Growing up we were told the story of every time they built a better
mousetrap, they turned out a better mouse. And so the competition continued,
and continues. Security being what it is, or rather what it is supposed to be,
somehow I don’t feel very secure. The talk last night among us was about a 19
year old who stole a fighter jet from a military base, took off, flew it, then
successfully landed it. Then was apprehended, and when asked where he learned,
he told the investigators he used a flight simulator on his computer. Must have
some computer, but once he learned, how did he get on the base? Into the jet,
after putting on his flight gear? And get cleared for both take off and
landing? Who was watching, or better yet, who was supposed to be watching?
Talking about flying the friendly skies...how well will you sleep tonight?
Years ago when in sales I had several accounts serviced at Lindbergh
Field. I had limited clearance, all doors were locked, and I had to be let in
to certain buildings only, but one day while there a plane landed without its
running gear down. One of the older technicians told me “come on, let’s go
check it out.” So jumping in his truck, on the airfield, we rode right up to
the plane, I was within 25 feet of it, and while he talked to the first
responders, who obviously knew him, I could listen in. After 10 minutes or so
all was under control, and he had to get back to work. Having no badge, or
security clearance, and to keep me out of trouble-I was definitely where I
wasn’t allowed, he showed me where there was a hole in the chain link fence, so
big he could drive through it. “Doesn’t anyone know about this?” I asked, an
obvious security leak. “Yes, but it is convenient, saves us time going through
security gates to get around.” And he dropped me off, I was parked within
eyesight of this and never realized it! I had just been on the tarmac, where
later I would watch the 5 o’clock news and see where I had been standing, by the
plane. At first it was funny, then scary. All the money building a better
security system, a mousetrap, only to have it neutralized by a better mouse, my
friend who worked there, the better mouse. I have only flown one time since.
And they tell me it is unsafe riding a motorcycle.
The first time we went to see Billy Graham, we were shocked to see people
demonstrating against him. A real security threat, they were threatening to
him, and we felt unsafe. Even with guards around them. Who would want to harm
Billy? He never hurt anyone? But yet he has security with him everywhere.
Same thing while attending a CBN sponsored event. I wanted to meet Pat
Robertson, who was walled off from the crowd after speaking. I finally saw him
walking down a side hallway, alone except for his body guard, who checked me
over, then allowed me to talk briefly with Pat, and shake his hand. And even at
church, we have security teams. And I know of pastors, friends of mine, who
have been threatened. Why would anyone want to attack these men of peace? Is
proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ really that dangerous? Threatening
enough to want to kill or injure those that proclaim it? But throughout
history, we have seen the greater the persecution, the more and faster the
church spread. Jesus warned how we would be called into court, and threatened.
Since the early church we have had beheadings, lion fights against Christians in
the Coliseum, Nero lighting the roads to Rome using them as torches, and the
great Holocaust in WWII. It goes on today, where in China, India , North Korea,
and other places it is against the law to even have a Bible, to speak of Jesus.
To be a Christian. Yet so many of us still do, risking job, security, financial
stability, and even physical harm sharing Jesus. Why?
Because they are afraid of the cross, where Jesus won the victory of sin
and Satan. And Satan knows his days are numbered, and we live among the days of
greater attacks to come. Prophesied over 2000 years ago. Who would have
thought that living in a nation where it was founded on freedom of religion,
that the tide would turn to freedom from religion, to evil, and that so many
would be led astray. Yet just like the hole in the fence I escaped through,
Jesus promises a way out from sin. Repent and turn to Him. And risk ridicule,
harm, and public humiliation. So why do so many risk so much? It must be more
than joining a church, than becoming a member. It takes the spirit to change
our lives, to open our eyes to the truth, and to be set free. Yet so many act
blindly, Jesus even telling His Father to “forgive them they know not what they
do.” If you have been saved, you know how it is an affair of the heart, not
just a mindset. But few realize the price that Jesus paid until they get
threatened. Some turn and run, some fight back. But God knows who are His, and
we win the fight, sometimes sustaining damage in the battles. But the battles
continue...
Seek God while He still can be found. Then be still, and know that He is
God. His name is Jesus, and for that statement I could be put to death under
Sharia law. In India. China. North Korea. And as thousands are in Sudan,
Nigeria, and other places around the globe. And even in the US of A, our
freedom to worship Jesus is threatened. The time is near, the end is coming
soon, for us a rebirth, our victory celebration and entrance to heaven, but to
those who rebel, who deny Christ, the 7 worst years in the history of the world
are just beginning. What will you choose? Where will you be when it happens?
Will you go or will you be left behind? Do you have a hole so big in your
theology that you cannot escape the evil coming? Or do you have Jesus? Who is
the way, the truth, and the life. Will your gospel of self save you? Or has
Jesus saved you and set you free?
Some have holes in their theology so big you can drive through them. So it
is important to know the truth, and it is a person-Jesus Christ. The world
feels so safe with its better mousetraps, I feel real security in the one who
created the mouse. And no trap will hold back the gospel, and many will
continue to try. Accept the free gift of salvation today, and proclaim it
loudly. Only in Jesus will you ever be truly secure. And to all my fellow
mice, no trap made by man will keep us from God. And no back door, hole in the
fence is needed. Jesus had no body guards, and He went voluntarily to the
cross. Now He is asking you the same....will you pick up your cross and
follow?
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com