Jesus said that in the last days we would hear of wars and rumors of wars, and that nations would rise against nations and kingdoms against kingdoms (Matthew 24:6-7). Have these signs just come upon us or have they been around for a long time?
In the above scripture Jesus was predicting the beginning of the Great Tribulation to come upon the earth in the last days. Yet history tells us that these same signs have been around for centuries. Someone is always going to war with somebody else.
The world is fallen and military conflicts are a natural result. Take what’s happening in the Holy Land as an example. Israel has agreed to relinquish the West Bank and Gaza to appease the Palestinians, yet Hamas continues to attack Israeli settlements with missiles. The United Nations called for Hamas to stop, but takes no action. So, Israel is forced to respond with air strikes in self-defense. But, Israel now runs the risk of turning public opinion against itself, as Islamists sworn to destroy Israel now reside all over the civilized world.
No wonder we are told to “pray for the peace of Jerusalem” (Psalm 122:6). Now would be a good time.
Tags: peace, wars
Everyone loves Kilnger. You know, the Lebanese Corporal in M*A*S*H* who will do next to anything to get out of the Army. Klinger makes everyone laugh except his Colonel. Klinger does his job well, however. He has a sense of duty and never really shirks important responsibilities. His one problem is his heart is not in it. He really wants to be back in Toledo with his Mom.
I wonder how many Christians are like Klinger. They do their duty, like showing up in church every weekend and giving in the offering, but their heart is really not in it. They rarely deny their selfish desire and will not go out of their way to share faith with another. They wear the “uniform” of a soldier, but, like Klinger, keep slipping in to the “dress” of a civilian. Poor Klinger’s heart is back in Ohio. Where is yours?
Tags: heart
Anita got me a great gift for Christmas. It was the Harold Lloyd Comedy Collection on DVD. Harold Lloyd was a pioneer film maker and actor in the silent movie era. He made his mark in Hollywood history with his 1923 silent Safety Last. Harold Lloyd owned his own film company and never syndicated his films to be distributed by later companies. Only recently has his family digitized these films and released them on DVD to the public.
In the days when sexual inuendos and plays on words were not possible, Harold relied on creative film methods and visual illusions to entertain. His action-packed scenes high up on building sides and racing down crowded city streets leave the viewer sitting on the edge of their seats and chuckling with delight.
Harold Lloyd is on my list of heros for his effort to break entertainment patterns and pioneer new visual methods, setting a pattern for other filmmakers to follow and improve. I pray God would help me to break patterns in the church world and pioneer new methods for making disciples who make disciples.
Tags: hero, patterns, pioneer
In his book The No-Guilt Guide for Witnessing, George Sweeting tells of a man named John Currier who in 1949 was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison. Later he was transferred and paroled to work on a farm near Nashville, Tennessee.
In 1968, Currier’s sentence was terminated, and a letter carrying the good news was sent to him. But the owner of the farm never delivered the letter nor informed John of his release. Life on that farm was hard and without promise, yet John kept doing what he was told even after the farmer for whom he had worked had died.
After another ten years, a state parole officer learned about Currier’s plight, found him, and told him that his sentence had been terminated. He was a free man.
Where would your life be today if no one had delivered the message that your Sin had been forgiven? That important message needed to be delivered. And it still needs to be delivered to so many. Let’s keep our eyes open for the God-appointed opportunities.
Tags: forgiveness, pardon, witness
Since Christmas this year fell on a Thursday, I suppose most of us have Friday off also, making a 4-day weekend. While some of us will be playing with the adult toys we got for Christmas yesterday, others will no doubt be waiting in long return lines at stores.
There are two times my wife loves to go shopping: the day after Thanksgiving and the day after Christmas. Those are the two least favorite days for me! She thrives in the excitement of the crowds. I prefer to go on Mondays when everyone has already spent their paycheck and is staying home.
Opposites attract and we have to give each other permission to be different. So she’ll get a friend and go shopping while I stay home. Everybody wins! How are you different from someone close to you?
Tags: opposite
Christmas Eve! These verses from the Christmas story come to mind: “And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks by night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them” (Luke 2:8-9). We don’t know what time of day Jesus was born, but we do know the time the angel appeared to announce His birth: “at night”.
I think the significance of this is that we live in a dark, ungodly world. Jesus is the Light of the World clouded in darkness. The shepherds had no problem seeing the angel in the dark, so it must have been enlightened, as well.
When we’ve made room for Jesus, the whole world around us becomes enlightened because of the light that resides within us. Have an enlightened Christmas.
Tags: Christmas, darkness, light
Anita and I enjoy watching those old movies with a happy ending. The other night we watched You Can’t Take it With You, a 1938 comedy directed by Frank Capra, who also directed Its a Wonderful Life nine years later. Both films starred Jimmy Stewart and Lionel Barrymore.
Jimmy Stewart and Lionel Barrymore looked quite a bit younger than we remembered them in this 1938 film. And, in an interesting twist, Lionel Barrymore, who played villain Henry Potter in the famous Christmas film, played the kindly hero Grandpa Martin Vanderhof in You Can’t Take it With You.
Every December we watched the gruff conniving Potter role and so I kept expecting some trickery out of Grandpa in this older film, which never did materialize. I suppose its human nature for us to judge people based upon one incident and then trust or not trust them based upon what we’ve seen.
But Christmas is about God becoming man to change our character. Thank God I’m not judged the way I used to be. Merry Christmas.
Tags: character, judging