The Foundation That Weathers the Storm — Shane Idleman

And I'm actually going to do something a little bit different tonight. In honor of Jim, I'd like to give the message that I gave at the funeral service this afternoon, actually. And it was a difficult audience because there's probably 70 unbelievers.

And I think I saw a lot of people squirming in their seats and not real comfortable. And Linda said, you're just the guy for the job. And right before Jim passed away, I had a chance of talking with him at his house and his health was failing, obviously, pretty rapidly.

And it was just sobering for me. They're wanting me to come over so you can work on your memorial service. You know, Shane, when I'm gone, here's what I want you to say. Here's what I want. And it was just overwhelming to carry that weight and just listen to him.

And as I was sitting next to him and they brought in this bed and it dawned on me and I told him, I said, you know what's ironic is I'm dying too. I'm dying. I'm dying right now as I'm sitting here talking to you.

My body is decaying. And what happens is as a pastor, I preach as a dying man to dying men, quoting the famous Richard Baxter, a Puritan author many years ago. And what Jim wanted me to do was give his friends, his co-workers, he's in the construction industry, he works with Hathaway Dinwiddie, and wanted me to just deliver the gospel in all its totality and shake people to the core and give them a wake-up call because a lot of those people I will never see again, I will never talk to again.

And I thought it would just be not only in memory of him but just something to do here at Westside. It's good sometimes to put the brakes on. Let's get back to why we're here. Let's put everything in context and let's basically sit down, buckle up, and hold on.

The Foundation That Weathers the Storm

Because I want to talk to you this evening, I might say this morning because it was earlier today, about the foundation that weathers the storm. And one of the things sitting next to Jim and as somebody's in the final stages, John Bell was actually over there the night before he passed away when cancer took over his body and it begins to rapidly take over.

And how can somebody have that much peace when you're sitting there? He just said, I know where I'm going, I'm fine, I'm at peace. And it's amazing. I mean, how many people could really say that? Now, of course, in our frailty and our humanity, we're fearful.

You know, fear comes in there, part of that sin nature, what's on the other side, what, you know, we know it, but our sin nature brings in that fear. And just to see him in so much peace was just, to me, a great testimony.

So somewhat in honor of him, I want to give this message. It's not really long, but I want to talk about the foundation that weathers the storm. And as many of you know, we've been in the book of Matthew.

We've been going through 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Matthew, I think we're in chapter 5 still. And at some point in a few months, we're actually going to get to this chapter. But at this stage, let's look to Matthew chapter 7, verse 24.

If you don't have your Bibles, I will read it. I'm not sure if we've got it up on the screen at all. We've had a very busy day. A lot of the families were still there cleaning up when I left around 2.

So they probably won't join us tonight, obviously. Matthew 7, 24, Jesus is saying, therefore, he's teaching, he's saying, therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

When the rain came down the street, the streams rose and the winds blew and beat against that house yet it did not fall because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine, which is the majority of people, let me remind you, and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on the sand and the rain came down, the streams rose and the winds blew and beat against that house and it fell with a great crash.

And ironically, this whole group was mainly construction workers from concrete, steel, framing, masonry, whatever it is. So when I'm talking about the foundation, they could all relate to this. And I reminded them and I want to remind you too that the foundation supports everything.

Everything that you're going through in life or everything that you will go through is not really what you're going through. It's the foundation on which your life is built. That's what weathers the storm or doesn't weather the storm.

And I'm just amazed at how many people, you know, or they build a foundation in construction, they build a building, but they don't do it without a set of plans. Yet we build our lives without the set of plans, without the blueprints.

Well, I'll just try this. And can you imagine the concrete guy showing up and putting the concrete wherever and I think the plumber, the bathroom needs to go over here and the roof or I think we know nothing would come together.

Why? They all go back to the set of plans. If there's any question, any concerns, they go back to the set of plans. What does the set of plans say? So many people are building their lives without looking to the set of plans.

And what happens, especially in the Church of America, is we hear it so often that we just discard it. Yeah, I know the plans are there. I know it's there, but I'll get to it someday. And we're not really building our lives on the only foundation that we'll maintain.

So it's ironic too that Jesus says when the wind comes, the storms of life, when the rain beats on that house, when the floods start to come up, that house will not fall. Your life will not fall apart because it is founded, grounded on the rock, which is a solid relationship with Jesus Christ.

That's the only foundation. And as many of you know, I have a background in construction, and ironically, that's what I did. I did a lot of underground construction, bulldozers or excavators and backhoes primarily.

And they would invest millions and millions and millions of dollars on certain projects. Jim was actually involved in the Getty Center for six years off the 405 freeway. And millions and millions would go in without the first brick even being laid.

Nothing. You see a big old empty piece of land. Oh, you know, we just spent six million on that. Where? Where is that from? Removing hundreds and hundreds of tons of dirt and compacting and compacting and compacting, surveying, geology, soils testing, why?

Why? Because the foundation is the most important part of that structure. It's not the beautiful architectural design. It's not even our homes or our roof and our windows and look at all that. That would just collapse if the foundation wasn't solid.

Building on the Rock Rather Than the Sinking Sand

So with that as the background, I talked briefly on three points. The first one was, where do you build your house? On the rock, on the solid rock of God's word or on the sinking sand of man's philosophy?

All of us have a choice every single day where we're going to build our life. This isn't something we build. Granted, we profess a faith in Christ. We believe and we are saved, sealed and delivered from the wrath that is to come and we are Christians.

So our life is built upon that. But we can make choices throughout the week, throughout the day that either anchor us to that foundation or can pull us away. So we want to think about that. Where are you building?

And let me draw your attention back to, this is interesting. Anytime Jesus ever says, therefore, you need to find out what it's there for. So he says, therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and does them, I will liken him to a man who built his house upon the rock.

Well what comes before therefore? Jesus says, many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, we did all these things in your name. He'll say, depart from me. I don't know you. That scripture rocked my world in 1999.

I'll never forget opening the Bible and reading. Many will come to me in that day, many, all across our globe, all across our nation. Many will come to me in that day, that day of judgment and say, Lord, Lord, we did all these things in your name.

We cast out demons in your name. We did all these great miracles in your name. We did these wonders in your name. And Jesus will say, depart from me. I don't know you, you who practice lawlessness. Wow.

Is it possible to do things in the name of Jesus and not know him? Oh yeah. And I apply that to my own life. And I hope this message is for somebody tonight. When I read that, I'm thinking, Lord, I was pretty much a good person.

I went to church on the days I didn't play golf or sleep in or go to the gym. I owned a few Bibles. I'm an American. By default, I'm a Christian? Think about that. Many people, many people, and I challenged them.

I said, you can know all about God, but if you do not know him personally, he will reject you. He doesn't want to. This isn't some mean, angry God saying, ha, ha, ha, I told you. He's saying, Christ's saying, I don't know you.

Yeah, sure, you used my name. You name dropped. But I don't know you. I don't have a relationship with you. And I gave the analogy of, let's say Billy Graham was here, and he was sitting in this row, front row.

I'd be first amazed, and he's going on his 95th birthday, it's someone I've looked up to for many years. Controversial things here and there, but overall, the scope of his ministry is amazing. But I would say, Mr. Graham, I know all about you.

I've read a few different biographies, 700 pages long. I know when you were saved, you walked down the sawdust trail. I believe it was Mordecai Ham that was preaching. I know about your first crusades there in Los Angeles, and I think it was William Randall Hearst, the great newspaper writer back then, or owner of newspapers, said two things that launched Billy Graham, and it was puff Graham.

And what that means is he sent all his media team down there, and they did all these stories on the crusades, and that's when his ministry just, and I know all about you. Do you know what he would tell me?

Young man, I don't know you. I don't know you. Sorry. Wait, wait, wait, wait. I know all about you. He would say, sorry, stop. I don't know you. And that's the same scenario. That's what Jesus is saying here.

That's why sometimes when I preach, people say, well, he let him have it. I'm not mad. I'm passionate. Is it possible that people can name the name of Christ and come every weekend and own a Bible and say the right things but not know him?

Yeah. Yeah. Many will come to me in that day and say, Lord, Lord, we did all these things in your name. I had the lingo down. Hey, Brother Shane, I attended church. I even looked at the worship screen, and I sang a few songs.

I went to church. What's wrong here? Because you don't know him. The heart has not broken and repented and trusted in him. The only sound foundation, the only solid foundation, I mean, how else do you interpret that?

Many will come to me in that day and say, Lord, Lord, we did all these things in your name. And he'll say, depart from me. I don't even know you, you who practice lawlessness. And you wonder, you turn on the television, you wonder, how many of these guys really know him?

Some? Sure. Absolutely. I mean, how many are really, or they're doing all these things as they build mansions and drive jets? They're doing all these things. Just send us this. We'll send you a prayer cloth.

All this money. All this revenue. They're going to stand in judgment. Some of them. And he's going to say, depart from me. I don't even know you. You practice lawlessness. You did all these things in my name, but you never had a relationship with me.

Obedience as the Evidence of Genuine Faith

So then he says, therefore, whoever hears these sayings of mine and does them, I will liken him to a man who built his house upon the rock and it did not fall. Therefore is there because he's saying, if you truly know me, if you truly have a relationship with me, obedience to the word of God is a byproduct.

There's no way around that. Genuine faith. If somebody has genuine faith in their heart, they want to serve God. Not perfectly, but there's a heart after God. And that's why I've talked before in the American gospel is not the real gospel.

Many people know about God, but they do not know him intimately through a personal relationship based on repentance and surrender life. I like what CH Spurgeon said here. The devil can make men dance upon the brink of hell as though they were on the verge of heaven.

Let me say that again. The devil can make men dance upon the brink of hell as though they are on the verge of heaven. And what he's saying there is he can. It's enticement. It's alluring. It's false religions.

They're believing that they're on their way to heaven, but they're on their way to hell because they don't know Christ. And that's what a lot of religions focus on. Religion, religion, belonging to our organization, being baptized in our organization.

I'm a, you fill in the blank, anything. I'm Pentecostal. I'm Baptist. I'm Roman Catholic. I'm whatever. You fill in the blank. You fill in the blank. If you're trusting in that, you're not trusting in Christ because there's no denominations in heaven.

There's nothing there except that relationship that we have with him or Jesus is challenging us. Do you really know me? And that was the second point I brought up is how do you build? How do you build on this foundation?

Obedience to the word of God is another cornerstone. It reveals the heart. And we've talked about this a lot lately, but a lot of what you're going through right now, if you're struggling, if God seems distant, a lot of it has to go back to obedience to the word of God.

Once we begin obeying the word of God, that's when we'll start to see recovery and restoration. A lot of times though, we want the blessing, but without the disciplines. And God says, no, you begin to discipline yourself and seek me with all of your heart.

Then you'll find me. So it's in the seeking that we find him. And a lot of those people that were there this morning, there's no obedience to the word of God. They're not serving him. They're serving the God of this world.

They're building on the wrong foundation. Perfect example, they'll hear Christ's words, but they won't repent and turn to him. And as we know, hearing without doing leads to deception, does it not? Many people will hear the word of God.

They'll hear it, but they don't obey it. So they live in deception. We've talked about that a lot here as well. Number three, the third point I talked about, what material you use to build the foundation.

Are you building concrete or using sand? And that's the whole analogy Jesus said of the rock, the foundation, the rock. There's nothing stronger so that he could bring in than the rock. He says, if you build on my life, if you build on this rock, your house will never fall down.

Enduring the Storm Through the Lord's Strength

It doesn't mean you won't go through the storm. You see the difference there? Both houses encountered the storm. He didn't say the rock was way up here, they didn't experience anything. The rain descended, the floods came, and the wind beat against both homes.

But what was the determining factor? The determining factor was not the type of house. It was the foundation on which it was built. Now you can understand what the Old Testament would say. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.

Why? Because as the floods come in, they will not overtake me. As I walk through the fire, I will not be burned. I will not be scorched because the Lord upholds me with his right hand. Though the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, if he falls, he will not be utterly cast down because the Lord upholds him.

See it's the Lord doing the holding. It's the foundation. We're anchored to that foundation. It's not us. It's the foundation we're anchored to. And this is a good time to remind everybody as I did this morning.

If you don't like what I'm saying, it's probably because you need to hear what I'm saying. If this is convicting and challenging, what it means is you need to hear this. God is tugging on your heart. You're either saying amen or hurry up.

Let's be honest. What about if I start in the second first row? Second row. Go through. Do you want me to, are you saying amen or are you saying hurry up? Get this guy over with. I'm hungry. Get this guy, hurry up Shane.

I don't like what you're saying. Or do you say, I love what you're saying. Thank God for Christ. Let's bring some more worship back up. There's two types of people in this room. There are two types of people in this room.

Think about that. That's where the defining factor is. Shut up Shane or amen. We should use that from now on. Or we could say the ones that are smiling are saying the amen. The ones that are not too happy are saying hurry up.

Get done with this. But in all seriousness, I don't say any of this to upset people. Actually if it were up to me, I would just come in here and tell you God loves you and he does and his mercy and his grace.

Just keep on doing whatever you're doing. Don't worry about it. You're more than conquerors. You're the head, not the tail. You just go out, charge team, go do it. God will be with you. God bless you.

Let's go. Let's get out of here. Thank God. Everybody loves me. Wasn't that great? I have no enemies. Nobody's upset at me. That's what the flesh wants. You think I like upsetting people? Called the Godzilla preacher and all this.

Like wow, I just really love that. And then Linda, you know Linda Hearn, she bless her heart. After the service, she came up. She said, man, people came up to me and said, boy, your pastor really doesn't hold anything back does he?

So I don't know if that's good or not. But my point is, my job is not to disseminate what you want to hear. It's to read the word of God and say what we need to hear. Because a lot of times, what we want to hear is not what we need to hear.

I saw the same thing in the fitness industry. If I could come in and just say, hey, drink Diet Cokes all day, eat a Snickers bar, have a donut in the morning and 16 ounce cups of coffee. That's what everybody wants to hear.

But I need to tell you what you don't want to hear. Because that's where change really takes place. When you begin to embrace what you don't want to hear, that's when change takes place. I'm just looking around the room.

I could give people the opportunity to give up testimony. They would say, true change in my life happened when I did what I didn't want to do initially. Could it not? It hurt. It hurts to repent. It hurts to say I'm sorry.

It hurts to love your wives as Christ loved the church. It hurts to say I'm a prideful, arrogant man and I need to repent. All these things hurt, but that's what God does. He takes that clay and forms us and he starts chipping off all these things.

Truth as the Unmovable Lighthouse

So back to the third point, the material that we use to build is vitally important. Most people say it doesn't really matter. All foundations are the same. All foundations support the same structure. It doesn't really matter, does it?

Just throw some concrete down. Same thing today. It doesn't really matter what you believe as long as you believe, as long as you're sincere in your beliefs, as long as you're sincere as if sincerity has saved anyone.

You can be sincerely wrong. Sincerely wrong. And somehow in our culture, we have this misconception that as long as you have faith, you're good. Well, you have to have faith in the right things. And Jesus would say, you have to build your life on the solid foundation.

He said many times, I tell you the truth. And when Jesus Christ says, I tell you the truth, you can take it to the bank. I'll take that above the sun coming up tomorrow morning. I tell you the truth. The word was written, Jesus would say, that you know the truth.

The word is truth. This is truth. It can't be altered. It can't be moved aside. It can't be discarded. It can't be hidden. It is truth given to save man from himself. And I'll tell a brief story that I told this morning because Jim liked this one.

And many of you have heard it, but it bears repeating because it's pivotal when we talk about this whole issue of truth. And it's the one about the battleship that was off the shores of Alaska. They were doing deep water exercises.

It was dense out. It was foggy. It was dark. And this battleship is going along and it sees a light way in the distance. Way in the distance. And it signals to that light, listen, change your course. We're going to run into you.

And the light came back, no, you change your course. And the captain is getting upset. He said, listen, he signaled back, I'm the highest ranking officer in the United States Navy. Change your course immediately.

And the light came back. Captain, the signal came back, Captain, with all due respect, I'm a seaman, first class. You change your course. And this captain was irate. He threw down his coffee cup. He said, you signal back right now that I am a battleship and I will blow you out of the water if you do not change your course.

The signal came back. Captain, with all due respect, change your course immediately. I am a lighthouse. Let that, well, is that not what we do with this? Could you please change your course? I don't want to obey this.

Get out of the way. Remove yourself. Get out of here. You change your course this way or that way. I want to live anyway. Move it. And it says, I can. I can't move. I've been given to guide you. You will not guide me.

I guide you. I am the lighthouse. Whether you like it or not, whether you listen or not, whether you obey or not, I stand on the edge of the cliff and I say, here, warning, turn back. It is a lighthouse.

But we said, get out of the way. Get out of the way. Our entire leadership, our nation needs to hear that. You don't tell this to get out of the way. You get out of the way. But that's what it is, folks.

That's a lighthouse. We don't worship that. We worship Christ. But it leads us to the cross. It gives us direction in everything. Finances, stewardship, marriage, abortion, gay marriage, same-sex attraction, stem cell research, all these controversial hot buttons that nobody has answers for.

God does. God's word is crystal clear. Do not destroy life. I created it. Marriage, man and a woman, I created it. Sin, hell, damnation, yeah, those are bad things, but there's love, grace, and mercy too.

And the people were starting to squirm and I could see, oh, man, that's a hard group of people, mainly unbelievers. They're like, who is this guy? And I said, Jim gave me permission to unload all 66 books of the Bible, say, you better wake up and you better listen.

Because his prayers were being answered this morning because many people that he wanted to hear the gospel message have never heard it or they've mocked it. And now I got them. They can't get up. We knew the ushers.

Don't let them out. Don't let them out. But if you truly are concerned, people see that. It's not anger. It's passion. I mean, what do we do when Paul says, Timothy, preach the whole Bible. Preach everything because the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine.

There will become a time when they don't want to hear this. Do you know it's interesting that you can go and you can talk about God and a higher power and all these things. Nobody cares. Isn't that wonderful?

They're making movies. You can say all that stuff. But as soon as you say the name of Jesus Christ, oh, you're in trouble. You just killed somebody. You can't say that name. Why? If it's no big deal. If it's no big deal, why can't you say it?

Let me quote Spurgeon here if I can find it. If there be a man before me who says that the wrath of God is too heavy a punishment for his little sin, I ask him, if the sin be so little, why does he not give it up?

Ouch. Sometimes I wish I lived back in the 17, 1800s. These guys, I mean, they just laid it out. But that's what happens when you preach the totality of Scripture. Lives are changed. You love a person, but you talk about the wrath of God.

You give them mercy, but you talk about the judgment of God. You show them the way to heaven, but you show them the consequences of hell. That's the gospel, the complete gospel. Jesus came on the scene saying, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

And many in this room, and you're going to hear this later, whether it's radio, internet, need to hear this message. Do you truly know him? You cannot live your life with the question mark here. If I were to say, do you know Christ?

Well, I think so. I hope so. I said a little prayer. You don't know him. Now, that might get some people upset at me, but that's the gospel truth, because those who have a vibrant relationship with the risen Savior know him.

This isn't, well, I think so. I mean, I said a prayer when I was 12, maybe, I don't know. It's like, are you married or not? Am I? Oh, I am. Ooh, that was a close call, I wasn't sure. I mean, and my relationship with Christ is just as real, if not more real, than my marriage.

Because from that foundation is the marriage is built. From that foundation, life is built. From that foundation, my kids, my fathering, everything is built on that foundation. So when life is falling apart, and addictions are taking over, or everything's falling apart, go back to the foundation.

Not just hear about the foundation, not just come on Saturday and think, well, I'm good. Go back to the foundation. Get your hammer out and get some big nails and start nailing things back into that foundation.

Start anchoring and start drilling into that foundation so you're secure. I can tell you, any time a person is drifting, they have no more prayer life, they have no more devotional life. They're drifting.

They have all this garbage on their radio instead of worship music. They have all these friends that are pulling them down, except they're going in the wrong direction. You need to be anchored back on the rock.

It's almost getting, it's ironic as well. I can look when I see, when I hear such and such is going through hard times right now, or this, or they've fallen back in sin, I just look at their Facebook page.

Well, I can tell you where that started about six months ago. Look at all this junk they're posting. Look at where their heart's at. Look it. Out of the abundance of the heart, your mouth is going to speak.

Show me Facebook, I'll show you your heart. Think about it. They used to worship music, now they're putting all this garbage. Wholesome pictures, now the pictures make a Playboy model blush. What's happening?

The drift. You're getting off of the foundation. You need to get back to that foundation. That's my job. That's one of the reasons I'm called to do this, is to get you back on the foundation. And I have other people to help me stay on that foundation, because the enemy likes to knock us off.

When the winds blow, we like to kind of blow away. The rains come, I'm out of here. I'm out of here. And that's so important, the foundation. Always lead to salvation, and I'm a good person, are all excuses.

Let me say that again. Always do not lead to God. Well, they lead to the judgment seat, but they do not lead to heaven. All paths, all ways do not lead to God. Because you can't have both things. You can't have this and the book of other religions.

You can't have this and my own thing. Because Jesus said, I am the only way, the only truth, the only life. You will never get through the Father unless you go through me. So is he wrong, or is he right?

If he's wrong, why are we here? Really. I mean, we're wasting a lot of time. Excuses must die at the foot of the cross. All the excuses I offer to these people, all your excuses, I've heard them all. I'm a good person.

No, there's none that are good. No, not one. Well, I've been a Christian all my life. No, you can't be a Christian all of your life. You're not born a Christian. There's a point in time where you repent of your sin, you believe in Jesus.

Well, all ways lead to God. No, all religions can be wrong, but all religions cannot be right. Think about that. All religions on the planet can be wrong, but they cannot all be right. And I didn't have time this morning, but I have a little time now.

I want to just tell you why I believe, because a lot of people think, and my wife's talked to people, I've talked to people, it's almost like they think Christians just check their brains at the door.

Oh, I believe in God, some cosmic something, and yeah, I just need him, it's a crutch for my life. And I guess, yeah, you just check your brains at the door and walk around like you're just believing in whatever.

Actually Christians do not check their brains at the door. If you begin to look at everything, the history and archeological discoveries confirm the biblical record. Over 25 ,000 sites have now been discovered that confirm the Bible's accuracy.

Did you catch that? 25 ,000 sites all over, mainly the Middle East obviously, have been found and confirm what's already been written in the Word of God. Do you know how many locations mentioned in the Book of Mormon have been found?

Zero. Zero. Shane, you should make fun of other religions. I'm not making fun, I'm just telling you the facts. We don't check our brains at the door. Nothing's been found. In biblical Christianity, the Bible, 25 ,000 sites have been found.

And Nelson Glewek, I don't know how to pronounce his last name, he's a renowned Jewish archeologist, the person who digs up dirt and finds things, well that's what he does, right? It may be stated categorically that no discovery has ever went against a biblical reference.

People say, oh, there's so many, show me one mistake in the Bible. Show me where that's at. Usually they've heard it, or they've heard it, or they, well, they don't know. Everything that's been found confirms the Bible.

Evidence for the Biblical Record and the Transformed Life

So not only do you have history in archeology, what about the accuracy of biblical prophecy? There are over 2 ,000 accurately fulfilled predictions in the Bible, including some 300 specific details about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

No bones would be broken. He would be hung among thieves, crucified when crucifixion wasn't even invented. They would cast lots for his clothing, Jeremiah, the prophets, Isaiah, they would write about Christ.

How has all this happened? You should read a book by Lee Strobel, Case for Christ. Full-on atheists begin to invest, if you approach God with an open mind, you will find him. Let me say that again. If you approach God with an open, teachable mind, you will find him.

That's a prayer that God will answer. What happens is they say, well, I'll seek, and I'll find, and I'll seek. In their mind, they've got plan B. There's no God, but I'm going to pacify everybody and act as if there is, and I'll investigate.

They're not seeking him with a pure heart. Whoever seeks him will find him. That's crystal clear. If you seek me with all of your heart, Muslim, Buddhist, whatever it is, if you seek him, you will find him.

But when pride gets in the way, and we say, well, I don't think this, and I don't think that, I'm suppressing the truth, and all these things, you'll never find him because you're God of your own life.

What's wrong with saying, God, if you're really out there, if you're really, Lord, I want to believe in you, Lord, will you show me? Will you please show me? You don't think he's going to answer that prayer?

If you seek me, you will find me. There's no, well, I might reveal myself, I'll consider it. You might wake me up from heaven someday, and while I'm sleeping or on vacation, seek me with all of your heart, you will find me.

So we have history. We have archaeological discoveries. We have biblical prophecy. What about the internal consistency of the Bible? It is a truly amazing, consistent document. I don't think people realize it a lot, but because I've written books, I understand how difficult it would be to get all these authors, 40 different authors, 40 different authors written over 1 ,500 years in three different continents by many groups of people, priests, kings, peasants, shepherds, all these things saying the same thing, the internal consistency of the Bible.

That doesn't just happen. That does not just happen. You start in Genesis, you finish in Revelation, it's consistent theme, God creating, God saving, God redeeming, it's all about his story. That's what history is.

So when you take all of that into consideration, how in the world could you dismiss it? Because of arrogance only and pride. But the greatest witness, I believe, is a transformed life. How can somebody be on their deathbed like Jim was and have total peace?