We live in perilous times.  If you are a sentient being you know this and do not need it explained to you.  Evil, corruption, violence and chaos swirl around us. The rising tide of darkness, madness and hysteria threatens to overwhelm us, engulf us, drag us down.    The world is changing rapidly and radically, but definitely not for the better.

All except those in deepest denial recognize that something supernatural is at work here.  The demons are industrious, laboring incessantly, to steal, kill and destroy.  That is true, but it is only the half—they also seek to terrorize, discourage, dishearten and drive to despair.

People, believers and non-believers alike, need hope today as never before.  They also need respite and rest for their bodies and souls, as well as refuge from what is coming just before Christ returns.  They know they are frightfully exposed, even though most haven’t a clue what’s headed their way.  Not having been taught Bible prophecy, much less studied it on their own, how could they know?  Their condition is desperate.  They need Jesus.  They need the gospel.

I realize that many (perhaps a majority, according to some recent polls), may vehemently disagree and utterly reject the Bible as God’s word.  Why do they reject the prescription that, if followed can certainly save them?  Because the good news begins with bad news: all are sinners, eternally separated from a holy God.  These facts must be acknowledged, and our sin repented of, before we will take any genuine interest in receiving God’s cure.  I call it “God’s cure” to highlight the fact that sinners are really in rebellion against God.  They refuse His remedy, even though they know it is 100% effective, simply because it is His cure.

So it was that on January 8, 2021, just a week after most of the world celebrated the start of a new year, I sat thinking about what I could personally do to help spread the gospel, the good news of the forgiveness of sins available through faith in the life, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  This is harder than it sounds because I don’t get out much (nobody did, at that time).  Face-to-face encounters—that might afford opportunities to offer a tract, for instance—were few and far between.

I was already involved with evangelism/missionary organs of the local church.  I volunteered, wrote checks, sent correspondence, etc.  But these aren’t the kinds of things I’m talking about.  I was looking for a net plus—something new that would add value and advance the cause.  It was during this period that this blog was launched.  But it was not enough.  Not too proud to ask for help, I prayed for vision and creativity.

Yet, I was keen to avoid anything grandiose or overly complicated, as well as anything requiring buckets of time I knew I did not have.  I reminded myself to be alert to inspiration I could actually see myself using.

My prayer was answered with a new thought (at least it was new to me): change the greeting on your personal cell phone to deliver a short gospel message.  It’s public, yet private;  proactive, yet passive. Triggered automatically, it is always ‘on,’ always cued up, always ready (even when I am not).

Excited, I set to work, scribbling down a message and rehearsing it a few times.  Then I recorded it, and was satisfied on the third or fourth try.  Here is what it says:

Sorry I missed your call.  While you wait to leave your message, here’s mine:

The day is coming when God will righteously judge the world, through Jesus, whom He has appointed.  Of this he has given assurance to all men by raising Jesus from the dead.

Each of us will be face to face with Him soon.  When your turn comes, will you meet Jesus as your Savior or your Judge?  The Bible says that anyone who does not trust in Jesus as Savior is on a collision course with death and hell.

But there is good news: God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.  God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son, to pay the penalty for our sin, so that whoever believes in Jesus should not perish but have eternal life.

How does it work?  If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  It’s with your heart that you believe and are justified, and with your mouth that you confess and are saved.  Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ.  It is the power of God for saving everyone who believes.  Don’t reject the pardon Jesus suffered and died to give you.  Repent of your sins and turn to Him today.  Surrender your heart to Jesus.  There is nothing more important or more urgent.  Act now, right now, before it’s too late.  God loves you and he’s waiting for you this very minute.

Christians tend to be pleasantly surprised by this greeting.  Many begin their voicemails by confessing that Jesus is their Lord and Savior, too.  They seem to take encouragement from being reminded that they are not alone.  This definitely has value—a bonus.

I don’t know how many may bail out without listening to the whole message [I could easily track this, but don’t.]  They may not be running from God, but simply in a hurry—busy people impatient to move on.  Tick Tock.  I get it.

I am especially interested in those who, once they recover from their initial shock, let the greeting play out.  [I know that they’ve done so, because they do in fact, leave their messages for me.]  Some comment on my greeting and others do not.  I pray for all regardless, that God would use the message to draw them to Jesus, that they might receive (if they haven’t already done so) the free gift of God’s grace—the forgiveness of sins and everlasting life, appropriated by faith in Christ.  

YES, God loves you that much.  He will save those who call upon the name of the Lord.  If you have missed the Savior’s call, don’t panic.  He left you a message, but you must respond before His gracious offer expires.  Please.  Return His call.

HOW TO BE SAVED:

• Admit to God that you are a sinner (that you have not kept His moral law to perfection; in your thoughts, words, and actions you have done what His law forbids and have failed to do what His love demands).  This is seeing yourself from God’s point of view and agreeing that He is right about you.  Be as specific as you can.
• Believe in your heart that Jesus died for your sins and that God raised Him from the dead.
• Sincerely repent (turn away) from your sins, asking God to forgive you and to use His power to help you resist temptation, no matter how strong the pull of sin may be, at first.
• Acknowledge Jesus as the Lord of your life.  Invite Him to move into your heart and take up residence there, so that He can change you from the inside out.
• Trust His promise to save you and give you a new spiritual birth and a new nature (thoughts, desires, priorities, hopes, dreams, and character).

SOME KEY TRUTHS:

• “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”  (Romans 3:23)
• “As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one.”  (Romans 3:10)
• “For the wages of sin is death: but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  (Romans 6:23)
• “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  (John 3:16)
• “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”  (Romans 5:8)
• “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.”  (I Corinthians 15:3,4)
• “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” (John 1:12)
• “Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him…”  (Revelation 3:20)
• “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”  (Romans 10:13)
• “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”  (Romans 10:9)
• “Verily, verily, I say unto you; He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life; and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.”  (John 5:24)
• “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing, ye might have life through his name.”  (John 20:31) 
• “These things I have written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”  (I John 5:13)