Christ Imminent Return

Driving into Akron on I-76 westbound there is a billboard indicating that the Lord will return on May 21. It makes me uncomfortable. Not because the day is soon, but because Jesus warned: no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven… (Matthew 24:36).

At the same time, world events are reminding us of the truth of the doctrine of imminence. It is the reality that Christ could return at any moment—and that we should live our lives in light of that reality.

During February, we have seen change sweep the Muslim world in the Middle East. Tyrants that have help power for decades have been swept aside in Egypt and Tunisia, and are threatened in Yemen and Libya. These changes remind us how quickly events can unfold in our world.

While we do not yet know how these will all turn out, it is easy to foresee staunch Muslim governments like the one in Iran taking root in Egypt an elsewhere. It is then easy to foresee an attack on Israel. Given the existence of nuclear weapons in both Israel and soon in Iran, and given the reluctance of our current government to intervene in the Muslim world, it is easy to see how these events could unleash many of the end-time events foresee in Revelation and elsewhere. This week our president rejected a "no fly" zone in Libya, for example. If a world war was brewing between Israel and its neighbors, who would step in to stop it today? It is not hard to see anyone stepping into that gap, and successfully defusing such a war, would have an instant credibility all over the globe.

My point is not to strike fear, or to set dates for Christ's return, but to remind us all that even if May 21 is not the day, we may well be very close to the return of Christ and the beginning of the Tribulation. Even if we are not, these events remind us it could all start at any time. Christ's return is truly imminent.

 
 

 
 

Ezekiel: No Pastor Appreciation Month for Him

³⁰ "Son of man, your people talk about you in their houses and whisper about you at the doors. They say to each other, 'Come on, let's go hear the prophet tell us what the Lord is saying!'³¹ So my people come pretending to be sincere and sit before you. They listen to your words, but they have no intention of doing what you say. Their mouths are full of lustful words, and their hearts seek only after money.³² You are very entertaining to them, like someone who sings love songs with a beautiful voice or plays fine music on an instrument. They hear what you say, but they don't act on it!³³ But when all these terrible things happen to them—as they certainly will—then they will know a prophet has been among them."

Ezek 33:30-33 (NLT)

No one who tells others about Christ—pastor, missionary, layperson—would ever want to hear the words of Ezekiel 33:32—You are very entertaining to them, like someone who sings love songs with a beautiful voice or plays fine music on an instrument. They hear what you say, but they don't act on it!

Here at Riverside, there is a certain amount of good natured teasing at the start and at the end of "Pastor Appreciation Month" (October). At the start, they "complain" they have to be nice to me for a while. At the end, they "warn" it's all back to normal. But it is all just the banter of friends. There is mutual appreciation and friendship. Its all good. In the end, they have my back, and vice versa.

Like Adam in the garden, Ezekiel was alone, and it was not good. That made his ministry so much the harder. Ezekiel was called to play it straight even when no one was going to listen. In fact, he was a diversion for the people, an entertainer. We are listening to his prophetic words 2500 years later, but his audience would not listen.

Even worse, that failure to follow sealed the deal on judgment. The terrible things outlined will certainly happen, God promises in 33:33. God does judge as faithfully as He saves. Are you ready for that?

 

 

 

Lessons from Jeremiah

There are people who say, or at least like they believe, that God is so good, so loving, so kind, that He would never judge or punish anyone. I hope they are right, for it will be a terrifying thing when God does judge and punish sin.

Those who hope that the goodness of God will never be balanced by His holiness and purity have never read the prophet Jeremiah. He is called the "weeping prophet" because there is so much warning of judgment, and so little response.

Today, reading in chapter 9, it is obvious that God is preparing to judge His own people. He tells them to call for the wailing women—professional mourners who would be paid to attend funerals and lament over the lost. He goes on to warn that the dead will be so numerous that they will lie in fields, the living will not be able to keep up with the burials.

As Jeremiah shares these things, he does so with a broken heart. He wishes he could go and hide in a remote desert. He wishes his eyes were fountains, for the tears are so frequent. As men and women who seek to share Christ with others todayWe need both the boldness and the compassion of Jeremiah.

Change

I face an interesting juxtaposition this morning.

Side 1: Reading reviews of Brian McLaren's new book: Everything must change. He argues that traditional, protestant teaching and theology is deeply flawed and the cross badly misunderstood.

Side 2: Reading Jeremiah 6:

"Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.
     But you said, 'We will not walk in it.' Jer 6:16 (NIV)

How can a person connect with God? Is it through new understandings, new paradigms or is it the same old way it has always been? That would seem to be the most important question a person can ask or answer.

In reality, there is a little bit of both. McLaren himself calls for reinterpretation of the New Testament, yet he is still going back to that source. On the other hand, even the most traditionally minded reader of Jeremiah is usually not reading it in the original Hebrew—most often they are reading a translation.

It seems to me that while there is a need to stay relevant and to communicate Christ in ways people can understand and appreciate, the greater danger in our time is changing so quickly and so profoundly that we lose connection with the good way. The greater danger is the warning: the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 2 Tim 4:3 (NIV)

As I read McLaren and Jeremiah, my fear is that the former is a living example of the warning of the latter—that those miss God because they look at the ancient path and say, "we will not walk in it."

90% Correct

Though I have four sons, it is still hard to get my head around the grading scales in their schools. When I went to school—back in the last century—90% to 100% was an "A." For my sons, an A today takes 93% or 94%. Either way, sometimes even scores that high simply are not good enough.

Back when I learned EE many years ago, they used the story of an omelet made with many good eggs and a single bad one. The one bad egg is not counteracted by a single good one, nor is it outweighed by 2, 4, or 8 good eggs. One bad egg spoils the whole omelet.

In a similar way, our understanding of biblical truth needs to be way better than 90% accurate. Currently, I am reading through Job in my daily devotions. Job is a man who suffers in incredible ways. Adding insult to injury, three of his friends come to mourn with him. After sitting silently with him for seven days, they take turns trying to get him to see things their ways. Each in his own way is convinced that Job has sinned and if he would repent, God would deliver him from his sufferings and sickness.

What I am seeing as I read Job this time is that much of what three friends share with Job is—in fact—correct. I'm not keeping the statistics, but if much of what they say would fit well into Proverbs or other wisdom literature.

All of this is a reminder that as we seek to learn from the Word of God, we need to learn it very well—to see to understand as accurately as possible. Job's friends were 90% right but altogether wrong.

Quran Burning

I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. Jesus in Matthew 10:16

I've never seen a sheep interviewed about its feeling on wolves, but I would understand if the time came when the sheep would dream of revenge. Yet Jesus told His followers that He was sending them out as sheep among wolves.

This is certainly counter-cultural. There is a saying, "never bring a knife to a gunfight." Jesus sent us out into the gunfight without a gun or a knife. We are sent as sheep among wolves. The Florida pastor has expressed a desire to respond to the provocation of 9/11—but Jesus warned us that His people would not have a level playing field—we are sheep among wolves.

This sheep among wolves principle speaks against the actions of the pastor and church in Florida as they plan to burn copies of the Quran this weekend. They are marking the anniversary of 9/11 in a way that has garnered attention from around the world.

Actually, it's the entire verse that speaks against this burning. Stirring up the indignation of Muslims hardly seems to be shrewd as snakes. Stoking a fire and throwing the Quran into the flames is not acting as innocent as doves.

The big media story last month was the proposed Muslim mosque near Ground Zero. Few American deny their right to build it, but most who oppose the idea want those planning it to understand their responsibility to take into account the feelings of people who do not share their religious beliefs. This month the media has flocked to a small church which likewise has the right to do something inflammatory, but it needs to recognize its responsibility to be both shrewd and innocent.

Oh, Never Mind

One of the promises that helped elect Mr. Obama is noted below (from change.gov—office of the President Elect).

The Obama-Biden Plan

Barack Obama has led efforts to reform government both in the Illinois State Senate and in the United States Senate. He will bring this commitment to making government work for the people, not the special interests, to the White House. Obama will ensure Washington works for the people, not the special interests.

Shine the Light on Washington Lobbying

Centralize Ethics and Lobbying Information for Voters: Obama and Biden will create a centralized Internet database of lobbying reports, ethics records, and campaign finance filings in a searchable, sortable and downloadable format.

Require Independent Monitoring of Lobbying Laws and Ethics Rules: Obama and Biden will use the power of the presidency to fight for an independent watchdog agency to oversee the investigation of congressional ethics violations so that the public can be assured that ethics complaints will be investigated.

End the Practice of Writing Legislation Behind Closed Doors: As president, Barack Obama will restore the American people's trust in their government by making government more open and transparent. Obama will work to reform congressional rules to require all legislative sessions, including committee mark-ups and conference committees, to be conducted in public. By making these practices public, the American people will be able to hold their leaders accountable for wasteful spending and lawmakers won't be able to slip favors for lobbyists into bills at the last minute.

While one could argue that the financial crisis demands immediate action, it is also true that the depth of the challenge is a barometer of the depth of our President's commitment to openness, as well as a sign of the depth of one's integrity. A righteous man who walks in his integrity—How blessed are his sons after him. Proverbs 20:7