A redeemed child of God, happy husband, homeschooling dad of nine, and lifelong lover of good books.
Hi, Fellow Dads,
I suppose you all watched a good bit of the news covering the wildfire that swept through and consumed the town of Lahaina, on the west coast of Maui, back in August. After over two months, it’s still hard for me to wrap my mind around the magnitude of loss people there suffered, especially having acquaintances who lost their home, vehicle, and church building in the blaze.
I recorded this episode about a week after the Lahaina fire, discussing a Bible-based perspective and response to such tragedies.
Note: When, recording this episode, I unintentionally used the word “ideal,” but intended to say “ordeal.”
As a Christian, I believe the Bible is the word of God.
And because it is the word of God, I believe it accurately presents reality for what it is.
We do cling to hope of eternal happiness, but we don’t ignore the harsh realities of this world.
And we have this perspective on life because the Bible has this perspective.
In Luke 13, the Lord Jesus Christ discussed two situations, both tragedies, and both sort of summing up the kinds of tragedies that people face–in verses 1 & 2, there’s an atrocity–Roman governor Pontius Pilate had apparently executed some Galilaeans while they were offering sacrifices to God. In verse 4, the Lord mentioned what we might call an “accident”–a tower fell and killed 18 people.
He didn’t deny these events, and when Luke recorded the Lord’s words, he didn’t sugarcoat them or whitewash them to make the tragedies sound better than they were.
They were tragedies.
And the Lord Jesus faced them and discussed them.
“Knowing God for eternity, being with God for eternity, this is everlasting life. So what is perishing? Perishing is the opposite of that. He said in John 3:16 ‘not perish, but have everlasting life.’ What is the opposite of being with God for eternity? What is the opposite of spending eternity in complete and perfect and abounding happiness? It would be being separated from God, in absolute, complete, total darkness, sadness, sorrow, grief, torment.”
“The fact is, Jesus preached about a place called hell. The New Testament describes a place called the Lake of Fire. Perishing is the opposite of everlasting life.”
“If you don’t repent, you will perish, just as they did. Just as they died physically, unless you repent, you will die spiritually, you will suffer the consequences, the wages of sin.”
“That sounds like bad news, and it is, but there’s also good news couched in that sentence: ‘Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.’ What is He saying here? This is a warning. The people in Lahaina did not have a warning. Jesus, here, is giving us a warning. That’s why He preached on hell so often in the New Testament. It wasn’t because he delighted in it; no, it was because he was warning us….
“Jesus didn’t want us to be without a warning, and so He said, ‘Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.’ What’s the good news couched in this verse? The good news is, if you repent, then you shall not perish. If you change your mind about your sin, your breaking God’s Law, if you change your mind about God–change from the perspective that He is wrong to the perspective that He is right and I am wrong–and change your perspective about who you’re trusting in.”
You can help victims of the Lahaina fire by donating to Grace Baptist Church, Lahaina, Maui: https://account.venmo.com/u/GBC-Lahaina
I didn’t mention these books on the episode, but to more fully understand biblical salvation, let me invite you to read the booklet Ultimate Questions (KJV edition), by John Blanchard (published by Evangelical Press).
📖 For children, my wife and I highly recommend The Lamb, by John Cross (published by GoodSeed International).
📖 If you have about three hours to read, Charles Spurgeon’s All of Grace presents clear instruction and a passionate plea to repent and believe the gospel. This book is also available in audiobook format, read by Simon Vance.
📖 One Heartbeat Away: Your Journey Into Eternity (book) and One Second After You… (booklet) by Mark Cahill both present the need and message of the gospel in a very down-to-earth, readable style.
To encourage you as a witness for the Lord Jesus Christ personally, let me recommend the following:
📖 The Soul Winner, by Charles Spurgeon
📖 The Titanic’s Last Hero, by Moody Adams
📖 One Thing You Can’t Do in Heaven, by Mark Cahill
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2 Responses
EVERYONE needs to listen to this episode, because everyone is either “perishing” or has “eternal life,” and it behooves each of us to know for sure in which one of those groups we are (and to get into the “eternal life” group right away if not already)! Thank you for the clear presentation of the greatest news ever given to humankind, Nathan. May God bless His word.
Thank you! The gospel *is* the best news in the world!