The Boredom Epidemic

Photo credit: Sheknows.com

"What is there to live for?" "I don't have anything." "My life is empty." These are words too often said today. It seems as though each year, more and more people suffer from depression to the point that most people I encounter at work are on some form of psychiatric medication. What happened? Why have we gone into an age of depression and psychiatric problems? I believe there are more than one factor to all of this, but with the upcoming generation, I am starting to see a pattern.

We live in a world of "me". Why didn't people hardly suffer with depression, even a hundred years ago? In our schools, kids are coddled and told they can do anything and be anything. They are taught that they are something special. Self-esteem is the center of persons well-being and if your self-esteem isn't high, something must be wrong. Someone is given a trophy for participation, but when he gets fired from work for not doing their job, it must be the boss's or company's fault. We are raising a generation of entitled snowflakes who are taught that they can have anything and that the world owes them something, when in fact, the opposite is the truth. 

Another factor I see in the pandemic of depression is over-stimulation. With TV, video games, sports, instant gratification, and pressure for teenagers (and even preteens) to experience it all while in school, they are bored by time graduation comes. With our youth group, it seems that the kids are pressured to be involved in everything at school, even on Sundays. And "college is the best years of your life, live it up." By time these people reach 20, they have lived the life of sex, drugs, and rock and roll. All of the pleasures of this life, they try to cram in their short time as a teenager as if there is no life after high school. Then when they reach adulthood, boredom sets in. What else is there to look forward to? Why look forward to sex when married when you can have it now and experience sexual exposure by simply watching commercials on TV. 

With a generation of bored, coddled snowflakes, it's no wonder things like depression, anxiety, and ADHD are rampant. As Christians, we have everything to look forward to. We know we have a home in Heaven and rewards for the work we do here. We should never be bored with the amount of work God has for us. We should never grow weary with a satisfying relationship with God. We are told throughout the Bible how much we are loved by God, even to death on the cross. But we should not let that lead us to believing God will give us everything or an easy, stress-free life. God promises us joy and peace when we are content in him and follow in his will, but he does not promise that we will always feel good about ourselves or that he will always be vocal in our lives. That is when we need to wait on the Lord, pray, and trust in him. God will give us peace and satisfaction when we look to him. God has blessed each of us, we just need to look to him and what he has given us. 

Setting the Standard

Comparatively, I have not worked all that many different jobs. I currently work as a paramedic on a county ambulance service as well as an investigator for the medical examiner. Prior to that, I was a greenskeeper for a golf course. Before that, I was in sales and marketing and before that I was a full time stay at home son. But what I have found that each have in common are some form of standard. Whether it is a dress code, a code of conduct, a protocol for treatments for ailments, and so on. As I think more on it, we all have some form of standard that we live up to. Unfortunately though, too many Christians do not follow spiritual standards.

Standards in our spiritual lives have multiple purposes. They set us apart from the non-Christians. If we don't really follow moral standards, how are we any different in our conduct than someone who is not a Christian? In addition, standards bring us to be more like Christ. Romans 12:2 says "..be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." There's a quote that I like that goes something like "you may be the only Bible someone will ever read". We should be that light and the testimony reflecting Christ.

A third purpose of living up and establishing biblical standards is for protection. In addition to the jobs I work, I am also a volunteer firefighter. In the fire service, we have a governing organization called the National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA). This agency essentially writes out all of the regulations for fire departments. They cover anything from tactics for scene size up and fire attack, to how we wear and upkeep our gear. We have a strict guideline to follow as to how we wear our gear, including grooming standards. Do they develop these guidelines just to try to control us? Of course not! The whole purpose of these regulations is to protect us and bystanders on a scene.

In addition to personal standards the NFPA sets, there are standards for conducting ourselves on scene. On fire scenes, we set a boundary around the scene. It may not always be a physical barrier, but there is a line we don't allow bystanders to cross and the key is to place the barrier far enough away from the scene to protect the bystanders. We don't set the barriers right in the dangerous area, we set it far enough back so that, if someone does happen to cross it, they have that cushion to avoid injury or death. But somehow, we seem to think we don't need these barriers in our spiritual life. We inch our way closer and closer to sin, seeing how close we can get without falling in. But we should be setting standards for ourselves that set a barrier so that, if we cross that barrier, we don't fall into sin.

I want to revisit the standards for our fire department. Even though the NFPA set standards for us, they do not police us to make sure we follow them. Each department and individual has a choice of whether we follow them. One standard that we have is that if we wear an SCBA, we are not to have facial hair aside from a mustache. But there are many departments in my area that allow for full beards. My point is, these standards are designed to protect us, but we ultimately have the choice of whether we will follow them. We have a choice of whether we follow biblical standards and set personal standards for ourselves. But if we don't, we have only ourselves to blame when we fall into the fire.

Determining Your Faith

A few years ago, we had a Creationist come and speak to our youth group. He was quite insightful and I personally enjoyed listening to him. One of the things I remember that he had said was that the  majority of the young people who leave the church is because of a poor foundation in their faith. This had convicted me when it comes to our youth group and it became my personal mission to give them a good foundation to stand on. Since then, we have taken our youth a few times to the Creation Museum in Kentucky and the recent Ark Encounter as a means to hopefully bring them to a good understanding of Genesis as a foundation, in addition to taking them deep into the old testament.

I believe the young people in our youth group are beginning to have a stronger foundation. But I have come to another conclusion of why youth leave the church and that is because they do not adopt the Christian faith as their own. It is all too common for young people to grow up in a Christian home, read their Bible, go to church, and pray because that is what their family does. But when they leave home, is that belief system still standing or have they abandoned it, no longer under their parent's roof?

Since I was about twelve, I have been playing guitar. Mind you, I have not really learned to actually play until I was about 17 or 18. Throughout my learning and playing experience, I have had varying music genre tastes and in each genre, instrument preference changes. As I became a more experienced guitarist, it had become my dream to own a real Gibson Les Paul, and even more, with EMG active pickups. Well, within the last year, I had finally bought one and switched to the pickups I had so badly wanted and couldn't be happier with it.

I have shown a few people this guitar, some guitarist and some not. The guitarists naturally are interested in it while the non-guitarists think it's neat but don't really see the value in it. For both, they may see the price tag and know that it is monetarily valuable. They may recognise that it is an effective, pristine sounding instrument and know that it has value. But the difference between the value to them and the value to me is that this is my guitar that I own (not to mention being my dream guitar). I take exceptional care of my guitars, but my Gibson is the only one that I keep in the case, not placing it on a guitar stand. I handle it gently and when done playing, I polish the body, polish the chrome, clean and oil the strings, and clean the neck and fretboard to keep it in great condition.

This is a great guitar and it is one thing to own it and another thing to be able to play it. And what I have noticed is that this guitar is much like our faith. A Christian can see the value in their salvation and realise that they have a relationship and connection to God. But all too many people don't recognise the personal value it has to them. They may see the price tag of Jesus' death, they may see the amazing things God does, but they do not own it and use it to it's potential. My Gibson is a very effective guitar in itself, but is laid to waste if left in the case and not played. Someone who has accepted Christ, but placed their beliefs and faith in a case to not be used, it is wasted. If someone does not accept their faith as their own, but rather the religion of their parents, they may abandon their faith altogether.

We must make the decision to accept Christ and adopt the faith as our own. Not because that's what our parents do, not because it's what our pastor preaches, but because we realise the value of our relationship with our savior and the amazing things God can do through us. But we must decide to take our faith our of the case and make it our own. In the words of Joshua, "Chose you this day whom you will serve... but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." He decided that he will serve God, making his beliefs his own. Joshua is the example we should follow and determine our faith.

The Spiritual Dojo

In today's culture, "growing" seems to be a hot topic. Whether it's in business, through self help books, or physically in a gym, the idea of growing seems to be on the rise. Unfortunately, too many Christians and churches don't have the same passion for growth. We want to be "better" Christians but don't know where to start or don't want to do what it takes. When I talk about growing, I don't mean larger church attendance or becoming busier for God. I am talking about personal growth.

I have many hobbies but one of my favorites is combat sports. I train in jiu jitsu, judo, MMA, and kickboxing. A lesson that is learned early on is that there are three elements to each to be successful: defense, offense, and endurance. It is essential to train hard and regularly to prepare for a fight. If the work isn't put in and steps aren't taken to improve, the fight will be lost or that belt won't be earned.

In martial arts, defense is so important. In fact, my jiu jitsu coach reminds us that it is a white belt's job to survive. There is an emphasis in defending against attacks. In boxing, we are taught first to keep our guard and defend against blows. Defense is extremely important, but in a fight or tournament, defense alone won't win the match; there must also be a good offense and attack. And in addition, neither will be possible if you are gassed in the first minute or two. There must be endurance to push through the match.

Our spiritual growth is much the same. We are to grow to be more like Christ, but in our growth, we need to learn to fight the devil. If we cannot defend against Satan's temptations, we will never become more like Christ. If we don't learn to attack Satan, he will continue to attack us forcefully. And if we don't have the endurance, Satan will continue to attack until we wear down and break. If you have ever been in a fight, you know that if you just stand there in defense, the attacker will continue to hit harder until he breaks you, but if you fight back on the offense, he realises that you know how to fight and that is exactly how we should grow. Second Peter, chapter one gives step by step, what it takes to grow and the first thing it mentions is that all the steps must be done in diligence. If we aren't persistent in our spiritual training and don't spend every day in the spiritual dojo, we won't grow to the capacity we need to fight Satan.

This all sounds good, but we still can't grow without the decision to grow. 1 Corinthians 13:11 says "when I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things." It takes a conscious decision to put away being a spiritual child and growing into a spiritual man. We ought to strive to grow more and more into mature Christians, ready to fight the evils the come to us.

The Reality of Death

Photo: American Psychology Association

In my profession as a paramedic and a county medical examiner investigator, I experience almost every week, the effects of death. I witness each individual's method of coping and mourning. I've seen some people calm and understanding, and I've seen others hysteric as if the world was ending and for them, it might possibly be. Working this type of profession brings a person to consider and think about death in a way that most people don't think. We see the inevitability of death, even in young people and yes, even infants.

I think the only time most people really think about death is in the event of a death of a loved one, or around this time of year: Halloween. It seems to me that when Halloween comes around, people fall into the mainstream Halloween theme of ghost, zombies, grave yards, and of course, death. But it appears that most people use death in Halloween as a cliche theme rather than a reality. Because of that, I feel that I should point people to the right belief about death.

In my profession, it is easy to say that death is a natural process and I hear this often. In some sense, that is true. It is only a part of the life cycle that we are accustomed to. The definition of "natural" is summed up as created by God. Even though death came into the world by God's allowance, it was not the original plan when God created to world. Genesis chapter one is the account of the creation by God and we see in verse 31 that "..God saw every thing that he had made, and behold, it was very Good". When God first created the world, it was perfect without suffering or death. But in Genesis 3, we see how Satan went into the garden, deceived Eve, leading to Adam's disobedience resulting in sin entering the world, and with sin comes death as the punishment. So God allowed death into the world as a punishment for sin, but it was not the original, natural plan God had.

I want to point out 2 sides of death that we can observe and the first is in the perspective of the unsaved person. Because death is the penalty for sin, we are all born into the sentence of death*. For the person who refuses God's gift of salvation, death is terrifying. Lately, I have been studying the beliefs of other world religions and cults and it is amazing, the different beliefs of life after death. Whether it is reincarnation, becoming a trapped spirit, we don't exist in the first place, purgatory, or even no life after death, there is no hope in these religions for after death. Some religions, such as wicca, do not talk about life after death and avoid discussing it, leaving each person to their own belief. Some religions, such as Shinto, choose not to even address the afterlife in their religion. Other religions, such as Norse and Germanic mythology (which is coming back into belief by some), go the other way and believe in a triumphing afterlife, becoming a god.

In America, the prominent humanist belief seems to be no life after death. From a young age, children are taught that we evolve from single celled organisms and, by chance, form into a human with no personal God being involved in our existence. If we evolve by accident and have no purpose on this world other than to exist and have no personal God (or even God at all) to interact in our lives, then death means we just turn into compost in the ground. If there is no God, there cannot be a hopeful afterlife. It's no wonder some people see death as the worst tragedy. If your loved one dies and has no immortal soul, you will never see or interact with that person ever again.

The Bible tells us that there are 2 options for the afterlife. Hebrew 9:27 tells us "..it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this, the judgement". Once an unsaved person (has not accepted Christ) dies, the only thing to look forward to is God's judgement where all of his sins are displayed before him (Revelation 20:12-13). After the judgement, he is thrown into the lake of fire to eternal torment (Revelation 20:15). There is no purgatory (NEVER mentioned once in the Bible, or any concept of it), only judgement and hell. So from a Biblical perspective, death is worse that any other religion's belief about the afterlife and the reason is because there is a personal God that will judge us and hold us accountable for what we do here on Earth, which most people reject. If we are accountable for our actions, then we aren't at liberty to just participate in every sin we wish. That is why man-made religions do not have a belief that we are accountable to a god that will judge us.

The other side of death that we see is also the second option for the afterlife. In John 3:16, we are told "for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." If we go a little further in John to 5:24, we see Jesus say, "verily, verily I say unto you, he that heareth my word and believe on him who sent me [God], hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto light." For the Christian, we have hope in death. We know that upon death, we will see the face of Jesus and live with him for eternity.

As Christians, we need to have a right perspective about death. I do not discount the emotions tied to loss and mourning. Losing a loved one here on earth, not having the opportunity to interact with them anymore in this life, is sorrowful. But we also need to maintain the reality that we will see them again in Heaven, if they are saved. At a funeral for a Christian, we should be rejoicing that the deceased person is now in the presence of God with no more sorrow, no pain, no suffering, no sickness. How can we mad at God or be sorrowful that the deceased person is in the presence of God? We also need to use that time to remember the reason death exists. For me, each death I see is a constant reminder of the sinner that I am and need I have for a savior. But this is comforting as well, knowing that even though I am a sinner deserving of hell, God loves me enough to have died, taking our sins so that I can spend eternity with him.

I do not mean for this post to scare anyone, or maybe I do. If you are not a Christian, this should scare you. Read through Revelation and you will see the terrible things that will happen to non-Christians. Only doom follows death for the unbeliever and maybe this will open your eyes to your need for the savior. God is not an unloving God to allow someone to enter hell, but cannot allow sin to coexist with him in his presence, for he is a just God and will punish sin. He wishes for each person to repent and accept him. "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise...; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance". (2 Peter 3:0) For the Christian, I hope you are encouraged that there is hope after death that does not compare to anything we can have or experience here in this world. "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us" (Romans 8:18).


*Some people ask if, since we are born into sin and as a sinner, does this mean when an infant dies, he will go to hell? My answer is "no". Jesus tells us that we are to accept him, repenting of our sins and turning to him. Infants and small children cannot yet understand this and upon death, God accepts them. We are shown in the Bible that Jesus has a special compassion toward children and will not condemn them to hell when they do not yet understand their sin and need for a savior because of their young age. 

The Dangers of Evolution

Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.  

Matthew 7:17-18

But there were false prophets also amoung the people, even as there shall be false teachers amoung you who privaly bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that brought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.

2 Peter 2:1

Image: http://timewgod.tumblr.com/post/40768878943/a-battle-of-worldviews

I think one of the biggest lies that is fed to people in our country is the theory of evolution. I don't want to so much talk about the inconsistencies, flaws, and unbiblical basis of it, but rather, want to show how it has changed our country and what may come as a result. But to talk about those, I do have to explain some things about evolution.

I want to first point out that the theory of evolution is merely a "theory". When Charles Darwin wrote Origin of Species and Survival of the Fittest, he wrote it as a proposed theory, but did not claim it as fact and entertained the fact that it is flawed. He stated "Often a cold shudder has run through me and have asked myself whether I may have devoted myself to a fantasy". Since evolution is a theory, it cannot be disproved, but the evidences support creation over evolution, despite what is published. Creation is supported continually by what is found in the earth and we do not need to derive a theory as how something "might" have happened because it is consistent with special creation. When evolution observes the evidence, they have to develop a theory to explain it and oftentimes changes because the theory is flawed. Creationists and evolutionists have the same evidences to observe, but when the two have to explain the evidences, creationism is consistent. We have the same evidence to look at, but the question is what lens you are looking at through; Creation or evolution? This is our defining foundation to our beliefs. Whether you believe creation or evolution determines the rest of your beliefs. The major difference in these foundations is God's word vs. man's opinion.

Another issue with evolution is the lack of science. Scientists, and every other person who supports evolution, claim that evolution is scientific and that creationism does not follow science. However, it seems to be the opposite. To prove a scientific fact, the scientific process must be followed and when the hypothesis is not proven, a new hypothesis must be formed. With evolution, sometimes the hypothesis is disproved but still published as fact, or sometimes is disproved and every other following hypothesis is disproved. Simply put, the formation of the earth and origin of life cannot be observed. We cannot observe the past and hence, cannot classify the formation of life (or evolution of life) as science since the scientific process cannot be followed to test the hypothesis.

Creationism follows historical science. This is where we have written accounts of what happened by people who did observe it and use their observations to support our hypothesis. And when the evidences support our hypotheses based on historical accounts, it can be proved and considered fact. We cannot "prove" the Bible since it is not observable science, but when we look at the accounts in the Bible and the records, the findings support the text 100%, yet is considered "unscientific". Just because creationism isn't consistent with the modern idea of science, doesn't mean it is anti-science. The fact is that evolution is not scientific, but is claimed as a fact and if anything contradicts it, is considered unscientific. What we have is a flawed definition of science.

I don't want to talk about tall the flaws of evolution, or refute and debate, but rather explain what the belief leads to.

The general idea of evolution is that all life evolved from a simple, single-celled organism from a primordial soup and has "evolved" to survive. Darwin's theory of evolution does not deal with problem of the origin of life but rather on the evolving of the species, so the origin of life has been an accumulation of assumptions and ideas of people throughout the years. That is all that evolution is: assumptions.

There are multiple theories on the origin (and they continue to change), but one is the big bang theory. With this theory, out of pure chance, a "bang" happened and the universe spawned from it. And as time went along, over billions of years, single celled organism evolved into a life form which turned into some sort of sea creature who grew legs to crawl on land and over time evolved into apes, then humans. The exact formation is vague and inconsistent because there is no evidence, so it is constantly changing. The premise of this theory is that we all came from a singled-cell organism by accident, and this belief is dangerous.

Socialism and communism use evolution and atheism as it's religious and scientific basis. Out of these beliefs, we are just parts of the machine (society) and only exist to benefit the collective. Humanism also follows this foundation and claims that we just exist with no purpose or meaning. When we die, that's it. What does this all mean? If we are only here to add to society then die, or not have any meaning on earth, then why are we here? What is the purpose of living and what is keeping us from just offing ourselves? Do you see the problem?

You see, when we view human life as meaningless, it leads to a meaningless life. People go through life with the belief that they don't matter and won't make a difference. When life gets too hard to bear and we don't have a purpose here anyways, why not just commit suicide and end the suffering early. That's a large reason why we have such high depression and suicide rates. When you remove God from the picture and we evolved as an accident, what meaning does that have? As Christians, we know that we are created by God for a special purpose here on earth and when we die, will receive rewards for what we do, not to mention dwelling with our Creator for eternity! That gives us meaning, but without it, there is no purpose, we are not special, and there's no reason to thrive to do better because what will it matter?

If we are just a part of the society machine, what happens if we break and can no longer contribute to society? Just like any other machine, you throw away the broken part and replace it. When people can no longer contribute to society, they lose their purpose and there is no reason to keep them around. That is the basis for euthanasia. Modern day abortion was started by Margaret Sanger who lived during the Nazi regime. Her belief was that black people are inferior and cannot contribute to society, so if we kill the babies before they are born, that is less pollution. And speaking of which, that is why Hitler killed as many as he did. He saw them as an inferior "race" who couldn't contribute to the collective, so he killed them to better society. Abortion has evil roots and now the reasoning for abortion has changed. If we originated as a conglomeration of molecules that came together by chance, then when we are in the womb, when do we transition from a simple molecule into human life? If we are an organism that happened by chance and not created and designed by a Creator, then what is so wrong about killing an infant? If we start as an animal and evolve into a human, what is the difference between killing a fetus and killing a deer? Why not harvest human stem cells if it benefits the collective? If we are no more that advanced animals, why not have sex with whomever we want? And if sex is just a normal, polygamous act between mammals, what is wrong with pornography? If we don't have a purpose on earth, what's wrong with murder and suicide?

These are just a few examples of what happens to a world who believes that we are an accident without a special Creator. Chaos develops because our view of ourselves is meaningless. This is by no means, a comprehensive study of the effects of evolution on our world, but rather a taste in the hopes that you might research for yourself, the effect of evolution. Jeremiah 1:5 tells us "Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee...". We are also told in Ephesians, "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto great works, which God hath ordained that we should walk in them. (2:10)" How great is it to know that we are not an accident, each created by a loving God who wants to have a relationship with us? How great is it to know that God knew us before we were even conceived? God tells us that we are fearfully and wonderfully made which makes abortion murder, no matter the trimester. And how great is it to know that we are not only created by God, but that God has a specific purpose for each person and wants us to fulfill that purpose? When we begin to believe evolution, we believe that we were not specially created by God, that there is no God, and that we don't have a reason to exist.

Some Christians believe that God created the earth then used evolution to develop it. But for evolution to take place means that there is a flaw in the life and it needs to change to survive. If that is the case, then God made mistakes in his creation. And if he made mistakes, he would not be God. The Bible is clear in Genesis that God created everything as it is intended to be in six literal days. It's when we start to rewrite the Bible that we get into trouble. Proverbs 30:5-6 says "Every word of God is pure; he is a shield to those who put their trust in him. Add thou not unto unto his words; lest he reprove thee and thou be found a liar." We are, likewise, told in Revelation "For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of the book, if any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book. and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things that are written in this book. (20:18-19)" You see, one cannot simply believe the Bible and evolution. You cannot be a God fearing Christian and tolerate the evil absurdities that this theory brings. 

Victory In Jesus!

For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time and not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. Fort the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestations of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willing, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope; because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. For we are saved by hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for what we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. Likewise the spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought; but the spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn amoung many brethern. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called, and whom he called, them he also justified, and whom he justifed, them he also glorified. What shall we then say to these things, if God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how she he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, Yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long, we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For i am persuaded that neither life, nor death, nor angel, nor principalities, not powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:18-39

This last week I was on a missions trip to the island of Dominica. I have never been on a missions trip prior to this and had expectations of what the trip would entail, but it was much different than I expected. If you have never been on a missions trip, I highly encourage you to go on one. When someone would mention "missions trip", I had the notion that it involved going to a deprived country to help others less fortunate than us and spreading the gospel. And though some of that may be true for most trips, I had a much different experience than I expected. I feel that though we were a blessing to them, they were much more of a blessing to us. The people we worked with are on fire for God and are passionate and genuine about serving and living for God.

We were in a more Christian-friendly country so we didn't have to worry about being persecuted for spreading God's Word. But there are countless countries where church services are held underground and in homes. In China, many church services are held throughout the day so people can gradually trickle in as to not arouse suspicion. Those of us who live in a country where Christianity is legal are fortunate.

When we were in Dominica, we saw a video of a teenage girl who attended a prayer meeting in a Hindu country and was beaten by a mob and eventually lit on fire to burn alive. This is a sobering fact that as we sit here in our comfortable environment, taking for granted that we can get up and go to church when we want and preach in the street without being set on fire; others are being tortured, crucified, persecuted, and dying for Christ. This has led me to believe, after a lot of thinking, that those who are persecuted are more committed to serving God than those who have the luxury of never having it cross our minds. They could easily hide their faith and avoid the persecution, but instead, proudly bear Christ's name. I feel that we have grown complacent here in America. Those who experience what it really means to love God are the ones who not only grow closer to God, but understand the rewards of suffering for Christ and will receive those rewards.

I see our country starting to lean that way. We are fortunate to attend church without worrying about law enforcement cutting in, but Christianity is attacked harder in America now than it ever has before. Christianity has been labelled a hate religion and is the only religion that cannot be "tolerated". The government is starting to regulate churches and in many states, outlaw certain things that can't be preached. If a Christian speaks the truth out of love or attempts to lead a lost soul to Christ, they are rejected, ridiculed, and even dying. Yes, people are being killed and imprisoned in America for being a Christian or trying to live out Christian beliefs. So the question now lies, if you have to face severe persecution for your faith, will you, like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and like that teenage girl, stand firm?

I want to now call you think. Our souls were created for eternity, not this earth. When we die, our souls are taken from our bodies and continue to live for all eternity. This body and life are temporal and will pass away. Everyone will die at some point unless Christ comes to take us up in the near future. So the question for you Christian is this: Would you rather be persecuted and die for Christ to reap the Heavenly and eternal rewards, or would you live for yourself to extend your life and livelihood but for a short time longer, only to find the rewards that you could have had? I am not taking persecution lightly by any means. To live for Christ and to be persecuted is not an easy thing, nor something to be taken lightly. We can all say that we are willing to die for Christ, but if put to the test, how many of us would pass?

I feel that it is easy to imagine the extremes, such as death, and say that we will endure through the persecution, but let me ask you something. Would you be willing, right now, to live for God if it means persecution? I do not mean torture or physical death. I mean ridicule from your friends or coworkers. I mean the rejection from your family. I mean the hard decision to throw out a friend because they are taking you down a sinful path. I believe this is one of the hardest persecutions people face in America. When compared to what many of our brothers and sisters in Christ face, ridicule doesn't seem that bad. But take heart, God gives hope.

We are only here for a season and "I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." I love this passage because it gives hope that the sufferings here on earth are only for a short time. God will give us the strength to face persecution if we ask and if we endure to the end, we will received the rewards that cannot be compared to what we gain in this life.

"We know that all things work together for good to them that love God." When we read through Romans 8:18-30, we see the future glory in Christ when we reach Heaven. But when we go into verses 31-39, we see the ultimate final victory in Christ. We may suffer and may be persecuted, but God is still with us. God allowed his Son to die and are we any better? Jesus said that people will hate us because they hated God first and He set the ultimate example for us. Are we any better than our Savior? We are each appointed to die and I ask, who will you die for? Who will you suffer for? Who will you live for? Yes, we may suffer on this earth, but when we reach Heaven and look upon His glorious face, we would gladly come back to suffer ten times worse for the glory of God. "My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and nothing less." When you face persecution, remember the One for whom you live. If you do not face some form of persecution, you should maybe be asking yourself who you are really living for.

This may seem like a depressing thought, but as I said before, our bodies were only created to inhabit this earth temporarily, but our souls are created for eternity. When we think of the short time here compared to eternity with Christ, our suffering is but a small stepping stone to the glorious place we will enjoy in eternity. I leave with one question: When death comes and you face Jesus Himself, will you be able to say "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith." Will you hear Jesus say, "Well done, good and faithful servant?" That will be worth it all, when we have victory in Jesus.