{"id":1950369,"date":"2023-06-18T12:46:05","date_gmt":"2023-06-18T16:46:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/op-ed-christians-dont-be-afraid-to-ask-the-tough-question-eternity-is-at-stake\/"},"modified":"2023-06-18T12:48:27","modified_gmt":"2023-06-18T16:48:27","slug":"op-ed-christians-dont-be-afraid-to-ask-the-tough-question-eternity-is-at-stake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/op-ed-christians-dont-be-afraid-to-ask-the-tough-question-eternity-is-at-stake\/","title":{"rendered":"Op-Ed: Christians, Embrace Tough Questions &#8211; Eternity Hangs in Balance"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fop-ed-christians-dont-be-afraid-to-ask-the-tough-question-eternity-is-at-stake%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1950369&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>My Father&#8217;s Journey to Faith<\/h2>\n<p>My father was part of the Greatest Generation, the group that fought in World War II and came home as heroes but never talked much about what they had experienced.<\/p>\n<p>Dad was drafted and wound up in the 29th Infantry Division that fought during D-Day and beyond in France. At Saint Lo, he was injured by a mortar shell and sent to a field hospital. After his recovery, he was sent back to the front lines before being shipped back home at the war\u2019s end.<\/p>\n<p>That was just one of many times in his life that he faced death.<\/p>\n<p>Following the war, he met my mother, married and had three children. Having been brought up in a mainline Protestant denomination, he had always professed a nominal Christianity. My mom faithfully attended a more evangelical church, one that offered an invitation for spiritual response at the end of every service.<\/p>\n<p>When the kids were young, my father also began to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/could-you-fairly-judge-a-catholic-lindsey-graham-reminds-biden-nominee-of-anti-catholic-treatment-in-amy-coney-barrett-confirmation-hearings\/\" title=\"\u2018Could You Fairly Judge A Catholic?\u2019 Lindsey Graham Reminds Biden Nominee Of Anti-Catholic Treatment In Amy Coney Barrett Confirmation Hearings\">attend church regularly<\/a> with her, but he never responded to the invitation to accept Christ.<\/p>\n<p>Later in life he developed health issues. One day, at age 65, the preacher at the church my <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/op-ed-christians-dont-be-afraid-to-ask-the-tough-question-eternity-is-at-stake\/\" title=\"Op-Ed: Christians, Embrace Tough Questions - Eternity Hangs in Balance\">parents attended personally encouraged<\/a> my father to accept Christ as his savior and be baptized. Surprisingly, he immediately responded, \u201cOK.\u201d He professed his faith that Jesus was his Lord and Savior and was baptized.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h3>\u201cAnd Jesus came and said to them, \u2018All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age&#8217;\u201d (Matthew 28:18-20).<\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Afterward, the preacher approached him and said he had one burning question: \u201cWhy did you wait so long to say yes?\u201d In a startling yet simple response, my dad said, \u201cNo one had ever asked me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Thankfully, he responded when the question did come, as he died only two years after that. Even though he had my mother\u2019s example and gentle persuasion for more than 40 years, he still needed someone to ask that direct and eternally <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/house-republicans-demand-answers-on-pelosi-security-decisions-national-guard-deployment\/\" title=\"House Republicans Demand Answers On Pelosi Security Decisions, National Guard Deployment\">important question<\/a>. I wonder how many people around us are in that position.<\/p>\n<p>My heavenly Father also wants everyone to know how much he loves you and wants you to be with him for eternity. That is why Jesus came to earth to die a horrible death for your sins and then rise on the third day.<\/p>\n<p>This is what my earthly father would want to share with you: As long as you are still alive, it is never too late to accept Jesus and to have your sins washed away.<\/p>\n<p>In 2 Corinthians 6:2, Paul urges us not to delay, saying, \u201cNow is the time of God\u2019s favor; now is the day of salvation.\u201d He reminds us that God gave us this free gift of salvation and forgiveness, and it\u2019s open to everyone. His Son came and paid the ultimate price to make this possible.<\/p>\n<p>Both my earthly and heavenly fathers would tell you the same thing: Please don\u2019t delay this decision any longer. You may only have one chance to respond to that invitation, instead of the many opportunities my father had.<\/p>\n<p>So say yes if you haven\u2019t yet, before it\u2019s too late \u2014 don\u2019t wait for someone to have to ask you outright, as many Christians are hesitant to ask.<\/p>\n<p>And if you are already a Christian, don\u2019t wait any longer to simply ask someone else the most important question. There are so many people around us every day who have been exposed to the gospel, but they\u2019ve never had anyone stop and ask them, one-on-one, \u201cAre you ready to follow Christ?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I pray that you\u2019ll remember my father\u2019s story and let it inspire you to be the one who is not afraid to ask that question of your friends and family members. I know that\u2019s what my father would say to you if he were still here on earth, and I know it\u2019s the invitation of my heavenly Father every day.<\/p>\n<p>Now is the time. Why delay?<\/p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/op-ed-christians-dont-afraid-ask-tough-question-eternity-stake\/\">Op-Ed: Christians, Don&#8217;t Be Afraid to Ask the Tough Question &#8211; Eternity Is at Stake<\/a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\">The Western Journal<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>My father, a member of the Greatest Generation, fought in World War II and returned as a hero. However, he rarely spoke about his experiences. Drafted into the 29th Infantry Division, he fought in France during D-Day and sustained injuries at Saint Lo.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2134,"featured_media":1950370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[548],"tags":[7956,7072,11020,28990,28991,15322,4245,3618,6119],"class_list":["post-1950369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-conservative-news-daily","tag-balance","tag-christians","tag-embrace","tag-eternity","tag-hangs","tag-op-ed","tag-questions","tag-riot","tag-tough"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1950369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2134"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1950369"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1950369\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1950370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1950369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1950369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1950369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}