Gaps in the Walls Must Be Filled

Gaps in the Walls Must Be Filled

The Bible is filled with illustrations from the lives of ancient times which are then used to make great spiritual applications. When God spoke to Israel through His prophet Ezekiel, He used the expression of “a man standing in the gap” (Ezek. 22:30). We may not readily see what this man was doing, but it was well understood by the men in Ezekiel’s day.

Are you willing to stand in the gaps? To fill up what is needed?

Are you willing to stand in the gaps? To fill up what is needed?

Men in the gap, breaches in the city walls and ancient warfare. The cities in the Old Testament were protected by walls, watchmen on top of those walls and fortified gates. The most skilled soldiers were posted atop the walls to ensure the safety of the city. However, there were those times when enemy soldiers were able to break down the wall and create gaps so they could enter and plunder the city. When such emergencies occurred, it was imperative that someone, even if he was not a highly trained soldier, stand in that gap and protect the city at all cost.

Gaps in the wall around the city of Jerusalem in Ezekiel’s day. This imagery was used by Ezekiel to describe what was spiritually happening to Israel. Spiritual gaps were in the walls, yet not one person was willing to do anything about them. There were political gaps. The rulers were self-centered and unashamedly taking bribes to become wealthy (Ezek. 22:27). There were religious gaps created by their leaders who used their positions to take the possessions of the people and oppressed the poor, especially widows (Ezek. 22:25). They also covered their actions by acting like they were working on these gaps and claimed to see visions from God (Ezek. 22:23-28). They were even making up messages and saying, “Thus says the Lord.”  Inside the walls there were the citizens creating “gaps” by oppression and robbery (Ezek. 22:29). The gaps were obvious, but nothing was being done to close them. God said, “So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall and stand in the gap before Me…but I found no one” (Ezek. 22:29).

Gaps in our walls, and God looks for a man. There are gaps all around us locally and nationally. There are gaps in our homes when parents are too busy to stand for what is right. There are gaps in the church when preaching has so little Scripture.

God looks for those to stand in the gaps. They must be vigilant. They must be courageous. They must be focused and determined to stand at all costs.

The question is whether you are willing to be that person to deal with the reality of gaps in the wall. Consider this. God is looking for just one person to stand in the gap. Godly men and women have stood in the gaps in the past. God is looking for a man to stand, and that person can be you!

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The Pray for Everyone List

The Pray for Everyone List

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people.

Who is on your prayer list?

Who is on your prayer list?

1 Timothy 2:1

Everyone.  We are to pray for everyone.  Think about that for a minute.

We are to make supplications (requests for needs) for our next door neighbor to whom we barely speak.  We are to pray for his needs.

We are to make intercessions (pray on behalf of others) for our boss whom we don’t like that much.  He’s an unreasonable jerk, but we are to pray on his behalf.  We are to pray that God bless him.

We are to make thanksgivings (be grateful to God) for members of Congress!!

I mean, it does say everyone…right?

The very next verse specifies that we are to pray for people in positions of authority in the government, and even gives the reason as to why:  “…that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.”  I think it’s safe to say that Christianity is coming under attack more and more in our society these days.  We’re getting closer and closer to the day when it will be very hard to lead a peaceful and quiet life as a faithful Christian in America.  Maybe God in this passage is giving us one reason as to why this is happening.  Come on, when was the last time you prayed from the heart for the well being of President Obama/Bush/Clinton, Governor _________________, Senator _______________, and Congressman ____________________?  When was the last time you gave a prayer of thanksgiving for them?  We American Christians value our freedom of speech and expression so much over what God actually told us to do about our governmental leaders that it may be costing us our freedom of religion.

In other words, we may be so much more focused on criticizing (justly and unjustly) and insulting the President personally (always unjustifiable, I don’t care what policies he’s put into place; see Titus 3:1-2, 1 Peter 2:13, Romans 13:1, 7, and 2 Peter 2:9-10) than praying, giving supplication, intercessions, and thanksgivings for him that God is up in heaven saying, “Hey, I told you that you would not have quiet, peaceful lives if you did not pray for your governmental leaders.  Looks like you’re going to have to learn that the hard way!”  Something to think about…

Bringing it back closer to home, let me stress again that God told us to pray these types of positive prayers for everyone.  That means that we are to pray for our enemies at work.  The cashier at the grocery store whose name we don’t even know.  The mailman.  Our mother-in-law.  The president of Iran.  The criminals whose faces we just saw on the evening news.  The teenager who egged our house last night.  Our brothers and sisters at church and at every other congregation on the planet.  Even the brethren whom we don’t like that much.  The atheists, even the militant ones like Bill Maher and Richard Dawkins who blatantly mock and disparage our faith.  Everyone.

I know I need to do a lot better than I have been.  Maybe you do too.  Maybe we can start by praying for each other that we can do better in our prayer lives.  Maybe we can start right now…

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A Gospel Life in Hourglass Time

A Gospel Life in Hourglass Time

Making tents consumes time.  The apostle Paul, amidst the sharing of the most important message mankind has ever heard or ever will hear, made tents (Ac. 18:3).  As time has gone by, it appears to me the number of tent making preachers is increasing.  Of course, the reference here is to the practice of additional work and responsibility beyond that of sharing the gospel.  Most preachers want to fill their lives with nothing but the gospel; yet, a plethora of life’s obstacles often get in the way.

What a dream to hold on to each grain in the sands of time.

What a dream to hold on to each grain in the sands of time.

This desire is not exclusive to preachers.  Christians as a whole envision a life where they are one, large, harmonious, ever increasing family of believers who are bringing the lost to Christ in droves.  The reality is different. After an 8 to 13 hour day of work, running errands, hauling kids around, home repairs, grocery shopping, laundry, meal preparation, etc., the first thing on the mind is a moment of relaxation or hours of sleep.  It seems impossible to focus long enough to keep the family from struggling let alone find the time to fit in God, Christian brothers and sisters, and the rest of the world.  Who even has a moment read a brotherhood article?  Desperation, resignation, and guilt seem to be riding hand in hand as the days grow shorter.  You want change, but how?

Jesus once spoke to his disciples about the response of normal folks to the spreading of the Word of the Kingdom.  He compared it to an individual spreading seed.  The seed fell in many places and one of those places was among the thorns.  Here is what Jesus said in regard to that:  “As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the Word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the Word, and it proves unfruitful.” (Mt. 13:22)  This is how many of us often feel.  We hear the Word, believe it, and want to act on it.  Yet, all the activities of the world seem to choke us out.  Perhaps as Felix we are always looking for that right opportunity or convenient time (Ac. 24:25), but it never seems to come.  It is as if we are the puppy that runs round and round and never catches his tail.

Knowing your unique situation is impossible for me.  My sympathies go out to you.  The words above describe my life in many ways.  Though I may not have the perfect solution to your life dilemmas, perhaps the suggestions I am about to share will enable you and ultimately those around you to draw closer to spiritual peace.  The dilemma really breaks itself down to two components:  when and how.

When?  Finding time is critical.  You could work faster to buy more time but as a practical matter that isn’t going to last. The truth is you will just spend the same amount of time working, only at an increased speed, and end up even more tired in the end.  The ultimate solution is prioritization, organization, and realization.

When a person looks at their day and sees they do not have time for everything, prioritization is a must.  Something has to go.  Most evenings last summer, I spent the day thinking that when my wife arrived home from work we would go kayaking.  We ended up going kayaking only two or three times.  Predominantly, we simply had to cut it out of the schedule.  It was not high on the priority list.

Here are some common things you might have on your list that could perhaps be cut out or shortened:  internet time (including smart phone, tablet, and texting), television time, and phone time.  What did we do before the days of electronics?  How did people function?  We carry our electronic devices everywhere we go.  Put them down and step away.  If you ever had time to research the biggest time wasters in the life of man, you would find much of it has to do with electronics.

Understand also that not everything is really that important.  Martha missed the important things while Mary did not (Lk. 10:38-42).  Can you find more time if you choose to put aside listening to talk radio, not read that secular magazine or book, dust or vacuum a little less often, or make a simple meal instead of “something special”?  Ask yourself:  Is spending time on this item really all that critical at the moment?

Concerning organization, remember that the more organized a person is, the more time they have.  Do you spend all day Saturday working on laundry?  Consider doing a load a day instead.  Are you running back and forth to town to run errands?  Plan out your day to where you can combine tasks and make one trip instead of three.  Are you checking Facebook all day long?  Cat videos, selfies, and one-line quotes may be funny, but they are time stealers.  Get organized!  Confine your Snapchat, Instagram, e-mail, and sports updates to once in the morning and once at night.

Do you spend a lot of time in the car each day?  Are you using this time for something other than daydreaming?  You can!  Organize this time to do something helpful or productive!  When you make meals, do you cook enough to cover future meals…or do you have to start from scratch every time?  Save time with organization!  Do your tasks require concentration?  One of the biggest mistakes I make is trying to study when everyone is running around the house.  Organize that schedule!  Choosing the right hours for the right tasks is critical.  Organizing your day will buy you time.

In the topic of finding time, what on earth is “realization”?  In this case, realization is short for realizing you cannot do everything by yourself.  Ask for help.  Solomon established that we do better with help (Ec. 4:9-12).  Family, friends, and even hired help can buy us a little more time each day.  I am naturally an introvert.  I like to do things by myself without others around.  However, this isn’t beneficial to my spirituality or my proper use of time.

Don’t let pride get in the way either.  It’s okay to admit we cannot do it all.  Again, ask for help!  You may just find that accomplishing a task side by side with someone will have the side effect of developing closeness too!  More on that in a moment.

Prioritization, organization, realization.  Simple solutions for finding time.  The more time you have at your disposal, the more you can focus on drawing close to God and others.  Now I want to provide some direction as to how we draw close to others with the time that we have.

How?  My father or mother once told me, “If you want to have a friend, you must be a friend.”  From this simple piece of advice, I suggest three points for drawing closer to others:  seek others out, communicate with them, and serve their needs.  These points apply not just to earthly relationships, but to spiritual ones also.

If your objective is to draw closer to others, whether they be brothers or sisters in Christ or those who do not yet know Christ, then you most often must take the time to seek them out first.  Jesus Himself came seeking (Lk. 19:10).  If there is anything I have learned in this world, it is that we all have issues.  Insecurities, selfishness, and feeling like we have no time are problems with which most people struggle.  Consequently, folks just don’t dive right into getting to know you.  Frequently, you have to take the first step, and then another, and then another toward reaching out to someone.  Relationships aren’t “I did this, now it’s your turn.”  If either you or your spouse didn’t make the first move, it is likely you wouldn’t be married.  A Christian gentleman once expressed to me that the building where we assembled to worship had a sign on it letting people know where we were, so it was up to them to show up.  Sadly, there are a lot of near-empty buildings where people aren’t seeking and are just waiting for someone to show up.  Get out there!  Go Ye!  If they are busy working, help them out!  Spending the time will create bonds whether in work, play, conversation, or study.

“Draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh to you.  Cleanse YOUR hands, YE sinners; and purify YOUR hearts, YE double-minded” (Ja. 4:8).  Yes, the ball is in your court when wanting to get closer to God.  We cannot see God, but He has promised we will find Him if we seek Him (Mt. 7:7).  Man has what we need before us to get to know God (2 Ti. 2:15; 3:16-17; 2 Pe. 1:1-3).  It takes effort and even change on our part to truly draw close to Him.  Perhaps the time we save by prioritization, organization, and realization can be filled with coming to know Him.  Perhaps that commute can be spent listening to His Word.  Perhaps the little things can be put aside to sit at His feet.  He is not so far we cannot find if we seek (Ac. 17:26-28).

Communication is difficult.  My daughter is like me in a lot of ways.  She is introverted, which means she would rather you did the talking so she can listen. Over the years, I have learned how to start, maintain, and yes, at times dominate a conversation.  Yet, my daughter is at that point in her life when communication is very hard.  What do you say beyond “Hello”?  This will be expanded upon in a moment when discussing serving others, but for now consider what you have to communicate.

You have information that will change another person’s life eternally.  You have something important to say.  Second, you have family, you have been places, you have seen things, you have experiences, you have commonalities with others which you can share.  Once you let others know you are just a normal friendly person, you are likely to get communication in return.  It’s that conversation which enables a closer relationship.

Communication is also important if you want to draw closer to God.  Prayer is something we must not overlook in our life (1 Th. 5:17).  God wants to hear our cries for help, our concerns, and our thanksgiving.  Could that quiet time right in the morning when we get up, or perhaps before we go to bed, be shared with Him?  He has shared His mind in scripture.  He has expressed His love toward us.  Can we communicate that in return?

All good relationships require both sides be willing to serve the other.  It took my wife and me years to realize that happiness in marriage wasn’t about having our own needs met, but being able to meet the needs of our partner.  Jesus Himself provided the biggest example of love and closeness by sacrifice.  It is the Golden Rule!  Love others as thyself! (Mt. 22:39)  Service and kindness to others is what Jesus communicated to His disciples when He washed their feet (Jn. 13).

When we communicate with others, the conversation isn’t just about us.  The conversation involves us serving the needs of the other person by enabling them to share aspects of their lives.  It means us listening so we can hear about their hopes, concerns, and encouragements.  Quite frequently, there is nothing someone likes to do more than talk about themselves!  Yet, that too can be therapeutic.  Such interactions draw us closer.  The simplest of conversations can build into much deeper matters.

How do we show love for our Savior?  We serve!  We keep His commandments (Jn. 14:15).  His ways are higher and deeper than our ways, so we serve to draw closer so that we can be more like Him.  The more we know Him and act like Him, the stronger that bond becomes.  The apostle Paul described his own actions as a servant of others:  “For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more” (1 Co. 9:19).  As mentioned previously, when we spend time with others we build bonds.  Everyone on earth needs help in some way.  Service can be provided to young or old, in big and little ways.  As you serve others, you will find opportunities to better serve God by glorifying Him through good works.

Our life and time are not our own.  They are gifts given by God.  We can show ourselves to be good stewards of what God has given us, or we can simply ignore what has been given (Mt. 25:14-30).  God desires we use our time wisely (Ep. 5:15-17).  This means we must prioritize, organize, and realize.  When we do this, we will find time to further devote to getting closer to God, our brothers and sisters in Christ, and those of this world.

Yes, this requires effort on our part.  We must seek the closeness of others.  We must communicate with others.  We must engage ourselves in the service of others.  These suggestions for redeeming the time and making the most of it are simply stated.  Putting them into action requires concentrated effort.  We don’t need to worry, for we can do this when our service is focused upon Christ (Ph. 4:13).  I pray we all may achieve the closeness we are seeking.

[I first published this article in the Carolina Messenger under the title “Growing Closer to God and Each Other”] – Travis

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Commandment Keeping

Commandment Keeping

There are those in the religious world today who ridicule the idea of keeping commandments. They claim that keeping God’s commandments have nothing to do with our salvation today. If someone objects and says that we must keep God’s commandments to be saved, the charge of legalism is leveled against him. Is it true that keeping God’s commandments has nothing to do with salvation? Are we legalists because we demand that those who follow Christ keep his commandments? Let’s examine these questions in light of the New Testament scriptures.

Love Him? Love His Word? Love His Commandments? Show it.

Love Him? Love His Word? Love His Commandments? Show it.

Often, Jesus Himself is cited as one who criticized the Pharisees for being commandment keepers. However, such was not the case. We should note well that Jesus never condemned anyone for keeping God’s commandments. Jesus, however, did condemn the Pharisees for placing their own commandments above God’s! This is an entirely different situation. Matthew 15:1-9 is one such instance. Jesus confronted the Pharisees in regard to transgressing God’s command to keep their own tradition (15:3). He said that they had made God’s commandment of none effect by their tradition (15:6). Then He says that they in fact have taught for doctrine their own commandments, the commandments of men (15:9). Keeping such commandments should not be placed into the same category as keeping God’s commandments. To equate the desire to keep God’s commandments with the desire to keep man’s commandments in place of God’s commandments is to pervert the words of Jesus and entirely miss the point. Jesus expected others to keep God’s commandments. It is because these Pharisees had set aside God’s commandments, that Jesus’ anger was kindled against them.

In contrast to ridiculing commandment keeping, Jesus Himself preached it! In Matthew 19:17, Jesus told one asking about obtaining eternal life to keep God’s commandments if he would enter into life. The man asked what he lacked and Jesus added another commandment, namely, to go sell all that he had to the poor and follow Jesus (19:21). In John 14:15 Jesus said to the apostles, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” Loving Jesus is dependent upon keeping His commandments. To say that we love Jesus, yet fail to keep his commandments is hypocrisy at best and outright lying at worst. Jesus reiterates in John 15:10 “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.” Note two things about this scripture. First, Jesus equates keeping commandments with abiding in His love. When you note John 14:15 (that you can’t love without keeping the commandments) along with John 15:10 (that you can’t keep the commandments without abiding in love), one gains a very firm conclusion: we can love Jesus if and only if we keep his commandments. But second, what is even more remarkable about John 15:10 is that Jesus himself is a commandment keeper. He abides in the love of the Father through keeping the Father’s commandments. Here is a one-two knockout for those who claim that commandment keeping has nothing to do with salvation.

The apostle John explains further in his first epistle just exactly what the relationship between commandment keeping and salvation is. In 1 John 2:3, 4 we read, “And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” The simple conclusion is that one cannot come to know God without keeping the commandments. If you don’t know God, you can’t be saved (2 Thess.1:8). The apostle John comments further in 1 John 5:2, 3 “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.” We cannot even love God without keeping God’s commandments. In fact, John defines love for God in exactly these terms. He says, “This is the love of God.” Let we forget, love for God is the first and greatest commandment. Loving our neighbor is like this commandment, but ultimately comes second (Matthew 22:37-39). My relationship with God always takes precedence over my relationship with other people. This means that I must be concerned about keeping God’s commandments.

The bottom line is ultimately this. Those who ridicule commandment keeping, ridicule Jesus himself, for He was a commandment keeper (John 15:10). Those who ridicule commandment keepers, ridicule the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit was only promised to those who kept Jesus commandments (John 14:15-17). And those who ridicule commandment keepers, ridicule God the Father because we can neither know Him or love Him without doing such (1 John 2:3; 5:2). Such has nothing to do with being a legalist; and has everything to do with our being saved. So let’s keep those commandments and show God that we truly do love Him!

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National Geographic Fantasies

National Geographic Fantasies

National Geographic. Just the mention of those two words together are synonymous with, representative of, and bring to mind, some of the most beautiful, colorful,  dazzling, high definition and mind-boggling photography of almighty God’s creation that His world has ever seen. Tragically, they often also bring to mind something far more sinister, serious, and insidious as well – at least for those who know even the least little bit about the bible – the abiding and eternal word of almighty God (Psalm 119:89).

The blasphemies of man are not limited to National Geographic.

The blasphemies of man are not limited to National Geographic.

For example, how many times have you been watching some beautifully panoramic and ingeniously photographed nature show – whether on their network or some other – and heard those inevitable and ever-present, biblically-blasphemous and God-denying, “billions,” “millions,” or even “tens of thousands of years ago” statements made and spoken of as if indeed fact? Statements which are based solely, on nothing more than man’s highly-treasured but desperately worthless and deluded human theories, instead of on the all-powerful and eternal word of our almighty God and Creator who was actually there in the beginning and personally engineered the entire creation they are so fond of photographing? A world which was created by Him – but only about 6,500 years ago according to His divinely-dictated, eternally-changeless, heaven-originated record?

And while all such madly misinformed, “millions of years ago” mindsets might continually deny the authoritative record of almighty God, almighty God certainly didn’t deny their existence. In fact, He foretold it: For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man–and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen (Romans 1:18-25). God’s point herein is that anyone truly and objectively looking at the natural world all around them in all of its glory, majesty, and splendor, cannot honestly come to any other conclusion than that God exists and created it all just as He said.

The bible then continues: For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting… (Romans 1:26-28).

As that passage so clearly and unequivocally indicates, when anyone decides to willfully and continually deny almighty God, His eternal existence, and exactly what His inerrant and all-sufficient truth says about all things in the natural as well as in the spiritual world in favor of their own erroneously-contrived and arrived at conclusions, God sadly gives way; gives them what they want; and allows the deviant and immoral mindsets and lifestyles they apparently so prefer, to slowly poison, seductively pervert, and eventually overwhelm and destroy them (See also: 2 Thessalonians 2:9-17).

It is by the very process described in Romans 1:18-32, that God’s eternal wisdom – and by extension, His very existence – is proven time and again. And this is especially telling and intriguing when those who deny His existence by their rebellion against His truth with their “millions of years ago” man-made theories, mythologies, and other philosophies (See: Colossians 2:4-14), do by nature, the very things He said those who would thus deny Him would then also do, nearly 1900 years before they were even born. Don’t think so? Think again! A recent “special issue” of the monthly National Geographic magazine entitled “Gender Revolution,” featured a nine year old transgendered boy on the cover, presumably promoting the sexual deviancy that the American Psychiatric Association defines as a mental health issue. Can’t Nat Geo’s writers read? How can they possibly miss, misunderstand, and/or misrepresent something as incredibly simple as Matthew 19:4: “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning made them male and female?” That’s about as simple as “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1), or, the many other statements found in scripture, absolutely proving the existence and providence of God, such as are found in places like Psalm 19, Isaiah 45, and throughout. The only way one can truly miss or misunderstand something as simple as that, is to make up one’s mind beforehand, for whatever personal reason, to want to do so.

And that brings us then to this… The most recent offering from an organization which apparently can’t come anywhere close to admitting the actual and accurate age of the earth according to the word of God, and that can’t figure out something as simple and basic as God having created humans as either only male or female according to His word, is now preparing to give us another installment of “The Story of God,” beginning Thursday evening, January 19th. From what I’ve seen in the ads and trailers for this little TV mini-series, Morgan Freeman apparently travels the world over in an attempt to answer such questions as, “Does God exist?” “Where did we come from?” “What happens when we die?” “Who are the chosen ones?” and several others of the same ilk.

But the sad irony of this series is that one doesn’t have to travel to far-off mountains and secluded civilizations to find the answers to such questions. In fact, those are exactly the wrong places to look because mere mortals don’t know the answers to those questions in and of of themselves – only God does! And He has lovingly and graciously placed them all right in front of us, in stark, easy to read, black and white simplicity in His all-encompassing and enlightening word, the bible – which is, by the way, THE Story of God (2 Timothy 3:14-4:4).

For example, the bible definitively answers the question, “Does God exist?” The answer is found on virtually every page of this one of a kind, divinely-inspired and dictated document; from Genesis 1:1, to Isaiah chapters 40-45 in particular, to the accounts of Jesus Christ the Son of the living God and all that He did as recorded in the four gospels, up through the book of Acts and on into Romans 1, and throughout the entire rest of the New Testament writings. Yes Morgan and mankind, God does exist.

As to the question “Where did we come from?” once again, God has already told us very clearly in Genesis 1 through 3; and then in His great love and patience has repeated the answer in multiple other places such as Genesis 5:1, Psalm 139:13-16, Isaiah 45:11-12, 1 Timothy 2:8-15 and others. As to the question, “What happens when we die?” God has already answered that as well, in places like Ecclesiastes 12:1-7, Luke 16:19-31, Romans 2:2-11, 1 Corinthians 15:1-58, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:10, and others also.

And even – and perhaps even especially – when it comes to exactly who the “chosen ones” really are, God has once, and once and for all (Jude 1:1-25), defined and determined, exactly who they are and shall be as well. As His hand-picked apostle John – who actually walked with Jesus – reported in Revelation 17:14, it is only and exclusively those who are with Jesus, the “Lord of lords and King of kings,” who comprise the “called, chosen, and faithful.”

As another one of the Son of God’s handpicked apostles, Peter – who also walked with Him – additionally reiterated in his first epistle, it is only those who repent and obey God’s black and white biblical truth, hence being redeemed by the precious blood of Christ and then following His eternal word of truth from that point forward (1 Peter 1:1-2:8), who constitute His “chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people… who once were not a people, but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy” (1 Peter 2:9-10). The “chosen ones” are therefore very easily and clearly defined – by God. They are those whom, as Peter first instructed on the Day of Pentecost and whom then responded in faithful obedience as reported in Acts 2: believed the gospel message of Christ enough to repent and be buried with Him in baptism specifically for the forgiveness of their sins; and who were then subsequently added, by God, to His Son’s ‘saved by grace through their faith’ group, or church; and whom then completely devoted themselves and their new lives to following the apostle’s doctrine, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Period. (See: Acts 2:22-47; Romans 6:1-23, 16:16-18; Galatians 3:26-29; Ephesians 1 and etc…).

Sadly however, I seriously doubt that those penitent, obedient, and blood-washed saints who comprise the Lord’s one, New Testament, pre-denominational church of Christ as seen in Scripture, are the ones who will ultimately be reported by Mr. Freeman to be the “chosen ones” despite what God in His word said. This, because he’s looking for answers in all the wrong places; this, because instead of accepting the eternally inerrant and divinely-inspired written record – and of these two apostles in particular who were actually eyewitnesses who walked with Jesus (1 John 1:1-4) – he will be consulting with mere men some two millennia removed from the time the Son of God walked the earth, was killed, buried, and raised again (or resurrected) on the third day thereafter, just as the scriptures said He would (Luke 24:44-49; 1 Corinthians 15:1-10).

And one has to wonder how many people might possibly be led astray by the potentially unbiblical, and at times perhaps even anti-biblical information intrinsic in such presentations (2 Peter 1:16-2:2). For example, in an interview found at http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/03/160329-morgan-freeman-interview-story-of-god, Mr. Freeman indicated his apparent belief in the God-defying and biblically denying doctrine of reincarnation, stating: “One really interesting thing I didn’t know was that reincarnation is binding. You’re bound to the Earth; you’re bound to a corporal existence. You have to keep coming back and coming back until you get it right. But once you get it right, that’s it, you’re done. But, we were in Varanasi in India, the holiest city on the Ganges, and we learned that you could get a shortcut. Just go to Varanasi and die, and be cremated at that river, and that’s it, you’re done, it’s over. You don’t have to come back anymore. So you know where I’m going!”

In Hebrews 9:27-28 however, God forever and very simply settles the question of reincarnation once and for all wherein He says: “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him, He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.” And as Romans 3:4 goes on to reinforce when it comes to this text which refutes reincarnation – or any other vain and man-made doctrine for that matter (Mk. 7:1-13) – “Indeed, let God be true and every man a liar.”

Mr. Freeman then goes on to further explain in the aforementioned interview, how He and the film crew were kicked out of the site of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, because, being in one of the tombs near where the crucifixion took place, he, quote, “used the term ‘myth,’ and we were asked to leave post-haste. Out.”

So… we are supposed to somehow believe and accept, that we are getting a true, actual, and accurate picture and portrayal of the story of God, from a production in which the lead investigator apparently believes in biblically contradictory false doctrines, but at the same time, at a tomb in Jerusalem near where the crucifixion of the Christ occurred, he and his film crew were actually kicked out for referring to something said or done there, as ‘myth?’ Think I’ll pass.

Bottom Line? If you really want to know the true story of God, then don’t waste your time watching such misleading things (2 John 9-11; Ephesians 5:15-17; 2 Peter 3:14-18); spend your valuable God-given time instead, studying God’s divinely-dictated, eternally-accurate and eye witnessed word – which is the absolute truth (John 8:31-32, 17:17) and the one, God-given standard by which we shall all be judged on the last day, according to none other than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself (John 12:48-50)!

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