The story of our lives...

The process that I use to write a book varies for each one—interestingly, that process tends to vary depending on which genre I am writing in—but, there are certain similarities that I want to discuss. With each novel, I generally have a beginning and an end already in mind, and then I write the scenes that take place in the middle.
One thing that I've noticed is how the scenes that I write will shape the character, and is not only a reflection of what the end will be, but often ends up recreating the ending for itself.
The first draft of my first book, Kindled Love, had a vastly different ending than the final published version. Why? Because I let the characters shape themselves. The choices that the characters made throughout the book molded and shaped their character, which changed how they responded to trials and tribulations—literally recreating them to necessitate a new ending. (Of course, I still chuckle when I look back at the Anna who yelled and threw things at people...)
In much the same way, our lives have a beginning and an end—one that our choices can change.
First, let us consider our story's end.
Our sin nature has written the ending of our lives eternally separated from God in a place called Hell; however, the choice we make to reject or accept Christ can either solidify that ending, or necessitate a new ending, with us in Heaven with Christ.
After that, our lives and choices are still having an impact on our story; will it involve standing with head bowed before God in shame, with nothing but a handful of ashes to show for our lives—or will it be standing with head bowed to receive a crown of Glory, as Christ proclaims, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant..." 
Those choices will both be available as your character responds to the trials and tribulations it faces in life, and you literally have the chance again to rewrite your ending.
Friend, I'm not certain where you are in your story, but just consider this: your choices will have an impact on the end of your story. Just ask yourself—what do you want that ending to be like?

"And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened..." (Revelation 20:12)

Are We Combat Ineffective?

There was a brief silence on the battlefield as the firing ceased. The smoke of battle slowly cleared, exposing numerous casualties strewn across the field. You begin to hear the ragged sound of men screaming in pain as they lay on the ruined field. Two teams of medics crawl out of their holes and move toward the shattered bodies of soldiers; one moving slowly towards the fallen enemy, while the other slowly approaches their own wounded.

You stand and watch as the medics slowly work their way through the enemy wounded, applying medical care almost lovingly; pressure dressing to stop the bleeding, morphine for the pain... Slowly, the comforted enemies screams decline in severity and volume. 

That's when you notice the other team of medics. Like the first, they are moving from soldier to soldier taking care of your compatriots. Pausing briefly between each casualty, they end their screams of pain with a quick slash of a knife across the throat.

Wait, what?

This disturbing scene is horrible to consider, yet is played out in Churches across the United States on a weekly basis. Christians who will lovingly approach the lost with a gentle hand will not have a second thought about spiritually destroying a fallen Christian. They will rip a fallen Christian to shreds and walk away believing they have done the Lord’s work. The reason for this is simple; we have lost the love of the brethren. We see the Great Commission as the end all of Christianity, and have a desire to fulfill it, but have crippled ourselves to the point of ineffectuality with our Pharisaical attitudes.

When I was in the Army we learned a very scary term: Combat Ineffective… it reflected that a unit is at 50 to 69 percent troop strength. When a unit loses strength to that level, they cannot carry out the mission that they were tasked with. That is the Church in today’s society. We have lost significant troop strength, and as a result, cannot carry out our mission.

And the blame rests solely at our own feet.

The Bible tells us clearly, “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.” (Galatians 6:1) Unfortunately, that is not our response. Instead, we are destroying those who have been overtaken and worse yet it is often in an attempt to raise ourselves in the eyes of others.

Think of how Jesus dealt with the woman caught in adultery (John 8:3-11) We read that story and only focus on how Jesus ‘Put those Pharisees in their place,’ but miss the greater lesson on how to respond to someone who has fallen into sin. I think it was really a warning to us of how He views our spiritually arrogant attitudes, because the fact is that the Pharisees are not the only ones who are judgmental about other people’s failures to the point of destruction.

• We have too many walking wounded that we have spiritually killed instead of offering life sustaining aid to keep them in the fight.
• We do not have the troop strength to carry out the Great Commission to reach enough to replace the ones we have lost.
• As a result, we are not replacing soldiers at the rate that we are losing them.

As soldiers in the Army of the Lord, we are Combat Ineffective. The question we must ask ourselves is this: What are we going to do about it?

Scorpion and the Frog

There is a story that begins with a scorpion meeting a frog on the bank of a rushing stream. The scorpion wishes to cross, but knows that he cannot do so without drowning. He looks over and notices a frog sitting on the bank.

“Excuse me, kind sir. Would you be willing to give me a ride across the stream? I will help you find some food if you do so.”

“Give you a ride?” The frog asks, "How do I know you won't sting me?"

The scorpion held out his claws in a pose of innocence, "If I do that, I will die too."

“Oh,” The frog nodded, “That makes sense.” Satisfied, he allowed the scorpion to crawl onto his back, and they set out to cross the stream.

About halfway across the rushing stream, the frog feels a sharp sting on his back. The paralysis almost immediately sets in. The frog, startled, looks back at the scorpion and asks, “Why?” Because he knows that they both will drown.

The scorpion shrugged as his head started to go under, “Because it’s my nature...”

As we look at sin, we often get fooled by the promises that it gives us. “I won’t hurt you... I’ll help you achieve things you cannot do on your own...”

What we must remember is that it is the nature of sin to destroy. Sin will play innocent, but it will always sting you in the end.

“Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?” (Proverbs 6:27)

The unWise Wise Men

FOREIGN DIGNITARIES INCITE INFANTICIDE

Iyar 16— 4 BC

The Magi Journeying by James Tissot

There is outrage across Judea as a group of foreign dignitaries supposedly incited the murder of numerous young children across the Judean countryside.

'They rode into town late in the day...' One witness reported, '...they rode straight up to Herod at the palace. They left a few hours later—but the very next morning Herod ordered all the children under two in Judea killed.'

I'm not sure if that's what the headlines really read... or if they had newspapers—but the fact is that the disobedience of these men had grave repercussions.

Disobedience? Some may ask? And to that I say yes.

You see, these men were recorded as being wise men from the east. They traveled hundreds, and possibly thousands of miles with the information from Scripture that they should go to Bethlehem. (Micah 5:2), they had the star to guide them... which pointed at the place where the child was. (Matthew 2:9)

But five miles away, they let their 'Wisdom' take over, and went to Jerusalem instead—and we see how that ended. (Matthew 2:16-18)

Why do I bring this up? Because, in the same way there are many who are setting themselves up for an eternity in Hell, simply because in the last few steps they let their worldly wisdom take over.

You see, most people will claim to believe in God—which is proven in nature. (Psalm 19:1)

Many more will claim to believe in Christ—that He was the son of God who died for their sins. (John 3:16)

But then, at the last, they turn aside. While Jesus Himself clearly stated; "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6) there are many who turn aside—they join Churches, give money, are baptized, light candles... they do all manner of things OTHER than go to Christ—and by that, reject the salvation that Christ offers.

Friend, as we consider this Christmas season, don't make the same mistake as the wise men and allow your worldly wisdom to cause you to miss Christ. Follow the Scripture, because it will lead you straight to Christ.