On this Good Friday when many Christians around the world are remembering Jesus death on the cross I was thinking on part of Isaiah 53:4-6

4 Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.

5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.

6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

For those of us that know Jesus as Lord already it is a wonderful reminder of the price that was paid for our redemption.

If you are reading this and don’t know about Jesus and what He did for us then a brief explanation is in order – Verse 6 (We all like sheep…) tells us that all humanity is sinful (we’ve all gone astray), but God laid on Jesus all our sins who took the punishment we deserved. As a result all who believe in Jesus and commit their lives to him are freed from their sin.If you want to know more about Jesus and how to become a true believer then do get in touch…

If you are reading this because there has been a mass disappearance of millions of people simultaneously from around the globe then I want to explain to you what has happened. I am writing this in advance as I expect to be one of those who disappear. If however you have found this page and this has not yet happened do read on as it will explain what many Christians expect to happen in the near future.

I’m sure there are already many explanations and theories as to why so many vanished from the earth. Ideas such as “a mass abduction by aliens” is likely to be popular. Another might be “all the problem people have been removed so we can get on without being held back”

If you look at all the lives of all who have disappeared you will find one thing in common to them all. All of them were bible believing Christians. It is also possible that all children under a certain age have also disappeared as they are “below the age of accountability”. This event is known in Christian circles as “the rapture of the church” (or sometimes “the rapture”. It is the case that not all Christians believe in this event and there is much discussion about the timing of this event amongst those who do believe in it.

For the purpose of this post I am assuming a “pre-tribulation” rapture. This means that the rapture occurs before the start of a 7-year period known in the bible and Christian circles as “the tribulation” or “Daniel’s 70th week”. The bible talks of a 7-year period of tribulation – in which there will be a series of judgments on the earth and its inhabitants. These judgements will increase in severity of the 7 years culminating in the second coming of Jesus Christ. You can find details of these in the book of Revelation (the last book in the Bible).

We also know from the Bible that this 7-year period is triggered when a character known as the antichrist will make a 7-year agreement with the nation of Israel. This character called the antichrist is a world leader that will arise shortly before this agreement is made. It is likely that he will become known as a result of the rapture of the church. After about 3 1/2 years he will break the agreement and trigger a set of severe judgements.

I will not go into more details in this post, but rather would encourage you to look directly at the Bible. If this has yet to happen then I would urge you to surrender your life to Jesus before it is too late. If however you are only finding this because of the rapture then I urge you not to surrender to the demands of the arising world leader – no matter how good this person appears to be.

I’m not talking about your physical body, but about your spirit or soul – the part of you that survives beyond physical death.

If you think that this idea is nonsense take a good look into “near death experiences”, especially of those who have died and been resuscitated. There is convincing evidence from that those who have been through this and have had an “out-of-body” experience. Some have reported facts they could not have known about what was going on in the room or even nearby.

As a Christian I believe the Bible teaches us that after we die physically we will ultimately end up in one of two destinations. These destinations are a place of eternal bliss – commonly referred to as heaven, or a place eternal torture – commonly referred to as hell.

The question is where will you end up after your relatively short life on this earth? The decisions we make whilst on this earth determine where we end up. In fact the Bible tells us that the answer to this question boils down to a single decision – do you believe in Jesus and put your trust in him for your eternal future?

Now you might say that you don’t believe in God, or that we simply don’t continue beyond physical death. I would suggest that there is sufficient evidence for both. Even worse would be if you believe in heaven and hell, but think that “hell isn’t that bad” or even it will be one big party! If that is what you believe then you are sadly mistaken. Hell (or the lake of fire as it is referred to in Revelation – the last book of the bible) is a place of eternal torment. It is not a place you want to choose to go to.

You might argue that you don’t believe what the bible says is true, that it is just a made up story, but if you look into it carefully you will find that there is a lot of evidence for its authenticity. I’d recommend looking at the books by Lee Strobel, especially “The Case for Christ”.

You might also say – why would a loving God send anyone to hell? The simple answer to this question is that He does not want to send anyone there – so He has provided a free way out so you don’t have to go to hell. However God is not just a loving God but a just God as well. This means that our “sin” – our rebellion against God – cannot go unpunished. However being a loving God means that He has provided a way out. John 3 v 16 tells us this…

“God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”

I know that as a Christian – I along with millions of other Christians will spend eternity with Jesus. The real question is where will you spend eternity?

If after reading this you want to make a decision to believe in Jesus do get in touch. You can take the first step by working through the ABC of salvation.

A – Admit

Admit what you have done wrong and ask forgiveness.

Romans 3:23 – All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Romans 6:23 – The wages of sin is death.
I John 1:9  – If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

B – Believe

Believe that Jesus died on the cross and rose again as a payment for your sins.

John 3:16  – For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
1 Corinthians 15:3-4  – Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.
Romans 5:8  – But God demonstrates His own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

C – Confess and Choose

Confess and choose to allow God to the be in charge of your life

Matthew 16:24  – Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
Romans 10:9  – If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Romans 10:13  – Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

If you are already a Christian believer can I encourage you to share this or better still write your own appeal to encourage others to believe.

I was reflecting yesterday on the approval of the first Covid-19 vaccine for the UK when I had this phrase pop in my mind:

Don’t put your trust in the created, put your trust in The Creator

In others words don’t put your trust in the vaccine, or indeed any other thing, rather put your trust in the one who created all things, The Creator himself.

At a time when so many are concerned about the Covid-19 virus we should be putting our hope and trust in the Lord who created all things, not in the hope of a vaccine.

After a couple of comments on Facebook I just want to clarify the above statement to make it clear I am not saying whether you should or shouldn’t take the vaccine. Such a choice is between you and the Lord.

What I am saying here is where is your trust and hope centered? Are you putting all your hopes into the vaccine solving the issues and bringing back normality? Or are you putting your hope and trust in the Lord?