First Love

"I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place" (Rev 2:2-5)

Sounds like a good church at first. They were hard-working, didn't tolerate evil men, they persevered in the midst of adversity, and they even tested those who claimed to be apostles, just to make sure their doctrine was sound. But Jesus told them plainly REPENT! They'd done all the right things, but they'd forgotten the most important thing of all- loving the Lord with all their heart, soul, mind and strength.. You could say they made their church and their doctrines more important than the relationship they had with Christ. And Jesus made no bones about it, unless that changed, He would come and "remove their lampstand". In other words, their church would be taken away. From God's perspective, if you don't love Him first, then you shouldn't "play church".

Lord, hear our prayer- Help us love you more than anything or anyone, always!

Taking Refuge

"O taste and see that the LORD is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!"

Everyone finds refuge in something. For some it's sports, watching or playing their favorite game or maybe even reading a good book. In these things we find safe haven. Nothing bothers us when we've escaped into our refuge of choice. But God wants us to find our refuge in Him, to run into His arms when we need a place to escape to. His Word says "blessed is the man" who does this. What does it mean to be "blessed". It means to "be so happy as to be envied".. I'm learning how true that is. The more I take refuge in Christ, the happier I am. And of course, the reverse is true. When I drift away from His presence, life gets pretty miserable.

Politics of the day

Often I find myself caught up in some worthless political debate. Seems everyone has an opinion, and everyone thinks they're right. In prayer, God's told me time and time again to avoid such foolish chatter. The reality is, unless the people of this world fall on their knees, repent and turn back to God, it doesn't matter who gets elected! The end result is, without such a revival, we're quickly headed for judgment. God in His mercy has waited and waited. Instead of repentance, He sees violence, immorality and every evil imaginable. When His hand of judgment falls it will be swift and sure. Even if every person bands together, kicks out every corrupt politician and elects a near perfect governing body, it won't matter. Politicians can't change the hearts of people. And that's the real issue, the world has abandoned itself to wholesale evil. God cannot and will not sit idly by forever. His hand of judgment will fall soon.

Miner Story

In the land of coal, the story's told, of mining men, so brave and bold,
who spent their days beneath the ground outside a small West Virginia town..

As the locals say, one fateful day, as the miners started to earn their pay -
the walls of the coal collapsed on the men. Nine were found to be trapped within..

News of the nine trapped in the mine, reached the town in a moment of time.
Everyone left their daily routine to rescue the men from the fearful scene..

With hearts so loyal, with sweat and toil, eight were freed from the blackened soil.
Still one miner remained within, but no one there could rescue him..

When an expert team arrived at the scene, they realized the need for a drilling machine,
a special device to pierce the ground, but such a device could not be found..

The media heard what had occurred, the word went out and the nation was stirred.
Everyone listened throughout the land, watching them try to save the man..

Deep in the nest of the rugged west, a company heard of the miner's distress.
They'd made a machine for just such work, one that would bore through rock or dirt..

They sent it by flight to arrive overnight, along with a crew to the mining site..
Though the cost was truly immense, the company did it at their expense..

With speed and skill, they began to drill, they rescued the man trapped in the hill..
As he emerged to the morning air, he noticed the people standing there..

He saw his mother, his father and brothers, the camera-men and hundreds of others.
He saw the machine that rescued him, over the mine where he just had been..

He didn't know why, but he started to cry, as he looked at the people standing by..
They heard him say 'How can this be?' 'Why was all this done for me?'

All that was done, to simply save the one, might be a work of fiction neatly spun..
But one thing I know & this is very true - like the miner, you're worth saving too!

Kingdom is Near

The last teaching Jesus gave was about His Second Coming. There are thousands of books on the subject, but most of them are based on the Revelation of John or the book of Daniel. Both books use apocalyptic imagery and both can be difficult to interpret. But the sermon Jesus gave was very straightforward. It's also interesting to note, the same message was recorded in 3 of the 4 gospels, in Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21.

All versions start with Jesus talking about the destruction of Jerusalem. Jesus said "when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is near..". He goes on to say "there will be great distress upon the land and wrath to this people; and they will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled under foot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled". (Luke 21:20,23-24)

Jesus plainly states, Jerusalem will be destroyed and the Jews will be scattered to different nations. That event happened when Rome leveled the city in 70 AD and the Jews were exiled. For over 1900 years they were a people without a nation. Then in 1948, they were returned to their homeland. Well, almost. They were given a small section of what used to be their homeland. But they did not have control of Jerusalem.

According to the prophecy of Jesus, the city would be "trampled under foot by the Gentiles, until the time of the Gentiles is fulfilled". In other words, until control of the city was returned to the Jews. Thank God for the 6-day war in 1967. Several Arab countries tried to attack Israel, but they were soundly and thoroughly defeated. Instead of losing land, the Jews actually took land in that conflict- one of the "spoils of war" was Jerusalem.

After almost 1900 years, not only were the Jews returned to their ancient homeland, they also once again laid claim to the "Holy City".. So why is that significant? Because in that same sermon, Jesus also said this..

"So you also, when you see these things happening, recognize that the kingdom of God is near. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all things take place". (Luke 21:32) So within a single generation after Jerusalem is returned to Israel, we will see Christ return. That's not based on someone's interpretation of the books of Daniel or Revelation, those are the words of Jesus. And if Jesus was right about everything else, why would He get this wrong? I mean, He predicted the destruction of Jerusalem, the return of Jews to Israel and their reclaiming control of the city. How many times in history has a people reformed a country after 1900 years? It's never happened before. So Jesus just didn't pick a rabit out of the hat. It wasn't a guess. He gave the prophecy and it came true. I have a feeling "this generation won't pass away until ALL these things take place".

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Luke's account here
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Great Earthquakes

I've been reading Psalm 46 lately. The first 3 verses read "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging"..

The led me to reflect on another verse Luke 21:11- "There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places and fearful events and great signs from heaven". The word "great" in talking about earthquakes could be more literally translated "mighty and violent".

Of course, one thought leads to another. Given the recent earhquakes in the news lately, that made me wonder. Are there really more earthquakes today than in previous years? I decided to look it up on the internet. They say the internet knows everything, right?

I found several sites showing earthquake data, all of them showed the same things. Indeed, there's MUCH more earthquake activity than at any time in recorded history. In fact, the number of strong earthquakes today is well over 10 times higher than any year before 1995. We've gone from an average of 5 quakes a year worldwide, to almost 70. Here's how the numbers break down..

Year Num
==== ====
2009 66
2008 41
2007 55
2006 33
2005 49
2004 48
2003 69
2002 45
2001 7
2000 7
1999 13
1998 10
1997 6
1996 1
1995 5
.
.
.

Before 1995, there were between 1 to 5 per year. That's quite a jump! Could it be the prophecy of Jesus is coming true? I think it's very likely. Why would Jesus give us a sign to look for, if it wasn't really a sign? Given the things going on in the world right now, I wouldn't doubt we're close to the end. It's best to be prepared.

"It's like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch. Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back— whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping". (Mark 13:34-36)

Seek the Lord

Seek the LORD while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD and He will have compassion on him; to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. (Isaiah 55:6-7)

For several years, I've had an occasional "vision". It usually comes during an extended devotional time. You might call it a very intense daydream. In the vision, I see our country falling apart. Some would argue it's falling apart now. Well, in many ways it is. But I'm referring to REALLY falling apart. Imagine grocery stores with no food, gas stations with no gas, people starving, gangs looting, total and rampant lawlessness, with no police or military around to do anything about it. Know that's a scary prophesy, but that's what I see down the road.

Strange as it sounds, I believe we're headed for a major societal breakdown. I also believe this period has been prophesied for thousands of years. In the Bible, it's called the Great Tribulation. I'm becoming more and more convinced we're headed toward the end of the world as we know it. I'm not planning to make a sign saying "THE END IS NEAR", but I do believe we are headed down a VERY rough road. Beside preparing for hard times, I believe every Christian should be seeking God with their WHOLE heart. As John the Baptist would say, "Prepare ye the way for the Lord, make His paths straight". Indeed, if there's ever been a time people should draw closer to God, this IS that time.

Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation".. But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness. (2 Peter 3-11)