The Road So Far

 Last night we took some much needed time to stop and reflect on what we have learned so far this year. Volleyball was the name of the game for the evening and I don't know about everyone else, but I had a really good time.

As we moved into the "message" time, I opened with a brief overview of everything we had covered up to this point. Below you will see a simple illustration (drawn by yours truly) of the foundation for all of our messages this year.

You would not believe how long it took me to produce that simple image... Anyway, the heart above represents your life. It represents you. Everything we are talking about this year centers around how to live the Christian life in a non-Christian world. The cross represents Jesus Christ being at the center of your life and the book represents the Word of God (the Bible) as your basis for truth. You see, if we want to live the Christian life, we first must be sure that we are of the faith and that we are in submission to the Bible as our authority in life. If you don't believe in Jesus, or you don't trust the Bible as a reliable source of truth, then you will fail to live out the Christian life in this world. Everything else that we have talked about or will talk about this year is founded on the understanding that Jesus is Lord and the Bible is our authority. That means we look to Jesus and we trust His Word to teach us what is right and good.

The Bible tells us about the nature of mankind - that we are created in the image of God but are separated from Him because of our sin, which condemns us to death. Every person is born with a sin nature and is destined for death. On our own, there is nothing we can do bridge the gap and get to God. When we understand this about mankind, it helps us to see that apart from God we are all doomed. We are not basically good, we are not evolving into better or more perfect beings, and we are not all going to Heaven (apart from God, none of us are). This has HUGE implications for living the Christian life, because it means that if we are not going into the world and telling people about Jesus (as we are supposed to do) then they won't ever have access to God.

The Bible also tells us about our role in the world, and specifically how we are to relate to non-believers. In His famous "Sermon on the Mount" in Matthew 5-7, Jesus tells His disciples that they are to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. We broke that down to mean that we are to be blessings toward others (salt), doing good whenever and wherever we can. We are also to speak the truth whenever and wherever we can (light), shedding truth and light in an otherwise very dark world. Even if someone is in direct opposition to God and persecutes us as Christians, we are to speak the truth and demonstrate toward them the same kind of live and mercy that God showed us through Jesus Christ.

The Bible gives us a direct command when it comes to our relationship with our parents: "Honor your father and mother". We talked about the fact that "to honor" means "to obey". We are to obey our parents. And this is a serious command, as it sits right in the middle of the 10 Commandments. Its right up there alongside "Do not murder". And there is no caveat to this one either. There is no stated exception, like "obey them unless they are being quite unreasonable". We are to obey our parents, unless (yes, there is actually an exception) they tell us to do something that goes against the Bible. We obey God first, then parents. And if we do this, it will go a LONG way in helping us to have a good, healthy relationship with our parents.

The Bible completely obliterates any foundation for racism. In the beginning when God created Adam and Eve, He was starting the entirety of the human race from one set of parents. That means that all of us, no matter our skin tone, are able to trace our lineage back to the same common ancestors. We are ALL descendants of Adam and Eve, which means we are ALL one race - the human race. Therefore, skin tone should have absolutely no bearing on how we treat each other. No one is superior or better than anyone else, this is what the Bible teaches. We are equals in sin and separation from God, and those of us who have been saved are equals in the forgiveness and grace we have received in Jesus Christ.

The last two weeks we watched a YT video by Dr. Jason Lisle, in which he shared evidence from astronomy that supports the truth of the Bible. One of the benefits of seeing this evidence is that it encourages us in our faith, to know that what we believe to be true is supported by the world that God created. Knowing these evidences also helps us to have an answer for the hope that we have in Christ. When the people of the world come against us and accuse us of being crazy or stupid, we can show the rationality of our faith and stand our ground.

Most of our time last night was spent in a discussion, as I gave students the opportunity to voice any questions that had been raised but not answered in any of the previous messages. It started slow but it turned into a good discussion, and I am planning on having another one sometime in February of 2022. I hope you're able to be there and participate.

As we move forward this year, we will continue to tackle some of those big topics that the church is facing right now. We will discuss a biblical perspective on abortion, sexuality, social justice, and even politics. It is important for us, as Christians, to discuss these topics and come to a common understanding of how we should handle each of them from a biblical perspective. I fully expect there will be some hard conversations to come, but they will be necessary.

May the God of all peace be with you.

The Bible and "Race"

 Heyo! This is the second week of our look into a biblical perspective on some of the more pressing issues of our current culture. Last week we talked about our relationship with our parents (specifically focusing on what the Bible has to say about honoring and obeying our parents and how that plays into the relationship). This week we are looking at the topic of what our culture calls "race". We went through 11 different passages from the Bible, so bear with me as we read and unpack them together. This was a particularly interactive message time, and unfortunately I was not able to record all of the questions (or the corresponding answers) from the discussion last night.

Genesis 1:26-27 - “²⁶ Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’ ²⁷ So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”

When God created all things, and in this case, mankind, He made them all "according to their own kind". Mankind is particularly unique as we see here, in that God decided to make mankind in His image. Mankind was given special authority and dominion over God's creation, which springs from this image of God we bear. This is where we come from as a people; this is our beginning.

Romans 5:12 - “¹² Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned…”

This is part of a larger argument Paul (the author of Romans) is making to the church that is in Rome. The point he is making in this passage is that sin and death entered the world through one man (Adam) and thus affected all people. This point alludes to the fact that we are all (yes, all) descended from that one man. If we could somehow trace our lineages back to the very beginning, we would all reach the same common ancestors: Adam and Eve. If this were not so, then how could Adam's sin be passed down to us?

Acts 17:26-27 - “²⁶ From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands.”

This supports Paul's statement in Romans, that we are all descended from common ancestors. From Adam and Eve came all the nations that exist today. God established each nation throughout history, including the United States of America, and He spread them out throughout the world, as we will see in the next passage.

Genesis 11:1-9 - “Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. ² As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. ³ They said to each other, ‘Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.’ They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. ⁴ Then they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.’ ⁵ But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. ⁶ The Lord said, ‘If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. ⁷ Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.’ ⁸ So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. ⁹ That is why it was called Babel—because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.”

This is where the major divisions of language and ethnicity started. Up until this point in the history of the world, people spoke the same common language (not English) and probably all shared a close skin tone. When God confused the languages (by the way, "Babel" means confusion) and scattered people "over the face of the whole earth", that is when ethnic diversity would have begun to develop - based on diet and climate.

Romans 2:9-11 - “⁹ There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; ¹⁰ but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. ¹¹ For God does not show favoritism.”

This is an important point to make note of, because some people want to claim that God favored the Israelites over other people. It is true that God chose the Israelites as His people, and He did that because He was going to use them to bring about His plan of redemption for mankind (His plan to save them from that sin and death Paul was talking about). When it comes to God's judgment, or His mercy, there is no partiality given. It doesn't matter where you were born, those who do good will reap the benefits of doing good and those who do evil will reap the consequences of doing evil.

The issue in the Roman church was that the Gentile (this just means those that weren't Jewish) Christians were arguing with the Jewish Christians, and Paul was trying to help them settle their differences by focusing them on Christ. It didn't matter if they were Jewish or not, they were all "in Christ" and that is what was supposed to bring them together.

Matthew 28:18-20 - “¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’”

The fact that Jesus commands His disciples to go and make disciples of all nations tells us that His death paid the penalty for the sins of everyone, not just the Jews or any other particular ethnic group. People of every nation could find salvation through Him, which puts all people on an equal playing field.

John 13:34-35 - “³⁴ A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. ³⁵ By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Within the body of Christ, within the church, we are called to love one another. It doesn't matter what differences there are between us, we must love one another just as Christ loved us.

Leviticus 19:34 - “³⁴ The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.”

Even though the Israelites (the Jews) were called to be holy nation (this means they were to be set apart from other nations, distinguished from them), they were still commanded by God to treat foreigners (non-Jews) with love. If it makes the point clearer, let me use the word "immigrant" instead of "foreigner". Though there may have been ethnic differences, that did not justify treating someone with anything less than love.

Romans 3:21-24 - “²¹ But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. ²² This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”

When it comes to sin, there truly is no difference between anyone. As human beings, we are all equally lost in sin, and equally incapable of earning salvation or attaining the glory of God on our own. We all fall short. In the same way, we are all equally (and freely) justified by God's grace through Jesus Christ. Not one of us is more deserving than another.

Colossians 3:5-11 - “⁵ Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. ⁶ Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. ⁷ You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. ⁸ But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. ⁹ Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices ¹⁰ and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. ¹¹ Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.”

This is Paul again, in a letter written to the church in Colossae. Here he is commanding them to put to death (to remove) anything in their lives that belongs to their earthly nature. If it was connected to the sin nature they had before coming to Christ, it needed to go. It is quite a list, right? I remember last night we talked a little bit about the filthy language part. I wonder what that means for you? At the the end of the quoted passage, Paul lists some of the things that would have, before Christ, separated or divided the people from each other. Jews would not have associated with Gentiles (Jews were circumcised, Gentiles were generally not). Barbarians were those people from what we now call Europe, and they were seriously looked down upon. Scythians were from the slavic areas, and also considered to be outsiders. Slaves were not usually permitted to associate with free peoples. So then, these are the dividing lines, and likely major ones in Colossae. In this passage, Paul is saying that in Christ, these dividing lines are no more. They are gone. They are removed. Rather than division, the church is to be completely unified in Christ.

Revelation 7:9-10 - “⁹ After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. ¹⁰ And they cried out in a loud voice:

‘Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.’”

And this is a look at where we are going. Revelation is a glimpse at what the end times will hold. In the vision, John (the author) sees this great multitude "from every nation, tribe, people and language" worshipping God together. The church of God has spanned over two millennia now, and has covered pretty much every corner of the world at one point or another. There have been Christians from countless nations, tribes, peoples and languages already, and there will be more Christians yet.

God created mankind as one race - the human race - and we are all made in His image. What our culture defines as "race" - the different ethnic groups and nationalities - were originally created by God to divide us. And in Christ He has removed those dividing lines so that we can once again be unified. This means that in a Christian, biblical worldview, the color of our skin has no bearing on how we should treat each other. Jesus commanded that those who love Him must love one another, no matter how our culture might try to identify and divide us.

The racial discrimination that we see today can, unfortunately, be justified from an evolutionary perspective. If we really evolved from a single cell organism and are continuing to evolve, then its possible that the different "races" of humanity are at different stages of the evolutionary process, which would mean that some races really are better than others. HOWEVER, from a biblical perspective, the racial discrimination that we see today CANNOT be justified. According to the Bible we are all human beings, made in the image of God, equally lost in sin and equally in need of a Savior.

So, for those who are in Christ, it doesn't matter what color your skin is, what language you speak, or what country you're from - we are all one in Christ. We are unified by our faith in Jesus. So stop focusing on the things that make use different and start focusing on the One who brings us together in unity. Let us love one another as Jesus has loved us. And as we look out into the world, let us demonstrate God's love to others, regardless of how they might look or act different from us.

If you have questions or comments, I would be happy to discuss them with you in the comment section below. God bless you all.

Salty Flashlights

Salt is so incredibly useful. Most of us use it on our food, either to enhance the flavor or to curb some of the bitterness (a pinch of salt in coffee works wonders). Mankind has also used it for ages as a preservative. Long before refrigerators there was salt, keeping our food from going bad. And of course, we're gearing up to throw it all over the roads (and our front porch) as winter approaches, as something about salt melts ice and prevents it from building up.

Similarly, light is essential. Not only so that we can see, but the light from the sun gives plants energy and allows them to grow. Could you imagine a world devoid of light? Life would be so different. I used to go camping a lot more than I do now, and at night I would often use a flashlight to get around in the dark without bumping into or tripping over things. The light would show me what was around me so I could navigate through it safely. The Bible often talks about itself in this way, that the Word of God is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. It shows the way. It shows the truth.

In the main passage for today, Jesus actually calls His people the light of the world. This is the final entry in our series on How to Live the Christian Life in a Non-Christian world. We've already discussed that first you have to be sure that you are of the faith. I mean, what's the point of trying to live the Christian life if you're not even a Christian? Second, as a part of being a Christian, you have acknowledge the Bible as an authority in your life. You have to believe what it says to be true and live by it. And third, you need to understand the nature of mankind as revealed in the Bible - we were created good, but messed up and became separated from God, fallen in our sinfulness with no way to fix it by ourselves.

Today I want to talk about our role as Christians in relation to non-Christians. How do we, or should we, interact with nonbelievers? Let's look at Matthew 5:13-16:

"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."

Jesus says we are to be the salt of the earth. I said earlier that salt is something extremely useful and helpful in our daily lives. It enhances flavor, preserves food from spoiling, and protects us from slipping on ice. If we are to be "salt" to others, then that means we should be useful - a blessing - in the lives of the people around us. We should be looking for ways to enhance other people's lives, make them better, or help in some way. This goes beyond offering to pray from someone, on to doing something practical for them. For example, if I see someone struggling to change a tire on the side of the road, I can pull over and help them (if you don't know how to change a tire, maybe don't do this). If I see that a friend is really struggling in math, I can offer to study with them. If I see that a coworker is just having a rough day, I can talk to and encourage them, or even offer to help them with their duties for that day - to make their load a little easier and their day a little better. That is what it means to be salt.

A word of warning here: salt, when used in the wrong way, can be bad. Just imagine putting salt in your hot chocolate instead of sugar - not good. We need to make sure that what we are doing is actually helping the other person, not just creating more problems. Good intentions isn't enough, we need to do good. Why? Jesus gives us the reason in the second part: "that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."

We are to be salt, and we are to be light. What does light do? It illuminates, it shows the way. It helps us to see in dark places and avoid obstacles. Mot importantly, light helps us to see where we are going. If we, then, are supposed to be a light to the world, then that means we need to be showing people where they are going. Our good deeds - being salt - should point people to Jesus, not to us. Being light involves speaking the truth (which we find in the Word of God) AND living by it. When we live the way God has called us to live, and we do good for others, it will point them to God. In that sense, then, we are pointing people to God - we are light.

There is one more important thing to understand about how we are to relate to nonbelievers, and that is found in 1 Corinthians 5:9-13:

"I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people—not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people. What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. 'Expel the wicked person from among you.'"

It is not our job to judge those outside the church. I'll say it again. It is NOT our job to judge people outside of the church. "But Mike," you might say, "you just said we have to speak the truth! Doesn't that mean we have to call people out on their sin?" Yes, we need to speak the truth, and that means showing people that they are sinners (just like us). But there is a huge difference between showing someone that they are a sinner and judging them for their sin. The first is meant to lead them to the understanding that they need Jesus to save them from their sin, while the second is meant to make them feel bad. Should we feel bad about our sin? Yes, absolutely. Should we go out of our way to make other people feel bad about their sins? No. The Holy Spirit, God, convicts people of sin, and God is the one who will ultimately judge them. That's His job, not ours. Our job is to speak the truth - to let people know they are sinners and in need of a Savior, Jesus. And we do that in love, as we do good in their lives and point them to Jesus.

So to put this all together (and I know that last part might have gotten a little confusing):

1. Be salt - demonstrate God's love in practical ways - help and serve others.

2. Be light - be the person God has called you to be and speak the truth of His Word.

3. Share the Gospel, not judgment. Judgment IS coming, and that is a part of the Gospel, but it is not WE who are going to be doing the judging - that's God's job.

If we do these things, we will be living the Christian life, and these are all things we can be doing in a non-Christian world. People may not like us (a lot of people hated Jesus), but it is what God has called us to do. God bless.

Gotta Face Reality

 I don't know why exactly, but I guess I've had games on my mind recently. As a kid I absolutely LOVED fighting games. I'd be playing "House" with my little sister and then 5 minutes in BOOM, a burglar breaks in and kidnaps her, and I have to go fight through hordes of minions to rescue her. I'd make up all kinds of stories where I was the hero, fighting against the forces of evil with my trusty sword. There was just one problem... I didn't have a sword. You want to know what I did have? A STICK! Booyah! I'd go out and find a decently-sized, straight-ish stick and that would become my sword, gun, axe, spear, staff - you name a weapon, that stick could be it - and I would use to to vanquish my enemies!

But what would happen if a real bad guy showed up? That stick wouldn't do me too much good - maybe I'd get a good whack in, if I was lucky, but then the bad guy would beat me to a pulp. As cool as it was to pretend that stick was a powerful sword, when faced with real danger I would have to face the reality that it was just a stick.

I think a lot of times we like to pretend that things are not what they are because it makes them cooler, or easier to deal with. We pretend sticks are swords because that is way cooler, or that a toothache will just go away on its own because that costs a LOT less money than getting it fixed by a dentist. We pretend that speed limits are more like guidelines than actual rules because it lets us get places faster. We pretend cheating on a test isn't really that bad because it saves us time on studying (or if we let someone cheat off of us, it makes us look better in their eyes). We even pretend that not reading the Bible regularly won't affect our faith.

Whatever the case may be, eventually we have to face reality. The stick breaks, the tooth decays, the cops pull us over for going 65 in a 25, we get caught cheating and get suspended from school, and we end up pulling away from God because we aren't paying attention to His Word. Two weeks ago we started answering the question "How do we live the Christian life in a non-Christian world?" Steps one and two were pretty straightforward: 1) be sure you are of the faith (otherwise why even try to live the Christian life?) and 2) acknowledge the authority of God's Word in your life. Last night we looked at step three, which is facing the reality of human nature.

There are a lot of ideas gaining traction in the world today: the idea of relative truth (that what is true for you may not be true for me, but they're both equally true), that the gender you're born with may not be your real gender (or that you get to choose your gender), the idea that who you are is tied to who you are attracted to, and possibly the most problematic idea, that mankind is basically good. The problem with this last one is that it takes away the idea that we are in trouble and in need of a savior. If mankind is basically good, then we don't really need God, or faith, or anything. We're good to go on our own. Unfortunately, this is not reality. Let's look back at the very beginning, when God first made mankind:

Genesis 1:26 - "Then God said, 'Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.' So God created mankind in His own image, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them."

This was at the very beginning, before sin or death had entered the world. Everything was perfect and good, which means at our very beginning, we were perfect and good, made in God's image. This image, which meant that we were created with reflections of God's nature and character in us, set us apart from the rest of creation. God even said that as mankind is made in His image, it would allow them to rule over the rest of the creation. He gave us some of His authority and a responsibility over the earth. In making us in His image, God gave us the ability to make our own decisions (we call this free will) and He gave us souls - a spiritual aspect to our being that lives on after physical death. After finishing His work in creation, God looked at everything He had made and decided that it was all very good. So, at the beginning, the idea that mankind was basically good was correct. We were. Unfortunately, that's not the end of the story.

Romans 5:14, 17-21 - "Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come. … For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ! Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Human nature started out good, but when Adam and Eve sinned against God human nature became corrupted. That act of rebellion (which you can read about in Genesis 3) brought sin and death and decay into God's good creation, and it brought corruption into all of it. Every person is now born with a corrupted nature, so that we are not basically good anymore. At our core, apart from God, we are sinful and hopeless beings. We still have the image of God implanted in us, but it has become corrupted and twisted, so while we can still sometimes do some good in the world, sin is the prevailing part of our nature. This is why we see so much evil and suffering in the world today, because people give in to their sinful natures and choose to do what is wrong. The ultimate consequence for sin, the consequence that we each deserve and are destined for, is separation from God and death. That is the nature and the fate of humanity.

BUT, you may have noticed in the Romans passage, God did not see fit to leave us like this. Just as through that first sin Adam doomed us to death, so through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross we have access to God and to eternal life! When Jesus died, He took the penalty of death that we deserve, so that we wouldn't have to. He took our punishment so that we could be forgiven and have a restored relationship with God. Without faith in Jesus, we have no hope of redemption. We would be stuck in our sin nature and doomed to eternal death and separation from God. Through Jesus, we can have life, and have it abundantly.

Our society is pushing a lot of new ideas right now, most (all) of which go against what the Bible tells us about human nature. If we take steps one and two, believing in Jesus and accepting the authority of God's Word in our lives, then we should be prepared to take step three, which is to face the reality of human nature which is described in the Bible. This is a hard step to take in our culture right now, because doing so pits us against the ideas that the world is pushing. The world will yell at us, scream at us, maybe even attack us to get us to accept their ideas. But we must stand up and stand strong for what the Bible says to be true, no matter what kind of push back we get for it.

The world wants to pretend that mankind is not doomed to death. The world wants to pretend that people can be whatever they want to be, and do whatever they want to do. The world pretends all this because it is easier than facing the reality that there is judgment coming for those who rebel against God. Whether you believe and trust in God's Word or not, eventually you gotta face reality.