It is time, once again, to stick my neck out there. A very good friend posted something on Facebook today, and apparently the world will end on May 21. The good news about that is, I won't have to go to work on May 22. Seriously- this pastor has taken a scripture from the book of Genesis along with a scripture from 2 Peter in which he talks about Noah, and makes the conclusion that includes doing some math to reason 5/21/11 as Judgment day. Intelligent, to a point. However, there is one thing wrong with that.
Some parts of the Bible are intended to illustrate a point without being literal.
This was the verse in 2 Peter: "Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day (6-8)."
To take that literally, you would have to say that God has a calendar, and that after 1,000 years passes, He says "OK- Wednesday." That is not how God works. What it is supposed to mean is this: time does not matter to God. He exists outside of time.God is Spirit (see John 4). His world has no time.
Another thing this preacher said is this: The Church Age ended on May 21, 1988. To quote the site:
"On May 21st, 1988, God finished using the churches and congregations of the world. The Spirit of God left all churches and Satan, the man of sin, entered into the churches to rule at that point in time."
(Quoted from http://www.ebiblefellowship.com/may21/)
Problem: if the Spirit of God left the churches, how are/were people still getting saved? Why are people still coming to Christ if the Spirit of God is not still convicting of sin? Why would Satan allow people to come to Christ if he is in charge of the churches now? Lastly, what is your church? If there is not Spirit of God in the church, what are you teaching? Why are you warning people?
Oy. Here is Matthew 24:36 (NKJV): “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only."
Think about how many times people have declared the end of the world. Someone in Garland, TX tried it in 1988. Jehovah's Witnesses have made a religion out of it. REM even tried it once.
So when is the end of the world? I don't know. Only God knows. All I can tell you is that it is coming, and each one of us needs to be prepared. You may have only a month, you may have several years. It may not be in your lifetime. But it is coming.
I let this blog get away from me, but I needed to rant.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Friday, April 22, 2011
Epic (Temporary) Fail
I cannot believe I let a somewhat important anniversary date in my life go without much hoopla or reflection. I mean, after all, that's what I do. I internalize, I contemplate, and I reflect. Yeah, April 12 was my birthday. April 13, one year ago, I lost my job of 10 years, and it was quite hard on me. I spent the next nine months playing Mr. Mom, taking care of being a full-time college student at the same time, and dealing with a general feeling of inadequacy.
There were times in that period that I felt like a complete failure.
It was a time that I realized God was doing some major stripping away of things in my life. I had done Christian retail for 13 years, the last ten at the same location. I knew that line of work and could do it better than anyone else. It is a dream of mine to own my own store one day. Yet I became an outsider to that industry. And I have to be completely honest, visiting some Christian retail stores now still leaves a sour taste in my mouth.
I had started back to college in 2008. I had been taking classes at night and online, and was then able to devote myself full-time after losing my job. Yet as I was about to begin my final semester, something happened to my funding that forbade me from returning to school. In the meantime I was applying to jobs left and right and from April through November I interviewed, maybe three times.
It was after that stripping away that I received my next interview and my current job. I talked about it in December on this blog. I can look back on the loss of my job now and see that God was leading me to a better situation, a job in a company that supports its employees and wants to see them succeed. It does have its hardships and its struggles, but I am grateful for the chance to succeed.
It may not seem like much of a success story, but it is a step in the right direction. Need more inspiration? Consider this:
William Hershey failed in business before his last endeavor into the candy business.
Hiram U. Grant didn't even get his name registered right upon his registration to West Point. Of course, if my name was Hiram, I'd be OK with that. They registered him as Ulysses S. Grant, and it stuck. He left the Army in the 1850's, struggled with alcohol, and ended up as a clerk in his father's store before war broke out in 1861.
Kurt Warner struggled as a backup quarterback and got a job in a supermarket before he became a successful quarterback.
It truly seemed like Jesus' earthly mission had failed to the crowds that had Him crucified. Ultimately that turned out to be the greatest success story ever.
Your circumstance may be hard. But I tell you, hold on. It is leading to something greater down the road.
There were times in that period that I felt like a complete failure.
It was a time that I realized God was doing some major stripping away of things in my life. I had done Christian retail for 13 years, the last ten at the same location. I knew that line of work and could do it better than anyone else. It is a dream of mine to own my own store one day. Yet I became an outsider to that industry. And I have to be completely honest, visiting some Christian retail stores now still leaves a sour taste in my mouth.
I had started back to college in 2008. I had been taking classes at night and online, and was then able to devote myself full-time after losing my job. Yet as I was about to begin my final semester, something happened to my funding that forbade me from returning to school. In the meantime I was applying to jobs left and right and from April through November I interviewed, maybe three times.
It was after that stripping away that I received my next interview and my current job. I talked about it in December on this blog. I can look back on the loss of my job now and see that God was leading me to a better situation, a job in a company that supports its employees and wants to see them succeed. It does have its hardships and its struggles, but I am grateful for the chance to succeed.
It may not seem like much of a success story, but it is a step in the right direction. Need more inspiration? Consider this:
William Hershey failed in business before his last endeavor into the candy business.
Hiram U. Grant didn't even get his name registered right upon his registration to West Point. Of course, if my name was Hiram, I'd be OK with that. They registered him as Ulysses S. Grant, and it stuck. He left the Army in the 1850's, struggled with alcohol, and ended up as a clerk in his father's store before war broke out in 1861.
Kurt Warner struggled as a backup quarterback and got a job in a supermarket before he became a successful quarterback.
It truly seemed like Jesus' earthly mission had failed to the crowds that had Him crucified. Ultimately that turned out to be the greatest success story ever.
Your circumstance may be hard. But I tell you, hold on. It is leading to something greater down the road.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
What I Don't Want My Life to Be
I posted earlier this year that I have been making a concentrated effort to read through the Bible this year. I have started in different places, and since purchasing a Bible with a daily reading plan, I have been reading a certain regimen per day as well as the reading I had previously started. What I have learned about reading the Bible is this:
There are certain verses that absolutely shake me to the core.
On this day, my 34th birthday, I have decided to take the latest verse with such an effect and make a short post about it.
"In the course of time, at the end of two years, his bowels came out because of the disease, and he died in great agony. His people made no fire in his honor, like the fires made for his fathers. He was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he departed with no one’s regret. They buried him in the city of David, but not in the tombs of the kings." (2 Chronicles 21:19-20, ESV)
This is the legacy of King Jehoram of Judah, son of Jehoshaphat, grandson of Asa. He killed his brothers, forgot God, and took Judah down a path that would begin its downfall. Most notably are those words in Verse 20: "And he departed with no one's regret."
What will be said about you when it is your time? I'm not saying expect a royal funeral, because you are not royalty. My aim in this blog is to ask you to check yourself. Would anyone miss you if you were not there? Or is your life having no impact on those around you? Even a silent life can have a positive impact; your actions and your life speak infinitely more than what your words can say.
Take a look at the life your living, and what you are allowing others to see you live out. A life without regret is a lot better than a life no one regrets losing.
There are certain verses that absolutely shake me to the core.
On this day, my 34th birthday, I have decided to take the latest verse with such an effect and make a short post about it.
"In the course of time, at the end of two years, his bowels came out because of the disease, and he died in great agony. His people made no fire in his honor, like the fires made for his fathers. He was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he departed with no one’s regret. They buried him in the city of David, but not in the tombs of the kings." (2 Chronicles 21:19-20, ESV)
This is the legacy of King Jehoram of Judah, son of Jehoshaphat, grandson of Asa. He killed his brothers, forgot God, and took Judah down a path that would begin its downfall. Most notably are those words in Verse 20: "And he departed with no one's regret."
What will be said about you when it is your time? I'm not saying expect a royal funeral, because you are not royalty. My aim in this blog is to ask you to check yourself. Would anyone miss you if you were not there? Or is your life having no impact on those around you? Even a silent life can have a positive impact; your actions and your life speak infinitely more than what your words can say.
Take a look at the life your living, and what you are allowing others to see you live out. A life without regret is a lot better than a life no one regrets losing.
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