{"id":1726,"date":"2022-06-16T08:23:41","date_gmt":"2022-06-16T12:23:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=1726"},"modified":"2022-06-16T08:23:41","modified_gmt":"2022-06-16T12:23:41","slug":"a-ticket-to-ride","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2022\/06\/16\/a-ticket-to-ride\/","title":{"rendered":"A Ticket to Ride"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Preachers and teachers usually keep a signature story in their back pocket \u2013 something they can always count on to drive home a key point.
\u00a0
One of Billy Graham\u2019s signature stories concerned Albert Einstein.\u00a0 Like a lot of the oft-repeated anecdotes concerning the brilliant physicist, it\u2019s hard to differentiate between truth and fiction.\u00a0 But the story works nonetheless.\u00a0
\u00a0
According to Graham, Einstein hopped aboard a train, heading for an out-of-town engagement.\u00a0 As the conductor made his way down the aisle, stopping to punch tickets, the scientist began to rummage through his coat.\u00a0 Then he looked in his briefcase.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t find his ticket.\u00a0
\u00a0
When the conductor arrived, he leaned down and said, \u201cDon\u2019t worry, Dr. Einstein.\u00a0 We all know who you are.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure you bought a ticket.\u201d
\u00a0
The conductor continued to make his way down the aisle.\u00a0 Before he moved on to the next car, he looked back and saw Einstein down on his hands and knees, still searching for his ticket.\u00a0 He came back and said, gently, \u201cDr. Einstein, please don\u2019t worry about it.\u00a0 I know who you are.\u201d\u00a0 Einstein looked up and said, \u201cI, too, know who I am.\u00a0 What I don\u2019t know is where I\u2019m going.\u201d
\u00a0
Graham had a field day making the distinction between people who seem fully self-aware but are clueless concerning their ultimate standing with God.
\u00a0
Late in the life, the evangelist struggled with Parkinson\u2019s.\u00a0 He made fewer and fewer public appearances.\u00a0
\u00a0
One of his last ones was in Charlotte, North Carolina, where civic leaders hosted a luncheon in his honor.\u00a0 Graham, perhaps for the last time, told the story about Einstein on the train.
\u00a0
Then he pointed out the new suit he was wearing.\u00a0 He admitted that his wife, children, and grandchildren had all commented that he had begun to look a bit slovenly.\u00a0 He had purchased the suit for two occasions.\u00a0 One was for this luncheon.\u00a0 The other was for his burial.
\u00a0
Billy concluded, \u201cWhen you hear that I am dead, don\u2019t immediately think of my suit.\u00a0 Remember this: I know who I am, and I most certainly know where I am going.\u201d
\u00a0
Across the entire scope of Jesus\u2019 teaching, there\u2019s no verse quite like John 5:24:
\u00a0
\u201cAnyone here who believes what I am saying right now and aligns himself with the Father, who has in fact put me in charge, has at this very moment the real, lasting life and is no longer condemned to be an outsider. This person has taken a giant step from the world of the dead to the world of the living.\u201d\u00a0<\/em>
\u00a0
The \u201creal, lasting life\u201d that Jesus promises isn\u2019t merely something that awaits us on the other side of the cemetery. \u00a0
\u00a0
For those who have abandoned themselves to Christ, it\u2019s a present reality \u2013 a mode of existence that has already started.\u00a0 \u00a0
\u00a0
We\u2019ll never have to get down on our hands and knees for fear that we\u2019ve somehow misplaced our ticket.
\u00a0
That\u2019s because Jesus has promised to be there at the end of the trip, waiting to embrace us.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Preachers and teachers usually keep a signature story in their back pocket \u2013 something they can always count on to drive home a key point.\u00a0One of Billy Graham\u2019s signature stories concerned Albert Einstein.\u00a0 Like a lot of the oft-repeated anecdotes concerning the brilliant physicist, it\u2019s hard to differentiate between truth and fiction.\u00a0 But the story works nonetheless.\u00a0\u00a0According to Graham, Einstein… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1727,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[427,345],"class_list":["post-1726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-billy-graham","tag-salvation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1726"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1726\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1728,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1726\/revisions\/1728"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1727"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}