In the Bible in Acts chapter 26 the Apostle Paul is standing before king Agrippa and here he gives an account of himself unto Agrippa. I encourage you to read the chapter, especially verses 1-29 before continuing in this article. Paul’s telling of his story was so plainly honest and stirring that when he finished even king Agrippa exclaimed “…Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian”. “ALMOST”; such a sad word in this case. Several of the men in our church are skilled at hunting and fishing. They have amazingly real-looking bass and deer decorating their walls to commemorate their skills. One in particular has zebra, gazelle, kudu, alligator, buffalo, elk and moose on his walls. Each one looks so real you ‘almost’ expect them to take off running any moment. They look ALMOST alive; as if frozen in time, ready to break free of that stillness and dash away any second. But then reality settles in and you realize ‘no, they will not dash away’. The fantastically real looking ducks won’t explode skyward ever again. The Bass on the wall plaque wouldn’t notice if you put a whole cup of ‘red wiggler worms’ right in his plastic mouth. Why not? Because ALMOST alive is totally dead. ALMOST real is the same as completely fake. When a Doctor tells a waiting family “we ALMOST saved his life”, what he just said is “we completely failed to save his life…he’s dead”. {By the way I know a Doctor who has never yet lost a single patient who came to him}! You’ve heard the old saying “close counts in horseshoe’s and hand-grenades”; let me add that when it comes to being “SAVED” by grace through faith [Ephesians 2:8-9] you either ARE or you’re not. There IS NO ALMOST saved. Imagine if you and I took that trophy bass mount down from the wall in my friend’s house and we took it to a pond and laid it there in the water. If we get a few lawn chairs and watch it all day, will it swim away? Will it slowly revive and start flailing? No, of course not. If I tapped your hand and said “hey look…its ALMOST moving”; wouldn’t you put your hand to my forehead to check my temperature? NO!! It isn’t ALMOST moving. It will never do so again short of a complete miracle from God to make it alive again. IF you are wondering what salvation is like – THAT’S IT! It is like the dead being made ALIVE again! It is as if the Lord Jesus Christ told them to roll away the stone from your tomb and called your name and said “COME FORTH” [John 11:43]. Tell me ma’am, are you tired of being ‘almost’ a Christian? Tell me Sir, are you tired of ‘almost’ having a relationship with God? Calvary Baptist Church has the real thing for real people who want a real Christianity. Bring your family and come see what it’s like!