Like a thief in the night…

In the grand scheme of things, it’s minor – hardly worth mentioning.  What happened is, I have been struggling with this horrible cold for a couple of weeks.  I told everyone it was nothing, that I didn’t feel sick, only that I was tired of breathing through my mouth and coughing up stuff that could be used by terrorists as a biological weapon.

Then yesterday, without warning, the fever and chills began to assault my weakened body.  You know full well what I was thinking – Swine Flu, H1N1, the dreaded pandemic flu.  But I’ve been fairly rational about this whole epidemic thing, thinking that it was just something Obama cooked up to scare folks into supporting nationalized health care.  Of course, the irony is that the government has made such a mess of the swine flu vacine thing that nobody in their right mind would think we need the government taking care of our healthcare. 

But that’s not my point.  My point is, it all came on me in the middle of the night.  One minute I was sleeping soundly, the next I was burning up with fever.  Oh, and that coughing that I thought was bad before had found a vial of stroids somewhere and pumped itself up into an MLB type cough.  I couldn’t breathe. 

Still, I wasn’t thinkng death or long hospital stays.  I had the flu a few years ago – it was bad enough, but I got over it in a few weeks.  If I did it then, I could do it again, right?

Then while I was searching on-line for the kickoff time for the Florida-South Carolina game, I came across this article in the Spartanburng, S.C. newspaper that simply floored me: 54 Year Old Teacher Dies From Swine Flu!

You know how stuff gets in your head.  I’m around the same age as the poor victim.  I’m a a teacher.  Therefore, I’m going to die too.  So I spent the morning calling all my doctors trying to figure out what I could take to keep me from dying.  Truth is, when I told ‘em my temperature was only 100.2, they just laughed and hung up the phone. 

But who knows, right?  It could happen, couldn’t it?  One day you’re feeling fine, the next you are dead and gone. 

 Even under the best of circumstances, life is over in a flash.  Psssst! Like a burst from a can of hairspray, you are here then you’re gone. 

And so we are left with two possibilities: either Jesus was telling the truth about who he is and what he was doing here (in which case we are in good shape), or he was not – in which case everything is pretty meaningless.  There is only one certain thing in life and that is death – we all do it.  But to those of us who have chosen to believe the story of Jesus and have put our faith in him, we are certain about something else – something that makes drawing our next breath worthwhile.

Let the heathen rage…

The original question was, Why do the heathen rage? This quote comes from Psalms and was later quoted by the disciples after Peter and John were released from prison.  Their prayer was rhetorical – Since you made everything in the universe, why do the heathen rage against you?

A good question, I might add.  When you think about the futility of the world’s system – that it never offers hope beyond today, much less for eternity, you would think that the hopeless would grasp at any bit of good news that offers something of substance beyond the grave. 

And for the first time in the history of the world, God has intervened on man’s behalf and made post-grave hope the centerpiece of his message to mankind.  You don’t have to despair – this life isn’t all there is.  I am offering you eternity, the opportunity to live forever without pain or suffering.  I simply want you to love me and to love your fellow man.  I only want you to imitate me as I love you.  And in the process, I will give your life more purpose and meaning than you could have ever imagined.

While, from a logical point of view, this is a no-brainer, the truth is that the old man dies hard.  Maybe that’s why the Bible continues to emphasisze this theme over and over:

“…if by the spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.”

“Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature.”

“For we know that our old self was crucified with him…”

“I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me…”

“Those who belong to Christ have crucified their sinful natures with its passions and desires…”

Putting to death – a metaphorical reference to the act of making a decision to stop following the system of the world as a guide for how to live my life – that is the point here.  I no longer live by the principles of the world, but because of my belief that Jesus was killed and raised AND that he is returning to take me home with him – that is the hope I have.  As a matter of fact, it is the only hope offered by the father.

In spite of my own desire to make something of myself in this life, I have no such promise from God.  He never promises me full retirement (or that I will even live to retirement age), or a comfortable house, or nice cars, or a happy marriage, or to be free from the temptation to feed my addictions, or anything else in all this world that would make me uncomfortable.  The only thing that God has put on the table for me is the promise that, if I am faithful until the end and never give up, I will spend eternity with him and that it will be beyond my wildest dreams.  And the only thing standing in my way is the promise of the world’s system that it really does have something of substance to offer me – that it truly can give my life a purpose and meaning that has lasting value.

A short survey of the world system’s track record, however, will reveal its failure to live up to its promise.  As we mentioned before, people die, retirement funds are eaten away by forces way beyond our control, and everything else in the physical realm deteriorates over time – sometimes right before our very eyes.  And one day we wake up, our youth is gone, our flesh is beginning to slip off the bone, we take note of all our broken dreams and failed plans, and we wonder where the time went. 

At that point, Satan reverses course on us and reminds us of our failures.  He points to the holiness of God, and taunts us with the notion that a God like the one who created the universe could never be comfortable having a loser like you in his kingdom.  Now, you’re between a rock and a hard place.  To the left is your life’s history – one failure after another.  And on the other is a God so righteous that he must be disgusted with the likes of you.  So rather than taking the plunge into despair or reliance on him, you remain straddled on the fence of life.

But think about this:

 
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 

 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

So you see, you are NOT hopeless.  And the good news for you is that, even though you may suffer in the flesh, you will reap a harvest of joy and peace that will make your suffering seem as nothing.  You, my friend, are the object of God’s affection.  And yes, the heathen rage – the old man dies hard, and we often go down kicking and screaming because the desire to preserve our lives (no matter how worthless) is embedded in our DNA. 

I say let ‘em rage because of my faith in the promise of God.  I believe!

 

Why do the heathen rage?

In case you missed it, here’s the story of the world’s opposition to men and women of God:

 Man hears story of Jesus and believes it.  He repents of his sin, and gives his life to the care of the Father.  The system that governs the world takes notice that he has rejected its value system and begins to jeer him. 

“So, now you’re worshipping the big spook in the sky?  Ooooh, that’s scary!” 

“I guess you think you’re better than us now.”

“You narrow-minded fundamentalist!”

Nobody likes to be called names, but the man takes it for his share and goes on.

Before too long, it (the world) realizes that its efforts to dissuade the young believer are coming to naught, so it begins to make life a little more difficult by putting physical obstacles in his way.  Mild opposition, slander, discrimination at work or school.  Maybe the opposition targets the believer’s kids. 

Still, he remains firmly resolved to follow what he now knows about God.

The persecution intensifies, but the man refuses to return to seeing life the same way he saw it before.  Now that he knows about Jesus and the promises he has made to him, he could never go back.  Not ever!  But the world sees his resilience as rebellion and defiance, a personal attack on it and everything it considers to be important, so it intensifies even more its attempts to get him to change his mind. 

Ironically, he isn’t a threat to them.  At least he isn’t a threat in the sense that he never once demands that the world drop what it’s doing and follow his Savior.  Yes, he appeals and pleads, but he never attempts to coerce.  He is now a man loved by the father, and he is trying with all his being to love his fellow man in the same way – without hesitation or precondition. 

Still, the world system really turns up the heat, because it knows that if he is successful, the world system will be destroyed.  In fact, the world knows that the final solution for the system is destruction.  No one could deny that.  Everyone knows that everyone dies.  Everyone knows that nothing lasts forever.  Stupidly, but sadly, it hangs on until its dying breath. But it sweeps the reality of its own mortality under the rug and continues to act as if it is the only thing that matters – the only thing that means anything.

You would think that it would be a welcome relief to know that the futility of this life has been exposed and that life with true purpose and meaning had replaced what once stood as the only way to live.  But that is not the case.  The man’s faith has been perceived as a threat to the meaningless and it is rising up to defeat that threat. 

The man?  He continues to love.  He knows, however, that ultimately this strengthening and growing assault will probably consume his physical being – he will die for what he believes.  In spite of it on, he goes on.

But it’s not easy.  Almost every waking moment is spent in prayer pleading with his father in heaven to lessen the pain.  He worries what will happen to his wife and children.  Then there are those brothers and sisters that he has allied himself with.  What about them?

He reads in the Bible about Daniel closing the mouths of the lions and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego enduring the flames without so much as a singed hair. And he wonders, sometimes aloud in prayer, why God won’t deliver him too.  And he’s heard others share about God’s healing grace, how he cured them of cancer or delivered them from financial ruin, and he thinks to himself, “I don’t want any of that; I just want to stay alive.  I’m just trying to keep my family safe – away from the firing squad.  Why won’t God help me?  Why won’t you deliver me, God?”

And to be honest with you, it’s a good question.  Maybe you’re one of the fortunate ones who’ve never questioned where, or even if, God is leading you.  Even though you never thought it could happen to you, your spouse leaves you for someone else.  A child announces that he is “gay,” or a daughter dies after overdosing on drugs.  Your company fires you or you lose all of your worldly possessions in a flood.  And all the while, you pray to God.  But God doesn’t seem to answer.  Nothing changes, unless you call things getting worse “change.” 

Is there any comfort for my suffering friend? 

More on that later.

So, you’re looking for a new church, are you?

I know how it is, you get all fired up about how your church isn’t “meeting your needs,” that you just aren’t “being fed,” so you go on the prowl looking for a new one – one that is what you “need.”  And you hear about one down the road from your subdivision that has a new family life center and an awesome youth and children’s ministry, and you think to yourself that your kids really need something more than what they’re getting.  They need “Christian” activities just like the ones the other church is offering.  Besides, the Bible classes for the adults are more laid back with donuts and coffee and the preacher’s messages are more positive and less judgmental than the one at your current church. Or maybe the opposite draws you, it’s more structured and traditional.

So you give it a shot hoping that you can feel good about yourself at least once a week.  You know, like you’ve done your duty and actually enjoyed it.

Nice shot, but maybe you ought to have a more First Century perspective.  You know, like which first century churches caught the Lord’s attention – in a positive way, I mean?  And mind you, not all first century churches caught the Lord’s positive attention.

Two churches discussed in John’s Revelation where what you might call “happening” churches.  At least they had reputations for being affluent and busy.  Perhaps church seekers might have been drawn to Laodicea and Sardis.  Laodicea had an attitude of self-sufficiency, reveling in their wealth.  I don’t know this for a fact, but maybe they had a first century version of a new family life center.  Maybe they had great programs for the kids and cool Bible classes for the grown-ups.  Just the kind of comfortable place one might be looking for if he were looking for a church.  No pressure, just come as you are and enjoy.

Sardis also had a reputation for being alive.  “Have you tried the Sardis church?” some well-intentioned advisor might have asked.  “I hear they are having over four thousand on Sunday mornings. A regular mega-church, I’m tellin’ you.”

An alive church, at least in the estimation of those who think about such things from a worldly point of view. 

But about both of them, Jesus was plain – You two churches aren’t what I’m looking for.   Laodicea is so morally ambivalent that I’m about to spit them out of the kingdom, and Sardis is just plain dead.  Ironic, isn’t it?  Two groups of believers known for having things together disgusting the one they are supposed to be serving. 

On a slightly less challenging note, there were three other churches mentioned by John.  Sort of a good news/bad news kind of thing.  They too were happening churches.  Lots of good deeds! Zeal!

Take Ephesus, for example.  They worked hard.  They persevered and didn’t tolerate wickedness in their congregation – in fact, they hated it.  They were vigilant and faithful.  But they had tended to every detail except one – they had forsaken their first love.  Faith, to these faithful brothers, had become rote – a going through the motions kind of gig.  Like a husband doing all of the right things for all the wrong reasons.  He takes out the trash.  He brings her flowers and remembers her birthday and their anniversary without fail.  He gives her a kiss before he goes off to work in the morning and as soon as he comes home at night.  She washes – he dries.  Once a week, he hires a babysitter and takes her out on a date.  But he’s not in love with her any more.  And she knows it. 

A marriage like this might endure – in name, at least.  But its passion is gone.  It has become almost meaningless.  Comfort and routine have replaced fervor. 

Then there was Thyatira and Pergamum.  They too were passionate. They had deeds, love, and faith.  As a matter of fact, they were known for doing more and more for the sake of the kingdom.  They had remained faithful.  But they had lost their zeal for moral purity; they had become morally ambivalent.  Like many Christians in the 21st Century, they had sort of slouched into a tolerant mode – the world’s value system, by the way.  Just get along to get along.  Don’t rock the boat.  Don’t make waves.  I’m not your judge.  You do your thing, and I’ll do mine. 

Sound familiar?  It is the way to make it in the world today, isn’t it?  But tolerance and compassion, two qualities all believers should strive to have, should never lead us to a point where we would be comfortable watching other people behave in a way that would lead to their destruction.  Furthermore, we would never, if we are aiming to please God, allow anyone to assimilate into our fellowship who wants to lead others to behave in a way that we know full well will destroy relationships, families, and lives.  Not even a hint of sexual immorality – that’s our goal. 

But not in Thyatira.  In spite of their good deeds and love and faith, they had opened a portal for the evil one to reincarnate Jezebel.  She’s baaaack!  Up to her same old tricks. 

The Lordly prescription was plain – get rid of her!  Expel her!  Do not tolerate her!

Finally, we hear about the two churches that truly are worthy of our membership.  Maybe they weren’t mega-churches, but they had the Lord’s attention.  Maligned, persecuted, weary, and poverty-stricken, they still loved God.  They weren’t just going through the motions, unless you count their running from the law.  But in spite of it all, they remained faithful to their first love.  They retained their moral purity.  They weren’t confused about right and wrong – they simply trusted God that he knew what he was talking about.

And for them, God’s door was always open – 24/7.  They had his ear, and more importantly, they had his heart.  He promised to give them a new identity as his children, his offspring.  He would emblazon his name on their flesh and make them priests in the new kingdom.  And finally, he would give them the crown of life making them royalty.

Maybe this isn’t the church you were looking for, but it seems like it was the one Jesus is looking for.

Revelation: Comfort to one, conviction to another!

It’s a funny thing how one message can mean two completely diverse things to two different people.  Revelation, as is true with most biblical revelations, was at once good and bad news. 

To some John’s Apocalypse was good news indeed, a comforting narrative, a word picture of things to come.  If you were one of John’s persecuted readers and you found his message to be one of hope, you would have certain things in common with others who viewed it the same way you did.  For example, you would be someone who:

• had rejected the world’s value system which states, “I am worthy because of what I have accomplished.”  Just think of how the world rewards its inhabitants.  Those whose portfolio includes deeds benefiting others in some profound way are generally rewarded with adulation, praise, and money.  Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but when it comes to finding personal worth in the presence of God, it is simply an impossible task – to do enough good to make the team.  And while we capitalists applaud a system that rewards the entrepreneurial spirit, the world’s system of rewarding the valuable has its downside too.  A young child might have value to his molester.  Or an abusive husband might find his wife to be of great value to him in that he has someone to physically abuse.  A system that attaches value to others based on how well they meet its needs is one fraught with perils. 
•  embraced the values of our Lord; namely, that I am worthy only because of what God has done for and in me.  I have no lasting value except that God rescued me from the world’s value system (which, by the way, always ends in disappointment in the end) and has brought me into the kingdom of his son.  God did the work, paid the price, and made all of the arrangements; all I did was believe that his work was sufficient to make me right in his presence.
• possessed a thirst, a craving for God that was so intense that it consumed you.  Everything else is overshadowed by this longing to know God. Nothing else matters. You live a life that reflects your committment to have this relationship with God. You are willing to pay any price, to give up anything and everything for the sake of knowing him. 
• accepted the reality of persecution for those who challenge the world’s system.  If you proclaim Christ, you will be opposed.

On the other hand, the Revelation is a disheartening message to those who do not possess the above qualities.  If your aim in life is to maintain the status quo, to be a marginal believer who seeks to avoid opposition, you have placed yourself outside the kingdom of God.  Saving faith isn’t for the weak-hearted but for those who love their lives so little that they are unwilling to shrink away from any peril – even death.

All of this matters because of the reality of the Evil One’s mission – he seeks the destruction of your faith, and his is prepared to do whatever it takes to bring about that result.  Whatever obstacle, whatever temptation he can place in your way to discourage you from giving testimony to the saving power of God’s grace, he will do it.  And if that doesn’t work, he will attempt to destroy you by killing you.  And to be perfectly honest, that’s his desired result – with him it is always about death.  

No, he isn’t finished with his work.  As a matter of fact, over 160,000 Christians were killed for their faith last year.  Many were given the opportunity to save their lives by denying Christ, but they chose to die with his name on their lips.  Just this last August, one family was burned to death in Pakistan because they wear the name of Christ http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,536238,00.html.  But it isn’t just Muslims persecuting Christians http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5ig1ayurEg.  In fact, it’s happening all over the world.  The Voice of the Martyrs (www..persecution.com) is a group dedicated to chronicling persecution and giving assistance to those who are persecuted.  Apparently, it is a problem that is growing in its scope and intensity. 

 Who knows if persecution is coming to your neighborhood.  The point, however, is that we should be prepared for the rage of the ungodly.  Make a decision now!  Whose side are you going to be on if it does come your way?  One sure way to do that is by rejecting the world’s values and putting on Christ.  Long for him.  Thirst for him.  And overcome the evil one by the word of your testimony.  Let the world know who your lord is.

The Lion or the Lamb

God could have done it the other way around, you know.  I mean, John the Baptist could have said, “Behold! The Lion who imposes God’s will on the world!”  But he didn’t say that.  Nor was that Christ’s mission – to impose anything – not yet, anyhow. 

Meek, gentle, unimposing he came.  Emptied of whatever it was that made him equal with God.  Like us, he was weak and vulnerable.  Timid sometimes.  And unlike the judges who often fill pulpits today, he was comfortable in the presence of sinners.  More importantly, they were comfortable in his presence – at peace even.  You would think that a rank sinner would cower in the presence of deity – all that filth, you know.  How can someone like me be in the company of Almighty God?  He is so perfect, and I am so…well, dirty.  So sinful!

Yet, the worst the world has to offer would sit at his feet and be at ease – he just a lamb – the Lamb of God.  Who would have thought that a lamb would rescue the souls of men? And the filthy, the soiled, the sinners…they knew it. 

Not me!  If I had been God’s public relations guy, I would have done it much differently.  Of course, I would have had himfirst  issue pardons for good folks like me right off the bat.  That’s the first thing I would have done.  I’m no drunk.  I’m not a homosexual.  I don’t do drugs, nor have I ever killed anyone.  I’m faithful to my wife.  For darn sure, I’m nothing like them.  After securing my own pardon, I would have instructed the graphic arts department to design this really intimidating lion logo to put on the Kingdom flag.  Just to let folks know who’s in charge, if you know what I mean.

But God didn’t do it that way, even though he could have.  Metaphorically, God is represented as a lion when he takes vengeance on those who persecute his people or when he is chastising those who have become unfaithful.

 
“Like a lion coming up from Jordan’s thickets to a rich pastureland, I will chase Edom from its land in an instant. Who is the chosen one I will appoint for this? Who is like me and who can challenge me? And what shepherd can stand against me?”

To be sure, one shouldn’t mess around with the Lion.  But the ferocious beast is not an image that the Son of God was comfortable with as he came to seek and save the lost.  Mankind had been cowering and running enough since the Garden.  Hiding in the bushes while God called out their names.  The Lion?  He would have driven the Father’s beloved more deeply underground. 

The Lamb, however, was no afterthought on God’s part.  When God stayed the knife of Abraham, he provided the lamb.  Hundreds of years – lamb after lamb led to the slaughter, blood spilled – the innocent for the guilty.  All of the history of Israel leading up to the slaughter of the lamb that God would provide, the meek and gentle son of God.  As a sheep before his shearers is silent, so he (the Lamb of God) did not open his mouth.

So he pleads, this Lamb of God, Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  And come, they did.  The woman caught in “the act,” the tax collectors, the poor and oppressed.  They all came. Maybe they didn’t have a clue about who he was or why he was here.  But like little children who are drawn to loving and nurturing adults, those who weren’t even noticed by those who controlled religious institutions were drawn to the Lamb.

To those who trust in the blood of the Lamb – to those who love him so much that they are willing to serve him even if they are called upon to give their lives for him as he did for mankind, this same lamb is transformed into the centerpiece of God’s kingdom.  He becomes the avenger of the spilled blood of the saints throughout the ages. He will lead all of God’s redeemed into the throne room of the Almighty Father.  And on That Day the universe will praise him:

And they sang a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.”

Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!

 

 

 

Jezebel is among you…speak up often, and speak up loud!

One of the first things you notice in  John’s Revelation is the messages to the seven churches.   Sort of a two thousand-year old, “I’ve got some good news, and I’ve got some bad news” kind of thing. And what the Lord had to say to those seven churches ranged from validation to out-right condemnation.

He said things like, “Okay, church at Ephesus, you are doing okay, but you have this one little problem: you have forsaken your first love.” Apparently, they were doing all of the right things, they just weren’t in love with God anymore. 

A couple of the other churches got off without a rebuke.  You’re on the right track. Hang in there.  Don’t give up!  And there were a couple of others who were just plain lost.  I have nothing good to say to you.  You are so off-base that I am sick of you.

Okay, those are loose paraphrases of the actual text, but you get the idea.

Then there was that church at Thyatira.  Good job, Thyatirans.  You are persevering.  You’re hanging in there.  You’re working hard…lots of good deeds.  But I have this one issue with you that I just can’t ignore any longer – you tolerate that sinful woman, Jezebel.

Jezebel – what a name.  Just the mention of it evokes the worst of emotions in us.  Maybe we don’t even know why, it’s just a name that rolls off the tongue if you want to call a woman something that would insult her.  You Jezebel, you!  See?  Doesn’t that sound particularly offensive?  Chances are, you call a woman Jezebel and you’re likely to lose a tooth or two. Especially if she’s made it out of middle school and knows something about the Bible.

But the question is, why?  How did this name become so associated with the seedier side  of femininity? 

Without going into the entire biography of Jezebel, suffice it so say that she was not a good woman.  She murdered, deceived, and lied.  But that’s not the worst of it, according to the Bible; she simply rejected God and sold herself out to do the bidding of Satan.  That was it in a nutshell. In fact, you might want to read the text for yourself.  Read the Biblical commentary that follows Elijah’s indictiment of her husband, Ahab.

There was never a man like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the LORD, urged on by Jezebel his wife.
He behaved in the vilest manner by going after idols, like the Amorites the LORD drove out before Israel.)

That’s it, isn’t it? He sold himself to do evil, and his wife urged him on in it. She, that little voice in his ear, “Do it! Do it! Do it!”  And the important thing is, he sold himself to do what is evil in the eyes of God. As Christians, we already belong to God.  We were bought at a price – the blood of God’s son.  So when a believer returns to obedience to the flesh, he is selling back to the Evil One what does not belong to him.  He has no right to sell it. 

And that is precisely what was going on in the church at Thyatira – Christians were selling what they had no right to sell.  They tolerated that woman Jezebel, the Baal worshipper, the cheerleader of unholiness. 

Let’s get something straight before we go any further: we aren’t looking for a replication of the infamous witch-hunt.  You know, where church leaders suspect  everyone of practicing the magic arts or worshipping Ba’al (Beelzebub) until proven innocent.  But sometimes, it is apparent when a one-time believer has left the faith and gone after the counsel of the ungodly.  Maybe it’s a pastor or minister who has relinquished his role in the good fight and has given himself over to impurity.  Or a “regular” member who others once viewed as a “pillar” of the Christian community who is having one liason after another with his “partner” while continuing to engage in the fellowship of the saints. 

The point of it is that nothing stinks quite like hypocrisy.  Either you are on the side of the Almighty or you’re not.  And that was the issue Jesus had with the church at Thyatira; they were ambivalent about taking a moral stand.  At least they were intimidated into not taking a stand.  While the church should have been shouting from the rooftops, “Turn around! Your actions will destroy you, your family, your church, and your community,” it was silent.  It did nothing.  Meanwhile, lives were being destroyed by the power of evil.

The bottom line is that your job, as an ambassador of God, is to leave no doubt in anyone’s mind where following Beelzebub (the same diety as Baal) will end up.  Baal’s system is the world’s system.  It is rooted in material reality – what you can experience with your five senses.  It is about the here and now and has no contingency for eternity.  In short, it will destroy you if you follow it.  It is the religion of Satan.

And so we see what Jesus said to the church at Thyatiria – take a stand!  As Jethro Gibbs of NCIS told a Marine accused of murder , “Man up!”  Be a man about it.  Take your stand in your own personal life, and don’t allow your brother to destroy himself by following the god of the here and now.  If he’s seeing another woman, or cheating his customers, or throwing back shots at the ”club”  and arrogantly refuses to turn around and come back to God, plead with him to turn.   But when it becomes apparent that he is hell-bent on destruction,  cut him off.  Don’t even eat with him.  It’s his only hope.  He’s a danger to himself, and if I understand John’s Revelation correctly, he is a danger to you as well. He has been deceived – he thinks he can bite his thumb at God (Romeo and Juliet reference here) and be okay with him.  You know better.  Take a stand if you love him.

Certainly, Jesus considered anyone who would follow Jezebel (a disciple of Baal, by the way) to be a danger to the church.  It’s like yeast – only a tiny bit of it soon works through all of the dough.  Cut off whatever is keeping you and your community from impacting the world for Christ. 

I know that sometimes this is a hard concept to put into practice.  We might be talking about someone you are best friends with or someone you’re married to.  The point is, if you love them, you are going to bow up and be an adult.  Someone’s life may depend on you trusting God enough to do what needs to be done – for their sake.

1 Corinthians 5:9-11 (NIV)
I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people– not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.

 

Avoiding Persecution: A sure-fire method!

I gotta admit something to you right now: I hate pain.  I detest ridicule.  As a matter of fact, I am repulsed by anything that remotely resembles discomfort. 

Take my right rear molar, for instance.  I broke it over a year ago eating Cajun pork rinds.  One minute I was munching down on Uncle Dan’s Chicharrones, and the next I was ripping my tounge on a jagged piece of tooth.  Ouch!  A real man would have immediately called Doctor Todd, but no, not me. 

For one thing, I had cancelled my dental insurance only four days earlier.  But the real reason was that I hate dentists.  All those four-foot long needles, auto body shop grinders, and Ryobi high-speed drills with titanium 3/8 inch drill bits are too much for me.  Besides, Doctor Todd is an LSU fan and I’m a Florida Gator.  We all know what my boys did to his boys.  Let’s see, I think the combined score over the last two seasons was something like 64-24 in favor of the Gators. 

So to avoid the pain of dental work, some of which might be payback for running my mouth, I just avoid him at all costs – just don’t allow him contact with my mouth.  It’s that simple.

Yes, I hate pain and discomfort. 

To be honest with you, there might be a clue in all this as to why it is that I haven’t suffered all that much for believing in the God who humbled himself and became a man.  I don’t like pain.  I suppose that somewhere in the back of my mind there is a little pain switch that compels me to avoid what is uncomfortable.  One doesn’t have to be a brain surgeon to figure out that the direction our world in general and our culture in particular is headed when it comes to things spiritual is a bad one.  But come to think of it, the world’s always been heading in the wrong direction.  And it’s always been a temptation for Christians to, on the surface at least, slide (or slouch) along with the rest of ‘em. 

Take the horrible days of institutionalized racism for instance.  I laugh when I hear people bemoan the state of affairs racial in the United States today.  What they don’t know, or what they have conveniently forgotten is that in the middle part of the Twentieth Century, black folks really did have it bad.  Substandard schools that were supposed to be seperate but equal.  Public restrooms for men, women, and Negroes – the bathrooms for black folks were always around back and generally filthy.  Black people couldn’t ride in the front of the bus or eat in restaraunts frequented by whites.  Black people couldn’t marry whites.  They worked menial jobs and were paid less than their white counterparts.

Yes, it was a horrible life for many African-Americans.  And where were the white Christians on this issue.  If you weren’t from the South or if you weren’t born then, it might surprise you to know that, with very few exceptions, white Christians went right along with it.  As a matter of fact, one way for a black person to get thrown in jail was to try and join a white church. 

Why?  How could this be?  Many white people disagreed with it.  Why didn’t they just stand up and let freedom ring? 

The answer is obvious – our obsession with comfort and self-preservation is often greater than our love of truth.  We simply don’t want to be persecuted for obeying our Father.  We become our own gods and make our own laws.  In our minds, we are wiser than he is. The issue might be racism or it might be the temptation to define our worth by what we earn and own, but the motivation to fall in with the world is the same – we just don’t like the idea of sticking out in the crowd. 

Fortunately for us, we haven’t had to suffer physical persecution in this country for believing in and following Christ, even though you would have stood a good chance of it in the Fifties if you had broken ranks with the white establishment over Jim Crow laws.  Today instead, our greatest threat from the outside is being slapped with one of the labels they so easily toss around.  Like being called radica or extremist.  We don’t want to be associated with the ignorant believers that the other side is so fond of portraying in movies and television. 

So we try to blend in – we attempt to make ourselves look as much like the ungodly as we possibly can without actually becoming one of them. We drive the same cars, wear the same clothes, and live in the same houses that they do.  Worse yet, we watch the same movies, even though those movies often ridicule our Christ-centered values.  We vote for their candidates even though their candidates advocate unholy practices like abortion and legitimizing homosexuality. So we blend, run, and hide.

Imagine that – brothers and sisters in other parts of the world being burned alive for their faith while we are worried about someone laughing at us? 

Make no mistake about it – we are under assault.  No, we haven’t been thrown in prison for believing – yet, but the rage of the ungodly is intensifying.  The attack on the foundations of our society is increasing in both ferocity and frequency.  As a result, we have a decision to make!  Will we fold as many of our “Christian” forefathers did fifty years ago, or will we stand up and be counted?  Are we willing to suffer for the name we wear, or would we prefer to traverse this world “incognito” because we simply don’t want the pain? Are we going to go underground or take the message to the streets?

Truthfully, the first Christians turned their world upside down with the gospel because they had become radicalized from the moment of their belief.  As you read the New Testament, you come away with a sense that radical faith was the only kind of faith the Father accepts – faith that would lead us love ourselves so little that we would be willing to suffer anything for his name’s sake.

I’m changing my name – now that I’m a prohpet! (Revelation thoughts)

I’m joking, of course.  I haven’t been visited by angelic beings.  I didn’t see a bright light or hear the voice of God.  I haven’t been instructed to gaze into a top-hat and decipher the new Word of God.  I have simply evaluated the evidence – the mounting evidence I might add – and come to a startling conclusion.

Now let me saythis, if you don’t like bad news, you might want to log off right now because what I have to say is disgusting, depressing even.

Here it is: The United States of America is in its last days – at least as we know it.

Think about this:

•  The United States Government, and therefore the American taxpayers, owe our debtors more money than we can repay in our lifetimes.  In fact, our grandchildren will be repaying what we owe long after we are dead.  In case you don’t know how much a trillion dollars is, please allow me to enlighten you.  If you borrow a million dollars and agree to pay it back at the rate of a dollar per second, it would take you eleven days to be debt free.  If you borrow a billion dollars and paid it back at the same rate, it would take you thirty three years.  Now, would you like to hazard a guess as to how long you would be in debt for a trillion dollars if you repaid it at the same rate?  Think hard and think big.  A hundred years?  Maybe five hundred years?  How does 31,688.8 years sound to you.  No joke! And we are not just talking about being in hock for a trillion dollars, we are talking about trillions – as in multiples.  The only way out of debt is if we enter a period of rampant, unprecendented inflation – something that just might happen within the next year or two.  It’s easy to pay off this kind of debt when your dollar is worth a tiny fraction of what it once was.  The only problem is, you might need to borrow my wheel barrow next time you go to WalMart for loaf of bread. For a very graphic demonstration of the enormity of our debt, check this out: http://www.usdebtclock.org/
• Over half of all children born in the U.S. are born to unwed mothers.  If you disagree with the notion that children deserve a mother and a father, then you must have your head in the sand.  A culture cannot survive if the nuclear family does not remain intact.  And making matters worse, no one’s at home watching the kids in far too many cases.  Mom has to work.  So our children are being raised in day care facilities where no one loves them like Mom and Dad.  Or they are sitting in front of a computer screen or a large screen television getting their values from Lady Gaga or MTV.  Don’t you feel better already?
• The number of states that have adopted same-sex marriages is beginning to snowball.  For more information on why this is a bad thing for us, see the point above.  Dad and Dad or Mom and Mom is not a substitute for Mom and Dad.  Kids need family, and family is a mother and father working hard to instill values in their children that will last, not only for a lifetime, but beyond.  Oh, and God said that homosexuality is a sure sign that a culture has decided that retaining the knowlege of God simply isn’t worth the trouble. That’s bad too!
• Since Roe v. Wade, over fifty million children have been murdered in their mother’s wombs.  That’s 1.5 million each and every year.  We shriek in horror when a throng of hoodlums in Chicago beat a kid to death with 2×4’s and baseball bats or when another group of punks in Florida douse a kid with alcohol and set him on fire because he tried to stop them from stealing his father’s bicycle, laughing at him as he burned.  But the truth is that they are just following the lead of their wiser and more enlightened elders.  They know the truth – we don’t give a rip about human life, so why should they? 
• We are a nation bent on gratifying ourselves.  We go in debt to do it (I’m guilty), leave our children fatherless or motherless (or both) to do it, get stoned into oblivion to do it – in fact, there isn’t anything that will stand in the way of making ourselves “happy.”  Everything is about “me.”  I deserve the best.  Ironically, we are one of the unhappiest nations on earth. The mental health industry is booming in the United States.  I’m beginning to wonder how our forefathers survived without counseling, anti-depressants, and Oprah.  Give me a break. 

Look, it’s time we told the truth – American culture is imploding.  And the rate of that implosion is not constant – it is accelerating – rapidly.  Increasingly, individuals are concerned with immediate gratification to the point that instant gratification has become cliche.  I want your father’s bicycle – I take it and set you on fire.  I want to gratify myself with your daughter’s body – I take her.  I want to sodimize your son – I do it.  When it comes to making myself happy, the sky’s the limit. 

Schools are broken. Healthcare is broken. The justice system is broken.  Our borders are broken.  Name an area of our society that isn’t in tatters, and I’ll buy you a loaf of bread – if I can afford it.

Maybe I’m wrong. Like I said, I don’t have a crystal ball, and I haven’t received any heavenly visitations.  Oh, and I’m not trying sell a book.  I’m too undisciplined to do that.  Besides, I lack the talent – an essential quality if you want to be an author.  I’m just trying to prepare myself in case the worst happens.

So what is a Christian to do?  I mean, what’s he to do in preparation, and what’s he to do if the worst comes to pass?

First of all, the kingdom of God has never been dependent on the well-being of any earthly dominion.  As a matter of fact, it was into a world much more decadent, much more politically unsure that Jesus came.    Yet, the kingdom that does matter, the kingdom of God, flourished in the midst of all that moral, political, and spiritual filth. 

Secondly, the problem is not political, so the solution is not going to be political either.  Trust me – I’ve been involved in the political arena.  County Republican Party chairman! Member of the State Central Committee for the Republican Party!  County campaign chair for both President Bush and Governor Jeb Bush.  And what did I get for my efforts?  What change did I help usher in?  We’re all worse off, from a political perspective, than we were four, eight, twelve, or even fifty years ago. 

No, the problem is spiritual – we have forsaken our first love.  We’ve dug our own cisterns.  We’ve done what we thought was right in our own hearts rather than strive to submit to the authority of the one who was broken on our behalf.  Like fools, we have said in our hearts that there is no God or that there is a God, but he’s too out of touch to really know what I need. In short, we’ve become our own gods.  And what did weget for our efforts?  Infanticide, unparalled debt, and an ever vanishing family.  And this doesn’t bother you? 

I don’t know the answer to that – at least as far as the survival of our nation is concerned.  But we can, as individuals,  survive it.  We can survive, that is, if we submit to the authority of a loving Father whose track record with mankind is that he has always demonstrated that he has the best of intentions toward his children.  And think about how foolish our rebelllion is; we, who do not know the future and have a milky recollection of the past or even the present, decide that we actually do know more about how we should be living our lives than our creator does.  And we make this decision right in the midst of  his pleading with us to turn from behavior that will destroy us and embrace him.  And to top it off, his only motivation is his overwhelming love for us – a love that controls him, restrains him, even impels him to act on our behalf. 

Finally, just make a decision to do what Jesus told the churches in Revelation: Never give up! Never give in! Keep on loving God!  Glorify his name no matter what happens!  And most importantly, let ‘em laugh, persecute, imprison, and kill – nothing lasts forever.

The Fright of the Unexpected Encounter.

John’s Revelation vision began with an enocunter with a heavenly being who was described as follows: “…and among the lampstands was someone “like a son of man,” dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest.  His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters.  In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.”

And so we are left wondering who this creature is.  To be sure, he doesn’t sound like the kind of fellow you would like to meet in a dark alley – a robed, white-haired and white-headed man with blazing fire for eyes, and hot glowing feet and whose voice sounded like an engorged river forcing its way through a narrow canyon.  A man with seven stars in his hands and a mouth from which protruded a sharp two-edge sword.  And his face illuminating like the sun. 

Blinding light! A booming voice penetrating to the very soul! Fire! A Sword!  All these symbols of judgement and retribution emodied in one being.  On the one hand, a being who would evoke terror in the hearts of the heartiest.  And so it was with John.  He said that he fell at the creature’s feet as “though dead.”  A being such as the one John encountered would elicit only one proper response – TOTAL submission.  If you want to survive this encounter, your only shot is to secure the mercy of the other-worldly being. 

On the other hand, what if this person were not sent to torment and destroy you but sent by the Almighty to defend you against the collective military and political might of a powerful state such as Rome? What if he were a friend equipped to destroy your foes?   

So this being placed his hand on John’s shoulder, reassured him, and revealed himself as the resurrected Savior – the First and the Last, the Living One who was dead but is now alive forever and ever. And, the Savior informed John, he held in his hands the keys to death and the grave. 

Now fear is replaced by awestruck wonder, that Almighty God has seen your suffering.  That his concern for you was so deep that he would intervene to let you know that his plan for your deliverance was flawless – that it would be carried out by his resurrected and glorified Son. 

What incredible imagery to a group of people who were submitting themselves to the horrors of Roman execution – a people whose only crime was that they gave testimony to the power of the blood of the Lamb to transform humanity from meaningless fodder to blood-washed children of the almighty God.  A Lord, a Savior, a resurrected Messiah who, in the glory of his new body, had been transformed into a powerful and mighty avenger. 

If you die by the sword, my Word will raise you from the grave.  If you are devoured by wild beasts, I will reassemble your body and glorify it in the same way my father has glorified mine.  If you are burned at the stake, or crucified, or tortured, or sawn in two, or thrown in prison because of me, remember this – I hold power over death and the grave.  You will be the ones to receive a better resurrection. 

That’s why making Jesus, both a crucified and risen Lord, the centerpiece of our faith is so critical.  If he is an imposter, if he never was the Son of God, or the Messiah, if his body is still in the grave, then we are a pitiful group of people – fools. 

On the other hand, if his body was indeed freed  from the bondage of the tomb, glorified and made eternal, then everything about our experience here in this realm takes on an entirely new significance.  Nothing here matters any more.  Nothing!  Nothing has any significance or meaning at all.  From the moment that we accept by faith that he was raised from the dead and sits at the right hand of the Father, and that he is returning to claim us as his own, the only thing that counts is the day of his return and the ensuing eternity. 

Jesus! Creator! Eternal! Living and fire breathing! His word penetrating to the core of our hearts.  Offensive to some! Nurturer to others.  Our hope and glory.  Our avenger and savior. 

I am humbled that he saved a wretch like me.  And if the sword, or flame, or anything that the unrighteous might use to destroy me and my faith comes my way, I pray that I will be counted among those who stood firm and refused to surrender what was purchased with the precious blood of Christ.

Oh my God and Savior! I pray that I will remain faithful.  I pray that I will not love my life so much as to shrink from death.  When the unrighteous taunt me, I pray that you will allow me to bear their scorn and rage with honor.  I pray that I will trust you, that you have the power and intent to not only avenge my persecution, but to avenge my death by raising my body from Hades and glorifying it in your presence for ever and ever.