The End Times 3 -- The Harbinger

²⁰ The rest of mankind that were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk. ²¹ Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.

Revelation 9:20-21.

As I said in one of my earlier posts, there are a whole lot of people these days who think that the End Times are closing in on us.  I also noted that many generations have believed that they would see Christ return -- only to be disappointed.  Yet, at some point a generation will come that will say "the end is near" and, unlike every generation before it, they will be right.  Who knows -- this could well be that generation.

What I can say with certainty, though, is that whether the end is near or not men will continue to resist God's will, men will experience the consequences of their refusal to submit to Him, and men will refuse to repent.  It is a cycle that has persisted from the beginning.  It is a cycle that will persist to the end.

I am in the middle of reading a book called "The Harbinger" which I picked up at the suggestion of my wife.  The book has some theological question marks to be sure.  But, the fundamental premise is quite sound.

The fundamental question The Harbinger seeks to answer is what happens when a nation turns its back on God.  In fact, I think that one of the reasons the end seems near to many in this country is that they have lost hope in America.  Every year, our nation seems to pull further and further away from God.  Every year, the world around us seems to get darker and darker.

Earlier tonight a friend asked me this question:

• Why do you think it is that God puts us in charge of our own eternal destiny? We are not in charge of being born, but we are given the choice of where to spend eternity.Why would He do this when He knows we're made with limited understanding, doubt, susceptibility to Satan's lies, human ignorance, and pride. He knows our human frailties and limitations. Sometimes I think He's given us too much power in this choice....this free will. Free will seems more like a trick, or a test, than a "gift" as we evangelicals like to think of it.

I think this is a really great question, and one which I may try to deal with in a later blog.  But there is a related question of equal importance, which is why would men turn their back on God knowing the consequences of doing so?  Or, for that matter, why would a nation turn its back on God knowing the consequences of doing so?

Make no mistake about it, in either case the consequence of turning our back on God is "wrath."  I know, I know -- we don't like to talk about wrath anymore.  But, that's the reality.  Its biblical.  When we turn our back on God we should not expect a "time out" -- we should expect wrath.  And, I am afraid that if the United States doesn't get its act together soon wrath is coming.      

I hope I am wrong.


¹⁸ The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, ¹⁹ since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. ²⁰ For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

²¹ For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. ²² Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools ²³ and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

Romans 1:18-23 (NIV)

My Life

Four and a half years ago I agreed to serve as the Executive Pastor of Heartland Church.  I knew going in that life was going to change.  But, in retrospect, I really had no clue about what the future held.  I had no real appreciation for where God was leading me and my family.

At first, it was mostly a matter of trying to figure out how to juggle life as a full-time lawyer and part-time pastor and still have time for family and friends.  Of course, I also had a lot to learn about how churches operate -- things like budgets and policies and personnel.  But, as I would soon find out, things were about to change -- and quickly.  

The first year and a half or so also presented more and greater challenges that I could possibly have anticipated.  And, I was in all honesty ill-prepared for some of those challenges.   Thank God for the support of my wife, John and Sherry Ferris and others during those times.  Thank God that at the end of those challenges we found the church thriving in Carrollton!  His plan, as it turned out, was far better than any plan we could have conceived.

What has been most surprising to me, though, is how God has drawn me into the ministry part of the church and not just into the business and administration.  I have been caught completely off guard by God's willingness to use someone like me to minister to other people and occasionally even to preach the Word.  

Its funny, but every time I thought that things would stabilize and become routine some new change or challenge would come along.  In fact, if I have learned anything over the last four and a half years, it is that when you are really pursuing God's will, individually or collectively as a church, you should expect just about anything other than stability and comfort.  We serve a God who is deeply interested in our personal growth, and personal growth always means change (and usually includes growing pains!).

And, this brings me to my most recent change -- and probably the most drastic yet.  After a great deal of thought and prayer, Pam and I have decided that I will very soon switch from full-time lawyer and part-time pastor to full-time pastor and part-time lawyer.

Ten years ago if you had said that I would become a pastor some day I would have said you were crazy.  Four years ago if you would have said that I would be a full time pastor in less than five years I would have said that was absurd.  As I said, I have come to expect the unexpected, and try not to guess anymore about how God's plan might unfold.

As many of you know, I never set out to be a pastor.  And, at times all of these changes in my life are still a bit unsettling to me.  But, at the same time, I am convinced that I am called to this life.  I am convinced that I am operating in God's will.  And, that is a good place to be.

I am deeply appreciative of Pastor Dan's trust in me, and am excited about my continuing service at Heartland Church.  For that matter, I am excited about all that God is doing at Heartland Church!

Pam and I are so thankful for the encouragement and support we have gotten from so many of you.  You will never know what that means to us.  Please continue to pray for us as we enter into this new season in our lives.

Good things are happening!!

God bless.

       

The End Times - 2

A couple of days ago my wife made an interesting comment to me about the times we live in.  I do not know exactly what the genesis was of her thought.  But, I do know that Pam tends to be extremely sensitive and discerning spiritually, and consequently I tend to take comments she makes like this quite seriously.

Pam knows the importance of reaching people who don't know Jesus, but she told me the other day that right now we need to focus on strengthening the body of Christ.  I told her that I thought strengthening the body is always important, in part because the best evangelism tool is a body of strong and mature believers.

Pam said she understood that, but that I was missing the point.  She said that people need to be strengthened right now not just to better equip them for service to God and to others, but for themselves.  You see, Pam's concern is much more fundamental than it first sounded to me.  Pam's concern is that we are entering into a time when there will be a further falling away from the church.  She sees the crisis of faith in America getting far worse!

There is no doubt that we live in a time in which the church has less and less significance in the United States, and therefore less and less significance in the lives of people.  By some estimates, only 25% of Americans attend church 2 to 3 times a month.  The other 75% rarely attend church, if at all.

The fact is that we live in a time when false teaching is enjoying unprecedented success.  The fastest growing religion in America these days is atheism -- which make no mistake is a religion.  According to a 2010 Newsweek article, around 80% of Americans believe that Jesus is not the only way to heaven. 

The more I have thought about Pam's comment, the more I think she is exactly right.  That doesn't mean that evangelism is any less important today than it has ever been.  It just means that there is a spiritual war going on, that the stakes have never been higher, and that it is time for us to truly put on the full armor of God.  See Ephesians 6:11.

We live in a time in which a watered down Gospel and the nominal Christian simply will not do.  An onslaught is coming, and the enemy is well prepared.  For this battle, we will need strong and confident people of faith, grounded in the Word and bathed in prayer.  

⁵ Jesus said to them: “Watch out that no one deceives you. ⁶ Many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and will deceive many. ⁷ When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. ⁸ Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.

⁹ “You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On account of me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them. ¹⁰ And the gospel must first be preached to all nations. ¹¹ Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.

¹² “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. ¹³ All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.

¹⁴ “When you see ‘the abomination that causes desolation’ standing where it does not belong—let the reader understand—then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. ¹⁵ Let no one on the roof of his house go down or enter the house to take anything out. ¹⁶ Let no one in the field go back to get his cloak. ¹⁷ How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! ¹⁸ Pray that this will not take place in winter, ¹⁹ because those will be days of distress unequaled from the beginning, when God created the world, until now—and never to be equaled again. ²⁰ If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, whom he has chosen, he has shortened them. ²¹ At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or, ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. ²² For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and miracles to deceive the elect—if that were possible. ²³ So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time.
²⁴ “But in those days, following that distress,

“‘the sun will be darkened,
    and the moon will not give its light;
²⁵ the stars will fall from the sky,
    and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’

²⁶ “At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. ²⁷ And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.
²⁸ “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. ²⁹ Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it is near, right at the door. ³⁰ I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. ³¹ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

Mark 13:5-31 (NIV)

The End Times

From the very beginning of the church age men and women have been preoccupied with the "end times."  For those of you who are in to such things, the technical term for the study of the end times is "eschatology" -- which comes from two Greek words: ἔσχατος, meaning last and λογία, meaning study.  (As an aside, do you ever wonder whether people make up such words just to make things seem more complicated than they really are?)

I have to admit that I have trouble getting too excited about teaching on, or even studying about, end times theology.  Postmillennialism, premillennialsim, amillennialism ... it all makes my head spin.  But more importantly, I become concerned that too much focus on the end times can distract us from the urgent work that God has for each of us now, as was apparently the case with the church in Thessalonica.

Paul wrote his first letter to the Thessalonians in part to set them straight about the second coming of Jesus.  The church had obviously been taught about the second coming, but thought that the return of Jesus was imminent.  How did they respond to this belief?  Well, they began to ignore the ordinary responsibilities of life and instead just wait.  Given that 2000 years later Jesus still has not returned, we can see in retrospect that the strategy of just waiting was perhaps not the way to go! 

As I think about it, the experience of the Thessalonians reminds me of Harold Camping's prediction last year that the Rapture would take place on May 21, 2011.  As we all know, Camping proved to be wrong.  He then moved his prediction to October 2011, and of course proved to be wrong then as well.  Sadly, some of Campings followers sold their possessions and spent their money warning the world that the end was near.  The secular media, in turn, had a field day.  Christians as a whole were painted with a not very pretty broad brush.

Having said all this, I will also be the first to admit that we live in strange and troubling times.  The culture around us is changing with unprecedented speed -- and not in a good way.  The internet and television combine to facilitate rapid change in attitudes, many of which are decidedly anti-Christian.  Tensions continue to rise in the Middle East, and our own country's critical support of Israel seems to be waning.

Jesus gave us an idea of things to look for in the end times.  But, He also said in no uncertain terms that God alone knows the day and hour when Jesus will return.  See Matthew 24.  Because of that, I will continue to do my best to stay alert while at the same time not allowing all the end time talk distract me from what I believe God is calling me to do.

I don't want at all to suggest that I reject out of hand all the end times talk I keep hearing these days.  In fact, my wife has been urging folks to read a book called "The Harbinger" -- which she says is a must read.  I think I will take her recommendation and give it a read over the next couple of weeks (and, no, not just to preserve family harmony!).

How about you?  Have you been thinking of the return of Jesus lately? 


 




  

The Election

From everything I am reading this election is going to be incredibly close.  I guess we are about to find out. Regardless of outcome, I urge you today to continue to pray for our country and for our leaders.

There was a time when, at least to me, it was easy to say that the United States was the greatest country in the world. And, while I am not sure we can make that claim today, there is no reason that we should not be able to get to that place again.  To do so, though, we will have to work together.

Father, I pray that this election runs smoothly, and that the right thing happens for America.  I pray for our leaders of tomorrow and that, whoever they may be, a new spirit of unity would rest on our leaders and on our country.  This election has divided us and produced many scars, so Father I pray for quick healing and for friends and family who have felt the strain of political differences to be reunited.

I pray, God, for the people who were impacted by hurricane Sandy, and particularly those who lost friends and family.  I pray for your peace to rest on those who are suffering, and pray for your healing touch to come upon them.

I pray God that America would repent for turning away from you.  I ask that you convict your church to in greater measure reach out to the lost and hurting in this world; not only to provide for their physical and emotional needs, but remembering always to proclaim the good news about what Jesus did on the cross for us.

I pray for the men and women of the armed forces, law enforcement, and emergency personnel who serve and protect us, as well as their families.  I pray that you would keep these folks safe and protect them in these troubled times.

I pray, God, for those who continue to be stressed financially in this difficult economy.  I pray that job opportunities would open for those who are unemployed.

It is in the name of Jesus that I pray.

  Amen