Flight Paths

When I was teaching piano and voice, besides my own annual Spring Program and Awards Ceremony, my students sometimes participated in as many as seven joint recitals a year, programs featuring the students of several teachers at once. 
            Sometimes the students were chosen according to their age—the Young Performer’s Recital was strictly for talented beginners.  It was their chance to shine rather than being lost among a studio’s advanced students.  Sometimes it was all about their music—the Parade of American Music featured students playing or singing the music of American composers.  If his best piece that year was Mozart’s Rondo in D, that particular student was ineligible.
            Sometimes a panel of judges chose the students based on their performances in a recent competition.  The year we had five chosen for the Student Day Honors Recital was a banner year for us.  To have one or two chosen from a group of over two hundred students from a dozen studios was a good showing.  Five was almost unheard of.
            At the receptions after these events, we teachers always enjoyed basking in our students’ successes.  We mined each other for teaching strategies and resources.  The experience exposed us to more crowd-pleasing music we could use with our own students, and our students to teachable moments we could discuss at the next lesson.  They could see for themselves why I insisted on such picky things as not taking your fanny off the seat until your hands left the keys when a student from another studio stood up without doing so, looking as if someone had glued her fingers to the ivory.  They could hear why long fingernails were verboten when it sounded like someone was trying to tap dance to Debussy and Haydn.  It also worked wonders for parental attitudes—suddenly they appreciated things they had before viewed as silly.
            My favorite moments after these recitals came when people approached me with these words:  “I can always tell which ones are yours.”  It wasn’t because they played or sang particularly well—every student at these recitals did that—but not every student performed well.  We spent hours on things like how to approach or leave the piano, how to hold a pose over a final note, what to do in a memory lapse, how a singer should hold the mood until the accompaniment stops, and especially how to bow.  It’s one thing to know your piece; it’s another to be able to present a polished performance of it to an audience.
            Sometimes I imagine God as the teacher watching our performances.  He knows we can do it.  He gave His Son to show us how.  …because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example that you might follow in his steps, 1 Pet 2:21.  I don’t think it is out of line to think of the angels saying to Him, “I can always tell which ones are yours.”  Isn’t that the picture we get in Job 1?  Perhaps not literally, but in essence if nothing else. 
            If life is one big recital, we should learn from the performances of others—what to do, what not to do, why some of the picky things we have always heard are important after all.  We should learn from our own mistakes as well—why do I always miss the same note?!  Your daily practice should take of that.
            God is in the audience, along with all those celestial beings we read about.  As a proprietary teacher myself, I can easily imagine that He wants to hear from them, “I can always tell which ones are yours.”
 
By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. 1 John 3:10
 
Dene Ward
 

I almost didn't get it done today.  I just wanted to go lie down and rest after several hectic days that kept me going practically every minute.  Why?  Because it is difficult.  It hurts.  It's hot this time of year, and I get just plain nasty with sweat.
            But then I thought about why I do it in the first place.  Part of it is physical therapy for lumbar degenerative disc disease, a common malady among the elderly—it makes my back feel better.  Part of it is fighting back against some bad heart genes I have inherited.  Plus, it makes me stronger.  I can lift a bag of groceries, take heavy bowls out of cabinets, and get up and down from chairs a lot of easier.  Stiffness is always a problem with age and psoriatic arthritis, but I seem less stiff in the morning or at least get over it more quickly.  All of these are benefits, and so I did my work-out.  It will pay off.  All I have to do is become ill for a week, or have another eye surgery that means "no exertion" for a couple of weeks to see what would happen if I quit.
            Sometimes things like Bible study are difficult.  Sometimes you don't want to sit down for an hour and really engage your mind.  Sometimes you don't feel like praying.  Things in your life put you in a mood that is as far from a prayerful attitude as you can be.   Sometimes you don't want to go sit with people who are discouraging instead of encouraging, who ignore you, who say hurtful things because they have their own issues.  You want to stay away from that assembly as long as you can. 
            Then you stop and realize—those very people obviously need your help and encouragement if they are acting that way, the best place to get any sort of attitude adjustment is in the midst of God's people, and what seems like the worst time to pray may very well be the time you need it the most.  Let's be honest here:  there have been times when the only reason I was at the meetinghouse on Sunday morning was my obligation to God, not anyone else.  But that was exactly where I heard some pointed reminders about Christians serving others instead of self, and what Jesus puts up with in us.  Sometimes we are those clueless apostles time ten!
            So you go.  So you pray.  So you study.  And for that you become stronger and better able to handle life's trials.  You see better the depths of God's Word and what He has given us.  And your relationship with Him and the other people he has offered the same mercy and grace to becomes deeper and more meaningful.
            Remind yourself of those things today.  It's not about being comfortable and easy.  It's about sweat, determination, and making yourself do what you know you must, and being all the better for it.
 
For the righteous will never be moved; he will be remembered forever. He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the LORD. His heart is steady; he will not be afraid, until he looks in triumph on his adversaries (Ps 112:6-8).
 
Dene Ward
 

Imagine for a minute that you are vacationing in a five star resort for which you have paid big money, more than you probably should have.  The flimsy shower curtain doesn’t quite reach side to side in the bathtub, the shower stream is thin and continues to drip after you turn it off.  The room is so cold you have to dress at the speed of light.  There is no television, telephone, refrigerator, or microwave, and the bed is hard.  No toiletries are offered, no room service, and you even have to carry your own linens with you.  How happy would you be?  You would probably not have lasted one night before you demanded your money back.
            Campers put up with all of that, particularly tent campers, and they have a fine old time.  They understand going in what to expect, especially since they are paying a fraction of the amount of even a moderately priced motel.  Even when the weather is dismal, they seldom complain.  You take your chances when you live outdoors for a week.  Isn’t it interesting that the same circumstances can produce both happy people and unhappy people?
            We only wrote one letter of complaint in over 30 years of camping.  Even campers in a state park campground have every right to expect a well-drained campsite.  When it rained our last night there, not only did the site not drain well, it collected water from all the surrounding sites.  We woke up in a pool of water.  The tent floor billowed up around us when we took a step.  At least it was waterproof, or the thousands of dollars worth of Keith’s hearing paraphernalia that we keep charging in the floor overnight (since there is no furniture in a tent) would have been ruined.
            But we didn’t complain because of the rain.  We didn’t complain because it was cold enough for a foot high icicle to form under the water spigot.  We didn’t complain because the wind blew our light pole over, or the bathhouse only had two shower stalls for the whole campground.  That’s what you expect when you camp.  At least there was a bathhouse with hot running water and a heater in it!
            It doesn’t take much to be a happy camper.  Maybe that’s why God has always warned his people about a life of ease.  Take care lest… when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God…(Deuteronomy 8:11-14).
            Our lives on this earth are often depicted as camping.  We are sojourners.  We are just passing through.  Or are we?  How much do we take for granted in these days of luxury?  Every so often I remind myself to thank God for the running water, for the electricity, for the air conditioning.  I have lost them often enough, and for long enough at times, to remember that they don’t just happen; they aren’t “inalienable rights”—they are blessings.
            Ask people today what is on their list of necessities and it will scare you to death.  An easy life makes a soft people.  Self-discipline disappears.  The ability to endure hardship is practically non-existent.  Complaining becomes an art form, and my problems are always someone else’s fault.  The worst result is the pride that causes us to forget God, Prov 30:8,9.
            The results of trials and afflictions, on the other hand, are good, Deut 8:15,16; Psa 126:5,6; 1 Pet 1:6-8; 4:13,14. They make us stronger; they remind us who is in control, and build our faith and dependence upon God.  They remind us of the love God has for his children.  I know, O Lord, that your rules are righteous, that in faithfulness you have afflicted me, Psa 119:75. 
            A parent who never says no, who never makes his child earn anything with his own hard work, who always gets him out of trouble instead of allowing him to reap the consequences of his mistakes, is not a faithful, loving parent.  These things build character.  Wealth doesn’t.  Luxury doesn’t.  Anyone who “needs” that to be happy will never in this life be a happy camper.
 
As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life. 1 Timothy 6:17-19
 
Dene Ward

Today's post is by guest writer Lucas Ward.

My other job is at Lowe's Home Improvement.  One day I was straightening up in the plumbing department when I suddenly began laughing.  I called a coworker over and said, "There is both a lie and a truth in this bay."  He said, "Okay. . ." somewhat dubiously, and I pointed to two connections which were on the shelf next to each other.  "Here," I said, "this is a called a female adapter, but when have you ever known a female to adapt?  They all want things their own way!  But right next to it is a female trap.  Now that's the truth!"  He barked in laughter, agreed, and went back to his job chuckling. 
            Later I thought, "What better way to start a post for a blog site run by my mother than with a little casual misogyny?"  After all, isn't that how the Bible is characterized by the world?  The Bible hates women, declares them less valuable than men, and relegates them to mere property!  Or so the propaganda goes. 
            If the Bible hates women and teaches misogyny, then why is it that the very first Messianic prophecy was made to Eve, not Adam? (Gen. 3:15)  And the very first person recorded using the word Messiah was Hannah? (1 Sam. 2:10, translated "his anointed")  While David received a promise from God that his house would be established forever (2 Sam. 7), Abigail was the first to speak of it. (1 Sam. 25:28)  Jumping ahead, being "born of a woman" was an identifier for the Messiah. (Gal. 4:4) The first to see Jesus raised were women (see each Gospel).  The first person raised from the dead after Jesus was not the Apostle James, nor the martyr Stephen, but Dorcas. (Acts 9:36ff) Clearly women played a pivotal role in God's plan of salvation.
            I haven't yet mentioned Rahab or how her and Ruth's faith was extolled.  Or the salvation of Israel brought by the woman judge Deborah.  Or Esther.  Or how the Davidic line was saved by the fallen king's sister. (2 Kings 11:1-3)  Or the crucial role women played throughout Jesus' life and ministry.  Or. . . .
            Yeah, the Bible sure hates women.

But when the fulness of time came, God sent for his son, born of a woman, born under the law, Gal 4:4.

Lucas Ward

It took a while for this girl to figure out.  She was too young, too naïve, and too lost in her misty-eyed dreams of romance; but finally she learned the real definition of a beautiful love story.
            A beautiful love story is not the fairy tale rendition of two people who are perfect for each other and to each other.  It is not about a rosy life of ease with no disagreements or clashes of any kind at all.  That would be too easy.  A beautiful love story is one that defies the odds, that succeeds despite what everyone said, one that understands commitment and makes it work even when it should not have.  It's a story of two people who gradually change for the sake of the other until the corners wear off and they mesh like two pieces of a puzzle.  That love story takes real love, not fresh-faced, wide-eyed, storybook love.
            A beautiful love story is about her looking at her prince and seeing a few warts, but deciding to love him anyway.  It's about him looking at her and seeing real life etched on her tired face and once svelte body and deciding she is still the one.  It's about two people who suddenly find out that they do not have as much in common as they thought they did—and some of it really matters!—but they determine to do the best they can to get along anyway.
            A beautiful love story can only happen after two people come to know in intimate detail what their vows really meant, who have together experienced "sickness," " poorer," and "worse," to a degree they never imagined, and can now trust one another absolutely to always be there and never leave, no matter how tough it gets.
            A beautiful love story is about morning sickness, scary surgeries, bandaging bullet wounds, and digging trenches to keep your home from washing away.  It's about counting pennies and taking food off your plate for your babies.  It's about living without running water for a month, your husband driving 90 miles an hour while your child convulses in your lap, and following an ambulance to the hospital not knowing what will happen when you get there.  It's about learning how to milk cows, grow a garden, can vegetables, haul water, and blow rattlesnakes to kingdom come with a shotgun.  It's about doing all this with never a thought of "what if" or looking for the loophole in "till death do you part."
            A beautiful love story is about two children of God who understand that when they made their covenant it went three ways, not just two.  And to break that covenant breaks the one they have with the One who sustains them.  It's about making a commitment and sticking with it no matter how hard, how loud, how agonizing it might get.  And it's about a promise that stands the tests of time, pain, despair, tears, and even ugliness at times as they stand together against anyone or anything which would try to break that bond.  It's about fortitude.  It's about endurance.  It's about forgiveness and grace.  None of that comes easily, but once it has come, the love story grows more and more beautiful. 
          As of today, we have been working on our beautiful love story for fifty years.  We pray that you can make your love story just as beautiful in the years to come.
 
Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun (Eccl 9:9).
…Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate (Matt 19:5-6).
 
Dene Ward

We got the call that Sunday morning at 5:32.  We were on the road as soon as we could be, but Silas’s little brother Judah beat us there by half an hour.  Mommy and Daddy had waited as long as they could, their three year old sitting big-eyed and quiet in the labor room, but ultimately had to call a church couple to take him.
            About 1:00 that afternoon those helpful people brought Silas back to the hospital, where we sat in the room with Brooke and Nathan, new baby Judah lying in a special bed under a warming light.  It took far longer than it should have to get that baby’s body temperature to an appropriate number. 
            Silas, still a bit confused, and very tired, ran straight to his parents.  Nathan lifted him into his arms and carried him over to the little bed.  He looked down at his four hour old, wrinkly red baby brother, his tiny head still misshapen from his passage into the world, and said, “What’s that?”
            I couldn’t help it.  A bubble of laughter escaped me at his innocent honesty.  When we told him this was his little brother Judah, the one who had been in Mommy’s tummy, his little head swung back and forth between his mommy and the figure in the clear, plastic bed, his eyes full of skepticism.  This was not what he expected.
            It took a couple of weeks for him to really come around, but who could blame him?  He was expecting a brother like the brothers and sisters his little friends had, and probably just as big.  He was expecting a playmate, but every time he shared his toys, the little interloper simply lay there and slept.  Where is the fun in that?  But children are nothing if not adaptable, and his little brother is growing on him.
            I fear some people look on their lives as Christians with the same skepticism with which Silas first viewed Judah.  Freedom, they were promised, but all they see are rules.  Joy, they were promised, yet they still suffer the same trials, illnesses, and financial problems as everyone else, even the same ones as before they were converted.  They’ve lost friends, and rifts in the family are worse than ever.  They expected people to come running at their every beck and call, yet every Sunday the preacher, an elder, a Bible class teacher—or maybe all three!!—tells them they have to serve others.
            Jesus dealt with the same problem among his followers.  Some came expecting to be entertained (Luke 7:32; 23:8).  Some came expecting to be fed (John 6:26).  Some came expecting to be part of a victorious army and a glorious kingdom here on the earth (Luke 19:11).  Very few “came around,” changing their expectations to match his offered reality.  He never changed his offer—if they wouldn’t accept it, he simply sent them away.  He drove off far more than ever accepted him (John 6:43-67).
            Sometimes we have to do the same.  We cannot change the church the Lord bought with His own blood to suit the carnal nature of an unspiritual world—we don’t have that right.  Be careful what you offer your friends and neighbors. God didn’t promise lives of ease, health and wealth, or even a church family that always behaves itself.  The test of faith comes when things are difficult, not when they are easy.
            The church wasn’t what the Jews expected.  As a result most of them missed out on the promised kingdom.  Examine your own expectations.  Make sure the same thing doesn’t happen to you.
 
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. Romans 14:17-18
 
 

As a youth pastor, my first class of graduating seniors proved how difficult it can be to keep your kids on God's side.  By the time they first returned from university (at Christmas break…) most were no longer Christians.  …I felt like a terrible pastor.  I had these students for their entire senior year of high school, yet nothing I taught them seemed to make an impact on the decisions they made in the first ten weeks at university.  It was then I realized the error of my inaugural year as youth pastor.  I had entertained them, helped them to form friendships in our youth group, and maybe even inspired them to be better human beings.  But I hadn't given them sufficient reason to believe Christianity is true. 

J. Warner Wallace, Foreword to Keeping Your Kids on God's Side, by Natasha Crain.

Last year we made a distressing discovery—the seam sealing tape on the rain fly to our tent had come loose.  Unfortunately, we made this discovery in the middle of the night during a driving rainstorm when water suddenly began pouring on us as we lay in our sleeping bags.
            So before our latest camping trip, we pulled out the fly and set about resealing the tape.  We found out that not all the tape had come undone, just the places where more stress was put on the fly—at the staking points and over the top where it stretched tightly across the tent poles.  I suppose that makes sense.  After all, where is it that your pants are more likely to rip but where and when you stretch those seams the most?  In the back when you bend over.
            That brought to mind the disciples’ request for the Lord to “Increase our faith.”  I had always thought of this as a simple request, sort of a “Help me get better” generic prayer.  Suddenly I thought to check the context.  Maybe there was a reason for the request, maybe those men were under some sort of stress.  So I looked up Luke 17:5 and checked the verses immediately ahead of that one.
            Stress?  Jesus had just given them a laundry list of commands that would have stressed anyone out.
            “Temptation is sure to come,” he begins in verse 1.  Not “may come” or even “will probably come,” but “sure to come.”  If ever a Christian feels stress it is during temptation.  Yes, I think I might need increased faith to handle those times. 
            Then he goes on to talk about those who cause others to stumble.  I suppose nothing stresses me out more than worrying about how what I say or do may affect others, especially since I teach and write so much.  Yes, I need more faith to keep teaching and keep writing, especially when I receive negative reactions or hear of someone who misused what I have said, and even more when I realize I have made a careless word choice.
            Then Jesus tells them to forgive, even if the same person does the same thing over and over and over and over.  This is where, in an almost comedic outcry, we hear them shout, “Lord!  Increase our faith!”  As often as those same men misunderstood and failed to comprehend Jesus’ teaching, they certainly understood the need for faith when it comes to mercy and forgiveness.  We really haven’t reached the pinnacle of that Divine trait until we can say, “I forgive you,” without adding or even thinking, “Again.”
            Look up the other places where we are told to strengthen or increase or add to our faith and you will discover other areas of stress that could trip you up—times when divisions occur, when sinful desires rear their ugly heads, when we need to love the unlovable, when we are told to obey whether we understand it or not.  All of these things can create stress in our lives, and endanger our souls.
            “Pay attention to yourselves,” Jesus told those men in the midst of his teaching (v 3).  Don’t be caught unawares in the middle of a storm.  “Increase your faith” and so be prepared. 
 
We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. Therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring. This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering-- 2 Thessalonians 1:3-5.   
 
Dene Ward

Today's post is by guest writer Joanne Beckley.

Time and trouble will tame an advanced young woman, but an advanced old woman is uncontrollable by any earthly force
Dorothy L Sayers
 
When my husband shared this quotation with me, we both laughed–and then sighed with pain, knowing the saying holds a lot of truth. Perhaps you will, as I have, take a moment to consider if you have been tamed. . .
 
As a young woman grows up, time allows for a gradual increase in her knowledge and understanding. This is especially true if she continues to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord (2 Pet 3:18). But even as she grows she will make mistakes and cause problems. She will face what she says and does–and try to correct her own attitude toward loving others rather than herself. Whatever comes her way she knows her Lord is with her. As James said, the testing of her faith will be her joy, Js 1:2-3.
 
But what if the young woman does not grow as she should? Her attitude toward herself and others will begin to change. Eventually, as an old woman, she will no longer have the ability to love and care for others. Instead, she considers whatever and whoever is in her way who might thwart her desire to be heard. She has opinions on everything and everyone, convinced she has the right to “speak her mind.” As one person described her, she has climbed high on her pile of self-importance. Even though earthly forces may not stop her headlong destruction, the Lord says, “I can and I will.”
 
Pride can be the downfall of every older woman. 1John 2:16 includes the phrase, “pride of life”. The literal translation is “arrogant assumption.” Apt, isn’t it. Satan even tried to appeal to Jesus on this basis. Jesus did not listen–but Eve did. Satan knows the powerful temptation of pride. Do we?
 
Ec 7:16 Do not be excessively righteous, and do not be overly wise. Why should you ruin yourself?
 
Rom 12:3 For through the grace given to me I say to every man among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.
 
2Co 12:20 For I am afraid that perhaps when I come I may find you to be not what I wish and may be found by you to be not what you wish; that perhaps [there may be] strife, jealousy, angry tempers, disputes, slanders, gossip, arrogance, disturbances.
 
Tit 3:2 to malign no one, to be uncontentious, gentle, showing every consideration for all men.  For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. But when the kindness of God our Savior and [His] love for mankind appeared he saved us. . .

Jer 9:24 Let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things, "declares the LORD.

Old woman, you can change!! It will not be easy. Listen to that younger woman previously mentioned who might bravely try to help you face your true self. You will have to recognize the destructive path you are on, and then complete your “growing up”. You can change through Jesus Christ and heaven can still be yours. To that woman who loves her sister: Speak the truth in love. Don’t expect a harsh response. Honor her with your confidence that she desires the truth and will recognize your love. Thus you will have peace between you.

Eph 4:15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.
Zec 8:16 These are the things which you should do: speak the truth to one another; judge with truth and judgment for peace in your gates.

Joanne Beckley

A long time ago I rode a bus with my four year old son to visit my sister, about a 12 hour ride.  It was quite an experience.  The only buses I had ever ridden before were school buses and they were another story altogether.  The Greyhound had much more comfortable seats, air conditioning, and a bathroom.  I could tell you countless stories about that trip, both coming and going, but they are beside the point.  Here is the point that matters.
            When I called to find out the schedule, I was given a time and a location for departure and a time and location for arrival.  I knew exactly where I had to be when to get on the bus, and my sister knew where and when to pick us up.  If either had not happened, we would both have been shocked.
            Some of my poor brothers and sisters need to think about that in relation to their salvation.  The Hebrew writer says, And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end (Heb 6:11).  Do you see that?  Hope and full assurance in the same sentence!  Hope is needing a bus, finding the closest bus stop, knowing the schedule and going there to wait for the bus that you know will arrive.  Instead, we have a tendency to treat our hope as someone who needs the bus, guesses where it might be stopping, and going there to stand, not knowing whether it is even the right place or the right time—just "hoping" it is.
            No matter how many times we hear preachers tell us the definition for the Greek word for hope (confident expectation), we force our culture's definition on the word.  We have fought so many battles over the perseverance of the saints ("once saved, always saved") that we scold anyone for saying exactly what John tells us we ought to be able to say.  "I know I am saved" (1 John 5:13).  Don't be so arrogant, we tell them.  You can always be lost.  Well, so can we—in this case for discouraging people to the point of severe anxiety and even giving up altogether.  Shame on us!
            Everywhere I find the word hope, I find words like assurance, confidence, rejoice, power, boldness, courage, steadfastness, and faith.  Does that sound like someone constantly afraid that if he dies unexpectedly he won't be saved?  No.  It does not.  In fact, questioning that hope seems to be a signal of weak faith:  But Christ is faithful over God's house as a son. And we are his house if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope (Heb 3:6).  And notice this too:  we can boast in our hope.  There is nothing arrogant about it!
            Christ did not die so that we would lie in our beds at night, a quivering mass of fears and doubts, almost too frightened to even go to sleep.  He died to give us confidence.  It isn't that we know we are saved because we did so well.  We know we are saved because he said he would save us if we devoted our lives to him—not because we did it to absolute perfection.  Do you do that?  Then get on the bus to Heaven.  There is no question at all about where it will pick you up and where you will arrive.  The bus stops where Jesus is.  Just make sure you are with him.
 
Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful (Heb 10:22-23).
 
Dene Ward