Your house is on fire

If I were to tell you that your house was on fire and you needed to get out, would you be mad at me? If it were the 2nd floor burning and you were on the first, watching your favorite TV show, would you still run out of the house? I hope so. Because you'd turn around and see the house on fire once you got out. But metaphorically speaking, some people just shrug at the alarming news and continue to enjoy their TV show. If I ran past you out of the house and didn't tell you the house was on fire, wouldn't you be pretty mad? I would if someone did that to me! So even if you are busy right with something else, take a minute to read this and let me explain. Because your house is on fire. Don't read the first paragraph and assume you know what I'm about to say and roll your eyes and stop reading.

Steve Jobs was a Buddhist. Which means he will not be in heaven. I can't imagine the scene where he stands before God and all Steve's brilliance and wealth on earth was not enough and he suddenly realizes that there was something more important in life that he missed. He did not have it all. The mark he left on the world may be a big one and it may last for decades, but essentially it is meaningless.

"And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life." - 1 John 5:11-12

"Jesus answered, 'I am the way, the truth, the life. NO ONE comes to the Father except through me.'" -John 14:6

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." -Matthew 7:13-14

In a book that Francis Chan wrote called, "Erasing Hell," : "We have become dangerously comfortable - believers ooze with wealth and let their addictions to comfort and security numb the radical urgency of the gospel. What's encouraging is that there seems to be a growing number of American believers who recognize this and are making changes." "If my two-year-old son runs out into the street, is it unloving to warn him of the destruction coming in the form of a Chevy 4x4? Does anyone criticize the fireman for waking up a family to rescue them from a burning house?"

Does it all make sense? No. But did we create everything that exists? No. Does an ant understand that humans have houses, jobs, friends, families, feelings....no. All an ant cares about it getting food and building ant hills. We're like ants. We can build the biggest ant hill ever in mankind, but at the end of the day the rain will wash away the ant hill. And as much as the ants understand humans, that's as much as humans understand God. But the cool thing is, God LOVES us! He doesn't just want us to go to heaven some day, but He also wants us to experience love and joy and peace here on earth.

I've heard, "Well why would I want to love a God who sends people to hell?" God doesn't send them there, they chose to go there. He says, "I want YOU in heaven. But if you don't want to come, that's your choice." And not just God, but Jesus as well, because they're the same thing. Jesus is the reason we GO to heaven! Just believing in God but not Jesus is like saying to a friend, "Hey, I want to be friends with you, but only when you're happy, and only on Wednesdays. I don't really want to be your friend the other days of the week, and especially not if you're hurting / sad / mad / irritating." Some people just don't believe He's real but I'm here to tell you HE IS.

I think the hardest thing about all of this from a Christian's standpoint is that it hurts SO much to know people and love people who don't love God because they aren't going to heaven. It's hard to have a conversation and explain that without them being mad or upset or offended or running the other way. It's hard to express the importance of this, that it's not just going to church on Sundays and you're good to go. It's hard knowing that so many people have made up their mind and they are completely against changing their mind. And knowing that there's nothing I can do to change it. I can live it out, I can tell people, I can serve people...but sometimes people still don't care or don't believe or don't understand how important it is. Sometimes I don't know how to tell other people. Sometimes I try, and it just doesn't really do anything. Yes, sometimes I worry that someone will defriend me from facebook because they are tired of hearing me talk about God, or will never speak to me again. But for me to not say anything at all is so much worse. This is not about people liking me, this is about where you will spend the rest of eternity when you die. This is me loving you enough to tell you. I pray often for those I know who don't KNOW Jesus and love Him and follow Him. To believe He exists is not enough. I believe satan exists but I sure as heck don't follow him.

Our purpose on life isn't to make more money, to impress the world with our talents or ideas, or to live as happy of a life as possible. It's to get to know God, tell others about Him.