Ray Price had a hit in the early 60's called "Make the World Go Away (And Get it Off My Shoulders)". We knew a fellow once whose theology matched that song. This man's emotional fragility plus his life events caused him to long for the time when he could close his eyes and not have to deal with stuff anymore.
Is that the way death will be? Do we just lose consciousness and the world goes away?
A couple of weeks ago, a BSF lecture set my brain to spinning. We are in the book of Isaiah this year and I'm lovin' it since Isaiah is my favorite book. But WHOA BUDDY are we wading out into some deep water! God (through Isaiah) is explaining the concept of evil in the world...and judgment...and hell. The class is over at 9p and you don't just go home and pop into bed.
The overview? Everyone gets eternity. Your life choice, then, is either being with God or not. Have you heard the choice described as "smoking" or "non-smoking"? Well, spending forever in "smoking" is a fearful thing. Here are just a few of the nuggets I was given from Isaiah, Chapters 13 and 14.
* EVIL DOES NOT GO UNPUNISHED.
God is a gentleman and you may have your way on "this side". It's just that one day, you won't want your way. God says in Isaiah 13.11 "Thus I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud, and abase the haughtiness of the ruthless."
If we get discouraged sometimes that the unrighteous prosper (or "get away" with deeds...like the Wiki leaker, who seems to be putting lives at risk), God reminds us that He has the final say and He is just.
* WILL WE KNOW ONE ANOTHER IN ETERNITY?
During the time Babylon reigned as a world power, one of her rulers was King Beltshazzar. Isaiah 14.9 answers the question about whether souls will recognize one another in eternity as we picture the scene when Beltshazzar enters hell. "The denizens of hell crowd to meet you (Beltshazzar) as you enter their domain. World leaders and earth's mightiest kings, long dead, are there to see you."
Oh, they recognize one another, all right. And who else do you think might be in this crowd? Hitler? Pol Pot? Lenin? On a site listing the worst genocides of the 20th century, Idi Amin and Mussolini tied at being responsible for 300,000 deaths...Saddam Hussein was at 600,000...Pol Pot was 1.7 million...Hitler was 12M (just for the concentration camps/civilians WW2)...Lenin was 23M (purges plus famine)...and finally, Mao Ze-Dong tops the list of mega-murderers at an estimated 49-78M. It is completely creepy that hell is called "their domain".
Note to self: interior designers love to decorate with collections of like items. But no one wants any part of THIS collection.
* EVIL IS IN THE HEART OF MAN AND APART FROM GOD'S RENEWAL, CONSUMES.
This one knocks me out. Here are these little kings in hell, welcoming the big king of Babylon (literally, Beltshazzar, but also emblematic of the big evildoers of iniquity throughout the ages, culminating in Satan). These kings of smaller kingdoms that Beltshazzar has conquered are dead and in hell. You would think that the GPS coordinates would have mellowed them somewhat. Or at the LEAST, you would think the circumstances would humble them or sadden them or they would have some compassion for another who would be sharing the same fate. Nope. Listen to Isaiah 14.9-11 from The Message. "The underworld dead are all excited, preparing to welcome you (Beltshazzar) when you come. Getting ready to greet you are the ghostly dead, all the famous names of earth. All the buried kings of the nations will stand up on their thrones with well-prepared speeches, royal invitations to death. 'Now you are as nothing, as we are. Make yourselves at home with us dead folks!' This is where your pomp and fine music led you, Babylon, to your underworld private chambers, a king-size mattress of maggots for repose and a quilt of crawling worms for warmth."
My take-home principle here? God, increase my compassion for others. Who would want to find their assignment there?
* GOD LEAVES US AN HISTORIC FOOTNOTE ABOUT BABYLON'S FUTURE.
God spoke about Babylon in Isaiah 13.19-22 and said "and so, Babylon, the most glorious of kingdoms, the flower of Chaldean culture, will be as utterly destroyed as Sodom and Gomorrah were when God sent fire from heaven. Babylon will never rise again. Generation after generation will come and go, but the land will never again be lived in. The nomads will not even camp there. The shepherds won't let their sheep stay overnight. The wild animals of the desert will make it their home. The houses will be haunted by howling creatures. Ostriches will live there, and the demons will come there to dance. Hyenas and jackals will den within the palaces. Babylon's days are numbered; her time of doom will soon be here."
What about that? Has Babylon ever been inhabited since her destruction? Didn't Saddam Hussein try to rebuild Babylon? That impressive capital city of the world was enormously wealthy and powerful and was a pagan religious center. Babylon's Hanging Gardens were listed as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The city was located at the point where the Tigris and Euphrates converge, just about 50 miles south of present day Baghdad. When Saddam Hussein tried to rebuild, he even had bricks made with his name on them to duplicate what King Nebuchadnezzar (Babylon's builder) had done. Here is what you can read on the unfinished bricks today: "In the era of President Saddam Hussein all Babylon was constructed in three stages. From Nebuchadnezzar to Saddam Hussein, Babylon is rising again." Uh...notsomuch, Mr. Hussein. Even Alexander the Great tried to rebuild Babylon when his Greeks were the world power. Unfortunately after Alexander declared himself "King of Kings", he died in Nebuchadnezzar's palace at the age of 32.
My truth from these verses? Babylon may try to rise again in history because man struts across history's stage. But God is sovereign.
Gee, we really need to end on some good news. How about this final point?
* THERE IS A DAY COMING....
Isaiah 14.1 begins "God will have compassion on Jacob and Israel (no more divided kingdom...and today, that's a reality). He will establish them in their own country (another reality as of 1947)." Then skip to verses 24-27: "The Lord of Hosts says...exactly as I planned, it will happen. Following my blueprint, it will take shape. I will shatter the Assyrian who trespasses my land and stomp him into the dirt on my mountains. I will ban his taking and making of slaves and lift the weight of oppression from all shoulders.' This is the plan, planned for the whole earth, and this is the hand that will do it, reaching into every nation. The Lord of Hosts has planned it. Who could ever cancel such plans? His is the hand that's reached out. Who could brush it aside?"
In days of economic uncertainty, porous borders, and terrorist schemes, those verses encourage me to lean fully against God's stability...and His control over human events. And I love to think of the day when Israel returns to center stage!
All of human history is moving toward a place declared before time began. History is indeed His story. God is a good God who stretches out His hand to all men. Who could brush it aside, indeed?
"The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise to return, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to perish, so he is giving more time for everyone to repent." 2 Peter 3.9
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Thursday, November 18, 2010
KEEP YOUR DISTANCE
Monday, November 15, 2010
A GOOD MAN IS HARD TO FIND
Saturday, November 6, 2010
SAD, SOLEMN, AND NOT-SO-SORRY
DAY ONE AFTER THE ELECTION At the President's post-election presser, his countenance was somber and his mouth said the words "shellacking" and "sadness". Did the President mean what he said? Asked directly THREE TIMES whether his policies had anything to do with his shellacking...he said no. But he LOOKED reflective. He couldn't have been as sad as the politicians who went down on his ship the day before. There were a sackful of them who took one for the Gipper. How can we know whether Barack Obama is contrite or not? We don't go by what our eyes tell us. Since this man has a track record of creative verbiage, concentrate carefully on what was actually said. http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article.aspx?id=552798 Then wait. True colors have a way of bubbling to the top. |
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
THE MIDTERM MORNING AFTER
2. SARAH PALIN. Sorry, Cher. Sarah is a mover/shaker and the star of the Republican party. Her Mama Grizzlies did not all win, but she touched a spot in women across the nation with her characterization of women looking out for the next generation. Watch how that encourages other women to step up next time. Kudos to Sarah Palin for enduring viciousness.
Mama Grizzlies Christine and Carly and Sharron went down...but look at these Republican women who roared last night:
Nikki Haley (Indian-American Governor/South Carolina)
Vicky Hartzler (Congresswoman/MO)
Kristi Noem (Congresswoman/South Dakota)
Susana Martinez (first Latina Governor/New Mexico)
Kelly Ayotte (Senator/New Hampshire)
Mary Fallin (first female Governor, OK)
Michele Bachmann (re-elected Congresswoman/MN)
3. REPUBLICAN MINORITIES. Nikki Haley (Indian-American), Marco Rubio (Cuban-American), Susana Martinez (Hispanic), and Allen West and Tim Scott (conservative African-Americans) dispel the notion that Republicans are all white guys. Finally.
4. PELOSI stimulated Republican voters.
5. NEGATIVE COAT TAILS. The Dems ran from Obama's record and his healthcare like lemmings. The Democratic governor who won in West Virginia, Joe Manchin, won because he not only set himself apart from his party with an elbow-locked distance...he actually publically disowned their philosophy.
So now what? If you thought the elections were tough, now consider what lies ahead for our divided nation. Where is there room for compromise? Is it likely that the President will suddenly decide his "hope and change" can be diminished? Is it likely that the newbies (fresh from a mandate wave) will fall in line with the Democratic majority in the Senate?
If it ever was obvious that we cannot rest our full weight on the "here and now"...we know it is now. These people we elected will do their best. America is watching and will have NONE of the old "say one thing/do another" doublespeak. But what can be done to ease the division?
Let's PRAY. America needs to be on her knees now more than ever to give these men and women who have stepped forward to be our leaders the ability to lead. Pray for wisdom to know the way forward. Pray that God would give a way through gridlock. If they lock heads, it will be two more years until we can vote again. We need jobs TODAY. And a strong defense. And leadership who knows why Israel is our friend.
Let's pray to that end. But let's pray knowing our security is not in what man may or may not do. My hope is not a campaign slogan attached to the word "change". My hope is in the mighty and omnipotent hand of the living God. He alone controls the future. And at His signal, a new kingdom will begin whose government will have no end.
But in the meantime, let's work with what we have through prayer.
"Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and heal their land." 2Chronicles 7.14 NLT | |
Monday, November 1, 2010
HALLOWED EVE
Teaching children has been so good for me. With dwindling brain cells, my attempts to translate big concepts into little people's words causes new insights.
Halloween has long frustrated me; I hate it that Halloween has developed into such a huge "holiday". I really hate it that little ones cannot even go to WalMart without getting scarey dreams from the motion-activated, life-sized Freddie Krueger on the end caps.
The week before Halloween, each child in Kingdom Kids was given five little booklets (see below) and were asked to pray and ask Jesus for five names of friends or neighbors who might want to know more about Him. Then during that week, they were to turn the tables and 'give' instead of 'take'. They were to dress up and either make treats or take candy to those people as they gave away their little booklet. And I figured if you gave an assignment, you should have to carry it out. So here's Miss Susan on a neighbor's porch. Wanna wind up my nose? My eyebrows and mustache wiggle.
But on the other hand, who likes to dress up more than moi?
This year in working up a couple of lessons for Kingdom Kids (kindergarten/early elementary age children) we talked about the dark holiday. I asked "what is the day before Christmas called?" They knew that one. Christmas Eve! "Well, for a long time November first was a day for celebrating GOOD. The good people were called 'hallowed'. The day before Hallowed Day would be 'Hallowed Eve'. The people celebrated GOOD on November first, but on the day before (on Hallowed Eve)...BAD was celebrated."
Then we talked about how we don't celebrate being bad. We talked about the creepy things associated with Halloween like spiders and bats. We talked about the things we see at Halloween such as ghosts, vampires, skeletons and zombies. I asked them what all those things were? "Dead things!" one little boy said. Children are so wonderfully direct. We talked of how the dead things seemed to be coming back and roaming around. Then I asked them who came back from the dead. They got that one right away...Jesus! Jesus and the good people (the saints) are raised. We talked about how all these other things are POSERS that pretend to come back. Our God is the only One with power to raise from the dead. The others mock God.
The week before Halloween, each child in Kingdom Kids was given five little booklets (see below) and were asked to pray and ask Jesus for five names of friends or neighbors who might want to know more about Him. Then during that week, they were to turn the tables and 'give' instead of 'take'. They were to dress up and either make treats or take candy to those people as they gave away their little booklet. And I figured if you gave an assignment, you should have to carry it out. So here's Miss Susan on a neighbor's porch. Wanna wind up my nose? My eyebrows and mustache wiggle.
Without all the darkness, there is a lot of fun to be had in dressing up. Here are some pictures of great examples of creativity in costuming...
Here is a Louisville family endorsing their local hero. It's the Colonel and the box of chicken who is his wife...with their little peep. |
Gotta love these chefs and that little lobster!
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These youthful two on the left are frozen in a nostalgic time zone. The wannabe Queen Esther may have swerved into more of a gypsy. |
This mother is dressed as a flapper, but doesn't her face look like Snow White? Can you guess who her real-life daughter is? Barbie! |
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