Great Days and Special Memories- Fishin and Football

Talk about a blessed man!

It started last Sunday morning. The 'work' of hard fishing conditions of wind and choppy waters subsided and turned the Mississippi Delta into a pristine lake.

As we went out into the reeds, it was as beautiful a sunrise as I had ever seen.

And the redfish were hungry!

All I can say is that we caught fish from 7Am until 1:30 PM - we pulled one in about 3 or 4 casts. Every spot produced some kind of nice catch. A lot of reds, but we also caught a big speck, a founder, a blue fish, a freshwater cat, and two monster Jack-cavelles.

I still cannot express the fun of having a redfish attack your lure- they hit it hard- they come to put a hurt on you!

But as sweet as that was... I still find unbelievable satisfaction in coaching my football team. My team really picked me up this week- we had fun practices in the mud and it paid off with a very special win at DCA last night.

We have beaten our #1 rival now 5 years in a row... and it never gets old. We just played really well and pushed a close halftime game into a relatively comfortable 4th quarter win.

I received so many texts, e-mails, and phone calls about how proud people are in our effort.

I am so happy and so thankful.

The Lord is good!

The Hunt for Redfish and Perseverence

I wanted to mention a few more things about our fishing trip to the Mississippi Delta.

Saturday was a big disappointment.

It was a beautiful day- and amazing sunrise- and perfect temps. We could tell the wind was going to be up, but still confident in landing redfish early and often.

On about my third cast in open ocean (about 3 ft deep) I hit a big one. The technique is fun. I threw a nice spin cast rod and reel with 50 lb braided line. I had a plastic jig tied on just below a large cork. Once you hit the water you begin a retrieve and POP technique.

I popped, reeled, popped, reeled, popped BOOM! When a redfish hits, you know it ain't no catfish. But I thought I missed him, my line went limp and I paused..... bad mistake- the cork was still under and the big red was running right at me.

Mike Frenette yelled at me, "REEL!"

I began to try and catch up and then he went in reverse- the power is hard to describe on that light tackle- but oh my! did he pull and then... SNAP... line broke.

Mike's stinging commentary, "You let him wrap the line around the cork. That was a big fish you just missed." (Thanks for telling me).

Unfortunately, that was the last big redfish hit I had that day ( I did get a small one 2 or 3 lbs). We did nothing.... yeah, we caught about 50 catfish, Bill even caught a nice largemouth bass. But the redfish were not eating... we saw them but did not catch them. Bill caught about a 7 lb. redfish late in the day.

Mike last comment- "This was the worst outing I have had in three years.".

But we knew we had another day. We just had to keep after it- and Sunday will be a memory for the ages.

Before I tell that story though- it just reminded me to hang tough... sooner or later the tide has to turn.And when it does hold on... it is one good ride! Sunday story to follow....

Musings in the Mississippi Delta

My good friend, Bill Hawkins, picked me up on a rainy, Nashville Friday and we began a trip that I will remember for a long time.

I had never done anything like this before. So I was extremely thankful and excited as we boarded the plane, got to New Orleans before we could even eat our peanuts, and headed south to Venice, LA- about as far south on land a person can go.

I had no clue how blessed I was going to be. It started when I learned that we were fishing with Mike Frenette. Over 20 years experience has earned Mike Frenette world wide recognition as the very best charter captain in South Louisiana.

Mike currently has his own television show ``Outdoor Adventures With Mike Frenette", which airs in the New Orleans area, and a fishing segment each Thursday on WVUE Channel 8. He has also appeared on ESPN's ``Salt Water Journal" with host Mark Sosin, and on TNN's ``Great American Outdoors" with Ron Shearer, along with other guest appearances.

Mike has a great set-up- right on the delta. His boat is on the water, his lodge right over it, so all we did was eat, sleep, and fish.

The eating was about as good as it gets. Mike has his own cook, Gloria, who had authentic Cajun cuisine waiting after each day of fishing. Her dishes included grilled redfish, creole pasta, and shrimp jambalaya.

I also have to mention the unusual beauty of the Mississippi delta. It is a place of resurgence following the devastation of Katrina. As we skimmed the shallow waters of the brackish water, it was surreal to see new structures and destroyed structures in the foreground of God's beauty.

There were rusted out barges being overtaken by dazzling vegetation and brand new buildings going up on the shore. There were the amazing engineering of the gas and oil plants scattered in acres of high reeds and alligator water.

It was like something out of a James Bond movie as we stormed through the reeds into open water. The no wake zone looked like a scene from water world and the environment constantly changed from unmarked natural marsh, to open ocean, to unexpected natural gas pumps dotting the landscape.

The water depth would always range from 3 to 6 feet. We anchored in some places that looked like a vast ocean only to realize that for miles the water was no more than 3 1/2 feet deep.

I'll write later about the fishing part and the amazing redfish that we stalked. But there is something about being there that makes a person feel so alive. It was a therapeutic escape and an experience I will always treasure.

The 'Secret' We Have Forgotten

In 1923 J Gresham Machen published the now famous Christianity and Liberalism.
I have put just a little of the introduction in this blog. Read with care the following quotations and ask yourself- When and where will we find the next group of great men to fight these battles of our very existence?

In the sphere of religion, as in other spheres, the things about which men are agreed are apt to be the things that are least worth holding; the really important things are the things about which men will fight.

Inevitably the question arises whether the opinions of such men can ever be normative for men of the present day; in other words, whether first-century religion can ever stand in company with twentieth-century science.

Place the lives of children in their formative years, despite the convictions of their parents, under the intimate control of experts appointed by the state, force them then to attend schools where the higher aspirations of humanity are crushed out, and where the mind is filled with the materialism of the day, and it is difficult to see how even the remnants of liberty can subsist. Such a tyranny, supported as it is by a perverse technique used as the instrument in destroying human souls, is certainly far more dangerous than the crude tyrannies of the past, which despite their weapons of fire and sword permitted thought at least to be free.

The truth is that the materialistic paternalism of the present day, if allowed to go on unchecked, will rapidly make of America one huge "Main Street," where spiritual adventure will be discouraged and democracy will be regarded as consisting in the reduction of all mankind to the proportions of the narrowest and least gifted of the citizens. God grant that there may come a reaction, and that the great principles of Anglo-Saxon liberty may be rediscovered before it is too late! But whatever solution be found for the educational and social problems of our own country, a lamentable condition must be detected in the world at large. It cannot be denied that great men are few or nonexistent, and that there has been a general contracting of the area of personal life. Material betterment has gone hand in hand with spiritual decline.

Such a condition of the world ought to cause the choice between modernism and traditionalism, liberalism and conservatism, to be approached without any of the prejudice which is too often displayed. In view of the lamentable defects of modern life, a type of religion certainly should not be commended simply because it is modern or condemned simply because it is old. On the contrary, the condition of mankind is such that one may well ask what it is that made the men of past generations so great and the men of the present generation so small. In the midst of all the material achievements of modern life, one may well ask the question whether in gaining the whole world we have not lost our own soul. Are we forever condemned to live the sordid life of utilitarianism? Or is there some lost secret which if rediscovered will restore to mankind something of the glories of the past?

Such a secret the writer of this little book would discover in the Christian religion. But the Christian religion which is meant is certainly not the religion of the modern liberal Church, but a message of divine grace, almost forgotten now, as it was in the middle ages, but destined to burst forth once more in God's good time, in a new Reformation, and bring light and freedom to mankind. What that message is can be made clear, as is the case with all definition, only by way of exclusion, by way of contrast. In setting forth the current liberalism, now almost dominant in the Church, over against Christianity, we are animated, therefore, by no merely negative or polemic purpose; on the contrary, by showing what Christianity is not we hope to be able to show what Christianity is, in order that men may be led to turn from the weak and beggarly elements and have recourse again to the grace of God.

How Worship Washes Pain Away

"Without worship we shrink"

Went into a little Methodist church in Huntsville, AL today. As much as I enjoyed seeing my mother-in-law and getting away with my wife and children, I walked in weighed down and heavy.

Life does that sometimes. Hurting hearts tend to overwhelm us and color all of life a dark gray.

The offertory hymn was Charles Wesley- each line began to wash away my pain:

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace; (my heart needed this tuning)
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise. (how can I be sad- Jesus died for me and offers grace)
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above. (the fire I am going through is for my good)
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love. (see cross- it changes everything)
Sorrowing I shall be in spirit,
Till released from flesh and sin, (this world will remain tough throughout my life)
Yet from what I do inherit,
Here Thy praises I’ll begin; ( I will praise God in all circumstances)
Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Here by Thy great help I’ve come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home. (This world is not my home)
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood;
How His kindness yet pursues me
Mortal tongue can never tell,
Clothed in flesh, till death shall loose me
I cannot proclaim it well. (What a story! What a Savior!
O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, (yes... all too easy- all too soon)
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.
O that day when freed from sinning,
I shall see Thy lovely face;
Clothed then in blood washed linen
How I’ll sing Thy sovereign grace;
Come, my Lord, no longer tarry,
Take my ransomed soul away;
Send thine angels now to carry
Me to realms of endless day.

Well- I guess you can imagine... all the clouds of despair were blasted by God's grace and power. I'm ready to roll- what have I to cry about?

Arch Bishop of Canterbury- William Temple said it well:
“Worship is the submission of all of our nature to God.
It is the quickening of conscience by His holiness, nourishment of mind by His truth, purifying of imagination by His beauty, opening of the heart to His love, and submission of will to His purpose.And all this gathered up in adoration is the greatest of human expressions of which we are capable.”
Thank-you Lord for worship.... How can we live without you?

Going for Two- Deja Vous

I am still in disbelief at what has happened the last two weeks.

We are 0-3 with the last two defeats being 1 point short. The latest is an overtime loss in an important region game.

This was a back and forth game- typical of a high school game, the momentum swings usually turned around mistakes and turnovers.

This one hurt.

Just like last week, we scored at the end. East Lit had just scored on their first overtime possession and made their extra point. We scored and all in our huddle liked the call to go.

The biggest complication is our struggling PAT team. We have a brand new kicker, he has gotten a lot better, but it is a lot to put on him. We missed a PAT on our last score of regulation.

So we went for it. We lined up, I burned my last timeout (you get one in overtime) and we called a good play.

They made the play ..... and we were tackled short.

The hurt in our players and coaches was deep- the jubilation on the other side was explosive.

So think and pray for us. We will take a long weekend off and will have to regroup late on Monday. Another tough opponent- Goodpasture- comes to our field on Friday.

There are no gimees in this league- we will have to show up and fight every week.

A Biblical Apologetic of Evil and Existence of God

 A Biblical Apologetic of Evil and Existence of God

NEHEMIAH 9:6 You are the Lord, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you.

ISAIAH 55:6,7 “Seek the Lord while he may be found;

call upon him while he is near;

7 let the wicked forsake his way,

and the unrighteous man his thoughts;

let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him,

and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

There has to be majesty and mystery if there is a true God.

IS 55:8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.

9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways

and my thoughts than your thoughts.

The very definition of ‘God’ means a transcendent being beyond us.

If you can understand everything about your God- maybe that is a god made in your image.

Origin of evil came as a result of real freedom in the garden.

Genesis 3:2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

The growth and pervasive nature of evil is now a product of our bondage to sin.

EPHESIANS 2:1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins

ROMANS 7:15-25 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.

God is not the author of evil, but he channels it to His good purposes. The cross is the greatest example of man's intended evil and God's intended good.

GENESIS 50:19-21But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? 20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. 21 So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.” Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.

Evil still exists because of God's patience.

II PETER 3:8-12 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn!

The day of evil will close but also the day of mercy with it.

ACTS 17:30-31 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.

Evil is goodness spoiled- you can have good without evil- you cannot have evil without good.

The existence of evil actually points to the existence of God. Bad things happen to all on this earth- it points not only to God’s existence, but the need for salvation.

LUKE 13:1-5 There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? 3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.

Jesus endured hell for us- to turn Him away is the height of offensiveness, foolishness, and perversion.

HEBREWS 4:14-16 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

We are limited in mind and feeble of spirit- yet accuse God of wrongdoing and injustice.

ROMANS 9:18 So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.19 You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” 20 But who are you, O man, to answer back to God?

Do we want justice or mercy?

ROMANS 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

We are as blind as the bear in the bear trap analogy. We see only in part.

II CORINTHIANS 4:3-4 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. 4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

The gospel overcomes all evil.

ROMANS 3:21-24 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus

Our sufferings are momentary and light....

II CORINTHIANS 4:16-18 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

EVIL WILL BE ABOLISHED

REVELATION 21:1-3 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.

We know God exists- but we suppress the truth.

Romans 1:18-22 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

The Bible does not debate the existence of God.

Psalm 14:The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds,
there is none who does good.

There are eyewitness reports of the truth of Jesus. These men died for this testimony.

I JOHN 1:1-3 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— 2 the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— 3 that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.

Assuming God is reasonable, but reasons alone are unsatisfactory- not because of our head... but because of our heart.

I CORINTHIANS 2:14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

II CORINTHIANS 4:3-4 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. 4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

Stop hiding from God - and experience His love and mercy.

JOHN 10:10-11 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

JOHN 10:27-30 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”

It is life changing......

JOHN 11:25-26 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

The boss is in his office- you know he is there.

JOHN 20:28-29 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

JOHN 5:39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me

You will meet Him at the right time.

JOHN 14:1-6 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.” 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

If you saw Him now as He is.... you would be rent in two.

HABAKKUK 2:14 For the earth will be filled

with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord

as the waters cover the sea.

ZEPHANIAH 3: 17 The Lord your God is in your midst,

a mighty one who will save;

he will rejoice over you with gladness;

he will quiet you by his love;

he will exult over you with loud singing.

ROMANS 8:31-39 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;

we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Finally, I believe in God because I have experienced Him- there is nothing wrong with this defense.

JOHN 9:24-25 So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.” 25 He answered, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”

But beyond this, the arguments for God’s existence that have weighed the most helpful in my heart are:

1) The design of the fine tuned universe and existence of life. Information and design came from a designer- Life from life. Not only that order exists, but also it is discoverable. The basic equations of the universe are able to be understood and communicated. We were placed in a world of discovery and accomplishment from the hand of God.

2) The moral argument- we have a deep sense of ‘ought ness’- even if the substance or details of our moral laws vary- we judge fairness and justice according to an unseen force of moral law. There is a moral lawgiver, and we are made in His image.

3) My desires point to God. I need relationship, security, and significance. My God is the Great Thirst Quencher- I need Him!

4) The testimony of the gospel and the triumph of the church. The spread of the gospel is the greatest phenomenon in the history of the world. Men and nations have been conquered through a story of love and sacrifice. The story of creation, fall, redemption captures us in movies, literature, art, and music in ways that I know this gospel story is grounded in reality… in truth.

5) The Bible. It is too unified and uncanny in predicting, explaining, and comforting to be the words of man. This is a supernatural experience. When I want to spend time with God, I just sit down and open His word!

II TIMOTHY 3:14-16 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it 15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.

HEBREWS 4:12 For the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

TO GOD ALONE BE THE GLORY!

ROMANS 5:1-5 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

I CORINTHIANS 2:2-5 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, 4 and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

II CORINTHIANS 13:5 Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!