Signs Of The Times

Joel 2:31

The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come.

Matthew 24: 4-14

Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you.  For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many.  You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.  Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.  All these are the beginning of birth pains.  "Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me.  At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.  Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.  And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

Luke 21:25

There will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves.

Acts 2:20

The sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, before the great and glorious day of the Lord shall come.

Revelation 6:12

I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood;

Hmmmmmmm?

LSD

I was thinking about fads the other day.  I was stopped at a light watching youth, unable to pull their pants up, walk across the road in front of me.  It just cracks me up – all of the little “gangstas” wanting to identify with losers in southern California!  (It really is a problem!)  Guess I just do not understand the “cool” of airing your whitey tighties.

Well, back in my day…..

It was 1969 and my first year of American school, in South Carolina, of all places.  The hot item for being “cool” then was to have a bracelet with your initials engraved on it.  “Everyone” had one, “everyone” wanted one, “everyone” had to have one!

“Everyone” that is, except for me and a young lady named, Linda Sue Dorsey.  Yeah, 1969 was a bad year to have the initials of LSD and wanting the all powerfully cool, initials bracelet.

Reason I even remember this is how devastated she was because the company had sent back her money and told her they would not do a bracelet with those initials.  How the tears flowed down those young cheeks.

Back to today and our belt challenged youth, how devastated would they be if they had to pull up their pants because they are not Californians?  Can you just see these young men sobbing and crying because they have to pull their panties up?  Oh heavens, how I laughed at the thought of this!  Of course, they thought I was laughing at them and each offered to show me some of their fingers…  Being young can be so hysterically traumatic.

As for Linda Sue Dorsey, I wonder what ever happened to her.  Did she ever get her bracelet?  Or become an ax murderer, from having been denied her all important bracelet!  Hmmm, a damaged ID from having no id bracelet….hee, hee, hee!

THE QUESTION that CHANGED MY LIFE

-by David Ryser.

A number of years ago, I had the privilege of teaching at a school of ministry. My students were hungry for God, and I was constantly searching for ways to challenge them to fall more in love with Jesus and to become voices for revival in the Church. I came across a quote attributed most often to Rev. Sam Pascoe. It is a short version of the history of Christianity, and it goes like this:

Christianity started in Palestine as a fellowship; it moved to Greece and became a philosophy; it moved to Italy and became an institution; it moved to Europe and became a culture; it came to America and became an enterprise.

Some of the students were only 18 or 19 years old--barely out of diapers--and I wanted them to understand and appreciate the import of the last line, so I clarified it by adding, "An enterprise. That's a business." After a few moments Martha, the youngest student in the class, raised her hand. I could not imagine what her question might be. I thought the little vignette was self-explanatory, and that I had performed it brilliantly. Nevertheless, I acknowledged Martha's raised hand, "Yes, Martha." She asked such a simple question, "A business? But isn't it supposed to be a body?" I could not envision where this line of questioning was going, and the only response I could think of was, "Yes." She continued, "But when a body becomes a business, isn't that a prostitute?"

The room went dead silent. For several seconds no one moved or spoke. We were stunned, afraid to make a sound because the presence of God had flooded into the room, and we knew we were on holy ground. All I could think in those sacred moments was, "Wow, I wish I'd thought of that." I didn't dare express that thought aloud. God had taken over the class.

Martha's question changed my life. For six months, I thought about her question at least once every day. "When a body becomes a business, isn't that a prostitute?" There is only one answer to her question. The answer is "Yes." The American Church, tragically, is heavily populated by people who do not love God. How can we love Him? We don't even know Him; and I mean really know Him.

... I stand by my statement that most American Christians do not know God--much less love Him. The root of this condition originates in how we came to God. Most of us came to Him because of what we were told He would do for us. We were promised that He would bless us in life and take us to heaven after death. We married Him for His money, and we don't care if He lives or dies as long as we can get His stuff. We have made the Kingdom of God into a business, merchandising His anointing. This should not be. We are commanded to love God, and are called to be the Bride of Christ--that's pretty intimate stuff. We are supposed to be His lovers. How can we love someone we don't even know? And even if we do know someone, is that a guarantee that we truly love them? Are we lovers or prostitutes?

I was pondering Martha's question again one day, and considered the question, "What's the difference between a lover and a prostitute?"  I realized that both do many of the same things, but a lover does what she does because she loves. A prostitute pretends to love, but only as long as you pay. Then I asked the question, "What would happen if God stopped paying me?"

For the next several months, I allowed God to search me to uncover my motives for loving and serving Him. Was I really a true lover of God? What would happen if He stopped blessing me? What if He never did another thing for me? Would I still love Him? Please understand, I believe in the promises and blessings of God. The issue here is not whether God blesses His children; the issue is the condition of my heart. Why do I serve Him? Are His blessings in my life the gifts of a loving Father, or are they a wage that I have earned or a bribe/payment to love Him? Do I love God without any conditions? It took several months to work through these questions. Even now I wonder if my desire to love God is always matched by my attitude and behavior. I still catch myself being disappointed with God and angry that He has not met some perceived need in my life. I suspect this is something which is never fully resolved, but I want more than anything else to be a true lover of God.

So what is it going to be? Which are we, lover or prostitute? There are no prostitutes in heaven, or in the Kingdom of God for that matter, but there are plenty of former prostitutes in both places. Take it from a recovering prostitute when I say there is no substitute or unconditional, intimate relationship with God. And I mean there is no palatable substitute available to us (take another look at Matthew 7:21-23 sometime). We must choose.

Heading Home

You are almost guaranteed you are going to die at some point.  Outside of Enoch, Elijah and believers during the end of the age, no one leaves this world alive.  Given that death is a given, we can know a few things from 2 Corinthians 5:5-10.

• You are going to die
• Your spirit will leave your body
• You will come immediately into the presence of the Lord
• You will receive an eternal body
• You will, even as a Christian, face the judgment of God (for rewards)

Knowing where you are headed should change the way you are living here!

• You are to live with courage (v 6-8)
• You only have one goal – to please God (v9)
• This is your chance to prepare for your court appearance! (v10)

   

The Intersection

All of us are living at the intersection of Life and physical Death.

In 2 Corinthians 4:7-18 we are given some food for thought on this idea on how to live at this junction as Christians.

Suffering is not in the fine print of the Bible or for the Christian.  Paul uses “always” concerning the death of Jesus.  It is normal.  It is to be expected by you concerning yourself!  Realize that a quarter of Paul’s ministry time was spent in Roman prisons.

See others as being with you in this intersection.  There exists a community of believers comprising the Body of Christ.  If one suffers, we should all suffer.  If one can rejoice, we should all rejoice.  If one needs prayer, we should all be in prayer with them.  This corporate identity needs to become a reality in each of our lives.

When you are in pain, allow that pain to be a blessing for others.  Strengthen one another with the sharing of testimonies, successes and failures.  Realize that we all have problems and challenges; it is common across all mankind.  Learn to share.  Learn to be in prayer for others.  Learn to walk as a fellowship of believers.  There are no lone rangers in the Christian world.

Stand up for the truth of the Gospel of Christ.  Do not allow the world to silence you, your testimony or your witness.  Whatever you go through in this life should be for Jesus’ sake.

Learn to distinguish between finality and reality.  Do not confuse faith with what you experience.  Trust in God’s providence.  Let whatever happens in your life be for God and Jesus.

Put your life into perspective – what is really important to you?  When you go higher, the things which impact you will become smaller…..

Lessons From Rahab

The destruction of Jericho has always played  upon my mind, from even long before I had become a Christian.  Imagine, a couple hundred thousand bedraggled nomads, circle a walled city, blow their horns, shout and down come the walls.  Wow.

Kathleen Kenyon was a friend of my mother’s, or were they antagonists?  In any event I read a dusty copy of Kathleen’s work on her trench digging at Jericho in the 1950’s with great interest.  Of course, her work did not validate a Hebrew over throw of the city.  Why?  Because no one can agree upon which time the city fell that it was to the Hebrews!  Hmmmmm.

So, picking up your Bible you can read Joshua 2:1 - 13.

We are told that Rahab was a prostitute in the city of Jericho.  The Hebrew spies, for reasons not explained, end up at her home/place of business.  She saves the spies and helps them to escape with their promise of protection for her and her family.  Eventually, Jericho is destroyed, Rahab and her family spared, and she goes on to become a direct line ancestor of Jesus.  Cool.

I think we look at this story from the wrong slant.  Everyone emphasizes the saving of the spies by Rahab and not so much on God and Rahab.  For some reason, known only to God, He reached out to her and saved her.  The spies were probably the tool or the opportunity it took for her to make a decision which must have been on her mind for a while.

Certainly, you do not have to possess much knowledge, if any!, to know God is the real thing.  No seminary needed, no books, no lectures, perhaps not even an active witness anywhere around you.

God is more concerned over your present faith in Him than in yesterday’s failures.  Yeah, we like to keep dredging up the past.  But, God does not do that, He is not even interested in the topic.  Where you are now, is what He is interested in.

Rahab was spared due to her faith in a God she knew almost nothing of.  The Caananites were destroyed without exception, save of her and her family.  God’s punishment/justice calls for a complete and thorough judgment for sin.

Rahab chose wisely…..

Fellowship

Since I have had so much free time lately, I have been studying in 1 John.  1 John is my most favorite writing in the Bible.  In particular, one passage:

“If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another.”

My first exposure to this passage was about 1971, at my mother’s church in Colorado.  Since I was forced to go, I joined the youth choir – not because I could sing but because it got her off my back.  Besides, I was sweet on one of the girls.  The choir director decided to sign us up in a contest with other local youth groups.

The song had a good tempo, the words were easy enough to remember and we did go on to take first place in Colorado.  However, the words were rather meaningless to me - I was still an atheist.

“If we walk in the light”  Heck I lived in Colorado, you went out of your way to get to shade – unless you liked hot sidewalks and burning!  Dutchman visited me one year and in three hours was covered in blisters!  That high altitude sun can be very unforgiving.

But I missed the point of the passage, I was thinking literally rather than figuratively.  In the first century Hebrew culture, light and truth were equated with one another. 

So, if I walk in the light (Truth), as He (Jesus) is in the light (Truth) we have fellowship with one another.  We have fellowship because we have commonality in the Spirit and we have commonality in the Truth of Jesus as the Christ.

I have marveled in this day and age of virtual friendships and fellowships at this commonality.  I have met many whom I interact with on a regular basis, probably more than I do with those in my local church!