Choices: For Our Eternal Home

By Jerry McDermott

Many people are concerned with the here and now, but a larger question looms: Where will you spend eternity?

In Choices, author Jerry McDermott delves deeper into some of the themes he explored in his book: A Gilded Walk: The Path to Heaven. He shows beyond doubt that there is an afterlifesomething that the whatever generation has not faced.

The ultimate goal for everyone should be to spend eternity in heaven with a loving God and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Our DNA is below Gods standards which can be met with repentance through his graces.

McDermott reveals how to determine where you will spend eternity, so that when youre asked that question, you wont be guessing. Even if you have lived a life steeped in sin, you can seek Gods forgiveness to become the person you should be.

Crash through roadblocks impeding your personal growth, find peace in chaotic times, and examine the only two places which will become your eternal home with Choices.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Mar 9, 2017
• ISBN: 9781532013621

Jerry McDermott

The author has a BA degree with additional graduate studies. He has published five previous books and hundreds of magazine articles. He was previously an engineer, an account manager as well as a church council president and lay pastor. He served in the USAF Reserve for eight years. He and his wife live in the Southwest, USA.

Book preview

Part 1

Identity

1

Who Are We?

MOST PEOPLE HAVE SOME OPINION ABOUT WHO THEY ARE. I do not mean our job, gender, marriage or single state, or age. I want to talk about us. Eventually, we will examine what scripture says about us, but first we will examine someone else. We will take a look at John the Baptist. In the bible, the expectant mothers, Mary and Elizabeth got together before their respective children were born. We can imagine that later the boys played together. John was quite a guy and a friend of Jesus. Growing older, John became an itinerant preacher and many myths were created about him and his camel coat. John did not travel around in a camel-colored cashmere sport coat as his apparel was much simpler being the outer skin of a camel. He was a forerunner of numerous homeless people

John repeatedly announced he was not the light, but was to announce that the light was coming into the world. Was his mission any different than our task today? Look at the virtues of John the Baptist. While he practiced humility and poverty, he had to be a forceful preacher of repentance. We also know he was a holy person. It seems that John’s ministry began at a very early age. In fact, he became Spirit-filled in his mother’s womb. As a preacher, John proclaimed, Reform your lives! The reign of God is at hand (Matthew 3:2). To avoid confusion, note that scripture equates the phrases the reign of God and the Kingdom of God.

Can any one of us measure up to such a man? Surprisingly, the answer is Yes! In fact, Jesus strongly stated, I solemnly assure you history has not known a man born of woman greater than John the Baptist, yet the least born into the Kingdom of God is great than he (Matthew 11:11).

John, the author and apostle of Jesus, helps us discover who we are: See what love the Father has bestowed on us in letting us be called the children of God. Yet that is what we are. The reason the world does not recognize us is that it never recognized the Son (1 John 3:1). My hand-written comment asks, Do we recognize ourselves? In other words, since God created us, why do we not realize that we are children of God? The reason is simple, namely, that the vast majority of people never recognized that Jesus Christ is indeed the Son of God

While this is a preview of future chapters, for now, let us continue to discover who we are.

2

Nearly Me

MY FOLKS MAINTAINED THAT EVERYONE HAS A LOOK-A-LIKE or twin somewhere in the world. I never thought much about this, suspecting it was just Irish folklore. Sitting in a European café one night, I watched myself walk in the door. The other me was in an Italian Air Force uniform with some other military personnel. I was stunned and had to talk to him. I walked over to their table and summoned my best Pig-Latin Italianese, Hi, Fratello en Sympatico! He was surprised as his duplicate stood before him.

Fortunately, he spoke English. I learned that he and his buddies were members of the Italian Air Force and he was a jet fighter pilot. Our only commonality was airplanes as I was in the U.S. Air Force Reserve. While I was not a pilot, since WWII, I had been fascinated with aircraft history.

He was full Italian. By contrast, I was Irish-Czech heritage, yet we looked alike, even our hairstyle and coloring. We laughed, joked and compared backgrounds. Luckily, he was a little nutty as well, so we horsed around as twins. After dinner, we visited a few places and people noted our similarity and assumed we were twins. So, we acted and spoke like twins. We kept in touch by letters for a while after I returned to the States. Our contacts wavered, then stopped, as we both became more pressed for time.

Years later, I realized that the Holy Spirit was behind this occurrence as a gift. The occurrence was a teaching, not just a wonderful experience. Nevertheless, a look-alike is not who we are. For now, let us examine factors that might impede our progress.

3

Whatever

I NEVER THOUGHT MUCH ABOUT INDIFFERENCE OR APATHY until one night I realized I was surrounded by this silent phenomenon. The scene was the annual meeting of my Home Owners Association. Thankfully, some of the board members showed up otherwise the quorum requirements would not have been met. Since they were also home owners-in the subdivision, their very presence was important.

With almost 120 homes in the area association, the annual meeting was in the middle of so many problems. In spite of the pre-announced agenda, few home owners attended. The absolute indifference to rules, regulations, current and future budgets, street paving, and thorny issues amazed me. As I sat back and started to take a wider view, I saw aloofness as a national tragedy.

Look around. Indifference may be silent, but it is extensive. Examine what is called entertainment. What was morally wrong is now widespread and acceptable. After all, the new philosophy is diversity. What was forbidden is now characterized as an art form in so many presentations.

What are the consequences of whatever? There aren’t any. But I have to add there aren’t any consequences yet. I do what I want seems to be the accepted outlook. After all, we are guaranteed freedom of speech. What we have lost is decency. When bodily excrements can become art forms, we are over the line. What about conformance to common decency and standards of righteousness and morality, as well as being lawful?

It seems the only guide is the personal rights and whims of a generation.

The major break-away items would take a lengthy published work to describe. For now, let us look at aspects of money. Yes, greed is everywhere. That was the old standard. Look at the personal side of business.

Do explicit ads for feminine hygiene, birth control, male enhancement, and the absolute sheer pleasure of soft toilet paper belong to our daily viewing? I did not label it as television because the media can be viewed on a variety of formats.

I believe you get the message. We are living in a sewer. Entertainment is racing from mini-porno to full pornography. The political arena has become a grandstand for liars. Commentators ask, How dumb do they think we are? It is not a belief in our aptitude; it is knowledge of our acceptance of minutia. Street side interviews reveal absolute knowledge of entertainment stars, their latest clothes, and song hits but little knowledge of anything governmental, world politics, economics, geography, etc.

The almost universal reply to a street questionnaire is, I don’t know about that and I don’t care. In other words, there is not any incentive to pursue even a modicum of truth or history. We want to encourage you to reject whatever and be concerned about life in general and especially your life. Over two thousand years ago, the words of Simon Peter are clear advice today: Save yourselves from this generation which has gone astray (Acts 2:40). Why has this generation gone astray? It is because our guidebook has been forbidden from schools and from court house walls and even on plaques. Not having the biblical guide book and the Ten Commandments, diversity is the law of the land. Where are the rules of morality today? They exist as smashed up cement or rock. Have you ever considered the origin of these moral laws and the atrocity we have committed by their destruction? It is explained in the Book of Exodus: When the Lord had finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two tablets of the commandments, the stone tablets inscribed by God’s own finger (Exodus 31:18). The bible is the inspired word of God. The original Ten Commandments were the actual written word of God and by God.

That history is repeated is an old adage. Clearly we are living in an era that replicates what happened thousands of years ago and was prophesized by Jesus himself. He said that when he returned, what happened in Noah’s time will be repeated. He then states that they were totally unconcerned until the flood came and destroyed them. We will discuss our era which is being called the End Times in later chapters. However, if you want to compare the two eras, see Genesis 6:5-13.

4

Sine

MANY PEOPLE ARE FAMILIAR WITH THE TERM SINE AS A trigonometry function. Others have also heard of the legal term, sine qua non which means without which there is nothing or something vital. However, we are going to examine this word as a Latin preposition which means without.

There are many things in America that have changed and therefore we are without. For example, schools are without prayers, bibles, and Ten Commandments. The lack of absolutes has raised the aspect of the individual. Without God’s laws, it is what I think is right or wrong. The result: crime is up; marriages are down; there are more unwed mothers; there are more fatherless children. The word bastard was used for centuries conveying a social stigma. In the wake of abject promiscuity and the tidal wave of unwed mothers as well as adopted children by same sex couples, the term has disappeared. We are so politically correct even if we are morally deficient. Elements within America are dedicated to remove all traces of God, even rewriting American history to eliminate the biblical influence of the founders of our country.

We see many incidents of a concerted effort to make America a godless society. As a result, we are in extreme peril for mankind cannot upstage Almighty God. History shows how many empires and dictators have tried and failed. All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. (Edmund Burke). We can site one nation, Israel that has an uncanny existence over centuries regardless of outside influences trying to obliterate them. This is because God himself has proclaimed, I will bless them that bless you and condemn that that curse you (Genesis 12:3).

Every nation and society looks to their youth to foresee the next generation. Today, examine America’s youth in the media or in society without religion but with drugs, morally deficient, and with inept schooling. The words of Edmund Burke are a clear forecast: Tell me what are the prevailing sentiments that occupy the minds of your young men, and I will tell you what is to be the character of the next generation.

5

The Challenge

A ROAD NAMED OPPORTUNITY LIES AHEAD, BUT FIRST WE have to face a challenge. The challenge is nothing new; it is the same one we have faced for years. The problem is living in the world, but not being part of it, yet bringing the message of salvation. We live in the world, but we can have both feet in the church, but not one foot in each.

The amazing part of the challenge is that it is in the bible–always has been there. Jesus talked about seeing they do not see and hearing, they do not hear. I believe it is more difficult to live with today’s worldly allure than in past times when life was simpler. We never have to be alone as we can always have an electronic companion. Now we can even watch a movie on our phone. And since we hear electronically oriented sounds through ear pieces, the audible real world is masked. We have all seen a young person crossing a street mindless of the real world as they are totally engrossed in their hands and listening to something with electronic ears.

In spite of all the evidence of a loving God, many refuse to believe or acknowledge our Lord. Many are trapped in worldly allure that they cannot see nor hear. My proof of God’s existence is rather simple. Just look at a baby’s face or the face of a puppy or kitten. Living in the Southwest, due to the skies lighting, the mountains put on a different show for us every day. And real lightning in a rare rain storm is a magnificent show, as is the fabulous Southwest sunsets. When the first rain happens, people sometimes come outside and cheer.

Is it an accident that everyone has a different fingerprint? And now they are talking about our differences through optical scans. What more proof is there of an omnipotent being? Jesus said, Have you eyes, but no sight? Ears, but no hearing (Mark 8:18)?

The lure of the world’s busyness is due to a puppeteer named Satan. There are so many strings hanging down that he controls. One is the number of tempting religions that promise so much, but deliver nothing. However, they do keep our eyes off the real Lord, the one true God. Others are the curse of drugs, money, easy riches, the harm done to women and children, the collapse of marriage, the ersatz entertainment today, etc.

As in the days after the flight from Egypt, there are many idols today. The first is the female breast which is lauded in fashion, song and the media. The next idol is sex, not the type between a husband and his wife, but modern sex with all its deviations. The result is the wrongful proliferation among even the very young that has produced untold disease as well as unwed mothers and the increasingly new definitions of marriage called togetherness. Modern couples redefine partnership. Another idol is money, but not the kind from hard work. I mean the frivolous lawsuits and the incredible millions amassed by corporate types regardless of their employee’s circumstances. Can anyone justify the multi-millions paid to catch a ball, read some else’s words, or sing a song? There is nothing wrong with money itself; it is the love and quest for money.

There is another challenge. Never one to mince words, Paul had a strong word for his Corinthian brothers as he proclaimed, Some of you are ignorant of God. I say it to your shame (1 Corinthians 15:34). What Paul was saying is very common today. It is the knowledge about God rather than knowing God. Even the demons know about God; therefore, we should have a relationship with God. By this, I mean a personal relationship. We cannot walk with God like Adam and Eve, but we can make time to know him and talk to him. Formal prayers are fine to get