Little bits of my story in blog form!We went to the snow!If this is your first blog, we are Daniel, Sarah, and Taliah Bruce. We are missionaries in training to Papua New Guinea, and we love finding new places to share the Gospel. Because Daniel just moved here (before we got married a few years back) from Australia, he hasn’t seen much snow - and he loves it, so we decided to take a quick day trip an hour north where we were able to have some family time in the snow! We gave out Gospel tracts, we had edifying conversations together, and we saw lots of snow! Seminary has started, my college has started, and school is in full swing for both of us, but we’re still trying to focus on sharing the Gospel. Now that you’ve had a quick update on us, for the first blog this year I wanted to highlight certain, important snippets of the book I published last year, for the purpose of encouragement for the body of Christ in sharing the Gospel! Hope it’s convicting and helpful for you! The reality around the world…[A man watching a girl head towards the edge of a cliff.] “Don’t do it! Don’t jump off the cliff” he had cried from his car. “I don’t believe in the cliff,” had been her eerie response. She had completely ignored his cries, almost like she couldn’t hear him at all. And with that…she was gone forever, lost over the edge of the massive chasm. Why had she been out there alone, and why wasn’t anyone else reacting to the situation? He had no idea what was going on, but he was determined to figure it out, even if he was late for work because of it. It was just a matter of time before his timer of life would be up. He knew he could die any moment, and he hoped it wouldn’t be today with all his might. Today wouldn’t be the day of his death, he figured, because he had things to do. 150,000 people would die that day, he knew, but statistically it probably wouldn’t be him, he thought, but he had a creeping suspicion in his mind that he could be wrong, and he would have to face death before he was ready, because he didn’t know how he could be “ready”. Does money really profit in the end?He noticed a grown man looking down at his phone, acting like he was in a business meeting while still running towards the cliff. A little girl was next to him, then she trailed behind him, still skipping in the direction of the cliff, but clearly taking her time, playing with toys she must have brought from home along the way. Though the situation itself was eerie enough for him to question everything–the sight of all the people heading for their deaths seemingly without realizing it–he noticed something even more creepy. It was as if none of the people saw each other. They were all in their own worlds, and they didn’t seem to notice the others around them. The people were all acting like they were sitting at home, at school, or at their jobs by themselves, though they were physically moving to their destruction out in the open. No interaction was had between individuals, except for the occasional small talk among friend groups. It was clear that these people didn’t see what they were doing, or they had something seriously wrong with them…because they didn’t care. Normal life carrying on…?It was as if normal life was carrying on, but no one saw or cared about the cliff. He saw Olympic high-divers in full gear diving off the cliff with their own personal diving boards, gardeners planting flowers right by the cliff and then falling to their destruction because of a misstep (or an intentional suicide). He saw firemen blowing out tiny fires they had potentially made themselves with their fire trucks, and then jumping off the cliff as if a family remained in a burning building and they were there to ”rescue them”. Children acted like they were in school, walking forward looking at schoolbooks instead of sitting at a desk, then writing down information with their tablets in their hands while they still journeyed forward. In front of him stood a mother of four children who was walking and preparing a meal for them all as they played around holding doll houses and race car tracks in their hands instead of playing with them on the floor like one would normally do. The mother acted like she was at home in her own kitchen, though she was outside. It was louder than a rock concert, more physically draining than any massive physical feat, and more chaotic than anything he could have ever imagined. Suddenly, a massive bus sped up on the crowd from the distance, and without hesitation the bus plowed its way through the crowd and pushed itself off the cliff, taking many along with it. His blood was boiling. People were dead all around them, yet no one “untouched” seemed to care. Would there be any fruit… or any hope in the end?Did he have any ounce of strength to carry on? He wasn’t sure that he did, and he wasn’t sure that he would be able to think about anything other than this terrible situation, no matter what he planned to do with his life now. Countless people were plunging to their deaths without a second to spare. How could one sleep when this was going on? How could anyone live their lives normally when people were falling to their death so vividly in front of everyone? He didn’t know how he was going to eat, rest, or do anything normal again, because he just wanted to curl up in bed alone and die in a deep sleep. Yet a small part of him still had hope that this was somehow all an illusion, that he could get his wife back, and that this would end in a less gruesome way than it now seemed to be. He had to get to the bottom of this mystery! Strolling along as usual…Little girls were hopping off to their deaths, businessmen were taking phone calls off the cliff, and teenagers were riding skateboards off the edge, pretending that the cliff was merely a ramp they could jump off safely. So many lives were being lost, and he couldn’t help but wonder if the entire world was falling to their deaths, or if this was a phenomenon that was only happening right then and there. As he watched a little boy roll his ball off the cliff and then run, laughing, as if to go get it, he knew he had to look away. The TV showed a health food ad that went on and on about how important it was to make sure you’re dieting well, or you could have a bunch of symptoms of bad health that the ad listed in detail. He felt angry. How could a broadcast be shown about dieting when people were falling to their deaths constantly, by the thousands? Take it slow and play around?[After he walks inside his church (the Cliff-Safe).] “Hey! You see the cliff outside, right?” he went straight in to explaining everything to him, “I’d love to know what this Cliff-Safe is planning on doing about it! What’s the plan? Are we going out to try to stop all those people or what?” Our beloved protagonist was much too exuberant for the conservative churchman, and he didn’t like it, but he tried to respond without showing his true colors, because the poor, immature man clearly needed some sympathy. “Hey. I’m glad you’re here too. I forgot your name. What is it?” This was bewildering! What did his name matter when people were dying outside? “Sir, I don’t know if you understand. People are dying…” he tried, not sure if he wasn’t aware of the situation because he was new, or if he hadn’t heard him correctly. “I know, I know, sir. It sounds like you have the gift of Cliff-Guarding! I’m excited for you, I just want to let you know nicely that you need to calm down, slow down, and take the load off.” Sit inside or grow outside?How could he sit in a padded pew when people were falling to their destruction outside? As he watched the people of the church have casual conversations with one another, and when he saw some coming in late, some leaving, and others doing whatever they pleased outside, he knew there was no real fear of the cliff in their eyes, and he didn’t know what to think about it. With haste, as the service begun, he started to frantically look around for a Bible, but none could be found because everything was now digital. Now burning with anger at the lack of fervency for what was happening outside in the church, our friend ran out of the service and prepared to do something he knew he might regret, but he knew he had to do it. Provoked…“What do you mean by serving the Lord ‘when you get the opportunity’?” “Well, I just live my life the way that I think is honoring to God, enjoying all he has given me, and then I do ministry when something comes up and I feel like I have to do something.” With that said, our provoked protagonist felt like he needed to recover from the blow. He knew he couldn’t hold his vexations in for much longer, and he didn’t want to hear about how “pleasurable” this man’s life was when people were dying. Pesky little humans…[The man from church shows the main character a video on his phone of his trip.] The horrid video showed this man along with his wife and two kids climbing up a mountain while others around them jumped off it, their mangled bodies somehow moving themselves towards the cliff afterward, though it seemed they were already dead. Was this happening in various locations, all over the world, he wondered? “Did you like the landscape?” the man tried, not understanding why this strange man seemed so upset. “No, I didn’t like the landscape! I didn’t! I don’t know how you could when all those people were in the picture!” “Oh, sorry. Maybe I’m not the best photographer.” The man looked back at the photos then commented further, to the despair of our friend. “Yeah, it looks like those people did ruin the landscape. Sorry. I’ll have to make sure they get out of the way first next time. But from what you can see behind those pesky little things, did you like the landscape?” What will your time and talent amount to when you go off the edge of the cliff?After they were outside [his church], before he [the main character] could think another minute about anything that was happening, he saw another Cliff-Safe, a liberal one in town. The massive “Cliff-Safe” had tilted over the edge and catapulted itself off the cliff, leaving a huge mess of glass from the windows, wood from doors, metal, and other dangerous items people would trip over as they heading for destruction themselves. Those in the building had continued worshipping their idols up until it had made its final crash, and then they started screaming in terror, because the place they thought would bring them the most comfort and safety was really a place full of death and eventual torture for all eternity. The use of little pamphlets in a world with many random books… Even cute children are born in sin…“I want to know how you got saved, “ the Cliff-Guard asked. Without thinking much about it, our friend started off the same story he had told so many in his church. “Well, when I was five, I prayed a prayer with my mom…” “Okay, but when did you understand the weight of your sin and the power of the Gospel against it?” It suddenly hit him that he had never felt the weight of his sin, that is, until today. “Um…I don’t know about that.” “So, would a Christian, a follower of Christ, be able to tell me the Gospel that he was saved from himself?” “Yes…” his voice trailed off in deep thought. “So, are you a Christian?” His wretched state finally hit him like a ton of bricks. No, he knew, he wasn’t a Christian, he was a pretender, a hypocrite. He had been faking his conversion his entire life, but he knew that he could never fool the Lord. False information and false conversions…“Because no one on earth was or could ever be perfect, because people are sinful, breaking God’s Law continuously, there was no way that any person could save himself, even if they died, because of their sinfulness. But God couldn’t die for His people because God never dies, being eternal. So, that’s why God sent Himself in the person of Jesus Christ to live a sinless life, then He died and rose again. “Here’s the truth of the matter: you can’t do anything to save yourself from the cliff. No good works can save you. That’s what you’re missing. You’re trying to work your way to Heaven, and it doesn’t work that way.” The Gospel: despite the games of the world.“Jesus didn’t merely die for the sins of those in the past, Jesus died for the sins of His people in the present, and in the future too, which means that the weight of every single sin you have committed was on His shoulders, if you are truly His child.” The tears started to flow because He understood it now; the power of the cross hitting him like never before. What could he do but stand there and weep over his sin, knowing that he had nailed Jesus to the cross.” “But the story doesn’t end there,” Mr. Evangelist [the Cliff-Guard] went on, “Jesus didn’t stay dead, because as you remember, God can’t die. “After three days, Jesus rose from the dead, proving finally that He was for sure God in the flesh, the Son of God, and He promised to send the Holy Spirit to His people so that they can have Him with them forever.” “You are either heading for the cliff, living in sin continuously, habitually, without remorse, or you’re fleeing sin, walking away from the cliff, knowing that you’re still going to fall at times, but you hate your sin, and you don’t live in it–it doesn’t define you. “True repentance is turning from your sin to Jesus Christ, asking Him to forgive you, and to grant you everlasting life. Suddenly, the realization of the real world hit him, and he found himself ashamed of his complacency, but still unaware of what to do to help people escape the cliff. “But what do I do? How am I supposed to live with all those people running towards the cliff? It’s not practical! I don’t know how to stop them, because if I try to save them, I’ll fall too!” How to live as a Christian.He had gotten ready as fast as humanly possible, and he planned to only eat what was necessary for survival, having the least amount of time spent on food as possible, because he knew time was of the essence. Taking the time to “smell the roses” was not biblical, at least in his mind, so he didn’t want to give in to pressure and act like being complacent was okay. Locked in church!They both [him and his wife] couldn’t wait for church in the morning. Without much else in their way, after waking up to a simple breakfast, the couple headed to church, going on the same, familiar road as they always did, to the same, familiar building they had “worshipped” in so many times, but now they went as a married couple who loved the Lord for the first time. In short, they were heading away from the cliff instead of towards it, and they were ready to be encouraged with others in the body of Christ. Though he knew there would be things different about being in that building again, he knew that he had to endure potential persecution even from those who professed the Name of Christ, and potentially his wife would have to face issues too, but he knew it was worth it for the sake of the Gospel. As he walked in those familiar doors with his wife, a newfound joy rushed into his heart. So thankful to God for the worship, singing to the Lord in prayer, and for the sermon, despite anything that they disagreed with on a minor level, the couple decided to try to stay so they could have fellowship with people, because they knew the importance of being involved in the body of Christ. But he knew that his time was short; he knew how important it was to share the Gospel. It had been hours since he had shared the Gospel with anyone, and he was dying to do so, because people were still running towards the cliff. If some church members wanted to go bowling, if he could share the Gospel at the alley without the others getting upset with him, he would go. If they wanted to have a movie night, unless it was a specifically wholesome Christian movie, he wasn’t going to participate. If others planned to go to anything at a stadium–he knew he couldn’t handle it under any circumstances except for going there for the purpose of sharing the Gospel and resolving to do only that. Though he knew he couldn’t impose those convictions on the entire body of Christ, he knew that he could lovingly tell his wife that it wasn’t wise to participate in those things, though at first it didn’t seem to go over well, and his wife said she would catch him later if he wanted to go share the Gospel. Sharing the Gospel as a family!As he approached the stadium and he found a good place to set up outside where he hopefully wouldn’t get kicked out, he started passing out handmade Gospel tracts to those walking in, trying to have conversations with those who were willing to listen, be loving, yet firm in the truth at the same time, showing others that he deeply cared about them and their needs. So that’s what he did, and he couldn’t explain how much spiritual peace it brought him, though it was difficult. Then, he was pleasantly surprised by seeing an amazing, familiar-looking woman passing her own homemade tracts, while walking up to him at the same time. He almost cried with joy when he saw that it was his wife, so he prayed with her, finding that she had been convicted that she was wasting time as well. Because of her encouragement, he was able to share the Gospel with much more fervency. Consider the reality of the cliff and live accordingly! (This is a real snake, by the way…)Lots of information in my book is understandably left out…including the main characters wife, his best friend Mr. Atheist, his life in the workplace, and, most importantly: the real story behind the cliff. In the book, I weave in themes of technology and virtual reality, and there is a surprise ending! You can get it here if you’re interested: The Quest of the Cliff: www.amazon.com/Quest-Cliff-Allegorical-Narrative-ebook/dp/B0BMNJKH1M/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?crid=33512RUB4LZM6&keywords=the+quest+of+the+cliff+sarah+bruce&qid=1671572442&s=amazon-devices&sprefix=the+quest+of+the+cliff+%2Caps%2C241&sr=1-1 And you can help us out with studies for continued missionary training by emailing us at [email protected]. And, as an important note, please visit the ministry Living Waters for VARIOUS themes addressed in my book: Living Waters link: livingwaters.com/ Finally, please read this amazing quote by Charles Spurgeon, the inspiration for the whole story: “Oh, my brothers and sisters in Christ, if sinners will be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies; and if they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees, imploring them to stay, and not madly to destroy themselves. If hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go there unwarned and unprayed for.”
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AuthorsDaniel and Sarah Bruce desire to be missionaries to the unreached peoples of the world. Daniel is from Australia and Sarah is from Detroit, MI. They reside in Phoenix, AZ, where they are members at Shepherd's House Bible Church in Chandler, AZ. Archives
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