"I drank what?!" - Socrates

Death.

There is no greater single event in your life than its end. Nothing more personal, more individual, nothing more completely "by yourself," than your own death. Nothing more inevitable. You may suffer any of life's ills, its ups and downs, its joys or its sorrows. A myriad of things may pass into and out of ones life over the course of a person's lifetime. We hope and struggle for the best, and we lament and curse the worst. But nothing in our lives is so absolutely going to happen to us in such an uncompromising and certain way as death itself. Nothing is more feared or the very source of fear itself.

From the moment of our birth every soul has a sort of time fuse. Some burn fast. Some burn slow. And we mediate the fear of death by making it into a far off thing. Something to be dealt with or discussed only with regard to others and often in the most clinical ways. We do what we can every day in a million different ways to avoid, escape, and hold off death for as long as we possibly can, hoping that we can accumulate seconds, minutes, hours...etc. longer for ourselves in this life. We like to act as if death is more fiction than fact, but deep within us we know every tick of the clock brings it gradually closer. That train coming down the track.

Death is very real and it will happen to every single one of us. We can't prevent it and we can only take our souls with us when it comes (although you would think some people would disagree given the stuff they try to accumulate in life!) It comes for kings, princes, the rich, the poor, the famous and the infamous. Death takes the philosopher and the priest with equal indifference. No one is immune. The Greek philosopher Socrates took his own life by drinking the poison hemlock to protest the fact that he was being told not to teach is "new ideas" to his students. I doubt he knew what he was in for, soon discovering that his brain power amounted to nothing that would save him from the fires of hell.

Death can be scary. But it's not the end of any of us. We will live on, every human being, into an eternity where only two realities exist. Heaven or Hell. Reincarnation is a lie. Soul sleep is a lie. Annihilation (going out like a light) is a lie. Purgatory is a lie. The truth is that God has given us the answer to our inquiry about the after-life in the bible. He has not abandoned us to the mystery. What's more He's provided us a way to conquer death itself. To overcome the most terrifying reality about human life. Through faith in the only one who could overcome death, the one who can (to use a restaurant metaphor here,) pay the bill death brings to the table at the end of the meal. Faith in Jesus Christ and His resurrection allows us to walk out of the restaurant without washing the dishes (forever) to pay for the meal (as the S.O.S. pad by the way!)

Jesus Christ's sacrificial death on the cross allows Christian life to be a journey through the life God has made for us and by which we may glorify Him. It is filled with immense joy as we suffer the trials and tribulations that life has to offer. In hope and peace that is experienced in no other way but through faith by grace, we look to the end of our lives for the eternal joy that comes from leaving this life and passing into the presence of our Lord. In the greatest event in our lives, our earthly lives end and our eternal, glorious lives begin, free of sin and with an inheritance we can not even imagine.

The Hard Truth is that for those who don't know God, don’t trust in Jesus Christ, and who don't live in hope of an eternal heaven or experience the assurance of its coming, this is their best life. This is their only life. What is coming is a check that will need to be paid. And you will be expected by God to pay your own tab. And you won't be able to, even suffering for it for all eternity. If you are in fear of your death and don't know what comes next, you should be afraid. Very.

Take a moment and ask a Christian co-worker, family member, or friend about death. Or contact us here at the Hard Truth via comments to our blog postings. Or click on one of the ministry links at right. Find out what you need to do right now, this very moment, to know the one who can and would gladly pay your bill. The one who can make life a walk with Him, and not a march alone to the inevitable hour that ends life in this world. The only way to redemption and the only way to heaven. Jesus Christ.

I think Socrates might have hesitated if he had really known his destination after death having denied the God of the Bible. I imagine his more informed reaction would have been, "I drank what?!"

False Idols

Something here strikes an uncomfortable cord. Like the looming discomfort that grabs you right before you buy something you're about to regret spending the money on. The thud in your gut of buyer's remorse before the transaction has taken place. Such is the candidacy of Barrack Obama for the Presidency of the United States.

Watching the spectacle of American politics develop over the last 20 years, one would hope that the process couldn't get much worse. But it seems that every new Presidential election becomes more surreal, incredibly shallow, and crushingly disappointing as we witness the degeneration of our national elective process, our common conscience, and our identity as a people and as a nation.

Deeper and more disturbing however is the danger of politics becoming something frighteningly different all together, global sycophantic celebrity worship.

We are witnessing the inception of this in the nomination of the Democratic Presidential candidate Barrack Obama. Pay any attention to the presidential race in the mainstream media, online news, blogs, or otherwise and you become keenly aware that for some, this is not so much about electing a qualified individual for the most powerful office on earth, but the envisioning of a savior who will produce final peace. What Mr. Obama himself calls "a nation healed, a world repaired." With elevated speeches and sweeping oratory, he tells us that "we are what we've been waiting for!" or that he himself has "...become a symbol of America returning to our best traditions." He tells us that "he is the way" to the end of all our problems. Yet without any form of tested leadership, accomplishment, or otherwise to provide a basis for this belief, people are flocking without rational explanation to adore Barrack Hussein Obama.
A man whom many seem to be labeling a savior.

The Hard Truth is that neither Barrack Obama nor any human being can produce on such a promise of peace and prosperity or rise to the level of savior.

The truth is that there is only one Prince of Peace. One savior for all mankind. The only one who can bring about the end of war, famine, hatred, and all that ails the world. He is that man who lived the perfect life, deserves all our adoration, and died to bring us real salvation. Rising back to life on the third day after being crucified (an experience worthy of praise and worship,) he proved that he had defeated death, atoned for the sins of every one of us, and paid our debt to a just and righteous God.

Jesus Christ is that savior. Jesus Christ is that messiah.

To worship any man or woman, celebrity, politician, pope, or king above the Lord Jesus Christ is to commit the greatest sin there is. The sin of elevating anything or anyone above God Himself. This is called idolatry. And God has said there shall be no other gods before Him.

An important election year side-note from our discussion of the Hard Truth.

Beware of worshiping false idols. Mr. Obama is a man like any other, and as we all know, men make mistakes. We live, we grow old, we die. And we sin. Every single one of us. When we fail to recognize this and instead lift up individuals to greater than human standards, we suffer the consequences in the form of dictatorships, monarchies, and tyrannically oppressive governments. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. It would be prudent to think about electing a leader who shows the humility and experience to question himself and his motives before making decisions that have global, national, and very personal consequences to you and your family.