray I don’t do anything crazy in my sleep 😦
Pain medication is a wonderful thing.
Filed under Faith, fitness, Future, General Observations, Life/Death
It’s Today, Not Tomorrow. Deal With It!
Stuck on Tomorrow
We all hate getting a song stuck inside our heads, and every day I drive the school bus I run the risk of that happening. Many times I find myself humming or whistling, even singing a random song just to tune out the noise of crumb crunchers.
The other day I got stuck on the well-known and loved-by-all show tune from Annie, “(The Sun Will Come Out) Tomorrow.” I kept singing the main lines over and over, often re-worded to my fit my fancy. One of the little girls sitting behind me asked, “Mr. Baker, why are you so stuck on that song?”
I love it when kids ask me questions…mmmwwaahahaha!
Why Tomorrow?
Yes, a little girl asked me a question, and like the great grandfather I know I will be one day, I unloaded with a barrage of questions the tiny dancer was unprepared to answer.
- Do you think it’s smart to tell someone you love him when you’ve never even met him or know anything about him?
- Why would you tell tomorrow you love it, when you don’t know anything about it?
- How do you know tomorrow will be better than today?
- What’s so bad about today? I mean, what’s it done that tomorrow won’t?
- What’s the deal with tomorrow, anyway? Seriously? It’s never here. Never comes. It’s always tomorrow. But today, well, today is here, right where it’s supposed to be. Why not love today? At least today hasn’t left like yesterday, and tomorrow never show up?
- Do you think Annie should have just been happy with the day she had instead of wishing for things that might never come?
- Do you really know the sun will come out tomorrow?
I love talking with kids on the bus. Can you tell?
Carpe Diem
In all actuality, there are some really good reasons to have hope in tomorrow. But on the other hand, all we are promised is today, and it might be shorter than you think. Why not seize what you have and be thankful?
“This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” – Psalm 118:24
We won’t have to answer to God for tomorrow, but today is a different bus trip altogether.
Filed under Future, Humor, Life Lessons, music
Netanyahu and Purim
My Stand
Let me be very honest…very honest. For that matter, let me be so honest that some of you reading this will want to unsubscribe, write a hateful comment, or even threaten bodily harm (which is not uncommon nowadays with those who supposedly celebrate free-thinking and tolerance).
I stand with Israel. That’s right, I stand with Israel.
No, it does not mean that I agree with everything Israel’s government does. No, it does not mean that I am happy that Israel’s Prime Minister denies Jesus Christ. But what it does mean is that I stand with the one nation in the middle east which is not tied to a bunch of fanatics who want to cut my head off, burn me alive, or rape my wife and children in front of me until I renounce Christianity and embrace Islam – and then cut my head off.
Hate me, yell at me, curse me, or whatever; I don’t care. You can take the side of Hamas, the Ayatollah’s, Hitler, or Haman of old, but I will stand with Israel.
Bibi’s Speech
Last night the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, made a speech to the joint houses of Congress in the capital building in Washington, D.C. Our president chose to act like a teenager who’d been “dissed” and avoided the speech, along with his staff and a lot of Democrats. However, others were there, including a truly-deserving Nobel Prize winner, award-winning author and holocaust survivor, Elie Wiesel. (All I could do was cry when I read his book, Night)
So many have taken the opportunity to condemn Netanyahu for coming to America and speaking. They have called his speech “worthless” and “political,” even dismissing it as ineffective for not even making a dent in the current negotiations that the Vietnam veteran and French-serenading John Kerry is currently conducting with Iran.
Big deal.
What Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech proved was that he does not trust his current enemy to behave any differently than any number of previous enemies, including one who signed a 1938 agreement in Munich which was supposed to bring “peace in our time.” As a matter of fact, he sees this attempt to appease a border-thirsty, caliphate-seeking nation as nothing more than starting the countdown clock toward nuclear war.
Another prime minister who spoke to congress three times, Winston Churchill, was laughed to scorn by the leaders of Europe and America when he suggested a future treaty signer was nothing but a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Who was proven to be correct?
Purim
It amazes me that in such a short time so many people forget what happened in the concentrations camps. It amazes me even more that there are idiots and psychopaths who deny the holocaust happened. But it did, and it wasn’t the first time, either.
In the 4 century BC, another leader within another Persian empire, a man named Haman, sought to utterly destroy the Jews. Long before the Ayatollahs of Iran came on the scene, even before Nazi Germany, this ticked off noblemen decided to pursue a plan to kill the Jews in one day. By God’s grace a young woman named Esther, who later became queen of Persia, was raised up “for such a time as this” to deliver her people. In one day the tables turned and the Jews were allowed, by another declaration, to defend themselves – which they did.
One of the most brilliant things Prime Minister Netanyahu did was link the intents of an ancient Persian anti-Semite with the intents of modern Persian anti-Semites: the leaders of Iran. How many other countries in the world today have been battling for survival for over 4,000 years? How many times will we have to go down this road before we understand that those who say they want to destroy Israel aren’t joking?
Tonight I will also celebrate the festival of Purim. No, there will be no feast or gifts exchanged (except at a birthday party for my daughter we are also going to), but I will tell the story of Esther and her people’s miraculous deliverance from destruction. I will also pray that more leaders will have the wisdom and foresight Esther’s uncle, Mordechai.
Somebody needs to call the free people of the world to stand with courage, to stand with Israel, and to stand against those who seek her destruction…for such a time is now.
Filed under America, Countries, current events, Future
Don’t Wait for the Trumpet
There’s been a lot of debate in recent years over something called the “rapture.” Even good friends within the Church have slung a lot of harsh words as a result of arguments over dispensationalism. Frankly, I think much of the debate over end times (eschatology) has become a distraction from what’s most important: we all could meet our maker at any moment.
So, even though it’s ok to discuss what may or may not happen in the near or distant future, let us not forget that souls are being escorted into eternity every second.
As I sit here in the waiting room of a hospital, sitting with family from our church, not knowing what the next few hours will hold, my advice is simple… Don’t worry about the sound of a trumpet until you’re prepared for the unexpected horn of the truck that could run over you today.
Filed under Faith, Future, the future, Theology, Uncategorized
Resolutions to Avoid
Just for the fun of it…and maybe as a reminder to myself…I thought I would create a list resolutions to avoid at all cost.
In other words, if you resolve to do the following, you may not be around in 2016 (or at least in good shape).
10 Resolutions to Avoid
1. I resolve leave the seat up every time I go to the toilet as a sign of my manly rights.
2. I resolve to never say I’m sorry – unless I mean it.
3. I resolve to read the Bible only when it’s projected on the big screen, and only on Sunday mornings, provided there’s enough free coffee and muffins beforehand.
4. I resolve to lose 10 pounds a week (either weight or money, depending on where I am at the time).
5. I resolve to date more people this year than last in an attempt to better understand the fish in the sea.
6. I resolve to trust the government more.
7. I resolve to spend more time at work and less time with my family.
8. I resolve to make my husband change, or else.
9. I resolve to keep to myself and avoid other people.
10. I resolve to keep everything exactly the way it is right now.
So, what do you think? Will you try to avoid these resolutions? Are there any you would like to add?
Happy New Year!
Filed under Christian Living, current events, Future, General Observations, Humor
The Recovering Legalist 