Ever wear a life preserver when you were in a boat? Ever wear your seatbelt when you drive? Ever get a flu shot?

Those are all actions that many folks choose to avoid because they’re inconvenient or uncomfortable, despite the fact they could save your life. Gambling with your life is pretty foolish. Gambling with damnation is stupid.

Chairman Maobama has declared the United States not a country of Christians, but people with "ideals." That’s very sad, as ideals won’t save your immortal soul.

I know that the whole debate of science vs religion is a heated one, but I’d say that around the world, over 80% of all human beings believe there is a life after death. Here in the U.S., the belief in the afterlife is so strong we’re in a current upsurge in Ghost-oriented TV Shows, where folks try to take pictures or record spirits at haunted sites.

So, I’m not going to argue whether or not we have souls. If you think you don’t, stop reading.

If you’re still with me, I’m going to ask you a simple question: Do you want to save yourself?

Before you get all uppity, I’m not suggesting that you log off the internet and plop down in front of Trinity Broadcasting or dash out to buy some evangelical biography. I’m suggesting you form your own opinions. And to do that, you need to go to the source: the Bible.

Some of you may not want to read the Bible. You’ve gotten a pretty distorted vision of what Christianity is from television preachers, out to make you donate your hard-earned cash, until it hurts. Or you’ve seen preachers like Jesse Jackson stick their nose in politics and offer sermons that seem counter to what they claim Christianity is. This may have even driven many of you to read the Koran, or the tales of Confucius, or maybe L Ron Hubbard’s greatest work of fiction.

But have you read the Bible?

Up until a few hundred years ago, most folks couldn’t read the Bible, or the Koran, or any religious text. Illiteracy was wide spread. Instead, folks had to go to Church, temple, etc., and listen to someone tell them what was in there.

But you can read.

Have you ever read the Bible? How about just the New Testament? The first Four Gospels? One of the Gospels?

You’ve read novels. Maybe you’ve read stereo instructions or the manual that came with your new car. You clearly read a lot on the internet. Are any of those readings going to save your immortal soul?

When it comes to Christianity, it strikes me as just such an amazing bout of laziness for people to not read the Bible, at least once. Instead of listening to what one person tells you what you have to do to be saved, why not find out for yourself?

I would love to pose the question to our "President" from Kenya. "Have you ever read the Bible?" We know that he is thoroughly familiar with the Koran, having been educated in a Islamic schools as a child. But did he read the Bible himself, or just sit in Reverend Wright’s church for 20 years listening to what is allegedly in the Bible?

Finally, here’s something else to consider. People get life insurance, "in case" they die. People wear seatbelts, "in case" they have a wreck. Fighter pilots wear parachutes, "in case" they have to eject from their aircraft. What if the Bible is right? What if your immortal soul will spend eternity damned unless you follow some simple Bible teachings?

I know that Americans tend to let others do their thinking for them these days — who to vote for, what clothes to wear, and even what foods to eat. But when it comes to something as important as where you’ll be spending eternity, don’t be a slacker. Read a Bible at least once.

No one else can Save you — you have to Save yourself.