The rising of generation xtreme - the final exerpt in the serialising of Carl Anderson's Changing Of The Guard

What Will Be Your Tombstone Testimony?

"...and there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord..." - Judges 2:10.

What will be the testimony of our generation? Will it have the same ironic twist as this one did? The generation of young men and women in Judges is long dead, their bones long decayed in the ground. Their testimony is sealed on the pages of scripture, and written on the tombstones in the corridors of time. They knew not the Lord. Yet you, as part of your own generation, have a unique responsibility to rise up, and with courage in your veins, live every day and every breath for the glory of the One who died, who rose again, and who lives within you.

At the outbreak of the American Revolutionary war, General Washington's troops were outnumbered and out-gunned. The closing months in the fall of 1776 took their toll. The chills of winter were wearing on Washington's troops, many of whom lacked even proper shoes and were suffering frostbite. It looked like all hope was lost for the battered and sick army. In the midst of this seeming hopelessness, Thomas Paine took up his pen and ink in his tent one night among the troops and wrote these startling words, published in his work called, The Crises.

"These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crises, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods."

Carl Anderson

As each of the war-torn soldiers in Washington's army read these words in their tents with trembling, frostbitten fingers on the cold nights leading up to December 1776, something of a fresh fire was lit in their hearts. They began to burn once again for passion for the cause of freedom, and after a remarkable victory as Washington crossed the Delaware river on Christmas eve, the battle weary began to forge a campaign of victory
against the enemies' tyranny. Later in the war John Adams wrote to his wife Abigale these words with the same ruthless spirit of victory in them, "we must trifle no more." And this, dear reader, is your challenge today. Desperate times as these call for desperate measures: desperate measures of concentration, commitment, and consecration. These days in which you live are the times that try men's souls. The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. "Then Joshua said to the people, 'Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.'" Joshua 3:5.

The valiant men and women of the Revolutionary war are long dead, but their testimonies still speak. What will your tombstone testimony be?

On an ancient mosaic wall hanging, found in a crypt in one of the oldest surviving first-century tombs in Jerusalem, is a unique picture. It shows a sailing vessel, leaving its port, and heading out into a vast unknown territory of blue water. The mast is at
full sail, and the tiny inhabitants barely recognizable. At the bottom the inscription reads, "Lord, we went."

Will this be your testimony at the last day? With all you have to give, go forth. Obey the last words of Christ before His ascension. Go into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. May it be said of you, on your tombstone, "Lord, he went", or, "Lord, she went."

You can buy Changing Of The Guard from Cross Rhythms Direct for £10.44.