The Gospel of Jesus Christ

This is the essay that I wrote this year for the Grandbury Street Bible Search. I scored a 94 out of 100, and got 1st place with it. Personally, think I could have done better, but for having only an hour, and a vague idea of what I wanted to say, it’s all right. This is the slightly edited version that I made when I typed it into my computer, so it’s a little bit better than the original, at least by a little bit.

 

The Gospel of Jesus Christ

 

At end of the book of Luke, just before Jesus ascended back up into heaven, He is recorded giving His disciples some last instructions. In these last words of Jesus, He explains to them why certain things had happened the way they had, and what they were to do once He had gone back up into heaven. Today, we also can learn several things from these words of Jesus.
In Luke 24: 46 Jesus says, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise again the third day.” Jesus is telling His disciples that it was absolutely essential that He die on the cross. One reason was to fulfill prophecy. There are many places in the Old Testament, specifically in Isaiah and the Psalms, where there is prophecy of Jesus’ death, and every single one of them was fulfilled. Another reason was that if Jesus had not died, the sins of all mankind could not have been forgiven, and it would be impossible for us to be saved. But it was equally important that He rose from the dead the third day. If Jesus had stayed in the tomb, He would have been like all other men before Him, and we still could not be forgiven. But, He did rise again, conquering death for all of us. Through His death, burial, and resurrection, all men can have hope, if they will obey the laws God has set forth.
Continuing on, Jesus says, “And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name, to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” Jesus commanded His disciples to preach the Gospel to all nations, and they did! If you look at the Book of Acts, you will see that they traveled all over the known world, and everywhere they went, the Gospel was preached. If the Gospel had not been spread all over the world, no one would have known what they needed to do to be saved, and Jesus would have died in vain.
Preaching the Gospel is a task set to all Christians. Every one of us can be out telling others the good news that Jesus died for them. And, we should want to! If God, the one who made the whole universe, loved us enough to send His only begotten son into this world to carry our sins for us to the cross, we should be so excited, we can’t help but tell others what Christ has done for us! I hope and pray that all Christians, myself included, can have the zeal and enthusiasm that the Early Christians had, and teach all who will listen the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Some quotes by G.K. Chesterton

An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered.
Gilbert K. Chesterton

Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried.
Gilbert K. Chesterton

A room without books is like a body without a soul.
Gilbert K. Chesterton

And one more (which is my absolute favorite quote of all time)…

The way to love anything is to realize that it may be lost.
Gilbert K. Chesterton

Another apology, in prose

Alas, and though I left for camp, I didn’t manage to bring back anything blog-worthy that wouldn’t go splat. I have also been busy with working on two college classes, as well as my high school work, so I have been quite busy. Please forgive me for not having time to write. So, since I don’t have anything worthy to publish that I have written, I may resort to excerpts from books that I have read, or poems, or bits of poems, or wise sayings that I have found. Just whatever, that I think you as my reader will enjoy. Again, I ask your forgiveness for not finding time to sit down and write, but perhaps one of these days soon I can find time to sit down and put the pen to the paper (or my fingers to the keyboard). Until then, may you have many literary adventures!

Excelsior

This is one of my most favorite poems of all time, so I thought I’d put it on here so you could read it too. There might be some words in this poem that you aren’t familiar with, and I encourage you to look them up, so you can understand better what it’s talking about.

The Shades of night were falling fast,
As through an Alpine village passed
A youth, who bore, ‘mid snow and ice,
A banner with a strange device,
Excelsior!

His brow was sad; his eye beneath,
Flashed like a falchion from its sheath,
And like a silver clarion rung
The accents of that unknown tongue,
Excelsior!

In happy homes he saw the light
Of household fires gleam warm and bright;
Above, the spectral glaciers shone,
And from his lips escaped a groan,
Excelsior!

“Try not the pass!” the old man said;
“Dark lowers the tempest overhead,
The roaring torrent is deep and wide!”
And loud that clarion voice replied,
Excelsior!

“O stay,” the maiden said, “and rest
Thy weary head upon this breast!”
A tear stood in his bright blue eye,
But still he answered with a sigh,
Excelsior!

“Beware the pine trees withered branch!
Beware the awful avalanche!”
This was the peasant’s last Good-night,
A voice replied, far up the height,
Excelsior!

At break of day, as heavenward
The pious monks of Saint Bernard
Uttered the oft-repeated prayer,
A voice cried through the startled air,
Excelsior!

A traveler, by the faithful hound,
Half-buried in the snow was found,
Still grasping in his hand of ice
That banner with the strange device,
Excelsior!

There in the twilight cold and grey,
Lifeless, but beautiful, he lay,
And from the sky, serene and far,
A voice fell, like a falling star,
Excelsior!

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

note: excelsior is Latin, meaning “higher”.

An Apology (in mostly iambic tetrameter)

Please forgive my absence here

For I’ve been busy everywhere,

That I’ve not had the time to sit

And write, and blog a little bit.

 

It may be weeks before I write

again, for I’ll be out of sight

At Camp Blue Haven, where the night

Is black as black, and stars are bright.

 

And so I leave you with these lines.

And as I wander through the pines,

I’ll try and find a subject that

Will blog for me – that won’t go splat.

My Squeaky Piano Bench

Our piano bench is old, though I don’t know how old. It squeaks, and could use a refinishing. But, I find it funny that when I’m sitting on it playing, it likes to squeak on the best parts, as though it were having just as much fun listening to me play as I am having playing. It especially likes to squeak when I’m using the pedal. I agree with it; songs played with the pedal sound even better than ones without it.

Maybe one of these days I’ll figure out what’s making it squeak, but for now, I think I’ll leave it there. I like my haunted piano bench.

Seeking the Lost

This is my speech for my last year of LTC, 2005. I have updated it a little bit, but for the most part I have left it intact. The writing in this isn’t all that great, but it’s message is fundamental for all Christians.

Every one of us has lost something at one time or another. The things that we have lost can range from little unimportant things, like a pen or pencil, to something of great value, such as a wedding ring or a purse. I remember one time when my brother lost something of great value to him: his glasses.

That day we were out riding our mules, and we came to the spot where the grass is almost always green. Charlie our mule, who always likes to munch along the trail, wanted to stop there for a snack. We call that spot Charlie’s “grass station”. On that particular day when we were ready to move on Charlie was not, and when we started riding away, he didn’t notice us leaving. We did not get very far before Charlie realized that everyone had left him. He ripped through a tree and went tearing up the road as fast as he could go, to catch up with all his mule buddies. Unfortunately, my brother was riding him that day, and when he tore through the tree, he ripped his hat off and knocked his glasses off, as well as scratching his face up pretty badly. With Charlie running up behind them, all the other mules were sure something was wrong and started running too, sending a quiet ride through the Wilderness into chaos. Once we had all the mules under control again, we went back and found my brother’s hat, but no matter how hard we looked, we couldn’t find his glasses anywhere. Finally, Dad decided to go back to the house and get a pair of his old glasses so he could see at least a little bit. But as Dad was leaving on his mule, he heard something go crunch under her hoof. It turned out to be Benjamin’s glasses. We were all relieved that we had found them intact, and that we wouldn’t have to go buy him another pair. My brother was especially glad, because Dad had threatened to buy him contacts, and he does not like contacts.

But when you compare losing your glasses to losing your soul, there is no real comparison. Out in the world there are many people who have lost their souls, and it is our main purpose in life to find these people and teach them the gospel.

First of all, in looking at this mission, we need to know who is lost. In 2 Peter 2:21 it says, “For it were better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered unto them”. In this verse it says that those who have been in the Lord at one time, but have fallen away, are lost. In fact, it would have been better if they had never even heard of the gospel and obeyed it, than for them to turn away from it. But ultimately, those who do not obey the commandments of God are lost, as it says in Matt. 7:21: “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven.” And in John 14:15 “If ye love me, ye will keep my commandments.”

Second, in order to know who is lost, we need to know why people are lost. One reason is because they don’t know. In Acts 17:30 it says “The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked; but now he commandeth men that they should all everywhere repent.”

Another reason why people are lost is because, even though they know about God and his plan of salvation, they don’t care. As it says in Heb. 10:26: “For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more a sacrifice for sins.”
These people are selfish and want to do what they want, not what God wants. A good example of this is shown in 2Tim 4:10 “for Demas forsook me, having loved this present world, and went to Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia.” Demas was not strong enough in The Word, so he was drawn into the Satan’s trap, and fell away from the truth, as in the parable of the sower in Luke 8:14 “And that which fell among the thorns, these are they that have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.”

Third, since we now know that those who do not obey the Word of God are lost, and that those who do not know God are as lost as those who know the truth but don’t care, we ask the question “what can we do to show those who are lost the way to salvation?” There are many different ways to teach people the gospel. Some like knocking doors, asking people they don’t even know for a bible study. Others prefer to talk to people they already know such as friends and coworkers. Everyone can and must be a part of saving the lost. Something that any and everyone can do is to get names for the “House to House Heart to Heart” newsletter. This publication helps to prepare hearts to receive the Gospel.

No matter how we do it, every Christian must be about the work of saving the lost. Jesus commands us in the great commission in Mark 16:15-16 “And he said unto them, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to the whole creation. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that disbelieveth shall be condemned.” Whether you lose your glasses or any other physical thing, it is nothing compared to losing your soul in hell. May it always be our number one concern to find and to save all of those who are lost.

A switch to WordPress

This is my new blog on WordPress! I won’t be getting rid of my Blogger one (for archival reasons), but I don’t think I’ll be putting anything new on there. It all depends on whether I like WordPress or not. For the moment I don’t like the theme on this blog (called a template in Blogger), but on our slow Internet, I don’t think I can mess with it right now. Soon though, very soon I will. Now I shall continue my exploration of my WordPress dashboard. Happy blogging to all!