Heavenly Mindedness (35)

 

Continuing our reflections on Geerhardus Vos’s Message on “Heavenly Mindedness” from Hebrews 11:9 – 10:

 

“For heaven itself is subject to a process of preparation, so that its full content became accessible only to the patriarchs through a projection of their faith in time. The heaven for which they hoped was the heaven of redemption, enriched through the ages, become peopled with the successive generations of the saints of God, filled with the glory of Christ, the recreated paradise, towards which all the streams of grace springing up in time send their waters. The believer requires this new heaven, not simply the cosmical place that resulted from the first creation. Hence his heavenly-mindedness can never destroy interest in the unfolding of the ways of God throughout the history of the present world.” G. Vos

 

Returning to Joshua 1:1 – 9 from our last post, and considering, “Every place where the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses” (1:3): Yahweh is not speaking to Joshua as an individual man, but in Joshua’s capacity as Israel’s leader, as Israel’s Head. Yes, Joshua and his family have an inheritance upon which to walk, but that is, in one sense, incidental to Joshua, as the Head of Israel, leading the People of Israel – as one People – across the Jordan River and possessing the collective inheritance given to the Family of God, the People of God, the Church of God.

 

Dear friends, our life in Christ is not about me obtaining my individual inheritance in Jesus Christ – it is about us obtaining our inheritance in Jesus Christ. Whatever portion of my inheritance I may possess today, is for the purpose of helping others possess their portions tomorrow. If I do not use what I have been given in Christ today for the benefit of others, it will surely become moldy and stink and turn putrid.

 

Why is it that we can quote John 3:16, but we cannot quote 1 John 3:16? “We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” We proclaim John 3:16 to the world and to provide assurance to Christians, but we must preach and live 1 John 3:16 within the Church – for to be sure the world will have no better testimony to the Gospel, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another as I have loved you, that you love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love one for another” (John 13:34 – 35).

 

One of the motifs of Hebrews Chapter 11 is the People of God and their collective experience, for while the Holy Spirit weaves the tapestry with Abel, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and others – these threads portray a People, a People to which we, in Christ, belong, for “…apart from us they would not be made perfect” (Heb. 11:40b).

 

The feet which are called to walk upon the inheritance, and by walking possess it, are the feet of the Body of Christ, the Body of which Jesus Christ is the Head. We are called to preserve and build upon what has been given us by those who have gone before us in Christ, and to expand the possession of our inheritance for those who are coming after us in Christ. This includes the subjection of the enemies of God, not by earthly means, but by the Holy Spirit and the Word of God (Ephesians 6:10ff; 2 Cor. 10:3ff). The Father is in the process of putting all things under the feet of the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 15:27; Psalm 8:6; Hebrews 2:5 – 18; and throughout Revelation).

 

Joshua is a portrayal of Jesus Christ, and God’s Word to Joshua is the Father’s Word to the Son. We belong to the transcendent Body of Christ, and the “feet” are that element of the Body which are touching earth; as we saw previously in Ephesians 4, the Body of Christ is growing on a trajectory of maturity unto the “measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.”

 

While we all, in one sense, have our individual inheritance in Christ, in another sense we don’t – for the inheritance of the Body of Christ is indivisible, it cannot ultimately be divided any more than the Trinity can be divided. We are “joint heirs” with Christ (Romans 8:17); to be a joint heir is to receive and hold an inheritance with another, or others, indivisibly.

 

We see this image in 1 Peter 3:7 when Peter writes that husbands and wives are “joint heirs of the grace of life.” English common law acknowledged what is termed the “unity of person” when it came to holding title to real estate – that is, it recognized that in a marriage the “two become one.” When I practiced real estate in Maryland, and a husband and wife were taking title to property, they took it as “tenants by the entirely” – this meant, among other things, that they held the property as husband and wife, as one person. Only a man and woman, as husband and wife, could take title as “tenants by the entirely.” because only in marriage do “two become one.”

 

This is why, if a husband or a wife wanted to borrow money and use the house as collateral that the lender would only agree to the loan if the other spouse signed the loan documents, otherwise, the lender could not go against the house in a loan default because the house wasn’t the property of Mike Smith, and it wasn’t the property of Joan Smith – it was the property of Mr. and Mrs. Smith, husband and wife – and this one person – this unique person, had not agreed to use the house as collateral.

 

I imagine that this may be an unfamiliar concept, this idea of “unity of person” and “joint and indivisible heirs,” but this language and these concepts permeate the Bible. I also imagine that the image of the transcendent Body of Christ is difficult, yet again this is found throughout the Bible, and the New Testament opens up a Niagara of vision and understanding the sweeps back and forth from Genesis to Revelation.

 

To go back to the previous post, when Christians tell me that they don’t have time for God’s Word, when they tell me that they are too tired for prayer, the Bible, fellowship with others; I want to say to them that this is selfish, because life is not about me, or you, it is about us. Our brothers and sisters, and this dying world, need us to participate in possessing the inheritance that we have in Christ, we need one another in Christ to function as the Body of Christ.

 

Once again, our American individualism has invaded the professing church, where often all that matters is that we have our “ticket” punched for heaven - certainly a false teaching (consider again the Parable of the Sower).

 

If we cannot “see” the transcendent Church of Jesus Christ, we will not “see” what Vos means when he speaks of heaven being in a process of preparation.

 

What do you “see” today?

 

Heavenly Mindedness (34)

 

Continuing our reflections on Geerhardus Vos’s Message on “Heavenly Mindedness” from Hebrews 11:9 – 10:

 

“For heaven itself is subject to a process of preparation, so that its full content became accessible only to the patriarchs through a projection of their faith in time. The heaven for which they hoped was the heaven of redemption, enriched through the ages, become peopled with the successive generations of the saints of God, filled with the glory of Christ, the recreated paradise, towards which all the streams of grace springing up in time send their waters. The believer requires this new heaven, not simply the cosmical place that resulted from the first creation. Hence his heavenly-mindedness can never destroy interest in the unfolding of the ways of God throughout the history of the present world.” G. Vos

 

Continuing with the question from our previous post, what does it mean that “heaven itself is subject to a process of preparation” and in particular what might “enriched through the ages” mean? In the last post we considered enrichment in light of Ephesians Chapter 4, today we’ll consider Joshua Chapter 1, in which we see Joshua preparing to lead Israel into Canaan, the Promised Land, the inheritance which God had promised to their ancestors.

 

Key concepts in Joshua 1:1 – 9 are:

            “Every place where the sole of your foot treads shall be yours” (verse 3).

            “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success” (verse 8; see also Psalm 1 and Psalm 119).

 

In order for Joshua to lead the people into their inheritance two things had to occur in unity; the Law of God needed to dwell ever-presently in the words and thoughts of Joshua and the people, and Joshua and the people must actually put their feet on the land in order to possess it. Without the Law of Yahweh, the people would not have the wisdom and knowledge needed to walk on the land, nor would they be living in daily communion (koinonia) with Him, a fellowship which would make them holy as God is holy and thus, among other things, protect their hearts and minds from the demons of that region. Sadly, the fulness of the inheritance was never possessed because the people, especially once Joshua and Caleb died, failed to have the Law of God and relationship with God as their center of gravity, their source of light and life – and so they worshipped the demons of the region, they lived as those who did not know God, and “everyone did what was right in his own eyes,” certainly a picture of the church in present-day America.

 

Friends, having Bibles in our homes is worse than being without Bibles if we are not meditating in the Word of God, teaching the word of God, speaking the Word of God to one another, and walking the entire length, breath, depth, and height of the Word of God. If we are not doing these things we often have a false sense of security, a false sense of who we are, a false sense that we are obedient; we both excuse ourselves and others for our laziness and disobedience.

 

In 2 Peter 1:2 – 4 there are key concepts that mirror Joshua 1:1 – 9:

            “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord” (verse 3).

            “His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence” (verse 4a).

            “For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust” (verse 4b).

 

As Jesus makes clear in the Gospel of John, especially in chapters 13 – 17, we are called to share the life of the Trinity, we are called to be partakers of the divine nature (see also Hebrews Chapter 2). We are the sons and daughters of the Living God, heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ (Romans Chapter 8).  The Holy Trinity ought to be the core identity of all those who belong to Jesus Christ.

 

We receive grace and peace as we live a life of knowing God, a life of deepening and secure intimacy with God. This is not about “data” and information, this is about informed relationship in which we live in the Trinity and the Trinity lives in us (see John chapters 13 – 17).

 

Make no mistake, God has called us to His own glory and excellence. Let us recognize that there is a true knowledge and false knowledge (there is also love that abounds with wisdom and judgment and informed love – Philippians 1:9-11, contra much of the practice of the professing church in America).

 

Just as God placed the land of inheritance before ancient Israel, so God has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness (see 2 Cor. 1:19 – 22). But how are we to experience this everything?

 

We do this through His precious and magnificent promises, through which we become partakers of the divine nature.

 

O dear friends, Joshua and Israel could have read travel books about Canaan, they could have watched videos about Canaan, they could have had people who had been to Canaan share their experiences (which of course they did and which led to unpleasant results) with them – but doing these things would not make them possessors of their inheritance.

 

In the same fashion we can read what others say about the Bible, we can watch videos about the Bible, we can listen to others tell us about the Bible (and these may all have their place); but unless we are walking the land of the Bible, reading the Bible, meditating in the Bible; making the Word of God, in Christ, our source of light and life – then we are living outside our inheritance and are falling short of the calling of Jesus Christ in our lives. After all, Jesus said that we are to disciple and teach others to obey all that He has commanded us (Matthew 28:16 – 20). Where, please tell me, did we ever get the idea that we can be Christians and not know and obey God’s Word? God is not a heavenly therapist, Jesus Christ is not trying to win friends and influence people, the Trinity is not Las Vegas, Hollywood, Disney World, Washington, D.C., or Wall Street (see Psalm 2 and Daniel Chapter 2).

 

To possess our inheritance in Jesus Christ we must walk on the land as we receive the Word of God. Dear friends, while Jesus said that we are to be as little children, He did not teach us to be childish. It is childish to say, “I don’t like to read. I don’t have time. I am too tired.” We are to be as children as we trust of Father and Lord Jesus, as we explore the delightful and fragrant land (the Bible, the Living Word in Christ) that He has given us; but we are not to childishly spout dozens of excuses of why we can’t open the Book, call on the Holy Spirit (John 16:12 – 15; 1 Cor. 1:18 – 2:16) and grow in friendship with God and with one another.

 

Many of us have had the experience of purchasing real estate, most often a home. Most of us think that once we’ve signed settlement documents and money has been transferred and the deed recorded that the real estate we’ve purchased is now ours. While I am not certain of current “technical practice,” when I was getting into the real estate business in Maryland years ago there was an element of English common law that was still practiced – and that is that the purchaser needed to take physical possession of the property, he or she needed to “walk on the land” in order to consummate the transaction. Does this sound familiar? Can you “see” Joshua and Peter in this concept?

 

My heart breaks for the church today, we have the Treasure of the Ages in our midst, we have Canaan spread before us…but like Esau we are trading it for pottage…well…worse than Esau, we can’t even live off what we’re getting for the trade.

 

Are you a man or a woman of Psalm 1?

 

If you are, then have others join on this pilgrimage.

 

If not, then this can be the first day of a grand adventure and you can learn, as C.S. Lewis would say, “To take the adventure that Aslan gives us!”

 

With all love and care,

 

Bob

 

Joshua – Musings (1)

“This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” (Joshua 1:8).

Moses is dead, and after 40 years of wanderings Israel is poised to enter its inheritance under the leadership of Joshua. (See Numbers Chapter 33 for a survey of the wanderings.)

The book preceding Joshua is Deuteronomy, in which Moses recapitulates God’s Covenant along with potential blessings and potential judgements. In Deuteronomy 34:5 - 6 we read, “So Moses the servant of Yahweh died…and He [Yahweh] buried him…”

The Biblical flow is Deuteronomy, with its emphasis on God’s Word; and then Joshua, which continues an emphasis on God’s Word.

A point in all of this is that God’s people cannot enter into their inheritance without knowing the Word of God and obeying the Word of God. Nor can God’s people possess additional inheritance as well as maintain what they have already acquired without living and abiding in the Word of God.

In the Kingdom of God there is no such thing as an inheritance obtained apart from the working of the Word of God and the knowing and obeying of God’s Word. Those that would teach otherwise teach cheap grace and are not teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Of course, this all occurs in Jesus Christ and by Jesus Christ and through Jesus Christ – the interplay of Christ and His Word and the Christian is a sacramental mystery; and indeed it is a great mystery in that through God’s promises (which are found in His covenantal Word) we become “partakers of the Divine Nature” (2 Peter 1:4). To receive the Word of God is to receive Christ, to obey the Word of God is to obey Christ.

As we stand at the threshold of a new year, is Joshua 1:8 a reality in my life?

In your life?

Joshua – V

Yahweh’s emphasis on His Word to Joshua in Joshua Chapter One reminds me of Aslan’s words to Jill in The Silver Chair:

But first remember, remember the signs. Say them to yourself when you wake in the morning and when you lie down at night, and when you wake in the middle of the night. And whatever strange things may happen to you, let nothing turn your mind from following the signs. And secondly, I give you a warning. Here on the mountain I have spoken to you clearly: I will not often do so down in Narnia. Here on the mountain the air is clear and your mind is clear; as  you drop down into Narnia, the air will thicken. Take great care that it does not confuse your mind. And the signs which you have learned here will not look at all as you expect them to look, when you meet them there. That is why it is so important to know them by heart and pay no attention to appearances.

Yahweh says to Joshua, “…do not turn from it [the Law] to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go”

Prior to his death, Moses told the people of Israel, “Take to your heart all the words with which I am warning you today…for it is not an idle word for you; indeed it is your life.” Deuteronomy 32:46 – 47.

There is a sense in which the Word of God is our inheritance, for by it we partake of the Divine Nature, by it we respond to the call of our Father and Lord Jesus, by it we have communion with one another; for it is not a matter of ink and paper, but of the eternal resonating Word of God emanating from the Trinity and permeating the hearts of those who He calls to Himself.

Jesus told the religious leaders that the flesh, the natural, profits nothing, but that the words He spoke were spirit and life. The scribes and Pharisees read and memorized the ink and parchment, but they missed Him to whom all that they read and memorized testified. The writer of Hebrews (Chapter Four) and Peter (1 Peter Chapter One) portray the Word of God as living and vibrant and full of life, and should it not be so? Is not God alive? Is not God vibrant?

Just as Jill in The Silver Chair, Joshua would need to remind himself not to trust in appearances but to trust in the Word of God. The atmosphere in Canaan with its opposition, both within and without the people of Israel, would tend to dull the mind, dull the hearing, and dull the eye of Joshua; hence the command to, “….meditate on it day and night.”

Somewhere Francis Schaeffer wrote to the effect that one of the reasons he regularly read the Bible was to keep his mind clear, for it doesn’t take long for the atmosphere of the natural world to dull our minds.

What is the atmospheric condition of my mind today? Is there a pollution alert – or is is clear and radiant with the Word of the Sun?

Joshua – IV

Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon, even as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and as far as the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun will be your territory. Joshua 1:3 – 4.

The land of inheritance was in front of Joshua and the people of Israel; they had but to obediently walk on it. To walk on it in disobedience would result in defeat (see Joshua Chapter 7); to walk on it in obedience would make the inheritance theirs.

In traditional rest estate law, after a buyer has signed the settlement papers and paid his money to the seller, in order to consummate the sale he must actually “take possession” of the property. Until the buyer has actually walked into the home the transaction has not been consummated in traditional (common) law. Is this not the case with God’s people?

Our kind heavenly Father and Lord Jesus give us our inheritance through the Cross, but it is of little avail if we don’t walk on it, possess it, and appropriate it via experience in our heart and minds.

This book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success. Joshua 1:8

The possession of our inheritance in Christ is related to the Word of God. Consider Peter’s words:

Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. 2 Peter 1:2 – 4.

God gives us His Word that we might know who He is and who we are in Him in order that we may become partakers of His very nature, that we might have relationship, fellowship, koinonia (John Chapter 17) with Him and with one another. If we don’t know His promises how can we walk on them? If we don’t know where the land of inheritance is located (which is now and always “in Christ”) how can we partake of Him?

Notice the relationship, in Joshua 1:8, between the mouth and meditation. What my heart and mind is focused on, my mouth will speak; when I speak what I meditate upon then what I meditate upon is encouraged to take root within my being. Meditation is not silent, it is also verbal; the mouth and heart correspond in meditation, else the seed sown in the heart will have little root and little fruit.

What does the land of our inheritance look like today?

Joshua – III

Moses was dead. Yahweh says to Joshua (1:2), Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise, cross this Jordan…

I suppose Joshua and Israel could have erected a monument to Moses and remained on the east bank of the Jordan. They wept and mourned for Moses thirty days (Deut. 34:8), but then it was time to arise and cross this Jordan. Grieving, weeping, and mourning can be good and right in their season, but then it is time to arise and cross our Jordans.

We marvel at Israel’s desire to return to Egypt during their Wilderness journey; we think, “How can they even think of returning to bondage?” But how many times have we traded the security of bondage for a relationship with the true and living God? And how many times have we yearned not for an Egypt in our past, but rather for a Moses? That is, how many times have we longingly looked to a glorious past experience or season of life, wanting to return to it – rather than arising and crossing the Jordan?

When the subject of sky diving arises some folk are apt to say, “Why would I jump out of a perfectly good plane?” or, “If God wanted me to fly He would have given me wings.” It was one thing to go through the Red Sea with an army of Egyptians threatening destruction; it’s another thing to cross a river with the avowed purpose of confronting an enemy army; they’re not bothering us so why should we bother them? I can see crossing a river to escape an enemy, but why cross a river to confront an enemy? The east bank of the Jordan looks like a fine place to live; and by the way, Moses is dead.

Are there times we make a likeness of Moses to take with us when we arise so that we really don’t have to leave him on the East Bank? Do we take what was once living but has lived its life, served its purpose, played its role, and put it on artificial life support so that we can continue to rely on it, rather than rely on Christ? Do we put our glorious past experiences in a frozen cyronic state in hopes of reviving them in the future? Does the past become our future goal? If the past had been Joshua’s future goal he would not have arose and crossed the Jordan.

Is there something in your life which is dead but which you are pretending is alive? Are you making the past your future? Do we hear the voice of our Lord Jesus saying, “Arise and cross this Jordan”? What Jordan would our heavenly Father have you cross today? The time of crossing rivers to escape is in the past; the time to cross rivers to conquer the enemy is today; the time to cross rivers to bring our brothers and sisters into their inheritance  is now.

“…forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13a-14.

Joshua – II

Now it came about after the death of Moses the servant of Yahweh, that Yahweh spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ servant, saying, Moses my servant is dead… Joshua 1:1-2a

Joshua will soon lead the people of Israel into the land of their inheritance. He will walk through a river, defeat enemies, suffer defeat, experience more victory, and bear the responsibility of leading a people who do not always care to cooperate. But first he has an apprenticeship; a forty-year apprenticeship.

In the above text Moses is the servant of God but Joshua is the servant of Moses. Yes, Joshua will be a leader, he will be the leader, but first he must learn to be a servant. Joshua must not only learn to be a servant to a people in general, he must learn to be a servant to one man in particular; there is a difference.

If I say, “I love the world” but cannot love one individual I do not know what it means to love the world. If I say, “I am a servant of God and His people” but cannot serve one individual I do not know what it means to be a servant. It is in the particular that we know the general; it is in the individual that we learn to serve and love God and humanity.

This is why the Scriptures tell us that if we see our brother hungry and needing clothing but do not respond with action but only with words that we don’t know the love of God – in spite of of our words. My actions toward the individual are the measure of the validation of my words toward God, the church, and humanity.

Joshua first had to learn to be the servant of Moses before he could become the servant of God. A nation’s leader may say, “I am here to serve my country”, but if that leader does not know what it is to serve an individual, to actually lay aside his own wants and needs and desires for another person, for a distinct individual, then has that leader been to the school of servanthood? Ego and self-will are enemies of servant-leadership, they can only be dealt with in relationship with individuals; not in a relationship with a faceless and nameless mass of people.

It is my experience that most people misread the centurion of Matthew Chapter Eight, thinking that he recognized that Jesus was a man in authority. Not so. The centurion recognized that Jesus was under authority, and being under authority himself the centurion knew that Jesus therefore had authority to heal his servant with a word.

What individuals are we serving? Or are we deluding ourselves that we are the servants of God when there is no one who we serve?

Joshua – I

I began this morning with Psalm One; a good way to begin a year with its emphasis on the Law of Yahweh, the two ways, the two congregations. Psalm One got me thinking about Joshua Chapter One with its corresponding emphasis on the Law of Yahweh. My intention was to reflect on Psalm One, Joshua One, and related passages in one series but as I sit here walking across Joshua 1:1 – 9 I see that the quarterback needs call an “audible”; it will be Joshua Chapter One for Mind on Fire and Psalm One for Kaleidoscope.

Now it came about after the death of Moses the servant of Yahweh, that Yahweh spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ servant, saying, Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, cross this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel.

Joshua was on the threshold of a new season of life; it was an unknown season; a season of mystery. He stood on the east bank of the Jordan River. On the west bank of the Jordan lay the heart of the land that Yahweh had promised to Israel. Embedded in that land, known as Canaan, were people not disposed to be dispossessed. Between the east bank of the Jordan and the west bank of the Jordan was the river with water overflowing its banks; there was no bridge, there was no man-made way to get from the east bank to the west bank.

Joshua had seen this land before, though not from this direction. Some forty years prior to standing on the East Bank Joshua had been one of twelve scouts sent into Canaan from the south to reconnoiter prior to Israel taking its inheritance. On that occasion ten of the twelve scouts convinced Israel that Canaan’s inhabitants were too dangerous to contend with. The people of Israel took counsel of their fears,disobeyed God and refused to enter the land. Yahweh’s response was to consign Israel to forty years of wandering in the Wilderness.

Now, on the East Bank, two men live who saw the land of Canaan from the south forty years ago; just two men, two of the twelve scouts; Joshua of the clan of Ephraim, Caleb of the clan of Judah. They knew the south entrance to Canaan by land, they didn’t know the east entrance to Canaan across water. Forty years earlier the people did not enter Canaan because of fear; what would happen this time?

What about you? As you look back over your life, whether you look back forty years, forty weeks, or forty days; have you seen the Land of Promise only to turn away from it due to fear, doubt, or other enemy? Have you seen or touched or tasted that which makes your heart beat faster, that which brings joy to your soul, that which speaks to you of destiny; only to turn from it thinking to never visit the South Entrance again?

It may be true that you’ll never again seen the South Entrance, but it could very well be true that you’ll see the East Entrance – and what then? The East Entrance is more formidable than the South Entrance; for while both entrances have adversaries, the South Entrance is by land and the East Entrance has the river barrier. What will you do? Will you turn away once again; or will you turn to the True and Living God and live, not as an accident looking for a place to happen, but as a son or daughter of the Living God with a destiny in Jesus Christ?

to be continued…