I often count it a blessing that I did not live in the days of Jesus, especially as a Jew.

Knowing my own personality, I know I would likely be one of the Pharisees. To see how Jesus blatantly violated the Sabbath and even claimed to be God, I would be extremely skeptical. But to me, the most challenging part of His life would be His last week in Jerusalem, starting with His entry on a colt.

As a Jew under foreign occupation and with over 400 years of history of religious apathy, my longing for the Messiah would be very strong. Despite my skepticism against Jesus because of the above, there had to lurk within me a glimmer of hope that He might be the Messiah — if only somehow He could prove to me, say, by overturning the Romans, I would, for sure, jump on the band wagon.

But His entrance into Jerusalem sealed my skepticism for good. All kings or rulers of the time would ride in their chariots with multiple stallions, accompanied with pomp and circumstance. Yet, this king of the Jews was riding on a donkey! It was like a child's play! It was more than ridiculous! How could I believe that He was a king, let alone God? How would I be associated with a loser like Him!

And yet, our Lord Jesus did it purposely. Why?

Although the explanation of the needle's eye (of Matt. 19) was a pure invention of someone in the 15th century (Lenski, Matthew, 755), he had a point. In his fabrication, he said the "Needle's Eye" was a very low entrance gate into Jerusalem, through which one could only enter by stooping down. While his story was false, his point was valid. Only if we are willing to associate totally with such a lowly king can we enter into His kingdom.

As we enter into this season of Lent, may we "check in" at its entrance all our pride, our desire for recognition, our hunger for power and learn to say with our lowly King,

"I am a worm, not a man." (Ps. 22:6)

When I was a young boy, I was curious to see a young man in his late teens walk alone, by himself, in the late afternoon heat in proper shirts and pants, as if he were going to school. He would not tell me where he was going. So, one day I decided to follow him. After walking about 15 minutes, he arrived at a church, and after making a sign of the cross, he walked in and knelt on a kneeling pad and prayed. I did not see anyone there, but him alone.

It was, of course, a Catholic church. I was not born again then, and I seldom went to church. My contact at that point had been with Protestant churches only, not Catholic churches. So, it was quite an experience for me to find a church that is open all the time and welcomes anyone who wants to go in and pray!

All these years, that picture of my friend kneeling and praying in an empty church has stuck with me. In all honesty, whenever I read about Jesus' word that "My house will be called a house of prayer", I long that my church will be like the one my friend went to that late afternoon. I am afraid, in our zeal to reform, we have thrown out the baby together with the bath water. What I mean is, in the restoration of "sola scriptura" (Scripture only), we have thrown out the emphasis on prayer as well. It is such a pity.

Most Christians go to worship services to sing hymns and listen to sermons. The Holy Spirit often graciously speaks to us through songs, through Scripture reading and the sermon, only to find that whatever He has impressed upon us is lost, after "a moment of silent prayer" at the end of the service. It is never to be remembered again during the week.

I believe that this "moment of silent prayer" is the most critical moment of our worship. It is a crucial time for us to quiet ourselves, to reflect on what the Holy Spirit has spoken to us, and to carefully respond in a prayer of truthful response. Alas, for most churches, especially those with multiple services, we are forced to bow our heads and in seconds be ushered out of the sanctuary, and our souls are satisfied that we have worshipped ― we have been to God's house of prayer. It is time that we stop deceiving ourselves and short-changing our God!

I invite you to slowly reflect on the lyrics of this old hymn and examine yourself in light of Jesus cursing a tree in Matthew 21 — the only account of Jesus cursing anything in the gospel:

Refrain
Gathering nothing but leaves,
Gathering nothing but leaves;
Spending life's precious moments
Gathering nothing but leaves.

1. Nothing but leaves I've gathered,
   Yes, nothing but worthless leaves,
   When from the field of labor
   Others bring golden sheaves;
   Then in the day of judgment
   Shall I be found with tares,
   When God rewards the faithful
   With crowns of shining stars.
2. Nothing but leaves I've gathered,
   So sad, but, alas, 'tis true,
   What I have done I never,
   Nevermore can undo;
   Past is the harvest season,
   The summer has come and gone,
   Reaping for future burning
   The thorns and briars I've sown.
3. Nothing but leaves I've gathered,
   Dear sinner, oh, hear the cry;
   Swiftly your days are passing,
   Soon you'll be called to die;
   What are the seeds you're sowing?
   What will you reap at last?
   Sometime you'll surely gather
   Sheaves from the seeds you've cast.

William J. Henry, 1911

Jesus was questioned by the religious leaders, saying, "by what authority are You doing those things?". They referred to His healing of the blind and lame, and perhaps the driving out of traders in the temple court area in Matthew 21. He, in essence, refused to answer their question.

I believe here is an important lesson for us to learn.

God is not obliged to answer our questions. As our Heavenly Father, He is certainly delighted to have His children come to Him often, to talk to Him, to share our latest with Him and to listen to Him. All loving fathers do.

But if we come before Him without the desire to obey Him, it is a waste of His time to answer our questions.

The chief priests and the elders of the people came to ask Jesus a question that they had no intention of obeying. Why would Jesus waste time answering them?

But Jesus was so gracious, as much as they did not deserve to be answered, He directed them to see what their real problem was. By contrasting their rejection of John the Baptist and the reception of the tax collectors and even prostitutes to John's baptism of repentance, Jesus pointed out their real problem: "And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe Him." (Matt. 21:32)

Since the tax collectors and prostitutes were hopeless sinners in their eyes, and yet the power of God was such that these would respond to John's Baptism, then the chief priests and elders really had no excuse not to honor John the Baptist as a prophet from God. But they didn't. As a result, it was totally futile for Jesus to prove to them who He is!

As Isaiah foretold, they were bent on not accepting the truth, because if they did so, they would have had no choice but to repent, which was the last thing they wanted to do. Thus, they would hear but never understand, they would see, but never perceive. (Matt. 13:14)

Next time, if we realize that we have not been touched by the Word of God for quite a while, it is time to examine ourselves and see if we have the same spirit as these religious leaders.

The Synoptic Gospel writers often make mention of "tax collectors and sinners" (see Matt. 9:10, 11; 11:19; Mk. 2:15, 16; Lk. 5:30, 7:34 and 15:1). We know who the tax collectors are – Jews who bought licenses from the Romans to collect taxes (often extra taxes) from the people. They were regarded as traitors and were despised by the people. But who are the sinners then?

In Matthew 21: 31, Jesus gives us the answers when he says,

"I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you (the religious leaders)."

To tell you the truth, when I first realized that these sinners refer to the prostitutes, I was quite shocked, because that means unlike us, our Lord Jesus Christ did not avoid these prostitutes like a plague. He even ate with them as He taught them the Word of God. Our avoidance of prostitutes is understandable, in a way, so that we (men) may not be tempted. But it does not mean that we can discriminate against them when it comes to the sharing of the gospel.

I was privileged to accompany a young Christian man who was very passionate in reaching out to the marginalized. One night, way past midnight, he and I teamed up to walk along the streets of Vancouver, carrying with us a pot of hot chocolate and some cookies as well. Among the people we greeted and served was a prostitute. It was more than obvious that she had abused her body with drugs. She stopped and received our goodies, and she shared her pain with us. With words of kindness and encouragement from the Scripture (which she knew quite well), we prayed for her. I felt that we had treated her as Jesus would.

Before this encounter, I was also privileged to lead a team of brothers and sisters to visit a motel nearby that houses some of the marginalized in the area. It was run by a brother from a downtown church I used to pastor. At one point he had confronted me with these words, "If you allow prostitutes to come into the church to worship and sit by my family, we will leave the church."

By the grace of God, he has come to embrace the heart of Jesus and dedicated himself to bring "tax collectors and sinners" into the Kingdom of God.

Many of my Christians friends are leery about Christian athletes thanking God and praying in public. I heard many well-meaning Christians say, "God does not care about football!"

I prefer taking a rather simple approach and ask, "Is God interested in my career as His child?" The answer is obvious. God is interested in my total person, including my career. As for Teebow and Lin, football and basketball are their careers, and I am absolutely confident that God is interested in them and their careers.

We all know that if they really love the Lord, their public display of thanks to God is no different from my public display of thanks when I say a word of grace before my meal. If people take offence at it, it will not stop me from doing it.

And if they really love the Lord, their prayers are not so much for being able to win, but for being able to do their best and accept whatever the outcome is, gratefully and with submission. I am sure Teebow and Lin would tell you that. So, if their public display of their faith offends the secular world, it is not unexpected, but to hear other Christian athletes attack them just as non-Christians do, it is sad.

Both Teebow and Lin are providing great incentives for young Christians, not only to pursue their dreams, but to emulate their faith in Christ. So, let us pray for them, not necessarily for success in what they do, but for God's protection that they will remain true to Christ, and not be tainted by success and glamour.

To be honest, both men rattle the elites in their respective sports — Teebow does so in a very unconventional fashion, and Lin is such an underdog. But this is in tune with the way God always works, raising the humble in the eyes of the world, so that the proud will be silenced.

In the parable of the wedding banquet in Matthew 22, we find that the original invitees (who are the Chosen People, the Jews) turned down the invitation.

Some paid no attention and went off to their field, and some left to manage their business. They had no time for God. This is perhaps the picture of the majority of the people in the secular world. They are so caught up with life's pursuits that they think religion is a waste of time.

But the "rest" of the invitees were very different. They were not only very religious, but were religious to the point that they "seized&elipse;mistreated…and killed" the messenger. These are religious fanatics who will resort to violence to silence or eliminate those they do not agree with theologically. The religious leaders of Jesus' time did exactly that to Jesus.

Then the parable goes on to talk about us who are gentiles, in the corners of the street, not part of the original invitees. But as Paul points out in Romans, we are grafted because the original branches (the Jews) are broken off because of their unbelief (Rom. 11:17ff). It is quite hilarious to read the tone of the parable in that it was almost like a casual affair that the servants went out to draft everyone who was willing to come, the "good and bad" alike. But it does point out that the gospel is for everyone who will accept it.

Ultimately, those who will not come, and those who will come, both made a conscious choice. It is their choice, and as a result, those who end up not being part of the banquet were "speechless". They had only themselves to blame.

But why would Jesus end the parable by saying, "For many are invited, but few are chosen"?

I believe Jesus points out to us the two equally true aspects concerning our faith.

On the one hand, salvation is offered to all people, because "God so loved the (whole) world." (Jn. 3:16). So, many, in fact, all are invited.

On the other hand, everyone has to make a choice, either to reject it, or to receive it. Even if a decision is not made, it has been made, and it is the decision to not to accept the salvation offered by Jesus. But, our all-knowing God remains the one that chooses. Thus, Jesus says, "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit — fruit that will last." (Jn. 15:16)

I know it is a mystery, but our attention should not be on its mystery, but on the fact that we have been chosen for a purpose — not ours, but God's.

Jesus wisely sidestepped the trap set by the Pharisees who allied with their enemies, the Herodians, in order to trap their common enemy, Jesus. (Matt. 22:15-22) In His famous declaration: "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's", He used the portrait on the Roman denarius to make His point. In essence, He was saying that the image on the coin confers authority to Caesar. The question I can't help but ask is, "What image confers God's authority on this earth then?"

The answer is obvious: Each one of us, because we all bear the image of our Creator. (Jas. 3:9)

This is an awesome thought, because if we bear the image of our Creator, every part of our being belongs to the Creator. We have to give God what is God's.

As Christians, we like to think that if we tithe, we have fulfilled our obligation in honoring God as our God. But the truth of the matter is, our tithing is our acknowledgement that 100% of us, 100% of our income, 100% of our wealth, in fact, 100% of all we have, material belongings and otherwise, belong to God. It is in this sense that we are stewards of God. We are still not free to use anything left in our possession.

It reminds me of a servant of God whose Bible has these words printed on its cover: "For the use of so and so". The Bible is hers, but she understands that nothing belongs to her; all is God's. We bear His image; as a result, this image confers to Him absolute authority and possession over us, the image-bearer.

I like the analogy used by Rev. David Ng in explaining this life and the next. He said it was like a play in the theatre. As we play our parts in a play, as sons, daughters, mothers, fathers and spouses, as good and faithful actors, we would not just play our parts, but would immerse ourselves in the characters. As a result, the laughters are heart-felt, the tears are real and the struggles are emotional. Without such identification with the characters in the play, we cannot be faithful actors, good actors. But once we come off the stage, if we still harbor the hatred, the hurt and struggles, it would be foolish. If we still cling to the filial relations it would be laughable. It is how it is with this earthly life, as Paul puts it, "We are a theatron" (1 Co. 4:9).

Indeed, this life is just temporal, too temporal when compared to eternity. In this temporal theater, we have relations of all kinds, but as Jesus says in Matthew 22 to the Sadducees, once we leave this earthly stage, we will be like angels in heaven, all earthly relations cease.

However, the analogy stops here, because as temporal as our earthly existence is, it is real. God has put us here to learn, to experience and to practice the fullness of His love, through genuine human relationships. Because we are all made in God's image, to be truly human, therefore is to be truly like God, in all His characters. So, it is a blessing that through God-given relationships, we have a taste of what it is like to love and to be loved, as husband and wife, as father and son, and as daughter and mother after the love of God. However, the fact remains, once we are off this earthly stage, we are all simply children of God.

Perhaps, such an understanding would help us in yearning for eternity and in learning to be less attached to our emotional dependency, especially when it comes to the departure of our loved ones.

In life, we often prefer things to be neat and tidy, and black and white, and this is, perhaps, why we prefer multiple choices when it comes to writing our exams. The more precise a standard or requirement is, the easier it is to manage, or the fairer it will be.

Unfortunately, life is not like that.

As much as the law of our land seeks to be clear and precise, it is impossible to achieve. There are not only loopholes, but grey areas as well. And the lawyers like it that way. The more unclear the law is, the more they can earn in exploiting it to their favor, or the favor of their clients. But it was not like this with the lawyers in Jesus' days.

They tried to make it as black and white as they could, and as a result, they had invented hundreds more rules in their effort to make the law precise, observable, and morally measurable.

The question is: Why did God not make it more precise in the first place? Was He not capable of so doing? The answer is, "Obviously not!".

Paul explains to us that the Law of Moses is given, not only to show us God's own character and desire for us, but also to draw us to Christ. It is given to show us that there is no hope for any of us to keep it in order to gain righteousness before God — i.e. a right standing and relationship with God. As a result, we need Christ who is our righteousness. Therefore, what really is important is not the letter of the law, because "the letter kills, but Spirit gives life," which is the essence of the New Covenant. (2 Co. 3:6)

Jesus sums up the spirit of the law even more clearly when He answers the inquiring scribe with what the greatest commandment is in Matthew 22. Together with loving one's neighbor, He says, "all the Law and Prophets hang on" them. (22:40)

If we truly love God, we will love one another. If we truly love both God and men, we will have fulfilled the requirement of "all" the Law. I wonder why we are so concerned with hanging the Ten Commandments in the court room and not the two Greatest Commandments summed up by Jesus? What don't we get?

As Christians after the Reformation, we have a tendency to question the title "Father" within the Catholic church, especially in light of Jesus' clear teaching in Matthew 23:9, "And do not call anyone on earth father…"

Jesus is attacking the Pharisaic attitude of pride and their desire to elevate themselves above others among the people of God. As a result, Jesus reminds us that we are all brothers, only God is our Master, our Father and our Teacher.

As we view the "Pope" and the "Fathers" with skepticism (and rightfully so), we are really no better. How many pastors insist that their name cards would bear the title of "doctor" (whether it is Ph. D. or D. Min), or the congregation to call them as such? Is the title Pastor, or Reverend not honorable enough?

To take the seat of Moses is bad enough for the Pharisees (Matt. 23:2). Whose seat are we trying to take in the house of God?

Such pride and desire for elevation is not confined to the clergy, obviously. As Rev. Stephen Chan once remarked, "Many who cannot occupy a position of power in the secular world have resorted to grabbing power in the church instead." In my own personal experience, such hunger for power and recognition is not confined to those who cannot do so in the secular world. It is human nature for us all to seek power and recognition, whether it is in the world or in the church. We all need to heed Jesus' rebuke of the Pharisees, because we are really not too different from them.

Matthew, Mark and Luke all took a different angle in reporting the dialogue between Jesus and the scribe concerning the greatest commandment, the dialogue as recorded by Mark ended with these haunting words by Jesus, "You are not far from the Kingdom of God." (12:34)

As much as the scribe might have had the intention of testing Jesus, but his wise and possibly sincere commendation of Jesus' reply ushered him so close to the Kingdom of God. Yet, he still was not inside the Kingdom. Respecting Jesus as a wiser teacher or even a prophet was not enough; he had to believe in Him as the Messiah, the Son of God.

I still remember the time I sat beside a Mormon on a flight from San Francisco to Vancouver. He was a medical doctor and had a wonderful family. From our conversation, I came to understand that he took the teaching of his church seriously and, kind of like the rich, young ruler that Jesus talked to, he sincerely tried to keep all the commandments. And what prompted our conversation was his reading of his Book of Mormon and my reading of my Bible. We were both doing our devotion. At the end of the flight and our conversation, I had grown to like him a lot. But I left with haunting feeling that while he was so close to the Kingdom of God, he was not in it yet. He had yet to believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the only way to salvation.

I can't help but think that Jesus' rebuke of the Pharisees in making such an effort, to travel over land and sea to win a single convert, "and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are." (Matt. 23:15)

In this generation of moral corruption, we are so tempted to admire many of the Mormon families because of their moral conviction and lifestyle. Let's pray for them that these would not give them a false sense of eternal security, but would bring them to understand their need for salvation through Christ, because salvation is only through faith in Jesus Christ, and not by works, so that no one can boast. (Eph. 2:9)

One of the most common questions asked concerning tithing is whether the 10% should be based on income before or after tax.

I often wonder why this question is being asked.

If we understand that our offering of money to God is an expression of:

1. Our love for God and His people
2. Our thanksgiving for His abundant provision
3. Our recognition that He is the true source of our wealth
4. Our recognition that He in fact still owns us and everything we have
5. Our faith in that no matter how much we give as prompted by the Spirit, He will not put us to shame or allow us to be lacking

If we truly understand the above, such a question will never be asked. Rather, we will constantly be asking, "Lord, do I love you enough with my tithing? Because you have said, 'For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.'" (Matt. 6:21)

As I have the privilege of walking alongside my Christian young men and women through conducting pre-marital counseling, I have come to understand that I am not alone in wanting to be different from my parents, especially my father.

It is perhaps typical of people who grew up in a traditional Oriental family. The value system, the cultural perspective and the less relational approach to life are things that we do not want to copy from them. And so, we think we are mavericks. We are different from our parents.

The truth of the matter is we are not too different from them. It is true that because we are living in an entirely different generation, we likely received a more liberal education. For us who are Christians, we have been born again in Christ and we have to be totally free from the bondage of our old culture, value system and approach (or philosophy) to life. But we often fail to understand that even though we are a new creation in Christ in status, our actual change in life is still a process. Renewal of the mind in Christ is still a process of progress (Rom. 12:2); in fact, it is a rather long process — a life-long process. And as we enter into this new life through the Holy Spirit, the process of renewal is still the work of the Holy Spirit. (Gal. 3:3)

This was the error of the Pharisees. They knew from the Bible that their forefathers were wrong in rejecting and persecuting the prophets, and they thought (or perhaps even swore) that they would be different. What they had overlooked was that they were no different. We are no different. By our own effort and determination, we will repeat the mistakes of our former generations. No education, no self-determination, and no spiritual discipline can make us different. Even as Christians, we need continual repentance and reliance on the Holy Spirit to enable us to gradually get rid of our old nature and live out the new.

Last night, I listened to the powerful speech by Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, at AIPAC, in which he forcefully set forth Israel's right to defend herself against the likely threat of nuclear weapons by Iran. In so doing, he cited Israel as the only truly democratic country in the region in which women are treated equally and where Christians can freely practice their religion.

As someone who respects and supports Israel as the People of God through whom we have received the precious heritage of the Old Testament, I am still acutely aware of the fact that they have yet to look on "the one they have pierced." (Zech. 12:10)

As the author of RealChristianity.com writes, "Even though there was a part of me that had the utmost respect for these Jews, the other side was sad that they were still blind and waiting for the Messiah when he has already come in the person of Jesus (Yeshua) Christ."

And worse ―

Another report says, "The plight of Palestinian Christians throughout the West Bank, Gaza and areas within Israel are among the most underreported stories of Christian persecution…" (www.persecution.org)

Personally, I am the recipient of updated reports of a Christian missionary couple, whose home in one of the cities in Israel has been attacked by Orthodox Jews.

While I believe we need to support Israel's right to exist and love them as the People of God, let's not forget to pray for their repentance to the One whom they pierced. For I do believe that our Lord Jesus continues to mourn over Jerusalem as He did 2,000 years ago.

The temple in Jesus days, though not comparable, in glamour and quality, to the one built by Solomon, it was still so imposing that one of the disciples said to Jesus,

"Look. Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!" (Mk. 13:1)

One can only imagine the even more massive stones and greater magnificence of Solomon's Temple. No wonder, they could never imagine that God would leave His temple and that it could be destroyed or desecrated by the Gentiles. But it was, by King Nebuchadnezzar. By the mercy of God, some of the exiles were able to return by the order of the Persian King, Cyrus, and the temple was again rebuilt. But it was again destroyed and this time it was desecrated by the infamous Antiochus IV Epiphanes in BC. 167. While King Herod ruled over Jerusalem as a governor for the Roman Empire, he took the trouble to invest a lot of money to restore the temple in order to please or appease the Jews. Its glamour was such that the Jews, once again thought it was indestructible and that God would not leave His temple. History does have a way of repeating itself. The prophecy about its destruction by Jesus once again was fulfilled in AD. 70.

The Jews were not alone in repeating their mistake. Many in the heyday of the Great British Empire thought that the sun would never set on their empire, but it did. The many European countries which once embraced God as their God and prospered, have one by one seen their world dominance dwindle into insignificance.

As much as we can debate about whether many of the founding fathers of the United States were mere deists, it is indisputable that the nation was built by honoring God as its God and it has risen to replace the Great British Empire as the dominating world power. But the trend is also clear that the nation is following the footsteps of the European countries in getting more secularized and running God out of its public life. If we think that the United States will never dwindle into insignificance as a world power, we have not learned from history. The only hope of the nation is to return to God.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones once remarked that if you wish to draw a crowd to the church, preach on either holiness or the end-times. He was being sarcastic obviously. The preaching on holiness would definitely be welcomed, as so many Christians are dying to hear truths that are correctly divided, but not necessarily for their self-consumption, but for the rebuke of others. The preaching on the end-times would give them a similar satisfaction, but also for the satisfaction of their curiosity.

Therefore, as a pastor, I have mixed feelings about preaching on the parousia (i.e. the second coming of Christ). On the one hand, I must as a pastor, for it is only biblical to give urgent warning at a time like this. But, on the other hand, the curiosity about the end-times of the average Christian often goes beyond what is healthy.

As one who benefited greatly from the book TheLate Great Planet Earth many years ago, and used it as a very effective pre-evangelistic tool, I do hope that preachers will continue to preach and warn biblically about the imminent return of Christ, but with integrity, sticking to what is knowable and avoiding any sensational speculations.

Many liberal biblical scholars use this remark by Christ that no one knows about that day or hour (of His return), nor the Son (Matt. 24:36), to insinuate that Jesus is a lesser God than the Father. If hypothetically these scholars are right, it begs the question why the Father would deprive the Son of such knowledge. There is simply no reason that the Father would not confide with the Son of an event where the focus is the Son.

This statement by the Son is preceded by Him referring to Himself as the Son of Man, a term that clearly points to the humanity of Jesus Christ in His incarnational and substitutional work of redemption of all humankind. I believe He is referring to the side of His humanness to hammer home the important point that no one should speculate on the day or hour of His coming. Why then would He share in detail all the signs that would happen, leading to His eventual parousia? It is really a common-sense answer in that with these signs happening right before our eyes, we have no excuse not to prepare ourselves for His coming. However, even with a clear statement that the hour and day cannot be known, we have seen so many irresponsible and weird speculations over the centuries; just imagine if such a statement had not been made by the Lord!

Christians should not be obsessed with the precise time of the parousia, because even if Jesus does not come in our lifetime, we all have to die and face our Creator after our short earthly existence. In one way or another, we will see Him and will have to give an account of our life.

So many talks about the second coming of the Lord focus on the negatives. Perhaps it should be so, for those who have yet to believe in Jesus. But for those who are believers, it should be a time of great rejoicing, as we will be able to see the One who loves us so much that He has died for us, the One whom we love so dearly. Let's reflect on this lovely hymn by Carrie E. Breck (1898).

Refrain
Face to face I shall behold Him,
Far beyond the starry sky;
Face to face in all His glory,
I shall see Him by and by!

1. Face to face with Christ, my Savior,
   Face to face — what will it be,
   When with rapture I behold Him,
   Jesus Christ Who died for me?
2. Only faintly now I see Him,
   With the darkened veil between,
   But a blessed day is coming,
   When His glory shall be seen.
3. What rejoicing in His presence,
   When are banished grief and pain;
   When the crooked ways are straightened,
   And the dark things shall be plain.
4. Face to face — oh, blissful moment!
   Face to face — to see and know;
   Face to face with my Redeemer,
   Jesus Christ Who loves me so.