STOP THE WORLD, I WANT TO GET OFF!

Is it just me?  I am really tired of this old world.  I’m tired of hearing every day how many people have been shot and killed the previous night.  I’m tired of hearing about suicides, and people overdosing on opioids.  I’m tired of the protests, violence, looting, and police ambushes.  I’m tired of the political fighting—calling each other liars, searching through records for something to smear the other candidate, collecting millions of dollars for “campaigning” while there are so many in our country that can’t afford a meal. I’m sick and tired of the lawlessness, immorality, corruption, materialism, greedy, jealous, hateful society we refer to as “civilized.”  To put it in one word, I’m tired of SIN.

We were told these things would happen.

2 Timothy 3:1-4  This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 

For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, without self-control , fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 

And, it appears we’ve arrived!

So, as Christians what are we to do living in such an evil world?  Well, the Bible has an answer for that as well.  In writing to the churches in the Book of Revelation, Jesus said:

Revelation 3:21  To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. 

The word “overcometh” means to “prevail,” “have victory over.”  Another scripture says:

Matthew 10:22   And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

I know some may consider all this very “negative.”  We’d all like to think that things will get better, and if we all do our part we can bring about a peaceful, loving, sharing “utopia” on this earth.  So, I hate to drop this on you, but “it ain’t gonna happen!!”  This world we live in is headed for a time of wrath, retribution, and judgment from our Creator.  There won’t be “peace on earth” until the Lord of Lords and King of Kings sets up His Kingdom here on earth.  In the meantime, we are “occupiers” in this land with a mission.   Our mission is to follow the commands Jesus gave us: Love God, Love people!!

So, now I quote the title of a book by Charles Colson, “How now should we live???”  Should we be involved, and engaged in being good citizens?  Absolutely, but always remember you have “dual citizenship.”  As the old song says: “This world is not my home, I’m just a passing through, my treasures are laid up, somewhere beyond the blue”!!

I know the mid-term elections are here and I believe as citizens of the USA we should go to the polling booths and vote for candidates we believe uphold the Christian values.  That would not include killing unborn babies, transgender education, homosexual/same sex marriage endorsement, disobeying the laws of our land, or attempting to overthrow or undermine our government.  Vote for those who will protect religious freedom, and love and support Israel.  It’s not a matter of “party politics” for Christians—it’s good versus evil!  At the same time, have your hearts prepared for negative results.  We are not in control.  God uses people and situations for His purposes and to fulfill His plans.  Remember we are to “overcome,” not be defeated.

I feel I can hear you saying, “But it’s so hard!”  Don’t I know it!  As I started off saying in this article, I’m so tired of the evil going on around me.  But, I have the Word of God to sustain me.  I learn from Paul:

1 Thessalonians 5:14-23:

Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men. 

See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men. 

Rejoice evermore. 

Pray without ceasing. 

In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. 

Quench not the Spirit. 

Despise not prophesyings. 

Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. 

Abstain from all appearance of evil. 

And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Ephesians 6:10-13   Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.  Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 

I don’t want to leave you with a fear of the coming “day of God’s wrath and judgment.”  If you believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you can be reassured by the following scripture.

1 Thessalonians 5:9-11  For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.  Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.

John 14:1  Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. 

Luke 21:28  And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. 

Yes, I believe our “redemption” is very near, so be encouraged.  I leave you with a blessing:

Numbers 6:24-26  The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: The LORD make his face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. 

God Bless,

Dan

Have you ever felt it challenging to grow in your relationship with Christ?  Maybe you have even reached the point where you begin to point fingers at others…your pastor, your Sunday School teacher, your church as a whole…in an effort to make sense of why you seem to be floundering in your walk with Christ.  Now track with me here…don’t make assumptions that this is all just to get you to do your daily quiet time with the Lord.  That’s a great idea…but that’s not the point here.  One of the things that God continually reminds me of is that it’s through my obedience to my God given purpose that God challenges me and grows me.  I’m going to step out on a limb here and say that if you’re someone that is struggling to grow in Christ, you’re probably also someone that rarely shares your faith.  God’s given us purpose in this life through the Great Commission and it’s my experience that when I take steps to fulfill my purpose, God uses that to challenge me to grow. 

I’ll be the first to admit that if I don’t go looking for opportunities to share my faith, I don’t have an abundance of them on a daily basis.  That’s based on the assumption that the next time I need to talk to my boss, our Pastor, that I don’t need to share the gospel with him.  One of the ways I’ve been able to find opportunity is through app based games I play when I have a little spare time.  Recently I’ve connected with a guy that in initial conversation with me it sounded as though we were on a similar page.  We both talked about the Bible, referenced Scripture, talked about Jesus etc.  There came a point where he wanted to attend my College and Career Sunday School Group remotely via a voice chat app.  That was pretty exciting and at the same time a little weird because I’d never had someone want to do that before.  Before he would attend the first time, he wanted to chat with me to see if we were of the same “fellowship”.  My assumption was he was concerned about denominational distinctives, but boy was I wrong.   

When we finally got together to discuss his beliefs, I quickly found out that we were nowhere near the same page.  While I still don’t have a good grasp on what he believes, it’s definitely outside the box and definitely caused me to dig into God’s Word to try to address him.  In short, he believes that god mentioned in Genesis (Eloheim) is different than god mentioned from the Fall and beyond (Yahweh).  Hopefully you and I are already on the same page realizing that’s heresy.  His view of Eloheim is as father and loving.  His view of Yahweh is evil and violent.  He believes in Jesus but his viewpoint is that Jesus came to point people to Eloheim because so many had been deceived by Yahweh.  By extension, the church today is deceived and full of Pharisees.  This is just a little bit of a tangled web of belief he’s weaved over decades.  You can go google it yourself, this guy doesn’t fit in any major religion you’ve ever studied before. 

Once I opened this can of worms, I had to figure out how I could minister to him.  God had opened the door and I needed to at least do my best to speak the truth of God’s Word in his life knowing that short of a miracle of God, he would not be easily swayed.  Knowing that he had quoted Scripture before, I needed to ask what is really a baseline question…do you believe the Bible to be inerrant (without error)?  In doing so my hope was to either establish the foundation of the discussion that was to ensue.  Unfortunately, after a long conversation it was evident he didn’t believe the Bible was without error.  He denied much of the Old Testament and almost anything written by Paul…so not much left right?  One thing he does believe is inerrant…Jesus’ words and actions as seen in Scripture.  I know what you’re thinking…I thought the same thing…Jesus is the Word.  That would have been too easy…he’s a red letter Bible guy…words in red are what are inerrant.  Jesus said a lot of really good stuff that is quoted in Scripture…but if that’s all we have to work with…that’s tough.   

He’s not turned the corner yet, but I hope you see the challenge God has laid in my lap.  With every frustrating conversation I’m forced back into God’s Word.  Forced to make sure I understand why I interpret Scripture the way I do, forced to learn and be able to explain the Bible, and forced to trust the Lord because my Words are not near enough.  I’m not sure if he’ll ever be saved, I sure hope God works a miracle in his life…but the point is by my obedience to share my faith…God is using that to grow me in ways I could never accomplish hanging out with Christians and studying the Bible.  Most of us spend too much time with status quo Christians and not enough time doing exactly what God wants…witnessing to the lost.  Go find someone of a different religious background…atheist, Catholic, Jewish, Islamic etc…start sharing your faith, dig into the challenges that come with that, and I can almost guarantee you’ll begin GROWING THROUGH SHARING!