Written by Pastor Rolland Starr and published in The Cornerstone Challenge, June 1986, this oustanding essay was shared via email on 10/31/13 by David Cloud, Way of Life Literature, www.wayoflife.org. What an analogy!

"I remember reading of a man named Dr. R.B. Shattuck who put duck eggs under a brooding hen. Some very amusing things happened, as he related.

"He said that next to human beings, hens are the most easily hum-bugged creatures and that putting duck eggs under a hen is one of the biggest jokes on that farm. When the ducks are hatched it is a tragedy for the hen and a comedy for the bystanders. The ducklings go where they please, utterly indifferent to the hen's frantic clucking and cackling. They do not understand the hens' frantic utterings, and she does not know whether they are happy or suffering pain.

"They eat what she forbids and refuse what she offers. They never follow her; she is always following them trying to get them to do her bidding. They head for the nearest mud puddle and she almost has a nervous breakdown. When they become waterlogged and sticky with mud, they rub themselves against her to dry themselves off. It is a one-way relationship -- she is compelled to "moter" the ducks, but they never even approximate being her chicks. It is a sad situation to say the least.

"It is quite easy to see in all of this a parallel with many who call themselves children of God. They proclaim that God is their Father, but there is little resemblance and no obedience. God is bound to be their Father, but they need not be His children. There is no interest in the things of God and they have no heart to do the things He requires. As in the former case, something is radically wrong. 

"While many have a smattering of Bible knowledge, they simply are not children of God. They have never experienced new birth. They have not been born of God; just as the ducks were not really born of the hen, these people were never fathered by God Himself.

"Peter tells us that the true child of God is a 'Partaker of the Divine Nature.' Is one a child of God when he cares not for the things of our heavenly Father? One may claim to be saved but if he is like the 'ducklings,' always seeking his own interests, his actions and desires reveal his true nature. Where there is no desire to meet regularly with the people of God, no interest in reading and keeping His Word, no heartfelt communication through prayer and fellowship, it is difficult to believe that God's life indeed resides there. 'If any man be in Christ, He is a New Creature: Old Things are passed away; behold, all things are become new' (2 Cor. 5:17). One who knows anything about the suffering and death of Christ, His resurrection for our justification, cannot be indifferent to His voice and concerns. Jesus said, 'My sheep hear my voice, and they follow me.'

"The Bible speaks of wheat and tares. The tares looked just like the wheat and it was only upon close examination that their true nature was discovered: there was no grain. The devil is a great deceiver and he has fooled many in our day. Multitudes have heard the Gospel, raised their hand, prayed a prayer and assumed that this was some magic formula for getting saved. Now, you may do these things from the heart and truly become a child of God, but it is equally true that one may go through the motions and remain a child of Satan.

"For hundreds of years men have tried to simulate a true cultured pearl. Many good imitations have been produced and multitudes have been fooled. But experts can now detect the real thing from a counterfeit through the use of X-rays, electro-magnets and other means. They can examine the 'heart' of the pearl. After all, salvation is a heart matter (not merely head). Rom. 10 says that he who believes in his heart shall be saved. God knows every heart. You cannot fool Him for one moment. 'You must be born again.' Are you? Is there any evidence? Or, are you claiming His name while running around totally oblivious to His will? Are you doing your own thing? I plead with you to stop and think about the reality of your Christian life. Jesus said many would come to Him in the Day of Judgment claiming to belong to him, but He will have to say, 'Depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.' God loves you, He sent His Son to die for you, and He will truly save you if you will humbly call upon that name which is above every name. 'Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.'" 

My friend Dale just sent me this lovely story, which I hope will inspire you as much as it does me.

"A few years ago a  group of salesmen went to a regional sales convention in Chicago. They had  assured their wives that they would be home in plenty of time for Friday night's  dinner.

"In their rush, with tickets and briefcases, one of these salesmen inadvertently kicked over a table which held a display of apples. Apples flew everywhere. Without stopping or looking back, they all managed to reach the plane in time for their nearly-missed boarding.  
 
"Except for one. He paused and took the time to feel compassion for the girl whose apple stand had been overturned.  
 
"He told his buddies  to go on without him, waved good-bye, told one of them to call his wife when  they arrived at their home destination and explain his taking a later flight.  Then he returned to the terminal where the apples were all over the terminal floor.  
 
"He was glad he did.  The 16-year-old girl was totally blind! She was softly crying, tears running  down her cheeks in frustration, and at the same time helplessly groping for her spilled produce as the crowd swirled about her; no one stopping and no one to  care for her plight.  
 
"The salesman knelt  on the floor with her, gathered up the apples, put them back on the table and helped organize her display. As he did this, he noticed that many of them had become battered and bruised; these he set aside in another basket.  
 
"When he had  finished, he pulled out his wallet and said to the girl, 'Here, please take this $40 for the damage we did. Are you okay?'

"She nodded through her tears. 

"I hope we didn't spoil your day too badly," he added. 
 
"As the salesman  started to walk away, the bewildered blind girl called out to him, 'Mister....'  He paused and turned to look back into those blind eyes. 'Are you  Jesus?' 
 
"He stopped in  mid-stride .... and he wondered. He gently went back and said, 'No, I am nothing  like Jesus - He is good, kind, caring, loving, and would never have bumped into your display in the first place.'

"The girl gently nodded. 'I only asked,' she said, 'because I prayed for Jesus to help me gather the apples.  He sent you to help me, so you are like Him - He knows who will do His  will. Thank you for hearing His call, Mister.'
  
"Then slowly he made  his way to catch the later flight with that question burning and bouncing about  in his soul: 'Are you Jesus?' 
 
"Do people mistake  you for Jesus? 
  
"That's our goal,  is it not? To be so much like Jesus that people cannot tell the difference as we  live and interact with a world that is blind to His love, life and grace. 
 
"If we claim to know  Him, we should live, walk and act as He would. Knowing Him is more than simply quoting Scripture and going to church. It's actually living the Word as life  unfolds day to day. 
  
"You are the apple of His eye even though you, too, have been bruised by a fall. He stopped what He was doing to pick us up on a hill called Calvary, paying in full for our damaged fruit. The least we can do in return is to show His love to this lost and dying world -- even when it inconveniences us."

One of my favorite books of all time is the late Dr. Ken Connolly's The Indestructible Book, an absolutely astounding account of the history of the Bible. (The video version, with the same title and narrated by a fragile but energetic Dr. Connolly, is my favorite documentary -- not to be missed!)

And one of my favorite organizations of all time is The Gideons, an absolutely astounding group dedicated to getting the word of God in the hands of every human being. (The volume shown here is, according to the organization's blog, "The 1 millionth Gideon Scripture, presented to John Nicholson, co-founder of The Gideons International.")

Which is a not-very-elegant segue into my reason for posting this morning -- I just stumbled across one of my favorite quotes of all time, an absolutely astounding summary of the significance of the Bible, long used by The Gideons. Feast your heart upon this, Christians!

“The Bible contains the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners, and the happiness of believers. 

"Its doctrines are holy, its precepts are binding, its histories are true, and its decisions are immutable. Read it to be wise, believe it to be safe, and practice it to be holy. It contains light to direct you, food to support you, and comfort to cheer you. It is the traveler’s map, the pilgrim’s staff, the pilot’s compass, the soldier’s sword, and the Christians’ charter. 

"Here paradise is restored, heaven opened, and hell disclosed. The Lord Jesus Christ is its grand object, our good its design, and the glory of God its end. Read it slowly, frequently, prayerfully. Let it fill the memory, rule the heart, and guide the feet. It is a mine of wealth, a paradise of glory, and a river of pleasure. It is given you in life, will be opened in the judgment, and remembered forever. It involves the highest responsibility, will reward the highest labor, and will condemn all who trifle with its sacred contents.” 

One used to find Gideons Bibles in every hotel room, but I'm sad to report that this is no longer the case. Knowing how eagerly our local Gideons reps respond every time I ask them to bring Bibles to the nursing home -- and how pro-active they are if I don't call for a while -- I doubt that it's the organization's fault. Is it possible that cowardly hotel chains have had too many complaints from atheist organizations? 

Here's one of my favorite analogies about eternal life -- I haven't a clue who wrote it and it's not perfect, but it's wonderful food for thought on so many levels.

In a mother's womb were two babies. 
 
One asked the other: "Do you believe in life after delivery?" 
 
The other replies, "why, of course. There has to be something after delivery. Maybe we are here to prepare ourselves for what we will be later. 
 
"Nonsense," says the other. "There is no life after delivery. What would that life be?"
 
"I don't know, but there will be more light than here. Maybe we will walk with our legs and eat from our mouths." 
 
The other says "This is absurd! Walking is impossible. And eat with our mouths? Ridiculous. The umbilical cord supplies nutrition. Life after delivery is to be excluded. The umbilical cord is too short." 
 
"I think there is something and maybe it's different than it is here." 
 
The other replies, "No one has ever come back from there. Delivery is the end of life, and in the after-delivery it is nothing but darkness and anxiety and it takes us nowhere." 
 
"Well, I don't know," says the other, "but certainly we will see mother and she will take care of us." 
 
"Mother??" You believe in mother? Where is she now? 

"She is all around us. It is in her that we live. Without her there would not be this world." 
 
"I don't see her, so it's only logical that she doesn't exist." 
 
To which the other replied, "Sometimes when you're in silence you can hear her, you can perceive her. I believe there is a reality after delivery and we are here to prepare ourselves for that reality..."

My first thought, when I saw this subject line on an email, was of pharaohs who wanted their coffins, and their crypts, packed full of things to take into the afterlife.

But then I read this wonderful quote, shared by Pastor Joe Helm, from All In: You are one decision away from a totally different life, by Mark Batterson. And I realized that this had nothing to do with occult visions of an imaginary afterlife; the author simply meant that the man who was his subject was ready at any time to leave for the Christian's ultimate destination. 

"A. W. Milne . . . set sail  for the New Hebrides in the South Pacific, knowing full well that the headhunters who lived there had martyred every missionary before him.  Milne did not fear for his life, because he had already died to himself.  His coffin was  packed. For thirty-five years, he lived among that tribe and loved them. When he died, tribe members buried him in the middle of their village and inscribed this epitaph on his tombstone: 
 
When he came there was no light.
 
When he left there was no darkness. 

May that be the legacy of every genuine Christian!

This past summer, an important client for my copywriting business informed me that all people of all faiths are “delusional” and “intellectually stunted” – apparently the new God-hating buzz terms for Darwin-loving fans of evolution theory.  

Since then, he has proceeded to email me Richard Dawkins videos, talking about how inspiring and scintillating his hero is. (I don’t get it – Dawkins is the nastiest, most pompous little man I’ve ever seen, and his arguments all seem to be based on straw men or irrelevant red herrings. To each his own, I suppose.)

So what brought all of this on?

My client may have been stewing about it for some time, having read my account of the intellectual process I followed to go from atheistic feminism to born-again Christianity.  It’s highly readable, or so they say, which apparently doesn’t sit well with highly educated atheists.  

Not that this client ever said anything to me about the book at all. And, in fact, it wasn’t until this past summer that he came out of the closet as a fire-breathing atheist. The immediate cause of this self-revelation was the impending death of a close relative of his, and a phone conversation in which he informed me that all these silly religions are alike – that they all require, as our tickets into the afterlife, that we be good people.

Thinking he had possibly forgotten the clear gospel presentation in my memoir, or perhaps had not read the book after all, I finally sent him an email to correct his misperceptions. While it didn’t budge him – the Dawkins adoration continues unabated – I’m hoping it has planted a seed that will one day, before it’s too late, germinate. Perhaps it would help you with your own gospel-sowing efforts; if so, please feel free to use any or all of it.

Here’s the guts of my message to this client:  

"… In point of fact, there's one theology that says quite the opposite, and that's biblical Christianity. It says that we must be perfect to enter heaven, that none of us can possibly be good enough to meet God's standard of perfection, that we have all sinned – i.e., rebelled against Him – by repeatedly breaking His clearly stated law, and that not even all the good works and rituals in the world can pay for a single sin.

"(This is something we should be able to grasp easily, in light of our justice system: A host of good deeds would do nothing to mitigate the guilt of a convicted murderer or thief. Good deeds do not erase the crime; the penalty must be paid.)

"In fact, Christianity stands alone in saying that the only way into heaven is to have all our sins paid for by a perfect sacrifice, and that it’s only possible through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, God incarnate, who paid the penalty for the sins of the world when He died on the cross. It says furthermore that to avail ourselves of that payment, we must do two things:

1)     Repent -- acknowledge our sinfulness according to His definition of sin, not ours, and to turn from it; and

2)   Trust in Christ alone (not in our theoretical "goodness") to have paid our penalty in full.

"That's it in a nutshell -- no need for anything else, not even baptisms or rituals or church attendance or liturgies.

"If it's not true, then Christianity is simply a very odd theology, strangely different from every religious system that man has ever dreamed up.

"But if it is true -- and through my own intensive investigation of all major world religions in 2000-2001, I became 100% convinced that it is, as outlined in Heaven Without Her – it seems dangerous to shrug it off, to treat it as less significant than one's next vacation or business trip. Eternity is surely nothing to mess around with.

"At the very least, it seems wise to do a 'just in case' investigation of Christianity's claim to be ultimate truth. Perhaps it can be proven a grand lie, in which case we could rest in the idea that surely we’re good enough to get into any paradise that might exist.

"But could one really rest, without knowing the details -- like whose standard of goodness will apply? Or how good is good enough? Or what if I’m one good deed short of admission? Or what if I make it but my loved ones do not?

"If where we spend eternity is solely a function of our behavior in this life, I’d sure want to know where the bar’s been set, and by whom, and how I'm doing so far.

"Only genuine Christianity answers every question we could have on this subject, via a book that is demonstrably other-worldly, containing as it does so much information that its writers could not possibly have known without the help of someone outside of time ..."

Looking for ways to start a conversation about something a little weightier than the week's NFL standings or the latest drama in Washington?

Here's a document I found somewhere and saved in my "apologetics" file. I'm sorry to say I did not make a note of the source, and a search this morning turned up nothing. If you know where it came from, let me know so I can give credit where it's due.

In the meantime, here are some excellent ways to encourage others to think about eternity.

1. What is the meaning of life?


2. Where do we come from?


3. Where are we going?


4. If life has no meaning, why are we having this discussion?


5. Are you OK with your 60, 70 or 80 years of life having no meaning?


6. What are your feelings or perceptions about the deaths of men like Adolph Hitler, Saddam Hussein, Osama Bin Laden or Christopher Hutchens?


7. When Princess Diana died in 1997, the world said “we will never forget you." When was the last time that you thought of Princess Di?


8. What is the standard by which you determine truth?


9. On what basis do you think my killing you is wrong? Are you intolerant of my choice to kill you, when I’m perfectly fine with it in my value system?


10. Should a democratic vote of the majority legislate ethical choice? If so, how would you react to being “voted off the planet”?


11. If you subscribe to “survival of the fittest,” why do you object to killing of baby seals (snail darter, spotted owl, etc.)?


12. If you object to me eating meat, is it wrong for carnivores to eat their prey too?


13. How might love, compassion and empathy have come about?


14. Is there any evolutionary advantage to seedless watermelons? Can sterility really be hereditary?


15. Are you a religious person?


16. What was your religious upbringing?


17. What do you understand the beliefs of Christianity to be?


18. In your view what is the main problem in the world today? 


19. What do you think is the solution?


20. If you were to die today, are you sure you would go to heaven, or is that something you are still working on? 


21. If you died and God asked you, “Why should I let you in to my heaven?” what would you say? 

  22. Is the material world all there is? 

  23. What do you think God is like?

  24. Do you believe in the supernatural? Is it both good and evil? 

  25. What really happens after we die? What if you're wrong?


  26. Do you believe in absolute truth? Why or why not?

  27. What would you like to have engraved on your tombstone, and why?

  28. If you could live your life all over again, what would you change? 

  29. Have you accomplished the purposes for which you were created?

  30. If your doctor said you had only a week to live, how would you spend it? 

My goodness -- why all the frantic activity to prove that there might possibly conceivably have once been some evidence that may point to the credibility of life possibly having surely evolved on other planets long ago and far away? Here's yet another such thrilling "scientific" assessment:

Scientists say Mars crater may be 'game-changing' supervolcano

Could it be that these (largely taxpayer funded) efforts are designed to discredit the biblical account of creation? And to assure us that we needn't pretty our little heads about repenting or trusting in Christ so that we can spend eternity in heaven -- because evolution theory says there is no heaven?

And if that's the case, who do you suppose is behind all of these wild "just so" stories presented as scientific fact?