Crowning the Year With Goodness: A Thanksgiving Message

As we move into this week in which we celebrate a national day of Thanksgiving, I’ll forgo the usual reminders of the history of the day, the Pilgrims, and so on. Hopefully, we’ve kept those wonderful things in mind.

Instead, I simply will share with you some words on Thanksgiving from my favorite preacher. In calling for a day of Thanksgiving in his own church in September of 1863, Spurgeon spoke from Psalm 65:11 and the words: “Thou crownest the year with thy goodness.” (Thanksgiving and Prayer, #532)

Simply thinking of how God crowns our year, each and every year, each and every day of the year, Spurgeon said.

“All the year round, every hour of every day, God is richly blessing us; both when we sleep and when we wake, his mercy waits upon us. The sun may leave off shining, but our God will never cease to cheer his children with his love. Like a river his lovingkindness is always flowing, with a fullness inexhaustible as his own nature, which is its source. Like the atmosphere which always surrounds the earth, and is always ready to support the life of man, the benevolence of God surrounds all his creatures; in it, as in their element they live, and move, and have their being. Yet as the sun on summer days appears to gladden us with beams more warm and bright than at other times, and as rivers are at certain seasons swollen with the rain, and as the atmosphere itself on occasions is fraught with more fresh, more bracing, or more balmy influences than heretofore, so is it with the mercy of God: it hath its golden hours, its days of overflow, when the Lord magnifieth his grace and lifteth high his love before the sons of men.”

Indeed, this ought to be such a time. We ought to be thankful each and every day, but especially during this “holiday” season, we ought to be especially mindful of His mercy and grace. What amazing grace it is. And seeing that grace, embracing that mercy, upholding God’s crowing gifts in our life is the very best way to celebrate the season.

Spurgeon saw that as well, and concluded his message with a few suggestions about how we could truly see God’s crowning goodness in our lives. And I’ll leave you with those same suggestions, praying you may see God’s grace and goodness this Thanksgiving season.

The whole subject seems to give us one or two suggestions as to matters of duty. “Thou crownest the year with thy goodness.” One suggestion is this: some of you in this house are strangers to God, you have been living as his enemies, and you will probably die so. But what a blessing it would be if a part of the crown of this year should be your conversion! “The harvest is past and the summer is ended, and ye are not saved.” But oh, what a joy, if this very day you should turn unto God and live! Remember, the way of salvation was freely proclaimed last Sabbath morning, it runs in this style — “This is the commandment, that ye believe on Jesus Christ whom he hath sent.” Soul, if this day thou trustest in Christ, it shall be thy spiritual birthday, it shall be unto thee the beginning of days; emancipated from thy chains, delivered from the darkness of the valley of the shadow of death, thou shalt be the Lord’s free man. What sayest thou? O that the Spirit of God would bring thee this day to turn unto him with full purpose of heart.

Another suggestion. Would not the Lord crown this year with his goodness if he would move some of you to do more for him than you have ever done before? Cannot you think of some new thing that you have forgotten, but which is in the power of your hand? Can you not do it for Christ to-day? — some fresh soul you have never conversed with, some fresh means of usefulness you have never attempted?

And lastly, would not it be well for us if the Lord would crown this year with his goodness by making us begin from this day to be more prayerful?
Let our prayer meetings have more at them, and let everyone in his closet pray more for the preacher, pray more for the Church. Let us, everyone of us, give our hearts anew to Christ. What say you to-day, to renew your consecration vow? Let us say to him, “Here, Lord, I give myself away to thee once more. Thou hast bought me with thy blood, accept me over again; from this good hour I will begin a new life for a second time if thy Spirit be with me. Help me, Lord, for Jesus Christ’s sake.” Amen.

And Amen.

What Is Your Legacy?

I don’t mean to brag or anything, but in high school I won the Louis Armstrong Jazz Award, for outstanding high school jazz musician. It’s not nearly as prestigious as it sounds. I went to a relatively small school, and was only for graduating seniors in our own jazz band. (Although, we were a good band, placing in the top three of nearly every contest we entered; brag, brag, brag…) Still, it’s a fun little piece of trivia in my mostly anonymous life.

I bring it up now simply as a way of introducing why I still love jazz music. I’ve mentioned before that my tastes are pretty eclectic. While I listen to mostly “Christian” music, my tastes range from classic rock (Petra, Whiteheart, Rez, etc.), to 80s metal bands (Stryper, Barren Cross, Whitecross), to contemporary rock bands (everything from Newsboys and Third Day, to Skillet and Thousand Foot Krutch) with even some “reformed” rap tossed in (Flame, Lecrae, Shai Linne). And in addition, I like the blue eyed soul of Bryan Duncan and the Neho Soul Band, and the big band/jazz sounds of Denver and the Mile High Orchestra. Which brings me back to the jazz band thing and my point.

On the way in this morning, I was listening to D&MHO and the song Only Jesus (My Legacy) came on. Here are some of the lyrics:

What will they say, When my life is over?
Will it fade into the past?
What will remain, When my life is over?
Is there something that will last?
What will I leave behind to stand the test of time?
I leave the One who’s worthy of my whole life

My legacy, all I will leave, Is Jesus, only Jesus
The world will see, inside of me, Is Jesus, only Jesus
Lord, I long for You to be my legacy

They won’t remember my name
But they’ll know the God that saved me
My life may fade away
But they’ll know the truth that sets me free
So I will live today, For You alone to be
My life, my love, my legacy

What will folks say about me when I’m gone? What is my legacy? Good questions. An even better question is “what will my family say?” What is the legacy I’m leaving behind in my children, and then their children?

I was thinking about that lately anyway, since I picked up a copy of At the Throne of Grace, a collection of pastoral prayers from the ministry of John MacArthur. I’ve only read the first few entries, and while the prayers themselves are good, biblical, inspiring, all the things you expect from MacArthur, it was the book’s introduction that really got my attention.

MacArthur’s four adult children were the one’s to encourage this book to be printed, and they wrote the intro. While the book is a collection of MacArthur’s public pastoral prayers, it’s what the kids had to say about prayer and home that I want to highlight. Listen to what they say about dad and his prayers:

Even when we were very young, we listened attentively to our dad speak to his heavenly Father. We listened and we learned of God’s grace through these humble prayers. And we began to understand who Jesus is and what He had done for us. Our theology was shaped by the words our dad prayed.

Sitting around the kitchen table, we heard dad’s words of gratitude for the privilege of being adopted into God’s family. We heard expressions of his love for the Bible and the church around the world and for the people who were the congregational family at Grace church. His transparency disclosed his own disappointments, and his faith unpacked his sheer confidence in God’s providence. In his prayers, our day was carrying our family into the holy presence of the sovereign God of the universe. (John MacArthur, At the Throne of Grace, Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, Oregon, 2011; p 9)

Best of all, they write: “By God’s grace, our dad has been what he preaches.“ What a remarkable word for children to speak of their father. It speaks of the godly legacy this man is leaving behind, not only in his public ministry, but more importantly, in his family.

So what is my legacy? What will I leave behind? Is it Jesus, only Jesus? Will my children be able to say these kinds of things about how I have led them, and whether my life either did or did not back up my “public ministry?”

In the end, it doesn’t matter what cheap trophies we won in high school, what accolades we achieved at work, what material things we were able to accumulate. In the end, it’s our legacy that matters. I pray God will give me grace to provide a godly legacy to my children and to their children. What is your legacy?
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Now, just for fun, here’s Denver and the Mile High Orchestra with their rendition of It Is Well With My Soul. As a sax player, I have to call your attention to the pair of monster sax solos starting at about 1:51. Enjoy.

RE: The World Will End on Friday!

Oops

The World Will End on Friday!

I know a lot of folks have heard a lot of predictions about the end of the world. Two of those dates have come and gone this year. One is scheduled for next year. But I’m telling you now that the end will come this Friday.

The ominous date of 11-11-11 is the dead giveaway. First of all, it's a perfect date: a perfect same-numbered palindrome, reading the same backwards as forwards. And according to biblical numerology experts (at least on the one website I read) the number 11 is the number representing disorder and judgment. As we all know, the end will be accompanied by great chaos followed by judgment, so there you go.

Furthermore, we all know that Jesus had twelve disciples. One, of course, Judas was the betrayer and was kicked out. Well, he killed himself. But if he hadn’t, I’m sure he would have been kicked out. And either way, you are left with only eleven. After the resurrection, Luke says that Jesus "appeared to the eleven." He appears to the eleven! 11-11-11

And have you read Psalm 11? This is the real key. Here is the whole Psalm from the ESV:

In the LORD I take refuge; how can you say to my soul, "Flee like a bird to your mountain, for behold, the wicked bend the bow; they have fitted their arrow to the string to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart; if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?" The LORD is in his holy temple; the LORD's throne is in heaven; his eyes see, his eyelids test, the children of man. The LORD tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence. Let him rain coals on the wicked; fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup. For the LORD is righteous; he loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold his face.

Look at those words again: The Lord is in His temple. We know that will happen when he returns. He will rain coals on the wicked; a sign of judgment! The upright will behold his face. Behold His face! We’ll see Him. In the 11th Psalm. 11-11-11

And one more piece to the puzzle. In the eleventh book of the Bible, in the 11th chapter and 11th verse we read this: "Since this has been your practice and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes that I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you and will give it to your servant.” Did you hear that?? Because of the unfaithfulness of the people, God will tear this earthly kingdom from us and give it to His servant: Jesus. 11-11-11

I’ve spent years studying this. Well, days….well, a few minutes at least. And I’m convinced of the accuracy of this sign. The end is coming: 11-11-11. This Friday. I would expect that it would be about 11:11:11 in the morning, uh, Jerusalem time, I guess. Which would make it about 3:11 in the morning here in the Midwest US. Of course, that wrecks the 11 thing here, but it only counts in Jerusalem anyway. The time doesn’t matter, it’s the day: 11-11-11. Personally, I’m just glad the Third Day concert we bought tickets for is on the 10th. Man, I’d hate to miss that.

So remember, you heard it here first. I know this is short notice, but, you know...I didn't figure it out until now. You've been warned now, that's the point. Don’t be caught off guard. 11-11-11. Our Lord is coming, nothing will stop Him, so be ready.


DISCLAIMER: Nothing in the above prediction is true except for the last eleven words! Luke 21:8 And he said, "See that you are not led astray. For many will come in my name, saying, 'I am he!' and, 'The time is at hand!' Do not go after them.”

My Name is Scott…and I’m a Bookoholic

Sitting next to my desk as I write is a pile of about three dozen books. On the shelf behind me are more stacks, about 8 or 9 dozen more. Most wouldn’t see that as a problem, but you see, these are books I haven’t even read yet. This isn’t even considering the1,500 or so books that fill up the rest of the shelves. These are just books that I saw in a store, saw online, thought I couldn’t live without and just had to buy; and yet I haven’t had a chance to get to read them yet.

I’ve shared often here my love for books in general. But often, I’ll be in the middle of one book, when suddenly I see two or three more that I think would be wonderful, and I buy them. Sometimes, I’ll end up putting the first book aside and start reading one of the new ones. Meanwhile, the first book is left unfinished. (I mentioned my lack of “finishing” skills back in the summer)

I think I have a problem. It’s not just the lack of finishing a book. I usually get around to that…eventually. It’s this compulsion to continue buying more and more books. The books themselves are good books. Books on theology. Books on ministry. Books on family and family worship and so on. All good books. But just because a book is good, does that mean I have to buy it? Is this a healthy thing, or is this an unhealthy compulsion?

I’ve always jokingly used Paul’s words to Timothy as somewhat of a justification for this obsession with books. Near the end of this life, the thing that he asked his young protégé to bring to him was his books (2 Timothy 4:13). Certainly this does highlight the importance of reading and study, even though we don’t know exactly what was in that collection of books. But still, does this really justify my seeming compulsion to continue buying more books.

As I said before, the growth of technology has made this worse, with my Kindle also heavy laden with more and more books. This problem is amplified by the large amount of free material available for download. Again, these are good resources. Many of the “old” books are being made available, and this is truly good. But does one man need all these? Will I ever actually get all of them read? Especially if I keep adding to the piles?

Just looking for some help and advice, I guess. Are there others out there who suffer from this obsession? Is it something I should seek treatment for? Are there any good 12 step programs for obsessive book buyers/collectors? Books are good, but is this a case of too much of a good thing?

Maybe I just need to listen to the advice from one of my mentors in the faith, C. H. Spurgeon who tells his students: Master those books you have. Read them thoroughly. Bathe in them until they saturate you. Read and reread them, masticate and digest them. Let them go into your very self. Peruse a good book several times and make notes and analyses of it. A student will find that his mental constitution is more affected by one book thoroughly mastered than by twenty books he has merely skimmed. Little learning and much pride comes from hasty reading. Some men are disabled from thinking by their putting meditation away for the sake of much reading. In reading let your motto be “much not many.” (Letters to My Students)

Much, not many. Pretty good advice. Even if I did read it in a book! Anyway, confession is good for the soul, I suppose; and I guess this is just one little way of confessing. I appreciate your prayers as I struggle with this little compulsion of mine. And if you hear of any good book sales…Don’t Tell Me!!

Do You Desire God?

My Sunday School class has been studying 2nd Corinthians. Recently we spent some time talking about what it means to truly be born again, the new creation Paul speaks of in chapter 5. At the same time, on Wednesday nights, we've been using Don Whitney's 10 Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health. Actually, this is the second time we've gone through this, but you go to your doctor more than once every five years, right? Anyway, among the diagnosis questions is: Do you thirst for God?

These two things together reminded me of a short piece from Paul Washer on true Christians having a passion for God. This is a marker of sorts. To be truly born again isn't just a moralistic change of behavior, it is a whole new set of motivations, actions, thoughts, etc. all focused on God and His glory. Do you thirst after God? Another question in Whitney's book: Are you more sensitive to God's presence.

In light of all of that, I showed this to our class on Sunday, and it's been sticking in my mind, so I thought I would post it here for anyone who may not have seen it. If you're interested, you can find this and many more like-minded teachings at IllBeHonest.com

Happy Reformation Day

Down through the ages, God has worked is some amazing ways in the life of His people. In Scripture we read about things like the Exodus; the many victories in battle; the establishment of Israel’s Kingdom in Saul, David, etc.; the return of His people following exile; the outpouring of His Spirit at Pentecost. Of course the greatest of all was the sending of His Son, His life, sacrificial death and glorious resurrection.

Since those days, we have continued to see times in which God works in mighty ways for His people, all throughout church history. Even in this nation, we’ve seen Great Awakenings and widespread revival.

Yet, in the post-Biblical history of the Church, one of the grandest works of God was in some ways ignited by the simple act of a blog post. Okay, so it wasn’t actually a blog post, but it was the 16th century equivalent. One little monk put together a collection of thoughts and ideas about the current state of the Church, and in particular, the sale of indulgences; which he saw as a violation of Scripture. For those who don’t know, it was simply the practice of allowing people to purchase freedom for dead relatives out of Purgatory (a place whose very existence is a corruption of Scripture.

So, on October 31, 1517, Martin Luther took his collection of arguments against this practice, now known at the 95 Theses, and he tacked them on the doors of the church in Wittenberg, Germany. The church doors were the world wide web of the day. Any announcements, advertisements, etc. were posted here. In God’s providence, the printing press was just coming into prominence, and someone took that one blog post and reposted it and it went viral. Of course I’m using modern images here, but you get the idea.

It’s not that Luther was the first to see the problems arising in the Church. For years and years, men like John Wickliffe and John Hus taught against some of the corrupt doctrines that had arisen in the church. But again, through the working of God’s Providence, the timing was right when Luther’s Theses hit the door. A Reformation had been ignited.

Luther and those like him battled of the sufficiency and supremacy of Scripture. It wasn’t just about the traditions of the Church, the Word of God had to take precedence. The Reformation was built on the five pillars of Sola Scriptura (Scripture alone), Sola Gratia (Grace alone), Sola Fide (Faith alone), Solus Christus (Christ alone), and Soli Deo Gloria (God’s glory alone).

Afterward, men like John Calvin and Philip Melancton and Ulric Zwingli and John Knox and many others would take those Reformation sparks and fan them into giant flames. The result, of course, can never be overstated. The Church has never been the same. And down through the years, God has continued to raise up men to carry on the war cry: Semper Reformanda; Always Reforming. The Puritans are seen by many as the inheritors of the Reformers, and so it does down through the years to those who continue to hold God’s Word as the supreme authority, with salvation taught as being justification by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone, only for the glory of God.

And so you see, friends, this date marks not the time for Satanic delight as some celebrate it. Instead, it is the celebration of God’s great work in the life of His people, His church. So Happy Reformation Day. May God continue to shower His blessings on and through His Church.

NOTE: For more reading on Reformation thought and theology, check on this collection of articles at Monergism.com And furthermore, if you're interested, here is my daughter's shorter and snarkier take on the whole Reformation Day thing.

Rated "M" for Mature. Yeah, Right.

As if we need any proof at all that the world’s way of looking at things is all upside down, backwards, inside out, etc., just look at how we rate games these days. Our oldest son did some work for a family in our church, and for payment they gave him an Xbox. Now, our family has never been much into video games; up until that time we still played a couple games on an old Sega system we got at a garage sale. But to be quite honest, I’ve enjoyed the baseball, fishing and racing games we’ve picked up for the newer model.

Of course, buying games is a challenge itself. Not only to folks (normally) shell out big bucks for the system, but then the games are all $30-50 and up. Not this family! We check the discount shelf at the used game store and for the half dozen games we own, haven’t paid more than 10 bucks. But I digress.

Back to the game ratings game. As most of you probably know, these games all come with a rating. “E” means it is supposedly appropriate for everyone, small children included. We pretty much stick with this one. “T” is for teen, which essentially means that as a teenager, you are now allowed to witness more violence, profanity and lewd/sexual content. And then we wonder why our kids are so desensitized to these things.

Interestingly enough, in looking for a game the other day my son found one that was rated “E” but then also said it contained some violence and profanity? So why not change the rating to “T”, according to their standard? Or are we now moving to this stuff being suitable for my seven-year-old? Anyway…

The real kicker is the “M” rating. “This game rated ‘M’ for Mature.” In world-speak, this means potentially lots of blood and violence, extreme language issues and most likely some gratuitous sex stuff thrown in for the heck of it.

Now, I know this is nothing new. Movie ratings are likewise suspect, with lewd humor being common in even G rated childrens' films; while movies with overt Christian themes are rated PG-13 for “thematic content” that may be objectionable. As in talking about Jesus. And, I digress again…

My issue with the “M” for mature thing is two fold. Number one, you and I both know that these games are primarily made for teens. The game systems in general are aimed that way and certainly marketed that way. And when they show these dazzling effects on the TV ad, even my 17 year old is impressed. So when they come on at the end with the rating, I’m sure most kids immediately say, “well then, I guess I won’t be buying or playing that game.” Yeah right. Just one more way to get worldly garbage into our homes.

But number two, and the real issue here (aren’t you glad I finally got there?!) is the whole idea of the word “mature.” Maturity carries with it the idea of being fully developed, moving beyond infancy; as in “grow up already.” And yet, these games, with their sex, profanity, etc. are really the height of immaturity. People who have matured shouldn’t be engrossed by games that promote childish, immature passions.

And therein lays the difference between the world’s standards and God’s. God’s Word tells us to seek maturity. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14:20 “Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature.” And we all know what that maturity means, putting away silly, childish, sinful things. As Paul also writes in that same letter: “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.” (1 Corinthians 13:11)

Being a man, putting away childish ways, is to stop being fascinated with profanity and sexual titillation. Growing up means to act like an adult and get over the stupid potty humor, crude innuendo, etc. But the world tells us this stuff is for the “mature.” Talk about upside down, backwards, etc.

I could further digress into a discussion of the worldly idea of adolescence in general, and how we keep putting off further and further the expectation for our children to grow up and act like adults, but I guess that’s enough for now.

We ought to be seeking maturity. We ought to be putting childish ways behind us. And so it becomes obvious, or more obvious, that this means turning our back on the attitudes and ideas of this world. Instead, we need to be focused on God’s Word, God’ standards, godly attitudes and actions.

Some might argue this would mean forgetting about those silly games altogether. Personally, I don’t think a little video baseball hurts anything. (Although my wife just laughs at me when I brag about how many home runs I hit. “You know it’s just a game, right?”) But these things should be kept in check, never become overly time consuming, and certainly never overtake the amount of time we put into God’s Word and His service. God’s Word; now there’s something truly rated “M” for mature. May you grow up in it daily!

God Told Me To Write This

I recently listened to a less than stellar sermon which raised many questions. I’m not trying to disparage the brother who gave the message. This isn’t about his delivery, his style, the length, the excitement, or any of those things. It has more to do with his handling of the text and the over all impression of God he left us with.

I really don’t want to go into a lot of detail about the several questionable aspects of this message. I really don’t want to attack or demean the brother, whom I respect. But in the midst of this message, the statement was made that “God told me to…” Really it doesn’t matter what the rest of the sentence said. The question is, did God really tell you to do whatever? Is that an accurate way to state something? Especially when what follows is not a direct Word based on Scripture but something totally different.

I know that God speaks to us. He does. He says He does. But how does He speak? Does He give audible words saying, “wear the blue sweater today.” Does He give us a soft, inner prompting to go ahead and order the chicken instead of fish?

I’m always uncomfortable when I hear a sentence that starts out “God told me…” Now, if you say, “God told me that…the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing wit the glory that is to be revealed in us” then I’m with you. Scripture states that in Romans 8:18. And what God has said in His Word, He continues to say today.

It’s providential that Tim Challies has just finished a series of articles about the issue of God speaking today. I’d be wasting my time, and yours, to try and repeat or duplicate what he has already so adequately written. I urge you to read this four part series (part one, part two, part three, part four). Parts two and three are especially relevant here.

The basic point to remember is Hebrews 1:1-2 “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son.” (ESV) Yes God did speak audibly to His people. Yes, He clearly could still do that. However, what He has told us is that He speaks to us now through His Son, through His Word. His Word is our guide. I don’t need Him to “tell” me to do this or that regarding any situation when He has already given me the basic principle in His Word. I don’t need God to “tell” me to do something nice for my wife when He has already told me in His Word to love my wife as Christ loved the church.

I know sometimes it’s only a matter of semantics. We mean to say that based on God’s Word and in obedience to that Word in this situation, I feel led by God’s Spirit to act in a certain way. But to say “God told me…” implies something very different. And implications have consequences.

We send people home with the idea to “wait on God” and to look for some mystical experience where God “speaks to us.” We’re not mystics, folks. We are people of the Word. Pick up your Bible and let Him speak to you. Then obey His Word for His glory. God told me to tell you that!

Indy to Eternity: A Weldon’s Reflections on Wheldon

I’ve always been more of a NASCAR fan. Maybe I’m just too much of a redneck, I don’t know. But when it comes down to it, fast cars are fast cars, and so the boys and I have also followed a little F1 and IndyCar over the years.

Our interest in open wheel racing was heightened by the emergence of a driver named Dan Wheldon. My mom has spent a lot of time the last few years tracing our family roots, and so far we have it traced all the way back to Nottinghamshire, England to a man named Gabriel Whelden who came to this country about 1638 . The name has undergone a few changes over the years: Wheldon, Whilden, Weldon. If you’ve done genealogy stuff, you know how this is.

Anyway. Coming from English Whelden/Wheldon/Weldon stock, we’ve always considered Dan part of the family. Can’t prove it, but we still claim him. Sort of like our claim to Clemson University since part of the college was built on land purchased from our family for a dollar an acre back in the day. The kids always watch for scores and root for “Weldon U”, which is ranked No. 7 right now. But I digress.

As most are aware, Dan Wheldon was killed in a horrific crash in yesterday’s IndyCar race. We don’t have satellite or cable, so anytime a race is on a channel we can get, we’re thrilled. So we settled in yesterday afternoon to watch this championship battle, along with the possibility of “cousin” Dan winning a five million dollar bonus. (Long story, look it up if you’re interested)

We watched in horror along with everyone else as a 15 car melee ensued only a few laps in. As soon as we saw Dan’s car go airborne, we knew things looked bad. When the tarps came out on his car, we knew it was bad. And of course, then the announcement came.

It was a sad, sad day for racing. Dan was a quality champion and this year’s Indy 500 winner. We are certainly praying for those who are his “real” family: his wife and two young sons chief among them.

What all of this served to remind us, as we reflected on how fast the how thing happened, was how brief this life truly is. And how quickly it can all end. A friend of ours lost a “legit” cousin last week when a car crossed the center line and hit him head on. My wife’s uncle is having surgery today for colon cancer. It can happen anytime, anywhere, not just to race car driver’s doing over 220 mph.

As they say, the stats on death are sobering: one out of one dies. This life is but a blip on the screen, or as Scripture says, “a vapor.” It’s a mist that is hear one minute and gone the next.

Death is a part of life because sin is a part of life. When Adam sinned, we all died. While the death of Dan Wheldon is tragic and shocking, it should also be a reminder that death is an inevitability we all face. And that being the case, we ought to prepare ourselves for it.

People went nuts a few years ago with the whole Y2K thing. Some clever folks made millions selling survival kits and so on as we prepared for the end of the world as we know it because of the coming computer collapse. Of course, it didn’t happen, but thousands had spent thousands making preparation.

How much more should we be preparing for something we KNOW will come. Death is a sure thing. But life is still possible. Scripture tells us that Christ has overcome death. He has made a way for sinful men to escape the penalty of sin and find forgiveness and life through faith in His work on the cross.

Sure, because of sin we all deserve death, and we all deserve the hell that follows. God is pure and holy and righteous, and we can never stand in His presence on our own. But Christ’s perfection can be ours by faith, and we can look forward to the end of life in this world because of the promise of His pardon and presence in the next.

I don’t know where “cousin” Dan stood with Christ. I never read anything or heard anything that would lead me to believe he experience conversion in Christ. To me, that’s even more tragic than the crash. His entrance into eternity was so quick, but not really unexpected. We all know we’ll get there some day. That’s why it’s so important to be prepared.

You may not race a rocket on wheels, but it can happen just as quickly to you. A car head on in your lane. The “C” word spoken by your doctor. Regardless of the circumstance, it’s coming for each of us. I pray you will be prepared. Seek God in His Word. Repent of your sin and rest in the finished work of Christ. Find a good Bible centered church who can teach you and pray with you about these things until God settles them in your heart. But please, don’t ignore this reality. The leap from Indy, or from wherever you are, to Eternity is briefer than you think. Seek Christ today!