Here I stand, along side the proverbial cliff, I remember my Dad saying, “Son…just because your friends are all walking to the edge and stepping off, doesn’t mean you have to!” And I also remember wanting to be included with my friends! And again, I am able to hear my Dad ask me “If it’s going to hurt you, then why would you want to continue?” He was endeavoring to make a point with me and he was also asking me to think.

So I do think now more than ever before, I take a moment and look down the path that I am presently on. The unending question is, where will I end up? My Dad was asking me to stop for a moment and look down each and every path available to me, try and see the end result and then choose the correct one, the one with the least pain and suffering. I learned how to do this and subsequently avoided a lot of problems in the future!

What bothers me the most is to watch and see a lot of people do things without examining the path that they are on. Oh! Their having such a good time!! Enjoying themselves immensely! And you don’t dare ask them what they think will be the final outcome within their activity! No sir-ee, that’s none of your business! And in the end, you have the opportunity to watch all the pain and suffering!

Now…if you stop and think about it, had you said something to your friend, they may have changed their path and thus, side-stepped the ominous end result, but you didn’t, remember?Also remember, this was supposed to be your friend, right?! YOU let your friend down, big time! YOU were able to see they were on a path of misery and yet, regardless of any excuse, you watched and said nothing! Their guilty of their actions and you are guilty, right alongside them, for not advising them. I don’t care what anyone says or thinks, there is NO excuse!

What would your friend think of you if they found out that you had known better, but said nothing? There goes a friendship! “Oh…well they knew exactly what they were doing! They knew it was wrong and still they continued! It’s not my fault!” And this happens to be the usual response from those sitting on the sidelines, but is this true?! I was taught, that a friend looks out for the other, no matter what! friends help each other out, look out for each other, are always there good or bad, is this not so?

The question is still, “Where were you in all of this and why didn’t you say something?” Let’s be honest here. No matter who the people are in this, someone always ends up getting burned for it! So, if it wasn’t your friend, does this make it better? If so, then how is it better? Let’s say the offense was burglary! They robbed from one house and got away with it, so they decided that because the first was so easy, they’d try a second time. Unfortunately, this time the homeowner was home, had a gun and shot your friend and he or she died as a result!!

Do you really think it was just your friend that got hurt in this? What if you had stepped in and convinced your friend that this was a really bad idea?! You would be sitting together laughing and having a great time, right?

But you didn’t, and your friend is dead.

Still think your friend was the only one hurt by their action? It matters little what the offense was, just knowing it’s an offense is enough to know that you should have intervened! Of course in this day and time, the quality of a “friendship” is different than it used to be. Tell me I’m wrong and how!

Let’s say for a moment that your friend didn’t die! One day soon, your friend will have to stand up and accept the consequence for his or her actions, maybe time in the pokey, for the burglary! They got shot and went through all that pain during their recovery and then they will do hard time in prison. Still think you should have kept your mouth shut?! An offense, is still an offense, it matters little what it was…for the lack of a better word, it is still SIN!

Here is something everyone should know: The Lord knows what is and what isn’t SIN and innately…so do you and everyone else! God deposited this knowledge within us when we were created! Knowing the difference in SIN does this alone make things right or wrong. SIN is simply SIN…there is no better word for it and God says, just don’t commit it, don’t SIN! There is a consequence for committing SIN! As the Bible says in Romans 6.23: “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

So now you know! Committing SIN results in death! Does this change anything for you or with your friend?? If you belong to the world, then the answer is NO, it doesn’t matter!! The Bible says that the world is condemned to death for their SIN already! And the reason for that is, they have never come to the cross of Jesus Christ and asked HIM for forgiveness for their SIN! That one action my friends,is the only action that changes everything!

It says in Colossians 2.13, emphasis added:

“And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened (made alive) together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses.”

In other words, if YOU have never come to Jesus Christ and asked HIM to forgive you of your sin…YOU are already dead! That means, if YOU want to have eternal life, YOU must come to Jesus Christ first…before YOU die!!! This life here on earth is just like prison! You come out of prison in one of two ways: Free as bird or in a pine box…dead! That’s it!! Still, you have a choice, you can choose at anytime while your still alive, it’s a “free will” gift and it’t the ONLY one you get! And here again is that big black line: Jesus Christ on one side and Satan on the other side, these are the ONLY choices you get!

Wanna know something truly sad and disturbing?! The vast majority of people are going to be headed for hell…and what’s worse than that…they will choose to do so of their own free will! Then they will spend eternity in hell, begging the Lord to get them out!!

I’m telling you right now…when the Rapture of the church of Jesus Christ takes place, there are going to be millions upon millions of people….surprised…that they are still here and are left behind!! They are going to be wondering “How did this happen”…especially to them!

They were members of the clergy, or they went to church or their synagogue, mosque, whatever…every week! Or they thought of themselves as “very good people.” They volunteered and gave in tithes and yet they too were left behind! Do you KNOW why that is?! They NEVER came to the cross of Jesus Christ and asked HIM to forgive them of their sin! That’s the one action, that will save YOU to eternal life and there is NO other way!!

It is proven in John 14.6-9, emphasis added:

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father?”

So according to this passage in the Scriptures, will YOU be left behind after the Rapture? Will YOU die in your sin? Where do YOU stand when it comes to Jesus Christ?

This brings us to your friend, if you are one of those that stands with Jesus Christ. Have you said anything to your friend about Jesus Christ? So then…are YOU truly a friend or do you simply talk the talk?!

John 15.12-15, emphasis added:

“This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.”

WOW!!! That…sort of puts everything into perspective, doesn’t it?! So, what does this mean to us today? Maybe that we need to be paying attention to our actions, following Jesus Christ in everything we do and that includes how we deal with our friends as well. If your friend is having too much fun in their particular sin, does that make it alright to say something just once?!

Or should you go the entire mile for them and keep working with them, without fail?? If we get only three score and ten years (70 years or so) on this earth…is that going to be enough time for YOU and your friend? What else is there for you to be concerned with anyway?! If YOU know Jesus Christ as your Savior, then YOU know…nothing else matters!

I would like to begin, by saying I am NOT endorsing any service of any kind, in what I am about to say! I remember walking to the table of representatives for Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) and being nicely greeted. I was asked for my tickets and boarding pass and then to state which bags belonged to me and those with me. As quickly as that was done, we were whisked to a separate elevator, to the upper most level of our ship and a grand lady she was. Drinks were quickly placed in our hands and the pictures began to snap from every direction, you would have thought we were celebrities.

Everything was Mr. or Mrs., this or that and doors were opened quickly and smiles were present everywhere. The stateroom was filled with balloons and confetti for my daughters birthday and there was a basket of fruit and champagne and the concierge was standing quietly and smiling as we entered. From that point on my wife and I were seated in the best spots, quickly served and gently handled at every turn.

It never mattered oncewhere we were on ship, we were treated like royalty. The meals were scrumptous and the attention was almost to the point of being obnoxious and aggravating, but it did give us a glimpse of the other side─wealth. For the first time in our lives we were living high on the hog! Although I enjoyed this attention to a certain degree, I knew it for what is was, attention because of money! How utterly devoid of authenticity and true charm!

Throughout, the entire cruise everything was made perfect or close to that, until the cruise was coming to a close and then we saw the true nature of all those people. Each came at separate times to the stateroom looking for their bonus and each was not disappointed and yet they too, joined with the others and disappeared in the end. I was not surprised in any way, I knew what the standard was and what would be expected by them, of me. This time around there was no fruit in the morning, no champagne for breakfast, actually no “real” breakfast at all, cereal was the best they offered.

Then our bags were gathered like all the others and moved to the terminal, like all the others and we were left to find them on our own, just like all the others. It was remarkable to me in a way. I had saved for quite awhile for this excursion, complete with a very nice stateroom and all the attention. I wanted my family to enjoy being treated nicely, if it was only once in all our lives.

Special was what I got, because special is what I paid for, it’s as simple as that! In the end, there was no special table for us to disembark from, no smiles, no extra attention paid us, but we had a very nice time and for seven days. My family really had fun! So was it worth it?! In a way, it was. Would I do it again…not on your life! Once was more than enough, for this old Indian!

When Adam and Eve had sinned in the Garden of Eden and God had sent them out, things changed. Being special would now be something you would have to pay for. The sin of greed left its mark, letting me know that original sin was doing well everywhere one would look. Self-importance, the “me first” attitude, the “hooray for me and to hell with everyone else” rampant regardless of your level of lifestyle.  It appears that money does nothing more than to help and hide this attribute in other people, “You want it, you gotta pay for it.” I am an American Indian and I look the part as well, I am a simple man with simple desires. I look stupid in a suit and tie and even worse in a tuxedo, it just doesn’t fit with the way I look!

What is worse, people trying to hide these things and in the end are just hypocrites, sad but so very true, my friends. The Bible says, “blessed are the meek” and this is true as well, there are no pretentious attitudes, anywhere. Those sort of things, are as empty as a huge hole in the ground, they are deep, dark, and lifeless. I would rather have people be my Friend, than to pretend anything. I can handle it, if someone doesn’t like me and if they do like me, we are friends for sure!

A simple and honest life is lived strictly by the big black line sort of thinking and living, everyone knows where you stand on─whatever. How different the cruise would have been had everyone been sincere in how we all interacted with each other. How happy the crew would have been…continually…and in turn the passengers! All I can say is, “Thank you Satan, for messing up a really good thing! You self-serving schmuck!!”

Of course, the Bible tells us we should be looking to HIM without fail, neither to the left or to the right. It also tells us…to give…to one another! There is the key…as to why this world is in such trouble, “Give” and “Don’t just take.’ How different this world would be, if everyone read the Word of God and adhered to it…truthfully! It does nothing more than to “prove” just how desperate this world truly is when compared to what heaven will be! And then to think, it’s all because of sin! Can you imagine a world without wars, without famine or disease or hunger?!

Can you imagine a world where the point of every person, every day, would be to genuinely help others! Where “self” is never considered, where “mine” does not exist, where hunger is fed and pain is forgotten, where love is the only desire? I can only see it through a mangled lens and then it lasts for less than a second and then it’s gone. For me, this is imagination that fails in comparison to the heaven the Lord has in store for us, that heaven could never be imagined. We don’t have that ability, only God does.

So here we are, trying to contemplate this sort of world and then we look around ourselves, at the world we now live in and the difference is far more than just disappointing, it’s almost worth suicide! Yes, I understand, that is a very sobering thought….but it is true! It’s the true follower of Jesus that gets to see that single glimpse, that KNOWS what is to come one day. These are the words we should be sharing with  people who have NO hope of any kind.

Their desperation is for whatever they can acquire in these so very short three score and ten years (70 years)! For them, after that, it is the end and they feel that desperation, that want, the lack of hope, the fear of their failure and the finality of death. They have no idea that there is a better place, a place dreams are fulfilled, where they really mean something to others and not for reasons founded continually in hypocrisy. People don’t like it when we talk about eternity, we KNOW where we will be found through out eternity, yet, they have no such knowledge for themselves. How sad to think, that one only has seventy years and then everything just ends, where there is no forever, no peace, no harmony!

This is where the follower of Jesus Christ comes into play. We KNOW of heaven and what eternity is and we KNOW where to find them. We need to be working steadily, every day to alert every single person that comes our way; this is our normal request by our Lord and Savior! WE are to bring the message of truth and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is Jesus Christ who opens their heart to receive it. There is no need to browbeat anyone, or “shove it down their throat.”

It needs to be a point in time where they see their life and how it is today and what is can be tomorrow with Jesus Christ! It says in Matthew 11:20-30:

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

This is one of the greatest verses there is in the Bible, the verse to share with someone else to see the chance at eternity with Jesus Christ. Finally to have the love from someone else that is true and honest, where this love is a true gift, no strings, no deception! It never ceases to amaze me though, how many people will hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ…and turn their back on HIS gift to them.

“Well…there must be some sort of gimmick to it, ya just can’t trust anyone now days”! Or what may be even worse “Look…I just don’t have any time for this!” I have a real hard time understanding…anyone…that would give up this offer, for something like money! It is evident that they do not understand the difference between seventy years and eternity and even worse, for money!

It is sad to think─as the Bible says, for the road to destruction is wide and many will walk it and there is nothing we can do about it! Yet these same individuals will scoff at our faith and trust in the Lord God Almighty!

Looking at these two scenarios of people, can you imagine the surprise in them, when the Rapture takes place? The problem is, they will be willing to “believe a lie” before they would believe the truth of the Bible! With the Rapture being so close now, our job has become so much more critical! We need to be working as industriasly as a colony of ants, as dedicated as a bee-hive and with the grace and love of our Lord and Savior!!