Is This the End?

 

The Saturday morning of the most recent outbreak of violence against Israel, a co-worker asked, "Are you ready for World War III?"

My response was a little more dismissive than it should have been, but I stand by its basic premise:

"You will hear of wars and threats of wars, but don’t panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won’t follow immediately. Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. But all this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come." -Matthew 24:6-8

Since my spiritual awakening in the 1970s, every time something drastic happened in the Middle East, a new load of books would be released talking about how the end was near and how such-and-such ruler or such-and-such military campaign was the fulfillment of certain verses in Daniel or Revelation. And then things would die down and people stopped buying the books until their new editions were released a few years down the road at the next outbreak of violence.

It didn't take long for me to stop getting anxious about "wars and threats of war" in the Middle East.

Adding to my lack of anxiety was a book I read as part of my college class on eschatology. It was titled The Meaning of the Millenium and was authored by four people who held four different convictions about how the world is going to end. They each wrote a short paper supporting their view with Scripture references and charts, and then the other three would write rebuttals "proving" the view false.

There they were, four guys who were way smarter than me, each dedicated to the Bible as the inspired word of God, and each coming to a conclusion directly opposed to the other three. It taught me the depth of the truth of Jesus' words in Matthew 24:36  -  "No one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself."

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Truth is...None of this is meant to say that this latest conflict couldn't possibly be the beginning of the end. It certainly could be. But you know what? I'm not going to worry about it. I'm going to boldly join the Apostle John, praying with his words from Revelation 22:20, "Even so, come Lord Jesus!"

Seventeen Years Ago Today

I've been reading through my old journals to see if there were any nuggets of truth worth sharing here. While I'm not sure about the concept of worth, the following entries are certainly timely, considering today's date.

[A word of explanation: At the time these were written, I was working through the night, sleeping during the day, and waking up at about the time my children came home from school in the afternoon.]

September 12, 2001, Wednesday
     Yesterday afternoon, I was getting up just as Curtis came home from school. He came in and asked if I knew about all the stuff. "I just got up. What do you mean?"
     Then he said that the World Trade Center towers in NYC weren't there anymore; that some planes got hijacked and flown into them, etc.
     I kept saying, "No way...C'mon get real...what's the punch line?" until we went downstairs and turned on the TV.

September 14, 2001, Friday
     So, Lord, what do YOU think? Is this going to end up being a war? Or a prolonged crime investigation? Is this finally the beginning of the end?
     Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus.

September 15, 2001, Saturday
     Yahweh, silence the foolish talkers; those who would seek attention for themselves by spouting off sensational myths in response to Tuesday's attacks. Keep them from furthering the stereotype of Christians as narrow-minded, reactionary, and judgmental. Take the goose-down out of their blanket statements. I pray specifically against their sweeping generalities.
     Thank You for the opportunity that Franklin Graham took to preach the Gospel in his brief interview with Tom Brokaw Friday night!
     And may the nation's prayers turn from "strengthen and protect us" to "forgive, save, and change us."

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Truth is...It's seventeen years later, and that change in our national prayers is still needed.

Taking a Knee

According to every sports-related movie I've ever seen  -  and when it comes to sports, watching movies is the only experience I have to go on  -  to "take a knee" means to gather around the coach and listen up because he's about to lay some important words on you.

Of course, for the past several weeks, the idea of football players taking a knee carries a totally different meaning.

For those on one side, it is a form of silent protest against the inequality and injustice that exists within the borders of "the land of the free and the home of the brave". For those on another side, it is a disgusting show of disrespect for those who have fought and died for the star-spangled banner that is our nation's flag.

For me, taking a knee is something completely different.

• It is the first step in retrieving one of Beloved's earrings from under the bedroom dresser.
• It is a necessary posture to get eye-to-eye with my grandchildren; either to let them know I love them or to let them climb onto my back.
• It is a sign of humility before the almighty Creator God.

If I were to kneel in protest of anything it would also be completely different.

• I would kneel to protest my lack of kneeling to pray.
• I would bend my knee to protest the bending of my will toward the things of this world instead of the things of God.
• I would collapse in grief to protest the sickness of human hearts and the greatness of my own selfishness, greed, and gluttony.
• I would lay spread eagle on the ground in utter amazement at the One who sacrificed all so I could be free from sin's stranglehold.

Truth is...my life could do with a little more of that kind of humility, amazement, and life-changing grief.

Chaos and Truth

I do not know what goes on in a person's mind that could possibly lead them to open fire in an Orlando club, killing 49 individuals and shattering the lives of hundreds.

I do not know what societal forces or religious interpretations or particular balance of personal rights and Federal regulations to start blaming.

I do not know an awful lot.

But there are a few things of which I am most assuredly certain.

I know Jesus loves each patron of Orlando's Pulse club and gave His life for their sin.

I know Jesus loves the shooter and gave His life for his sin.

I know Jesus loves each member of the LGBT community and gave His life for their sin.

I know Jesus loves each homophobe and gave His life for their sin.

I know Jesus loves each pervert, prostitute, preacher, pacifist, NRA enthusiast, Islamic extremist, Christian fundamentalist, racist, terrorist, and any other "ist" you can conjure.

Jesus loves them all...and died for them all...and weeps for them all...

...and calls each to repentance and a life of holiness.

• Neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin. (John 8:11 NIV)
• If you love me, you will keep my commandments. (John 14:15 NASB)

Truth is...I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him. (2 Timothy 1:12 NIV)

P.S.
The song featured in this previous post is particularly poignant right now. http://deweytruth.blogspot.com/2012/05/breathe-deep.html 

I Am A Refugee

It started out as a misunderstanding of where a couple tickets were telling a couple people to sit at a sporting event, and ended up being a viral blog post about racism, terrorism, and fear.

And the most surprising aspect of it all was the verbal challenge being used as an accusatory weapon: "Are you a refugee?!?"

Hmmm...let me think about that.

Refugee, noun...a person who has fled from some danger or problem.

I have certainly tried my best to avoid problems like personal conflicts or unappetizing meals, but what about important problems? And what about actually fleeing?

Truth is...my biggest problem - separation from Yahweh because of my bent toward sin - has absolutely caused me to flee. I have run into the welcoming arms of Jesus. And the deeper truth, as Jesus illustrated in his story of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32), God didn't stand around waiting for me. He took the initiative.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPen1jQrlhU

Where Is God When It Hurts?

In the spring of 2007, a disturbed student at Virginia Tech chained some doors shut, killed thirty-two students and faculty members, then killed himself.

As part of a local church's attempt to help students and other residents start working through their shock, grief, and fear, author Philip Yancey was flown in to speak on the subject of one of his books, Where Is God When It Hurts?

Considering that some people may be asking that very question in the aftermath of last week's shootings in San Bernardino, allow me to share a little of what he said, as recorded in the book, What Good Is God? (To read my previously-posted comments about this book, click here.)

I would like to promise you a long life and a pain-free life, but I cannot do so. God has not made that a guarantee and not even Jesus was granted those favors. Rather, the Christian view of the world reduces to a simple formula. The world is good. The world is fallen. The world will be redeemed. Creation, Fall, Redemption - that's the Christian story in a nutshell.

You know that the world is good. Look around you at the glories of spring in the hills of Virginia. Look around you at the friends you love. Though still overwhelmed with sorrow just now, you will learn to laugh again, to play again, to hike up mountains and kayak down their streams, to love, to rear children. Yes, the world is good.

You know, too, that the world is fallen. Here at Virginia Tech in April of 2007 you know that as acutely as anyone on earth. The author and Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel had a conversation with a renowned rabbi and asked him the question that had long been haunting him, "Rabbi, how can you believe in God after Auschwitz?" The rabbi stayed silent for a long moment then replied in a barely audible voice, "How can you not believe in God after Auschwitz?" The shootings here on campus, as well as the mega-evils like Auschwitz, show what humanity on its own can produce. "Apart from God, what was there in a world darkened by Auschwitz?" asks Wiesel.

The final chapter of the Christian story asks us to trust that the world will be redeemed. This is not the world God wants or is satisfied with. God has promised a time when evil will be defeated, when events like the shootings of Amish children at Nickel Mines and of students at Columbine and Virginia Tech will come to an abrupt and stunning end. More, God has promised that even the scars we accumulate on this fallen planet will be redeemed, as Jesus bodily demonstrated to Thomas.

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Truth is...God specializes at wringing every last drop of good out of even horrible situations. He took the worst thing mankind could ever have done...the killing of Jesus...and turned it into the best thing that ever happened to us...our salvation. We expectantly await what good Yahweh is going to bring out of the insanity of the San Bernardino shootings.

What Good Is God?

This phrase sounds so much like it's coming from an atheist, when I was reading this book in the office lunchroom, I didn't want people to see the cover.

But the truth is, this book by Philip Yancey is full of anecdotal evidence for the existence of God. Not that it's going to change the minds of any unbelievers who happen to read it, but it certainly bolstered my faith and cultivated a sense of wonder and awe at what God does...even in the midst of horrible circumstances.

What kind of circumstances, you ask? How about the campus massacre at Virginia Tech? How about the professional sex trade in Green Lake, Michigan? Or the post-Apartheid uncertainty of South Africa? Or dodging terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India? Or any one of six other situations in which Yancey has spoken during the last decade or so?

This book's ten sections consist of a chapter introducing the circumstances leading up to the author's involvement in these different settings, followed by an almost-transcript of the speech he gave at the time. (Yancey is a journalist, and would never characterize his public addresses as sermons...and rightly so.)

Let me give you a taste of what impressed me about God's work in the hearts of people as I read each chapter.

From the chapter on the underground church in China:

China was the pearl of the missionary movement, with 7,000 foreign missionaries overseeing seminaries and publishing houses as well as 900 hospitals and 6,000 schools. Almost overnight Chairman Mao forced them all to leave. Members of the largest agency, the China Inland Mission, met in Australia to consider their fate. Should they disband? Or relocate to other Asian countries? And what about the Christian community left in China? Four hundred years of missionary work had produced a million Protestant and several million Catholic converts, a tiny minority in a country already exceeding a half billion in population. Who would teach them, print their literature, nurse their sick?

For several decades no one knew how the Chinese church was faring, especially in light of the leaked reports of social turmoil. Had Madame Mao succeeded in her vow to destroy Christianity? When China finally began to crack open its borders, some of these same missionaries returned to visit, astonished to find that the church had exploded in size. [Former Time magazine reporter, David] Aikman estimates the number of Christians in China today may exceed eighty million; others suggest a total of more than a hundred million. No one knows for sure because many of them meet in unregistered (and illegal) house churches of twenty or thirty members. This, the largest religious revival in history by far, took place with little direction and no foreign influence.

And consider this quote from Pastor Allen Yuan, one of the four patriarchs of the underground church, who spent twenty-two years in prison for his faith:

We live in a time like the apostles. Christians here are persecuted, yes. But look at Hong Kong and Taiwan - they have prosperity, but they don't seek God. I tell you, I came out of that prison with faith stronger than I went in. Like Joseph, we don't know why we go through hard times until later, looking back. Think of it: we in China may soon have the largest Christian community in the world, and in an atheistic state that tried to stamp us out!

Truth is...God's love and grace are not bound by political ideologies nor hindered by oppression. God's ability to bring about good from the midst of injustice and suffering cannot be squashed. So whatever dire circumstance you find yourself in, rest assured that the Lord of the Universe knows what's happening and has not forgotten you. God is good...all the time.