No pain, no pain

I remember as a wrester in high school hearing the time tested philosophy that was shouted out by nearly every coach in every sport "no pain, no gain". After living with some serious pain for a number of years now, I would like to change that saying to "no pain, no pain".

I know, I am not the first to say that, but I may have a different twist on it than most. Certainly, we all must endure pain during this life. As a matter of fact, living without pain can be down right dangerous. I remember reading Tony Dungy's first book and he talks about his son being born with a condition that does not allow him to feel pain. As a result, they must be even more careful to protect him from injury because he does not have that natural protection that most of us have by way of pain avoidance. On the other hand, most people get to have most of their waking hours without pain. For most people it does not hurt to stand or to walk. For most people, they do not experience pain just sitting.

Over the past several years, I have been battling pain from a motorcycle accident. The pain was severe enough that the best hope in dealing with it was to cut half my foot off. Unfortunately, there was only a short term relief. Now the pain is even greater than it was before. Additionally, I have severe arthritis in my left wrist and severe carpal tunnel syndrome in my right wrist. Because I need a cane, and neither wrist can support me for very long, so I have to switch sides frequently, I cannot get either wrist surgically corrected.

Medication that I took to help with the pain in the foot has a side effect of weight gain. Of course, long term, that made the pain worse.

So, why am I talking so much about the pain? Is it to get you to feel sorry for me? Absolutely not. The reality is that even though my pain will be with me until I die, it is still temporary and it is still to my benefit.

In the Bible, Paul writes that for me to live is Christ, but to die is gain. He goes on to say that even though he looks forward to being in heaven in the direct presence of God, there is need for him to be here. God has a purpose for him here and now. I believe that is true for all Christians, and I know it is true for me. The pain only makes me more thankful for what I will be getting for eternity and what I will be avoiding.

In John 3 verse 36, it says that if we believe in the Son (Jesus) we have everlasting life, but if we do not believe, we will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on us.

The reality is that everyone of us has violated God's standards or laws. We have all willfully done what we know is wrong. As a result, we deserve Hell. The Bible says that every liar will have his place in the Lake of Fire where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth and the worm does not die.

To me, that does not sound like much fun or much gain. Remember the idea of "no pain, no gain"? There is a situation where there will be lots of pain and no gain. For those that have been saved, we get to experience Heaven where there is no pain. To me, that sounds like a lot of gain with no pain. I am looking forward to the day when I can say "no pain, no pain". For now, though, I need to hang around because God wants me to tell others about Him.

So I mentioned getting saved. What does that mean? Well, first we are saved from sin and its punishment. The payment for sin is death (Hell) and the wrath of God. We are saved to a righteous relationship with God that last for ever.

So how does one get saved? I am glad you asked. In the book of Romans in the Bible, Paul writes that if we confess Jesus as Lord and believe God raised Him from the dead, we shall be saved.

When Paul wrote this, he did not write it in English. When it was translated into English, words had a bit of a different meaning than we think of today. The word in this verse that is a bit harder to understand in our language is the word (actually a combination of two words) that is translated confess. It actually means to assent or agree as with a covenant. In other words, we are to declare that we agree, with the conviction of a covenant, that Jesus is Lord. Additionally, we need to believe that God raised Him from the dead. If those two things are true for us, we are "saved". In the book of Ephesians, another book of the Bible written by Paul, he says that those that are in Christ (saved) are sealed by the Holy Spirit.

-If you have more questions about this, or if you would like to learn how you can -easily tell others this good news, call me. My number is 317-728-1066. I would love to talk with you.

My First Post

I thought I would start by explaining what drives my passion for evangelism. As Christians, we are commanded to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and mind. We are also commanded to love our neighbor as ourself, and we are even commanded to love our enemy.

Jesus said "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me." Peter said it this way "There is none other name under Heaven given among men whereby we must be saved."

As a true born again believer in Jesus Christ, we must agree with those statements. If we do not, we cannot be a true regenerated believer in Jesus Christ.

If we believe that it is only through Jesus that one avoids Hell and gains Heaven, and we love people, we cannot keep silent about the way to being saved. We are compelled to tell others.

In posts to follow, I will be sharing some insights on exactly what the gospel message is and ways we can communicate it with a lost and dying world.