Third Sunday after the Epiphany

Sermon – Reverend Jack Arnold - Time and Action

Church of the Faithful Centurion, Descanso, California

Today’s sermon ties together the propers, that is to say the prayer and readings for this week. Consider these words from the Collect:

… mercifully look upon our infirmities, and in all our dangers and necessities stretch forth thy right hand to help and defend us …

In the Collect, we are asking God to set aside our failures and protect and aid us in all we do with His strong hand.  God is perfect, thus so is His counsel.  When we acknowledge our imperfection and ask Him for help, we should look to the written record of His Son, our Savior; the ultimate example of perfection and we should be doing do our best to follow Him, by being honest, hard working, peaceful and helpful.  When we do this, we will prosper; not only in this world, but in our hearts. And not only our hearts, but doing these things will make things better for those around us, too.  When we pray for His Help, we need to listen for the answer, then act on it, not ignore it because it is not the answer we wanted. This is a very common theme throughout the collects and by extension, the Bible. As we have always the same problems, we have the same need, which is to turn to God for help! 

Why are we always continually emphasizing action?  There is a simple reason for this.  In the space of time where we exist, where we are is Today. Where God’s finger touches the line of time. Not tomorrow nor the past, but today. We can’t go back in the past or go forward to the future and act there, our actions have to be done in the present.  And actions are how we live out our faith. That is why worrying does nothing productive. Therefore, let us not worry about the past or the future but think about what we can do and act within the present time. We can, however, learn from our past actions and improve on areas where we fell short. Let us keep ourselves busy doing God’s work, so that we have no time at all to worry or fret, but act. The time we spend worrying or fretting is time taken away from possible actions we could perform in the present.

God, our God, is a God of Action.  No less is His Son one of action.  All throughout the Bible, you find Jesus doing things, not just talking about them.  His faith, shown in the action of His giving His Life that we might live, speaks through His actions. His whole ministry can be summed up in one word, action.  No matter where you turn while reading the Bible, what you find is Action, not Diction.  Recall the second half of the Book of Luke.  It is known as the Acts of the Apostles, not thoughts, not prayers, not meditations, not wishes or anything else; The ACTS.  He expects us to act in our lives, not just talk.   If we want to follow Christ, then we need to strive be be like Him and perform actions to live out our faith. Talking is nice, but acting shows people where your heart clearly lies. 

The Gospel provides a great example of how our God is a God of Action.  In the Gospel we see Jesus performing His first documented earthly miracle, turning water into wine at Cana.  He was at first apparently reluctant to perform it, telling his earthly mother that it was not the right time for Him to perform miracles. Mary chose to ignore this and instead placed great faith in her son by instructing the servants, “Whatsoever he saith to you do it.”

She had great faith in Him that He would perform a miraculous action. Mary truly had the faith Jesus talked about which could “move mountains.” When He referred to this, He was not talking about moving mountains in the physical sense of sorts, but obstacles which get in our way in life.  That is the faith we need to have in Him and God. We need to have faith that He will help us overcome those mountainous obstacles, we just have to let him into our hearts.

His actions created a wine so good, it caused the governor to remark that usually they set out the best wine first, then when the partygoers get more drunk they bring out the worst wine. But the wine that Jesus created was so good, he said, “You have saved the best for last” in effect.

The whole point behind the Gospel is that Jesus, and God, is a person of action not just diction. Jesus could have chosen not to do anything or tell the servants anything. But He chose to honor His mother’s request and perform a miracle that set off His earthly ministry. When faced with the opportunity to act He always acted. This was the first of those times when He was faced with a decision point. You will note in all of his miracles He chose to act.

This shows that if we are to become like Christ, we are also to be men and women of action and not just diction.  There are too many in this world who to paraphrase President Trumps’ inaugural address “They talk the good talk and sit around on their hands and do nothing.” It is all too easy to say the right words at the right time; however it is harder to perform the right actions at the right time.

Actions truly show our character more than words ever could.  So, it is important we pray for the Holy Ghost’s guidance to craft our actions that the light of Christ might show forth through us and when we reach critical decision points, we might make the right choice and action at the right time.

So, when we act, how should we act?  To the extent you are able, attempt to do good to all.  Always do the right thing when you are faced with that choice. Sometimes that choice is harder than others to be made, but it must be made all the same. We are not Christ, but if we do our best emulate His earthly actions, we do well.  If you treat your enemies with respect and kindness, you oft make them your friends, by treating them with respect and kindness. Like many other things Jesus taught it is easy to say and hard to do. 

Like Jesus at the well, we must remember that our purpose is to help bring people to salvation. We are not called to do any action that would push people always from salvation, but rather to lead them by example towards that salvation.  We are called to be like Christ as much as possible. So with that in mind we must strive to influence the people around us for good. Any step you take today may have future consequence.  Your witness, your testimony, your actions can bring people to the point they accept the Holy Spirit or not.  Your interface may only be one small step; but do your best to make it a step towards God, not away. Therefore, let us think about our actions and the possible consequences they could have for people turning to or away from Him.

Error is error, wrong is not right.  But, a person’s final destination is up to God, not us.  Fortunate for each of us, it should be considered.  During the journey of life through the time space continuum, we need to do our best to keep ourselves and those around us moving towards God, not away from Him.  The direction is always clear, sometimes we just do not want to read the signs. That is why we need the Holy Ghost’s help to read those signs and keep on moving in the consistent direction towards heaven.

If we understand we are less than perfect, actually far less than imperfect, we have a good start.  We know we need God in our lives to give us direction.  We need His guidance to direct our ACTION.

The common theme through the Collect, Epistle and Gospel is that if we have hope and trust in God, we must dread naught, and carry on, empowered through our daily lives here on Earth until we are called to our heavenly home.   These are actions we must take not mere thoughts or words, actual actions!

Read the Bible, find out what He wants you to do, then Do It.  What can you do today to carry out His Will?  There are a multitude of things you can DO to carry out His Will, but the question is, “Will you?”

Heaven is at the end of an uphill trail.  The easy downhill trail does not lead to the summit.

The time is now, not tomorrow.  The time has come, indeed.  How will you ACT?

It is by our actions we are known.

Be of God - Live of God - Act of God

Second Sunday after the Epiphany

Sermon – Reverend Jack Arnold - Time and Action

Church of the Faithful Centurion, Descanso, California

Today’s sermon ties together the propers, that is to say the prayer and readings for this week. Consider these words from the Collect:

… God, who dost govern all things in heaven and earth; Mercifully hear the supplications of thy people, and grant us thy peace all the days of our life …

In the Collect, first we acknowledge God’s place in the universe, that is He is the ultimate ruler of all things.  Thus, the civil authorities of each country, state, county and locality govern with His Authority, so long as they do His Will, whether they be Christian or not.  It is His Authority that is the source their powers and not their own determination. They do not have the power to grant themselves the power that God grants them.  And also this power that God gives is not to be abused for self profit or their own means, but to better the country and the people within it. Our Constitution, which serves as the skeleton or foundation of all our laws gets its authority from the Declaration of Independence.  Where, pray tell, does the Declaration of Independence get its authority?  From our Creator.  Acknowledged right there in plain English.  It needs no explanation, merely a grade school reading ability!  We go on to ask God to listen to us and give us His peace in our hearts.  God is perfect.  His hearing is perfect.  It is not His hearing that is in need of help; it is ours. He hears us clearly when we pray; God always hears us when we call Him.  What we learn from this Collect is that when we pray to Him, we need to listen to Him.  We need to establish two-way communication. In order to act upon His Word, we need to first listen to what He tells us and understand what He is telling us. It is our hearing which is need of help, not His and the help we need can only come from Him!  The question is not, Does God hear our supplications?  Rather the question is, Do we hear His answer and abide by it?  Do we listen when His answer is not what we want, but what we need? He always answers, but do we always listen? We need to always be listening when He responds back and then act upon what He responds with. 

To truly follow Him, we need to truly listen and take His Guidance to heart. Without following His Guidance we cannot truly say that we are His Followers. We need to listen to His Guidance and then act upon it. The key word being ACT. We need His Guidance to transform ourselves from evil to good.. Without His Guidance, we cannot hope to be transformed to be good to serve Him. His Guidance comes in the form of the Holy Ghost. Without His Guidance, we cannot ever hope to be good and righteous. To do that, we must open our hearts and minds; and let Him in. He will not force His way in.  It takes action on our part to let Him in.  If we open our hearts and minds, then we will hear Him. Will we let him in to our hearts for this to happen? It has to start with us letting Him in, and then we will hear His answer loud and clear.  That is why the Holy Ghost is here, to help us and guide us upon the rocky narrow and uphill path towards heaven. He is there, always there, we merely need to let Him in!  Without Him, Scripture is so much foolishness, with His Insight, it is perfectly clear.

In the Epistle Paul reminds us that each of us have of individual talents that are important help the Church further its cause. And that it is equally important that we all work together. To work together in the church, each of us need to utilize our unique talents according to the needs of the church, not somebody else’s talents, but their talents. Each and every one of us has a talent of some sort, be it musical, talking (being good with communication), sweeping, taking out the trash, there is no end to the need. Almost anything else can be used for His Glory, to further His Work, His Goals, is a talent. Each and everyone has a unique talent and or gift that can be used to further His Will on Earth. Sometimes, we fail to remember for the team to be successful, each person needs to do the job they do best to the best of their ability; not necessarily the one they like best the way they want to do it at the pace they enjoy.  In the end, knowing you that did your best is what really counts, not just getting recognition from others, but the satisfaction in your heart of knowing that with God’s Help you accomplished a large task, is one of the best feelings in the world.  This feeling can exist whether you did a great job working at church or in the office. The same principle applies throughout life. That the satisfaction of a job well done for God be it in the office or work is more gratifying than any compliments or money.  It does not matter to God who gets the credit, what matters to Him is we get the job done and to do it right! 

On the other hand we should not look for praise for our own work (though we may appreciate it, we should not dwell on it too long, lest we have to start shopping for size fourteen hats for our swollen heads!) However, we should look for reasons to praise and encourage others. This is a way we can assist other Christians in their development and help them along the narrow uphill trail.  We need to recognize hard work, sacrifice, thoughtfulness and talent in others, remark on it and praise the use thereof!  That which is rewarded most is that which grows. And this is how we can encourage our fellow Christians and our other friends to grow and learn, by the encouragement. This encouragement will help sprout the seed for more of the good work around us to flourish.

Look at John the Baptist, out in the wilderness; not in the fancy building, the gold-plated temple, but out where he could prepare straight the way for the Lord. He was out where the people were, he came to them, rather than wait for them to come to him in a fancy building. He was on a mission to pave the way for Jesus to come and preach and ultimately for His Death and Resurrection. Smoothing the path so to speak, making ready the hearts and souls of the people for the coming of the Lord.  He did not point at himself, rather he pointed the way towards God incarnate[1]!

By the way, how necessary is praise to miserable human beings?  God Himself, looking on His Son’s baptism remarked for all to hear, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

How oft do we praise the actions of others?  Too often we are quick to criticize the failings of others and over analyze their failings. Sometimes when we think of people we know, all we can think of is their failings and forget everyone has their good parts as well, for each of us has been created by God. It is in our nature, part of our human nature, our free will condition that we must fight against with His help. We must understand while it is valuable to know when we fall short, people strive the hardest for praise of those whose opinion they value.

When you hear those words, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, remember to use them yourself.  Lead others to God, don’t just point the way.

Be of God - Live of God - Act of God

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[1] Incarnate, literally in the flesh.  Carne being a Latin derivative meaning flesh.

First Sunday after the Epiphany

Sermon – Reverend Jack Arnold - Time and Action

Church of the Faithful Centurion, Descanso, California

Today’s sermon ties together the propers, that is to say the prayer and readings for this week. Consider these words from the Collect:

…grant that they may both perceive and know what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to fulfil the same…

As imperfect creatures with free will, we will never figure out what we should be doing, let alone do it, on our own.  We are confused beings who get into trouble left to our own devices. Without an external source of help, we will never be able to follow God on our own.  God sent the Holy Ghost that we might listen to Him and understand. He will give us the ability to figure out and know what and how we are to do the things we need to do here on Earth for Him. Not just understand The Word spoken to us through Jesus and the Scriptures, but to understand what we should do; hence the prayer to figure out what we need to do, then give us the power or strength to do what we are supposed to do.  He will help us to understand how to implement the concepts found in Scripture in our day to day lives and live the Word. We might have some difficulties, some nervousness, some stumbling; but in the end as long as we act and do our best to follow His will, and not worry, things shall be ok. The key word is act.

To live the Word requires action and self-improvement each and every day of our lives. We need to ask ourselves at the end of each day, what did I do to act for God and what did I  right today and what did I not do right? And figure out with the help of the Holy Ghost how to correct our wrongs and go on to the next day and do our best to do better.

The first thing tsunami watchers would tell people, is at the first sign of a tsunami approaching[1], go to higher ground. That same principle applies to our lives. At the first sign of any sort of evil, temptation or sin, head to the higher ground in which God lives and seek Him out, rather than wait for the wave of evil to envelop us and get over our heads. We also have to recognize the signs we are in trouble and immediately consult Him and His Word and figure out an action plan according to the principles in Scripture.

We are asking God to help us know what we should do and then help us to do it right.  Seems pretty simple, but is the root of almost all our problems. It is harder to do what is right than what seems easy to us.  First, even if we ask God what He wants us to do, “There are none so deaf as those who will not hear.”  Then, if we hear what He wants us to do, and hear it correctly, we often find it “too hard.”  Do you recall this quote from GK Chesterton:

“Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried.”

So, once we find out what God wants, we often try to rationalize our way around it. Note the word try. There is no good way to rationalize our way around what God wants in the end. It is impossible to rationally get around the concepts found in the Summary of the Law. Think about the 613 Mosaic laws and the Pharisees who made a good living telling people how to comply with them to the letter and still do just what they wanted to do.  So, then even if we find out what God wants and decide to actually do it instead of avoid it, we are faced with the often huge problem of where do we get the strength to accomplish this task?  The answer is circular, from God.  He never asks us to do anything we cannot do good enough for Him if we rely on Him.  Never.  End of that discussion. 

What we need to do next is we need to turn ourselves outward.  Not be self centered, but we must think of God and our fellow Christians.  Speaking of that, one of the tools God gives us to get things done is a Team; that Team is fellow Christians.  So, we need to work together as a Team.  Think not of your glory, but that of God.  President Reagan had a sign on his desk which read:

“There is no limit to the amount of good you can do if you don't care who gets the credit.”

Paul tells us not to concentrate on our status, position or grandeur, but to see what we can do to help.  Just like our body would not function if all parts were brains, neither will Christ’s Team function if everyone is concerned about their position.

When we look at the Gospel today, aside from the historical function telling us that Jesus was in the temple bringing the light of the gospel to the rabbis, we can find that there are other lessons.  We do not want to micromanage your life, but it is a good idea keep your friends and family informed of what you are doing and where you are going.   Jesus’ earthly parents risked life and limb going back up the road to Jerusalem at night.  But, that was their duty as parents.  A duty must be done, no matter the cost. The lesson here is to keep your family and friends well informed of what you are doing, rather than going off on your own, figuring you can handle it.  If we get into emergencies or serious trouble then we will have wished we had informed others of where we are going. That is why it is good to keep your family and friends informed of where you are going and what time you are expected to be back.

Except most times, we cannot, as we are not like Jesus, we are not the Son of God, but rather mortals adopted into God’s Family. There are some things we cannot do on our own without His Help and without the help of our family and friends. They are in our lives as a valuable support system that we need to utilize in order to stay on course towards heaven.

Duty means to do what you are supposed to do, then count the cost.  There is no sense of duty if you are merely doing what is easiest for you at the time.  While doing your duty will in the end be the right thing, thus the easiest thing, it may not seem so at the time.  Doing one’s duty can result in one’s temporal death, the end of their time here on earth.  Not an easy way on the surface.  But, recall that what seems like that easy downhill path leads to The Pit, it does not lead to the summit.  Our country is where it is today because of those who preceded us, those who did their duty.  It will not keep going up if, as a country, we stroll down that wide smooth downhill boulevard.  We must struggle to stay on the narrow path, which leads to the summit.  

Look back at those who stepped forward when the country called, Concord, Veracruz, Gettysburg, San Juan Hill, Chateau Thierry, Pearl Harbor, Normandy, Peleliu, Bastogne, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, Chosin Reservoir, Ia Drang Valley, Khe Sanh, Hanoi, Laos, Cambodia, Basra, Kabul, Bagdad and countless unfamiliar names in Southwest Asia.  In them, you find a unifying theme of Duty, doing what you have to do, no matter what it takes, then count the cost.  Those who fought for our country did it out of duty to their country and God and to protect their family. We must emulate their purpose and serve God dutifully. Christ is the ultimate example of this, the only begotten Son of God, yet doing His duty to die for us, which is what God needed Him to do, to save us from eternal hellfire.  So, it was His Duty and He did it with honor. 

Through duty, we too might have a noble death and welcoming in heaven.  We must do our duty to God, to Honor, to Country and Family.  Sometimes we will fall short, for we are imperfect creatures with that darn free will.  Thus, at times we choose the wrong path or our strength falls short or we just cannot do what is needed of us.  Then, we need to reset and restart towards the goal God has set for us.

But, back to the Gospel and the parents’ arrival at the temple, where lo, they found him.  He was among the learned men “both hearing them, and asking them questions. And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers.”  His parents were amazed and confounded.  He asked them why they worried and why they did not understand that he was about his Father’s business[2].  It is noteworthy to see Jesus at twelve was able to “hold his own” with the learned scholars of Judah.  He was able to out reason those who lived to dissect the Law.  “A little child shall lead them,” (Isaiah 11:1-10)

He comes!

Be of God - Live of God - Act of God

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[1] This, by the way, is the tide going out at an abnormal time, rate and distance.

[2] Note also the tremendous advantage that God has over the Devil.  Not only did God make both man and the Devil, but He has actually been a man, the Devil only read about men and thought about men and contemplated men. In Jesus, God has been a man.  Note - in this instance, He learned about the compassion, worry and duty of parents towards their Son!  The Devil, not so much.

Second Sunday after Christmas Day

The Second Sunday after Christmas Day.

The Collect.

A

LMIGHTY God, who hast poured upon us the new light of thine incarnate Word; Grant that the same light enkindled in our hearts may shine forth in our lives; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The reading for the Epistle comes from the Book of Isaiah, the Sixty-First Chapter beginning at the First Verse:

T

HE Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.

The Holy Gospel came from the Gospel according to Saint Matthew, the Second Chapter beginning at the Nineteenth Verse:

W

HEN Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child’s life. And he arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judæa in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee: and he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.

Sermon - Rev Jack Arnold

Church of the Faithful Centurion - Descanso, California

Today’s sermon ties together the propers, that is to say the prayer and readings for this week.  Due to calendar considerations, we do not oft get to celebrate the Second Sunday after Christmas as there are only 12 days in Christmastide, but this is one of those years!

Consider these words from the Collect, “…God, who hast poured upon us the new light of thine incarnate Word; Grant that the same light enkindled in our hearts may shine forth in our lives…”

First, note God has given us the New Light of Jesus Christ in the world and in our lives as the Word Incarnate, or the Word in the Flesh.  We did not earn it He gave it to us!  Gave, as in we did nothing to deserve it. It is a gift of God’s wonderful Grace!  However once we have it, to show we really do have it. we must do something with the Word, hence the second part that His Word might shine in our lives. We must let the Word spur us into action! We are asking for the light of the Word will take root in our hearts and shine forth as action in our lives.  That is to say that our lives will act as an open window to the Word, not a closed door. We want the window to show our lives have been renewed by Christ’s presence to encourage others to follow Him as well. In order for that to be so, we have to act upon the Scriptures and Christ’s teachings, and do our very best, and not just say it, to follow Him.

The reading used for the Epistle is not an Epistle as such, but a portion of the Book of Isaiah, one of the Old Testament books filled with New Testament ideas and thoughts.  Without the freedom that Jesus brings us, we are prisoners of the darkest prison, our heart separated from God.  If we embrace His Gift of freedom, Jesus will free us from our darkest prison and we will be truly free, with eternal life starting as soon as we accept it.   In the reading, Isaiah says what we should all be saying, The Lord has selected us to pass on His Good Tidings to all, to tell the world the Good News of the Lord Jesus!  To comfort those in need, to bring happiness where there is heaviness, to talk of the Glory of God!  Good News indeed! Jesus will be proclaiming liberty to us, the former captives of the sin that would bring us to a final death. Instead of death, He proclaims light and light to all the hearts who accept Him. This is absolutely terrific news indeed!

On the surface, in the Gospel, Matthew is just relating the historical fact of Joseph being told to go back into Israel with Mary and Jesus, that all was safe for the time being.  Yet, there is more.  The verses also recall the threat to Jesus’ life from Herod and sends Joseph and his family to take up residence in Nazareth in fulfillment of the prophecy that the King of Kings would be called a Nazarene.

So what of us?  How do we fit in to all this?

We are to spread the light unto the world, to be beacons, directing the people of the World to follow Christ and not the World. We are the lamp bearers, the torch bearers, bringing the light of Scripture unto the darkest places. We are like the light of Galadriel, which was given to Frodo in Lord of the Rings, that it might be a light “unto the darkest places.” Indeed this world is dark, a lot like the world of Mordor, also from Lord of the Rings. Even when we despair and all seems hopeless, with Christ and the Holy Ghost in our hearts, we can ride out amidst the darkness of the world and triumph over what seems like overwhelming odds, when the evil folk outnumber the good folk. With this rallying to our King, we can defeat anything that evil throws at us. We know in the end our side wins for all eternity. We have the Holy Spirit to comfort and guide us in difficult times and the wonderful guide of Scripture to guide us.

So too shall Scripture be a light for us and others in the darkest times and places on this planet. Christ is the great guiding star, like the North Star for sailors of old to navigate by. So too shall we navigate by Christ as our great guiding star. If we hold the light up, we shall never fall and stumble. But if we do not hold it up, we will fall and stumble. So the obvious solution to our problems when we are troubled is to turn back and hold up the light to light our way.

That is to say, to return to the Scriptures and His Word and consult Him for guidance and not look for true guidance from the heart of man. Christ will show us the way.  But, for us to find The Way, we must allow it to take root in our hearts and then act upon The Way. This is the one true Way we must follow. If we allow the Holy Spirit into our hearts, we will find this Way. He will give us guidance on how and where to act, we just need to listen.  

In order to have it take root, we must be opened to His Word and not shut and deaf to Him.   He cannot come in if we will not let him, so we must open our hearts and minds to Him.  The Holy Ghost is a big part of this. His job is to enter into our hearts to give us understanding, to make our hearts receptive to His Will, to inspire us to do His Will in a manner which will be effective.  Our Lord will free us from ourselves if we open the door, so we must be willing and ready to accept Him. We have to be ready, willing and able to receive Him and to spread His Word, to have a true solid, Christian faith. 

In order to be of help to others who would come to Christ, we must walk the walk besides talking the talk; we must not be as hypocrites, saying one thing but doing another. We do not want to be like the Pharisees of old, with their lavish prayers and gestures in the public. But we must be like the publican who would not so much as lift His eyes up onto the heavens. We must have a humble, hearty and contrite spirit, to spread the Word of the Lord to those who need to hear it most.

The time has come to show the light unto the world. The time has come to choose God or Satan. The choice is like those in the Lord of the Rings[1]. Do we choose the Light, like the Men of the West and Aragorn of Gondor, or do we choose the forces of Darkness, of Mordor and their allies? Who shall we choose? Our actions shall show our hearts. “For where your heart is, there shall your treasure be also.”

Heaven is at the end of an uphill trail.  The easy downhill trail does not lead to the summit.

The time is now, not tomorrow.  The time has come, indeed.  How will you ACT?

It is by our actions we are known.

Be of God - Live of God - Act of God

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[1] No so surprising a comparison as you might think if you knew little of literature. The great fantasy and children’s writers, John Ronald Reuel (JRR) Tolkien, Clive Stapleton (CS) Lewis and Gilbert Keith (GK) Chesterton were all friends and more importantly, devoted well educated Christians.   While they are famous for their apparently secular fantasy writings, there is a Christian theme woven through each of their works.