The Gospel

What is this “Gospel” of which we so often speak and write? What is this “good news”?

In school I learned to define my terms in the introductory paragraph of essays and papers, but here on this blog we have failed to clearly articulate what we mean when we say Gospel. Sorry it’s taken so long, but I hope this post will clarify what we believe to be the greatest, most momentous truth in the world.

The Gospel is the power of Jesus Christ to save the world from brokenness and sin. The Gospel is the story of redemption found in the Bible—God’s Word given to humankind. It’s an amazing thing that affects everyone. Everyone throughout time. Everyone in every country, from every race, in every religion.

Let me backtrack a bit:

The Bible tells us that God created the world, and it was good. But then sin entered through the first man Adam and his wife Eve. They chose to disobey God’s command, and we all know pain and depravity because of this so called “fall”. Romans 3:23 says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” We still see the effects of the fall every day. People are deeply selfish and we live in depravity. You don’t have to look far to see sin: children scream and yell when they don’t get what they want, and adults often do the same in more subtle ways. The sad part is that we often go after things that are not good for us, and God is trying to protect us from those harmful things by giving us His law.

Because of sin, God must judge humankind. God is perfectly just and perfectly righteous and perfectly holy, so He cannot allow lawbreaking to go unpunished. Romans says that the wages of sin is death. All men will die, and after that we deserve to live forever in eternal punishment—hell—because we have transgressed the law of the holy God our creator.

BUT, the great news—the Gospel—is that while we were unable to pay the debt we owed God, Jesus came down as God incarnate to the earth to take our punishment, pay our debt, die in our place. The apostle Paul writes to the church in Rome, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Most people in America have heard of “John 3:16,” but that verse of the Bible is not the trademark of the Christian faith for no good reason. Read this carefully: “God so loved the world that He sent His one and only son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life.” Our God, the LORD Almighty, is a loving God, who though fully just, does not want any man to perish. He came to earth in the form of a human and was killed on a cross—the worst of Roman punishments—so that His death while remaining sinless might take the penalty of all our sin upon Him. Wow! Now that is cool.

Jesus didn’t have to die for us. He actually sweat blood the night of His arrest because of the indescribable agony and stress of what lay ahead. He was beaten, crushed, abused, spit upon, humiliated, stripped and insulted—and He did it for us.

All we have to do is accept Jesus Christ. I’m not exactly sure how to tell when any man or woman crosses that threshold to being a follower of Jesus, but the Bible tells us pretty clearly that “if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

That’s it. So simple, yet so difficult. The toughest part is accepting Christ’s grace so freely given… and learning to live righteously in response to it.

And this is what’s radically different about Christianity: We come to God in our sin and brokenness and let Him fix us, instead of trying to fix ourselves first. Other religions try to appease a God or gods that are angry with them, through sacrifice or service or good works. But the truth is that God is loving and forgiving towards His creation. He will bring judgment in wrath, but for those who are unrepentant. Only after we have received Christ do we live in holiness through the power of the Holy Spirit. We live righteously and do good works in response to salvation, not to earn it.

Nothing we do can surprise God. He knows how sinful we can be. He knows we can murder, cheat, steal, and be greedy as all get-out, but that’s why He sent Jesus. God knows we will disobey Him, so He waits for us to respond with a contrite heart, accepting the gift which we only have to reach out and accept. He is a loving father, not angry when we fall, but excited when we take our first steps towards Him. God is love.

This is the Gospel.

Life is Ministry

Life is ministry, and ministry is life. So often I get caught up in the idea of “doing ministry”, but the problem with that thought is that it inevitably leads to me living my life as if there are times where I am not doing ministry. As if volunteering at church is a time where I’m doing ministry, but then when I get in my car to drive home I’ve somehow finished with ministry. Thus speaking harshly to a roommate or failing to share my prized bag of Sour Patch Kids with a buddy don’t really seem like a big deal, just as long as I was good when I was “doing ministry” at church.

But I honestly believe that every second of our life is an opportunity to do ministry. If we think of ministry simply as glorifying God, it doesn’t matter if I’m alone, with a group of Christians or hanging out with a bunch of Hindu – all of life is an opportunity that bring God glory. And a beautiful truth that God has been teaching me during my time in India is that most of life is filled with little things –driving to work, drinking coffee with a friend, playing soccer – and it’s often in these little things that God’s glory shines most brightly.

Much of God’s kingdom work is a result of the steadfast and enduring faithfulness of His disciples in the little day-to-day things. What we often think of as mundane or unimportant, are actually simple, yet significant, opportunities to glorify God, and often it’s the compilation, or the piling up, of these little acts of faithfulness, fused together in the life of a faithful disciple, which shine as a powerful witness to. Even these thoughts have been sparked two of my friends back home, Andrew and Dave, who have been faithful in emailing me encouragement while I’m here. Such a small thing on their end, but God used it to teach me.

When dreaming of my future, I often picture myself as a famous mega-church pastor, or the director of a massive non-profit organization. I dream of doing big things, and while having dreams s is wonderful if they are rooted in humility, mine unfortunately are often built on pride. I want to be well known for doing “big” ministry, but in all honesty I’m probably not going to be the next John Piper or C.S Lewis. I won’t ever preach as powerfully as John Wesley or be as brilliant as Jononthan Edwards – but that’s ok. It’s ok if I don’t become a famous Christian, and it’s ok if I don’t end up doing something “big”, because God is faithful to do some of his most beautiful ministering through our faithfulness in small things. Realizing this has brought a lot of freedom and joy into my life as I think about my future.

I don’t need to worry about being like John Piper, I just need to focus on being like Jesus. I need to be a good listener, and genuinely care as a friend talks to me. I need to learn to share my box of Cheez-Itz, to be patient with friends, and to be a thoughtful encourager because, though these things are little, they are powerful. There is power in listening, not just when somebody’s life is falling apart, but when they are talking about their favorite movie. There is power in sharing your precious French fries from In-N-Out, or letting your friend borrow your car. There is power in genuinely asking somebody, “how are you doing,” and then earnestly listening to their response. There is power in loving people at work, smiling at neighbors, opening your home hospitably, sharing five bucks, encouraging thoughtfully and enjoying a cup of coffee with a heart of gratitude. These things often seem so small – so unimportant – and yet God in His omnipotence is always faithful to use these things in powerful ways for His glory.

Sometimes God uses one sermon by a famous pastor to change a life completely, but more often than not it is the faithful Christian who has loved that person steadfastly for 5 years who revealed the love of Christ. I think a good example of this is my parents. Both my mom and my Dad have loved me so incredibly well for the past 22 years. They have supported me, encouraged me, listened to me, advised me and cared for me constantly. And while I can’t look back and pinpoint any one thing they did that drastically affected me, I look back and see two steadfast and faithful parents who endured to love me well – and I have absolutely been shaped by that more than anything else in my entire life. More than any sermon, any camp or any book, the steadfast love of my parents. And if you talked to my parents, they wouldn’t say they did anything special, they just did what they knew God wanted them to do. But they did it day, after day, after day, and slowly but surly God was faithful to use that love to transform me.

So I’m probably not going to be a mega-church pastor, but that’s ok because I can just be a faithful parent someday and that will be very good. I can be a faithful friend, a faithful employee and a faithful disciple, and day after day I can try to love God in all things – especially the little things – and I honestly believe God will be faithful to do some powerful things.

Thanks for reading my blog posts while I’ve been gone. It’s been fun to have a place to hash out thoughts while we were journeying and learning. Blessings J

The Forsaken Man

This a recycled blog post, but I thought I'd throw it up because I've been thinking lately how wonderful, deep and rich the Gospel is, and how it changes everything radically. Enjoy (it's best if you read this one aloud).

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A weathered man wandered down a dusty road heading to nowhere. Indifferent trees loomed overhead as he trudged uphill silently, and the bitter ground gnawed at his bare feet. At night, the wind would whisper in his ears, reminding him that he was alone. During the day it was even worse – it was silent.

One day the Wandering Man stumbled across a man nailed to a tree. The man simply hung there, beaten and broken, blood dripping from his mangy hair.

“Who are you?” asked the Wandering Man.

“Who am I?” replied the Man on the Tree.

“I am The Forsaken Man who, for the sake of man, forsook heavenly glory to hang on a tree that dead men might live. I am the Known Unknown who knew no sin, that you might be known as a child of God. I am the Eternal Word who spoke all things into creation, then became creation to speak grace to the saints. I am the King of filthy beggars whose dirty rags are cleansed white in my crimson blood. I am the Son of God who died for men, that men might become sons of God.”

“It was long ago that man plucked sin from that tree, so now I hang here that you might put your sin back up on a tree. Man’s debt was infinite, so infinity became finite to pay the impossible price. Man sinned against God, so He sent the God-Man to reconcile creation to Creator.”

The Wandering Man heard this, pondered it for a moment, and then he said, “My travels have left me filthy, I cannot be cleansed. I was born of the dust, I have walked in the dirt, I have wallowed in the mud, and I will die in my filth.”

The Forsaken Man replied, “Your wretchedness runs deep but my blood runs deeper still, and now in your death you will find life, and in your life you will find true breath. You see, when I breathe my last breath, you will breathe your first. I came to be sin for the unholy, that sinners might be holy.”

“I have become your unrighteous, now go O man, and be righteous. Put your sin back up on this tree, and wander no more.”

Striving After the Wind

“When I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve,

Everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;

Nothing was gained under the sun.”

I was recently reading through Ecclesiastes thinking, “I’m glad I don’t waste my life striving after the wind,” when I realized the irony in my thought. In fact, I was reading through the book more out of obligation and for a feeling of accomplishment than I was looking for life change. I need to look carefully at my gross negligence to see what the Word was trying to tell me.

When I stopped to think about how I might be pursuing worthless things, I was flooded with conviction about my ambitions for my life. I’d like to be important—to be respected, to wield influence, to have a voice. I’d like to see and experience more of the world—to travel to more countries, to try more novel things and to visit more significant, historic, and beautiful places. I want to read more books, hear more speakers, meet more people. Yikes—I am striving.

As I began reading Ecclesiastes, I patted myself on the back for not going after a well-paying job, not trying to be the president of the United States, and not striving for the American norm of a wife

and three kids in a 3 bedroom house with two cars parked in the garage (at least not too actively). I’d like to think I’m already above being deceived by the enticing things of this world. But I’m not. And when I think I’m not attracted to the world, that’s when I am most deceived.

There is much striving in the heart of man, though even the most successful of men are not satisfied. Even wisdom, which makes life much better, only leads to the same fate.

The writer of Ecclesiastes mourns that the unjust can go unpunished and the righteous can go unrewarded in this world. He writes the futility in life’s ambitions. Stop striving for success; you will be forgotten. Stop seeking fortune; you will never be satisfied. Stop waiting to find something to do; you will never do anything.

As I look towards my future and try to figure out what I’m supposed to do, I often become overwhelmed with the options and the weight of decision. I’d like God to come to me in an audible voice to tell me what to do.

Am I worried I’ll waste my life?

Am I concerned I won’t be successful enough if I do not have a clear calling from God to do something big for Him?

Is not God pleased with obedience in the little things?

Can I not love God well by being faithful every day?

Being in India has given me much more down time than life in the United States. Sometimes I spend days doing almost nothing productive. The power goes out, we don’t have the resources we need or I get sick, and then my time is spent in waiting. I can get frustrated from ending a day without feeling I’ve achieved anything, but I can also take on the Indian mindset of being okay with whatever comes. In those times I can rest in God’s love for me, enjoy the company of others, and soak in my environment. During busy days I don’t really do much anyway. The world is a big, big place, and thinking I can change it is just striving after meaninglessness. Jesus already saved the world, and my job is to tell others about it. Following Him is the best way to live.

“So I commend the enjoyment of life, because nothing is better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany him in his work all the days of the life God has given him under the sun” (8:15).

As I read Ecclesiastes, I felt God saying that obeying Him is about living well every day. Yeah, pretty basic; I know. To live life to the fullest, I should enjoy the food I eat, the beauty I see, and the work that I do, but not forget the LORD. Big life decisions will play out as time goes by. No man knows the future, so don’t bother being anxious. Seek wisdom and seek God’s will, but ultimately just go work; and whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.

Stop striving and be satisfied with what you have and where you are. While wisely enjoying your life, “fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man” (12:13).

Social Justice and the Gospel

I’ve seen some disturbing things since coming here. I walked through a slum that 1 million people live in. I’ve seen families of family of 8 with five adults live a tiny house with one bedroom. I’ve walked through one of Asia’s largest red light district where girls are trafficked and abused as prostitutes. I’ve seen a man covered in horrifying boils, a women with a mutilated hand, and beggars who are missing their feet. I’ve met a young girl who ran away from home because her father was trying to force her to work in a textile factory for 18 hours a day, and a old man who spends every morning drinking until he’s drunk by noon.

It’s disturbing stuff. Injustice, corruption, pain, sorrow and depravity on full display, but the most startling thing about all this, is that these “disturbing things” rarely actually disturb me. They become normal so quickly. I walk past people living in tents and don’t even flinch. I see beggars and my first instinct at times is how to avoid them. I don’t usually think of myself as callous or apathetic, but it’s scary how quickly I become numb to injustice or pain.

Rather than hating the injustice of girls being sold as prostitutes, I just sort of go numb and don’t think about it much. Instead of feeling the pain in poverty, or pondering how to help the beggar, I just shrug my shoulder and assume poverty is part of the world and too big of an issue to fix. Rather than standing up for the laborer who has to work 18 hours a day, I just don’t educate myself on the issue and try to move it out of my mind, lest I grow convicted and feel the need to stop buying the stuff I like to buy. There are so many painful issues in the world that are real. They cause real people real pain and real suffering, and yet I often live indifferent to it all. I move it out of my mind, shrug it off or assume it’s too big an issue for little ole’ me to fight.

And in one sense that might be true. I’m probably not going to fix the problem of poverty, feed all the starving or free all the child prostitutes – but I can live my individual life in a way that glorifies God in light of these realities. I can give the little money I have, I can support organizations that help suffering people, and I can abstain from buying things that feed the injustice. Much of this may only have a small impact – but it’s better then no impact. Sometimes as Christians we don’t face these issues because they’re not “gospel related” and instead are social issues. But as I’ve started reflecting on the sadness and pain of these social issues, and as I think about the real men, women and children that I’ve actually seen suffering – the issues suddenly become very related to the gospel. Loving people is our call, and while that necessitates verbally sharing the truth about Christ’s saving work, it also means loving people who are being ignored or abused. Helping people in suffering is the crux of the gospel as Christ came to help us out of our suffering, so extending that sort of love to people opens the door for the gospel in a genuine and beautiful way.

Everybody’s primary need is salvation through the grace of Jesus Christ, but to assume that is their only need, and that any other need they may have is not important is foolish, wrong and neglectful. We should never neglect sharing the good news of Christ with those suffering, but we also cannot overlook the pain they face daily. We are not to pick between sharing the gospel or loving them by relieving physical suffering, we are to combine both to holistically love people. We should never lose sight of sharing the Gospel, and that most be foundation in our daily lives, but caring for people’s tangible needs is necessary in our lives and a beautiful way to extend the love of Christ to the suffering.

I will be the first to admit I often struggle to care for these people because they are usually so far from my thoughts, but I hope to live my life more thoughtfully in the future, and especially to care for those suffering in my immediate community. One thing that has often kept me from doing anything is the thought that these issues are too big, and too many to fight – so I get overwhelmed and essentially just do nothing. But I think that in regards to this thought my advice to myself would be, “Kyle, just pick something and try. Pray and think about what really breaks your heart, and then give some of your time, money and prayers to help that injustice. Just don’t sit back idly doing nothing – do something.”

If we all got up and did something, I think a lot of good work will be done to help people who suffer. And helping people who suffer is important to God, so it must be important to us.

Matthew 25:34-46

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Clouds of Uncertainty

I wouldn’t say I’m an exceptionally fearful person, but there are certainly a few things that do indeed scare me. I’m a little afraid of the dark when I’m alone because I’ve watched too many episodes of Law and Order, and I’m fearful of becoming lactose intolerant because I absolutely love milk. There is still a level of fear surrounding death, and I really don’t like spiders too much except when their dead. Because I love the joy found in relationship, being lonely is possibly the thing I fear most in life. I suppose I’m also a slightly afraid of leprechauns - even though they’re not real – because they’re just so weird and gross. There is also one more thing that really scares me:

Uncertainty.

Being in a state where I don’t know what is going to happen scares me because I no longer have control, and I like control. I like to be able to understand situations, base decisions on solid information and then direct my future accordingly. Thus, uncertainty is incredibly threatening to my comfort in life…and I love comfort. Oh how I love comfort! Comfort is that sweet soothing friend who bakes you snicker doodle cookies and gives you a hug when you feel crummy, while “uncertainty” is that creepy, angry guy who gets a kick out of making everybody’s life miserable.

It turns out this this fear of uncertainty is unfortunate for two reasons if you’re in my shoes. First of all, as a recent college graduate who currently has no job lined up, my future is shrouded by a good deal of uncertainty. Secondly, as a Christian, I am called to follow Christ which often that means walking a difficult path plagued by with uncertainty. Waiting for me when I get off the plan in November is a cloud of uncertainty that probably won’t roll off quickly like the morning fog in Santa Cruz. No, it’ll probably linger for awhile. I don’t know what I’m going to do, where I’m going to live or what job I’m going to work. Actually that cloud of uncertainty looms a whole lot larger than a few weeks in November or until I find a job because it will actually come and go for the rest of my life. I don’t know where God is calling me now, what my friends will be doing when I’m 45, or where my home will be when I’m 82. I don’t know who I am going to marry, how much money I’m going to make or how long I’m going to live. Most of my future currently consists of vague dreams and deep aspirations which are all mixed up in a swirling fog of uncertainty.

Except there is one thing that I am certain of; one thing I know for sure. I know with absolute certainty that God is my Shepherd now and forever, which means He will always love me, forever sustain me and never abandon me. That cloud of uncertainty will appear more foreboding at certain times in my life than others, but through it all God will be there for me which means I do not have to fear this uncertainty. In fact, I am commanded not to fear.

“Do not be afraid,” God tells King Hezekiah, even though outside the city walls a massive Assyrian army waits and famine ruins the city within. “Why are you afraid”, Jesus asks the disciples even though their boat is literally sinking in a frightening storm. “Do not be afraid,” God commands Joshua even though they are about to enter a foreign land full of enemies.

Do not fear. It’s a command, not a request. And it’s not as if these guys in the Bible were overreacting; no, they were literally facing certain death, and still God said there was no reason to fear. Why? Because He was with them. Sometimes I try to water this command down by convincing myself “God just means it’s healthier for you to not fear so you’re not stressed,” or “He didn’t really mean don’t fear ever, just most of the time.” But those are all false notions I feed mind to comfort myself so that I don’t have to learn the difficult mystery of trusting in God at all times. God says, “Kyle, do not fear”, and because He is with me, I really don’t have to. He is enough.

So, while that ominous cloud of uncertainty looms overhead I can be comforted by God’s strong presence, and I don’t have to be afraid. The uncertainty is just as real as the clouds that threatened to sink the disciples boat, but just as Christ was with those 12 men, He is with me in my own boat as I sail through life. Psalm 23 says that “even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod, and your staff, they comfort me.” King David doesn’t say “if” I go through the valley of shadow of death, he says “even though” and assumes hard times will indeed come. I will walk through dark valleys, and clouds of uncertainty – it’s a guarantee. But I need not fear in the midst of that uncertainty because God is with me always. It’s not trivializing uncertainty, it’s gaining a bigger perspective of the God who sustains.

So often uncertainty scares me because I fear failure. If I know what is coming, I can prepare and assess if I’ll be successful or not. If I can succeed, I’ll go with a smile, but if I think I’m going to fail, I’ll avoid whatever is coming. Uncertainty however doesn’t give us the privilege of prepping or preparing – it requires faith and trust. As a human, this makes uncertainty a horrible obstacle to encounter, but as a Christian, it’s really not so bad because I have an almighty God as a Shepherd who will guide me, protect me and sustain me. This doesn’t mean life will be easy, nor does it mean that I will always succeed, but what it does mean is that I can walk boldly into the uncertainty because whether I succeed or fail God will be there to love me, bring me joy and be my salvation.

I may apply for jobs when I get back and get rejected, but that’s ok because God still loves me and is leading me somewhere better. I may be unemployed for a year but still I need not fear because God’s joy will sustain me. Even if I somehow ended up homeless on the streets of L.A, God would not abandon me. I may spend my last dime and be completely broke, but spiritually I am rich because God’s grace is constant.

So that cloud of uncertainty looming on the horizon isn’t going away. But I don’t have to fear uncertainty, because God is with me. Life won’t always be easy, and it may not always be fun, but God is my good shepherd and he will not abandon his sheep. He’ll guide me through the fog too green pastures and quiet streams. I may not know where I’m going, but I know who I’m following – and that is enough.

Living to Die

Death. It’s one of the biggest realities of life. We all must some day pass away from this earth.

As a young person, death is something rarely on my mind. My friends are young and healthy and I expect to live another 30+ years before thinking about death. For us, to be reminded that life is just a vapor and our very being is fragile takes some “near-death experience”—a car accident, a caught fall … a sickness abroad.

Last Saturday I was at all-time low for being sick in India. I was weak, nauseated, and my head was pounding. I also couldn’t move my stiff neck, which was also in excruciating pain. The first doctor we’d visited didn’t seem to help, and I felt like I was only getting worse after already having this headache for a week! It was in those moments of vulnerability that I had thoughts of what it would be like to die in India. I wondered if I was ready: Had I really lived my life to the fullest?

Laying in bed listening to music, one song came on that struck me deep:

“All I once held dear, built my life upon.

All this world reveres and wars to own.

All I once thought gain I have counted loss,

Spent and worthless now compared to this:

Knowing you Jesus, knowing You.

There is no greater thing.

You’re my all, You’re the best,

You’re my joy, my righteousness,

And I love You Lord.”

Regardless of whether or not I was actually close to death last week, the question strikes deep: do I believe Christ to the point of death?

The song goes on to other lyrically rich verses, but this was enough to question my devotion. Like Paul writes in Philippians 3, do I really consider whatever was to my profit to now be loss for the sake of Christ? If I were to really lose everything I build my life upon, would I be okay with that? Do I really put my worldly gains to the side to value knowing Jesus?

It was revealed to me that I do put value in these other things—I want others to think highly of me or to look like I do good ministry—but laying in bed for most of two weeks, I was helpless to do anything. Kyle and others have reminded me that I can be just as obedient to Christ in my illness, by trusting in Him and being happier to know Him than anything else in this world. There really is no greater thing than knowing and glorifying our God, and a sickbed is a great as place as any to “do” that! I pray that I would continue to make the song truer in my life.

Clayton King, the founder of Crossroads Worldwide where I worked summer camp, wrote a book called Dying to Live in which he talks about the need to die to self in order to live fully for Christ. As we are all living to one day die, I think that reversal is what Jesus means when he tells us to deny ourselves, take up our crosses and follow Him. A devoted Jesus-follower, Paul writes:

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Gal. 2:20)

I think my whole life I’ll be learning to sincerely say, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”

Jason