The Final Countdown

by Tyler Zach



By the time you finish reading this short blog, you will be a lot closer to your death. This is true.

With each blog that I write, I grow more anxious to be with my heavenly Father. I’m very excited to go to a place where every tear will be wiped away and there will be no more pain and suffering. No more terrorist attacks. No more yelling at each other. No more divorces. No more depression. No more selfishness.

For this is the place that was meant for us from the beginning – until we screwed things up. Praise God that He had mercy on us and sent a part of Himself, Jesus, to make things right.

I sit here and ponder how I could be worthy enough to have my own perfect Savior suffer and shed red for me. How I long to see Him. How I long to fall at his feet and give praises to Him forever. It gives me great joy to anticipate that.

Now we are a few more seconds closer to eternity. The clock is ticking. These seconds are but a vapor in the wind compared to the time that we will spend either a) in heaven worshiping the one true God with all the angels, or b) cut off from His glory forever.

Another second gone. All praise and honor to Him who, when we die, molds beauty from ashes.
Only a few seconds left.

Who will You choose today to live for? Open your eyes towards heaven. Be still and know that He is God.

Scan Me Into Heaven Please

by Tyler Zach



Working at Wal-Mart was quite an interesting experience.

I had to make a little money the summer before I went to college - so I drove 1/2 hour everyday to make $5.65/hour as a cashier. I would scan hour upon hour trying to be the best cashier I could be.

When I found out that they gave prizes to the cashier who could scan the fastest, I really started to book it on those bar codes. The prize never found me however. I kept getting beat by one of those nice old ladies that had “25 years of service” written on her name tag.

When they needed a sub to go and greet people at the door, I was always the first one to volunteer. And yes, I was the geek who would playfully push people as they came through the door and shout, “Watch out for those falling prices!” I am such a nerd.

One day this old man came up to my counter (I sound so cool when I say that) and I scanned one of his items. You would have thought his retirement plan had gone under after you saw him complain about the price of this t-shirt he grabbed!

Turns out that someone had placed his shirt on a sale rack. We, however, were taught in Wal-Mart training school (and yes, they actually do a cheer on breaks) that the bar code never lies. I rebuked this man gently and told him that his t-shirt was not on sale.

This illustration represents the spiritual state of most Christians, at least the ones living around me. Many people flock to the right “clothes rack” (I mean church) so that they can say they are a part of something they’re actually not (I mean their heart).

I once heard someone say, “Going to McDonalds doesn’t make you a hamburger any more than going to church makes you a Christian.”

This is the truth. God will scan your heart someday. It won’t matter what said you did…or who you claimed to belong to…because the bar code never lies.

The bar code reveals your relationship with God. If in fact you are a child of the King: Do you seek to know your Father's heart? Do you seek to do His will?

I’ll let the words of Jesus in the book of Matthew end this blog. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me…’”

Filthy Rich

by Tyler Zach



I can't believe how filthy rich people are.

I mean, there are thousands upon thousands of millionaires out there who spend all their money on themselves. It is quite disgusting to me. Even the rich people who give money to charity make me sick because they give so little in comparison to what they have. Giving $1,000 to a “good cause” doesn’t really impress me when $1,000 is only .05% of the total salary that a person makes in a year.

Let’s stop right here and take a moment to pause. At this point, you may be thinking that the paragraph above is me talking about the rich people I see on TV. That is actually incorrect. The paragraph above is a person in _______ on the other side of the globe talking about ME.

Being rich is dangerous. It is…filthy dangerous. I am rich, you are rich, everyone for the most part is rich here in America.

Here is a truth to choke on. God doesn’t take an excel spreadsheet, input the salary of everyone in your zip code, and then label the top 10% rich. We have slipped into relativity.

When you live in the suburbs of Chicago and you are making less than the doctor across the street or the lawyer living next to you, it is easy to not think of yourself as rich. What if you were to compare yourself with someone living in the inner-city?

When God looks down at us and sees the blessings that we have been given, he looks at these in comparison to the other billions of people throughout the world. What makes this worse is that 10 American dollars is worth far more money in third world countries. Oops…we just got even richer!

So, if you find yourself guilty like me of complaining about how “filthy rich” movie stars are, realize that we are engaging in hypocrisy. I urge you to find a missions organization in your hometown or across the globe and starting giving right away. For $1/day, you can give a kid food, clean water, schooling, spiritual mentor, lessons on hygiene, etc. The list goes on.

One organization that I trust is Compassion International. Go to their web site to find out more information ( http://www.compassion.com/ )

God mentions the poor over and over again in the bible. Sometimes, we get so focused on "spreading knowlege" that we forget to "meet needs". Jesus was very focused and passionate about meeting needs. In the end when we come face to face with Him, how will you give an account of how you spent your money?

After reading this blog, write down a list of people in need that you've given to recently. Can you?