While Obama weighs a military strike to punish Syria for using chemical weapons, Syria's President Assad vows he will retaliate by attacking Tel Aviv. He will have the backing of his political allies, Russia and Iran.
The recent run on the market for gas masks in Israel proves how
seriously Jewish citizens are taking this.
An ancient 'un-fulfilled' prophecy that intrigues biblical scholars is that some day Damascus will be completely annihilated (Is. 17:1). With rising tension all over the
Middle East, and now escalating war in Syria's capital, might we soon be witnesses to the fulfillment of this prophecy?
Don't be surprised. With 100,000 citizens killed, and a
million now refugee’d in surrounding nations, the Syrian war has become one of the worst in modern Middle Eastern history. The Bible says when we see these prophetic signs, we should lift up our heads. The Israelis are covering theirs with gas masks.
Each day when I check in at 24-hour Fitness, the staff will say “Enjoy
your workout!” And I laugh to myself because if I thought of it as work, I wouldn't enjoy it; and I'm sure you would hear me complaining about having to go to the gym!
Complaining about one's ‘work’ is universal: 70% of Americans say they feel so unfulfilled, they hate their
jobs. Solomon said, “I hated [my work] because everything
done here under the sun is meaningless—like chasing the wind” (Eccl. 2:17). But
then added, “There is nothing better for people than to be happy in
their work; it is the gift of God” (Eccl. 3:13, 12, 22). If we could see our
work as divinely purposed, I'm sure it would cut down on the complaining!
Solomon also said, “Without a vision, people perish,” roughly translated,
“when we can’t see with God’s eyes, we fall apart.” Jesus saw His work through
God’s eyes: “I brought glory to you here on earth by completing the work you
gave me to do” (John 17:4). Paul completed his work with the same satisfaction: “I
have fought the good fight, finished the race, and kept the faith” (2 Tim.
4:7-8). And wouldn't we all like to say we finished our “workout” (Phil 2:12)—without
complaining (Phil 2:14)!
Coming to Oxygen Network this Fall is a reality show, Preachers of L.A., about 6 flamboyant prosperity preachers, known for fiery sermons and large living. Preachers of L.A. will explore the human side of their wealth-and-fame lifestyles both inside and outside the church.
The prosperity interpretation of their gospel is articulated by reality cast member Bishop Gibson, a former gang member now ministering to 4,500 parishioners: “P. Diddy and Jay-Z are not the only ones who should be driving Ferraris and living in large houses.” Unfortunately, this is not new. 50 years ago, DeVern Fromke wrote, “The great fallacy of our day is that we seek God for ‘what He can do for me’ rather than to know Him for Who He is.”
How will the Preachers of L.A. reality show affect the spiritual growth of TV viewers when their reality doesn't match that of these alleged men of faith? How many may leave the church discouraged, possibly embittered, probably poorer, and, undoubtedly confused about what is real?
“Thy will be done” is not inert acquiescence. It is not futile or fatalistic. It is a prayer of dynamic
faith. It may be the hardest prayer you will ever pray. “Thy will be
done” means you are willing for God’s will to prevail over yours. It means giving up control, surrendering rights, and accepting divine discipline.
Praying “Thy will be done” requires both child-like trust and seasoned belief in God's Goodness (Ps. 86:5; Ro. 8:28). It is Job's “though He slay me, yet will
I trust in Him” (Job 3:15). It is the unshakable “even if He does not [rescue us]” confidence of the three thrown into the fiery furnace (Dan. 3:18).
In Practicing the Presence of God, Brother Lawrence explains, “We ought to give ourselves up to God,
to things temporal and spiritual, and seek our satisfaction
only in the fulfilling of His will, whether by suffering or consolation,
each being equal to a soul truly resigned.” During these increasingly uncertain times, knowing that God's Will will be done is a comfort and strength. But that doesn't mean it won't be the hardest prayer you will ever pray.
As a 5-year old Sunday Schooler, I sang “The B-I-B-L-E, yes that's the book for me; I stand alone on the word of God, the B-I-B-L-E.” That was 60 years ago.
Today, disbelief that the Bible is the inerrant WORD of God is on the rise among evangelicals. A George Barna
Research study, exploring the religious beliefs of adults in the
12 largest denominations, revealed that only 41% believe in the total accuracy of
the Bible. And more alarming, 85% of students at America's largest evangelical
seminaries do not believe in Scripture's inerrancy. In
the 18th century, Voltaire declared, “If we would destroy the Christian
religion, we must first of all destroy man’s belief in the Bible.”
Disregard for doctrinal soundness is prophesied for end times. Preaching contemporary ‘how-to-be-better’ messages, born out of the 1960’s “felt needs” and “seeker
sensitive” movements, has become common fodder in most pulpits. As one pastor
said, “you have to scratch people where they itch.” Perhaps he hadn’t read Paul’s
warning against preaching to “itching ears” (1 Tim 4:4).
A friend wrote me recently about a surge in Messianic Judaism in his
country; it is a blend of evangelical Christian theology with Jewish traditions, like observing the Sabbath and Jewish
holidays. I told him this movement is nothing new.
Paul warned Peter against those who
were compelling Gentiles to live like Jews, denying them their
freedom in Christ, and putting them under a yoke of slavery for
not celebrating holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths, things
that were only shadows of the reality yet to come, Christ himself (Gal. 2:14, 5:1; Col 2:16-17).
It is easy to see these practices as shadows. But to some
degree, and in our own ways, do we not find ourselves still living in the shadows rather than the full light of our freedom in Christ? “Satan, the god of this
age, has blinded the minds of unbelievers [and ‘unbelieving’ believers] so
that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory [the reality] of Christ” (2 Cor. 4:4).
If you've been trying to lose weight, maybe you should eat more cereal. A Kellogg’s commercial
promises you can lose weight eating it. The campaign slogan, “What will
you gain when you lose?,” also implies that cereal lovers will gain self-esteem, self-confidence, and the respect of others: standards of measurement in this world.
Before being killed by Auca Indians, missionary Jim Elliott wrote (rather prophetically), “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” A whole generation was inspired by
this man who “lost” family, home,
and life for Christ.
Even though we too believe our “kingdom is not of this world,” it’s hard not to self-measure
by an earthly yardstick. Thus Jesus warns, "Whoever gains his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will gain it" (Matt. 10:39). And Paul said,
“I count all things
loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ … For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil. 3:8; 1:21). For us, the answer to Kellogg's question is Christ. But a more relevant question for us is, What are we willing to lose to gain Him?
In the front section of USA Today on Friday was a feature article,
“Letting teenagers have their romantic sleepovers,” the point being it is better for parent/child relationships to let kids ‘do it’ at home. Angela
Jolie is cited as one whose mother allowed her to have her boyfriend sleep over
when she was only 14—and who plans to be just as liberal with her children (more fodder for TV
programs like “Modern American Family”).
This is why I rejoiced to see the Robertson family making the rounds on TV last week, promoting their show "Duck Dynasty" (averaged 8.4 million viewers), along with their Christian values. In an interview, one of the Robertson brothers, Jase, and his
wife Missy, said their faith and family values were the reason they chose to remain abstinent until marriage, and now see the same commitment
in their children.
I can’t guarantee that you will like watching “Duck Dynasty” but we can
all thank God that in a time when shows about selfish housewives are peaking,
American viewers have fallen in love with a godly family who closes every
episode at the dinner table giving thanks and honor to Jesus Christ.
Angela Jolie and her children probably won't be watching.
By now everyone knows that the Food Network has cancelled the
queen-of-fried-foods TV star Paula Deen after she acknowledged using racial
slurs 30 years ago. What I find most
significant about this debacle is what it revealed about the public: they are very
unforgiving. What it reveals about Paula Deen, a self-confessed born-again
Christian, is yet to be seen.
Of course
the earthlings cannot be expected to forgive—they have no basis for love and
grace. But we believers can (and must) forgive because we have been
forgiven (Col. 3:13). As a believer, Paula Deen is now in the hard position of forgiving
those who have refused to pardon her.
Unforgiveness
is Satan’s most effective tool against us. Even as Paula’s fat-drenched foods slowly harden the arteries, so too, unforgiveness is a silent killer, but much faster. And if Paula does not watch her heart, she could turn from the ‘queen of butter’ into the ‘queen of bitter’
overnight.
In our new neighborhood, we have neighbors who sit on their front
porches all day. From that vantage, they see everything that
happens around them. Did it ever occur to you that God has a front
porch!
When we were born again, we were 'seated in Christ.' Now, we have a
“standing” invitation to “sit” with Him on the front porch of the Universe, seeing as He sees—His perspective. As long as we remain inside our
private places, we only see what ‘we’ see. But on God's front porch, we see it all.
How often do we pray, “Lord, please help me to see what you are doing
in my world and to see what you are doing in my life.” Can't you just hear God saying, “I will be glad to show you what I see and what I
am doing. Come join me on the front porch!”
The first Christians were persecuted and driven from their homeland.
Thus they became pilgrims (homeless wanderers) in this world (1
Pet. 1:22). The Old Testament forefathers were called pilgrims “looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland” (Heb. 11:15). Is it even possible that we who are so settled on earth can have the attitude of a homeless wanderer?
Not easily. But there is another meaning of ‘wanderer’ we can understand. It
is the wandering heart. We all struggle to resist earth’s
gravitational pull toward comfort and security, to feel at home here. It seems the more we have, the harder it is to keep our wandering hearts in check: to love not the world (1 John 2:15).
In the 18th century, 22-year old Robert Robinson penned
the renowned hymn “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing,” with those pained
words, “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love.” But one day we will arrive at our heavenly homeland: homeless wanderers
and wandering hearts no more.
When I learned I had pancreatic cancer in January, I received it as my
ticket for a ‘flight home.’ On Friday, the Lord gave me an ETA, Estimated Time
of Arrival.
In an earlier post, I said I would be getting a CT scan to see if I had
cancer in my liver. Though I've learned I do not, I have now received a more precise prognosis from my oncologist. Because the surgery I
had in February could not remove all the cancer in the margins around the tumor, and because I had 3 infected lymph nodes, I am told the return of this aggressive
cancer is inevitable. While this prognosis is based on
experience and statistics, I believe it is from the Lord who is graciously
giving me and my family time to prepare.
And what is the ETA?
Within 2-3 years. But please don't worry. Even though it appears final preparations have begun, I am not boarding yet. And there's plenty of runway ahead (Hebrews 12:1-3).
Like the Mother Goose character “Jack Sprat,” I am on a
low-fat diet. Thus you’d think I would have been thrilled this week when I
heard that scientists had produced the world’s first lab-grown burger,
synthetic strips of lean muscle germinated from cow stem cells and fashioned into
a patty. One food expert said it was “close to meat, but not juicy.” Another
tester said it was “chewy and tasteless.” And isn’t that an apt description of
man’s efforts to improve on God’s creation! Chewy and tasteless!
What was wrong with the $350,000 stem-burger? No fat. And, as
everyone knows, the flavor is in the fat—the more “marbled” a piece of meat,
the better it tastes. One day, Isaiah says, The Lord of Hosts will serve His
people a feast of “fat things full of marrow,” meaning, rich food and choice meats
(Is. 25:6). John says, “Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast
of the Lamb” when we will exchange the dry “chewy and tasteless” man-made things
of earth for God’s “feast of fat things.” And I am quite sure, though juicy
burgers may be on the menu, it won’t be about the food!
Anyone born after 1995 is part of the newly labeled Generation Z. Never knowing life without instant connectivity, they were born Face-booking, texting, and tweeting—all tools to get people to “pay
attention to me!” But early studies are showing these technologies are
not satisfying the desire for connectedness. According to a recent George Barna
survey, a major shift in the past decade is how Americans see
themselves in relation to others. Ten years ago, one of 10 Americans
self-identified as lonely. Today, that number has doubled.
Paul warned in the end times “people shall be lovers of their own selves” (2 Tim. 3:2). I’ve
always thought this meant unabashed narcissism. But now, I'm wondering if, in the end times, people will need greater affirmation
and approval to validate insecure self-perceptions. Thus, the
Facebook posting, texting and tweeting are not shouting “Look at me” as much as “Please
love me.” Millennials and ‘Z's’ are the future. What does this cry
for attention and love portend? Might it be a greater willingness to embrace
anyone or anything that promises to fill the vacuum? And if not Jesus, then what?
There was a lot of spying and lying in the news this
week: Private Bradley Manning was convicted of giving classified material
to the website WikiLeaks; and Edward Snowden, the U.S. intelligent contractor
who revealed the NSA’s secret program to collect American phone records, was granted temporary asylum in Russia. Add to that, star
baseball player A-Rod has been lying about his use of performance-enhancing drugs (who can forget Lance Armstrong?). And Congressman Anthony
Weiner, NY mayoral candidate, who resigned in disgrace last year for ‘sexting,’ was caught doing it again.
Will this make Americans more cynical, adding to a growing distrust of government (Benghazi, IRS, Fast and Furious). Where will Americans turn? Who will they trust? Is this a set-up for the end times? The Bible says the anti-Christ will offer new hope.
You and I know “It is
better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in people or princes” (Ps.
118:8-9). But our fellow Americans don't know that. If you'll allow me a little 'tongue in cheek' here, perhaps as we near the latter days, believers should have “In God We Trust” stamped on our foreheads. And wouldn't that be a great preemptive strike to counter the mark of the Beast!
Last year, a woman I used to work with was dying of cancer, and her friends sent out weekly updates that seemed to go on endlessly. But when doctors turned off all life support systems, she passed.
In light of this, the phrase “legally dead” recently caught my attention. It means a terminal patient,
kept alive on life support, is dead “under the law.” Paradoxically, the whole world is condemned to death under the law, only kept alive by this world's life support systems. But if we are in Christ, we are no longer under the Law's condemnation: we have died to
the law of sin and death, and to this world—we are really “legally dead” (Rom. 8:2; 6:6). And now, having
been raised up with Christ, we are alive (Rom. 6:11): Christ is our life support (Col 3:2). Given that, how gruesome the thought that any believer who had been disconnected from
the world’s systems would want to go back and be reconnected?
Is this why Paul asks, with such incredulity, “How can you who died to sin
still live in it? ... Don’t you know that that you were crucified with
Christ?” (Ro. 6:2, 6). I can still remember when I first understood this (Gal. 2:20), the day I found out I was legally dead.
