End Times Perspective
In light of the recent predictions of the Rapture that did not materialize, my good friend Steven Davis provides this look at end times prophecy:
It’s a Matter of Perspective
I began writing this 20 minutes after the earthquake that was to end all earthquakes had failed to herald the end of life as we know it. No Judgment Day. No Rapture. Life goes on. So as you look at the lack of transpired events, don’t jump to conclusions based on a faulty perspective. One, and only one, influential and misguided man does not represent the Church. Nor does he represent the theological position most of Christianity holds so dearly. His perspective was only his, and as seen, was flawed.
There was another faulty perspective, one illustrated in a military campaign from the biblical times. A couple of millennia ago, there was a king in Jerusalem who was surrounded by an invading army from Assyria. Let’s start with comments from one of the Assyrian King’s lieutenants:
Then Rabshakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria, “What is this confidence that you have? But if you say to me, ‘We trust in the LORD our God,’ is it not He whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away, and has said to Judah and to Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem’? Have I now come up without the LORD’S approval against this place to destroy it? The LORD said to me, ‘Go up against this land and destroy it.’” (2 Kings 18:19, 22, 25)
Now it is true that Hezekiah had taken away the high places and altars. But there are three huge assumptions based on a faulty perspective at work here.
They were not the high places and altars of the Lord God; rather they belonged to false gods from other cultures who were foolishly worshipped at times by the Jews. Now it came about in the third year of Hoshea, the son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah became king. He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah. He did right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father David had done. He removed the high places and broke down the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherah. (2 Kings 18:1-4)
Hezekiah may have said: “You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem”, but his understanding came from what the LORD had said to David: He said to me, “Your son Solomon is the one who shall build My house and My courts” (1 Chronicles 28:6); and to Solomon: The LORD said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your supplication, which you have made before Me; I have consecrated this house which you have built by putting My name there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually. (1 Kings 9:3) Where the LORD’s house and courts were, where He had placed His name, and where His eyes and heart perpetually were, that is where His worship must be.
The third misconception derived from this flawed perspective was that he, the King of Assyria, had been called by God to destroy the Jews.
Later in the confrontation we catch him contradicting himself:
Then Rabshakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in Judean, saying, “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria. “Thus says the king, ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you from my hand; nor let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, “The LORD will surely deliver us, and this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” ‘Has any one of the gods of the nations delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? ‘Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah? Have they delivered Samaria from my hand? Who among all the gods of the lands have delivered their land from my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem from my hand?’” (2 Kings 18:28-30, 33-35)
So at one point the king of Assyria was saying he was following the Lord’s command to destroy the Jews, and the next he’s relegated the LORD with some backwater, tribal, false demigods. Why obey such a random and obscure supposed deity?
By now you’re probably asking: What does this have to do with the judgment day? I’m glad you asked. Hopefully you’ve seen that the king of Assyria and his lieutenant have a pretty messed up perspective as did the man predicting the massive earthquake that was to have happened today. I’m asking you to not suffer the same mistake. Don’t get your perspective from one solitary man. Get your perspective from Christ.
Judgment Day is coming. The Rapture is coming. Jesus is coming… just not today. Hear the words of Christ, trust Him, and get your perspective from Him:
But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be. Then there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left. Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will. (Matt 24:36-44)
So did we dodge a bullet? No, because the gun was never fired. When Mr. Camping proclaimed: “The Bible guarantees it”, he was right; he just had no business of assigning a date. You still have an opportunity to come to Christ today; to confess Him as Lord today. That’s why the Judgment Day didn’t come today. There are still some, maybe you, on whom the Lord God is waiting to come to Him.
No, Jesus didn’t come today. Judgment Day didn’t fall upon us, nor did Rapture raise us. Still, I join with the Apostle Paul as he cries out at the end of his letter to the Corinthians: Maranatha! (Our Lord come).
It Is Finished
Often during the music worship time at church I am taken back to that moment in history where Jesus Christ hung on a cross and was punished for the sins of the world. In my mind's eye I see the entire universe, all of creation, and all of time, pivoting on that moment.
The Old Testament Saints were looking forward to the cross in faith and the New Testament Saints look back. That remarkable moment that affected future and past. Where God righted our wrong once and for all and for all time, past, present and future.
Several years ago I wrote how God showed me that it was the joy of my salvation (and yours) that gave Jesus strength as He went to the cross. It's a similar message that Musicianaries "Take No Glory" share in their song, "He Didn't Die in Vain."
Check out all of their music. They give it away for free!
John 19:30
“Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.”
The story doesn’t end there. Jesus rose from the dead on the 3rd day! He appeared to His disciples and many others over a period of 40 days and then He ascended into Heaven where He sits at the right hand of the Father making intercession for the saints.
We are born with a sin nature thanx to the original sin committed by Adam, but God fixed it. Only He could. Sin (falling short of God’s perfection) demands a payment. Death. Jesus paid that price so God could be both Righteous and Love.
Righteous because God can’t say that sin brings death and then lie by not punishing sin. Because of God’s Love He sentenced His Son to our death so we could live with Him forever! It was the only way. That’s why Jesus said that the only way to the Father is through Him. And so it is. Finished. All you have to do is believe.
Jeremiah Elders Runs His Race with and for Teen Challenge
He is a student at the Phoenix Men’s Center of Teen Challenge or Arizona. Jeremiah Elders was alienated from his friends and family, running the streets, addicted to drugs and alcohol and a pack or two a day smoker. Now a year later he is free of drugs and praising God for the ability to run in a half marathon!
I had the great privilege to cover his story as part of my part time job with Teen Challenge of Arizona. It’s amazing to see God work in the lives of men and women to get them back on track of His best!
Thanx to theBCast for playing Jeremiah’s story and sharing it on their blog!
Also DailyRushbo.com
It’s Good News for a Reason!
If you have faith in what Jesus Christ did for you on the cross, then God is not holding your sins against you! Let me repeat that. God does not hold your sins against you if you are a child of God!
Your righteousness won’t get you any closer to God than the next fellow. Only God makes you righteous by your faith in His Son. Religion will tell you that you need to clean up your act in order for God to love you, bless you or approve of you. It’s just not true.
Sin IS deadly and will surely bring consequences in this life, but I repeat, if you have Jesus as your Savior God is not holding your sins against you. He is FOR YOU NOT AGAINST YOU!
This may be the best hour you invest all week and highly recommended for current and future Christians. It’s called the good news for a reason! Here is Pastor Duane Sheriff from November 28, 2010. Please listen:
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You can listen to and download all of Pastor Duane’s messages here, or just subscribe to the podcast on iTunes. You’ll be glad you did.
My Mamaw. Hero of the Faith.
I could start this quote from Hebrews 11 from the beginning of the chapter, but I’ll link it here so you go back and read it if you like. For space sake, I’ll start in verse 13 and go through 16:
13 All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth. 14 Obviously people who say such things are looking forward to a country they can call their own. 15 If they had longed for the country they came from, they could have gone back. 16 But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
My Mamaw died before she saw me come to faith in Christ, but I know she knows even as she celebrates with God. Here is just a part of my story…
I was just a kid living in rural Oregon. We lived about 4 miles outside of the little town of Canby, which lies on the Mollala and Willamette rivers about 22 miles south of Portland. We were not a church going family but we had a good life on our 2 acres there in the Great Pacific Northwest.
When I was about 9 years old, Mamaw came to visit from Mississippi. Mamaw was Southern Baptist and the sweetest woman you would ever want to meet. Even sweeter than her famous caramel cake! My heart was always so full of love for her, probably because her heart was always so full of love for me, and all of her grandchildren.
Sunday came and we all got dressed up for church. Mamaw and all of us headed into town to the First Conservative Baptist Church of Canby. I still remember parts of the service. Mostly the warm feeling I had there. After Mamaw went back to Mississippi, I decided that I wanted to keep going to church there. They had a bus that went around picking kids up and so I started riding the bus. It’s possible that I may have ridden with the next door neighbors some weeks, but I’m not sure.
I really enjoyed Sunday school and I remember the Sunday school teacher showing me a scripture that talked about springs in the ocean and how scientists were only starting to discover that that was true. I loved science even as a little kid. I realized that if the Bible was right about science it was probably right about a lot of other things… like Jesus! I prayed to receive Jesus into my heart.
I remember that as I prayed, in my minds eye I saw light bursting from my heart. I felt like a scoop scooping out the gunk. I felt such joy! It was wonderful!
However, over time, I stopped going to church. I was the only one in the family going and I guess I just sorta stopped. I can’t remember why or if there was really a reason.
Fast forward a few years to my 12th birthday (I think it was my 12th birthday). I remember Mamaw got me the lamest gift. It was an album of “Songs from Calvary” or something like that. So lame. I remember putting it on the top shelf in my closet never to be seen again. (I wish I had it now. Not for the music so much, but for what that present represents.)
Fast forward to my teenage and young adult years. I don’t want to get into great detail, but slowly my life was spiraling downward. I quit football my Junior year so I could party more with my friends. I got kicked off the track team my Junior year for skipping school. I was the first (and probably still only) Student Body President at Canby High School to resign, again, for skipping school. A promising student and student leader, I dropped out of school my senior year and took my GED. I was drinking, smoking pot, and partaking in other drugs. I guess I was trying to escape and at the same time I was killing myself.
I eventually got my life together somewhat and moved to Roswell, NM to start my career in broadcasting. By the time Mamaw died, I was a weatherman on the local news. She was always so proud of me. I remember how sad she was after Papaw died. Mamaw and I could always talk about such things. I remember asking her on the phone one time what it was like getting old. After she said, “Bless your heart,” she told me that it’s like your mind wants to do something, but your body can’t anymore. I am realizing more and more that she was right :-)
So yes, Mamaw died. I drove to Mississippi from Roswell for the funeral. There are many things I remember from that visit, but for time sake I’ll just mention that during the funeral they played her favorite hymn, “Amazing Grace.”
So about 7 years later, I was living and working in Lubbock, Texas. I was divorced. My son and daughter lived 350 miles away near Dallas. I was still drinking a LOT and other things were going on in my life, (someday I’ll share the entire story) but God was drawing me back to Him. I remember driving to Dallas scanning the radio during that 5 hour trip and listening to part of a sermon and actually being interested in it. God had placed some godly people in my life, including my now good friend Don Webster who managed a Christian radio station in Lubbock. God also brought a wonderful (and beautiful) woman into my life. She was having some medical problems and I was concerned for her. Then I did something that I hadn’t done since I was a little kid. I said a sincere prayer.
It was probably the fall of 1999. I was all alone in my house. It around 10:30 or 11 at night. As I prayed, God gave me that same feeling in my heart that He gave me when I first prayed to accept Him into my heart all those years ago. Joy was bursting from my heart! but this time it didn’t stop! Soon I was laughing and I knew. Jesus IS real! He IS the answer to all of the questions ever asked. I was a Christian again (still?)!
So I asked my friend a day or two later, “what do I do now.”
She said, “You go to church!” Then she said something very interesting. “God’s gonna wow you.”
“What?” I asked.
“God’s gonna wow you,” she repeated.
I had no idea what she was talking about.
The next Sunday I put on my suit and went over to Trinity Church. It was only a mile or so from my house and of course it was packed. I sat up in the balcony and actually saw a couple of people I knew. I felt very welcome.
Then it happened. At the end of the service they had us all stand for one more song. Yes, it was “Amazing Grace.” I started singing and I closed my eyes and it hit me. It was Mamaw’s prayers that were being answered that day! I knew in my heart that she had never given up in her prayers for her precious grandson. The tears were streaming down my checks and I just said to God, “Tell her I said thank you.”
He told me, “She knows.”
More tears. My heart full of joy.
I got baptized that Summer at Trinity Church. I started volunteering at that Christian radio station with my new friend Don and my life has been so different in so many ways ever since. Of course those are stories for other blog entries.
Back to Hebrews 11:12. Mamaw’s had Faith. Even though she died before her prayers concerning me were answered, she didn’t give up.
Mamaw is one of my heroes of the faith! You probably have some of your own, whether you know it or not.
And while I don’t want to leave this Earth before I accomplish whatever it is that God has me to accomplish, I am so looking forward to hugging Mamaw’s neck as we celebrate in God’s presence together forever!
