The Signs of the Second Coming of Christ

THE SIGNS OF THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS CHRIST

I believe that Jesus Christ will return to earth as King and bring heaven to earth as it is described in the last book of the Bible in Revelation 21 and 22.  Jesus told us not to worry about times and dates about when that would happen.  

He said that no man knew the day or the hour in which He would come.  “However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows.” (Matthew 24:26) 

There have been SO many humans that have tried to guess when He would come back.  Some of them have been serious Biblical scholars and have extrapolated, from world circumstances, their best guesses and timelines.   Others have been quacks and thought they had literally figured it out like the pastor and his people who had signs up everywhere—my family and i were in California for a vacation in 2011 and saw signs everywhere that said Jesus was coming back on May 11, 2011.  

Guess what?  

Jesus didn’t come back.  As soon as someone does what this guy does then you know he is wrong—not to mention arrogant.  Like Hal Lindsay who said his book Apocalypse Code that he had finally cracked the Bible’s code on the return of Christ.  Right. 

The only guarantee is that Jesus will come back when He is good and ready.  He did say that there would be signs that He was coming.  

“His disciples came to him privately and said, “Tell us, when will all this happen? What sign will signal your return and the end of the world? 4 Jesus told them, “Don’t let anyone mislead you, 5 for many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah.’ They will deceive many. 

There have been SO many fake Messiahs—they are out there now.  An interesting show on Netflix is called Messiah is about a dude who comes into the public view with some signs and wonders and some worldwide attention and the question the show leaves you with is—well more questions than answers.

6 And 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. 7 Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. 

Okay, we can say that all of that has happened—a lot.  Wars and wars and wars and massive famines and earthquakes ALL the time.  I have written a blog about this: https://loudmouthpastor.blogspot.com/2017/09/labor-pains-foretelling-birth-of-new-wol.html 

8 But all this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come.   Okay—so all that world wide catastrophe has happened and Jesus is saying that more and more of it has happened. 

9 “Then you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. You will be hated all over the world because you are my followers.”  So again, that happened to all the disciples and continues to happen to disciples the world over—even to this day.   Last year over 160,000 Christians died for their attachment to Jesus.   

10 And many will turn away from me and betray and hate each other. 11 And many false prophets will appear and will deceive many people.

Well—that is true too—for centuries.  Many, many people have turned away from their faith in Christ and then have betrayed other Christians and there have been a ton of false prophets that get people off track and away from Jesus as THE WAY to be saved. 

12 Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold. 

So that happened.  In my lifetime I have seen the world go from bad to worse as everywhere you look there is sin being celebrated everywhere including on TV and even on the streets.  It is nuts.  North America was founded on many Judea-Christian ethics but that has all but been thrown out the window.  Repressionism is a word I use for how the culture around us is trying to repress Christian teaching now and make us out to be the bad guys—sort of like a new media induced iron curtain. I have written a blog about this: http://loudmouthpastor.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-new-dictator.html 

Jesus said this: 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved.   So, if many people are walking out on Christ—then the ones who endure with Him to the end are the ones who will prove themselves to be His true followers.  Pretty straightforward. 

Again, Jesus says, “32 “Now learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branches bud and its leaves begin to sprout, you know that summer is near. 33 In the same way, when you see all these things, you can know his return is very near, right at the door. 

Ahhh—so He does say that we can assume His return is closer by the signs.  Some signs haven’t happened yet—like this one: “the sun will be darkened, the moon will give no light,

the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.”  That sounds pretty intense to me.  Like the movie Deep Impact when a big comet hits the earth.  Maybe the sun will die.  We don’t know. Sun looks pretty good right now.  But it is all guessing by Scientists.  I don’t think those smart people would tell us if the sun was dying because if you think the Covid-19 thing induces panic—lemme tell ya...

Having said all this, lemme tell you what I think—and there is a 99.99999999999999% chance I am wrong on several fronts.  I am thinking in ink and only Scripture can be relied upon—not the mere thinking of a 51 year old pastor.  

I was reading in Luke 12 today and saw these words of Jesus: Jesus turned to the crowd and said, “When you see clouds beginning to form in the west, you say, ‘Here comes a shower.’ And you are right. When the south wind blows, you say, ‘Today will be a scorcher.’ And it is. You fools! You know how to interpret the weather signs of the earth and sky, but you don’t know how to interpret the present times.

I think there are some gathering clouds and certain “fig tree branch” signs that are pointers towards the end of the age we might not typically think of. 

1 - Globalization — the process by which businesses or other organizations develop international influence or start operating on an international scale.

The way that the economies of the world are inextricably linked tell me that the earth is getting to the place where all the streams flow as one river.  That the nations may have their individual leaders but the world is essentially one economy.  Added to that is the fact of our mobility which is why Covid-19 is everywhere.  But worse than that—the man-centred ideas are everywhere now and trumpeted loud and clear by a global media.   

2 - The Omnipresent Media — The Media is the one world religion that has scattered its man-centred, humanistic and essentially sinful ideas like seed to the four winds and we are reaping a harvest of the death of the human soul.  The media is the bible everyone follows now and what movie and TV directors, writers and actors and musicians say is law. 

3 - Godless Governments and Institutions — When human governments have heard the Good News about Jesus and know the essential tenets of the Bible and reject it then like the writer of Hebrews says:

“For it is impossible to bring back to repentance those who were once enlightened—those who have experienced the good things of heaven—who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and His power—and who then turn away from God. It is impossible to bring such people back to repentance; by rejecting the Son of God, they themselves are nailing him to the cross once again and holding him up to public shame.” Hebrews 6:4-6 

Therefore I believe that the shedding of Biblical values is going to mean “most” people who have experienced the truth and now reject it will ever come back. 

4 - Human Advancement in Military Might and Technology — Lately, mankind has made amazing advancements in technology.  There are enough nuclear weapons to toast the world.  My theory is that this is how the present world will be destroyed and then God will re-create it.  It is only a matter of time until some megalomaniac uses nuclear weapons and starts off judgment day.  

The Internet and Social Media and its omnipresent, pervasive reach dictate policy and the crowd mentality.  This is why the panic of Covid-19 is much worse in 2020 than H1N1 in 2009 and SARS in 2002.    

Visual Effects in movies and TV that we can hardly tell what is real and what isn’t.  It won’t be long until this is perfected.  The advancements are stunning and I believe that it will be so amazing that we will be fooled by many deceptions of this digital wizardry.

In regard to space exploration Mankind now knows that there is no hope that we will be able to travel to any planets that might be remotely inhabitable now because of the infinite size of the universe.  Let me qualify that I think we will one day but that will be when mankind is one again and sin is no more.  Imagine what technology would be like with men’s minds cleared of the malignancy of sin and the complete unity and cooperation of all mankind.

5 - The Sickening of the Earth Itself — Revelation 11:18 says—“...Your wrath has come. The time has come for destroying those who destroy the earth.”  We were supposed to rule the earth and take care of it.  We didn’t do that obviously.  

6 - Israel got their Land back in 1948 - The biblical promise that Israel would be getting its land back happened in May 1948 and since then the tension in Israel has been unrelenting.  And now due to Donald Trump’s Zionist alliances with Benjamin Netanyahu the US Embassy was moved to Jerusalem—this means that Israel’s capital is Jerusalem now and that means the tension is only going to ramp up.   

7 - The Pervasive Gospel —I personally believe that we are close to finishing the Great Commission that Jesus gave us before He ascended to Heaven to, “...go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28)

Jesus said in Matthew 24 that the end of this age would occur when “the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come.  The world has had missionaries in every country and a Bible in almost every tongue.  

Billy Graham preached to more people than any other preacher and was broadcasted all over the world through radio and TV.  The movie Jesus has had worldwide release and is the most viewed and translated movie of all time.  Not to mention the worldwide release of The Passion of the Christ which made over $611,000,000–which means a lot of people have seen it!  Every Christmas and Easter Jesus pops up on magazine covers all over the world.  

Now the entire world has access to the Good News on the internet like never before.  YouTube is pervasive and through online shows like The Chosen and Preachers everywhere—now, during the Covid 19 crisis people have no excuse that they never had a chance to hear the Good News about Jesus.  Preachers are popping up online like gophers.   

This makes me wonder if we are getting close.  The technology we have has now cast the net of the Good News about Jesus over the whole planet.  Jesus just has to get a few more fish to swim into the net.  We know He is patient and full of grace and wants people to be saved. 

I believe the LORD is using the Covid-19 Crisis to shake us out of the sin-induced slumber we have all been in.  The LORD has taken away all our idols—even Donald Trump who has been working for four years to reshape the American economy has lost all the ground he gained as one little virus took down yet another human lord—and it has taken down all the human lords so that no one—NO ONE—is immune to its pride-shattering effects.  The interesting part of this  is how gently God is waking people up.  He could have allowed Nuclear war to break out or allowed evil men to invade countries with their armies and kill millions and millions.  Instead He is allowing this virus, which we stupid humans created by eating unclean animals, to shake us from our slumber.  Many will die but most who get this virus will live.  He is gently waking our world to our need for Jesus.    

The Bible is still the best selling book every year and interestingly the most stolen book every year.  I do not think there is an excuse now for people not knowing who He is.  At the same time I want more time because there are many people alive today that just haven’t heard the Good News and I am conscious of Peter’s words which tell us that, “The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise (to return), as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. (2 Peter 3:9)     

The QUESTION IS—Are We Paying Attention:

Jesus continues in Matthew 24–

37 “When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day. 38 In those days before the flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat. 39 People didn’t realize what was going to happen until the flood came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when the Son of Man comes.

27 For as the lightning flashes in the east and shines to the west, so it will be when the Son of Man comes. 

Our refusal to pay attention will result in regret. 

30 And then at last, the sign that the Son of Man is coming will appear in the heavens, and there will be deep mourning among all the peoples of the earth. And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 

When He returns Jesus will gather those who have trusted Him to save them:

31 And he will send out his angels with the mighty blast of a trumpet, and they will gather his chosen ones from all over the world—from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven.

So the biggest message takeaway that I see from this passage is—

42 “So you, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know what day your Lord is coming. 

44 You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.

Be in prayer that those who are pre-Christians will see that God loves them and that their biggest need in life is Jesus.

Jesus said, “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.”  Matthew 7:24-27

May we see this realization come upon our planet before it is too late.  As CS Lewis said, 

“God will invade. But I wonder whether people who ask God to interfere openly and directly in our world quite realize what it will be like when He does. When that happens, it is the end of the world. When the author walks on to the stage the play is over. God is going to invade, all right: but what is the good of saying you are on His side then, when you see the whole natural universe melting away like a dream and something else - something it never entered your head to conceive - comes crashing in; something so beautiful to some of us and so terrible to others that none of us will have any choice left? For this time it will God without disguise; something so overwhelming that it will strike either irresistible love or irresistible horror into every creature. It will be too late then to choose your side. There is no use saying you choose to lie down when it has become impossible to stand up. That will not be the time for choosing; it will be the time when we discover which side we really have chosen, whether we realized it before or not. 

Now, today, this moment, is our chance to choose the right side. God is holding back to give us that chance. It will not last for ever. We must take it or leave it.”

FAITH—A Child’s Superpower

FAITH—A CHILD’S SUPERPOWER

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a little child and set him before them, and said, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, unless you repent [that is, change your inner self—your old way of thinking, live changed lives] and become like children [trusting, humble, and forgiving], you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 Whoever receives and welcomes one child like this in My name receives Me; 6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble and sin [by leading him away from My teaching], it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone [as large as one turned by a donkey] hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

Matthew 18:1-6 

I remember a few years ago when Tim Keller, legendary New York City pastor and teacher was “live-tweeting”.  Live Tweeting is a way of asking famous people questions in real time on Twitter.    I asked Tim what his favorite movie was, and he said,  “Two movies: The Iron Giant and Babette’s Feast.”  I knew The Iron Giant was one of mine, up there with Superman the Movie and Star Wars.  I remember thinking “Tim Keller is so cool!”  And then it hit me.  Even though Keller is a famous and gifted preacher/teacher and a deep thinker he has never lost his sense of childlike wonder.  The Iron Giant is a heartwarming film by writer/director Brad Bird.  In the film the main character Hogarth Hughes meets a metal eating giant from another planet.  The Iron Giant makes the choice that we all make to be good and to be a hero instead of a weapon from another planet.  The film explores our choices, our souls and eternity and even shows us what Jesus did for us in his ultimate sacrifice and resurrection.

I think that we need to listen to what Jesus says—that we need to start over and go back to being people that see things like children do.  The simple things.  Jesus told an old religious leader that he needed to go back and start life all over again and begin as a new born baby if he wanted to even see the Kingdom of God.  In other words to see the Good News about Jesus in a movie like The Iron Giant you cannot look at the movie through the jaded eyes of a hardened adult—you need to look at it through the eyes of a child.  

The child’s superpower is faith.  It is belief.  It is wonder.  When I was a younger man I had a legit Superman outfit.  I fit into it back then.  My three daughters at the time were around 7, 5 and 3 years old.  When there was a fundraiser in town or something for kids at the church I would wear the outfit and Superman would make an appearance.  My youngest daughter at the time, Natalie, thought I was Superman.  One Saturday morning when Natalie and I were watching Superman the Animated Series, there was a scene in which Superman was being beaten up by Brainiac’s nasty robots.  All of the sudden Natalie started crying.  I put my arm around her and said, “Honey, what’s wrong?”  And she cried out, “Daddy are you okay?  They’re hurting you!”  The poor little girl thought she was watching an historical document about her daddy in action, saving the world from the ruthless genius of Brainiac.  

There is a saying that the Kingdom of heaven is something that has to be believed to be seen.  When you tell little children that God made then world and that He made them and that Jesus loves them, they just simply believe it.  It is not a hard thing for them to see a rainbow and believe that God painted that beautiful arc in the sky.  Children intuitively look up and ask for help.   Jesus tells us that their natural inclination towards faith and letting God be their hero and rescuer is what adults are missing.  

I know that life is hard.  Our family almost lost two baby girls, we have battled serious depression, Graves’ disease, divorce and the hard realities of ministry and personal attack.  When the doctor told Sandra and I that our fourth baby, a surprise little girl, was dying from heart failure in utero we were obviously devastated.  Sandra was six months along with the baby.  With my friends from the church gathered around us for prayer, I remember looking outside the hospital window and seeing the sun reflect brightly off of a metal roof and thinking “God, you power the sun and it never goes out—you have all the power in the universe—if You are willing You can save our baby’s life.”  All I needed at that moment was the childlike faith to believe that a God who keeps the sun burning could keep our little one alive.  And by His grace He did and that little one with heart failure is 20 years old this spring.

The older you get as a person the more evident it is that life is hard.  Life this side of heaven is a grind.  But if you refuse to let your heart become hard and you keep that upward glance towards heaven you can be one of those people who never loses faith.  Another thing to remember is that Jesus warned us against becoming people who would rob the joy of childhood from children.  He said to never steer a child away from His love and to never lead them away from His teaching.  If you are going to be an old curmudgeon then be an old curmudgeon—but leave the kids and their sense of faith and wonder alone.  Don’t be the one who sees a child’s fascination with the rainbow and turns the beauty of it into a merely scientific explanation of light refracting through water droplets.  Let them see the wonder of it.  Let them marvel that God is a Creator who paints beautiful pictures in the sky every day through clouds and rainbows and sunsets.  That He is the one who puts a smile on dolphins and made clown fish and invented the cocoa bean so we could have chocolate.  

Jesus is willing to be the Saviour and hero of the whole world.   He came down here to live life as a baby, a child, a teen and a man to show us that he knows that life down here is harsh.  But He never let this world suck the joy and the love out of Him.  He would stop and talk to kids.  No good Rabbi would take the time to stoop down and bother with kids.  A man of His stature would have servants and be a big deal and would only notice the men of the culture.  The followers of Jesus tried to shoo the kids away.  That upset Him.  Jesus said, “let the kids come to me.  They get me.  They get God.  They get the Kingdom.  In fact, you better smarten up and become like them if you want in on this awesomeness.”  

A little person is not too proud to ask for help.  Jesus said, “become like children—trusting, humble, and forgiving—” and “whoever humbles himself like this child is greatest in the kingdom.”  Dallas Willard talked about how some of the greatest men he knew were the most childlike.  Great men are  humble.  They talk to God their Father about everything.  They don’t mind asking for help for the smallest details of their life.  They look up all the time.  He qualified that the goal is to be childlike and not childish.  There is a big difference.  

CS Lewis said that he had seen ancient wisdom in the eyes of a child and childlike glee in the eyes of an old, old man.  That is the ticket.  To see that God is everywhere.  That He loves us with an everlasting love.  That God the Father sent Jesus to be our Hero of heroes and that He gave His life to save ours.  That He showed us how to live. That we need to keep our eyes fixed on Him.  

Lord, give us the faith of a child.  

MOVIE REVIEW — Star Wars IX —The Rise of Skywalker

I have seen RISE OF SKYWALKER twice and I liked it just as much the second time.  That tells me a lot about a film.

I like movie reviews.  It is interesting to see the movies that fans and critics like.  There’s not a lot of movies that please both.  THE LAST JEDI didn’t cut it for a lot of Star Wars fans.  The critics liked it.  Generally, fans didn’t.  

THE RISE OF SKYWALKER is the reverse.  The critics don’t like it and a lot of fans do.  Who wins?  Well—for the fun of it I offer the opinion that JJ ABRAMS did a great job.  

If DISNEY wasn’t in such a stupid hurry to crank out these Star Wars movie, and gave JJ another 18 months, the film would have been much better.  The guy only had  about 22 months to get the job done while he had over three years to put together THE FORCE AWAKENS.  My opinion is that the guy did a stellar job.  DEREK CONNOLLY and COLIN TREVORROW wrote a solid story.  Considering that big baddie SNOKE was toasted by JOHNSON in only the second movie of this trilogy, where the story writers went with PALPATINE was the only place they could go.  I think the story and screenplay was the best it could be given the situation.  

The first half of the film was a little too frenetic and fast paced for me—I think it reflected the hurry everybody was in to get it done.  But the movie settled in.  I think the writers introduced a couple of characters they didn’t need to introduce and there was no chance to develop them.  Having said that there is a good chance those characters will get fleshed out in the next trilogy.   

I think that what JJ ABRAMS has done is put the joy back in STAR WARS—joy that was missing in THE LAST JEDI.  

I was thrilled with JOHN WILLIAMS being able to finish the series as its composer.  I delighted in his classic style and picked up how his music has evolved to fit into a 2019 film.  Well done, Maestro—we are forever in your debt.  

The VFX, as we call them now, are amazing.  JJ ABRAMS knows how to direct certain scenes with great emotion and not a lot of words and show the intense love and loyalty between these new characters.  I love CHEWIE.   It was nice to see R2 D2 have more to do in this film.  I loved seeing ANTHONY DANIELS get a more prominent role as C3PO.  I dig the way THREEPIO annoys POE DAMARAN the way he drove HAN SOLO nuts.  DAISY RIDLEY, you’re great.  your heart comes out in all your acting.  I marvel at how they could still have CARRIE FISHER in the film and made it work with what they had and used their VFX wizardry to do the rest.  

       

The themes of redemption and love are prominent.  The surprises are there are well.  RISE also warns us of the evil that can lurk in our hearts and reminds us to be vigilant.  The story also tells us that normal people make a difference when they band together for a good cause.         

My favourite movie of this trilogy is THE FORCE AWAKENS but RISE is a pretty close second.  My favourite movie of all the new films since 2015 is ROGUE ONE.  

I love the way JJ ABRAMS uses practical effects, rather than digital effects, to bring to life a couple of certain characters that will make ya smile.   

I don’t see why they couldn’t have brought the cool new character ROSE TICO along on the whole adventure.  She was cool.  It would have worked.  I think JJ was being a little too anti Last Jedi on that front.  I would still like to know where MAZ got LUKE’S LIGHTSABRE and how they still have LUKE’S sabre after REN and REY blew it up in LAST JEDI.  I am glad we get to know who REY’S parents are.  And one little spoilers—could we not have heard what FINN wanted to tell REY.  I think we know.  Still...             

But for me the biggest evidence that they pulled it off with RISE is that my daughter was thrilled by it and absolutely loved it—she was engaged and moved and excited and she didn’t like THE LAST JEDI.  The fact that her new favourite is RISE tells me that we need to be careful not to be middle aged adults who are secretly bitter that we are never going to see a STAR WARS movie that measures up the original trilogy of STAR WARS, EMPIRE AND JEDI.  But through the eyes of the young we can still get a lot of joy out of the STAR WARS universe.  This is a new generation and JJ ABRAMS has made film that successfully bridges the old and the new—where RIAN JOHNSON simply tried to blow up everything that was old and make everything new—and it didn’t work.  

Well done, Cast and Crew.  I am giving this film 8.5 out of 10.

‘NUFF SAID.

The New Dictator

DICTATOR
A person exercising absolute power, especially a ruler who has absolute, unrestricted control.
A person who authoritatively prescribes conduct, usage, etc.:
A Dictator of fashion.

The world has a Dictator. The Dictator tells you how to think. The Dictator does not allow an alternative opinion other than his.  He tells you that you have to think like him to be a reasonable human being.  The new Dictator of western culture tells you that you cannot have a traditional opinion on ethics or moral behaviour or sexuality.  The “Iron Curtain” that used to keep people and their beliefs boxed in was torn down around 1989 and freedom of choice came to millions for the first time in their lifetime. People could openly practice their faith and make their own choices about their lives without fear of being arrested or fired from their jobs.

In the year 2019 the new Dictator has hung a newly fashioned iron curtain on the hooks of liberalism and is now blocking out the sunlight of free choice and conviction. No longer is it permitted to say that you believe that God’s plan for human flourishing is found in the pages of the Bible. The Dictator’s bible is the media and his creeds set forth on Netflix, YouTube and the evening news. Actors are his henchmen and musicians sing the hymns of post-modern man.

Whatever famous people say is now the standard for truth. There is no longer a certain set of principles to live by except that “every person does what is right in his own eyes.”

And now the dictator of moral relativism has decreed that if I dare disagree with what you I have to go for “sensitivity training” so that I not descend any further into the savage ways of a Judeo-Christian ethic. Is this not an attempt to brainwash me?

The new Dictator has said that the ancient wisdom is passé and that to propose that there is a real and objective truth is flat out wrong.

Humans were never made to be robots. We are not automatons, programmed to only be allowed to think one way. What happened to the freedom we to have of having discussions with various opinions. The new Dictator has said that there are now only some opinions that are allowed to be offered. Are you and I on board with a system that limits human freedom of expression and opinion? Can you have a civil conversation with someone who has a different opinion than you and do just as much listening as talking? Can you simply say, “Good talk—thanks for the conversation and the coffee”? Or do you have to be part of the rage that is blazing through our culture? You don’t have to be angry all the time towards people who are different than you.

We westerners live in a culture where Orwell’s “thought police” are now a reality. In the novel 1984 by George Orwell, the Thought Police are the secret police who discover and punish anyone who has personal or political thoughts unapproved by the Party. Well, the Dictator of the Liberal media has his thought police out in force.

I always tell people that a “cult” is any group of people who try to control your behaviour and tell you how to think. So, by that Definition, people that try to control your behaviour by limiting what you are allowed to say or by stopping you from offering an opinion that is different than theirs are, in essence, being a cult.

Remember your rights. Remember that the Canadian Charter of Rights states that everyone has the following fundamental freedoms:

(a) freedom of conscience and religion;

(b) freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press v.

and other media of communication;

(c) freedom of peaceful assembly; and

(d) freedom of association.

I want to respect the freedom that hundreds of thousands of our soldiers died for. We want to be able to have our opinions and convictions but we need to be mindful of the fact that in this current climate it is important to remember the rights of others in the charter.

I am 51 years old. And in my half century of life I have met thousands of people with varied opinions. I have seen many fads come and go. I have seen public opinion swing from east to west and north to south. I don’t get too excited when I see someone who has a different opinion than me getting the spotlight. That is because I believe in God and that He is sovereign and that anything that is out of line will be set right one day. I love that old and awesome old Christmas hymn that states, “the wrong shall fail, the right prevail—peace on earth, good will to man.” We can be proponents of peace on earth and good will to all men and women. I have Christian, Athiest, Liberal, Conservative, Gay and Straight people who are my friends and family. We all get along because we are all able to sit down and have a cup of coffee and accept each other, love each other, listen to each other and talk. We refuse to let the Dictator build a wall between us. We refuse to let his thought police tell us what to think.

Calm down. Love the people around you. Listen to them. Don’t rebuke them for having a different opinion than you. Don’t talk about divisive things online. Discuss these things face to face. It isn’t worth it to argue on social media. It doesn’t do any good. One speaker I was listening to said, “Don’t cut someone’s nose off and then offer them a rose to smell”. That means don’t be rude and then hope the person can grasp the “beauty” of your opinion.

Love God—Love people. All people. Love your enemies. Love those who disagree with you. Be quick to listen and slow to speak and slow to get angry.  All those things are in then Someone much wiser than I said all those things. I agree with Him.

‘Nuff said.

He Controls the Course of World Events

He controls the course of world events;
    he removes kings and sets up other kings. DANIEL 2:21

Even old Nebuchadnezzar was put there by God and when he acted up God put him in his place again, reminding the puny king that he wasn’t in charge.  

These little pawns called presidents and prime ministers are not there by the will of us people but by the will of God.  If God has certain people in power that we perhaps don't agree with then it is to teach us something.  We won't know what that lesson is until it is in the rear view mirror but we must remember that "HE" and  not "he" is in charge.  History is His Story and we are simple bit players in a supporting role of what the true King, JESUS, is up to.  

To walk by faith and not by sight in these situations is to remember that GOD is always working behind the scenes to accomplish a plan that is far greater than human schemes.  There is nothing to worry about.  Jesus reminded us that the Kingdom that we are to seek first is the Kingdom of God and and He will take care of all these little things that we are worried about.  Also remember that sometimes God gives people what they want so they will see what a mess they are without Him.  The Book of Job in the Bible informs me that Jesus tells every lightning bolt where it should go.  If there is a King in charge of the universe who holds molecules and gravity in place and keeps the billions of suns out there burning, including our own, without trying then I can trust Him.  

One friend I was having coffee with was very distressed at the results of the last three elections.  He was very worried about the world and where it is going.  I reminded him of the verse from Daniel that tells us that God put Kings like Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar in place so I think that He can handle Trump and Trudeau and Boris and Vladimir across the pond.  My job is to be a person who lives like Jesus where I live and work and to love the people around me and to pray for those who are in authority.  My prayers do not fall on deaf ears.  God is in charge.  Make yourself a coffee and read Matthew chapter 6.  

You will feel much better about life.  

Onesiphorus

May the Lord show special kindness to Onesiphorus and all his family because he often visited and encouraged me. He was never ashamed of me because I was in chains. When he came to Rome, he searched everywhere until he found me.
2 Timothy 1:16-17

I wanna be like this guy.  Onesiphorus was obliviously a man who was serious about taking care of people.  He searched the prisons in Rome to find Paul, who was in chains there.  Paul was in prison because he dared tell people that Jesus was the way to God.  Paul wrote:

“Christ Jesus, our Savior broke the power of death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the Good News. That is why I am suffering here in prison. But I am not ashamed of it...”
2 Timothy 1:10,12

So Paul would be in prison in Rome for the rest of his life and eventually be beheaded for his missionary work there.  Paul mentions that most Christians abandoned him and gave up on him and would not visit him.  They were probably afraid that if they visited Paul in prison Rome would arrest them because they too were Christ followers.  But not Onesiphorus.  This guy had the love of Christ for Paul to fuel his courage and he went to Rome looking for Paul.  Who knows how many holding cells he had to search for Paul.  But he did until he found Paul.

That “going-out-of-your-way” and willingness to risk your own reputation and your own life is the kind of love that Jesus had for us and once Onesiphorus had experienced that love he had the same love for his brother Paul—and risked it all to find him.  And that kind of love is what kept Paul going.   And here, immortalized in the words of scripture, we see the power of that kind of friendship.

LORD, give us that kind of love.  The love of Christ shown in the love of Onesiphorus.

‘Nuff Said.

Searching

Billy Graham tells the story of one girl who came home from college.  When she got home she told her wealthy father, “Dad, I want something, but I don’t know what it is.”  Isn’t that true of yourself?  There is an aching emptiness inside of you that is something like that feeling when you’re really hungry.  Or you are just plain restless and flit from one high searching for the next.

The Dawn Wall is an excellent documentary on Netflix right now.  It is about Tommy Caldwell and his amazing free climb up El Capitan—as Tommy neared the end of his record breaking climb up the massive 3,000 foot high cliff he mentioned that it was bittersweet.  Here he had finished such an amazing feat and still there was an emptiness inside.

I have friends with so much money that they can literally do anything they want—but after every purchase and every holiday they are online searching for the next purchase on Amazon and the next cruise because all the exotic trips in the world cannot fill the God-shaped hole in the human heart.

In Psalm 23 David wrote, “I have found it!  I am lacking nothing.”  Paul wrote, “I have learned in whatever state I am in to be content.”  What did these people have that satisfied their souls?

It was Jesus.

He is the perpetual novelty.  As you get to know him you will find that He is endless in his soul-satisfying love and power. His Spirit will give you peace and once you know He is enough your soul will be content.  I have to go to Him and the Good News about Him every day.  When I do I find that I am at peace.  When I do not go to the well that never runs dry I too find myself lacking.  He is enough.  The truth about Him in the Bible is life to my soul.  “You can have God’s peace, God’s joy, God’s security and once you’ve made His life your own you can be satisfied” (Billy Graham).

Read these lyrics from a song by Casting Crowns called Come to the Well:

I have what you need
But you keep on searching
I’ve done all the work
But you keep on working
When you’re running on empty
And you can’t find the remedy
Just come to the well
You can spend your whole life
Chasin’ What’s missing
But that empty inside

It just ain’t gonna listen
When nothing can satisfy
And the world leaves you high and dry
Just come to the well

And all who thirst will thirst no more
And all who search will find what their souls long for
The world will try,  but it will never fill
Leave it all behind, and come to the well

So bring me your heart
No matter how broken
Just come as you are
When your last prayer is spoken
Just rest in my arms awhile
You’ll feel the change my child
When you come to the well.

And now that you’re full
Of Love beyond measure
Your joy’s gonna flow
Like a stream in the desert
Soon all the world will see that living weather is found in me
‘Cause you came to the well

And all who thirst will thirst no more
And all who search will find what their souls long for
The world will try,  but it will never fill
Leave it all behind, and come to the well

Leave it all behind, and come to the well

1. 
   

1. 
   

   
   

   Leave it all behind

   
   

   I have what you need
   But you keep on searchin'
   I've done all the work
   But you keep on workin'
   When you're runnin' on empty
   And you can't find the remedy
   Just come to the well

   You can spend your whole life
   Chasin' what's missing
   But that empty inside
   It just ain't gonna listen
   When nothing can satisfy
   And the world leaves you high and dry
   Just come to the well

   
   

1. 
   

   
   

   When nothing can satisfy

   
   

   And the world leaves you high and dry
   Just come to the well

   
   

   And all who thirst will thirst no more
   And all who search will find what their souls long for
   The world will try, but it can never fill
   Leave it all behind, and come to the well

   
   

   So bring me your heart
   No matter how broken
   Just come as you are
   When your last prayer is spoken
   Just rest in my arms a while
   You'll feel the change my child
   When you come to the well

   And all who thirst will thirst no more
   And all who search will find what their souls long for
   The world will try, but it can never fill
   So leave it all behind, and come to the well

   Yeah
   Leave it all behind

   The world will try, but it can never fill, leave it all behind

   And now that you're full
   Of love beyond measure
   Your joy's gonna flow
   Like a stream in the desert
   Soon all the world will see that living water is found in me
   'Cause you came to the well

   And all who thirst will thirst no more
   And all who search will find what their souls long for
   The world will try, but it can never fill
   So leave it all behind, and come to the well

   Leave it all behind, leave it all behind
   Leave it all behind, leave it all behind, and come to the well