A spiritual lesson from Carousel!

I cried this afternoon! Yes, it's okay for a man to do so. The reason for my tears was, however, a wee bit unusual. I had watched a video of the musical "Carousel", in which my younger daughter was the female principal - Julie Jordan. This is not the place to provide the full story-line but, undoubtedly, if you don't know it, you will find it on the internet!

Julie falls in love with a fairground worker named Billy Bigelow, but the story of their relationship is tragic. Suffice to say that that relationship ends when Billy commits suicide rather than face a lengthy jail sentence, and leaves Julie with an unborn child. Some of the scenes are very moving - hence my tears!

It was the next part that started me thinking more theologically. Billy is taken to heaven to see the Starkeeper, a heavenly official and arrives at some gates. When he asks if these are the "pearly gates" he is informed that they are not. They are the "back gates". The Starkeeper tells Billy that the good he did in life was not enough to get into heaven, but so long as there is a person alive who remembers him, he can return for a day to try to do good to redeem himself. He informs Billy that fifteen years have passed on Earth since his suicide, and suggests that Billy can get himself into heaven if he helps Louise - the daughter that Julie bore after his death. He helps Billy look down from heaven to see her. Louise has grown up to be lonely and bitter. The local children ostracise her because her father was a thief and a wife-beater. Billy, who had earlier rejected the offer to return, is anxious to return to Earth and help his daughter. He steals a star to take with him, something the Starkeeper pretends not to notice and is taken back to earth by a guardian.

He invisibly attends Louise's graduation, hoping for one last chance to help his daughter and redeem himself. The town's elderly physician, Dr. Seldon (who resembles the Starkeeper!) advises the graduating class not to rely on their parents' success or be held back by their failure (words directed at Louise). He then prompts everyone to sing an old song, "You'll Never Walk Alone". Billy, still invisible, whispers to Louise, telling her to believe Seldon's words, and when she tentatively reaches out to another girl, she learns she does not have to be an outcast. Billy then goes to Julie, and speaks the words that he had never had the courage to speak in life - that he loved her. As his widow and daughter join in the singing, he is taken to his heavenly reward.

Of course, this is a mixture of the popular view that I gain eternal life by my own good deeds, and of reincarnation by which I am able to make up for past bad deeds by doing better in another life!

This is not the message of the Bible, the written Word of the Creator. It is much less complicated, more straightforward! I was born as a sinner. I may not have lived the life that the fictional Billy Bigelow lived, but I am every bit as much a sinner as he. My major problem is that my sin has made a great gulf between me and Father God - a gulf that I can never span by my own efforts. I can never "make up" for my sins by doing good deeds. Paul puts it like this: "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God - not because of works, lest any man should boast." (Eph 2:8-9). It is only by the grace* of God that I can receive eternal life. I do not deserve it; I cannot earn it; I cannot purchase it.

Only the sinless unique Son of God was able to pay the price for my sins. And He did! Jesus of Nazareth was the incarnation of Almighty God. He entered the world that He had created, in human flesh that He had created. He died the cruel death by crucifixion, because "... without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins." (Heb 9:22). As someone has written: 'He paid a debt He did not owe; because I owed a debt I could not pay.'

There is, nevertheless, a cost to me - and to you if you take that step of faith, and receive the new life that Jesus. Immediately after writing those words already quoted, to the disciples of Jesus in Ephesus, Paul writes: "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." (Eph 2:10; emphasis added). As I live my life in, and for, the Lord Jesus, I will seek to do the good works that He wants me to do. However, I am doing them, not to try to attain salvation, but out of gratitude for the salvation that I have so freely received!

Are you depending on your own 'good works' for salvation? Do you think that you might have 'another chance'? Do not let the enemy deceive you. This life is not a dress rehearsal - it is the only mortal life you will live. 

If you wish to know more, please feel free to contact me at the e-mail address given at the top of the page. I don't check it every day, but I shall get back to you before too long! Alternatively, you might wish to check out some of the relevant links in the right-hand-side of the blog (scroll down!). Whatever you do, don't do nothing. Your eternal destiny is at stake.

* This is one of the words dealt with in my first book "Great Words of the Faith".  There are three books in the series (vol 4 is 'in preparation'!) all of which will help you in understanding the Christian Faith and answering those who question you about it. Remember, ALL royalties are sent directly to Release International to support the persecuted church. I receive nothing!

And then there were ...?

So, the first month of 2016 closes with yet another "celebrity" death being announced.  The front-page headline in newspaper; the top topic on social media; and, doubtless, the main subject of UK news programmes on both radio and television.  Terry Wogan is dead.

Now, I have every sympathy for the Wogan family.  I never met the man, but he always came across as a pleasant person who was willing to use his celebrity status in helping others.  However, what has happened is, at some point, going to happen to each and every one of us - at least while the rapture of the saints of God is delayed.  As Benjamin Franklin famously said: "In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes."  Actually, some people may manage to avoid paying taxes - but, as physical beings, we are mortal.

What, then, ought our attitude to this inevitable event be?!   There are, of course, those who believe that physical death is the end.  When I breathe my last, there is nothing.   My body may be buried, or burned, but anything of me that continues will only be in the memories of those who knew me.

Others accept that there is some form of 'after-life', but have the idea that where I spend it, and what it will be like, depends entirely on what I have done in this earth.  If my good deeds outweigh my bad deeds, then I go to 'heaven'; otherwise, I go to 'hell'.  Even the concepts of 'heaven' and 'hell' may differ from one culture to another.

Some are of the opinion that, when we die, God will forgive us all, and that everyone will end up in heaven "because a God of love would not want to see any of His creatures suffer"!

Yet another group believe in reincarnation.  I am born, physically, many times - either progressing 'upwards' if I live my present life as a good person (or animal/insect/tree/stone, etc!); or downwards, if the opposite is true.  Eventually, I may reach the pinnacle of human existence and be released from that cycle - to be absorbed into the 'oneness' that is the physical universe, but with no personal identity or personality.

Those, however, who accept the teachings of the Bible as the written Word of the One Who created, and Who sustains, all that is, hold a unique belief.   They (we!) believe that there is a very real heaven, and a very real hell.  We believe that where one spends eternity (timelessness - see my chapter on the subject in Great Words of the Faith; details above) depends, not on anything that I have done, or can do, but on the giving of Himself as a sacrifice, on a cross on a hill called Calvary, of One, Jesus the Messiah/Christ, in my place.  That sacrifice of the perfect Man was/is sufficient to cover the sins of every human being who ever lived, or who ever will live.

However, there is a "catch".  The idea that "all will be saved" conveniently ignores that the God Whose essential Being is, indeed, Love - and love that is actually beyond our feeble comprehension - is also the God Who is Justice, and Righteousness, and Holiness.  In the light of His laws and commandments, each one of us is deserving of nothing but His wrath and punishment.  As the apostle Paul wrote to the Roman believers in the 1st century AD: "... everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God's glorious standard." (Rom.3:23; NLT).

So, is that the "catch"?  No!  Paul goes on, in that same letter, to make clear that "... God showed His great love for us by sending [the] Christ to die for us while we were yet sinners." (5:8).  All that we are able to do, but what we must do, is to confess that we are sinners on the sight of Almighty God; that we are incapable of doing anything, ourselves, about our sinful state; and accept, by faith, the salvation that was gained for us at such great cost.  That is the "catch".  Salvation is free and full - but only to those who are willing to accept it.

Terry Wogan's eternal destiny is now sealed.  Forget reincarnation: "... each person is destined to die once,and after that comes judgement"! (Heb.9:27; NLT).  Where he, or any of the other "celebrities" who have recently died, will spend it is between them and Father God.  Nothing that you, or I, can do will change that.  For you, however, there is still time.  Have you confessed your sinfulness, and your sins?  Have you asked for the forgiveness that is available only from Father God?  Have you accepted, and professed, Jesus, the Christ, as your personal Saviour?  Are you seeking to serve Him as Lord of your life?  These are important questions - your answers to them will determine what happens to the real "you" when your mortal body reaches the end.  Please do not ignore them.  If I may be of any further assistance, please feel free to contact me via the e-mail address at the top of the page, or through my "AllExperts" page (Link below, and on the right).  Alternatively, seek the help of a genuine believer already known to you.  Whatever you do, act.  Follow the example of Boaz, of whom it is recorded: "... the man will not rest, but will settle the matter today." (Ruth 3:18).

It needs to be read!

Over the past week, or so, I have been with a couple of groups of people that included some who would appear to have very little knowledge of the Bible, although they are, I believe, regular "church-goers".  A number stated, openly, that they do not know it as well as they should and because of that, they do not know the basic message of the Gospel.  To hear, for example, a professed disciple of Jesus accept the possibility of reincarnation tells me that such a person either hasn't read Hebrews 9:27 - "... it is appointed unto man to die once, and then comes judgement." - or has totally failed to understand it! 

Of course, important 'though the reading of the Word of God is, that is not enough if we are to be true servants of the Lord Jesus.  I have been reminded of the story of the man who announced to his pastor that he was planning to visit Israel.  After having shared his planned itinerary, he asked the pastor : "And what do you think I'm most looking forward to doing?"  The pastor thought for a moment before replying.  "Well," he said, "a number of things come to mind.  However, since you want me to name just one, I would think that it would have to be the empty tomb."  "No," responded the other.  "Obviously I do want to see that, but the highlight of the tour will be to climb a mountain. Then, when I reach the summit, to read aloud the entire Sermon on the Mount!"

The pastor knew his flock!  He shook his head, all too aware of the man's spiritual problems - and the reason behind them.  "Brother," he remarked, "why go all of that distance just to read it?  Wouldn't it be better for you to stay at home, and keep it?!"

It is, of course, commended, and commendable, to read the Word of God.  Indeed, it is actively encouraged within its own pages!  So the Psalmist declares: "With my whole heart I seek Thee; let me not wander from Thy commandments!  I have laid up Thy word in my heart, that I might not sin against Thee." (Ps. 119:10-11).  Paul reminds the believers in Rome that "... whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope." (Rom 15:4).  The same apostle instructs his "son in the faith", Timothy, to "... attend to the public reading of scripture, to preaching, to teaching." (I Tim 4:13).

However, if all that we do is read, then we are in danger of treating that Word, that is "... living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart." (Heb 4:12), as little, if anything, more than literature. C.S.Lewis writes: "... in most parts of the Bible everything is, implicitly or explicitly, introduced with 'Thus saith the LORD'.  It is if you like to put it that way, not merely a sacred book, but a book so remorselessly, and continuously, sacred that it does not invite, it excludes or repels, the merely aesthetic approach. ... ... It demands, incessantly, to be taken on its own terms: ..." (The Literary Impact of the Authorised Version").

Reading is good, but it is insufficient.  James urges his readers to: "... be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves." (James 1:22); while Paul assures the Romans that: "... it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified." (Rom 2:13).

You may be a faithful reader of the Word - but are you a keeper?  Do you, perhaps, just scan its pages superficially; merely perusing it as a spiritual exercise (that can, all too easily, degenerate into some form of "salvation by works"!), or to salve your own conscience?  Or does it move you to effective action?  As the titles of many of the commentaries on the Letter of James make clear, there are two parts to the Gospel - believing it; and behaving it!

Remember that, while it is true that it is "... by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God - not because of works, lest any man should boast." (Eph 2:8-9), it is also true that: "... we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works , which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." (v.10)!