http://sites.radiantwebtools.com/index.cfm?i=14012&mid=25&blogid=6106 My humble thoughts on life through the lense of Grace shown to me by a powerful and loving God. I will try to use scripture as much as I can in informing my thoughts, because my brain is really tiny and the Bible is really big. AdvancedMinistry What seperates us from animals?  Regardless of how you choose to classify species, it's hard to deny that we are different than the rest of the creatures around us.  Running.  Animals run to catch food and not be food.  Humans run for sport, exercise, and... sometimes to catch food, if the truck is driving away.  In running, we defy our natural instincts.  Our body tells us "stop" through muscle soreness or difficulty breathing, but something in our mind tells us "keep going".  By all physical evidence this is insanity.  We are gaining nothing tangible in the moment, no physical reward other than getting better at the task we are doing.  As humans we have an ability animals never posses, to overide our natural instincts for the knowledge of a better reward. In Matthew 5:44-45 Jesus says, "But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,  that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous."  Our human instinct is for revenge.  Sometimes it's physical, "he hit me.   I am going to hit him harder," but most often it's more complicated.  Somone just rubs you the wrong way so you avoid them, or talk about them with others.  Someone hurt you, whether intentionally or by accident, and you won't stop until you are even.  That is natural, and just like any wild animal, that is where our "human" nature tells us to stop.  This is where something in our spirit tells us, "keep going".  Keep loving, keep forgiving, keep sharing. We have every right to stop running because it hurts.  We tell our selves the same thing with love.  If someone who follows Jesus is to seperate themselves from a person who does not, this is a great place to start.  As a human, I have authority over the desires of my body.  I can tell myself to run farther, or to get back up.  As God, he has authority over the desires of my heart.  He can tell me to love beyond those whom I "like", and he can tell me to forgive when I have every right not too.  This is what seperates us. http://sites.radiantwebtools.com/index.cfm?i=14012&mid=25&blogid=6106&comments=29073 29073 Tue, 8 Nov 2011 09:17:00 +0000 END OF THE WORLD TOMORROW? There has been a lot said lately about the end of the world.  More than one of my teens (you know who you are) have asked me what my thoughts are on the "Family Radio" predictions of the end of the world tomorrow, May 21.  My opinions are not nearly as important as those of scripture, however so I will simply point out a few relevant verses from the Bible about the subject. First off, Howard Camping is the head of "Family Radio" and is the man who is currently making the prediction and backing all of the marketing about the matter.  I admire his conviction and that if he truly does believe the end of the world is tomorrow he is certainly putting all his effort behind making sure as many people as possible are prepared for the end.  Sadly, this is his second prediction of the Rapture.  In his book "1994?" he claimed that the world would end on September 6th, 1994... he was wrong that time.  In the realm of "End of the World" predictions, you don't usually have much credibility the second time you take a stab at it.  He uses a "Bible Code" type of calculation which has been used before, incorrectly (1988).  Other famous predictions include: 1919: Meteorologist Albert Porta predicted that the conjunction of 6 planets would generate a magnetic current that would cause the sun to explode and engulf the earth on DEC-17. 1843-MAR-21: William Miller, founder of the Millerite movement, predicted that Jesus would come on this date. A very large number of Christians accepted his prophecy. 1736: British theologian and mathematician William Whitson predicted a great flood similar to Noah's for OCT-13 of this year. 1689: Benjamin Keach, a 17th century Baptist, predicted the end of the world for this year. 1179: John of Toledo predicted the end of the world during 1186. This estimate was based on the alignment of many planets. 375 to 400 CE: Saint Martin of Tours, a student of Hilary, was convinced that the end would happen sometime before 400 CE. These are only a small sample of the depth and volume of end times predictions. People have been making predictions since the beginning of time.  Obviously they were all wrong.  It is important to take exact predictions always with a heaping bowl of salt. Jesus says, in Matthew 34:36 “However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows."  He also later says in verses 42-44 “So you, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know what day your Lord is coming. 43 Understand this: If a homeowner knew exactly when a burglar was coming, he would keep watch and not permit his house to be broken into. 44 You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected."   It is significant that in verse 36 Jesus himself says that even he does not know when the end will be.  Only God the father, the ultimately righteous and powerful personality of the trinity knows when the end will be.  It should easily go to show then that If God the Father would not share the date of the end with other two personalities of the Triune that he would most likely not reveal the exact date to a man, a group of men, an angel or even an organization with really eye catching neon shirts and a radio show. Our response to this:  While I do not like scare tactics in ministry or life in general, there is an important lesson to learn from all of this and I don't think it's "relax".  The fact that we DON'T know when Christ will return should inspire us to live with even more haste and passion.  In verse 44 Jesus says, "You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected".  It's easy to button up our mistakes in life, make some apologies, visit a church or say some confessions on May 20th because we think the world will end tomorrow, but our entire life should be lived in preparation for the end.  Honestly, the world could end tomorrow, it could end in a thousand years... either way, we want to be ready when it does.  I don't appreciate arrogance of claiming to know what the Messiah did not, but I do appreciate that for this breif moment in time we are reminded that there is an experation date to this temporary Earth, and that we have work to do here as Christians before he comes, whenever that is. 2 Peter 3:8-10 "But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. 9 The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. http://sites.radiantwebtools.com/index.cfm?i=14012&mid=25&blogid=6106&comments=23398 23398 Fri, 20 May 2011 15:26:00 +0000