The Last Page

Something will, indeed, turn out to be the Truth. I believe the Truth will turn out to be Jesus. I believe He (Jesus) is the Messiah . . . the Christ . . . the Anointed One. If Scripture is even close to being accurately recorded, He as much said so Himself. What I do not believe is that I need to beat anyone over the head with a really big Bible, or otherwise coerce them into believing as I do. Besides, in reality, you can push, or even force, someone into professing something, but you cannot force anyone to believe anything. Belief is always that which is truly inside you, regardless of the external stresses and pressures. The way some Christians live out their professed beliefs, you would think they were getting paid a commission for every person they can cajole into "buying" Christianity. To the best of my knowledge, there are no sales quota bonuses, but that does not mean the issue is not important. There is likely no greater choice anyone will ever make than deciding what they believe to be the Truth. I must decide for me. You must decide for you. I am not the one who will live the consequences of your choices – you are. I will live the consequences of my choices. Yet, if my beliefs turn out to be correct, we will have a very long time to experience our decisions. It behooves us to give them some serious time, energy, and thought in the present.

The existence of life is a pretty absurd proposition. Yet, here we are. Whatever the Truth is, we are smack dab in the middle of it already. Is there something that will truly never end? A forever something, or a forever nothing, are still both forever – that which never ends. Put that in your stomach and let it churn around for a while. It might evoke some surprising emotions. I do not like all of what Jesus said and did. For a Guy whose main message was grace, forgiveness, love and salvation, He said and did some pretty harsh things. But when I look at Him overall, there is no comparison. He is the One I have hitched my wagon to. By any measure, He is worth a look by every human being. Keep your mind and heart open.

Christianity, as practiced within its many variations called churches and denominations, as well as its historical deeds and endeavors, is less than inspiring. In order to make an evaluation for myself, I had to stop looking at Christianity and look specifically at Jesus, the Christ. Not that Christianity is without its moments or heroes, for there are many. However, if all I had to look at was Christianity, I would not be a follower of Jesus. But, it is not all I have to look at. It is not all you have available to look at. You can ignore the search for Truth, but it will not go away. Every one of us will face that which we call death, whether it is simply a transition, a finality, or some other reality. Something will turn out to have been the Truth.

Sometimes called "the heart of the Bible — the Gospel in miniature" John 3:16 is probably the most widely utilized verse from Scripture. It is certainly the most advertised in our times. The simple good news message it offers to us reads (NIV):

¹⁶For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,
that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

That verse is followed by an affirmation of our Creator's intent:

¹⁷For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

After that, things tend to become more complicated as churches, denominations, organizations, and even some individuals are each more than happy to proclaim to you their version of what it means to be a believer, or non-believer, and why you should join their ranks if you want to get it right. Nonetheless, John 3:16-17 is a good starting point for anyone who wishes to look seriously at Jesus. I have often said, the whole story from Genesis to Revelation would sound like the most preposterous of fairy tales if there were not so much evidence to support it. I believe John 3:16-17. Do not let Christianity get in the way of seeing Jesus with your heart. Your head will likely follow, even when the choices appear to be overwhelming.

A note about where to start learning about Jesus if all you believe about Him comes from interactions with Christians: In this electronic age, there is no shortage of materials available for you to learn about Jesus if you so desire. The trick, of course, is discerning accurate information from the fictional. For those who are willing to check out the Bible, I have always recommended beginning with just the four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Compared to the entire Bible they are a relatively small section found in the New Testament (back part of most Bibles), and are four separate accounts of the life of Jesus when He walked the earth in the flesh. Some Bibles print His spoken words in red to highlight them. If you do not have a Bible, and live locally, I give them away at the Teaching & Sharing Center of Grand Ledge.

There are a number of very good movies which tell the story as well. The 1977 Zeffirelli production, Jesus of Nazareth, was instrumental in my own understanding of Jesus. I have DVDs of it, and several shorter films, available for borrowing at the Teaching & Sharing Center of Grand Ledge.

If you are not local, and cannot come by the Center, I have many items on my Christian Life Links page which can be helpful in learning more about Jesus. Without the internet connected at our home anymore, it can be several months before I would see an email. So, feel free to call me with any questions as you try to sift through the information.

An excerpt from my newsletter WS-NLE-160129-G.htm dated January 29, 2016 (added here June 25, 2025).

I drove home from my aunt Ruth's funeral in the downriver Detroit area, but Donna drove on the way there. While she was driving, I had time to reflect and think about things. The next week, at Cheryl Maier’s funeral, several family members used the words “moved on” instead of died. I often use the word transitioned, which I like because it clearly indicates that death is not any sort of final ending. But on that drive, I was pondering how I do not think of Jerry, Betty, Tom, or Ruth, as being ‘gone.’ From an eternal perspective, death is no different than the fact we throw away our old clothes when we have worn them out from day to day use, a major change of jobs, moving to a new home, or the myriad of other changes which take place throughout our lives. Significant, yes, but not that exceptional when you consider all of the transitions we make even throughout (especially a long) life in this earth experience. For those of you whose lives engaged with each of them daily or regularly, there would certainly be a very large empty space where they were. But, for someone like me, who only occasionally crossed paths with Ruth, for instance, I do not experience her as being ‘gone.’ For me she is simply someplace else, no differently than if she were up north or still living in Trenton. I truly simply think of each of them as being someplace else. As I thought about that, I realized that in my belief system this was actually the truth. Each of them is simply someplace else. The difference, of course, is their someplace else now is not a place I can just drop in and visit.

I cannot say when it was that I crossed over to an eternal perspective, but it changes everything. I do not see myself approaching the end of life, but getting closer to a departure and continuance in a bigger life. Much like getting ready for an exceptionally long trip, regular daily activities are interspersed with things I would like to see completed before I leave. The tricky part, of course, is not knowing the exact departure date. But an eternal perspective puts a very different light on life.

There are two things I have come to believe very strongly after a lifetime of experiences and especially the past thirty-one years. The first is that there is definitely something greater and more powerful than us, natural laws, or chance, which created everything we deem real. I call that power God. I have come to believe that God, our Creator, is all about love. How that love plays out in practical applications is one of the big questions that constantly fuels new denominations and has created a multitude of differing doctrines and dogmas that can make your head spin when given full consideration. And, each denomination is convinced they are right. I do not know if I am right, but It does not make sense to me that a God who, in the person of Jesus, told us to forgive over, and over, and over again, would reject us because we did not get it right in this very short earthly life. Do not get me wrong, I am not saying Jesus does not matter. I still believe the most important choice you can make in this life is to enter into a personal relationship with Jesus, the One I deem to be the Christ (or ‘Anointed One’ as ‘Christ’ and ‘Messiah’ both translate). You just might need to ignore a whole bunch of denominational dogmas to get comfortable with such a choice. Still, I believe God's love is there waiting for each and every one of us to simply open our arms and accept it.

The very definition of the word eternal makes it a scientific fact. Something goes on forever, even if that something were nothing. The absurd proposition that we should exist at all, which is already a given, leads me to the second thing I believe strongly – that life continues on after what we call “death.” Hence, my use of the word transition. Three of the four Gospels in Scripture tell of the Pharisees and Sadducees trying to trick Jesus with their questions, one of which had him responding as follows . . .

. . . have you not read what God said to you, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.” — Matthew 22:31-32 (NIV)

. . . have you not read in the Book of Moses, in the account of the burning bush, how God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!” — Mark 12:26-27 (NIV)

He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.” — Luke 20:38 (NIV)

The above quotes are referencing the Old Testament encounter Moses had with God.

Then he said, “I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God. — Exodus 3:6 (NIV)

We tend to see life in a very small framework. But we are already a part of a bigger ongoing picture, whatever that picture might be. ‘Eternal life’ and ‘life’ are not two separate things. One rests within the other. We are all someplace within the flow of life in God's love. Nothing is lost. We will all ‘move on’ to a ‘next.’ I suspect we will all indeed be crossing paths again as we continue the journey.