As we observe the world around us, it is easy to believe that we are on the way out. The Evil that runs wild and rampant all over this globe seems to be on the increase. ISIS is having it's heyday now as many are being beheaded and their demands can't seem to be met. North Korea threatens to attack us, depending on which week it is and if Dennis Rodman has smoothed things over for us or not. Children disappear and end up in the sex slave trade. Winter weather seems to be worse than last year for many in the north. Wildfires and Flooding increase in many western states, especially California. The fight for an agreed definition of marriage and which states allow legal marijuana are on our minds. Meth labs and their distributors seem to be all around us. Children are murdered in drive-by shootings and there is hate for those of another skin tone. The cops are too brutal and are now a target. Reconciliations fail and the town burns. Nothing seems to get done in Washington except the switching of the players. The lines are divided along party lines along with the social issues. Taxes are too high. The rich don't pay enough. Abortion still happens, but is down from the past. It's a sin now to smoke, but pot should be legal. She kissed a girl and liked it and comes riding in on a graven image (okay so it was a tiger) as the entertainment of the most watched Super Bowl in history. (Not sure what the dancing sharks represented).
The church is stuck inside the building or when we are out we watch the same movies that are lifted up by the world. We walk, talk and sound like the ones we despise on Sundays in the “Safe Zone”. Those lines are blurred as well. Fifty Shades comes to the Big Screen and the audience is the same one that will sit in church on Sunday. But we are only satisfying our own cravings. We loudly decry all of the evil things we disagree with and the Enemy has succeeded in shifting our focus from the message of the Gospel that we are supposed to be about. The pointed finger leaves them bewildered as they observe the things that we don't acknowledge about ourselves. We fail to give account for our own junk, but make sure that they know what theirs is. He called us to Love and extend Grace and Mercy to those weary fellow travelers that have not Come Home yet. Not to denounce every single sin that we are aware of in another's life. If we are so burdened and grieved at the sins we see around us, then we should be facedown. Maybe talking it over with God before making a public display would be a better idea.
In Revelation 1:3, John tells us that we are blessed if we read and hear his words of prophecy and also pay attention to the things written there. Nowhere does it say that we should worry about the end or how it will end. If we are scared, than we are of no use to the spread of the Gospel. Preachers talk of Blood Moons and judgement. Predictions and non-predictions abound. Wars and rumors of war. Famines and earthquakes. Tsunamis and hurricanes. But Jesus says, “don't panic” (Matthew 24:6). In fact, a rundown of the list that He gives in this chapter are all things that could describe our desperate times. To look at these signs of the end times and not have compassion on this lost and dying world is wrong. Many of us can look at this and think, how great that day will be and at the same time forget to continue to live for Him while we are here. He exhorted His followers to get the Gospel message out to the ends of the earth (Matthew 28:18-20). In this same passage He promised that He would be with us to the end. He also started it out by saying that He had all authority in Heaven and on Earth. So if He has all authority and He will always be with us, do we have a reason to be afraid or frightened by all that we see going on around us? Some of us have faith in a smaller God than He actually is. Like we are the ones who are going to help Him sort all of this out. We want to separate the sheep from the goats and it is not time for that yet. Let's let God be God and make our way out of His territory. We must remember to be faithful to the end, not frightened to the end. He is in Control. He is Soveriegn. He holds all things together. Let's be about our Father's business and that is to spread the Gospel message to the ends of the earth. Whether by prayer, financial support or if we pack up and go ourselves, we are the instruments He uses to that end. He is with us. He is in Control. We have no need to fear, wring our hands, bite our fingernails or worry. We also have no need to be useless to Him and the spread of this Gospel for the end will not come until it reaches the ends of the earth (Matthew 24:14).
The church is stuck inside the building or when we are out we watch the same movies that are lifted up by the world. We walk, talk and sound like the ones we despise on Sundays in the “Safe Zone”. Those lines are blurred as well. Fifty Shades comes to the Big Screen and the audience is the same one that will sit in church on Sunday. But we are only satisfying our own cravings. We loudly decry all of the evil things we disagree with and the Enemy has succeeded in shifting our focus from the message of the Gospel that we are supposed to be about. The pointed finger leaves them bewildered as they observe the things that we don't acknowledge about ourselves. We fail to give account for our own junk, but make sure that they know what theirs is. He called us to Love and extend Grace and Mercy to those weary fellow travelers that have not Come Home yet. Not to denounce every single sin that we are aware of in another's life. If we are so burdened and grieved at the sins we see around us, then we should be facedown. Maybe talking it over with God before making a public display would be a better idea.
In Revelation 1:3, John tells us that we are blessed if we read and hear his words of prophecy and also pay attention to the things written there. Nowhere does it say that we should worry about the end or how it will end. If we are scared, than we are of no use to the spread of the Gospel. Preachers talk of Blood Moons and judgement. Predictions and non-predictions abound. Wars and rumors of war. Famines and earthquakes. Tsunamis and hurricanes. But Jesus says, “don't panic” (Matthew 24:6). In fact, a rundown of the list that He gives in this chapter are all things that could describe our desperate times. To look at these signs of the end times and not have compassion on this lost and dying world is wrong. Many of us can look at this and think, how great that day will be and at the same time forget to continue to live for Him while we are here. He exhorted His followers to get the Gospel message out to the ends of the earth (Matthew 28:18-20). In this same passage He promised that He would be with us to the end. He also started it out by saying that He had all authority in Heaven and on Earth. So if He has all authority and He will always be with us, do we have a reason to be afraid or frightened by all that we see going on around us? Some of us have faith in a smaller God than He actually is. Like we are the ones who are going to help Him sort all of this out. We want to separate the sheep from the goats and it is not time for that yet. Let's let God be God and make our way out of His territory. We must remember to be faithful to the end, not frightened to the end. He is in Control. He is Soveriegn. He holds all things together. Let's be about our Father's business and that is to spread the Gospel message to the ends of the earth. Whether by prayer, financial support or if we pack up and go ourselves, we are the instruments He uses to that end. He is with us. He is in Control. We have no need to fear, wring our hands, bite our fingernails or worry. We also have no need to be useless to Him and the spread of this Gospel for the end will not come until it reaches the ends of the earth (Matthew 24:14).
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