Dear World:

What's the effect of your death? ... Did he just say that? Death? I'm not dead yet ... Yes, I said that: What's the effect of your death?

As I was BookCruzin' this morning, I stumbled across a dude named Stephen (Acts 7:54-8:1). [... when I say stumble, I mean that I was reading about Saul's conversion from bad guy to good guy and I decided to go backwards instead of forwards ... ] Didn't recall much about Stephen before, so I did a little researchin' ... I learned that Stephen was known for his spiritual qualities, he was an outstanding teacher/leader, and that he was the first to give his life for the Gospel. Yep. The story this morning was about Stephen being put to death for his so-called blasphemy about God by claiming Christ as the Messiah. You can read the story yourself.

My thoughts ended on these words: "Saul was in hearty agreement of putting [Stephen] to death." But wait, remember, I was reading backwards. This was the "Paul before conversion Saul." I started to think whether Stephen's death was in vain, or better yet, what's the point of his death? As I scrubbed the Book for answers, I found some of the "effects" of Stephen's death, or more appropriately, his MartyrDom, including: (1) a dude named Philip who went on an evangelist RockStar tour; (2) Paul's conversion; (3) a dude named Peter who went on a missionary RockStar tour; and (4) the start of a new church in Antioch (not Tennessee). His death was not in vain.

Self, I ask, what's the effect of your death? It is so easy to see the effects of "doing" life wrong: Angry parenting=angry kids; lack of spouse-loving=bitter relationship; reckless financial habits=reckless financial condition.

But what about the effect of "doing" life right? Grace-based parenting=God-loving kids; spouse-encouraging=helpmate for life; financial discipline=financial freedom.

You see, every little thing I do in this world will have a ripple effect ... the question is whether it will be good or bad. How about you? What's the effect of your death?

Self.