April 10, 2011

"Be not overcome with evil but overcome evil with good."   Romans 12:21

I am serving as an assistant baseball coach for a junior varsity high school team. Billy Thomas is the head coach. We are trying to convince our kids how important it is to practice well because you rarely play better than you practice. The reason you practice is so you don't have to think in the pressure of a game situation, you just respond in the way you have have practiced.

During the Chicago Bulls run of NBA Championships in the 1990's, there was one game winning shot that was made by Johnny Paxson off a pass from Michael Jordan. When the defense collapsed on "MJ" expecting him to take the last shot, Michael kicked it out to Paxson who drained it. In the postgame interview the announcer asked John Paxson (who was the son of a High School coach and had grown up as a "gym rat") how he felt about making the winning shot. I loved his reply, he said, "I have made that shot a thousand times when I was a kid!"

Under the pressure of a final second shot to win an NBA championship game, John Paxson was able to cooly catch the ball and confidently release it because of the hours of practice he invested while growing up.

How will you respond if you are in the last days and if persecution should come? How can you know that you can stand up under the pressure of rejection, or opposition, or threats, or physical abuse - even torture? Do you fear that? Does that prospect frighten you?

I guess no one knows for sure, but if you are not practicing the right actions, attitudes and behaviors now, you won't have a chance under the pressure of intimidation or persecution. Paul reminded the believers in Rome, who where facing persecution, to always do good. When your righteousness is appreciated - that is great. When it is opposed or when it brings pressure - it is all the same to you. You always act you never react. That is the key to being faithful under adverse circumstances.

Life doesn't really have practice sessions. There are no trial runs - just trials. So, what you do every day counts! What you do in your quiet, private moments alone with God when no one is looking will ultimately be exposed when the "game" is on the line. Your private personal preparations will serve you well if these are the end times and persecution arises.

What are you doing today to prepare your for tomorrow? Especially for a tomorrow of turmoil and trouble. How would you fare then if you were to do the things you now do on a daily basis? What habits need to change? What disciplines need to be added or enhanced in your daily routine? Are you overcoming evil with good each day of your life?

What should you do if the persecution comes? Keep worshipping God daily. Keep walking with God daily. And, keep witnessing daily. Then in the difficult days all you have to do is what you always do! You can act rather than react! Just like John Paxson, when the game is on the line you'll deliver!

April 9, 2011

"Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.” As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains. “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.  Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come." Matthew 24:1-14

I am really thankful that the disciples asked this question about the signs for the coming of the end times. It's good information! I sense you are curious, too.

Jesus seemed glad that they asked it, too, because He was happy to give them (and us) four signs to look for in our generation. Let's examine those together!

Sign One - Spiritual Crisis, Vv. 4-5

Since the days of Adam the human race has been entrapped in a spiritual crisis.

The world was in a spiritual mess when Jesus showed up. In fact, that is why He came!

Many are bemoaning the sorry state of the Church in the early 21st century. To say the least, it is struggling. With the cultural tide turning decidely anti-Christian, the prospects for inprovement seems bleak.

So, the world in a spiritual crisis is nothing new.

But the real question is, "How is your spiritual life? Are you in crisis? What do you need to do to get right with God?"

Sign Two - Political Crisis, Vv. 6-7a

Politics is really just about how people construct systems and structures to govern themselves. Because everything is essentially spiritual, when there is a spiritual crisis, that will be reflected in how people govern themselves.

Human nature is selfish and self-seeking, so it is human nature to attempt to grab power, position and personal wealth rather than govern purely for the the sake of those they serve. When you get several hundred Congressmen and Senators trying to pad their own bank accounts and personal fame, things can get to crisis status pretty quickly. We are there now!

But the big question is, "What are you going to do about it?" Are you praying regularly for your political leaders? Are you registered to vote? Are you knowledgeable of all the current pokitical issues?

Sign Three - Natural Crisis, Vv. 7b-8

There was another earthquake just yesterday in Japan. There are generally 15,000 to 20,000 earthquakes in a year. It seems the frequency and intensity of those, however, is picking up recently.

Romans 1 talks about how even the earth is groaning under the travails of planet earth. And, Jesus plainly states that things will get much worse before they get better!

Sign Four - Christianity Crisis, Vv. 9-12

As things turn tough in the last days, due in part to the spiritual crisis in conjunction with the political strife and the cataclysmic natural disasters, many will lose heart and give up hope. Even some who have professed faith and walked in righteousness will be deceived and fall away from God and the Church and forsake their faith because of the threats, the pressure and persecution brought against those who stand with Christ.

Jesus predicts that many will fall away from the faith in those terrible times. What about you? Will you stand strong? Can you remain faithful? Are you living for Jesus now? If you can't stand strong in faith right now, you probably won't when things get really tough for believers.

When times get worse, you must get better! You are called to "not be overcome with evil" but to overcome the evil in the world with the goodness and holiness of God. The first thing you must do is to get ready for the last days!

April 8, 2011

"Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.” As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains. “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come."   Matthew 24:1-14

Have you noticed that dire predictions about the future are being issued by politicians, environmentalists, talk-show hosts, sociologists, theologians, economists, movie producers, educators, and bloggers world-wide?

Rarely do these folks agree on anything but all agree that the future does not appear especially bright. There is a prevailing sense of doom permeating our planet. You really only need a casual knowledge of history to know how unregenerate human beings are bent toward self-destruction.

So, whose predictions should we pay attention to? Whose advice should we heed?

You make the call for yourself, but when I plan my future I will get my information from the One Who is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. Who better to depend for end-time advice than the One Who stands apart from time and sees the whole continuum of history? Afterall, history is HIS STORY!

Also, His track record is perfect! Everything that He has predicted has happened or is in the process of unfolding. What He forecasted to His disciples in this portion of Scripture did, in fact, happen. And the suffering He said would come, happened to Him! While His prophecies are dire like all of the other predictions, His have a happy ending!

So, as you look for someone to believe about the future, trust Him for your predictions! And, oh, by the way. Also trust Him for your protection!

"God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging." Psalm 46:1-3

April 7, 2011

"You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains."  Matthew 14:6-8

I have known many pregnant women. They all have told me giving birth to a child is incredibly painful. Labor began with rather light and infrequent contractions but escalated to continual and intense pain until the child was delivered. When a child comes into the world the pain gets much worse before it gets better! But, if you want the joy of a child, you have to endure the terrible pain.

Just as there is no painless way to come into this world, there is no painless way to get out of it. You are born in pain and you will die in pain. If you live in fear of pain you will spend your days in anxiety. You must find a joy, a purpose and a power that makes the pain in your life worth the gains it adds to your life.

In the same way, most people I know want to go to Heaven. They look forward to a blissful eternity with Jesus and loved ones in the presence of God. But to get there, they have to die and no one is anxious to do that. Before it can get better it has to get worse.

So, Jesus, when answering the Disciples' questions regarding the end of time, He compared it to childbirth saying that times would get much worse before they get better again. According to the Master, things on earth during the end times, will get very painful before they finally get better due to the Lord's return. No one welcomes the pain or the persecution that must precede the second-coming, but if you want an eternity with Him that is what must happen.

What are you to do?

Turn to the Lord and trust the Lord in the time of your trouble just as King David did!

"The LORD is my light and my salvation— Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked advance against me to devour me, it is my enemies and my foes who will stumble and fall. Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then I will be confident. One thing I ask from the LORD, this only do I seek; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple. For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock. Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me; at his sacred tent I will sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the LORD. Hear my voice when I call, LORD; be merciful to me and answer me.  My heart says of you, “Seek his face! ”Your face, LORD, I will seek.  Do not hide your face from me, do not turn your servant away in anger; you have been my helper. Do not reject me or forsake me, God my Savior. Though my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me. Teach me your way, LORD; lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors. Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me, spouting malicious accusations. I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.  Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD."                  Psalm 27 

Things will get worse before they get better, but when you get through the temporary bad you will find the eternal good is worth it! In the meantime, discover that He is worth the pain!

April 6, 2011

"Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”    Matthew 24:1-2

How secure are you today?

How secure are you tomorrow?

How do you know?

When you are facing an uncertain future with ominous storm clouds gathering on the horizon, where do you place your security? How can you be sure that your trust is well placed? What if you discover in the day of trouble that the thing you trusted wasn't trustworthy? Then what?

As Jesus was exiting the Temple with His disciples, they looked at the huge stones that formed its foundation and commented that those stones would surely be a permanent fixture for centuries to come.

They were testifying to their belief in the strength and security of God's house, the symbol of their religion. Shouldn't that be a safe bet?

Jesus rocked their world by stating flatly that those stones and that building would be destroyed in their lifetime. That was something they could not imagine.

This did happen as Jesus said! It was witnessed and recorded in 70 AD when the Roman army grew tired of the rebellion of the Jews and sieged the city and decimated it completely. The only evidence of that old city is what we call the Wailing Wall in present day Jerusalem.


Let’s note that those very same buildings that the disciples thought would be permanent and never changing would be completely destroyed within 40 years in some of these very same disciples with live to see it happen.

This may be a warning to us that we are going to see things in our lifetime that we never thought possible. Things that we thought would stand forever will be dismantled and left in the dust.

These are dangerous days! Storm clouds are gathering on the horizon. Evil is on the rise. Lawlessness is spreading world-wise and is being expressed in riots, and protests and demonstrations and cries for revolution. Our economy is on the brink of collapse as European nations scramble to avoid default.

American is involved in two wars and just committed to another engagement in Lybia with no clear purpose or objective stated. Radical Islam is on the march with a clearly articulated goal of world domination. Their terror agenda is world-wide and effective in intimidating prospective opponents with bombings and beheadings. Should they succeed in their dream of forming a caliphate in stretching from the Gulf Region, through Northern Africa, and into Southern Europe. They would rule the Mediterranean Region with an iron-fist and Sharia law brutally dealing with Jews, Christians or any non-Muslim who refuses to convert. Under their control would be much of the world's oil supply and the means of moving it economically through the Suez Canal sending world oil prices through the roof and crumbling world economies.

Add to this nightmare scenario the probability nuclear weapons would fall into the hands of these zealots.

What are you trusting to help you face these frightening prospects? Are you sure that your trust is well placed? Is your faith founded on a strong and sure and everlasting foundation? Can you confidently rest your future and your eternity on the things you have been trusting?

How can you be sure? What are the unmoveable rocks upon which you place your hope?

April 5, 2011

"The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths or his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, or you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever."  Psalm 23

Can you name five animals more helpless than a sheep?

Sheep have multiple predators and few means of protection. Wolves love them! Cougars find them tasty. Lions call them lunch. When face to face with a ferocious animal all a sheep can do is say his prayers. Sheep cannot run. They cannot swim. They cannot fight. They can only get mauled and munched on.

If anyone has a reason to fear it is a sheep. They have a long list of things to be afraid of.

Guess who the Bible often refers to as sheep? You! (And me) You don't have to think for very long to figure out why.

The future of a sheep is only as certain as his shepherd. So is yours!

When a sheep is under the care of a good shepherd, the future is his friend! The Psalmist reminds you and me in poetic verse that we are under the care of a Good Shepherd! A really good One!

Take time to read the Psalm! If you are prone to fear, read it often! Ready it daily! Read it out loud! Pray it! Meditate on it! Memorize it!

As the world gets more dangerous and turmoil rages, you need to know that when the Lord is your Shepherd the future is your friend!

April 4, 2011

"As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. or many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains. “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come."  Matthew 24:3-14

For over 2,000 years people have been talking about the end times. The first generation of believers thought they were in the last days and so they found no problem in selling all they had to support the spread of the Gospel.

During that period there has been endless speculation regarding the anti-Christ and who that might be.

Back in my high school, college and early adult years, another wave of second-coming speculation arose. Those were years of great unrest and world turmoil. The struggle for civil rights was raging with riots and violence throughout the nation. Viet Nam was heating up and that sparked protests across the country, especially on college campuses. The Kent State riot errupted in gunfire when students threatened National Guard troops resulting in the deaths of some students. Over a five year period America was stunned by the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Dr. Martin Luther King, and Senator Bobby Kennedy. Those years saw the rise of violent anti-government, anti-establishment groups such as Students for a Democratic Society, the Weathermen, the Black Panthers, and the Symbionese Liberation Army. These groups raised tensions and perpetrated violence in out land.

Also, during this unstable period, prayer was removed from the schools, drug use what rampant, immorality was promoted and abortion became the law of the land.

At the same time on the world scene, tensions peaked in the Middle-East with two wars involving Israel. The Six Day War in 1967 in which Israel swiftly and decisively regained several areas of land that are still in dispute today. Another conflict broke out in 1973 when Israel attacked Lebanon in retaliation for the attack on Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics Those Arab-Israeli conflicts caused instability in the Middle-East oil production causing an oil shortage in the United States and sparking an economic recession.

The "Cold War" between the United States and Russia was heating up, adding to the world tensions.

With all of those events unfolding at a rapid pace, end-times prophecies again came into sharp focus. Hal Lindsay wrote "The Late Great Planet Earth". Teachings on the Book of Revelations became the rage and Prophecy Conferences complete with charts and graphs were attended by thousands.

Jesus said there would be troublesome times! Indeed, there have been! Evil is on the march. It never rests. As the Church was lulled into a slumber, evil found less resistence. But those days came and went. The world survived. The Church shook itself a bit and responded with a renewed emphasis on evangelism and church-growth.

I share this brief history lesson just to give some perspective as we focus our 40 Day Fearless study on the Fear of Global Calamity. The fact is that Jesus plainly told us things would get bad, really bad, before they would get better. We have seen bad days and we will see worse days. That is precisely why we must live by faith and overcome our fears. As evil dominates planet earth it doesn't have to dominate you! As others despair you can declare that Jesus is Lord and God is on His Throne!

And, back in those days of my youth, gospel music was the rage. This was one of the songs that brought hope and comfort in the middle of the chaos. If you are a gospel music fan, enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3l_LfGjXShg