Why has hope become so important to me?
There are two times in my life that I have been depressed. As a messed-up 19 year old searching for meaning that I could not find, I stood on a suspension bridge, about to take my life. I longed to disappear into oblivion, and leave a life that I had come to hate and despise. But somehow, standing there, I realised I knew something that I had never known before, and it was this - that if I died, it would not be the end, but I would go from one hell to another. I can't fully explain how I knew that, but I suddenly realised that there was no escape. And so, standing there, I made a vow. I vowed that whatever the cost, and whatever people might think of me, I would find out what it meant to give my life to Jesus and do so. Only a few weeks earlier, while standing together in a dinner queue, a fellow university student had made an intriguing statement, "Jesus is a good friend of mine. I'd love to introduce you to him one day!" I say it was intriguing, because I had always thought you just had to believe and could never know if religion was right or not. But my friend seemed to imply you could actually know Jesus! If Jesus really was the Son of God, and you could actually get to know him, perhaps there was meaning to life that I had never discovered. So three days after that crisis point on the bridge, my friend led me in a simple prayer of repentance and commitment. In the days and weeks that followed I discovered a hope in a real God who turned my life around.
The second time was when I was in my forties. It was the year my wife was battling cancer, and it changed our lives in all sorts of ways. Initially, we were fairly upbeat and expectant that either by the chemotherapy, or by God’s healing power, she would be okay. But as the months went by, it became more and more apparent that she might not actually win this battle. Various other circumstances conspired together to create an overwhelming sense of loss and fear, including problems in my career. Six months of chemotherapy with two different drug regimes didn't work, and the doctors finally admitted there was nothing more they could really do. A month later my Dad died unexpectedly of a heart attack and I had to organise my first funeral. In the months between then and when my wife died, I honestly wondered whether my faith would survive. Instead of feeling full of hope about the future, I felt full of fear. Would I cope trying to raise my kids on my own?
After she died, the first year was tough, really tough. By God’s grace, and by the support of various family members and friends, I did cope, just. Sometimes you have no choice but to cope. But it had been a bruising experience, and it took time for the pain to go away. It was as though her diagnosis of cancer had suddenly plunged our lives from the brightness of day into a long dark tunnel. When we emerged the other side it was night time, and the brightness of a new dawn appeared gradually.
Some years have now passed and I'm doing fine. My faith has survived, my kids are doing well, I have a new wife, and I have a new career. But the reason my faith has survived is not because it was particularly strong. It is because I have hope. In the darkest times I didn't always see it so clearly, but as the storm has passed, it has come back into view. In fact, I am sure my hope is all the stronger for having passed through the difficult times. If life were always plain sailing, perhaps we wouldn't need hope. But in the storms of life, hope can make the difference between life and death.
In 1 Peter 3:15, the bible tells us, 'Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have'. This website is my attempt to do that, to explain the basis and the substance of our hope as Christians. The basis of our hope is all that Christ has achieved for us in the past. The substance of our hope is all that he will do for us in the future. Consequently, this website also describes my understanding of biblical end-times prophecy.
I realize that not everyone will see an obvious connection between hope and end-times prophecy. For many Christians, hope is about heaven when you die, of spending an eternity in God’s presence, and of being reunited with loved ones. But I am a detailed person, and the detail of what the bible says about our future hope matters to me. The detail is to be found in biblical prophecy.
Through studying biblical prophecy, I have become convinced that the second coming of Christ is very near. This world is about to give birth to Christ’s glorious earthly kingdom. An expectant mother looks forward to holding her new-born baby in her arms. But beforehand, she must pass through the pains of labour, and it is only wise that she gains some understanding of the process she must pass through. Likewise, Christians should look forward to Christ’s coming with great joy and anticipation. The bible describes it as our glorious hope. However, it is wise that we gain some understanding of the process that we will go through to get there. The world must travail through the pains of labour. There are dark times and storms ahead, and we need to be certain of the glorious light at the end of it all. Our world needs reasons for hope.
Consequently, this website begins with a study on hope and transitions into a study on biblical end-times prophecy.
Biblical quotations are from the New International Version of the Bible (NIV), unless indicated otherwise. I sometimes quote from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) and from the King James Version (KJV).
The second time was when I was in my forties. It was the year my wife was battling cancer, and it changed our lives in all sorts of ways. Initially, we were fairly upbeat and expectant that either by the chemotherapy, or by God’s healing power, she would be okay. But as the months went by, it became more and more apparent that she might not actually win this battle. Various other circumstances conspired together to create an overwhelming sense of loss and fear, including problems in my career. Six months of chemotherapy with two different drug regimes didn't work, and the doctors finally admitted there was nothing more they could really do. A month later my Dad died unexpectedly of a heart attack and I had to organise my first funeral. In the months between then and when my wife died, I honestly wondered whether my faith would survive. Instead of feeling full of hope about the future, I felt full of fear. Would I cope trying to raise my kids on my own?
After she died, the first year was tough, really tough. By God’s grace, and by the support of various family members and friends, I did cope, just. Sometimes you have no choice but to cope. But it had been a bruising experience, and it took time for the pain to go away. It was as though her diagnosis of cancer had suddenly plunged our lives from the brightness of day into a long dark tunnel. When we emerged the other side it was night time, and the brightness of a new dawn appeared gradually.
Some years have now passed and I'm doing fine. My faith has survived, my kids are doing well, I have a new wife, and I have a new career. But the reason my faith has survived is not because it was particularly strong. It is because I have hope. In the darkest times I didn't always see it so clearly, but as the storm has passed, it has come back into view. In fact, I am sure my hope is all the stronger for having passed through the difficult times. If life were always plain sailing, perhaps we wouldn't need hope. But in the storms of life, hope can make the difference between life and death.
In 1 Peter 3:15, the bible tells us, 'Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have'. This website is my attempt to do that, to explain the basis and the substance of our hope as Christians. The basis of our hope is all that Christ has achieved for us in the past. The substance of our hope is all that he will do for us in the future. Consequently, this website also describes my understanding of biblical end-times prophecy.
I realize that not everyone will see an obvious connection between hope and end-times prophecy. For many Christians, hope is about heaven when you die, of spending an eternity in God’s presence, and of being reunited with loved ones. But I am a detailed person, and the detail of what the bible says about our future hope matters to me. The detail is to be found in biblical prophecy.
Through studying biblical prophecy, I have become convinced that the second coming of Christ is very near. This world is about to give birth to Christ’s glorious earthly kingdom. An expectant mother looks forward to holding her new-born baby in her arms. But beforehand, she must pass through the pains of labour, and it is only wise that she gains some understanding of the process she must pass through. Likewise, Christians should look forward to Christ’s coming with great joy and anticipation. The bible describes it as our glorious hope. However, it is wise that we gain some understanding of the process that we will go through to get there. The world must travail through the pains of labour. There are dark times and storms ahead, and we need to be certain of the glorious light at the end of it all. Our world needs reasons for hope.
Consequently, this website begins with a study on hope and transitions into a study on biblical end-times prophecy.
Biblical quotations are from the New International Version of the Bible (NIV), unless indicated otherwise. I sometimes quote from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) and from the King James Version (KJV).