Monday, October 09, 2006

As The World Turns...or...Prophetic Panic?
North Korea has successfuly conducted a nuclear test, another teen-age boy has found a way to get a high powered gun into his school, kids need more time to play, and the Sudanese have discovered My Space...Our world is evolving quickly before our eyes. As I listened to the Schmitt Show this morning I realized that everyone has an opinion, an opinion that will be right in their own eyes, accepted and rejected by others...and thought totally out there by many...and then there are the christians!
Does the arrival of nuclear weapons open the doors for the rising of the kings of the East as prophesied in the book of Revelation? Has the sudden increase of voilence among youth fulfilled the prophetic word of Paul to Timothy when he spoke of last day attitudes, including the disobedience to parents? Are we in an end time decline and is it time to panic? Is the world as we know it coming to an end?
There was a time in my life when events such as North Korea would have spoken volumes to me, I would have taught a Wednesday night Bible Study right out of Time and Newsweek Magazine, and God forbid that I find an article of interest in our local newspaper, combine all of this with a couple end time Bible verses and we'd have an hour of discussion like you would never believe. But today, I don't think it's time to panic, I think it's time to prepare. This whole thing of living in what we believe to be the end times is not about panic, it's about discovering the Prince of Peace in the absence of true peace. It's about being the church rather than going to church and leaving unchanged. Some of the things we see are the results of a evolving world, a world that is constantly turning, advancing, and discovering itself, while other things we see are a part of God's prophetic plan. All of it is under His authority and control, none of it takes Him by surprise, and most of it shouldn't shake us much either...He told us what would happen.
I am convinced that there has never been a better time to live as believers than the times we now live. The Lord is sure to come, maybe now, maybe later, but now is the time to prepare, now is the time for believers to become missionaries...right where they live!
Call it my soapbox, but church members will get all excited about a missions project in a foreign land...I believe in that, I am a missionary of sorts,leaving for Kenya in a week, and I have a new project to promote...but what about family, friends, co-workers, and people that God places in our paths? Are we truly missional if we only send a check and pray for God to help us touch others, and never tell the story here at home?
Will the church of today panic in the midst of our days events or will we rise to our finest hour until all have heard the message of the King and His soon to come Kingdom?
Just Thinking Outloud!

6 comments:

Missional Jerry said...

giving is good......but living it is so much better.

ruthrap said...

i think you're right, and it reminds me of the old saying, "charity begins at home" this holds true with sharing the gospel news.....you don't have to travel miles away to find someone in need of a Savior..chances are there's someone right in your neighborhood or working alongside you at your job......the reality is we all need Jesus in our hearts and to keep Him in our thoughts everyday should be the most important thing we do! when we know Him we possess a priceless gift, but we have to be willing to share the gift with as many as we can! we can only pray for the boldness to be like Him! He is our inspiration!

Neil said...

Amen! I don't want to be misunderstood, I am sold on missions, but not at the expense of allowing my own family and friends to be lost simply because I don't share the story!

Darrell said...

Excellent piece today Neil. You said it well!

Anonymous said...

How true Pastor Neil! We need to not only look up in expectation, but also look around us at the needs of others. Great word!

Pastor Jeff said...

Great word today! Thanks for sharing this. We need to realize what the times are telling us, and get out there and share Christ before it's too late.