Like It Is Our Last

Now that the planes of the US and France are on bombing runs in Syria, I have started seeing and hearing individuals talk about the prophecies of Isaiah as it relates to Damascus. You can read scripture and see remarkable parallels and sign of the end of the age. It is remarkable how accurate the term and even timelines are. There is however one thing that I must say.

IF YOU KNEW THE EXACT DATE OF THE RETURN OF THE LORD, HOW WOULD THAT CHANGE THE FOCUS OF YOUR MINISTRY?

Christ has never called us to be on the defensive. Why, because his truth can hold it's own. We are called to be on the attack ever pressing forward not biding our time until we see some great cataclysmic sign and know that the end is near. We have got to live and minister each day like it is our last. There are people dying and going to hell every minute and every second that we spend trying to figure out who is right about the blood moon or what eschatological timeline is correct, we are wasting precious minutes that we could be using to tell someone about the love a Christ and introducing them to the savior.

To me it seems like we are firemen who instead of running in a building and rescuing people are simply standing outside the inferno shouting "hey that building is on fire" "you need to get out" In the end, the fire still burns and the people still are trapped and eventually perish. Is there value in eschatology? Yes there is. It needs to be the warning sign that we as Christians need to get off our laurels of self righteousness and get to work about the King's business. The time is short. The end is approaching. The signs are all there. Shortly, the rapture will occur and when I stand in front of God, I am sure he will NOT ask me "Hey Dave, how close did you get to the date I was coming back/" I am sure he will ask me "what did you do with the time I gave you?" and also "who did you share my gospel with?" and "what did you do with my son Jesus?" Then, as I stand there in front of him awaiting his reply, I will know exactly where I stand with him. All of my best efforts here on this planet fall drastically short of worthiness to enter heaven. It is simply the grace of Jesus Christ and his death and resurrection that seals me.

It's not that I don't think prophecy is unimportant because it is important. I really just feel that we have gotten so caught up in trying to figure it out that the enemy has used it to make us lose focus of what will reduce perishing souls from hell. Prophecy can direct people to Christ and it does so importance is there definitely. Just simply live each day like it is our last. You will love ministry more,. Just go for it. Many times the reason we don't really feel like we have won is because we have strived for second place not to win the race. The time for pacing yourself is over. It is time to flat our run for the mark that Jesus Christ has set for us. All we have to do to win is finish.

Walking Wounded

This morning I was talking with a man that said something pretty profound. He asked me how our church services went on Sunday and I responded fantastic. We had new people visiting and even some people who had never really been to church before coming in and responding to the altar call. He then proceeded to ask, why is it that Christians are so bad about cannibalism? With a puzzled look on my face, he continued. You know Christians have a bad habit of eating their own. As I thought for a moment, I replied it is sad but we do have lots of walking wounded in our churches. 

Why is that the case? It seems that no matter what the church size may be or how diverse the congregations, we seem to wound those that are supposed to be standing with us. I believe that it is the enemies number one battle plan to attack churches from the inside out. In the military, it's called friendly fire.   Innocent people get into the crossfire and are wounded. 

What causes walking wounded? 

1. Not Knowing Our Enemy Many people are quick to pick up a cause. In every disagreement there are sides to every story. When we are not familiar with the enemy and his tactics, we can easily pick up a live grenade or step in the middle of a landline. We must be on guard of what we say and how we step. Seek God first and defuse the bombs the enemy would have you fall victim to. Communicate with each other. Follow Matthew chapter 18 for the proper model of conflict resolution so you can avoid the live grenade of gossip and slander. Side step the landline of negativity and instead pick up the standard of righteousness. 

2. Improper Use Of A Weapon Our military is the most well trained force on the planet. We spend time on tactical things that other countries wish they could. We have advanced weapon training and every soldier knows how to use his weapon to the best of its ability. We as Christians should be the same way but we don't. We are quick to unload both barrels and pull the pin of righteous indignation and explode all over someone leaving them staggering if not dead from the onslaught. Bible verses quoted out of context, false self righteousness, and forced holiness. Instead of restoring people gently, we restore them with extreme prejudice. 

3. Putting Our Armor On Someone Else In scripture we read that King Saul placed his heavy armor on David and then David rejected the armor of the king and took what he knew and went out to defeat the giant. It is easy for us to become judgmental and say because you don't look or act like me, you can't possibly be saved. We are placing our armor on someone else and it will NOT fit. 

We must stop the friendly fire. The phenomenon of walking wounded is destroying the church and its credibility. How can we be a witness for Christ and be his message when we are fighting among ourselves. We must strive for more. Uplifting and edification are just two things church is supposed to do. Yes correction is in the list but in the right context and process. 

Pretty interesting thoughts. 

Are You Afraid?

I'll admit it. I get a nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach when I hear the news about beheadings and martyrs. My mind wonders when I read about some great mystery that has been revealed through a cosmic sign in the sky. I begin to ask myself how will I react? How would I react if placed in a situation like that? Almost daily I come in contact with people who say they are scared by all of these things. I have been asked what I think about these events and signs and wonders that are occurring. I get asked if I am afraid. My answer is yes I am afraid. What? wait a minute. Your afraid. Let me explain.

I am not afraid of terrorists or Blood Moons or polar shifts. I am afraid that the Christian community in the United States and the free world are responding out of fear of the unknown and there in lies the problem. We see so many things today that we can relate to the end times. We can read Revelation like a playbook at a football game. It can become so overwhelming that we find ourselves engrossed in trying to figure out Bible prophecy and end times timelines. We become fearful that some world leader is the new antichrist. Our eyes are fixed on the destruction of the world and freedom that we become frightened for the sake of fright.

One of the greatest weapons the enemy uses is distraction. The truth is nothing we can do will stop this one thing we know is true. Jesus Christ IS coming back and that time is very soon. You don't have to research many manuscripts and decode ancient languages to figure this one out. The end times are here. Satan wants us so engulfed in trying to figure out prophecies that we forget the true meaning of why we are here. OUR PURPOSE ON THIS PLANET IS TO WIN THE LOST! It is not to figure out some great mystery that will reveal that some leader is the antichrist or is the false prophet. We can use prophecy to propel and project a sense of urgency but we must be leading people to Jesus Christ. I do not need to give someone a history lesson on fire to let them know the building is on fire and the exit is this way.

The enemy wants to get us to forget that God has not given us a spirit of fear. He wants us to forget that the Holy Spirit was given so we could be bold in the face of adversity. He wants us to continually look into the face of fear until we see ourselves there. Please understand that this is not a bash Bible prophecy preachers or those who study the scriptures for even deeper realms of knowledge of God. It is simply a reminder that we must be the message of Christ and while part of that message is that he will come like a thief in the night the other is that he died to save them from their sins. He was their substitution on the cross.

Recognize what is happening in the world today for what it is. A sign of the end of the age. Let the prophecies and the correlations to world events we are witnessing first hand motivate you to speak the message of Christ boldly. Until the trumpet sounds be about his message and his purpose for your life and know that if you stand for him he will stand with you just like he did in Daniel chapter 3.