Most of us baby boomers can remember in elementary school, high school, and even in college when teachers handed out the dreaded paper report cards inside envelopes at regular 6-week intervals during a school term and then at year-end, long before there were personal computers in schools or homes.  Today, school grades are delivered to parents and students primarily in real time, making grades accessible and viewable electronically at any time during a school year.

In the past, different grading systems were used by teachers.  There were primarily the old letter grades of A through F, the 100-point percentage system, or the 4.0 GPA scale.  In grade school, some secondary subjects were scored with an ‘S’ for satisfactory, or ‘U’ for unsatisfactory, or ‘O’ for outstanding.  In college, you might earn an ‘I’ for incomplete in a certain class subject.  Some higher education teachers and professors made tests so hard, they had no choice but to grade on a curve, or else virtually no one in the class would have passed the test.

The valedictorian of our high school class was my high school sweetheart.  The salutatorian of our class was a girl I had known since we were four years old in Sunday School class.  I had two first cousins who went on to earn achievement letters behind their names, like ‘M’ for masters, and ‘PhD’ for doctorates, which then earns you the letters of ‘Dr.’ before your name.  All these people are examples of students who took home very good report cards throughout their years in the educational system.  Earning good grades can be gratifying steppingstones on your way to a potential life of good works.  Students are rewarded for their good work, not their good heart.

Higher education and good report cards can earn a person valuable rewards in this life, in the form of status, great jobs, and monetary security.  In other words, people who are highly educated, with excellent careers, can be considered very successful in the eyes of other people.

But we must consider the way God looks at us and thinks about us.  God’s ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts, including the smartest of human beings.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9). God grades us by our heart, not by our good works.

When it comes to our ‘final exam’ at the end of our earthly life, God has a very simple grading system known as ‘Pass’ or ‘Fail’ when it comes to allowing us entry into His eternal heaven.

God’s final exam for us is much easier than any earthly academic testing we will ever encounter in this life.  His grading is straightforward, with no gray zone between pass or fail, and which requires a simple one-word answer to His testing of us—yes or no.

We can either ace the test with a ‘yes’ answer or flunk the test with a ‘no’ answer.

What is the only question in God’s final exam as to whether we ‘pass’ to eternal life in heaven?

Do you believe in His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, as the one and only way to enter the eternal heaven God has waiting for us?  Your answer of yes or no has eternal ramifications.

The only need to cram for this test is that you must answer ‘yes’ to your belief in Jesus Christ before you physically die, or before the Rapture of all Christians from the earth takes place, whichever comes first.  No late answer to the test question will be accepted by God.

There is no good reason, no good reason at all, to delay your decision to accept Christ as your personal Savior.  Why?  Because the next day, hour, or second of this earthly life is guaranteed to no one.  Seek the Lord today.  As the Bible says, now is the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2).

The only ‘yes’ answer exception to God’s test is granted only to those children who have not yet reached the age of accountability (and I believe those adults who are born without the mental capacity to understand the salvation question).  Jesus said, ‘let the children come unto me’ (Matthew 19:14). We all must accept Jesus (with childlike faith) to enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 18:3). Salvation is a free gift from God via His grace and mercy bestowed on Christians.

Grace, grace, God’s grace, grace that will pardon and cleanse within; Grace, grace, God’s grace,
grace that is greater than all our sin.  Will you accept God’s free gift of grace at this time?

You do not want to know the eternal consequences of answering ‘no’ to Jesus Christ as your Savior—because it literally leads to eternal hell.  My best advice—is to believe in Jesus Christ!

When I pray, I view Jesus in my mind not only as God the Son and my Savior—but as my friend.

Jesus wants to be your friend as well. The Bible is a big book, the living Word of God, and can be overwhelming to study for our eternal test, but when it comes to salvation, there are only a few Biblical verses you need to zero in on when studying for your eternal exam.  Let’s review them.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave [us] His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him, shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

You could die tomorrow in any place, at any time.  We are all God’s children, but each of us must personally choose to accept the free gift of salvation made possible through your belief in Jesus Christ and what He did for you on the crucifixion cross.  Your belief in Jesus’s death (and the shedding of His blood) as the sacrificial Lamb of God is the only way to have your sins redeemed and (you) be made righteous in the sight of God the Father, enabling you to enter eternal life (with Jesus) in heaven (Hebrews 9:28).

Entering heaven can only happen by your belief in the shedding of Christ’s blood for you, His death upon the cross for you, and then His victory over death by His Resurrection.  Jesus is the ONLY way to eternal life.  Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6).

To be a Christian means you chose to enter the narrow gate that leads to heaven, through your faith in Jesus, rather than choose to enter the wide gate of unbelief that leads to damnation (Matthew 7:13).

“And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).

“I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16).

“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23), and “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).

“But God proves His love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

“If you confess with your mouth ‘Jesus is Lord’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with your heart, you believe and are justified [in the sight of God], and with your mouth you confess and are saved” (Romans 10:9-10).

Jesus loves you so much that He allowed Himself to be nailed to a cross with outstretched arms.  Now you just need to ‘nail’ your eternal exam with a ‘yes’ answer, so that Jesus, as our master teacher, can hand out God’s report card to you that will say in big beautiful cursive letters, “well done, good and faithful servant [pupil], enter into the joy of your Master” (Matthew 25:21).

 

 

 

 

 

Do you have precious memories of America, the USA to be specific, and what general time period holds most of your precious memories?  Obviously, the answer to this question will not be the same for every U.S. citizen, but I hope everyone can point to at least one time or another that holds some precious memories, regardless of how long or brief that time may have been.

As a baby-boomer, the 1950s, 1960s, and parts of the 1970s hold many of my favorite precious memories I fondly look back upon.  In my case, these were my younger years of life.  The baby boomer generation stretches from 1946 to 1964, so not all baby boomers can remember the 1950s, or even most of the 1960s.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, only seven out of 100 citizens have reached my current age, equaling about 26 million of the United States total population in the latest census data.

I always tell younger people I feel sorry for them not to have experienced the 1950s or 1960s.  For most of us, but of course not for all, it was a good time to be a young person in America.

There is way too much detail to go into here about the pros and cons of that period, but I can tell you from my personal experience of being a pre-teen, a teenager, and a young adult during that time, the pros greatly outweighed the cons.  The following is just a sampling of pros.

It sounds like a cliché now to say that life was simpler back then, but it’s true.  Family relationships were closer and greatly valued.  Church life and the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ by strong gospel ministers seemed to be more in the mainstream of life, and had a greater impact on home life, in the schools and the whole of society in general back then.  We could play outside without adult supervision and not fear for our lives or being snatched away.

Not to mention that life was cheaper back then, and a dollar went further with full-size candy bars for a nickel, bottles of pop for a dime, three songs on the jukebox for a quarter, gasoline as low as 18 cents a gallon, and a couple of young people could go on a date, complete with a movie, a meal, and a tank of gas all for under ten dollars.

But then came the 1980s with high inflation and the start of the tech revolution with personal computers, etc., etc.  High tech innovations in the medical field have been a God send, but in most other areas of life it has led to a gradual downhill slide in American and world societal life by destroying the age-old institution of the nuclear (close) family relationships we once had.

The high-tech influence on America has been very detrimental on the core of family life.  In my view, it has been the equivalent of setting off millions of tiny nuclear bombs in most American homes with the intent to destroy traditional family life that had served America well over time.

Satan knows that if he can blow up family circles and gain control of the minds of youth at all levels of the educational system, then the destruction of America is well on its way to his goal.

I’ve been around long enough to witness the sunset years of the Lost Generation, the zenith of the Greatest Generation, the rise and fall of my own Baby Boomer generation, the rise of the Gen X generation, and the current digital generation of Millennials, heavily influenced by the rise of the glamorous, glitzy, and gossipy world of entertainment found on the internet, mobile phones, and all sorts of social media, promoted profusely by Hollywood and the sports world.

And then there is the increasing addiction to great power, pride, drugs, sex, and violence on a national and worldwide basis.  All of which have the seal of approval by Satan and his minions in our current world.  It is all in Satan’s playbook of evil, murderous, delusive and destructive acts.

Did you know Satan was originally a heavenly angel with the name of Lucifer?  So-named for being one of the most beautiful of God’s angels (Lucifer means ‘shining brilliant one’) before being cast to Earth after leading a rebellion against God.  It is no wonder that Satan likes to sponsor glamorous, glitzy things on Earth.  He still thinks of himself as the shining brilliant one.

The increasingly sad situation in the USA and around the world makes it easy for believers in Jesus Christ (Christians) to see and anticipate all the prophesied Biblical signs of the end times as they all come rapidly together, manifesting themselves one by one, to lead us up to the Rapture (snatching away) of all Christians on Earth prior to the horrific Great Tribulation Period.

As kids, my generation did not live in fear and worry about being snatched away by evil people. But now many of us baby boomers, and others, now wait and watch in great expectancy to be snatched away by Jesus Christ when He returns for us in the clouds (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).

You too can be in this group, for “God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in His Son [Jesus Christ], shall not perish, but have eternal life [in heaven]”  (John 3:16).

I wrote this poetic ode about the America I once knew and loved in the 1950s, 60s and 70s.

Have a happy and blessed 250^th anniversary on July 4^th this year, my dear America.  God Bless America!  The Bible says those who support and bless Israel, God’s chosen people, will themselves find blessing.  I believe this is the main reason God still blesses America in many ways yet today.

PRECIOUS MEMORIES OF YOU, AMERICA

By Dale V. Nobbman

Precious memories of you, America, will never fade away
I recall all our days together as though they were yesterday
And as long as my life endures, I will always remember you
No matter how bad you get and no matter what you may do
I will always cherish those very precious memories of you

When I think of all the good times and how they used to be
I feel heartwarming feelings of joy come sweeping over me
For I do remember all the laughs and the big dreams we had
All those memorable simple times that made us feel so glad
And I will always remember those precious memories of you

Once, we did feel united, but time has since brought change
Without that feeling here and now, it sure does seem strange
Yet during all those dark days when you get me feeling sad
It is still so nice to think back on those special times we had
Yes, I am very grateful for those precious memories of you

But now I have come to realize, no matter how hard I may try
I will never keep ongoing time from rolling on and passing by
So, to treasure those precious, good times I once had with you
Seems to be the only thing left, my dear America, for me to do
And be so very thankful for all those precious memories of you

Precious Memories…How They Linger.