Living in the Light of Eternity

While I was on a past trip to India, a letter arrived for me. Since it was certified, I had to sign for it. I opened the envelope and found a letter wrapped around several pages from a Bible. The portions were half-burned and the edges charred. A little ash remained in the envelope. As I unfolded the letter and began to read it, I sat down slowly. The letter was from one of the leaders of a militant Hindu movement. It described all the things I was involved in—missionary support, prayer meetings, a radio program—everything. The list was intended to convince me that I was being watched closely. "'We are sending you this letter as a warning,' the leader wrote, "'unless you stop these activities. You will not be alive many more days or months.'" He had signed his letter in blood. This letter made me think. What are we about in this ministry, I asked myself? What are we creating on the mission field? What kind of workers and leaders are we producing? What direction are we heading? What kind of life are we challenging people to live? And I think about Isaac. Before he was saved, Isaac was a devout Hindu. To please his gods, he would spend a month or two preparing himself for a special ceremony. During this time he would avoid certain foods, according to the likes or dislikes of the demon gods he worshipped, who would then come to possess Isaac's body. Isaac offered the blood of nearly sixty chickens to these deities. As the time drew near, he would sit and chant while beating a drum. When he went into a trance, the ceremony began. Because of the power of the demons that possessed him, Isaac was able to pierce his cheeks with arrows, walk on fire, and put hooks through the muscles of his back to pull an idol on a cart. When Isaac found Jesus, he forsook his gods and was delivered from all demonic possession. Now he travels to different areas as an evangelist, sharing the gospel and winning souls to Jesus, but not without a price. A short while ago, Isaac went to a nearby village to preach and share his testimony. While he was speaking, a gang grabbed him and told him, Just as you used to cut the chickens' throats and shed their blood, now we will cut you and shed your blood. They dragged him from the village to a heavily wooded area and beat him severely. Then they tied him to a tree, pulling his hands backwards around the trunk, and left to call more people to kill him. They had selected the tree carefully. It was covered with fierce biting ants. The ants crawled all over his body, biting him repeatedly. Isaac was in terrible pain and lapsed in and out of consciousness. Then, in the haze of his agony, he saw an old woman, perhaps eighty years old, standing in front of him. Untying him, she said, You must leave here quickly. He did as he was told, but as he hurried off before his persecutors returned, he looked back for the old lady. She had vanished. Then Isaac realized God had provided a way for his escape. Just a week later, Isaac came to a local pastor's conference and shared his testimony. The pastors were challenged and encouraged to hear of his faith in the Lord and his willingness to lay down his life. So as I thought about the letter from the Hindu fanatic and about Isaac's single-hearted commitment, the Lord impressed me that it was His task I was about. Part of this task is leaving behind my own ambitions for the ministry, my own desires to be accepted, and follow the Lord's agenda completely, just like the skinny kid in shorts who aspired to do nothing but stand and preach the gospel to people who had never heard. How about you? Have you stripped yourself of the secret longings deep within your heart for acceptance and security and recognition? Is there something the Lord has asked you to do that you have put off because you are afraid you will lose control of the situation? Is your prayer life proof of your total dependence on the Lord? Do you ask Him to show you His plans or are you asking Him, in effect, to bless your own agenda? Can you honestly say that this world is not your home and that you are simply passing through? If someone were to point a gun at you and say, Deny Christ or I'll kill you, what would your response be? Would you say, as Paul did, I consider my life worth nothing to me? What has hindered you from giving unselfishly to reach the lost in our generation? The days before us will not be easy ones, either for our brothers and sisters in the mission field or for believers in the West. I foresee major attacks, opposition, even martyrdom for many of our missionaries. And in a country like India, I foresee that sometime in the near future many thousands will be killed for their faith. All the signs point to this. What does it take to live in times like these? It takes believers who have nothing but God to cling to, because if there was something left in their lives that they counted dear, they would run off in fear. No one can write any words that will make us something we are not. I can share examples and illustrations, but God has to do the work within us, developing our hearts and our attitudes. The most vital thing for all of us, as we grow in our walks with the Lord and answer the call of eternity, is to become more like Jesus. PART FOUR LIVING IN THE LIGHT OF ETERNITY 14. GIVING OUR CHILDREN THE BEST WE KNOW Nearly 40 years ago, an elderly Christian woman in Wyckoff, New Jersey, began a lonely 18-year prayer vigil. She lived near a busy high school and often watched the teenagers come and go. One of the most difficult boys she knew from her observations was a kid named George. Dorothea Clap began to pray daily for his conversion. Then she sent him a copy of the Gospel of John. Two years later he received Christ as his Savior. As he began to grow as a Christian, Mrs. Clap prayed for his spiritual development and talked with him. Then George began to witness to his classmates. Over 125 came to Christ as a result. Later, as a college student, George made trips into Mexico with a group of friends who shared his heart for the lost. Gradually, the Lord expanded the vision of these young people who include nearly 60 other countries. Eventually, their zeal led others to fan out across the world and start youth mission movements in many nations. One of the witnessing teams came to India and visited my village when I was 16. The barefoot boy, unable to read or write English, the team challenged me to take the Gospel north to the lost millions of Rajasthan, the Punjab, and the Himalayas. Today, as a result of the vision the Lord placed in my heart during that time, Gospel for Asia is able to sponsor thousands of full-time missionaries in 11 Asian nations, and mine is only one of many lives that have been touched. The young man's name, of course, was George Verwer. As a result of Mrs. Clap's prayer and interest in his salvation, millions have heard the Gospel through Operation Mobilization, and out of OM, hundreds of alumni have started churches and missions in many parts of the world. What if Mrs. Clap had not taken the time to pray daily for George? What if she had not witnessed to him and encouraged him? A whole generation of young people today are looking for examples. Believe me, they will find someone to imitate. If we as parents and concerned believers do not accept the challenge, our children will find someone else. When our daughter, Sarah, was seven, she wanted to iron like her mother, so Gisela bought her a toy iron. But that was not what Sarah had in mind. She wanted to use an iron that got hot. That was the problem, of course, but finally Gisela began to teach her to iron, showing her how to be careful not to get burned, and Sarah caught on surprisingly quick. Before long she was excited to be ironing her own school clothes. Then Sarah wanted to chop vegetables with the big kitchen knife, again like her mother. Finally, Gisela, supervising her closely, let her chop carrots with a small paring knife. But she knew the bigger knife would come in time. Our little girl was learning by imitation. The younger generation today is faced with a choice to follow the Lord with all their hearts or to live for themselves like the rest of the world. One of the greatest tragedies parents can experience is watching their children make wrong choices. It grieves me that multitudes of kids today are headed down the wrong road. Why are they so attracted to the values of this world and show little or no interest in spiritual matters? Perhaps for part of the answer, we need to look at ourselves. As parents, youth leaders, or simply friends, we in the body of Christ need to present an example before our children that they will want to follow. I will never forget my experience at a youth group meeting where I shared my heart with a sizable group of high schoolers and presented the challenge of world evangelization. As I closed the meeting, I appealed to them to consider the claims of Jesus and make a decision about His Lordship in their own lives. During a time of prayer, I asked for a show of hands from those who were ready to share the Lord's heart for the world by giving their lives to reach the lost. I was astounded to discover that not one single young man or woman was willing to make that commitment. No one even spoke to me afterward. I soon got a clue as to why those young people were so indifferent to the claims of Christ on their lives. Following the meeting, the youth director offered to drive me back to my room. He led me out into the parking lot to his luxurious sports car. As I sank into the rich leather seat, I was enveloped with loud music coming from the high-tech tape player. The dashboard and controls reminded me of an airplane cockpit. We took off like a rocket. Don't worry, he smiled. I have everything under control. But as we proceeded to zoom down the road, I was not so sure. I felt ill at ease for a reason that had nothing to do with our speed. A single young man in his late twenties, the youth director chatted amiably with me about his career goals and plans. His remarks were sometimes serious, sometimes filled with ridicule, a mixture of flesh and spirit that contradicted each other from one moment to the next. Our conversation did not reassure me that he understood about surrender to Christ or the importance of a personal devotional and prayer life. Then I realized the main reason the youth of this church were so indifferent to the things of God. Here was a youth director who was barely more mature in the Lord than the young people he was hired to lead. That young man was undoubtedly chosen by the church leadership because he was popular with the youth. He planned a full round of social activities for them and kept them busy all the time. I am sure the parents and leadership of the church reasoned that this young man was earning the respect of the youth. They probably believed he had many chances to talk to them about the things of the Lord. But what kind of witness and example did he offer? His pattern of life, as far as I could tell from my brief time at the church, was committed not to the things of God, but to the ways of the world. Most youth directors, I am sure, are not like this young man. I thank God for those who have taken their call seriously and are serving as unto the Lord. But the most basic rule in the propagation of any species, and in discipleship as well, is that like begets like. Unfortunately, it does not take many hours of traveling to come across parents, pastors, youth directors, and others in leadership who practice a worldly lifestyle before multitudes of children and young people who are soaking up their example like sponges. One young man in particular comes to mind. Let's call him John. His story is true. What happened to him occurs too often in our churches today. As a high school student, he heard the call for world evangelization at a summer youth camp. He came home and announced to his church-going parents that he was giving his life for missions. For a while, they did not treat his new vision for the world too seriously. They were impressed by his newfound zeal for the Lord, but were certain he would give up the idea in time. But John didn't grow out of it, at least not at first. As he approached his final year in high school, he began ordering information not from respectable colleges, but from Bible schools. His parents started to panic. Was he really thinking of going to one of those unaccredited institutes? What good would that do him in the real world? So John's parents met with their pastor and asked him to help their son see that he was throwing his life away by thinking about full-time missions. The pastor agreed to meet with John and invited him over to his office for career counseling. You know, John, the pastor told him gently, I was just like you when I first heard the call to the ministry. In fact, at first I wanted to go into missions too, but I learned, and you will too, that if God really is calling you to do something like that, there's plenty of time. Your mom and dad are right to be concerned that you get a good education first. If your missionary service doesn't work out for one reason or another, then you'll always have something secure to fall back on. The pastor went on to stress family concerns. Have you thought about your future wife and the children you may someday have? Have you given any consideration to the emotional and physical adjustments they would have to make to a harsher way of life? Then the pastor explained some of the other risks and dangers involved in a mission's career, pointing to the diplomas hanging on his own walls. Get a good education first, John. I suggest you enroll in the best liberal arts college you can. Then, if you're really serious, you can go on to a good seminary and get your Master's of Divinity or even a doctorate. You also need some experience working in our churches here at home. I have connections in other churches, and you can count on me to help you. Then, if you still want to go into missions, you'll know it's the real thing. It made sense to John. Everyone he knew was giving him the same sort of slow-down advice. Besides, his girlfriend's parents were opposed to the idea of his becoming a missionary. They were respectable people and did not want their daughter to have just a Bible school education or marry someone who did not have a regular job. John figured that if he went to college first, she could enroll, too, with the help of her family, and the two would not have to be separated. He also figured this would give her some time to see how important the missions call was on his life. John wrote to several missions organizations that year, since he was still planning to go overseas for short-term missions work as a summer volunteer. But after a year on campus, he decided to switch to a business major. Everyone said that was where the future was in society. After that, he never found the time to go overseas, not even short-term. His girlfriend soon enrolled at the same college. They married when she was in her third year. Two years later, the marriage ended in bitter divorce. John's parents were heartbroken and realized that their interference had taken their son away from God's plan for his life and put him on a fast track to nowhere, at least nowhere for the kingdom of God. But by then, John was already pursuing a graduate degree. There was no more talk of the Lord in the mission field now. He was too busy sending his resume to top business firms. Today, John is in a successful business, remarried, and building a comfortable life for his family, complete with debt, a lavishly furnished house, two cars, and a boat. To pay the bills, both he and his wife work. He still claims to be born again and attends church when it does not interfere with his career. In our churches today, we find millions of men and women just like John. In their young, formative years, they heard the call of God on their lives, but were not given the direction they needed to respond properly. There is no guarantee, of course, that without his parents' intervention John would have gone into missions. It is futile to ask, what if? Yet still I wonder, perhaps John's burden for the lost would have resulted in his staying home after all and becoming a sender rather than a goer. But today John is neither. The world is ready to offer substitutes to our children—security, prestige, wealth, power, and ineffectiveness for the kingdom of God. But it does not have to be that way. Where do things go wrong? They go wrong in our churches and youth group meetings, but first they go wrong in our homes. If we model for our children a lifestyle that is consistent with what we believe, I assure you we can reach the next generation for Christ. As we walked across the grounds of a Hindu temple, our son Daniel, only three at the time, was attracted to a baby girl crawling around on the stones. He tried to take a picture of her with his toy camera. Instead, we placed them side by side and took a picture of them together with our real camera. As I look at that picture today I notice not only the little girl's torn and dirty dress, but an amulet tied around her neck with a string. Her parents were Hindus. The amulet was to protect her from evil spirits. Today I look at my children and am amazed how much they have grown, how fast time has flown since the days when they toddled around the house. Gisela and I love them dearly, and there is no doubt we want the very best for them. Those Hindu parents loved their little girl as well and wanted the best for her. Unfortunately, the best they knew was an amulet to ward off evil spirits. They did not know that all the evil in the world has already been defeated at the cross and that Christ died and rose again so that all might be saved. More than half the population of India is made up of children under the age of sixteen. The little girl we saw that day is one of millions of children who may never hear about Jesus before they die. I tell you this in all seriousness. What you and I give to our children today will determine what they and future generations will receive. In light of this reality, I want to offer five suggestions that will help you impart a burden for the lost world, the children and young people in your life. Your life, rather than your words, will be their greatest teacher. Teach them from early on to love Jesus above all others. We expect certain routine things from our children. We expect them to bathe, brush their teeth, go to school, do their homework. These are not unreasonable demands. We see them as a basic part of living. But when it comes to prayer and spiritual things, we slack up a bit. After all, we do not want to force our children into legalism or bondage. What we fail to realize is that making Jesus part of a child's everyday life is even more basic to living than learning to brush your teeth. My daughter, Sarah, had an opportunity to experience this recently. To her dismay, she found a wart growing on her arm. It showed no signs of stopping and embarrassed her terribly. She began to wear a Band-Aid over the wart to cover it up. Gisela sat down with her one day. Sarah, she said, I want to tell you something. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Jesus healed people before, and he can heal us now. He answers prayer. You know that, Sarah. He has answered many of your prayers. Yes, Mommy, I know, Sarah replied. But this? Sarah, Jesus can answer your prayer and take your wart away, too. You really mean that, Mommy? Yes, Sarah, I really mean that. So, Gisela and Sarah prayed together and asked Jesus to remove the wart from Sarah's arm. Sarah, Gisela told her, from today on, you will begin to see that wart getting smaller and smaller. Soon it will dry up and fall off. So they began to watch Sarah's arm day after day and saw the wart shrivel up slowly in answer to their prayer. A few weeks later, I was in my study, working on something when Gisela came in. Sarah followed with a shy grin on her face. Sarah, her mother said, why don't you tell Daddy what happened? Sarah rolled up her sleeve, smiling even bigger. The wart had disappeared. Jesus had answered her prayer. What a wonderful way for her to see that Jesus is interested in every part of our lives. When your children ask you for new clothes or the newest style of shoes, take the opportunity to say, why don't we ask Jesus about it? Teach them to take their requests and desires to Him. If our children learn from the start to put Jesus before everything and everyone, they will pray about decisions and come to Him with the smallest request or concern. And later, they will be freed from impure relationships and ungodly marriages. We looked already at Jesus' words from Luke chapter 14, verse 26. If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters, yes, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Let nothing come between your children and their relationship with Jesus. Teach your children to die to themselves. Daniel had been eyeing a special toy for quite some time. He had finally saved up enough money, and it was only a matter of going to the store and making the purchase. But he came to me and said, Daddy, I decided not to buy that toy. Why, Daniel, I asked, puzzled. Last night, after you prayed with me, I thought about the toy, and I thought about the thousands of people in India who don't have a Bible. I want my money to go to buy Bibles to give to those people. Why did my son make a choice like that? Neither Gisela nor I forced him into that decision. It was simply because, by the grace of God, he had seen in our lives what we believed and lived for. If anyone would come after me, Jesus said, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. Jesus made it clear that death to our dreams, hopes, expectations and fears is the qualification for any Christian. There is an unwritten rule in today's society, by contrast, that if we let our children face the disappointments and dashed hopes that come in this world, we must be poor parents. Even in the Christian subculture, we are taught to push our children to make goals and meet them, to pursue dreams and satisfy the desires of a fleshly heart. But what does Jesus ask of us? To die to it all. He does not want us to fit him into our busy schedules. He wants us to come to him without plans, goals or agendas, but with an open calendar and open life ready for him to arrange our schedule as he sees fit in the work of the kingdom. Did you know that pursuing the values set by our culture is a learned attitude? We can teach our children to unlearn those values as well, or we can provide an atmosphere at home in which they never learned them in the first place. When children see their parents approach each day with a fresh dependence on the Lord for their plans and hopes, they too will learn to take up their cross daily. Teach your children to forsake all. Luke 14.33 says, Any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciples, said Jesus. In a world dominated by ever-increasing materialism, no command seems harder to accept than this one. Citizens of some of the most affluent nations in the history of the human race still cannot be satisfied with what they have. We live in an age in which the acquisition of wealth and financial security has become a national pastime. But the love of material goods, including clothing, homes, insurance, properties, automobiles, even recreational toys, is one of the greatest hindrances to world evangelism. Our attitude as parents and leaders will influence how our children see the things that everyone else runs after. Jesus asks us to forsake all if we want to follow him. But before our children are able to do so, so must we set the example. Teach them to live a life of discipleship. For many, being born again is the end of their spiritual life, not the beginning. Many fail to understand and fail to teach their children that the Christian walk is an ongoing experience of daily submission to the Lord. Walking with Jesus is not an easy road. He calls us to follow in his footsteps, but he was mocked, beaten, and ultimately killed. Unless children and young people learn early on what this means, they will be blown away when the first fiery trial of their faith comes. These realities of the Christian life are taught on every page of the New Testament, but somehow we have managed to lock them away. Young people who are serious about following Jesus need to understand that persecution and misunderstanding come to those who put Christ first. Suffering comes with a job. Sacrifice will always be needed if we are to reach the unreached with the gospel. I do an enormous amount of traveling. This means, of course, that I am often gone from home, and Gisela bears much of the responsibility for parenting Daniel and Sarah. To this day, my children have never heard their mother grumble about my being gone. When they are sad or when they complain themselves, she draws them close and says, It's our privilege to send Daddy out so that Jesus can use him to help reach the lost. While we all feel the pain of this sacrifice Gisela and I have chosen to make, my children are not bitter. Train your children to witness and share with others about Jesus. Young people can develop a burden for the lost at an early age simply by reaching out to those around them who do not know the Lord. They can learn to reach out to friends at school and in the neighborhood. They can work with the deacons in your church to call in the sick, become involved in prison ministries, and visit those who are in need. They can accompany parents or youth leaders on short-term mission trips to nearby needy areas. But remember the best training for witnessing comes from you. As they observe you in your daily life interacting with unsaved neighbors and friends, your children will learn to share the love of Jesus as well. Make good use of available resources and materials. Obtain a world map and put it up in a prominent location in your home. Begin to pray as a family for missionaries you know about. Ask the Lord to direct your giving. Read together from missionary biographies. There are numerous wonderful volumes available on the lives of men and women like Amy Carmichael, Jim Elliott, Sadhu Sundar Singh, Hudson Taylor, William Carey, and many others. Books like Operation World list prayer needs for each country of the world. The children's version of this wonderful book titled You Can Change the World is another excellent tool. Encourage your children to pray personally for a specific country or ethnic group. Obtain the names and addresses of the missionaries your church supports. Make it a family project to learn about the countries they live and work in. Learn as much about their lives and needs as possible. Take the opportunity to invite visiting missionaries to your home. Gather your children around you and encourage them to ask as many questions as possible. Above all, pray for those missionaries. The other day, Daniel was getting ready to go with some of his friends to a free Christian music concert. He was not planning to take any money. But when I heard it was free, I told him, Son, you should take at least five dollars for the offering. It may be free to you, but someone has to pay for it. Then I added, Daniel, maybe you should take a little more money, too, in case you find a T-shirt, or in case of an emergency. My son's response stopped me in my tracks. Daddy, he said, I don't want to take any more money. I'm not going to buy anything. I know other kids buy those things, but it's just a waste of my money. I don't want it. I knew, since I know Daniel, that his statement was not a casual one. Don't underestimate your children's ability to understand the reality of the lost world. Give them the opportunity to experience what you are living for. Live your life before them, coming to the Lord daily, and depending on His strength and grace, to be an example, they will follow and imitate. Commit yourself to praying daily for your children that the Lord will save them and call them to serve Him. There is an abundance of material things that we can give to our children, but these are as useless as the amulet tied around that little girl's neck. The best thing we can give them is Jesus. Teach your children about His love and His heart. Teach them to follow Him, to lay down their lives to reach the lost. Don't let your children miss out on the best you can offer them. Chapter 15 Guidelines for Living in the Light of Eternity As the plane began its final descent, flight attendants busied themselves picking up leftover cups, asking for tray tables to be put up, and making sure we had our seatbelts fastened for landing. I found myself wondering what kind of people would be meeting me at the airport. Tim and Rachel—not their real names—had called me a few months earlier with a startling statement. "'Brother K.P,' said Tim, "'we want to give some money to your organization, but it's quite a large sum.'" "'How much are you talking about?' I asked him. "'A million dollars.'" "'A million dollars?' I had to ask again to make sure I had heard him right. During the course of our conversation I learned that Tim worked as an electrician while Rachel stayed at home to care for their children. I could not help but wonder how they were able to give this kind of money away. "'As a family,' Tim said, "'we live quite simply. The money we want to give is an inheritance.' "'Is it all the money you have?' I asked. "'Yes, that's all of it,' he answered. "'Tim, give me three days to pray about it,' I said. "'I'll call you back.' As I hung up my heart was troubled. This young couple planned to give away all they had—everything—to our ministry. Their trust in us was sobering. Our need for responsibility and good stewardship weighed heavily on me. I asked my staff to fast and pray with me about it. Three days later I called Tim back. I did not feel peace about taking the whole sum of money, I told him, but felt the Lord giving us the freedom to accept an amount needed for one specific project about which we had been praying—nearly $300,000. I also told him of other missions organizations he could contact and pray about helping, if God directed him to do so. A few days later their check arrived in the mail. Now I was scheduled to be in their area to speak at a missions conference and was about to meet Tim and Rachel. They were there at the gate greeting me with warm smiles. Nothing they wore would reveal them as an obvious source of a million dollars. I hardly knew what to think, but already my preconceptions were being blown away. After a warm handshake Tim led the way to their car. Now I was really in for a shock. He loaded my luggage into the back of an old, well-used station wagon and off we drove. Their house was not grandiose by any stretch of the imagination, but Rachel was a gracious hostess and their troop of small children played happily and noisily throughout the house. As I spent more time with Tim and Rachel, I came to know their story. As a young single man, Tim had spent much time with the Lord in prayer and in the Word. He became so moved with compassion for the lost world that it nearly broke his heart. He sold his house, cars, and most of his clothes, took the money, and sent it off quietly to many different countries for the printing of gospel literature. He lived so radically for Jesus that some people actually thought he'd gone crazy. During this time he met Rachel. Before long they were in love, but Rachel came from a rich family. Even though I love you, Tim told her, I can't even think about marrying you. Why not? You know I've given my life, my job, everything for one cause—to win the lost for the Lord. If I marry you, with the millions of dollars that come with your name, you may not want to live the life I've chosen. I can't marry you, Rachel. You don't understand. I love you because of the way you are. That's the kind of life I want, too. So they made a pledge between themselves and the Lord. They would never touch a penny of the money Rachel would bring to their marriage. Tim would continue his electrician's job to meet their basic needs. They would live as simply as possible, buying used clothing and driving used cars, and all the money from Rachel's inheritance, as well as any extra money from Tim's job, would go completely to the Lord's work. I will never forget Tim and Rachel, their house, their car, and the lifestyle they chose to live. I will never forget the look of complete contentment and joy I saw on their faces. Every day, they evaluate their lives, asking themselves if their actions, decisions, and purchases are helping to reach the lost. Their lives represent a choice to live and interpret everything in the light of eternity. Over the years, I've heard many discussions on world evangelization. It's interesting to meet with others who share similar and differing viewpoints. But when the discussions involve the issue of living with less, they often take a philosophical turn and offer little practical application. We can debate practical theology if we want to, while millions are plunging into hell. But we must understand one thing about scaling down our lifestyles. One hundred years from now, what will remain? Houses, money, plans, buildings? They will no longer have any meaning. We must adjust our lifestyles now and invest our lives to reach the lost world. During World War II, the people of England scaled down their lifestyles to the barest of essentials. They knew that if they did not commit themselves fully to winning the war, they might lose everything, so they gladly gave money, gold, silver, even their young men for the cause. Many believers are searching for reality in their lives. They want some way to connect what they believe with what they live, but they do not quite know what steps to take. How do we implement the call of eternity into our lives? How do we become more missions conscious and begin to live more simply? There are two dangers we must be careful to avoid. First, we can take the message of the gospel and translate it into all action and no heart. We can get whipped up into a frenzy of activity and supposed sacrifice that means nothing at all because it is not motivated by love. Second, we can see the life of Jesus asks us to live and become overwhelmed by what seems to be impossible demands. The result is no action at all. Doing something is just too hard. The problem with you and me and the culture in which we are immersed is that we are taught the self-help approach to spiritual living. Instead of taking the Bible at face value, we are taught to find scriptures that justify our need for happiness and more comfortable lives. We are no longer centered on Jesus and His will, but using Him as a means to comfort in the here and now. We even take what the world offers us and put labels on it to Christianize it. Whether it be heavy metal music, color coordination seminars, or aerobic videos, we have allowed ourselves to be deceived by our society and the opinions of others. One man's comments in a church recently gave me insight into the workings of human nature. I'm a medical doctor, he said. If I were to live the lifestyle you preach about, I wouldn't be able to keep my practice. I own a home and car. If I were to reduce my standard of living, as you suggest, my colleagues wouldn't take me seriously anymore. I don't even think they'd want to come into my house. If I'm to be accepted in the medical community, I have to live this lifestyle. Did I detect some self-justification? But arguing with him was not the answer. All I can offer are some basic guidelines, I responded. You have to work it out in your own life. I hope the following seven guidelines will help to make your way clear as you seek the Lord for living in the light of eternity. 1. Go to the Word of God. Any issue that falls into the realm of obedience to the Lord must be found in His Word. As you commit to opening your heart to the Word of God every day, the Holy Spirit will take what you are reading and make personal application. 2. Apply the Word of God. Apply truths from the Word of God to your own practical realm. Determine to take the Word of God personally. Ask yourself, how does this apply to me specifically, where I am now and in regard to those with whom I live and work? Jesus said in Matthew 16, 24, If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. Now ask yourself, what does it mean to deny myself and take up my cross today? Wait before the Lord and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal His truth to you. Obedience to the Lord, I have found, is seldom a pleasant experience for my flesh. Most of the time I do not enjoy it. A friend of mine shared once that he was setting his alarm clock a few minutes earlier in the morning in order to get up to pray. How he hated that alarm clock! A few times he really pounded it, he told me, to shut the thing off. Sometimes he buried his head in the pillow and went back to sleep. When he did get up, he shuffled to the sink and splashed cold water on his face. Oh, he hated the cold water too, and as he knelt by the bed to pray, that did not feel good either. Then, he told me with a chuckle, he began to realize that it was working. He was waking up, his prayers were being answered, and he was drawing closer to the Lord. We are not ethereal, spirit-like vapors living in plastic shells. We are made of flesh and bone. When we look at the cross where Jesus died, we see agony, misunderstanding, loneliness, rejection, humiliation, loss, and death. When the Lord asks us to take up the cross to understand Christ in His fullness, we must personally accept inconveniences in our lives. It may mean fasting and praying, spending a long time in the Lord's presence, rejecting the urge to buy an expensive shirt, gathering the courage to tell someone about the Lord. Your mind may argue with you and try to rationalize this all away. Your emotions may protest the discomfort you've accepted, but deep within your heart, you know that the word of God is true and that to obey it, you must apply it to your life. This is the end of side one. Please stop your machine at this point and turn the cassette over to hear side two.