2022 Archives

  We have all seen reports of communities along the coast getting ready for hurricane force winds with strong tidal surges.  Stories abound of the Ukrainian people getting ready for the daily atrocities delivered by Russian troops under the command of evil personified.  Even school children understand the phrase, “get ready,” when a unit test is announced.

  Now, though I am not an economist, it seems inevitable to me that the lifestyles of most Americans are subject to change in the not so distant future.  Some say that there are sure to be shortages of food and other necessary commodities in the coming year.  According to officials who help manage the nation’s power grid, roving blackouts are to be expected in parts of our country this winter.   If what they say is true, maybe we should be thinking about how to get ready for these probable, imminent hardships.

  According to the Bible, “perilous times” will eventually emerge.  We are told that the hardships of those days will be unprecedented.  After the initial phases of decline, the situation will go quickly from bad to worse, when God supernaturally removes the influence of His Holy Spirit from the earth, and unrestrained evil runs its course until the end of the age.  God makes it clear that no one can know for certain when the end will come, but for the observant, rational thinker, it is not hard to detect our current devolution toward a hasty demise.  We had better get ready!

  “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof… (2Timothy 3:1–5)”  “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)  …behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.) (2Corinthians 6:2)”

  Do you remember when right and wrong were agreed upon by most?  Do you remember learning as a youth, that there was a certain way things were to be done in developed countries, or among civilized people, or in functional families, or in reputable businesses, or in “good” churches?  Well, there is still  a right and wrong, and there is still a certain way that things should be done!  Truth has not diminished or changed, and it is high time we step out of the darkness of willful ignorance to take a fresh look at the paths of light.

 What a disappointment it has been over the years to watch my teachers, professors and mentors, drop the ball in their later years, and abandon the very precepts that once they strove to advance as foundational building blocks of society and successful living.  I suppose that they have grown tired, or as the scriptures say, they have become “weary in well doing.”  I could wish these weary warriors had simply found a place to retire, to be set out to pasture on some green hill far away before they destroyed their life’s work—trying to leave a legacy in spite of their final years of lunacy.

  There was a commercial that I remember from my youth; its slogan was, “I’d rather fight than switch,” but many heroes of yesteryear have proven that in their waning years, they would rather switch than fight.  Perhaps we should take the advice of Jeremiah the prophet and “…ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. (Jeremiah 6:16)”

  It seems appropriate to pray that God, for the sake of our posterity, would grant us strength to finish strongly.  We who have been around for a while, need to be champions of the truth for those who follow on our heels—to finish strong.  “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.  For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.  And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. (Galatians 6:7–9)”

  Imagine hiking with a friend, the narrow treacherous paths to plunge the depths of the Grand Canyon.  It would be something to write home about—a true adventure.  Now imagine being at the bottom of the canyon trying out a new tool to start a campfire when all of a sudden, something goes wrong and a sudden flash of burning powder flies into your eyes and all is dark—you are totally blind.  There are no options; you will have to allow your friend to lead you step by step back up the long perilous path to get medical attention.  You will have to humble yourself and take your friend by the hand.  You will have to swallow your pride and follow his instructions about where to place your hands and feet to take the next step.  You, who have always felt capable of calling your own shots, will be totally dependent upon another, if you hope to live through this harrowing ordeal.  You MUST trust your friend!

  Life is much like the ascent from the canyon’s floor in total darkness.  It is not just a physical ascent, but a spiritual one as well.  One might imagine that our physical eyes are sufficient for the task, but obviously, you cannot be everywhere at once, and physical eyes are of no value in the realm of the “unseen.”  Perhaps you have lived long enough to know that without a Friend to help, too much of life is left to chance.  It is not worth the risk.

  The Bible speaks of such a Friend!  He is already acquainted with your plight, and longs to provide the assistance that you need to live an abundant life here on Earth, and in the eternal future.  He cares so much for you that He was willing to sacrifice His life’s blood to provide everything that you need to be victorious.  “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13)”  “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. (Acts 16:31)” 

  Jesus Christ,  God’s Son came to earth to die in order to pay the penalty for your sins.  He was buried and rose again from the dead.  He is alive to help you up the path that He has already travelled.  With Him by your side, you can be sure that, in the end, you will arrive safely to your eternal abode.  You MUST trust your Friend!

  As a child I can still remember being told, “Be Still!”  It may have been at church, or school, or sitting with my siblings in the back seat of our family’s car on a road trip.  Even at that young age, I knew I was being told to “Be Still” because I was breaking someone’s concentration, or irritating them with an annoying noise or action that I was performing in an endless loop.  I was told to “Be Still” because I was making a nuisance of myself. 

  In Mark 4:36-39, Jesus was in a boat with His disciples on the Sea of Galilee when a storm blew up.  He had fallen asleep and they chose to let their tired Master sleep while they manned the oars against the strong wind and waves.  As their situation worsened, they began to panic until one finally cried out, “Master, carest thou not that we perish?”  Jesus stood up in the boat and said, “Peace, Be Still!” and the storm immediately became a “great calm.”  He commanded the storm to “Be Still,” because it was making a nuisance of itself, but now, a holy hush fell across the surface of the water, and His Omnipotence  (infinite power) was on display in the stillness of the hour.

  In Psalm 46, we are invited to, “Come, behold the works of the LORD, what desolations he hath made in the earth. He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire.” And so that we will not make a nuisance of ourselves while He displays Omnipotence, or miss the life changing point that He intends—He instructs us,  “Be Still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. (Psalm 46:8–10)”

  We live in uncertain, perilous times.  Everyone has his own ideas about: What brought all of this upon us? Who is to blame? What chain of events might correct our course and restore a sense of order?  Certainly each of us can do his part in choosing right over wrong, helping our neighbors, raising our children with morals, a work ethic and respect for others, but our feeble efforts will not likely be enough.  In the end God must once again put Omnipotence on display.  “Be Still” and know that HE is God!

  If God were a philosophy, a legend, or the brainchild of a lunatic, one might argue, “He cramps my style.”  But if God is the living, all knowing, all powerful, eternal Being that the Bible describes, perhaps it would be more appropriate to concern ourselves with His style.

  One might counter, “You don’t expect me to believe that old book do you?” …but “that old book,” though sufficient in itself, is not the only evidence for God.  Science and reason require a beginning to life as we know it.  The world and outer space, to include every unexplored galaxy, is an infinitely complex design that requires a designer.  The realm of little things that lies beyond the gaze of the most powerful microscope is obviously not the product of chance, but of infinite wisdom and power.  The laws of nature, and the laws that govern probability and chance require more than a loosely fabricated, imaginative explanation for what we observe daily.  It is abundantly obvious that the complexity and order in our world are not the result of a chaotic explosion or the multiplicity of years that some claim (without evidence) were required for some pre-mortal ooze to evolve into every form of life.

  The material universe, and the unfathomable non-material (spiritual) universe, if you are able to comprehend it, were born in the mind, and produced by the will of Omnipotence.  And only, “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God… (Psalms 53:1)”  But why would anyone deny the obvious?  Because they know that when they acknowledge God, they must make themselves accountable to Him, and “…men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. (John 3:19)” 

  “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: (Romans 1:18–20)”