“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”- 1 Cor. 1:18

My family just celebrated the life of my Dad.

He lived a full life, no question.

My Dad was a husband to my Mom for 72 years!

He served our country, flying bombers in World War II and Korea.

His relay team set a world record in the 4 x 400 for his age group in Masters Track & Field.

He carried the Olympic torch in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

My folks lived in the same home in Van Nuys, CA for 40 years.

He also ran a successful design and marketing business for 40 years.

But when God took his brother before he reached 50 years old and then later his five-year-old daughter, my Dad couldn’t understand how the Lord could do that.

And my dad walked away from his faith.

Consequently, we were raised in a loving home, but a loving home without faith.

No Jesus.

And no hope of salvation beyond the grave.

God Gave You A Free Gift—Salvation

When I finally came to faith, my dad was angry.

“You’ve joined a cult!” He declared.

“You’ve been brainwashed!” He blasted.

But, over time, his arguments turned into softer words.

Verbal wars melted into lovingkindness and tender mercies.

Near the end of his life, while he was entering into dementia and eventually Alzheimer’s disease, I presented Dad with Romans 10:9.

“If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

I said, “Dad, do you believe this?”

He replied, “Yeah, the Bible says so.”

I thought to myself, “OK, I’ll take that.”

We had been warring for years, and if this simple affirmation accomplished his salvation, I’d just trust the Lord with this.

Dad’s arguments with faith and salvation found in Jesus Christ alone were straightforward.

• How could a loving God take my brother and daughter?
• Christians are all hypocrites!
• Just be a good person, and if there is a heaven, you should be good to go.

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.” – 1 Cor. 1:18

Never was the truth of this Scripture so apparent in my life.

The world is blind to the things of God.

We speak a different language than they do.

I believe that most of the arguments against Biblical Christianity and following Jesus have nothing to do with what our Lord teaches in His Word.

The notion that “all roads lead to Heaven” is so misguided and deceptive.

Jesus is the only way to Heaven, period.

I used to fly single-engine airplanes.

As a pilot, I was directed by local airport tower personnel on which direction to land on specified runways.

I never heard of anyone disagreeing with the air traffic controller on which runway to land on.

The decision was based on wind direction, aircraft performance, and safety.

No argument.

And the same goes for God’s Word and His way of salvation.

It’s not our place to argue with God or demand that He bend to our ways and beliefs.

We are to accept His Word as absolute truth and bend to His.

The Truth vs. The Lie

Thank God, Jesus made a way to Heaven!

Salvation is a free gift available to all who repent and trust in Him.

But, the world is offended at Jesus and His Gospel of grace through faith.

“And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved” – Matthew 10:22

“And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.” – Mattew 11:6

What is the source of the World’s objection to Christ?

Humanity’s pride and sin nature.

“Not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he falls into the same condemnation as the devil.” – 1Titus 3:6

Jesus’ declares that we need a Savior and He is the only way to Heaven.

But humankind’s pride and sin nature reject the Gospel’s message outright.

Until, we’re faced with life-changing issues such as death, loss, pain, suffering, heartbreak, abandonment, abuse, etc.

The turning point for the “Prodigal Son” was, “when he came to himself.”

At that moment, the wayward son realized, “Hey, this isn’t working the way I expected.”

“I didn’t sign up for all this pain and suffering.” (Loose paraphrasing)

In moments like this, you can either allow your assumptions about God to object.

Or, you can receive the Holy Spirit and become new.

When we assume we know God upon hearing the offensive truth that we’re all sinners, our flesh cries out, “I don’t need to hear that!”, or “My professor said God is a myth.”

Or “I have been hurt by people in the Church.  Why would I want to associate with them?”

Or…

When the objections to the gospel come, we have to ask the question, “What does that have to do with the teachings of Jesus?”

Somewhere in the blindness of our nature the true character of Jesus is lost on mankind.

Living on excuses and denial does not make Jesus disappear.

Atheists and skeptics such as Richard Dawkins can refuse to debate believers all they want.

But that doesn’t change the truth.

In general, however, Dawkins has followed the advice of his late colleague Stephen Jay Gould and refused to participate in formal debates with creationists because, “What they seek is the oxygen of respectability.”

And doing so would “give them this oxygen by the mere act of engaging with them at all.”

He suggests that creationists, “Don’t mind being beaten in an argument. What matters is that we give them recognition by bothering to argue with them in public.” (Richard Dawkins, ref. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Dawkins )

At this point, we also have to remember who is behind all of this deception.

“So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him”. (Revelation 12:9)

There’s A Battle Ragging—For You!

The war is for our souls.

Satan knows his days are numbered.

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12)

The enemy is not our spouse, our neighbor or anyone who disagrees with us.

Our enemy is the devil and is evil. 

But our God is greater!

We also have to learn, remember and comprehend who Jesus is, why He came, and trust His promises to us.

Meditate on His word.

Immerse yourself in the things of God.

Praise Him for the free gift of salvation that He’s given you.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus; look full in His wonderful face.

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim; in the light of His glory and grace.

And above all, love one another as you keep following Jesus!

“This is My commandment that you love one another as I have loved you.” (John 15:12)