Hi Friends,
I thought it would be good time for another blog. The times we currently live in are just awful. Confusion, division, depression, loneliness, health scares, wars, and just overall awful stuff. Even in the church it is bad. Many falling away. Many arguing with each other and even insulting each other. There are Christians out there with their own podcasts, using their platforms for poking fun of other Christians. That is ridiculous. We are also seeing many of the Christian elites falling away and trying hard to drag others with them. We are also seeing the church pushing people out the door because the church is more interested in being an exclusive social club with it's exclusive spiritual wording and phrases and so forth and not so much functioning as a biblical church. Not to mention churches storing up wealth within its very own walls. My heart is just heavy. There seems to be less and less compassion for others. People are hurting.
Anyway, these are tough times. In all this, I believe we can rise about it and continue to be the people God has called us to be. I am going to dig into the word and see how The Lord leads this blog.
2 Timothy 3:1-5 "But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God---having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them."
1 Timothy 4:1-2 "The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron."
Matthew 7:15-23 "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
Not everyone who says to me,' Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me evil doers!'"
Heavy stuff for sure and toe crunching too. But we need to know it. You can see so much of this stuff in the times we live already. Jesus warned this would happen.
As Christians, we should be really stepping it up and loving others and sharing our hope with them.
Here are some good scripture to meditate on in regards to navigating these times:
2 Timothy 2:22-24 "Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. Don't have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful."
Jude 17-22 "But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. They said to you, "In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires." These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.
But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. Be merciful to those who doubt..."
Ephesians 5:15-17 "Be very careful, then, how you live---not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is."
Colossians 4:5-6 "Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone."
1 Peter 4:7-11 "The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen."
Colossians 3:12-14 "Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity."
This next verse is bit of a tough one.
Titus 3:1-2 "Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men."
That one is tough. I don't want to touch on politics too much, but with the current president and his increasing amount of unpopularity, there is a phrase people who don't like him chant to mock. Should we as Christians partake in that? It's thought provoking. I just wanted to ask that as a question and let my readers think on that. That is ultimately between you and the Lord. I'm not so sure we should be partaking in that.
I'm not a theologian, or anything of that nature or a pastor or a professional speaker. I'm just a believer sharing things that God is teaching me and questions and thoughts along with that. I want to see change for the good. Change in the church that will bring it to a welcoming place and being a biblical grounded church. The way the church has gone and even many of the public faces speaking for the Christian view, is going to a not so good direction. Even when a lead singer of a big time Christian band is calling out negative things on another Christian podcast, mocking those people isn't the way to go or boasting the number of streams his music got on Spotify. In the end, the success of a band; the albums sold, the awards won, the number of fans, the amount of times your music was streamed. That really won't matter.
Matthew 6:19-21 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
That being said, we need to keep our eyes on Christ and the mission he has called us to. Nothing else matters! Not the awards we win, being a top rock band winning tons of awards and the popularity of fans, not the immense wealth churches literally store up in their own walls. Our own popularity or how many likes we get on social media. What matters is loving others and making disciples of others. Jesus will return one day and we need to be ready.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 "For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words."
Revelation 1:7 "Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen."
Bearing this in mind, we have this great hope and we should focus on it. However we need to keep this next little message in mind too!
"Not everyone will want the moment, however. "Unready people all over the world...will raise a huge lament as they watch the Son of Man blazing out of heaven." (Matt. 24:30 MSG)." From "You'll Get Through This." by Max Lucado.
We need to share the good news with those outside of the church and those inside the church need to knock it off with the exclusive club mentality and invite and include people. Time is short.
"We don't know how long we have here on earth. We don't know how much time we've been given. But in that time, run hard, run fast, and encourage as many people as possible. Let's make a difference 100%." ~ Tim Tebow
And a final bible verse I will leave, I will leave as an encouragement. But before I do, I just want to say that the church needs to stop this arguments with each other and start returning to it's biblical roots.
1 Corinthians 15:58 "So my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless."
