Tag: fiction

The Heavenly Lifeboat

Art Shannon

In Belfast, Ireland, in the Spring of 1909, approximately 20000 workers began construction on a ship for the White Star Company of which U.S. mogul J.P. Morgan was a major stockholder. This vessel was designed to be bigger and better than anything currently out there on the market. When completed three years later, it would measure an impressive 10 decks high and three football fields long. 

This ship was named the RMS Titanic and was lauded worldwide for its grandeur. Superlatives such as opulent, luxurious, elegant, lavish, grand, and elegant were used to describe it. Ticket prices ranged from $35-$4300. It could accommodate 1500 passengers and 750 crew members. 

On April 10, 1912, it set out on its maiden voyage from England to New York. Within three hours, the bow was submerged and chaos ensued as people were scrambling to get on one of the 16 lifeboats or four collapsible boats. Only one ship, The Carpathia, responded to distress signals in those early morning hours and it picked up as many Titanic passengers as possible. The rough waters and frigid temps made survival difficult.

By daybreak on April 15, 1912, the world was waking up to news of the worst maritime disaster in history. The New York Times headline read: “Saved–866  Probably Drowned–1254.” In the days that followed, final estimates recorded 32% survivors and 68% fatalities. 

I would imagine that 99% of the 2200 souls onboard the Titanic thought they were totally safe before the iceberg pierced the right side of the hull just below the waterline. How many of the 2200 were spiritually prepared for possible death? How many of us are?

If there were to be a newspaper headline following Judgment Day, which column do you want your name? Saved or lost? I think of the Book of Life somewhat as a headline. Revelation 20:12-13 says that those whose name is not written there are cast into a lake of fire. Matthew 7:13-14 tells us about the broad gate that leads to destruction or the narrow gate that leads to life. 

Later, in Matthew 7:21, it tells us that not everyone who thinks they are going to heaven will enter the kingdom, but those who do the will of the Father. Jesus says in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” We are not promised tomorrow, but we do have the here and now. 

God offers each of us a “lifeboat” like no other with His Holy Word. It is up to us and our free will if we will accept His invitation and desire for us to be part of His heavenly home. The good news is each of us, as long as we have breath, have the ability to “write” our final headline of lost or saved. 2 Peter 1:10 tells us to make our calling and election sure, whether the need is to get into our heavenly lifeboat or adjust our life vest. 

SUCH AN EASY, DANGEROUS THING TO DO

Neal Pollard

There’s an old joke out there that goes, “Have you stopped beating your wife?”  If you say “yes,” you imply that you used to do it.  If you say “no,” you suggest that you are still doing it.  Obviously, the question may be where the problem lies.  If you do not beat your wife, the question would not be relevant and certainly not fair.

“I hear Brother So N So holds this position,” that “School X teaches error on such and such,” and that “Congregation A is ‘off’ on that.”  Too often, maybe based on a feeling that the source is credible, a person gullibly accepts the accusation at face value and even passes it along to others.  Of course, some are very blatant and public in teaching things that are contrary to the Word of God. They loudly proclaim and proudly publish their false views, but the aforementioned innuendoes and intimations are an altogether different matter. Why these rumors and accusations get started is sometimes hard to pinpoint.  Is it jealousy, misunderstanding coupled with indiscretion, meanness, or possibly something more benign?  Writing about presumption last year, I urged the presumptuous to “substantiate before you propagate, and then only carefully and prayerfully” (https://preacherpollard.wordpress.com/2013/08/30/the-problems-with-presumption/).

Solomon wrote that “a good name is to be more desired than great wealth” (Prov. 22:1) and that “A good name is better than a good ointment, And the day of one’s death is better than the day of one’s birth” (Ecc. 7:1).  While we are the primary stewards of our “good names,” others can tarnish it unfairly.

It is good to ask, “Do I know this rumor to be true?” Or, “Is it a matter of judgment and opinon with which I disagree, or is it truly a matter of doctrine and eternal truth?” Or, “Does the ‘reporter’ have an agenda that needs to be considered?” Or, “Why do I want to pass this along?”

“Slander” is a verbal offense that should not be in the Christian’s repertoire (Psa. 15:3; Eph. 4:31; Col. 3:8; 1 Pet. 2:1).  That is “old man” activity!  It is easy to besmirch someone’s character and reputation, but what a dangerous thing to do.  May we bridle our tongues lest we set fires (Js. 3:3,6).

Did James Bartley Live To Tell Being Swallowed By A Sperm Whale?

Neal Pollard

On his tombstone in Gloucester, England, James Bartley had written “A Modern Jonah.”  Bartley was allegedly swallowed by a sperm whale while helping to hunt and kill the giant in 1891.  The whale, as the tale goes, was ultimately subdued and conquered, and when its stomach was hoisted on deck two days later, an unconscious and crazed Bartley was found inside. He was a member of a party sent out to harpoon the beast, and in the melee that ensued Bartley was said to be accidentally ingested.  By the mid-1890s, the story was published and circulated as fact on both sides of the Atlantic.  For over 100 years, the Bartley story has been told by eager apologists to defend the veracity of the biblical account of Jonah.  It has served as a theological pingpong ball vollied back and forth between believers and unbelievers.  Research, particularly by a Bible-believing professor named Edward Davis (http://asa.calvin.edu:80/asa/pscf.html | 19:53:53 Mar 16, 2003), ultimately shows beyond a reasonable doubt that the story is a hoax.  Too many aspects of the story do not stand up to scrutiny.  The alleged ship, “Star of the East,” was not a whaler. There was no fishing off the Falkland Islands in 1891. Bartley’s name never appeared on a manifest of the aforementioned ship. The captain’s wife said that her husband never lost anyone overboard in all their years of marriage, and they were married in 1891.  Atheists and skeptics have rejoiced in such findings, using them to discredit the Bible’s account of the Jonah incident.  Apparently, some less than scrupulous (or, at best, sloppy researching) “Christian Apologists” have taken the Bartley story and run with it in an effort to substantiate that ancient account.  Yet, opponents of Scripture have been as out of bounds in their response, making the nonsensical jump from the fraudulent Bartley story to try to discredit the validity of the book of Jonah.  Because modern man fabricated a story about a man being swallowed by a whale does not mean that the account in Scripture should be rejected.

The account of Jonah is believable for at least these reasons.  First, the Bible does not call Jonah’s captor a whale.  It was a fish (Jonah 1:17). The NAS has “sea monster” in Matthew 12:40, but it is better translated “big fish, huge fish” (Louw-Nida, np). Second, this fish was “prepared” (appointed, NAS) by God for the occasion. We have no record of this “species” prior to or after this special occasion meant by God to persuade His pekid prophet.  Finally, Jesus validates the historicity of the Jonah incident. In the aforementioned gospel account, Jesus refers to Jonah as fact rather than fable. If it was a fairy tale, Christ gives no hint of it.  In fact, He says, “…just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of…” this creature (emph., NP).

Have creationists and “fundamentalists” ever overreached to try and prove their point? Undoubtedly!  Have skeptics and atheists ever overreacted to try and protect their non-theistic bubble? Absolutely!  When such battles as these are being waged, I find my confidence in going back and reading the text.  Seeing what the Bible actually says is powerful in keeping us away from either extreme.