The Grand Finale

Grand finale

Baseball’s long season finally end in October with the World Series. The football season comes to a close with the big event, the Superbowl.  A good story pulls us along towards the conclusion when the tension is resolved by some dramatic event.  On a cold, rainy Saturday I’m likely to find an old Western to watch. There’s something very right about seeing the good guy drive the villain out of town and win the heart of the beautiful woman. (And you thought I wasn’t a romantic.)  Yes, life is a series of beginnings and endings, starts and finishes.  What about the flow of history? We know there was a beginning. What of the end?

The Lord promises that the great Story of human history will be brought to a close.  He Who reveals Himself as “A” and “Z” (Alpha and Omega) will, in His time, bring a resolution of the struggle between good and evil. Here’s how the Scripture describes that Great Day. " In the last days the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. Many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the LORD." (Isaiah 2:1-5, NIV)

What a vision! People will love God and stream into His Presence to worship. The issues that have kept nations at odds will be resolved by His judgment. The waste of resources on war and destruction will be eliminated as peace dawns in His Kingdom. In the climax of His great Story, God redeems the earth!  Too often Christians fail to recognize this part of the divine plan.  Their only hope is ‘going to Heaven,’ escaping this old world. The by-product of that mistaken focus is a failure to understand that we (Christians) are to work for reconciliation between people and restoration of a fallen Creation.  If God the Creator is not ready to abandon humanity or this planet, how can we be so ready to consign it all to the junk heap?

Oh, yes, I love the promise of a home in God’s Presence. I love the promise of Heaven, but that must never cause me to forget that God’s Kingdom is coming to earth. "In that day the Lord Almighty will punish the proud, bringing them down to the dust." (Isaiah 2:12, NLT)  "The arrogance of all people will be brought low. Their pride will lie in the dust. The Lord alone will be exalted! Idols will be utterly abolished and destroyed. When the Lord rises to shake the earth, his enemies will crawl with fear into holes in the ground. They will hide in caves in the rocks from the terror of the Lord and the glory of his majesty." (Isaiah 2:17-19, NLT) "They will crawl into caverns and hide among the jagged rocks at the tops of cliffs. In this way, they will try to escape the terror of the Lord and the glory of his majesty as he rises to shake the earth." (Isaiah 2:21, NLT)

If our hope of a grand finale fails to include the setting right of all things, the revelation of God’s design for this present world, our Christianity will be skewed towards escape, not salvation.  We are called into God’s Kingdom, and we enter into it by faith, right here and now.  True enough, by and by, there will come yet another part of His plan when the curtain is drawn on this present world. It will pass away and a ‘new Heaven and a new earth’ will be brought forth by the declaration of the Lord. "I saw Heaven and earth new-created. Gone the first Heaven, gone the first earth, gone the sea. … The Enthroned continued, “Look! I’m making everything new. Write it all down—each word dependable and accurate.”  (Revelation 21:1,5, The Message)  

Like a team who plays hard to get into the SuperBowl, I want to live in His light so that I can participate in His Kingdom. There is much about the revelation of things to come that neither I nor you can or should understand, but there is enough revealed to let us know that we have purpose, that there will be a moment of resolution, that there will be winners and losers.  Because of Christ Jesus, my Lord, my Savior, and my King, I will stand among those who enjoy the Kingdom, and on the final Day, I will be welcomed into His glorious Presence.  How about you?

________

Kingdom Of God

The kingdom of God

Shall have no end

A kingdom of love

That is built in our hearts

And not by our hands

The kingdom of God

Shall have no end

This shining magnificent

Glorious kingdom

Forever shall stand

The kingdom of God

(REPEAT)

Thine is the kingdom

Thine is the power

Thine is the glory forever amen

Thine is the kingdom

Thine is the power

Thine is the glory forever amen

The kingdom of God forever shall stand

The kingdom of God forever amen

The kingdom of God

Twila Paris

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Mountain Spring Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)

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"Let's Talk!" says the Lord

An invitation to reason

“Pastor. I just don’t understand. What happened? Why has God done this to me?”  The question comes my way often. Only the context changes. Sometimes it’s a failing marriage. Sometimes it involves wayward children. Sometimes it’s about being in financial straits.  Sometimes the person’s mental or physical health is failing.  In some situations there is no apparent answer but in others there is this glaring disconnect, an amazing blindness to consequences of choices.  When a man has a heart attack and blames God for letting it happen without acknowledging his terribly unhealthy life, full of stress, fueled by junk food, he lacks insight. That woman whose husband walked out and cries about how God has let her down without facing up to her unrelenting verbal abuse is blaming the wrong Person. The person facing bankruptcy without recognizing a failure to discipline his spending that created crushing debt, makes a terrible mistake if he accuses the Lord of failing in His promise to provide.

I am not saying that everyone who suffers pain or loss is just getting what they deserve. That’s a terribly unfair judgment! However,  we are foolish if we think we can live as we want, ignoring the Spirit’s leading, and not eventually reap the harvest that grows from those seeds of rebellion. When our lives are falling apart, at least we ought to be willing to consider that a change may be needed. We should go to the Lord in humility and ask Him to reveal to us where a correction is called for.

I have come to love the prophecies of Isaiah.  As the Spirit inspired him, he matched powerful indictment of God’s people with amazingly grace-filled promise. The opening chapter is so very appropriate for us. The people of God were  destroyed. The city of Jerusalem was  torn apart, a foreign army robbed the national treasure.  As they wept, God spoke to them. "Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land; but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the LORD has spoken." (Isaiah 1:18-20, NIV)   The Almighty invites them to sit down and get clarity.  “Let’s argue this out,” He says.  The Hebrew word translated as “reason,” is a stronger verb. He is not inviting them to ‘have a little chat!’  He is coming to them with an intervention!

He tells them that He is done with their religion, that He sees through their empty rituals and wants true repentance. “Quit your worship charades. I can’t stand your trivial religious games: Monthly conferences, weekly Sabbaths, special meetings— meetings, meetings, meetings—I can’t stand one more! Meetings for this, meetings for that. I hate them! You’ve worn me out! I’m sick of your religion, religion, religion, while you go right on sinning. When you put on your next prayer-performance, I’ll be looking the other way. No matter how long or loud or often you pray, I’ll not be listening. And do you know why? Because you’ve been tearing people to pieces, and your hands are bloody. Go home and wash up. Clean up your act. Sweep your lives clean of your evildoings so I don’t have to look at them any longer. Say no to wrong. Learn to do good. Work for justice. Help the down-and-out. Stand up for the homeless. Go to bat for the defenseless." (Isaiah 1:13-17, The Message)

Christian, will you accept God’s invitation? “Come now, let’s reason together!”  The Spirit’s invitation requires a response. Will we accept His offer of renewal, of grace, of restoration by changing our ways?  Even though our sins are glaring, like a bright red bloodstain shouting our guilt; He will remove them and make us clean and whole; if only we will walk with Him in obedience. Are you in a terrible difficulty? Has life fallen apart, God’s Presence a distant memory?  Before you run off to find another spiritual experience, another retreat, a new teacher – take the Lord’s offer of a conversation that leads to clarity.  Ask Him if there are things that need to change, if repentance is in order. 

This word from the Word is a powerful one.  May we receive it with grace and faith.
"I will turn my hand against you; I will thoroughly purge away your dross and remove all your impurities.
I will restore your judges as in days of old, your counselors as at the beginning.
Afterward you will be called the City of Righteousness, the Faithful City.”
Zion will be redeemed with justice, her penitent ones with righteousness.
But rebels and sinners will both be broken, and those who forsake the LORD will perish." (Isaiah 1:25-28, NIV)

A Babbling Believer

A Babbling Believer

A long time ago some preacher made a remark that I have never forgotten.  “A lot of lies are told in church during the singing of the hymns.”  He meant to be humorous, but next time you’re in church, pay close attention to the words of the songs.  We tell Jesus that He is all we desire, that He is more than life to us.  Is He?  “Take all of me” we sing offering to surrender self and our treasure to Him.  Do we?  Then, too, sometimes church prayers become more like greeting card sentiment, nice phrases formed around creating good feelings.  If we pray without passion, we dishonor God Himself.  What if, in our corporate worship, we really wept over our sins, shouted about our victories, and talked openly about our doubts, fears, and temptations? Granted, it is a public gathering. But we come first to address our God, not to impress our friends.

Worship that is only shaped around superficial words and poetic prayers can easily turn into a Band-Aid covering our sin wound without bringing healing. The Bible warns about going through the motions of worship without integrity, becoming a babbling Believer. "Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong.  Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few. … When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it. Do not let your mouth lead you into sin. … Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore stand in awe of God." (Ecclesiastes 5:1-7, NIV)

Awe! Perhaps it is the most neglected component of true worship in our noisy, busy lives.  Have we grown spiritually deaf? Francis Chan encourages us to learn again how to listen to the Spirit. In Forgotten God, he writes – “A little bit of spirituality added into our lives is not what God has in mind. … Jesus’ call is to radical faith, to be willing to suffer anything and forsake everything for the sake of Gospel.”  This kind of hunger will lead us to worship that is deeply dependent on the Spirit, that listens carefully for His direction because we know we cannot live as He desires without Him.

When we become anxious, when things go terribly wrong and we cannot understand why, when God falls silent (and He does); our natural inclination is to speak more, to bravely babble as if by saying the right things often enough, we can somehow make them happen. The truth is that in those seasons, a better response is learned from Job, that suffering saint of the Old Testament.  Though a man in right standing before God, the Lord allowed him to lose everything. Even Job’s best friends concluded that all the tragedy must somehow be his fault, the result of some secret sin. Job patiently sat through their sermons and even took the ranting of his wife, who urged him to ‘curse God and die’ in stride.  Then one day Job could take it no more and he challenged the Almighty to explain Himself.  In so many words, Job said, “Lord, I want vindication. What kind of God are you anyway?”  Then, he listened.  I love this verse: “I am unworthy—how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth. I spoke once, but I have no answer— twice, but I will say no more.” (Job 40:4-5, NIV)  I put my hand over my mouth!  No more babbling.  Job abandoned words to stand in awe.  He never really got a explanation, but he found an answer in the wonder of God’s transcendent Presence.  I pray that I will love Abba enough to shut up and listen more.

Here’s a word from the Word.  Live it.  “My dear friends, as you have always obeyed … continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose." (Philippians 2:12-13, NIV)   Our need is less about a solution or even relief. We are changed in the Presence of the God as we stand before Him in awe.

Is it EOTWAWKI?

EOTWAWKI?

It is election day in these United States of America. Dire warnings come from both sides promising that we’re doomed (EOTWAWKI ) if the other guy is elected. Frankly, some of the claims are so baseless (even ridiculous) that I wonder how the candidates utter them with a straight face?  Oh, there are consequences that come from elections. American history will be shaped by the policies of those we choose to hold office. Public policies for the next decade will be changed by the legislation enacted and the judges appointed during the next four years.  I am not minimizing the importance of this election, but I want to set it in context of Heaven's truth.

God makes it known in the Scripture - " I am in charge of history!"  That is no always obvious, nor is His rule sometimes easy to discern. Consider Daniel.  Invaders carried him from his home in Jerusalem to Babylon while he was still a teen. There he was put in the service of a pagan emperor. Daniel had to wrestle to reconcile the truth that God was revealing to him concerning His control of human events and the fact that God’s Temple and Holy City was in ruins and His people apparently without a future. Young Jews like himself were in captives in a foreign land.  How could that be the will of Yahweh? Daniel, despite tragedy, remained God's man and trusted God as the Sovereign of human affairs. The result was a man so in tune with the Spirit that he became God's spokesman to the super-power of his time!

One time, Nebuchadnezzar demanded that his counselors tell him what he had dreamed and the meaning of his dream. Impossible? Sure it was. But, Daniel went to prayer, received the revelation, and went to tell the king what God was saying to him. God showed Daniel that He was still in charge. Remember that dream? It was a large statue with golden head, silver chest, bronze belly, iron legs, and feet of clay. It represented the kingdoms of men. The key part of the dream was the Stone that was cut out, not with human hands, that smashed the statue. The meaning? All earthly kingdoms will come to an end when the King of Kings sets up His reign.

Later on the king had another terrifying dream. He saw a great tree in the center of the earth. It was cut down by a heavenly messenger, but the stump was left. Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar that it was a message that he was about to be cut down because of his arrogance. "They shall drive you from men, your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make you eat grass like oxen. They shall wet you with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over you, till you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses. "And inasmuch as they gave the command to leave the stump and roots of the tree, your kingdom shall be assured to you, after you come to know that Heaven rules." (Daniel 4:25-26, NKJV)

When Daniel was about 80 years old, once again a king saw a terrifying vision. Belshazzar, the regent of Babylon, whose arrogance far outstripped that of Nebuchadnezzar, was throwing a banquet when a hand appeared to write on the wall of the hall. No one could understand the cryptic phrase - MN MN TKL PRSN. Then the queen mother reminded Belshazzar of an old Jewish man who had counseled the prior king. Daniel came and read the inscription: "Mene, Mene, Tekel, Parsin" -- "Numbered, numbered, Weighed, and Divided!" Boldly, Daniel pronounced the message of Heaven.

"Your Majesty, the Most High God gave sovereignty, majesty, glory, and honor to your predecessor, Nebuchadnezzar. He made him so great that people of all races and nations and languages trembled before him in fear. ... But when his heart and mind were hardened with pride, he was brought down from his royal throne and stripped of his glory. ...until he learned that the Most High God rules the kingdoms of the world and appoints anyone he desires to rule over them. You are his successor, O Belshazzar, and you knew all this, yet you have not humbled yourself. For you have defied the Lord of heaven ...you have not honored the God who gives you the breath of life and controls your destiny! So God has sent this hand to write a message." (Daniel 5:18-24, NLT)

His message?  God rules!

Christian, “God Rules!” is not a message of fear. It is one of great comfort to us as we work out our salvation. Though the Lord calls us to be responsible, proactive, and engaged in the world in which we live, all the while we know that we are not in charge.  Oh, what peace can be found in the calm assurance that there is a competent Captain guiding us.  Disciple, I want to urge you to trust that revelation today. Steady yourself in faith in God. He is capable of keeping you in the palm of His hand, no matter what happens in the elections today, no matter what storm blows through your state, no matter what crisis appears, as if from nowhere, in your life. Pray for eyes that see what God sees and a mind that thinks as He thinks as the Spirit gives revelation. In this election year when there is so much anxiety about the future of this country... remember the Truth! "Blessed be the name of God, forever and ever. He knows all, does all: He changes the seasons and guides history, He raises up kings and also brings them down." (Daniel 2:20-21, The Message) He has charged us with responsibility to pray for His will to be done, and then we will obey Him and live with heart-deep faith and rock-solid assurance.

"This, then, is how you should pray:
"‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’" (Matthew 6:8-13, NIV)

Oh, yes;   EOTWAWKI means- End Of The World As We Know It

And, no:  the election of either Romney or the re-election of Obama will not cause it!
___________________

I voted this morning. I hope you will, too.

The only wasted vote is the one not cast.