I have published my first ebook. It is a short read (about 70 pages) describing my take on the features and benefits of placing one’s faith in Jesus and living a Christian lifestyle. You can read the introduction here for free.
So you’re finding your own way in life. How’s that working out for you?
One of the misfortunes of the human condition is that even though we have available to us all the resources and opportunities imaginable for a good life, the feeling still arises, occasionally, when you feel as if you are on a slippery slope toward despair … or even worse. It is during such moments of reflection that you question the state and quality of your life. You wonder, “Am I living a good life?”
Maybe the problem is that the good life you are chasing is not actually good at all, that it does not lead to nor fulfil its promises.
Any person can live a so-called ‘good’ life, but what if I told you how to live a free, full, and forever life? Would that get your attention?
What is the Good Life?
Before I describe for you what is better than a good life, let me give you some background on myself, so you understand why this state and quality of life is so important to me and why I want you to experience it too.
I grew up in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, with my mother and brothers. Quite literally, I grew up on the wrong side of the tracks, in that part of town where poverty, substance abuse, crime, and violence conspired against me to create a very unstable environment.
During my childhood, my mother was the de facto spouse of a high-ranking outlaw biker. Every payday he went out drinking with his mates, came home drunk, was sick to his stomach because of an ulcer, and would then hit my mother. One occasion was so bad I witnessed him shoot at her with a handgun. And there was absolutely nothing I could do to stop him, young as I was.
On another occasion I woke up to find a police officer outside my bedroom door. He instructed me to put on some slippers because there was broken glass all over the floor. It turns out my mum’s biker boyfriend shot someone dead in our living room during the night. While he safely went to jail, my family and I were not so lucky. The relatives of the dead man retaliated a week later by setting fire to our house. One of my brothers died in that fire.
After my mum finally separated from that man, we survived on a meagre income of government assistance. Too often, on cheque day, my mum would find her way to the local pub. On more than one occasion I had to plead with her to come home, since we had no food for dinner.
This is all rather depressing, so I apologise. I would not wish my childhood on anyone.
My point in sharing these stories is simply to highlight for you how I grew up with no expectation of a good life, because of these and other experiences. The beliefs, values and lifestyle demonstrated for me, in my home and neighbourhood, were training me to follow a way of life that would not end well for me.[1] In fact, most of my childhood friends ended up in jail or getting their girlfriends pregnant.
Luckily for me, my mum sent my other brother and I to any local church’s Sunday school, to “get us out of the house and give her a morning off”, as she said.
At those places I met genuinely warm and welcoming Christian people who demonstrated for me “the way, the truth and the life” of Jesus.[2] As a result, when I later felt at my lowest, like I was heading toward disaster, I called out to God, in a darkened field out front of my home, and I felt spoken to. That ‘voice’ and presence encouraged me with hope for the future and gave me a glimpse of what that future could look like. I have tried my best to follow the way of Jesus ever since —and, no, it has not always gone smoothly, although it has always been better than I imagined and more than I could have achieved for myself.
A Friendly Reminder
Thankfully, even on our most dreary days, things capture our attention to remind us life can be better than it is, if we but look in the right places and know the right way to go. Every now and then, we get a glimpse of warm sunshine; we experience a taste that delights; a cool breeze upon our cheek; a moment’s peace and quiet; a subtle, pleasing aroma … if our eyes and ears are open[3], we will realise it is in these ways and moments the Holy Spirit invades our day. Noticing and responding to this friendly and gentle prompting leads to an encounter that proves true the scripture,
Taste and see that the LORD is good.
Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!
(Psalm 34:8)[4]
Better Than the Good Life
In that dark field, I discovered that placing my faith in Jesus and living a Christian lifestyle results in hope,[5] and that moment gave me a glimpse of a path I could follow toward a life that is better than good.
With so many books and DVDs promising, ‘3 easy steps to a good life’, you may have grown sceptical and are wondering, “What is a good life anyway?”
I am not trying to sell you anything —unless, of course, you did in fact pay something for this small short read and I give you my heartfelt thanks if you did— but I do want to demonstrate for you how the Bible provides timeless truths for troubled times. In its pages Jesus promises a free, full, and forever life. I would like to explain, as best I can, what He meant by those terms. His way of life truly is better than any good life we can imagine or achieve for ourselves.
[1]. Throughout this short read I am going to provide direct quotations from the Bible and I am going to refer to other biblical passages that it would be well for you to look up. You can search for these passages on Biblia By Logos.
For example, compare what I have written in this sentence to what you find in Deuteronomy 6:5-7 and Proverbs 22:6. Interesting, eh? It gives you more to think about, doesn’t it? You’re welcome.
[2]. See John 14:6-7.
[3]. See Matthew 13:14–15.
[4]. All biblical quotations and references are taken from Holy Bible: New Living Translation(Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2015).
[5]. See Jeremiah 29:11.