Apologetics

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An Oak tree, when fallen in a horizontal fashion, can make a serviceable seat for us to stop and take a load off while walking this long road. We do get tired in these mortal human bodies, so let's stop, refresh, and contemplate for just a little while. As our bodies tire, so do these finite human minds that act as our personal command and control centers, so let us rest these as well.

What it is that these finite human minds cannot fully comprehend is that which waits for us when this journey ends. We have seen just a glimpse of what awaits, as it is revealed to us by God's Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit that pulls and prods us, encouraging us to keep pressing forward by revealing glimpses as it searches all things, even the deep things of God.

Just a glimpse to encourage us. Just a glimpse to nourish us. A glimpse of eternity written on our hearts to drive us when all seems hopeless. And, what this is that inspires our desire to forge ahead is merely the trailer to the epic feature film soon to be released. It is rated "G" for great and for God.

While "Spirituality" is certain death, the Holy Spirit is guaranteed life everlasting. There are so many following Spirituality's road to oblivion, seeking the easy journey and the culturally accepted, Oprah-cized route to the better, more fulfilled "you" -- but it's not about you at all and you will learn this. When you become your own god, following the expert-endorsed path headlong into this canard called Spirituality; you are in fact dead where you sit reading the book or watching the afternoon T.V. program.

The Holy Spirit is of God, while Spirituality is of Heaven's cast-out angel who prowls the earth's streets and searches the unwitting heart, seeking to devour. The Holy Spirit leads, while Spirituality deceives. Don't be confused: the Holy Spirit and "Spirituality" are not one in the same. They are opposites and they war against each other. The Holy Spirit is eternal, while the culturally-accepted, politically-corrected "Spirituality" is carnal. Choosing the path of Spirituality is tantamount to signing your own death warrant.

In this day and age there are many paths that can be chosen -- but all do not lead to the same place. We who sit resting on this fallen Oak tree have chosen the one path that leads to life everlasting. For some of us, this was a difficult choice to make, being swayed by entertainment, culture, society, and/or family to run headlong down the road to oblivion with its off-shooting paths that maneuver through differing geographies but still ultimately terminate at oblivion. Some of us chose to pursue religiosity as opposed to having faith. Some of us believed that as long as we were "a good person" our magical mystery tour would end in "a better place." We were dead wrong, but while we still had physical life we heard the true spirit speak and turned around and ran double-time for the path to eternal life that we now walk.

We are no better than those who choose the other paths, but we are ultimately better off. We are not masters of our own universes but instead servants of the Holy, Triune God. Faith comes from hearing the word of God. In faith and service there is reward that surpasses anything that this present world has to offer. Yes, this world He did create, and this world He will terminate.

Just a glimpse of the reward we have seen -- the reward that the Apostle John wrote of some 2,000 years ago as Jesus revealed it to him. It is written on our hearts and embedded in our souls, those of us who have stopped and rested on the fallen Oak tree for just a few minutes, before we carry on and carry forward down the one and only path that leads us home.

I am filled with great joy this day, knowing that on this journey there are more miles behind us than ahead. But, I am also sad as I write this and with sadness comes tears. I am sad for those that I love who choose the other paths. Jesus desires that none should perish and I share His desire and it burns in me enough to hurt. Like Him who loved enough to die a slow, excruciating, humiliating, agonizingly painful death on a tree not at all as comfortable as the Oak we rest on -- like Him I want that none would perish. That sentiment includes those I do not know and have never met.

You don't have to listen to me or believe me. You can think me a fool or much worse. I have felt the bitter wrath of those who despise me for what I know to be true. I can take it with joy and increasing humility that comes from faith, service, and growth. Like those who are walking with me on this one path to life, I am a flawed work in progress that will not be complete until I get home and into His embrace.

No, you don't have to listen to me, read me, or believe me. But, I ask you please to believe Jesus.

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