The End Isn’t Coming Soon

Ezekiel 30.1-5 warns, God, the Master, spoke to me: “Son of man, preach. Give them the Message of God, the Master. Wail: “‘Doomsday!’ Time’s up! God’s big day of judgment is near. Thick clouds are rolling in. It’s doomsday for the nations. Death will rain down on Egypt. Terror will paralyze Ethiopia When they see the Egyptians killed, their wealth hauled off, their foundations demolished, And Ethiopia, Put, Lud, Arabia, Libya —all of Egypt’s old allies— killed right along with them. MSG

 

So many believe the end of days are near. So many hope Jesus will return soon. I suppose the latter is Biblical for Paul himself appears to have prayed the same when ending his letters ‘Maranatha.’ This ‘end times’ belief drove Paul to share Christ with the nations. (more…)

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Persecution is for Promulgation of the Gospel

Mark 13.9-10 warns, watch out! They’re going to drag you into court. And then it will go from bad to worse, dog-eat-dog, everyone at your throat because you carry my name. You’re placed there as sentinels to truth. The Message has to be preached all across the world. MSG

 

The purpose of persecution among God’s people is the promulgation of the gospel. It is when men drag us into court that the Holy Spirit comes into us to speak through us for spreading the gospel by us to all men everywhere.

 

 

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Do You REALLY Believe These Are The End Times?

Romans 13.11-14 warns, make sure that you don’t get so absorbed and exhausted in taking care of all your day-by-day obligations that you lose track of the time and doze off, oblivious to God. The night is about over, dawn is about to break. Be up and awake to what God is doing! God is putting the finishing touches on the salvation work He began when we first believed. We can’t afford to waste a minute, must not squander these precious daylight hours in frivolity and indulgence, in sleeping around and dissipation, in bickering and grabbing everything in sight. Get out of bed and get dressed! Don’t loiter and linger, waiting until the very last minute. Dress yourselves in Christ, and be up and about! MSG

 

So many Christians believe these are the last days, that we are in the end times. So what are they doing? Waiting for Jesus to burst through the skies and end all the misery and suffering in the world? What should they be doing? Paul says here, God says in His word, we should be working not watching. We should be laboring not waiting. (more…)

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What It Means To Serve God

Jeremiah 1.9-10 records, God reached out, touched my mouth, and said, “Look! I’ve just put My words in your mouth—hand-delivered! See what I’ve done? I’ve given you a job to do among nations and governments—a red-letter day! Your job is to pull up and tear down, take apart and demolish, And then start over, building and planting. MSG

 

We have been called by God to serve God. All of us who claim to be Christians have been chosen by God to be a kingdom of priests. The priesthood of all believers is core to being a Protestant Christian. The priest has been given God’s Word. Indeed, all of humanity has been given the Word through the record and availability of the Scriptures.

 

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Preparing For God’s Return

Isaiah 62.10-12 commands, walk out of the gates. Get going! Get the road ready for the people. Build the highway. Get at it! Clear the debris, hoist high a flag, a signal to all peoples! Yes! God has broadcast to all the world: “Tell daughter Zion, ‘Look! Your Savior comes, Ready to do what he said He’d do, prepared to complete what He promised.’” Zion will be called new names: Holy People, God-Redeemed, Sought-Out, City-Not-Forsaken. MSG

 

What is our job as God’s laborer? Do you see yourself as His laborer, His servant? We are to go, to get the road ready, to build the highway, to clear debris from the road, to lift high a flag, a signal for all peoples. Why? So when God calls the nations they know the way to go. (more…)

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Getting Over Our Shame of God

John 9.20-23 records, his parents said, “We know he is our son, and we know he was born blind. But we don’t know how he came to see—haven’t a clue about who opened his eyes. Why don’t you ask him? He’s a grown man and can speak for himself.” (His parents were talking like this because they were intimidated by the Jewish leaders, who had already decided that anyone who took a stand that this was the Messiah would be kicked out of the meeting place. That’s why his parents said, “Ask him. He’s a grown man. MSG

 

Fear of men, shame of God, are the result of sin. We were created to love God and to serve Him, to encourage one another to stay true to God and to do His will together. Now, many of us, too often, love men more than God, at least their approval and their opinion. We often fear men despising us more than God condemning us.

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God Wants A Personal Relationship with YOU

John 4.23-24 states, believe Me, woman, the time is coming when you Samaritans will worship the Father neither here at this mountain nor there in Jerusalem. You worship guessing in the dark; we Jews worship in the clear light of day. God’s way of salvation is made available through the Jews. But the time is coming—it has, in fact, come—when what you’re called will not matter and where you go to worship will not matter. “It’s who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That’s the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before Him in their worship. God is sheer being itself—Spirit. Those who worship Him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration. MSG

 

The love of God, a relationship with God, is and has been extended to all people by God Himself when He came to live among us as one of us in Jesus the Savior of the world. People no longer must become Jews and worship in Jerusalem to be a child of God. (more…)

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What Marketplace Christianity Looks Like

Luke 12.4-5,8-9 commands, I’m speaking to you as dear friends. Don’t be bluffed into silence or insincerity by the threats of religious bullies. True, they can kill you, but then what can they do? There’s nothing they can do to your soul, your core being. Save your fear for God, Who holds your entire life—body and soul—in His hands………“Stand up for Me among the people you meet and the Son of Man will stand up for you before all God’s angels. But if you pretend you don’t know Me, do you think I’ll defend you before God’s angels? MSG

 

This is how Christians are to live in the marketplace. The answer to the question, what does it mean to be a Christian in the marketplace, is given here. Fear God alone, and make Him known, so that all might come to know Him as God and Savior. Simple but not easy. (more…)

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Following Jesus Means Serving Jesus

John 12.26 instructs, if any of you wants to serve Me, then follow Me. Then you’ll be where I am, ready to serve at a moment’s notice. The Father will honor and reward anyone who serves Me. MSG

 

The invitation seems unconditional, optional, as though we are free to take it or ignore it. Indeed, we certainly live this way. Most ignore the invitation, like the people of Jesus’ day, they see Him when He comes to town, like the circus, otherwise they go about their own business each day.

 

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Courageous Christianity Needed In These Times

Luke 12.5,8-9 records, Save your fear for God, who holds your entire life—body and soul—in His hands……Stand up for Me among the people you meet and the Son of Man will stand up for you before all God’s angels. But if you pretend you don’t know Me, do you think I’ll defend you before God’s angels? MSG

 

We are in desperate need of people who will live the way God warns us to live in this passage. As the culture increases its antagonism toward Biblical Christianity, that is the recorded will of God in the Scriptures, Christians will have to choose between fearing God and fearing society. What does that choice look like practically?

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