Echoes of Grace: 2024

In 2021, an aerospace multimillionaire, Robert Bigelow, made quite a stir by offering $1 million to be divided between those who could show evidence that there was “the survival of human consciousness after permanent bodily death.”

The contest was in the form of an essay, offered internationally. Contestants had to meet certain qualifications and show that they had studied the subject of the afterlife for at least five years. Mr. Bigelow is the founder of the Bigelow Institute for Consciousness Studies (BICS), which he created shortly after the death of his wife. Being 75 at the time, he had also lost several other loved ones. This made him exceedingly curious as to what we should be preparing for after death and if it mattered how we conducted our life here.

Apparently, Mr. Bigelow had not read 1 Corinthians 15:3-8, because the BICS website states, “We are seeking hard evidence ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’ that takes us beyond religion or philosophy.” In other words, they were looking for proof of life after death with human intellect, experience and science.

Uncertain

Conclusions

What the finalists came up with was documented cases of near-death experiences, where a person’s heart had stopped beating and they were clinically dead, but it appeared that their spirit left their bodies. These people were able to recount details about what was going on around them with total accuracy when they were revived and their spirit appeared to come back into their bodies.

There were also documented cases of supposed reincarnation. Children as young as two to four years of age gave accurate details of people who had previously died, claiming that they had been them in their past life. Normally, these “past lives,” so-called, ended prematurely and unnaturally, either by violence, suicide or an accident.

Is there an afterlife? is a good question. But we need to go further than that! We know that we must die, sooner or later. But the real question — the most important question — is: What comes after death, and where will we spend eternity?

Satisfying Answers

To be curious is not enough. Human intellect and modern science will only take us so far. Human intellect and science will not — cannot — give us the soul-satisfying answers that we need. God tells us everything we need to know in His Word, the Bible. It is the final authority and has the answers to all our questions about the afterlife. “Thy Word is truth” (John 17:17).

The Bible tells us that we will spend eternity in one of two places. “These [the unbelieving wicked] shall go away into everlasting punishment [hell]: but the righteous into life eternal” (Matthew 25:46). Hell and heaven are the only two choices that we have, and we must decide where we are going in our lifetime here and now. The Bible teaches that we do NOT come back in reincarnation! “It is appointed unto men ONCE to die, but after this, the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).

Hell is the place where the unbelieving and wicked will “be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power” (2 Thessalonians 1:9). Since God is light, the unbelieving sinners will spend eternity far “from the presence of the Lord.” It is described as “outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 25:30), and “where their worm [conscience] dieth not, and the fire [judgment] is not quenched” (Mark 9:44).

On the other hand, heaven is the dwelling-place of God. It is where those who have repented of their sins and trusted in the shed blood of Christ to redeem them will go when they die. “Jesus said unto him [the thief on the cross], Verily [truly] I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with Me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). It is to be “present with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8). It is where “in Thy presence is fullness of joy” (Psalm 16:11).

Hopelessly Confused

Millions are hopelessly confused about what happens to us when we die. That is what makes the conversation recorded in the Interview Magazine by Arnold Schwarzenegger, the former governor of California, and his actor friend Danny DeVito so heartbreaking and sad. After DeVito had asked Schwarzenegger about his idyllic childhood that he had had and how he came to America, he asked him, “What’s in the future for us?”

Schwarzenegger said it reminded him of the question that shock jock Howard Stern had asked him, “Tell me, governor, what happens to us when we die?”

“I said, ‘Nothing. You’re six feet under. ... We don’t know what happens with the soul and all this spiritual stuff that I’m not an expert in, but I know that the body as we see each other now, we will never see each other again like that.’ ”

These two highly intelligent, famous men, one 75 years old and the other 78 years old at the time, did not know where they would spend eternity. Satan has deluded millions with many fanciful ideas about what comes after death, but none of them are true, and they only lead to hopeless despair and fear.

• The atheist does not believe in God and says there’s nothing on the other side.

• The universalist says there’s a paradise that awaits us all.

• Hinduism says an endless cycle of reincarnation will lead us to an unending existence.

• Countless religions say to do the best you can and just hope for the best.

It is impossible for the human intellect to come to a full understanding of these things, because they are spiritually understood. “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14). “God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24).

Man’s religions are made by man, and therefore they can be understood by man. But God has revealed spiritual things through His Word, the Bible. We don’t have to engage in a guessing game and chance our way into eternity, hoping for the best. We can know with absolute certainty that our sins are forgiven and that when life on earth ends, we will go to be with the Lord and Savior in heaven. It requires “repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21). “That if [you] shalt confess with [your] mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in [your] heart that God hath raised Him [Jesus] from the dead, [you] shalt be saved” (Romans 10:9). To be saved is to escape eternal damnation, which is the just penalty for our sins.

Because of his uncertainty about spiritual things and the afterlife, Schwarzenegger admitted that he feared death. “I know people feel comfortable with death, but I don’t,” he said. He then went on to list all the things that he would miss here ... having fun, going to the gym, riding his bike on the beach, traveling abroad and seeing interesting things all over the world. DeVito responded by saying, “Life! It’s the best!”

They were regretting that they had to die. Schwarzenegger then said, “I tell you, there’s someone that mixed up this whole thing. Think about it. Who can we blame?” DeVito said, “You mean that we don’t live forever?” “Yeah,” came the response, “that we have to die.” At this point they both agreed that they didn’t want to die, but that it was a reality that unfortunately they had to face.

Mixed Up

Schwarzenegger was right when he said that someone “mixed up this whole thing.” We are to blame, because we have all sinned against God. “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). But this does not excuse a fatalistic, nihilistic view of death and dying! When God created the first man to live on this earth, Adam, He breathed into his mortal body the “breath of life; and man became a living soul” (Genesis 2:7). When we die, our mortal bodies return to dust, and our spirit returns to God who gave it. “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it” (Ecclesiastes 12:7).

God has not left us to hopelessly resign ourselves to guessing what comes after death. All of Mr. Bigelow’s questions, all of Mr. Schwarzenegger’s questions, all of Mr. DeVito’s questions, and all of our questions are totally knowable and have a definite answer from God in His Word, the Bible. But we need to be honest; we need to be in earnest; there needs to be reality, and we need to seek God through His Word. “Ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13).

Many Don’t Understand What Death Is

Yet so many people slip into eternity with the idea that all will be well and that they have nothing to worry about. Over 10,000 people a year have chosen Canada’s MAID program (Medical Assistance In Dying), and the number is rising every year. One lady allowed a media team (videographer and reporter) from CBC News to be a part of her family during the weeks before, during and after her death. She wanted other families, medical professionals and lawmakers making decisions on the MAID program to see exactly what choosing to die was like. She told friends and family that she had tried to live a good life. Now, she was seeking “a good death.”

“I’m ready. It’s time,” she said. “It’s become too much. I just can’t deal with all this anymore. I need to go home.” She had her reasons for wanting to choose her day to die. She had constant pain. She had heart, lung and kidney deterioration. She had painful osteoarthritis which prevented her from lifting her arms to brush her hair and teeth, or to cook and paint. Her hearing was failing, and she had regular eye injections to slow the advance of macular degeneration. She was on oxygen 24/7. Then there was the pile of pills that she had to swallow to control the pain, high blood pressure and other conditions. Her life was filled with doctor’s appointments, pills and lying in bed.

A Good Death?

This sweet lady had the relief of knowing that her loving family supported her decision. The option to opt-out was open to her right up to the point of the fatal injection. At 87 years old, she’d had enough; she’d enjoyed a long life, and now she had decided it was her time to go. She said there was “no doubt.” She would just go into a restful sleep and not wake up. Not only that, but she would decide how she would go.

There would be lots of flowers. There would be music. She would not lie in bed but sit in an easy chair. She would have brunch and then say her final goodbyes to friends and loved ones. She wanted control over how she died, and she wanted to die with dignity. It would be “a good death.”

And so, it seemed to come to pass. On the appointed day, with friends and loved ones surrounding her, with music playing in the background and sitting in her favorite easy chair, after signing the final consent form, the fatal IV was administered. And yes, humanly speaking, she had “a good death.”

But what of her eternal soul? She spoke of going home, but where was home? A few weeks before she passed on, she made this comment: “I believe there’s nothing up there, nothing after this, but love. And if there’s something different when I get there, I’ll deal with it.”

“When I get there” is too late to decide! The moment you pass into eternity, your destination is sealed! God sent His Son Jesus to bleed and die on the cross for our sins. The work was complete and perfect. God raised Jesus from the dead on the third day, and now all we must do is accept God’s gift of salvation through faith. “By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Certainty

Jesus spoke from a position of authority and truth. He raised three people from the dead: the widow of Nain’s son (Luke 7:11-16), Jairus’ daughter (Luke 8:41-42) and Lazarus (John 11:1-44). He Himself rose from the dead, leaving behind an empty tomb. Thus, in truth and love, He said to Lazarus’ sister Martha, “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live” (John 11:25).

What are you going to believe? Near-death experiences? A child’s recounting of a “past life”? The idea that there’s nothing after death? The idea that it will all turn out well in the end if we just do the best we can? The idea that we can “fix it” or “deal with it” after we die? Or, the truth, which is, “He that believeth on the Son [Jesus] hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him” (John 3:36). Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father [God], but by Me” (John 14:6).

What determines your destiny after death is covered in No There, There.

No There, There

Lately, a new phrase — There is no there, there — has popped up in American political jargon. It has become a way of saying, “There is nothing significant in the wrongdoing I am being accused of. There is no need to dwell on any of these accusations.”

Politicians use the phrase to defend themselves. Sadly, a lot of people think this way about their sins.

Bring up to them the idea of personal wrong-doing before God, how we have all strayed from God’s righteousness, how we have all come up short of the glory of God, and the immediate response in many hearts and minds, even if it is not put in these words, is, “There is no there, there.” Or, in other words, there is nothing significant to the idea of sin.

The mindset of our world today is that the idea of sin is old-fashioned and we have moved beyond it.

Sin Isn’t an Old-Fashioned Concept

The problem with this thinking is that there really is a “there, there.” People do have a real sin problem. It is a problem of gigantic proportions that won’t go away by simply denying it. The sin problem will keep people out of heaven if it isn’t addressed.

Each individual will one day stand before the judgment seat and give account of their lives. “We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ” (Romans 14:10). The sins that a person has done will follow them to that judgment seat. Their sins may have been of no account in their own eyes, but God appraises them differently. Those who die in their sins will be sent out of His presence to the everlasting punishment of hell.

Make no mistake; there is a “there, there” when it comes to sin. “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Because we have sinned, we need the Savior. The sins we have done have the power to bring us down into the depths of hell. There is no way to escape this or to fix it outside of coming to Christ.

On the cross, Jesus Christ gave His life so sinners may look to Him and find salvation. “Look unto Me, and be ... saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else” (Isaiah 45:22).

If you have been going through life like there is no “there, there” concerning your sins, it is not too late to realize your mistake, and then repent of your sins. After all, what good have those sins done for you?

Because of the “there, there” that is in sin, we need God’s salvation. Will you believe in the name of Jesus so that you can enjoy forgiveness and eternal life?

“The wages of sin is death: but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

There Is a Paradise of Rest

There is a paradise of rest
On yonder tranquil shore;
Beyond the shadow and the gloom of night,
Where toil and tears are o’er.

There is a city crowned with light;
Its joys no tongue can tell;
For they who enter shall behold their Lord,
And in His presence dwell.

There is a crown laid up on high
That Christ the Lord will give
To those who patiently His coming wait,
And for His glory live.

A P-47 Flies Home

In 1945, in WWII, there was heavy fighting in northern Italy. On the ground, the Germans were getting ready to attack the allies with their heavily armored Tiger Tanks.

Several of these tanks were massing together near the industrial city of Milan. The Allies saw their chance to eliminate them. They wouldn’t fight these tanks on the ground but from the air. They sent the Brazilian Squadron of 12 P-47 Thunderbolts against them. In this squadron was a 23-year-old pilot named Lieutenant Raymundo.

Although P-47s were single-engine planes, they could carry two 500-lb. bombs and a rack of several missiles. Their eight .50 caliber machine guns could cut a steel locomotive in half. The German Panzers were virtually defenseless against these planes.

The squadron took off in bad weather. The clouds were thick and low. When the P-47s reached the vicinity of the tanks, they dove nearly straight down through the clouds toward their targets.

A Rough Battle

The ack, ack of anti-aircraft fire exploded around them. As they accelerated downwards they suddenly broke through the cloud cover into the clear. Straight to their targets they flew. They dropped their 500-lb. bombs as close to the tanks as possible. After their bombs detonated, they would swoop back up to higher altitude out of range of the anti-aircraft fire. Then they would repeat their dives, firing their missiles and also their machine guns into the tanks.

Lieutenant Raymundo had made three of these steep dives swooping out of the sky. He had destroyed three tanks. On the fourth dive, his plane sped down out of the clouds. He spotted a German Tiger Tank driving down a lane. He got the tank in his sights and pulled the trigger of his machine guns. The heavy bullets penetrated the thin armor on the topsides of the tank and the tank went up in a ball of flames.

Almost at the last possible second before hitting the ground, the pilot pulled back heavily on the stick of the plane. The plane responded by steeply swooping back up towards the sky.

Lieutenant Raymundo had been so focused on the tank that he didn’t notice tall industrial brick smokestacks looming a short distance in front of him. When he saw them, it was too late to change course.

Thwack! The wing of his plane hit the giant smokestack at 465 mph, shearing two thirds of his right wing clean off the plane! Miraculously the plane stayed in flight.

Struggling Back Toward Base

The lieutenant gave it full throttle and continued to climb out of the range of the deadly anti-aircraft fire. He tried to call his squadron leader, but the collision had disabled his radio.

He turned his damaged plane in the direction of his home base and began the long journey home alone. His plane was still able to fly, but he had to be extra alert and careful to nurse it along.

His troubles were not over. En route back to his base, his plane was mistaken for an enemy fighter. Allied fighter planes from his own side fired on him from a distance. These planes had attempted to make radio contact, but when Lieutenant Raymundo didn’t respond, they figured he must be an enemy. Only the armored plate at the back of his seat saved his life. When the fighter pilots got closer, they discovered what a terrible mistake they were making. They also marveled that a plane missing a wing could stay in flight. They admired the skill and courage of the pilot that kept the plane afloat in the air. After a few minutes of flying beside him, they dipped their wings in salute and flew away.

Lieutenant Raymundo flew back to base and was able to land the one-winged plane. For his exploits in this battle, he would be awarded a medal called the Distinguished Flying Cross. He would fly a total of 50 combat missions during the war and afterwards make a career of flying commercial airliners.

Most planes, if they hit a brick chimney and have a wing shorn off, would spiral out of control and crash. It’s hard to believe that this plane could keep flying and make it back to safety.

Too Late to Save Our Flight

Lieutenant Raymundo showed courage and skill and made it back to base. Many people think they can do the same thing with their lives. They’ve had some rough spots equivalent to losing a wing while flying through life. But with guts and self-improvement, they think they can make it through and be acceptable to God. But with our lives it just doesn’t work like that.

When it comes to righteousness, it is as though we have had both wings shorn off. This is because “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Sin has made it so that no one can get themselves home to heaven by their own effort. While many flatter themselves with thinking they can handle things on their own like Lieutenant Raymundo, none of us can. There is no way by our own effort to return to the God who loves us.

In reality, one sin is enough to keep us out of God’s presence. But sin has seriously damaged us in the depths of our being and for many the situation is evidently getting worse. Sin makes us insensitive to God’s goodness. It clouds our judgment so we don’t think straight. It can make us malicious or mean-spirited toward our fellow humans. We don’t mind hurting others as long as we get what we want. When we dive into sin, unruly passions rise up in us and they are hard to restrain. Every time we sin, the inclination for good grows weaker and fainter and it is harder to climb out of it. People without God are in a desperate plight. It is only a matter of time before they spiral out of control. People who die in their sins will end up crashing into the flames of a lost eternity.

Help From Above

Left to ourselves, each one of us would end up with the just consequence for our sins — hell. But God in His mercy has not left us without a way to escape. He loved us so much He sent His Son to be the Savior. “The Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world” (1 John 4:14).

How can sinners who are so deeply injured by sin ever make it into heaven? They can make it into heaven through the Lord Jesus Christ and the work He did at the cross.

The blood shed on the cross has the power to wash away every stain of sin from their hearts. “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isaiah 1:18).

When a person believes in Christ, they receive a new life and power so that they can do what is just, good and right in His sight. By God’s grace, they may begin the journey home to heaven. It enables them to love God. God’s grace can do all these things. God’s grace is free to all who ask for it through the Lord Jesus. Grace brings healing to sin-sick people. It turns sinners into children of God. The Lord Jesus showed His grace for sinners when He voluntarily gave up His life at Calvary. “The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ” (John 1:17).

Every soul saved by grace is really an incredible testimony to the goodness of God.

Listen, it was remarkable that a plane could keep flying after the wing was broken off. It is far more remarkable, incredible and marvelous how God can save sinners by His grace and help them on their way home to heaven.

We can’t make it home to heaven by ourselves, but we can through the Lord Jesus Christ. Don’t go on in your sins a moment longer. Turn to the Lord Jesus in faith. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house” (Acts 16:31).

The P-47 had a difficult journey back to base. In Through the Fog you’ll find another difficult one.

Through the Fog

My family and I took a ferryboat ride across Puget Sound. Fog and poor air quality from large forest fires in the Cascade Mountains made it hard to see. The boat slowed down several times because of low visibility. Throughout the trip we could only guess how close we were to the other shore because it was hidden by the fog. Not until we were about 100 yards away did the faint outlines of the vertical wood pylons of the dock come into view.

What is life but a short journey through a fog. With our natural eyes we aren’t able to see very far into the future. For instance, we don’t know if we will die young or die old. We don’t know if we will outlive our spouses. We don’t know if later in life we will enjoy good health or have our bodies racked by pain or illness. Nor with our natural eyesight can we peer ahead and see what is after death. On our own, it is impossible to know what happens after death. But the Bible lets us see through the fog of human uncertainty. From its holy pages we learn that people who repent and turn to God in faith and love will spend eternity with Him in heaven, while those who remain impenitent until they die will perish in the darkness of hell. All this talk of eternity might seem faint and far away, but it’s not. It is just ahead.

It is not God’s desire that anyone should perish. To make a way for sinners to be saved, Christ died on Calvary. “Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3). The blood shed on the cross has the power to wash any sinner clean and make them suitable for heaven.

SEEING BY FAITH

We can no longer see the One who gave His life on the cross. After He was raised from the dead, He ascended into heaven, which is where He is now. Only by faith can we see Him seated at the right hand of the Father. But it won’t always be like this. Someday in the near future, faith will give way to sight. With perfect clarity those who believed in His name will see Him with their very eyes. Those who see Him by faith have reason to rejoice. “Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:8-9). The end of their faith will be to spend eternity in His presence.

“Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe,” a perceptive Christian once wrote. When this short life is over, will you have the joy of seeing Jesus face to face? You will if you put your trust in His name. “He that believeth on Him shall not be confounded” (1 Peter 2:6). Those who come to love the name of the Lord Jesus “shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2).

Although you won’t see Him until you get to heaven, God wants all men and women to repent and believe in the name of His Son. Will you believe in the One who gave His life so that you could be saved?

A ferry ride isn’t a dramatic or expensive ride. But Epic Journeys explains the most expensive journey possible.

Epic Journeys

Many epic journeys have been made by mankind, such as Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay climbing the highest peak in the world, Mt. Everest, in 1953, or Ferdinand Magellan circumnavigating the globe, or Amelia Earhart attempting to fly across the Pacific, or the astronauts of Apollo 11 being the first to set foot on the moon. Perhaps you can think of other epic journeys.

But have you ever considered the fact that you are making an epic journey right at this moment? This is the greatest journey anyone could ever take because it covers the greatest distance. It covers the distance between time and eternity. Your epic journey began the moment of your birth and will end the moment after your death.

Some of the above-mentioned journeys were very expensive undertakings. To give everyone the opportunity of spending eternity in heaven cost God greatly. He opened His heart and gave His greatest treasure to make it possible. He gave His beloved Son to die on the cross.

Sinners need to believe in God’s Son in order to be justified. “Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this Man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: and by Him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses” (Acts 13:38-39).

When a person believes in Christ, they are justified. This justification is God’s declaration — and He’s the One with the right to do it — that the person is declared righteous because of what Christ did for them on the cross of Calvary. Justification is a very important part of the journey home to heaven. There is no other way to get on the road that leads to heaven. Without being justified by faith in Christ, a person will forever be rushing down the broad way that leads to destruction. “Enter ... in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat” (Matthew 7:13).

TAKING THE FIRST STEP

Believing in Christ is the first step on the road to heaven. You will never be heaven-bound until you repent and believe in Christ. The journey is exciting because it is made in the company of the Savior, and every day we get to know Him better. Also, every day brings us that much closer to entering into the bliss of heaven.

Those who reject Christ and His message of grace are travelers too. They are travelling through life on the difficult path of sin and rebellion. The Bible says of this way, “The way of transgressors is hard” (Proverbs 13:15). How many needless heartaches and sorrows do sinners bring on themselves as they walk through this world?

The journey through life for transgressors is going to come to an end. “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Proverbs 14:12). The sinful pleasures they preferred to God will then be unobtainable. What will those who leave God out of their lives have to look forward to when they die? Nothing but the darkness and suffering of hell as the endless ages of eternity roll on.

We are all making an epic journey, each and every one of us, to either heaven or hell. It is a journey you cannot help but make. At some moment, life for you will be over, and you will either enter into the endless bliss of heaven or the never-ceasing misery of hell.

Be wise, and come to Christ by faith and your epic journey will end in heaven.

Boaters Survive 28 Hours Fighting Off Sharks

Two boaters who were rescued in the nick of time gave an emotional thank you to the Coast Guard on NBC’s TODAY show a few days after their recovery. (The third boater was still in the hospital recovering.) Luan Nguyen remembered Coast Guard Seaman Andrew Stone pulling him out of the water while he thought, “Wow, made it.” And yes, it was a big wow for several reasons! They had quite a story to tell.

Luan and Son Nguyen along with Phong Le had set out on a fishing trip to catch red snapper on an early Saturday morning off the coast of Empire, Louisiana. But a few hours later, their boat, which was tied to an oil rig, was being hit by large waves, which caused the back of the boat to take on water. Busy with fishing, they didn’t notice at first, and when they did finally realize their danger, they just had a few minutes to put on their life vests and tie together two ice chests with a bandana, before the boat capsized.

After they were tossed into the water, using the ice chest as a raft, they tried to swim to the oil rig to make a distress call on Le’s cell phone, but the wind and waves were too strong. They spent the entire day and night floating through the very cold water, fending off sharks and being stung by jellyfish. The jellyfish were as large as a man’s lap and would sting the men every 15 to 20 minutes. Luan Nguyen’s life vest was bitten through by a shark that attacked him. He tried to push it off, but the shark just came back, so he had to jab it in its eyes. The sharks left, but all the men had defensive wounds on their hands from fending them off.

After clinging together through the long, cold night, Le decided to make another attempt at rescue, saying that it was their last chance. When the sun came up, he decided to swim towards a shrimp boat that he saw in the distance. After swimming about four miles, he saw the shrimp boat motor off in the opposite direction. He then opened his cell phone which was in a waterproof case and took it off airplane mode. Text messages from worried family and friends poured in. Somehow, in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico he had a signal! With only 5% of battery power on his phone, he opened Apple Maps and took a screenshot of his location, sending it to his friend and telling him to contact the Coast Guard. He told his friend that their boat had capsized, and they were adrift in the Gulf of Mexico.

Rescue

The Coast Guard had already been looking for them because a family member had contacted them the night before when the men didn’t return from their trip. Now, with the Apple Maps location, they stood a much better chance of finding them! Though the Coast Guard was missing one important detail, which was the men’s exact coordinates, the Coast Guard was still able to pinpoint where they were. Within a few hours, the Coast Guard was at the scene, pulling the exhausted, sunburned and dehydrated men out of the water. Phong Le was found first. His two friends were found about a half mile away and were pulled out of the water none too soon, as their rescuers observed four sharks circling nearby.

Though the Coast Guard had searched for them through the night and Sunday morning, they were unable to find them until Phong Le reached out for help using Apple Maps with his location. They had been battling the sea from about 10 a.m. Saturday morning to 2 p.m. Sunday afternoon and were about 25 miles offshore when the Coast Guard finally found them. It would have been impossible for them to have made their way back to shore on their own.

Getting Help

These men knew they needed help and did what they could to get it. Facing hypothermia, sharks, jellyfish stings and exhaustion is a very serious state to be in. But it is even more serious to be facing death and eternity with no idea of where you will spend it! We were all born into this world lost in our sins, separated from God and totally unable to save ourselves. Only those who call out to God for forgiveness and trust the Lord Jesus for dying on the cross for their sins will spend eternity in heaven. God promises that all those that seek Him will find Him. “Ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13). God is not hiding — He wants to save lost sinners! “I [Jesus] am the door: by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved. ... I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. ... I [Jesus] am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth His life for the sheep” (John 10:9-11).

Rescue can come from the most unexpected source as Saved by a Child’s Ball makes clear.

Saved by a Child's Ball

Some tales seem too wild to be true, but this one is well verified. A tourist from North Macedonia, vacationing in Greece, was swept out to sea by strong currents and was saved by a child’s ball.

Three men who were swimming off the Greek coast were swept out into the Aegean Sea by powerful currents. As they disappeared out to sea, desperate friends contacted the Greek Coast Guard. One man was rescued; another was lost at sea. The third man Ivan, 30, was also declared lost at sea.

But Ivan, who was afraid that he would never be rescued, was saved by a child’s ball that had bobbed towards him. Clinging to the ball, he was rescued 18 hours later when a Greek Air Force helicopter spotted him and plucked him from the water. Ivan said that even though the ball was half inflated, it kept him afloat and so he clung to it.

But where had the ball come from? The mystery was solved for the public when a picture of the mayor of the nearby town of Kassandra, Anastasia Chalkia, along with Ivan’s father and another man was widely circulated on TV with one of the men holding the ball outside the medical center. A woman, who recognized the ball as her son’s favorite toy, stepped forward to explain what had happened.

Ten days earlier, on June 30, Tryphon, 11, and Thanos, 6, had been playing on Evgatis Beach on the Greek island of Lemnos when their ball was swept away by tides. It then drifted 80 miles east towards the coast of Kassandra where Ivan was able to grab onto it!

A MERCIFUL GOD

God was merciful to Ivan and spared his life. God, who knows everything in advance, planned for that child’s ball to be right where it needed to be! Unbelief does not see it that way, but attributes it to an “astonishing drama,” the child’s ball to a “bizarre twist of fate,” and the ball being right where it needed to be as “astonishing luck.” But God says, “I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure” (Isaiah 46:9-10).

God wants us to cry out to Him for our soul’s salvation and forgiveness of our sins, trusting in the all-sufficient work that His Son Jesus did on the cross. “This man [Jesus], after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God” (Hebrews 10:12). One sacrifice for sins forever — the work is finished and complete. There is nothing more to be done: We cannot add to it by our good works! “By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

God’s plan of salvation was determined by Him in eternity past. He knew that we would need a Savior; He knew that only His Son could be a perfect sacrifice for our sins. He knew that it was impossible for us to save ourselves. “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15). Have you confessed to God you are a sinner needing a Savior? Are you trusting in His redeeming blood shed on Calvary’s cross? “In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:7). Jesus promises: “I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand” (John 10:28).

Maybe you’ve waited a long time to be rescued — so did Tim in A Man and His Dog Are Rescued After Three Months at Sea.

A Man and His Dog Are Rescued After Three Months at Sea

A helicopter took off from the deck of a tuna fishing boat in the mid-Pacific — more than 1000 miles from land. The helicopter pilot was scouting for large schools of tuna. These fish can be spotted from airplanes or helicopters. He was flying in clear blue skies over the blue Pacific when he spotted a catamaran sailing vessel floating on the waves beneath him.

The catamaran with its double hulls looked untidy and weather-beaten. There were no sails up, and the boom which should have extended out from the mast to hold the sail in place was missing. Flying lower over the stricken boat he saw an older, shirtless man with long white flowing hair and beard wave back to him. The man was deeply tanned from heavy exposure to the sun. The pilot took in all these clues and radioed back to his ship that he had spotted a vessel in distress.

In a short while the tuna boat came to investigate. When they got close, they lowered a smaller boat with an outboard motor over its side. This boat pulled up to the catamaran.

“Ahoy there,” said a man from the motor boat. “Do you need help?”

“Yes, yes I do,” replied the old man on the sailboat. “We got hit by a storm and we have been adrift at sea for three months.”

When he said “we,” he was referring to himself and his dog. He had found the dog wandering on the beach in Mexico and decided to take it with him for company on his journey across the Pacific.

RESCUED FROM DISASTER AT SEA

After a little consultation, it was decided to take the old man and his dog back to the tuna boat and just let the sailboat go adrift on the ocean where it would eventually sink beneath the waves.

It turned out that a severe storm had destroyed the sailboat’s electronics and navigation system and carried away its sails. The old man onboard and his dog named Bella had survived by eating raw fish and catching rainwater. Without sails, living on the boat adrift at sea had been a little like living as a castaway on a deserted island.

The old man, whose name was Tim Shaddock, said he had been sailing from Mexico to French Polynesia. French Polynesia is a group of small islands located midway between Peru and Australia. Not many ships sail in this part of the vast ocean, making a helicopter spotting Tim and his dog all the more remarkable.

While on the tuna fishing boat, a photo was taken of Tim Shaddock. He looked extremely thin, all skin and bones. His hair and beard, which had not been cut for a long time, were unkempt, white and flowing. He had a smile on his face which showed how happy he was about being rescued. His eyes were bright blue and had a twinkle in them.

ANOTHER RESCUE

Tim Shaddock was rescued from a disaster at sea. Do you know each one of us needs rescuing too? From on high, God looks down on the earth and is searching for lost sinners. He is looking for those who know they have gone wrong and are looking for help.

Sinners are like those who have gone adrift on the sea of life, and they are in danger of sinking forever beneath the waves. We are all sinners. We are all in danger of being lost forever. In order to rescue us, God sent His Son into the world.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

This verse doesn’t say God sent His Son so we might feel better. It says He sent His Son because we were perishing. Perishing means it was just a matter of time before we would die and be without Christ forever. The Lord Jesus came and gave His life so we wouldn’t have to perish. Through His death and suffering, those who deserved death and hell because of their sins may now be forgiven, cleansed, and suitable for heaven.

Before this short life is over, will you trust and receive the Savior?

Tim Shaddock with his long hair and beard had his photo taken in front of a large old-fashioned clock after he was rescued. It was really appropriate to take that photo in front of the clock because he was running out of time when rescued.

He was out of food and water, and perhaps the next squall at sea would have sunk his boat. No one would have even known about it.

All of us are running out of time. Each tick of the clock brings us closer to the time we must meet the Lord in judgment. Every moment that finds us alive is a gift from God. These fleeting moments are given to us in order for us to get to know Jesus Christ as our Savior. Nobody knows how long they will live, whether it will be a day, a month, or decades. The only wise thing to do is to make no delay but come to the Savior at once and receive forgiveness of sins.

“The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). Will you believe in the name of the One who came looking for you to rescue you?

Not Try, But Trust

Not saved are we by trying;
From self can come no aid;
’Tis on the blood relying,
Once for our ransom paid:
’Tis looking unto Jesus,
The holy One and Just;
’Tis His great work that saves us;
It is not try, but trust.

’Twas vain for Israel bitten
By serpents on their way
To look to their own doing
That awful plague to stay;
The only way for healing,
When humbled in the dust,
Was of the Lord’s revealing;
It was not try, but trust.

No deeds of ours are needed
To make Christ’s merit more;
No frames of mind or feelings
Can add to His great store;
’Tis simply to receive Him,
The holy One and Just;
’Tis only to believe Him;
It is not try, but trust.

The King's Highway

Nobody should go through life without travelling from beginning to end on the King’s Highway.

I am not referring to the King’s Highway that goes all the way from Boston, Massachusetts, to Charleston, South Carolina, commissioned by King Charles II.

Also, I am not referring to the King’s Highway in Ontario, Canada, although if you want to see magnificent fall colors, you may not find a better place.

Finally, I am not talking about the King’s Highway in Australia that begins in the Southern Tablelands and winds its way down to the South Coast.

Each of these King’s Highways would make for a spectacular short road-trip — full of history and natural beauty. If you don’t get the opportunity to travel these roads, that is too bad, but take heart, you won’t experience any great loss. However, there is one King’s Highway you absolutely do need to travel. I would like to tell you about it.

The Bible as a Road Map

This King’s Highway begins when a person repents and believes in Jesus as their Savior — He’s the King of kings — and only ends when a person reaches heaven — the city of God. “Ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men [and women] made perfect” (Hebrews 12:22-23).

You won’t find this highway in a road atlas. Road atlases are good for earthly destinations. They can’t tell you how to get to heaven, which is out of this world. You need a different kind of road map. You need the Bible. The Bible is a spiritual road map. It tells how to get to heaven.

On its sacred pages we find out that human beings were made by God. This may come as a shock to our materialistic culture, but men and women are more than bodies. They have spirits.

On the road map called the Bible we learn that people suffered a huge rupture in their relationship with God. Since that rupture, men and women have been born into the world as slaves to sin. They are capable of doing all sorts of things that God detests. If left to themselves, they would persist in their sinful pursuits until they perished in hell.

But God is great in mercy and didn’t leave any of us to ourselves. He has a marvelous plan of salvation to bring us back to Himself. According to this plan, He sent His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, into the world.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

Sinners are told to repent and believe in God. Repentance is more than just a remorse about sin. It includes accepting what God has to say about us as the truth.

Besides repentance, people also need to turn to the Lord Jesus in faith. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31). Faith is needed to live for God. “The just shall live by faith” (Romans 1:17).

These things, repentance and faith, are how someone who is a sinner gets on the King’s Highway and begins their journey home to heaven.

What to Expect on Your Road Trip

No other road leads to heaven. Once on the King’s Highway, travelers may come to know their Lord and Savior better every day. He will walk beside them and guide them every step along the way. “This God is our God forever and ever: He will be our guide even unto death” (Psalm 48:14).

Through the immense privilege of prayer, they may daily live close to Him. They make progress on this road by growing in grace and becoming more and more like their Savior.

The road will not always be easy. Those who travel it may encounter persecutions and trials along the way. The Lord Jesus said, “Whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after Me, cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:27).

Although the going may be rough, the scenery is most spectacular. When believers see natural beauty such as mountains, sunsets, oceans, skies, flowers, trees, and other such things, it makes them turn their thoughts to God who is far more beautiful than anything He has made. All His works are beautiful indeed, but His beauty is infinitely above them all, and it is to Him they are travelling.

Not only the scenery, but the people they meet along the road thrill their hearts. Through faith they see that God is at work in each person. “Behold, all souls are Mine” (Ezekiel 18:4). God in His infinite power has created them all. Each one was created to reflect His glory in some way. Each one may come to know His infinite love for eternity through faith in Christ Jesus. To the eyes of faith, God is present in the lives of each person they meet. They don’t just see another person; they see God at work in that person’s life.

Those who travel this King’s Highway do so in the best of company because God Himself will go with them. When God is with them, it is like a little heaven in their hearts even before they get to heaven itself. Isn’t it high time for you to put your faith in the Savior and begin your life’s journey on the King’s Highway?

Find more fundamentals of the path to God in ABC’s of the Gospel.

ABC's of the Gospel

A FOR ABANDONMENT

What could possibly be considered gospel, or “good news,” about abandonment? Well, the gospel spells out how souls can be saved from the complete and total abandonment their sins deserve, and that is definitely good news.

Let’s talk about abandonment a bit. I know a family that adopted a baby girl from an Asian country. The baby had been abandoned soon after birth and left on some steps in front of a store. She was abandoned by her parents, but she was not completely abandoned because the baby was found and put into an orphanage. The orphanage could never give the baby the same level of love and care that her mother might have, but she was cared for nonetheless. Then a few years later, she was adopted into a family that loved her and gave her a forever home. Was she abandoned? Oh yes, but it was not a complete, total, irreversible abandonment.

Complete, total, irreversible abandonment is what will take place when unbelievers die and pass out of this world and are sent out of God’s presence into the outer darkness of hell. “Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 22:13). That is total abandonment because for all eternity there will be no escape.

Consider what you would experience if you were to be cast into the outer darkness of hell. Sometimes that word “outer” is translated as “utter.” In hell the darkness will be total and complete. Not the slightest ray of light will ever illuminate its darkness. It will also be utter darkness because there is no way out of it. For an endless eternity, people will remain forever lost in its darkness.

Forever separated from God’s presence and still wanting your own way which you can never have would cause you to endlessly weep and gnash your teeth. If you close your heart to God’s grace, at death you will be completely and irreversibly cast by Him into hell. “Whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire,” reads Revelation 20:15.

To save us from such a fate, the Son of God came into the world. For 33 years He lived a perfectly righteous life and never sinned. Then He experienced abandonment at the cross. Although He had done no sin and guile was never found in His mouth, He was taken by cruel hands and crucified.

Those who passed by while He hung on the cross mocked Him and said, “Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save Thyself. If Thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross” (Matthew 27:40).

“The thieves also, which were crucified with Him, cast the same in His teeth” (Matthew 27:44).

The chief priests, scribes and elders derided Him as He hung on the cross saying, “He saved others, Himself He cannot save.”

Thorns penetrated His brow. Nails pierced His hands and feet. His back, which had been savagely scourged a little while before, rubbed against the rough wood of the cross. Every breath He drew caused excruciating pain. Was ever sorrow like His sorrow? Then just before He died, He cried out, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46).

Why was He forsaken or abandoned on the cross? Why did He have to undergo such torment? It was for His creature’s sin. It was for you, me and every other person who has ever lived. By His death, He made a way that sinners who deserved to be abandoned for their ungodly deeds might have a way to return to God and have their sins forgiven. He was abandoned that we as sinners might not ever have to be abandoned for the sins we have done.

He died to show His grace and bring salvation to those who didn’t deserve it. “Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit” (1 Peter 3:18). The gospel tells us if we believe on this One who was forsaken at the cross, we will receive the gift of eternal life. “The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

B FOR BURIAL

The good news is that a man named Joseph of Arimathea took the body of the Lord Jesus down from the cross and buried Him in a tomb cut out of solid rock. Joseph of Arimathea and his servants wrapped the body in clean linen and then a rock was rolled over the entrance of the grave. The governor Pilate at the request of the chief priests and scribes allowed a troop of soldiers to stand guard over the grave so that none of the followers of the Lord Jesus would come and steal His body. Then on the third day the Lord Jesus arose from the dead. He returned to life in a resurrected body. The rock that closed off the entrance of the cave was rolled away. The soldiers ordered to watch the tomb fled. Early Sunday morning two women, both named Mary, came to the tomb and discovered the tomb was empty. The grave clothes were neatly folded and they saw two angels in shining white, where the body of Jesus had been laid. One angel announced to the women, “Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay” (Matthew 28:5-6).

He had been violently taken away. His dead body was buried in a tomb cut out of rock. But death which is so final for the rest of us could not hold Him. He arose from the grave. The resurrection of the Lord Jesus is a great truth each of us has to deal with.

Since He arose, it won’t do any longer to plead ignorance about what happens after death. It won’t do to think it is all up to us what we believe concerning the future. The Lord Jesus shows after His death, burial and resurrection that all people will likewise be resurrected. His word tells us that there is going to be a resurrection both of the just and the unjust. As sure as you are alive here and now, your body will be resurrected, and all will stand before God to give an account for what they have done in this life. Before that awe-inspiring day comes, won’t you repent of your sins and fall on your knees before the Lord of life and ask Him to forgive you? For those who believe, the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus is good news indeed.

C FOR CITIZENS

There are two kinds of people that belong to two very different cities. Those who are saved say, “Your will be done” and belong as citizens to the city of God. They belong to God in this life and will belong to Him in heaven in the life to come. “Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God” (Psalm 87:3). Grace illuminates and strengthens their hearts and enables them to live in a state of spiritual well-being before God.

On the other hand, those whom God must ultimately judge are those who insisted on going their own way through life and never saw their need to humble themselves before God and seek His forgiveness. They belong as citizens to the city of men. They refused God’s offer of grace. Pride characterizes them because they don’t submit to God. Beyond this life, the city of men will become the dark city of hell. In that dark city nothing good will ever enter. There will be no love, peace or joy, only suffering forever. It will also be populated by the devil and his host of fallen angels.

Who in their right mind would ever want to belong to that city? If people just stopped to think and consider what it means to be cast out of God’s presence, many of them would fall on their knees at once and not hesitate to make Jesus their Lord and Savior.

“Accordingly, two cities have been formed by two loves: the earthly by the love of self, even to the contempt of God; the heavenly by the love of God, even to the contempt of self,” wrote a great Christian thinker.

Because there are just these two cities and we belong to either one or the other, we are all citizens. The good news is that through Jesus and His work on the cross those that belong to the city of men can pass over and become citizens of the city of God. Through faith in Christ, they may be justified and pardoned. By God’s grace, they may have a fresh start in life. No longer do they want to live in pursuit of sin and its pleasures. They begin to take pleasure in knowing and loving God.

To which city do you belong? God is willing to receive all those who seek Him. He is not willing that any should perish. He wants all to come to repentance. Will you believe in the name of Jesus and become a citizen of the city of God?

There are many good reasons to believe in Christ. Will you by faith receive the Savior? What a wonderful Savior is Jesus the Lord!

A Baby Otter and a White Rat

Passenger after passenger shuffled by the security gate at the Bangkok airport. One of the workers checking the carry-on baggage thought he saw the side of a large purse-like bag move almost as if something small was trying to punch its way out. He glanced at the short, well-dressed woman to whom the bag belonged. She looked harmless enough. He waved her on, not even checking what was in the bag.

The passengers, all 176 of them, soon boarded the jetliner flying to Singapore. There was not an empty seat on the plane.

The jet zoomed down the runway and rose to a cruising altitude of 35,000 feet. The stewardesses were busy going up and down the aisle passing out drinks, when two passengers who had not been checked in at the gate decided to get busy.

One was a large white pet rat. From the tip of its pointed nose to the tip of its hairless tail, it measured nearly a foot long. All its fur was a creamy white color, and its eyes were pink. It didn’t appreciate being confined in a handbag.

The other passenger was a baby otter. It had light brown fur, big brown eyes, and like most baby mammals was so cute that it would melt your heart. You might think that a baby belongs with its mother, and I would agree with you. The baby otter was barely old enough to walk on wobbly feet and to eat on its own.

The rat was probably the main culprit. The bag that held it and the otter lay on the floor under the seat in front of the lady who carried it on board. Wiggling, pushing and nudging at the zipper, the rat opened the bag. The white rat, followed by the baby otter, then crawled out.

Panic

Rats are experts at moving furtively in and out of shadowy places. It wasn’t until it snuck several rows of seats away that it accidentally brushed up against the leg of an unsuspecting female passenger. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the rat run past her. The lady shrieked so loud that every passenger on the plane heard it.

“A aaah rat!” she screamed at the top of her lungs. “It tried to bite me!”

Hysterically, she jumped up out of her window seat as if jolted with a bolt of electricity and tumbled over the gentleman sitting next to her, almost breaking a leg as she fell into the aisle.

Soon other passengers saw the rat scurrying about the plane too. Pandemonium broke out. Passengers all over the plane were clambering out of their seats and acting as if they were in mortal danger. They too were yelling, screaming and gasping. Some tried to stomp on the rat as it ran by.

One of the responsibilities of stewardesses on a plane is to maintain order. A brave stewardess raised her voice above the chaos and asked in a loud voice, “Where is the rat?” Several passengers pointed in the direction of the back of the plane. The stewardess made her way through the mayhem.

The rat for his part was probably just scared for its life. It had been used to being handled by gentle people, but never before had it been kicked, stomped at, pointed at, and yelled at.

The stewardess cornered it in the back of the plane. She knew if she didn’t capture the rat, somebody on the plane might get hurt. The plane might even be forced to make an emergency landing.

Slowly, so as not to startle the rat, she got as close to it as she could. Then quickly she stepped on the rat’s long tail so it couldn’t get away. Next, she reached down with her bare hands and grabbed the rodent around its body. The rat was terrified and sank his teeth into her hands. Still she did not let go. A little spot of red blood appeared on the stewardess’ hand where she was bitten.

“I’ve caught the rat,” she announced. “Please everybody, calm down and return to your seats.”

Just then somebody else saw the baby otter. It lay snuggled up in a ball under somebody’s seat. It looked helpless and didn’t inspire the least bit of fear. It was soon picked up and taken into custody.

Found Out

After a few minutes, the voice of the captain sounded over the intercom of the plane: “Will the passenger who brought the animals on the plane please report to the back of the plane?”

When no one made a move to claim responsibility for the animals, the Captain announced further, “If you do not turn yourself in, we will be forced to inspect every bag.”

The lady didn’t want to reveal herself at first. She knew smuggling animals on a plane carries a very stiff penalty of jail time and up to a $50,000 fine. But she realized she would be found out and turned herself in. Searching her carry-on luggage, they also found 18 small exotic turtles.

When the plane landed, police were waiting to arrest the woman and take her away. Countries tend to worry about diseases being spread across international borders and have very strict laws about importing foreign pets. Sadly, as a result of the woman breaking the law, the white rat, baby otter and turtles had to be euthanized. It was sad but workers didn’t have any choice. Also, the worker at the security gate that was inspecting baggage and failed to inspect the lady’s bag was fired. The white rat and the baby otter paid with their lives for the woman’s crime of smuggling.

There was pretty good order on the plane until the rat got loose and caused pandemonium among the passengers. This reminds me of another incident that has affected us all.

Greater Chaos

A long time ago there was pretty good order among the human race, but that ended abruptly. Before our first parents sinned, they enjoyed communion with their Creator and had all their hearts could wish in the beautiful garden where they lived. But they disobeyed God, and the pandemonium of sin and death entered this world. Since that time, every person has been born into the world with a sinful human nature.

What causes all the war, arguing, strife, hatred, envy, pride, lawlessness and godlessness in the world? It comes from our rebellious human natures that have turned away from God. Sin causes disorder and pandemonium both in the world and in our personal lives also.

What can be done? Who can handle the problem of sin and restore the human race to the Lord God their Maker?

The Lord Jesus can! The Son of God became a man. He was born as a baby in Bethlehem with a perfect human nature. He knew He had to come and give His life as a sacrifice so sinners who had gone astray might be able to return to God. “Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit” (1 Peter 3:18). Through faith in His name, every person alive can escape the ravages of sin and make it home to heaven.

A choice remains for each one of us. Do we want to go through life in the disorder of sin and in the end be sent out of God’s presence forever? Or will we come to the Lord Jesus and have the broken relationship between ourselves and God restored? Those who trust in Jesus will live forever in the glories of heaven. The peace of heaven will be very great and never disturbed by the disorder of sin again.

When it comes to sin, none of us are innocent. We all need the Savior and the forgiveness He offers. Will you believe in His wonderful name?

More craziness in air travel with lessons to learn can be found in When Things Don’t Go Your Way ...

When Things Don't Go Your Way …

A 46-year-old woman who was late to her gate for a flight out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, became very angry when she was told that she and her husband and son could not board the flight. She was told that the plane was already taxiing and could not be brought back to the gate. But what made her absolutely furious was when she was told that all their checked luggage was on the plane.

Using abusive language, she then told the employees that there was a bomb in her checked luggage. It was an incredibly foolish thing to do! The plane, which was by this time on the runway, had to be brought back and the passengers taken off. Then the Broward County Sherriff’s Office threat management unit had to inspect the luggage and plane.

Though the threat was found to be false, she is now facing one count of false reporting concerning planting a bomb, explosive or weapon of mass destruction. She was arrested immediately after the incident with a judge ordering her to undergo a mental health evaluation and her bond was set at $10,000.

Marina Verbitsky’s bogus claim disrupted a lot of people’s schedules and caused an unnecessary scare for everyone. Why would she even think of doing such a thing? According to the Chicago Sun-Times, a relative of Verbitsky who did not want to be named said that “it was a mistake. She was nervous about the son needing to go to school. It was a mess, but it was definitely not meant to be.”

We live in an age when people are very quick to become angry. Do you think her excuse will make the judge find her not guilty? Not if they are a just judge, it won’t! People try to justify their anger and violence, but the Bible tells us it is a sin. “Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil” (Psalm 37:8).

Often, one sin leads to another. In this case, this woman’s anger led to her telling a big lie. Jesus spoke very clearly about who is the father of all liars. “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. ... When he speak[s] a lie, he speak[s] of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it” (John 8:44).

The Bible tells us that “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Anger, violence, hateful behavior, immorality, lying and deceiving are all sin in the sight of God. Do not make the mistake of thinking that you can improve yourself by your own efforts in order to be good enough for heaven. It’s impossible! Anger management courses, psychiatric help, penance, community service and the best desires to do better will not solve your sin problem. The longer we live, the longer we just pile up one big, foul, stinky, rotten mountain of sin before God.

SENSELESS THREAT

A few months before the incident above, Wegal Rosen, who was 74 years old, was checking in at the Air Canada counter at the Fort Lauderdale airport. When the agent informed him that he would have to pay to carry on one of his bags on his flight to Toronto, he became very angry and simmered with rage. Leaving his bag at the counter, he stomped away. When the agent informed him that he needed to take his bag, he replied that there was a bomb in it. It was a threat that couldn’t be ignored — but what a commotion it caused!

Airport authorities and local police and law enforcement became very busy indeed! Three terminals were closed and swept, roadways were closed, eight flights were cancelled and dozens more flights were delayed. Many people were stranded at the airport for hours, all because of one man’s unchecked anger.

Mr. Rosen was arrested later that day and charged with falsely reporting a bomb threat. He now faces up to 15 years in prison for his rash threat.

Two people — one 46 years old and the other 74 years old — could not control their anger or their tongues. You see, they were still under the power of Satan and sin. The Bible tells us that faith in Jesus is the only answer for man’s sin problem. Faith in Jesus and His shed blood for our sins on Calvary’s cross will save our souls and make us suitable for heaven. “In whom we have redemption through His [Jesus’] blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:7). “By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8).

Once we have put our faith in Jesus and the work that He did on the cross for our sins, repenting before God and asking for Him to forgive us, we are instantly forgiven and made suitable for the presence of God. But there is more! As Christians we need to properly recognize Jesus as the Lord of our life. What does that mean?

It means totally and completely submitting ourselves to Him. Give Him your thought life, your ears (what you listen to), your eyes (what you look at), your tongue (what you say), your hands (what you do) and your feet (where you go). Read your Bible every day and pray to Him for guidance and help to live for Him. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance [self-control]” (Galatians 5:22-23).

If Jesus is your Lord and Savior, He is well able to help you to overcome sin and whatever character weakness that you may have. “O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in Him” (Psalm 34:8).

If I Had Only Asked

If I had only asked, when I stood at night and looked up into the stars, who made all this, then I might have known His love sooner.

If I had only asked, when I was a young person, why there was such an emptiness in my soul when I pursued sin, then I might have known His love sooner.

If I had only asked, when as a boy I stood by my grandfather’s casket, what is the purpose of life, then I might have known His love sooner.

If I had only asked, when I heard He sent His Son into the world, why He had to die on the cross, then I might have learned His love sooner.

If I had only asked ... but I didn’t. I was full of pride. I had to learn the hard way. I had to find out that in my heart there’s nothing good. I had to drink deeply of the misery of sin. What an awful drink! Only when I could look nowhere else but up did I discover why the Savior was willing to go to Calvary.

He gave His life out of love for a world of lost sinners. Believing in His name, I came to know His love.

In His love He created the starry nights and all other things as well. In love He pursues lost sinners and gave His life for them. His love gives purpose to life.

Since He loves so greatly and freely, won’t you believe in His name and come to know His love too?

Lost at Sea! The El Faro

It was quite a mystery, at first. How could a ship in this modern age steam straight into the eyewall of a hurricane — the most dangerous part — with an experienced captain in charge and just disappear? Yet that is exactly what happened to the El Faro, a 790-foot-long cargo ship and her crew of 33 people.

The El Faro left Jacksonville, Florida, on September 29, 2015, under clear, sunny skies and headed for San Juan, Puerto Rico. She had made the voyage numerous times before without incident. She was loaded down with about 294 cars, trucks and trailers below deck and 391 containers on the top deck. Sure, there was a tropical storm brewing in their track line, but Captain Davidson planned to go south of the storm to avoid any problems.

But by the next day, Tropical Storm Joaquin had been upgraded to Hurricane Joaquin, and by the morning of October 1, Hurricane Joaquin had been upgraded to a category 3. This meant that the ship likely encountered swells of 20 to 40 feet and winds over 92 mph as she neared the hurricane’s eyewall. Shortly after 7:30 a.m., all communication with land was lost and by October 2, the ship was declared missing.

Though an extensive search was mounted, searchers only recovered debris and a damaged lifeboat. They also spotted, but could not recover, an unidentifiable body. El Faro was declared sunk on October 5 and was not seen again until a month later, when the U.S. Navy conducted an underwater search with a submersible which sent back images of the El Faro on the ocean floor.

VOYAGE DATA RECORDER EVIDENCE

The mystery of the El Faro was not solved until nearly a year later when the ship’s voyage data recorder (VDR) was recovered. It was sitting on the ocean floor nearly three miles deep. It had been difficult to find because the top two decks of the ship had sheared off, including the bridge where the VDR was located, and were some distance away from the rest of the ship. They were able to retrieve 26 hours of recorded conversation from the six microphones on the ship’s bridge. Investigators were able to piece together exactly what happened in the hours before the El Faro made her grave on the ocean floor, a grave deeper than the Titanic’s.

The transcripts are heartbreaking to read. As the weather reports grew more dire by the hour, officers on the bridge tried to get the captain to change course, but he remained oblivious to their danger, until it was too late! Then, there was the crew’s mounting anxiety as they battled problems with the ship — flooding, a listing (tilting) ship, shifting cargo and finally the bow sinking below the waves, at which point all was lost. Here are a few excerpts from the transcripts which tell just how desperate things were in El Faro’s last hours.

Sept. 30, 6:41 a.m.: Captain Michael Davidson said, “Oh look at that red sky over there. ‘Red sky in the morn, sailors take warning.’ That is bright.” (This was the first clear warning that foul weather was ahead.)

Sept. 30, 7:01 a.m.: Course is adjusted slightly to keep their distance from Tropical Storm Joaquin.

Sept. 30, 8:31 a.m.: Captain Davidson said, “We’ll be about 60 miles south of the eye. It should be fine. We are gonna be fine — not should be — we are gonna be fine.” (This overconfidence never faltered until the very end.) God’s Word tells us, “Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth” (Proverbs 27:1).

Sept. 30, 10:39 a.m.: Third Mate Jeremie Riehm tells Able Seaman 3 they are nearly “on a collision course” with the storm. (The crew was becoming increasingly aware of their imminent danger.)

Sept. 30, 3:28 p.m.: “Nobody in their right mind would be drivin’ into it,” commented Able Seaman 2. Second Mate Danielle Randolph responded with a sarcastic laugh, “We are. Yaaay.”

3:45 – 6:55 p.m.: Crew is heard discussing the storm. Someone asks Captain Davidson if there was a chance they could turn around, but he responds, “No, no, no,” and comments about how unpredictable and erratic the storm is. At 6:55 p.m., Chief Mate Shultz suggests adjusting their course further south, to which the captain agrees. (But the course adjustment was too little, and it would be the last one the captain would agree to.)

Sept. 30, 8:00 p.m.: Captain Davidson leaves the bridge and does not reappear again until 4:09 a.m., Oct. 1, the day they all perish.

Sept. 30, 11:13 p.m.: After hearing the latest hurricane forecast, Third Mate Riehm calls Captain Davidson and tells him that at 4:00 a.m. they will be 22 miles from the eye of the storm “with gusts to 120 and strengthening.” The Third Mate suggested turning south at 2:00 a.m. to put more distance between them and the storm. The suggested course change apparently was not authorized. (The officers and crew were now certain of their very real danger.)

Sept. 30, 11:26 p.m.: Third Mate Riehm tells Able Seaman 3 that the captain thinks they will be south of the storm by then and that the winds won’t be an issue. Fighting his instincts and good judgment, the Third Mate said, “I trust what he’s saying — it’s just, being 20 miles away from 100-knot winds — this doesn’t even sound right.”

Oct. 1, 1:20 a.m.: After hearing that Hurricane Joaquin was now upgraded to a category 3, Second Mate Randolph called the captain and suggested altering their course south. This second plea to change course was apparently not authorized — now their fate was truly sealed.

Oct. 1, 4:09 a.m.: Still completely oblivious to the seriousness of the situation, Captain Davidson arrives on the bridge and says, “Well, this is every day in Alaska. This is what it’s like.”

Oct. 1, 4:37 – 7:27 a.m.: Problems continue to mount. A list (tilt) affecting oil levels in the oil room ... flooding in Hold 3 ... El Faro loses propulsion ... water sloshing, coming in through the ventilation system ... distress message sent ... Chief Mate Shultz says water level is rising, “cars bobbing around” in Hold 3 ... Captain Davidson gives the command to ring the ship’s alarm.

Oct. 1, 7:29 a.m.: Second Mate Randolph yelled about cargo containers in the water and Captain Davidson gave the command to ring the abandon ship alarm. (Just 10 more minutes on the VDR.)

Oct. 1, 7:30 a.m.: Captain Davidson said, “The bow is down.”

Oct. 1, 7:31 – 7:39 a.m.: Captain Davidson orders life rafts in the water and says, “Everybody ... get off the ship, stay together.” But by now, it was too late, too late! Because of the list, Able Seaman 1 was stuck on the bridge and yelled for help. His feet were slipping, and he asked for a ladder or a rope. Captain Davidson could be heard encouraging him and telling him that he wasn’t going to be left behind. Then ... there is the noise of a growing rumble, and the recording ends.

But though the VDR made clear what had happened, it didn’t explain why the captain sailed his ship into clearly foretold and obvious danger. Captain Davidson had been a captain for 10 years, and he knew that the El Faro was 40 years old. She had been “grandfathered” in by the Coast Guard and did not carry modern, closed lifeboats. Not only did he underestimate the storm’s strength and the ship’s ability to get through it, but also he had waited too long to muster the crew to abandon ship.

MISPLACED CONFIDENCE

Most troubling of all — why didn’t Captain Davidson listen to his officers? They knew they were heading straight for Hurricane Joaquin, which eventually turned into a Category 4, with winds of over 150 mph. It turns out that he placed the utmost confidence in a desktop weather service, Bon Voyage Service, which updated through emails. The only problem was that they provided information that was six hours behind what the National Hurricane Center sent the bridge! Unfortunately, his unshakable faith in this outdated service cost him and 32 other people their lives.

Oh, those poor, poor people! One can only imagine their terror as they fought to preserve their lives before they slipped into eternity. God’s Word tells us that when we die, we end up in either heaven or hell. It also tells us that we are all sinners, and because of this we are not worthy to enter God’s holy presence. But God loves us so much that He sent His Son Jesus to die on Calvary’s cross to bear the penalty of our sins. The way of salvation is through faith in the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ for us.

Captain Davidson trusted an outdated weather service, and it cost 33 people their lives. His confidence had been misplaced! But Jesus tells us, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father [God], but by Me” (John 14:6). We must come to God His way and accept His gift of salvation. “The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23). There is only ONE way to get to heaven, and it is by the grace of God alone, through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ alone.

Captain Davidson’s crew tried to warn him. They tried to get him to change course away from danger and death, but he thought he knew better. He didn’t intend to sail into Hurricane Joaquin, but that is exactly what he did! What about you? Is your answer to God, “I’m a good person; I’m not that bad, really” or “I’ll do the best that I can!” or “I’ll live in sin a little longer and come in my own time and way!” or “It’s too easy, too simple and I just don’t believe any of it!” All of these are false beliefs that will send you into a lost eternity with the devil and his angels.

GOOD NEWS

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son [what more could He have done for you?], that whosoever [whoever will] believeth in Him should not perish [that’s hell], but have everlasting life [that’s heaven]. For God sent not His Son [Jesus] into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.” World here means humankind and to be saved means to not perish in hell. This is what we all need, and it is good news! “He that believeth on Him is not condemned [found guilty]: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:16-18). Those who believe and put their faith in Jesus are found NOT GUILTY before God; those who do not believe in Jesus are GUILTY ALREADY before God!

LAST WARNING

Damages from the sinking were estimated at $36 million plus 33 irreplaceable lives. But the damage of rejecting Jesus as your Lord and Savior are irreparable and irrevocable. “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth [rests] on him” (John 3:36). Believing on the Son (Jesus) we have life eternal; it is something that cannot be taken away from us! To not believe is to be under the wrath (judgment) of God already! What will your choice be? In the last book of the Bible, Revelation, in the last chapter in verse 17, God gives one last call to sinners that are searching for eternal life and salvation. “Let him that is athirst [spiritually thirsty] come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” Jesus is the water of life — put your faith and trust in Him today, while you still have time.

Lost in the Pacific offers more lessons from the sea.

Lost in the Pacific

It was October of 1942, and an airplane on war business had run out of fuel and was forced to crash into the ocean. The men on board were able to get out alive, and soon, in three small rubber rafts, Captain Eddie Rickenbacker and his crew of seven men were drifting at the mercy of the winds and tides in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Their navigation equipment had not worked correctly, and they had run out of gas looking for somewhere to refuel. I’m sure that in the heart of each man were the same questions: Will we ever make it out of here alive? Will we be rescued? Or will we die?

For 24 days the men suffered terribly from the burning sun, with no way to hide from its heat. From the start they were horribly thirsty, without any water but what they could collect from occasional rain. Sharks rammed into their small rafts. Four oranges was all the food they had rescued from the plane. Early on they had shot off all their emergency flares and had gotten no response. Most of them quickly became very depressed.

ENCOURAGEMENT

Though he wasn’t depressed himself, Captain Rickenbacker realized they needed help, and he suggested they have a prayer meeting. John Bartek was one of the crewmembers, and he had managed to keep his little New Testament when they abandoned the sinking plane. He pulled it out and read some verses. Then Captain Rickenbacker told each of the men to read some verses, which they did, willingly or unwillingly. Verses from Matthew 6 were the ones most chosen: “Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? ... for your heavenly Father [knows] that [you] have need of all these things” (Matthew 6:31-32). Those verses — if they believed them — must have sounded very comforting to those men in their dire circumstances.

James Whittaker, the copilot, did not want to have a prayer meeting. He did not believe God could save them. He said it would take an absolute miracle! But those who read the Bible know that God does do miracles. John Bartek no doubt knew the stories about Daniel in the lion’s den, the Lord Jesus feeding people with just a few loaves and fishes, and all the other miracles in the Bible.

On the eighth day, Rickenbacker passed out the last of the oranges. He then started another prayer session. Later that day, as he sat in the raft with his hat pulled down over his eyes, something like a miracle happened. A sea gull landed on Rickenbacker’s hat. He made a quick move and grabbed the bird. The starving men ate it and used the intestines of the sea gull as bait to catch fish ... and kept being able to catch fish using parts of the fish they caught. Almost the whole crew lived to tell the amazing story.

GOD’S GOODNESS

God created us, and He loves us. He works in many different ways to draw people to Himself. We are rebellious and, like sheep, we’ve all “gone astray. We have turned every one to his own way” (Isaiah 53:6). Is God speaking to you in your life? Has He given you some difficult situation to make you call on Him? Sometimes He brings us to impossible situations so that we will realize we need help outside of ourselves — God’s help.

The Bible, God’s Word, “is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119:105). When we read it, our faith in God becomes stronger. Psalm 19:10 says God’s words are to be desired more than gold. Do you believe it? If you could have a million dollars or a Bible, do you realize that the Bible is the far greater treasure?

Are you trusting in God, with whom all things are possible?

Stranded on an Iceberg

Three crab fishermen were fishing off the coast of Newfoundland. A low gray ceiling of clouds covered the sky. The men were using their sea legs to keep their balance on the deck of their small boat that rolled up and down with the waves. Looking west, they could see the endless horizon where the water met the sky. Not another fishing vessel or a human being was in sight in all the watery expanse.

The fishermen had been busy dropping and checking crab pots and pulling crabs with their big claws out of them all day long. Often, as they cruised along, they would see icebergs. These icebergs came in all sizes and shapes. Breaking off from glaciers on land, the chunks of ice were sometimes sculpted into fantastic shapes by the wind and the waves.

The crab boat was cruising near an iceberg that had been carved into a strange shape. The waves and water had sculpted it so that it resembled a giant mushroom. Most of the iceberg was submerged underwater. They were cruising along looking at this shape, when one of the fishermen thought he saw something move on top of it. Looking closer, he saw that it was small and similar in color to the color of the ice. But at first, he couldn’t tell what kind of animal it was.

The three men knew sometimes animals get trapped on icebergs and float out to sea. The current was carrying the floating ice out towards the open Atlantic and away from the coast of Newfoundland. Whatever kind of animal it was, it would certainly die if it wasn’t rescued. They decided to cruise closer to the iceberg and check it out.

DANGER

Do you know that in this world every person is also in danger? In this world strong currents are carrying people away from God, who loves them, and setting them adrift on the sea of life. Sin sets them adrift and separates them from God. If they go on in their sins, it is only a matter of time before they come into judgment for the things they have done. God, who is holy, just and good, must punish sin in the universe He has made. People who die in their sins will end up in hell.

The animal on the iceberg, whatever it was, had no possible way it could return in its own strength to the shore of Newfoundland. It was too far to swim in the cold water. If it ever was going to be saved, it needed help from an outside source.

Sinners also have no way they can save themselves. They too are weak, and the distance between them and a holy God is too great. They need help from an outside source. Such help has come to them in the person of the Lord Jesus. From heaven, Jesus, the Son of God, came into this world. The Lord Jesus went all the way to the cross where He gave His life for sinners. “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15).

In perfect obedience to the Father, He went all the way to the cross, where “Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3). The blood He shed has the power to wash away every sin. Because He offered up His life as a sacrifice for sin, He can save all those who are drifting away from God and headed to a lost eternity. If they will only turn to Him in faith, He will forgive their sins and grant them the gift of eternal life. “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him” (John 3:36).

RESCUE

The fishermen on the boat felt sorry for the little animal. They saw that the furry little thing looked half-starved and bedraggled. By its size, they knew it was an arctic fox. They had no idea how it got out there. But letting the poor animal die didn’t sit well with them. It would be dangerous to them and their small boat, but they decided that they would try to save it.

Carefully they maneuvered their fishing boat to the edge of the ice. They tried calling in gentle voices to the fox. “Come here, little boy,” they called. But the fox was leery of them and refused to come.

So, the men went to plan B. One of the men on board got a long pole they sometimes use to pull up crab pots. With the pole he pushed on the top mushroom part of the iceberg. Rocking it back and forth, he got it to sway. Then, splash, the whole thing came tumbling down and the little fox slid off it into ice cold water. Another of the fishermen took a long-handled fishing net and scooped the small creature out of the water.

He set the fox down on the deck of the boat behind the pilothouse. Do you think the little fox appreciated what the men had just done for it? No, it was too scared and too close to total exhaustion after being pulled from the water. It collapsed on the deck and barely moved.

The men felt sorry for it. They could see it didn’t have much strength left. By putting wood chips in a plastic crate, they made a little bed for it. Then one of the men picked up the tiny fox and laid it in the crate. The fox was able to snuggle into the wood chips and warm up and dry off.

They wanted to give the rescued fox every chance of survival so they headed back toward the harbor. On the way, one of the men cooked Vienna sausages and fed them to the animal. At first the fox turned up his nose at them, but then hunger took over, and he ate them up. Who knows? It might have been the first meal he had eaten in several days.

When the men got back to shore, they kept the fox in a pen in a boathouse. They fed it and gave it plenty of water. After several days, the small fox looked healthy again. They brought it to the outskirts of their small town near a rocky hillside. Someone had built a small doghouse there for some reason, but it was now forgotten and weather-beaten. They put a little food in the doghouse and left the fox to fend for himself.

REMARKABLE KINDNESS

The three men on the fishing boat did a remarkable act of kindness by saving the fox. They captured it and brought it to land and made sure it was okay before releasing it. God appreciates kindness to animals. He appreciates kindness wherever it is found because He, Himself, is very kind. In the greatest act of love and kindness the world has ever known, “the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world” (1 John 4:14). He sent His Son so that sinners drifting far from Him might return and find forgiveness, healing from the ravages of sin, food for their souls and a home in heaven. We have all drifted from God’s love and all need His forgiveness.

Will you continue to let the strong currents of sin carry you away from the God who loves you? Or will you return to Him in repentance and faith? What we do with the Lord Jesus in the one, short life God gives us will determine where we spend eternity.

Oh, don’t continue to drift away from Him. Believe in the Savior and you will at last make it home to heaven.

Kindness to another little creature in A Crying Baby Otter leads to a better understanding of God’s kindness to us.

A Crying Baby Otter

The coast around Seldovia, Alaska, is wild, wooded and rocky. Mountain slopes reach right down to the edge of the sea. Giant Douglas fir trees are so tall they seem like they are trying to poke holes in the sky. Seastacks, or small islands of solid rock, dot the coast.

It is a good place to see wildlife, such as eagles, bears, cougars, seals, sea-lions, orcas, gray whales, humpback whales and also long whiskered otters, in their natural habitat. You don’t have to shove off in a boat to see the denizens of the deep. Often people see them right from the beach.

A man and his wife were out for a walk on the beach when they heard crying that sounded like an animal in distress. Listening to the piteous crying, they thought it sounded like a baby even before they saw it. The crying sounded like the animal was calling for help. They looked around for the source of the cry and saw a little brown ball of fur several yards off shore on some rocks that stuck out of the surf.

“Eeeouh, eeeouh,” the baby cried in a high-pitched voice, over and over again.

They guessed very quickly that the little otter was calling for its momma. Sea otter pups, like a lot of mammals, are utterly dependent on their mothers when they are very young. Their mothers feed them, teach them how to hunt and forage for food, and sea otter mothers are always grooming the coats of their pups.

The couple decided to sit and watch from a distance to see what might happen to the baby. After half an hour and no mother otter showing up, they figured some mishap had happened to her, and the baby was alone. It would only be a matter of time before the baby would die if something wasn’t done about it.

Sea otters were once plentiful up and down the Northwest Pacific Coast, but they were hunted to near extinction because of their luxuriant fur. Laws in Alaska prohibit capturing baby sea mammals. Before they tried to capture it, they would have to notify wildlife authorities and get permission.

A Call for Help

They called on their cell phone and explained carefully what was going on. The ranger in charge understood the baby’s danger immediately. He said he would send out a volunteer from the Alaska Sealife Center at once.

Before long a man with a long net and hip waders came to the scene. Slowly, he walked out to the baby otter. The otter was either too tired or too scared to move. In a second, he had the net over it. It weighed no more than 8 to 10 pounds. He let the couple look at it for a few minutes before taking it in his car to the rescue center.

At the rescue center they could give it emergency care. But the center was not set up to give the otter a lasting home. The baby otter would need almost full-time care from a human if it was going to survive. The rescue center didn’t give the baby otter a name. They gave it a number, EL2306. They didn’t want to get too attached to the little thing when they knew he would have to leave them for another home.

That baby cried and cried because it wanted its mother, but unknown to the baby the mother had died. Her body washed up on the shore of the beach a few days later.

Needy Creatures

Do you know that we are all needy creatures, unable to take care of ourselves and unable to protect ourselves from our enemies? We should be very thankful for parents, families, friends, and all other caretakers, but even when they mean the best, they can’t provide for our deepest needs. Each one of us has needs that only God can provide. Only He can provide for our deepest needs, which are the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. “In my distress I cried unto the Lord, and He heard me” (Psalm 120:1). We need God’s grace to meet our deepest needs.

The baby otter cried out, and the mother wasn’t able to help it. God will never fail to hear the cry of a sinner who is sorry for their sins. He is always ready to hear those who cry out to Him in faith. Jesus will hold very near His heart those who believe in Him, and they will never perish. “Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13).

God looks after all the creatures He has made and has given them different gifts to help them survive. He has given special gifts to human beings too. We can call on God for salvation. God wants each one of us to believe in Christ and come to understand His great love. Those who do so will never perish but receive the gift of eternal life. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

Adoption

The volunteers at the Alaska Sealife Center genuinely loved animals, and EL2306 was about as cute as an animal could get. Volunteers cleaned his fur with a towel and fed the pup out of a bottle of specially prepared formula. Every 15 minutes a volunteer would hand-feed the baby a piece of clam meat. He was always hungry. They had a small pool he could learn to swim in and even a blue and green toy that looked like strands of sea kelp.

But the state of Alaska has a law forbidding the release of sea mammals back into the wilds once they have been rescued. They had no choice but to put sea otter pup EL2306 up for adoption. They put the word out to the zoos and aquariums in North America that they had a young, healthy, beautiful otter pup that needed a permanent home.

Adopted by God

Do you know we all need to be adopted by faith into God’s family? It’s true!

When a sinner believes in the Lord Jesus, God forgives their sins. After they believe, the Holy Spirit comes to live in their hearts by faith. The Holy Spirit pours the love of God into their hearts. This love makes them know they are one of God’s children. “Ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26). The Holy Spirit also makes them know that God is their “Dear Father.” “Because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father,” reads a verse in the Bible (Galatians 4:6). “Abba Father” is another way of saying “Dear Father.”

As their loving Father, God will see to it that all their needs are met both in this life and the life to come. He will bring them home to heaven to spend eternity with Him. This earth is only our temporary home. Our forever home is in heaven. What joys will belong to His children in heaven! They will be surrounded by other saints and angels and forever rejoice in the God who loves them.

The little sea otter pup, EL2306, cried out in his need. He was rescued and then adopted and found a home for the rest of his life. Will you cry out to God and ask Him to save you? Then you will be part of His family forever. You will never be sorry you did!

Oh Come to the Savior

Oh come to the Savior while now He is calling;
Oh come while there’s mercy and pardon for you;
Oh trust in His grace; He will keep you from falling,
And strength to o’ercome He offers to you.

Oh come, come to the Savior;
Oh come, come while you may;
Oh come, come to the Savior;
He’s tenderly calling today.

There’s no other name among men that is given;
There’s no other way to be saved but this way;
Oh trust in His mercy; too long you have striven
With sin and with self; oh come while you may.

And he that believes, the promise is written,
Is saved through the blood of the Crucified One;
The Spirit is pleading; oh will you not hasten
And find in His love a refuge and home?

Four Rich Men

How many of you would like to be rich? How many of you think that riches would solve all your problems? Do you think that with riches you would be set for life, you would be happy and you would have the complete satisfaction that you’ve been looking for?

Here are the stories of four rich men. It is a fascinating study on how they lived, what their desires were, what they tried so hard for and what the result of their choices were.

The Rich Farmer (Luke 12:16-21)

Jesus told this parable (a story to teach a moral lesson) to the people who came to hear Him. The ground of a “certain rich man” was so fertile that it brought forth “abundantly”; there was so much fruit that the rich man’s barns could not hold it all! So, he thought within himself, “I’ll just tear down my old barns and build bigger and better ones; then I’ll have enough room to store all of my fruits and possessions.” He had worked hard, and it had paid off, to the point where he didn’t even have enough room to store it all!

From a business point of view, this was a very wise decision to make. From a humanistic point of view, it was the only thing that made sense. But God was looking down on this rich man and saw that something was missing. He did not acknowledge or thank God for the warm sun, refreshing rain and fertile soil that had produced so bountifully for him. In fact, there was no room for God in his heart at all; all he was thinking about was the good and easy retirement that he was going to enjoy! With complete and total self-confidence, he said to himself, “Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.” His plan was to live it up and enjoy the fruits of all his hard work.

But God knew something that the rich man didn’t know. His retirement plan for “many years” was going to end abruptly that very night! “God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?” God calls the rich man a fool — not because he was rich — but because his only focus was on gaining riches along with selfish living WITHOUT one thought toward his Creator God. The question God asked points out the obvious: When we die, we can take nothing with us; all must be left behind for someone else. That very night the rich man was to enter into eternity, without his many possessions, poor towards God. Jesus ends the parable by saying, “So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” Earthly treasure is fleeting and temporary; heavenly treasure is lasting and eternal. Jesus was teaching that to have a covetous greed for riches and possessions will only leave you poor toward God. To be “rich toward God,” you must know God. To know God, you must have “repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21).

A Certain Rich Man (Luke 16:19-31)

In this story, Jesus gives the details of the lives and afterlives of two people: One was very rich and had no faith in the Word of God; the other was very poor and had faith in the Word of God. Jesus was going to reveal what happens after death to those who believe in Him and to those who have no saving faith in Him.

The rich man, whose name is not given, was clothed in gorgeous apparel — “in purple and fine linen” and “fared sumptuously” every day. The picture is of a man who lived in complete pleasure and lacked nothing. But, inevitably, “the rich man also died, and was buried.”

On the other hand, a “certain beggar named Lazarus” was laid at the rich man’s gate, being “full of sores.” His desire was to be “fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table.” To add to Lazarus’ misery, we are told “the dogs came and licked his sores.”

In today’s world, many are working hard for what the rich man had: lavish living, rich clothing, even a “gated” or secure home! Lazarus, on the other hand, had a very hard life: poor, begging for food, and sick as well. You would never know which it was from their outward lives, but one was rich toward God and the other was poor toward God. One had saving faith in his heart and the other did not. Jesus was about to reveal what happens after death to those who have saving faith in Him and to those who do not. What do you have in your heart toward God?

“It came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom.” Here we learn that Lazarus was in a place of rest, joy and peace. But what happened to the rich man? “In hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.” Jesus is pulling back the veil and wants us to know what happens after death. First of all, there is an afterlife. We do not just die and that’s the end of us! We are fully conscious in our afterlife. The rich man knew who Abraham and Lazarus were. The rich man was also capable of speech.

It is interesting to note that the rich man did not ask to be released from the torment that he was in — only that it be alleviated. That was the “mercy” that he asked for! He knew that he deserved to be there because of his unbelief toward God. But Abraham simply pointed out the obvious to the rich man, that he in his lifetime had received “good things” and that Lazarus in his lifetime had received “evil things.” Now that they had died, it was just the opposite.

The Lord is not saying that if you’re rich, you’ll go to be tormented and if you’re poor you’ll go to eternal rest. He is showing us what is on the other side for those who have faith in Jesus, and those who do not have faith in Jesus. “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him” (John 3:36). Again, what will your choice be? Will you be “comforted,” or will you be “tormented” after you die?

Abraham now explains why the rich man saw them “afar off.” “Beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.” Lazarus was in “paradise” (Luke 23:43) and the rich man was “tormented.”

Realizing the finality of his awful condition, the rich man then begs Abraham to send Lazarus to his father’s house because he had five brothers who he did not want to come into that “place of torment.” But Abraham told him that Lazarus’ rest was not to be disturbed and that his brothers had “Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.” In other words, they had the same Old Testament scriptures that Lazarus had believed! But the rich man, knowing how his brothers loved their sins and knowing their hearts of unbelief, said, “Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.” The rich man was sure that if Lazarus miraculously rose from the dead, his five brothers would repent and have saving faith! But Abraham simply pointed out that they had all the witness that they needed to enter paradise; if they wouldn’t believe that witness, their hard hearts and stubborn unbelief would not change, “though one rose from the dead.”

Today, we have the proof that the rich man wanted his five brothers to have. Jesus is risen indeed! The tomb is empty; the work of redemption is accomplished. Do you believe it, and have you repented toward God?

The Rich Young Ruler
(Mark 10:17-27; Luke 18:18-27)

Mark and Luke combine to tell us the incident of a rich young ruler who came to Jesus with a very important question. This young man was in earnest, for we are told that he came “running” and that he “kneeled” before Jesus. Not only did he not let the opportunity slip by to ask Jesus his question, but he showed him respect by kneeling before him. His great question was, “Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?”

Though this young man had ambition and respect, both good qualities in themselves, he had made two huge mistakes, mistakes that many people are still making today! First, he addressed Jesus as “Good Master.” He did not see Jesus for who He truly was — the Son of God, the Savior of sinners! Jesus tries to reach his conscience as to who He was by saying, “Why callest thou Me good? There is none good but One, that is, God.” Jesus was telling this young man that He was God. Many people today think that Jesus was just a “good man,” a “great teacher” and a “good example” to follow, but they do not see Him for who He truly was and is. “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15).

The other big mistake in this young man’s question was asking Jesus what he could “do” to inherit eternal life. This young man thought, just as many people do today, that there surely must be something they can do to earn their salvation. He thought that he was good enough to receive eternal life. He did not realize the wretchedness of his own heart, or his hopeless condition as a sinner before God. His conscience had not been reached; Jesus was now going to expose what was truly in his heart.

Jesus then quoted from the Ten Commandments. “Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honor thy father and mother.” The young man’s answer was, “Master, all these have I observed from my youth.” Wow! This was indeed a “good” young man! Imagine being young, very rich and having such a sterling character that you could honestly say you had not broken any of these commandments. This man was so good that you would have wanted him for your neighbor! You could trust your children around him; he would never steal from you, and he would always tell you the truth. Jesus does not challenge the young man’s answer; instead, “Jesus beholding him loved him.” In tender love, Jesus looks upon every man and woman and says, “Let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely” (Revelation 22:17). If you hunger after peace and eternal life, it is offered freely through faith in Christ Jesus.

Jesus then shows the young man exactly what his hindrance was in receiving eternal life. Jesus was going to show this young man that he had a covetous heart; he loved his riches and possessions and wanted to keep them. He did not love Jesus; he did not want to put his faith and trust in Jesus alone for his salvation.

Jesus very clearly tells him that he is lacking one thing. He tells him that he needs to sell all that he has and give it to the poor. If he does this, then he will have treasure in heaven. Then he needed to “come, take up the cross, and follow Me.” In a few, simple words, Jesus cut to the heart of his problem and delivered a profound message. Jesus was NOT saying that if you’re rich, you should sell all that you have and give it to the poor to obtain eternal life, as if by doing a charitable work you will get into heaven! Oh no. He was exposing the covetous nature in the rich young ruler’s heart. His love of riches and possessions prevented him from receiving eternal life! He wanted treasure on earth rather than treasure in heaven. “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:21).

So how did the rich man respond? Would he come and take up his cross and follow Jesus? No! He made a terrible choice. “He was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions.” He had counted the cost, deciding that it wasn’t worth it to give up his riches and possessions to follow Jesus. Even though it made him sad and grieved his heart, he chose to lose treasure in heaven rather than his treasure on earth. He had all the outward appearance of wanting to do what was necessary for eternal life, but inwardly his heart was full of covetousness and greed which he wasn’t willing to give up. He loved his riches and possessions too much. What do you love more than eternal life?

Seeing this, Jesus looked on the crowd around Him and said, “How hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” Not only riches, but trust placed in anything or anyone other than Christ Jesus and His atoning blood shed on Calvary’s cross for our sins will make it IMPOSSIBLE to have eternal life! “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Romans 10:9).

Zacchaeus, Chief Tax Collector (Luke 19:2-10)

Zacchaeus was the chief tax collector, and he was rich. One day, he heard that Jesus was to pass by where he was, so he was determined to see Him. Because a large crowd was following Jesus and because Zacchaeus was a little man, Zacchaeus raced in front of the crowd and climbed into a sycamore tree so that he could see Jesus when he passed by. Imagine his surprise when Jesus passed under the tree and looked directly up at him!

Equally surprising was that Jesus knew his name and spoke directly to him. “Zacchaeus!” he called. “Hurry, and come down! For today I must come to your house.” We are told that Zacchaeus quickly came down out of the tree and joyfully received Jesus.

But when the crowd saw this, they spoke against Jesus, because they said that Jesus was going to be the guest of a sinner. This was because Zacchaeus worked for the Romans, who ruled the Jews at that time, so they considered these tax collectors to be traitors. But Zacchaeus, like the rich young ruler, was willing to justify himself. He told the Lord that he gave half of his goods to the poor, and if he had taken anything by false accusation, he restored it fourfold! But Jesus paid no attention to his good works. Instead, he had a wonderful message for Zacchaeus: “This day is salvation come to this house ... for the Son of Man [Jesus] is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

The rich young ruler and Zacchaeus both exerted energy to see Jesus. Both thought that good works would merit salvation. BUT their hearts were different! The rich young ruler rejected following Jesus and His message of salvation. Zacchaeus not only joyfully received the Lord into his home, but also believed on Him in his heart. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31). “By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

The Great Galveston Storm of 1900

Galveston is built on an island 27 miles long and three miles wide. In 1900, the highest point above sea level on the island was eight feet. Most of the island was only two or three feet higher than high tide. By the end of the nineteenth century, Galveston was a real boom town with a population of nearly 37,000 people, making it one of the biggest cities in Texas.

City leaders were interested in bringing more business and money to the island. When inhabitants asked them to build a sea wall along the east side of the island to protect it from storms, they replied there was nothing to worry about and concentrated on making the burgeoning city more attractive with boardwalks and paved streets. The city of Galveston had not been hit by a hurricane for many decades, and they figured one would be unlikely to hit them in the future.

The Approaching Storm

The storm that hit Galveston started as a “tropical wave” off the east coast of Africa. A tropical wave is a giant low-pressure system that generates storms and gathers strength over time. The first sighting of the storm was on August 27, about 1,000 miles away from Galveston near the Windward Islands off the coast of South America. It was simply described as an area of “unsettled weather.” How quickly things can change!

The storm was headed on a slightly curving path right for the booming city of Galveston. On September 4, the Weather Bureau in Washington DC began telegraphing messages of the impending storm to the Weather Bureau in Galveston. However, those in Galveston chose to ignore the warnings. By their calculations, the hurricane would turn north and make landfall in Florida. The weather service in Cuba, one of the most scientific weather stations in the world at the time, vehemently disagreed with them.

On September 5, the storm passed through the Straits of Florida and entered the Gulf of Mexico. Weather watchers observed a strange persistent halo around the moon, and the sky turned a deep red. This led many to believe the storm was intensifying. The warm water of the Gulf was energizing it.

On the morning of September 8, most of the residents of Galveston didn’t see any cause for alarm. The swells were a bit bigger. The skies were partly cloudy. Most of the people continued on with their daily business.

Tragedy

The storm made landfall at about 8 p.m. on September 8. The eye of the tornado passed just south of Galveston. Folks at the Weather Bureau measured wind speeds of 100 miles per hour before the anemometer was blown away. Torrential rains were falling, blown sidewise by the wind.

But it wasn’t the wind or rain that directly caused the tragic loss of life in Galveston. It was the storm surge that swept over the island. A storm surge is a wall of water that is pushed along by high winds. A storm surge 17 feet tall slammed into the island. It swept away homes, businesses, churches, and schools where people had taken refuge. When the hurricane was over, 8,000 to 9,000 people had perished, making the Galveston Storm of 1900 the deadliest natural disaster to ever take place in the history of the United States.

Two things might have prevented this tragedy. First, the local government might have listened to the voice of its citizens and built a sea wall. Second, the local Weather Bureau might have heeded the warnings about the upcoming storm and issued a hurricane warning giving the people of Galveston time to evacuate to the mainland. They were too wise in their own eyes and failed to see the path the hurricane was making.

Preventable

The loss of so many people was preventable. Do you know another dangerous situation where people are not paying attention to the warnings being sent to them and also taking no steps to avoid it?

This situation could involve you. A great storm is developing over the waters of this world. It is gathering strength as it goes. Those who should know better are failing to give warning. People are so used to their prosperity that they are failing to take any preventative measures with regards to this approaching storm.

The storm that is developing is God’s wrath against sin. Sometimes when the word “wrath” is used in the Bible, it refers to human anger which is often misplaced and carried to extremes. But God’s wrath refers to His condemnation and punishment of sin. God’s wrath refers to His unalterable opposition to evil.

It seems like people today are very comfortable in their sins. They are not concerned that their sins will bring them into judgment with God. It is as though they tell themselves that they have lived for 20, 40 ... 70 years and God’s wrath hasn’t fallen on them yet, therefore they have nothing to worry about. They prefer to pursue their prosperity and good times in this life and leave off all thought that God’s judgment will fall on sinners for all eternity. God calls them “children of wrath.” All of us, at one time or another, were “children of wrath,” and those who remain in their sins still are. “Among whom also we all had our [manner of life] in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others” (Ephesians 2:3).

God calls all the impenitent and ungodly “children of wrath” because it is only a matter of time before they come into judgment for their sins. This judgment, like a giant storm surge, will carry them away to a lost eternity in hell. But it is preventable. The Lord Jesus gave His life on the cross so all mankind may look to Him and be saved. “Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth” (Isaiah 45:22).

Because He made Himself an offering for sin, all men may look to Him and be saved. “Surely He [has] borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:4-6).

There is one way to pass from being a “child of wrath” to a “child of God.” It is by faith in the Lord Jesus. People can flee from the wrath to come by repenting of their sins and believing in the Lord Jesus.

The morning of September 8, 1900, began like many others, but before the evening was done, over 8,000 people would die. One day — it might just begin like any other day — will be the day that the storm surge of God’s judgment carries you away to everlasting punishment. The time is certainly coming for every sinner who obstinately remains in their sins. When will it strike? God only knows the day and the hour. The only wise course is to repent right now before another moment goes by. If you wait until tomorrow, it may be forever too late.

Many of the deaths in the Galveston Storm might have been prevented. No one has to perish because of their sins. All may come to repentance and faith in Christ. Will you listen to the warnings and come to the Savior?

Another great storm and great lesson can be found by reading The Atocha.

The Atocha

Early in the spring of 1622, a fleet of ships set sail from the coast of Spain. The wind puffed out their square mainsails, wafted into their triangular lanteen sails, and made their long, brightly colored pennants flutter out atop their masts. The ships were on an important mission.

The destination of every ship was carefully planned. They would sail across the Atlantic Ocean to different ports in the New World. At these ports they would pick up treasure to bring back to fill the coffers of Spain. They would fill the holds of their ships with silver plates, gold coins, gold bars bigger than bricks, emeralds and precious stones, as well as tobacco and agricultural products. They would do this all before the hurricane season set in. The ships would meet in Havana, Cuba, and form a big convoy before sailing for Spain.

It was necessary to sail in a convoy because of the great number of pirates, buccaneers, and privateers that roamed the Caribbean. Furthermore, the Spanish and the Dutch were at war. Reportedly the Dutch had a fleet of warships cruising off the coast of South America.

The ships arrived on schedule, but they had to wait days and weeks for their precious cargo to arrive by mule trains. Delay after delay beset them. It wasn’t until months later, in early September, that they all were gathered together in the big harbor in Havana, Cuba, ready to go. This was a big problem because late summer and early fall are the height of hurricane season in this part of the world. The destructive hurricanes might blow in off the Atlantic at any time.

The Marquis Cadiereta who was in charge had an important decision to make. Should he set sail and risk being caught in a hurricane? He decided to set sail at once for two reasons. First, his mother country of Spain was nearly bankrupt because of the long wars it had been fighting. Second, his ships were some of the finest ever built.

Crucial Decision

The decision the Marquis made would be one of the most crucial of his life. You might be a young person feeling totally in charge of your own life, but you too have an important decision to make. This decision has to be made by you and no one else. There is no one who can make the decision for you. You must decide whether you will go through life with or without the Savior. You are worth more than all the treasure in the world. In the eyes of God, you are of infinitely more value than all the gold and silver in the world.

Not everyone will be saved. We live in a world where sin has entered. People who go through life without the Savior are sure to perish in the end. Because of sin, each one of us must turn away from our sins and trust the Savior. Those who set sail in life without faith and love in the Savior are running the risk of losing the treasure God has committed to them. They are in danger of losing their life forever. What a terrible risk they are willing to take when they put off believing in the Son of God.

On September 5, the Marquis set sail to return to Spain. Most of the treasure was transferred to the two largest and most seaworthy galleons, the Atocha and the Santa Margarita. The Atocha had been recently built in Havana. It was a giant of a galleon for its day — over 112 feet long and 32 feet wide. The ship carried 22 large cannons and was manned by 265 sailors and soldiers.

The treasure loaded on the Atocha alone was astounding. It consisted of over 40 tons (80,000 lb.) of gold and silver, and a treasure box full of priceless green emeralds. Because the Atocha was well armed, it was ordered to the rear of the convoy to protect it. All told, there were 28 ships in the convoy.

With the Marquis in the front of the convoy, the Atocha at the rear, and six other warships in the middle among the transport ships, any enemy would have to be very brave and skilled to attack.

Unprepared

What they were not ready for was the attack the weather made on them. A couple of days after leaving Havana, the fleet was struck by a tremendous hurricane. The wind drove the ships before it with a fury. The ships could hardly be steered.

Part of the fleet in front was driven by winds into the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico and were able to ride out the hurricane. The Atocha was driven into the Straits of Florida. The wind and waves drove the Atocha along at an incredible speed. Sailors saw they were headed directly towards a huge reef with large waves crashing over it. In desperation they dropped the huge anchor of the Atocha off the back of the ship, hoping to stop the ship before it hit the reef. The anchor was attached by a huge chain and rope. As soon as the anchor dug into the sea bottom, the rope snapped.

A giant wave picked the ship up high into the air and then drove it down into the reef. The beautiful ship was destroyed in an instant. The masts broke into pieces. The bottom of the hull was torn apart. Of the 265 sailors on board, only five survived by hanging on for dear life to one of the broken masts. All others were lost.

The incredible riches on board, far more fabulous than any king’s ransom, were not able to save the ship. The treasure sank beneath the waves and would remain lost for over 350 years until 1985, when a very persistent treasure hunter was able to recover most of the silver and gold, almost a half billion dollars’ worth, but the treasure chest full of gems has never been found. Notwithstanding, it was the most valuable sunken treasure ever recovered from under the sea.

Redemption

Even if somebody had recovered all this lost treasure, did you know it would not be enough to redeem a single person? Only the precious blood of Christ shed on the cross can do that. When a sinner repents and looks to the Lord Jesus in faith, all their sins are washed away. “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:18-19).

To “redeem” means to buy back. The Lord Jesus loved people so much that He was willing to die in their place, in order that they might be bought back to God. To “redeem” also means to bring deliverance to someone in great need. By His death, all who believe in the Lord Jesus will be fully delivered from the great trouble sin has brought them into, and one day they will be brought home to heaven where troubles like death, crying, pain, sadness and fear will never come. God saves sinners by His grace when they believe in His Son.

However, those who leave God out of their lives have no other choice but to find their treasures in the things of this life. None of that treasure can be taken with them when they die.

Do you know how fabulously rich a soul who trusts in the Lord Jesus becomes? They are so rich that their names are written down in the Lamb’s book of life, and they will enjoy the glories of heaven forever. For both this life and eternity they will share in the incredible riches of God’s grace. “That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:7). The riches of His grace are received in this life, and they are also kept on the other side of the grave. They are the riches which none can take away.

Will you come to the Savior of sinners so that you will never perish and receive the true riches He alone has to give?

Hear the Blessed Invitation

Hear the blessed invitation,
Come, come, come;
To the fountain of salvation,
Come, come, come;
Healing streams are flowing still.

Welcome “whosoever will;
Let him take the water of life freely”;
Let him take ... let him take ...
Let him take the water of life freely.

’Tis the voice of Jesus saying,
Come, come come;
Now His blest command obeying,
Come, come, come;
He will cleanse from every ill.

’Tis the Holy Spirit calling,
Come, come, come;
Before the shades of death be falling,
Come, come, come;
He the heart with peace will fill.

Farm Dog of the Year

John Wierwille brought Caspar, a young Great Pyrenees dog, to watch over his flock of sheep. The dog was a friendly giant weighing nearly 90 pounds, with thick white fur almost as long as the wool on the backs of the sheep he guarded.

Caspar took to the sheep immediately. On the first night Caspar arrived, John saw him rest his head gently on the back of a lamb, as if to say, “Don’t worry, little fella. I will always watch over you.” The dog was really a gentle giant.

The week of the incident, there were ominous signs. A neighbor at dusk reported seeing a pack of 13 coyotes running together near the edge of the woods. This was very unusual because coyotes are usually solitary animals, or run in packs of two or three at the most.

Coyotes are fearsome predators for their size. They survive by hunting and killing other animals. In most cases, dogs are no match for coyotes. If you have a dog you love, don’t let them run loose if coyotes are nearby.

The Battle

At about 2:30 in the morning, John was awakened by growling and snarling outside his house. He pulled on some clothes and boots and hurried out the back door and headed to the sheep pen. In the dark he could barely see what was going on. The sheep were bunched together in the corner of the pasture against a wood fence. They were bah, bah, bahing like they were scared to death. Ten or fifteen feet in front of the sheep, Caspar stood looking away from the sheep and towards a pack of coyotes. His head was lowered, and his back haunches were up in the air as if the dog was ready for action.

John had barely enough time to figure this all out when Caspar bounded forward in a great leap and brought the fight to the coyotes. It happened so suddenly. Snarling, snapping, and a terrible battle broke out. It was Caspar against a pack of coyotes and they meant to kill him. John saw the white fangs flashing in the moonlight. Then he saw Caspar grab a coyote by the back of the neck and instinctively the big dog jerked the coyote back and forth and then flung the body over his shoulder. Once, twice more coyotes were flung up in the air. In less than a minute or two, Caspar had killed three of them. The remaining coyotes lost courage and ran off, yelping, towards the woods.

You would think that Caspar would have let the coyotes go. But no, those coyotes had threatened his sheep and he would finish them off. He chased them into the dark. Soon John could barely hear the sound of the battle far away.

Searching for Caspar

The next morning as soon as it was light, John followed the path of the fight. He found the bodies of three more coyotes. He also found a big patch of white fur which he figured must have come off Caspar in the fight, and also a part of Casper’s tail. John guessed his dog had finally been mortally wounded and had found some secluded place in the woods to die.

For two days there was no sign of Caspar. On the third day, Caspar, wounded and looking like he was on the edge of death, limped into the backyard of his house.

John said the dog looked at him to say, “Quit looking at me in amazement, Master, and just take care of me. I’m hurt.”

John and his daughter washed away the blood and checked out his gaping wounds. Caspar was hurt so badly that, at first, they didn’t think it was possible for him to recover. The coyote’s sharp teeth had torn him open in several places.

They took the dog to the animal hospital. After inspecting the wounds, the vet told John he wasn’t sure he could save Caspar’s life, but he would try. The vet bandaged Caspar’s wounds and sewed up his gashes, but he had to amputate Caspar’s tail. In four weeks, Caspar was able to go home.

The dog put his own life on the line to protect the flock of sheep. The sheep were helpless to defend themselves. He fought against terrible odds and never wavered in his dedication. In recognition of his courage, bravery, and protective instincts, Caspar was awarded the Farm Dog of the Year award.

We Like Sheep

Besides being pretty defenseless, sheep also tend to go astray and wander into trouble. People are like sheep in this regard. “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord [has] laid on Him the iniquity of us all,” reads Isaiah 53:6. We have all wandered into the paths of sin and shame. Because of sin, the Devil got the power of death over us. He wants to wound us, tear us apart, and destroy us, so that we end up spending eternity in the darkness of hell.

To save us, the Lord Jesus came to earth and stood between us and our enemy. To deliver us from the death we deserve, He gave His life as a ransom on the cross. “The Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). Because the Lord Jesus bravely stood between us and our foe, everyone who believes in His name can find deliverance from the death their sins deserve. On the cross He suffered, bled and died that we might be saved and spend eternity with Him in heaven.

All who believe in His wonderful name receive the gift of eternal life. They also become one of His sheep and part of the flock that He will faithfully watch over day and night in all their journey home to heaven. “I am the good shepherd, and know My sheep, and am known of Mine. As the Father knoweth Me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd” (John 10:14-16).

Those sheep in the pasture behind John’s house were pretty fortunate to have such a big, brave, devoted guardian watching over them. Those who trust in the Lord Jesus are truly blessed because the Good Shepherd watches over them. Neither death nor angel nor man can ever steal one of His own away from Him. “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand” (John 10:27-28). There is nothing and no one that can steal a person away from the Lord Jesus.

Do you realize that you have gone astray and need the Savior? Those who believe in His name become His very own sheep whom He will watch over and protect forever. He will bring His own sheep like a flock home to heaven. “Fear not little flock,” the Lord Jesus told His disciples, “it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32). Oh, make sure you place your faith in His wonderful name that you may become one of His flock and forever have the Lord Jesus as the Good Shepherd watching over you.

“I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth His life for the sheep” (John 10:11).

Another excellent story with an excellent lesson can be enjoyed in Leo the Golden.

Leo the Golden

Leo the golden retriever reigned over his family with perfect happiness and playfulness. He was three years old and because of a happy temperament he had enjoyed every minute of his life. He lived with his master and his wife in a comfortable home. Just being with them made him beam with love. Looking at Leo, you would have thought, “Here is about the happiest dog I have ever met.”

One winter afternoon Leo’s owners took him for a walk along the rugged coast of the Pacific Ocean near Cannon Beach in Oregon. Leo was so happy he could barely contain himself. The couple and their dog walked from the parking lot to the trail that ran along the high bank above the beach. The cliff they were walking on was about 300 feet tall. The side of the cliff was nearly vertical. It was strewn with rocks and boulders. Here and there an occasional tree could be seen stunted and sculpted by the winds which continually battered them.

When the couple saw that no one else was walking near the trail, they slipped the collar off Leo’s neck and let the dog run free. Leo found a broken branch lying on the ground and brought it to his master for a game of fetch. They walked along the top of the cliff playing fetch until a disaster happened.

Leo got too close to the edge of the 300-foot cliff. For an instant, the very athletic dog didn’t pay attention to where he was stepping. He stumbled and fell off the high bank. Leo’s feet clawed at the high bank. It slowed him a little, but he couldn’t get enough hold to stop. Halfway down his shoulder hit the sharp edge of a boulder and tore off a patch of skin and fur the size of a hand. He yelped in pain. Branches of shrubs struck his face. He did a somersault through the air and then “BAM” — his body slammed onto the pebbly beach below.

Tension

Shocked, his owners peered over the edge of the cliff and saw their dog sprawled out on the beach far below. At first, with hearts breaking, they thought he was dead. Then they saw him raise his head and try to struggle to get to his feet, only to fall back to the ground in pain. They called out to him, “Leo, Leo, we’re coming.”

However, climbing down the high bank was impossible. It was too steep. They looked up and down the trail to see if there was a way to the beach. Both to the north and the south, this part of the beach was cut off by rocky headlands that jutted out into the ocean. At low tide, beachgoers could walk around these headlands, but the tide was high and the beach at these points was now impassable. What was worse, the tide was coming in. It was getting closer to where Leo lay helpless at the base of the cliff. If they didn’t do something soon, the tide would wash right over their injured pet.

They got on their cell phone and called the local sheriff. At first the sheriff thought Leo was a boy who had fallen off the cliff, then he realized Leo was a dog. The sheriff didn’t have any way to get down to the beach, but he knew someone that did.

His call went through to the Coast Guard Station. They responded immediately. They didn’t send a rescue boat. A boat in the pounding surf would have been useless. They sent a rescue helicopter to the scene. In minutes the three-man crew had the engine started and the giant rotors twirling and took off from the base. The orange and white helicopter flew directly to the scene and hovered over the site. The tide was high on the beach. The downdraft from the rotors flattened out the waves beneath it, making a giant pancake shape on the surface of the water.

Hovering about 100 feet above the waves, a rescue swimmer in a thick wetsuit was let down into the water in a basket. He made his way through the waist-deep surf. The undertow of the receding waves grabbed at him as he waded through the water. He made it to dry land. Ever so slowly he walked up to Leo who lay injured on the ground. Leo turned his head to look at him. He talked softly to him to calm him. He ran his gloved hand over the dog’s side. He saw a deep cut on the side of the dog’s head and the patch of fur missing on his shoulder. He also discovered one of the dog’s legs was broken.

Between Life and Death

From the time the helicopter arrived to the time when the rescue worker walked through the water to the beach, the tide had climbed higher on the sloping beach. It might have only been a matter of minutes until it reached the dog.

Gently he lifted the dog and placed it in the steel basket. Expertly he strapped it in so the dog couldn’t wiggle free. Then he carried the dog and basket out into the pounding surf. He signaled the airman looking down from the open side of the copter. Slowly, he winched the dog up from the surf and into the helicopter. In a few minutes, the basket was lowered again and the rescue swimmer was hoisted through the air. It was a perfectly executed rescue. The helicopter flew back to the nearby base.

Leo’s owners picked up their injured dog and drove him to the nearest veterinarian, which was an hour away. It seemed like it took forever to get there. The vet sedated the dog, set the broken bone, sewed up the gash and checked for internal injuries. Leo needed a lot of medical attention. But in the end, the vet predicted he would recover fully and be his happy self again. I’m sure Leo will be much more careful next time when walking the cliffs. I suppose his owners will think twice before they take him off the leash when dangers are near.

Leo was much loved. He was rescued from above by a hovering helicopter. His rescue, which involved expensive equipment and extensively trained men, was very costly.

Do you know all these things apply to us also? Each one of us is loved very much. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). He loves us so much that if we were the only person in the world who needed it, He still would have sent His Son to give His life just for us.

Sinners, too, if they are ever going to be rescued, will be rescued from above. The Lord Jesus came from heaven down to earth. He came down from heaven so that He might bring us back up to heaven to be with Him forever. He gave His life at Calvary. He was buried, rose from the grave, showed Himself alive by many infallible proofs, and then ascended back to heaven in the sight of His disciples in a cloud. In heaven He took His seat at the Father’s right hand. If people will be saved, they will be saved by the heaven-sent Savior. Once they believe, they may come to the throne of grace and receive help for their journey home. “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).

It cost God a tremendous price to redeem us. To redeem means to buy back and set free. To redeem people cost the life of the Lord Jesus on the cross. We were in such desperate straits as sinners that only the blood of Jesus could ever set us free. “In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:7). A sinner who believes in the Savior has their sins washed away. They are forgiven and suitable for heaven. They are saved by the great work the Lord Jesus did on the cross.

Seeing that God loves you so much and has done so much for you at such a cost to Himself, won’t you believe in the Lord Jesus and be saved?

Through Flames to Honor

Donald Gary enlisted in the United States Navy in 1919 as a young man. Twenty-two years later, he was about to retire when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. The surprise attack shocked the nation. He decided to delay his retirement, and, in 1943, he received a commission as Lieutenant Naval Engineer. This meant he was responsible for keeping the mechanical systems in a naval warship working.

In 1944 he was assigned to the aircraft carrier, the USS Franklin. This warship was the fifth aircraft carrier built in the U.S. after the start of the war. The ship, with nearly 4,000 men, 108 war planes and steel armor on its hull that was four inches thick, looked formidable. Soon the USS Franklin, or Big Ben as the sailors nicknamed the ship, saw action in the Mariana Islands, Iwo Jima and Leyte Gulf.

On March 19, 1945, the USS Franklin was ordered to take up a position 50 miles off the shore of Japan to fly bombing raids over the country. No other big U.S. warship had ever attacked the island from such close proximity.

For several hours the thousands of men on board the USS Franklin were busy manning the anti-aircraft guns, launching and landing aircraft, and fueling and arming the planes with large bombs.

While most of his crew manned battle stations, Captain Gehres ordered a portion of his sailors to go below decks and eat a meal in the mess hall. They would need food and rest to be at their best.

The clouds were thick and low. The USS Franklin was relying on its radar to detect any enemy planes flying towards them. Around and around the radar dishes rotated on top of the tower of the aircraft carrier. They had the most advanced radar technology in the world. Several officers on the bridge scanned the skies incessantly looking for enemy planes.

Cascading Disasters

Somehow a Japanese “Judy” dive bomber flying through the low clouds was able to avoid detection. It took the ship by surprise. The alert anti-aircraft batteries which lined the sides of the ship didn’t even have time to open fire.

The Judy swooped down out of the sky and flew over the length of the ship. Thirty-one war planes fully fueled and armed with nearly 16 tons of bombs were on the flight deck preparing to take off. Hundreds of sailors were assisting the planes.

The Judy dropped the first of its two 500-pound armor-piercing bombs at midship. It pierced the flight deck and exploded, setting off a series of secondary explosions among the aircraft waiting to take off. The smoke and the flames from the explosions shot up hundreds of feet into the air. The Judy dropped its second bomb on the aft of the aircraft carrier. Once again, this bomb pierced the deck and also the levels directly beneath it. It exploded in a flight hangar with another 16 fully armed and fueled war planes. The secondary explosions rocked the ship. Pandemonium broke out. Some airplanes carried missiles which shot off in different directions killing many. In less than a few seconds the well-run, state-of-the-art aircraft carrier had turned into a towering inferno.

Hundreds of sailors died in the initial blasts, a great many were wounded from the flames and smoke and unable to help themselves. Random secondary blasts were going off all the time as the fires reached fuel tanks and storage units filled with ammunition. Many sailors, to avoid the fires, were forced to leap into the sea.

The training of the sailors who were uninjured kicked in and they manned their firefighting stations. Powerful hoses shot ocean water at the burning parts of the ship. They seemed pitifully small to put out the horrific flames.

Captain Gehres surveyed the damage and with heartbreak thought about giving the order to abandon ship, but the thought of all the men trapped beneath the decks with no way to get out stopped him. He decided to try to fight the fires even though it seemed hopeless.

The escort ships, USS Pittsburgh, USS Santa Fe, USS Miller, USS Hitchcock, USS Hunt and USS Marshall, drew near to the burning aircraft carrier to help. Some off-loaded the wounded, some rescued the sailors that had leapt into the ocean, and some trained their fire hoses on the burning ship to keep the fires from spreading.

The engines of the aircraft carrier had been knocked out and no longer provided power to the ship. The interior of the ship was filled with fire, superheated smoke, wreckage and a palpable darkness. Somehow the men who were still alive had to be rescued before the flames overtook them. Secondary explosions were still sending flames, smoke and flying bits of metal through the ship.

Escape

Lieutenant Gary was on the deck of the ship when reports came to him of 300 men trapped in the mess hall many levels beneath the flight deck. Fires were raging all over the interior of the ship and the men had no way out. Because of his work as a naval engineer, he knew of a possible way to reach the men by climbing down various air shafts. So, ignoring the danger to himself, he climbed down through these airshafts with flames shooting all around him and explosions blasting the ship nearly apart. The heat was intense and the darkness near pitch blackness. Down into the belly of the ship he climbed until he reached the men. When he reached them, he had to calm them because they were in a state of near panic. He led a group out, climbing up the air shaft, and then returned two more times until the last man was led out of the messing compartment to the deck of the ship. He then made several more trips to the lower decks of the aircraft carrier to guide men out. Also, he was instrumental in getting one of the three big boilers of the aircraft carrier working again so the ship could steam out of enemy waters.

The fires raged on board the USS Franklin for hours before at last they were subdued. By the valiant efforts of all on board, the ship had been saved. It was a charred shadow of its former self, but it could still sail under its own power. It would sail out of the war zone and back to the states. Over 800 brave sailors had perished in the attack that day.

“For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his own life and beyond the call of duty ... ” Lieutenant Gary would be awarded the Medal of Honor. Lieutenant Gary received the Medal of Honor from the hands of President Harry Truman. He well deserved it. The men he saved owed their lives to his bravery and clear thinking.

The Ultimate in Selflessness

Whenever I hear a story of someone selflessly coming to the rescue of others, it makes me think of the Lord Jesus. He came to this world and went all the way to death. His body lay in the earth for three days and nights before He rose from the grave.

Why did He give His life? He gave it so people like you and me, held by the powers of darkness, could be set free. Sin had trapped and cornered us all. We had no way to escape the power of death that Satan held over us.

In spite of the unspeakable cost to Himself, the Lord Jesus went all the way to the cross so He might save sinful men and women. Before He was crucified, He knew what was going to happen. He might have requested legions of angels to deliver Him, but He was not willing to do this. He suffered on the cross so men and women who deserve hell for the sins they have done might have a way to escape. Otherwise every one of them would have perished in the darkness of hell.

The Ultimate Honor

Lieutenant Gary received the Medal of Honor for the gallant bravery he exercised on the behalf of others. What did the Lord Jesus receive by going down to the death of the cross for all mankind? Through His death, when He entered the fire of God’s judgment against sin, He won the forgiveness of sins for all those who believe. All who come to repentance and faith will see His face in heaven. In heaven they will be with Him forever. A verse from Isaiah says, “He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied.” Someday all those who have believed will be gathered together in heaven and the Lord Jesus will see them and be satisfied that all the suffering He went through to redeem them was worth it.

The 300 sailors who were led to safety from the messing compartment knew they owed their lives to Lieutenant Gary. All the countless people who make it to heaven will know that they owe all the blessings of eternal life to the Lord Jesus Christ and what He did at the cross. Will you be one who makes it into heaven through faith in Christ? If you trust Him, for all eternity you will want to sing the praises of the One who loved you and gave His life for you.

More important lessons are covered in another harrowing sea tale — Submarine SOS.

Submarine SOS

The submarine, “Komsomolets,” was on fire. The men on board were fighting the spreading fire, but in the thick smoke they were losing the fight.

It was April 1989, and the Norwegian Sea, which usually hid the spying Soviet submarine from the American fleet, was now a raging enemy. With flames spreading through the various compartments, the burning submarine surfaced and slammed into an added problem — the cold, choppy sea with its growing waves and blowing snow. There could be no doubt ... these men needed to be saved. But who could rescue them?

The SOS signals sent out to Soviet navy headquarters were distorted and unclear. The admiral in Moscow knew something, somewhere was wrong. But what and where?

ABLE TO SAVE

This story makes me so thankful for a little verse in Hebrews 7:25, “He is able ... to save.” God is able to save because He knows not only what our trouble is, but He knows who we are and where we are. Our cries to Him are never distorted or unclear! Psalm 34:15 assures us, “His ears are open unto their cry.”

But these poor men were crying for help and there was no ear to hear — until an hour later. A patrol plane was sent out and several navy ships headed out for direct rescue operations, but they were 500 miles away.

Help was needed NOW, not LATER. Could it be any comfort to know help would arrive, but too late? How glad I am that our verse says, “He is able ... to save.” He is able because He is close to each of us. Isaiah 38:20 says, “The Lord was ready to save me.” Paul says in Acts 17:27, “Though He be not far from every one of us.” He is not 500 miles or even one mile away when we need Him.

As the fire burned through the hull, the submarine began to settle in the sea, stern down and bow up. The men realized they didn’t have time to wait for help to come.

Strong winds blew the first inflated life raft overboard. Some of the men swam through the icy water to get on the upside-down raft. The only other life raft was swept too far away for any of the exhausted crew to swim to. That left nearly 50 men trying to get on one life raft built to hold only 25. How sad it must have been for any man in the water to look at the raft which could save lives and realize there was no room for him on it.

How different it is for any who call on the Lord Jesus. He is not only able to save from eternal death, but He says in His parable of the great supper, “Yet there is room.” We also read in John 3:16, “Whosoever believeth in Him should not perish.” The word “whosoever” means you, me or anyone else, and it certainly means He has room for all.

THE WAY OUT

While some of the burned and half-frozen men were hanging on to the half-submerged life raft, six other men were still trying to get out of the sinking submarine. Five were able to get into the escape capsule, but as they closed and sealed the door, they heard a knock. Another man was alive and wanted to get in. But the door was sealed, and they were unable to open it in time. The submarine walls were breaking and water pouring in swept the man away.

We’ve all had the experience of standing and knocking outside a closed door. Thankfully, most doors open in answer to our knock. The Lord Jesus is able to save because He, too, is an “open door.” “I am the door: by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved” (John 10:9). Sadly, even this door must close someday. Now is still the day of salvation, and the door is still open. We read of those who began to stand outside and knock (Luke 13:25). But they came too late! Some people don’t think that accepting Christ as their Savior is an urgent matter. They feel another day will do. But Jesus says, “Be ye also ready” (Matthew 24:44).

The escape capsule with the five men in it would not break loose from the submarine. After the depth gauge needle went off the scale at 1300 feet, an explosion knocked the capsule free. When it bobbed to the surface, the pressure inside blew the door off. The capsule quickly filled with water. One man was saved. The others, including the commander of the submarine, were lost.

In the icy water men were hanging on to the life raft with their hands or teeth. As an hour passed while waiting for help to arrive, two dozen of the men could no longer hold on. They let go of the raft and perished in their helplessness. Finally, a fishing boat arrived and picked up the 29 men still alive.

WILL YOU ESCAPE?

Another 40 men could have been saved if help had been closer. But help was closer! If the Russian submarine had only called on nearby Norway for help, most of the men would have been saved! Since the submarine was a new high-tech type, the Soviet navy did not want Norway to see it. Because they wanted to keep their submarine a secret, they refused to ask for nearby help. That may seem foolish to you, but may I ask you, What reason is keeping you from calling on Jesus Christ for salvation? As a sinner, you are lost in your sins and about to perish, but Jesus Christ died on the cross for you. Because of that, He is nearby, ready and able to save you! Just call.

“I am the door: by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved” (John 10:9).

In Me Ye Shall Have Peace

In times of sorrow, God is near;
His vigils never cease;
His tender, loving voice I hear,
“In Me ye shall have peace.”

Though long and weary is the night,
And morn brings no relief,
Yet faith the promise still believes,
“In Me ye shall have peace.”

His love we may not understand,
While trials here increase,
But yet we know His Word is sure,
“In Me ye shall have peace.”

Soon shall our eyes the land behold
Where pain and care shall cease;
But yet we know His Word is sure,
“In Me ye shall have peace.”

A Very Sick Plane

It was February 3, 1975, and they were almost there. Just an hour and a half to go, and many of the 344 excited passengers would be on the final leg of their trip to Paris, France, for a vacation given as a gift from the Coca-Cola Company. The company had run a competition for their executives, the reward being a trip to Paris, along with their wives and families.

It was a long flight, about 20 hours including stopovers and flying time. The Japan Airlines flight had left from Tokyo’s Haneda Airport and made a stopover in Anchorage, Alaska, for fuel and food. After crossing the Arctic, it was breakfast time. The 20 flight attendants were busy heating up their egg and ham omelets, which the passengers were eagerly looking forward to. But little did they suspect that a strange and violent plague was suddenly going to overtake nearly 200 of them, all at the same time!

About an hour after eating their breakfast and 30 minutes before landing, disaster struck. Cries and moans filled the cabin as people began to experience severe abdominal cramps, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. The bathrooms were in sudden, high demand. Things went from bad to worse, as many passengers collapsed in the aisles, too weak to move. The pilots declared an emergency, landing in Copenhagen, Denmark, as quickly as possible.

Out of the 196 passengers and one flight attendant who fell ill, 144 of them were so sick that they had to be hospitalized, with 30 of them being in critical condition. But then yet another problem arose. None of the Danish doctors understood Japanese, and only a few of the Japanese patients understood English, let alone Danish. What to do? Thinking quickly, the doctors called local Japanese restaurants and asked if any who could speak Japanese would be willing to come in and translate. This solution worked perfectly, allowing doctors to quickly treat their patients.

These folks had been looking forward to sightseeing in Paris and having a good time. Now, suddenly, most of them were battling waves of violent sickness, with their vacation rapidly vanishing into thin air! This is why God warns us, “Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth” (Proverbs 27:1). A Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl celebration shooting and a young mother instantly dead ... a cargo ship plowing into the Francis Scott Key bridge in Baltimore and six unsuspecting people dead. ... Just ordinary, daily living can be fragile. The Bible describes our lives this way: “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away” (James 4:14). Therefore, we are told, “Prepare to meet thy God” (Amos 4:12).

Unraveling the Mystery

Now investigators had to solve the mystery of why so many passengers got sick — and why so many of them didn’t. Why were the passengers sitting in the middle and front of the plane, including first class, the ones to get sick, while those sitting in the back of the plane were not affected? Having boarded the flight in Alaska, the pilots’ internal clocks were 10 hours behind everyone else’s, so they had opted for steak instead of omelets, which turned out to be a very wise choice!

Food poisoning from the fluffy egg and ham omelets was immediately suspected. Led by the Alaska State Health Department, testing revealed the culprit to be a bacteria called Staphylococcus aureus, more commonly called Staph. And yes, the omelets were loaded with these bacteria, but how had it happened?

They took a closer look at International Inflight Catering, an Alaska-based subsidiary of Japan Airlines where the food had been prepared. They discovered that after the trays of food had been prepared, they sat at room temperature for six hours before being refrigerated for 14½ hours. However, the trays were refrigerated at 50° instead of the necessary 40° needed to stop the growth of bacteria. Then the trays sat in the aircraft ovens for another eight hours before being heated. Twenty-eight hours was more than enough time for the bacteria to multiply and release poisonous toxins. Being heat resistant, the toxins were not destroyed when the omelets were heated up.

But where had these bacteria come from in the first place? It was discovered that three cooks had prepared the food for this flight. Upon further questioning, one of the cooks admitted that he had lesions on the middle and index fingers of his right hand. Though he didn’t ignore the situation, he simply wrapped bandages around his fingers, writing it off as a trivial matter — so trivial, in fact, that he didn’t even mention it to his employer, which he was supposed to do. Nor did the managers question the cooks as to whether they were in good health, which they were required to do. Sure enough, when tested, the cook’s fingers were the source of the Staph bacteria. It only takes 100 staphylococci to make someone ill. Because of improper storage, the bacteria were able to multiply rapidly, which is why people became so ill, so quickly. If the cook had worn gloves or if the meals had been stored at the proper temperature, this incident would never have happened.

The infected cook had prepared and handled food for three of the four galleys, including 40 meals in first class. Eighty-six percent of those who ate the omelets prepared by the infected cook fell ill, while the omelets prepared by the other cooks caused no harmful effects.

The Big Infection

There is an infection far worse than Staph that infects each one of us. We are all born with a sin nature and want to do our own will, selfishly going our own way, totally apart from God (Romans 3:10-12). “There is no difference; for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:22-23). This is a blanket statement that includes all of us! Left to ourselves, we are all without hope, destined to hell and a lost eternity. But God’s heart of love found a way to redeem sinful men and women to Himself. It required His Son Jesus to come to this earth, to suffer, bleed and die on a shameful cross for our sins, and to rise from the dead on the third day. Jesus bore our punishment on the cross so that all who will believe in Him by faith can be freely forgiven and have eternal life. “Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24). “The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

Happily, all passengers were able to recover from their attack of food poisoning. It was suggested that crew members eat different meals prepared by different cooks so that they wouldn’t all be affected by food poisoning at once, a suggestion which many airlines have followed to this day. If the pilots had eaten the egg omelets and become as sick as some of the passengers, they might not have been able to land the plane safely. It was also emphasized that people with infected lesions should not handle food and that, as a precaution, gloves should be worn.

Tragic Deception

There was, however, one sad fatality from this incident. Kenji Kuwabara was the dignified manager of catering for Japan Airlines and was also the vice president of International Inflight Catering. The combination of bad publicity, damaged company reputation, flaws in the company’s system exposed by the cook’s lesioned fingers along with improper food storage, including his personal responsibility as head of the Anchorage office, and losing face was just too much for him to bear. Just days after the incident, in his apartment in Anchorage, he committed suicide. He was only 52 years old. He had worked for the company for 25 years and left behind many grieving friends and coworkers besides his wife and four children.

How sad that he had listened to one of Satan’s lies! Satan likes to deceive people by telling them that their lives are so hopeless and so full of despair that there is no remedy and that the only solution is to end their lives. Jesus tells us, “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.” But Jesus then went on to say, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). We must each make a choice — will it be to repent of your sins and ask God to forgive you, or will it be to reject His offer of love and the free gift of forgiveness and eternal life? “He that believeth on the Son [Jesus] hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him” (John 3:36).

Normal days can have sudden tragic twists. Man Falls Into Man-Made Hole gives a chilling example.

Man Falls Into Man-Made Hole

Joao Pimento da Silva had had a dream. In his dream, a spirit came to him and told him that there was treasure buried underneath a rock beneath his kitchen floor. Joao, at 70 years old, was determined to find it, so he started the excavation project in his kitchen.

Over the next year he created a hole about 35 inches wide, perfectly cylindrical, which went down as far as the eye could see to a depth of 130 feet, or the equivalent of a 12-story building! It was an incredible piece of work, and the pictures that the Brazilian fire department took of the shaft are amazing to see.

One day, after bringing up mud and water, as he was coming to the surface on something like a child’s seesaw, without a safety belt, he slipped getting onto a piece of wood near the edge of the hole. Though a friend was with him at the time, he was unable to save him. Joao ended up falling to his death shortly before 1:30 p.m. on January 5, 2024. His quest for gold had come to a sudden and abrupt end. He had head injuries, broken legs and other bone fractures.

IGNORED WARNINGS

A neighbor told local media that he had tried to warn Joao against such a dangerous project several times, but he ignored his concerns. The Bible tells us that “there is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Proverbs 14:12). Digging a 130-foot shaft underneath his kitchen had certainly ended in death for Joao.

Joao was convinced that this was the right thing to do. He was so determined to go ahead with this project that he hired others to do the excavating along with himself. He started by paying them 70 Brazilian Reals (US$14.24) and increasing the pay to 80 Brazilian Reals (US$16.27) as the shaft got deeper. Arnaldo da Silva (no relation) told O Globo that Joao “sold everything he had in search of that gold,” including several pieces of real estate. He went on to say, “He had hit a large stone that appeared which was difficult to remove and there were rumors he had been talking about trying to get hold of dynamite.”

Luis Felipe de Miranda, the Second Sergeant of the Minas Gerais Fire Brigade, told the Estado newspaper that Joao likely had experience with excavating and had probably hired professional help, even though his equipment was “archaic” and “homemade.” He then described how the tunnel looked like something alien, because it was so perfect with a very small diameter and a perfect cylinder. He then described the equipment on hand, stating that it was a science to get down so deep and that Joao had experience. He then added, “He was descending on a kind of child’s seesaw, without a belt, without safety.”

Clearly, Joao was not going to let anything stop him from finding this treasure, not even a large stone that was in his way. No doubt his knowledge and experience led him to believe that he could do it, but in the end, his lust for treasure caused him to fall to his death. The Bible tells us, “What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:36).

CONTROL OVER THE HEART

Joao’s whole focus and heart was in finding treasure, but suddenly, without warning his soul was required of God! Jesus gives us a strong warning, saying, “Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth” (Luke 12:15). Jesus is talking about spiritual life and death: of eternal life in heaven or eternal suffering in hell. Riches and possessions will never lead us to eternal life; in fact, the love of them rather than God will only lead to eternal punishment in hell.

You know, it is amazing what people will believe! The Bible warns against believing “seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils” (1 Timothy 4:1). The spirit in Joao’s dream led to an idea in his head that eventually led him to his death.

Jesus said to “lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven ... for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:20-21). Do you have a heart to know God? To have a personal relationship with Him? It is impossible to have treasure in heaven without knowing God! God sent His Son Jesus to die on a shameful cross for our sins. Jesus bore the penalty of our sins on the cross, shedding His precious blood, dying and rising from the grave on the third day. This is God’s message of salvation to all of us. “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Romans 10:9).

What are you going to put your faith and trust in? It is possible to know God and to have treasure in heaven. “But without faith, it is impossible to please Him [God]: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6).