Running Away From Truth

I listen to the world. By that I mean I am constantly observing what the thought process and challenges of our culture are i.e., what is being said, what is deemed OK or inappropriate. I can get very discombobulated over the evil that floods our culture, the values so lacking, the ethics so corrupted, the direction of so many that seems destructive. I bring this up only because the opening of Thessalonians 2, reminds me that Paul saw what was going to happen to the unbeliever. He lays it out in a clear picture. It is not pretty. He states: “And God will provide rest for you who are being persecuted and also for us when the Lord Jesus appears from heaven. He will come with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, bringing judgment on those who don’t know God and on those who refuse to obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with eternal destruction, forever separated from the Lord and from his glorious power. When he comes on that day, he will receive glory from his holy people—praise from all who believe. And this includes you, for you believed what we told you about him.” Thess.1:7-10

These are the words that we are often unprepared to hear. We do not want to think that our best friend, favorite uncle, nice neighbor or sweet old lady down the street who does not believe or only expresses a lilting belief, could possibly end up in a bale of fire brought on by the Lord. Some who would label themselves Christians, would rail at this and curse it. Liberal Christian churches would say that this is condemning people for no reason. They would scoff at it, as they do most of the Bible, and proclaim that anyone listening to this, has had “religion stuffed down their throats” and are insufferably non-intellectual.

To those who think as such, I have only one answer,” I did not write this stuff. God wrote it. Paul, the apostle (who incidentally most liberal Christians admire) was a guy plucked out of his very hatred of Christians, and was made into the most powerful, influential prognosticator and framer of the faith in Christ Jesus that we have known. He is the writer. He is the one who saw Jesus on the highway as he was traveling, leading his band of Christian haters. He is the one who met with Jesus in some other worldliness that blinded him physically and transformed him spiritually like night into day. He actually spoke with our Lord and our Lord spoke with him.

So how can we doubt what Paul has to say here, with such evidence of divine intervention in his life? I think that it is painful to face the destruction of those whom we know and care about. But why is that many in Christendom, and in the world, are ready to dismiss these proclamations by Paul? Why is it that many churches waft past these words and sort of mumble under their breath, “please do not pay attention to that man and his words.”

The answer is easily identified in our culture. Our culture preaches that there is no shame in anything, and that most things can be forgiven and forgotten. Our culture preaches that we are all going to heaven. It seems, according to common thinking, that this is our god-given right and has become a mantra that many adhere to.

Recently, I caught something on cable about a woman who is a porn star and has lived a really raunchy, sick life. For some reason they interviewed a pastor and he indicated that her life style and her profession and what she did in this profession (which was very extreme) would lead her to a place without God and that she was condemning herself. Then they interviewed her, and some of her friends, who declared that they all thought that she would go to heaven because she was a “a good person and a nice person.” Can you shake your head and roll your eyes?

So the answer the culture provides us is this: if we think we are a good person, and if we have a couple of other people who think we are a good person and if we do some good works, no matter how we live or how we earn our living or if we acknowledge God or not, none of it matters to God. We are destined to for the pearly gates. How sad and destructive our culture is.

Although this is a case of a person who probably has had no religious education, what about those who do and also buy into the same philosophy? Of course I am talking, again, about the liberal sect of Christianity. Each year we see more church denominations crumble under the weight of our culture. A number of years ago, I used to catch the Bill Maher show (by the way, I refuse to ever watch him again). One of his shows stood out for me. He had on Bishop John Spong who was the Episcopal Bishop of Newark, N.J., for 20 years before his retirement in 2000. Spong was on the show with a young woman who happened to be an evangelical Christian. She was a petite woman who hardly could provide a counter weight to the three males on Maher’s panel, including Spong and Maher himself (a great hater of all religion). Of course, it appeared this was the agenda, the fun of watching the little Christian lady dangle above the beasts of liberalism. Maher brought up something about religion. As the young woman declared her belief in Christ and in the fact that not all people would go to heaven, Spong sniffed his nose at her and pronounced, “nobody believes that stuff anymore.” Well, she did, but the bishop of a major denomination in the USA spit on that notion. He, who had been ordained, to present God’s word, had chosen to deny the very word he was asked to uphold.

But that is OK, says our culture, and for those who find liberal Christianity welcoming and non condemning. However, they are forgetting one part of all of that feel good thinking. It is not true. It is not the criteria that God has set up. It is the criteria that man has set up. It is not based on Gods word or on the word of his Son or his many disciples, including the apostle Paul. It is based on a cultures wishful thinking, its desired hopes, its attempting to euphemize the reality that God presents.

Liberal churches in their attempt to fill pews, take the unpleasant idea out of the equation and plant an acceptable lie in the hearts and souls of millions of people. As long as their denomination pronounces that no one need worry about such things, they don’t. All is well.

That is until they pick up a Bible and read it for themselves, maybe for the first time, and then they hear the words of Paul as presented in Thessalonians1: 7-10. Their heads will ask “what is the Truth,” and their hearts will cry out in desperation to finally know and seek God, as He is!
Laurie Erdman

Our Hopeful Future

1 Thessalonians 5:4-28

Paul tells us that we don’t know when the day of the Lord’s return will be and yet declares that we are not in the dark about these things. He even tells us that we will not be surprised when Christ returns, even though we don’t have it penciled in on our calendars.

Still, Paul warns us to be on our guard and to not sleep like those around us. Paul says that since we are in the light, we can be clearheaded and sober. We can think straight. We know the truth, so we need not be deceived by the thoughts, philosophies, or predictions tossed around in society. Our faith in Jesus and the love of God can protect us from the lies and the weapons of deception meant to attack us. The confidence of our salvation is our helmet, protecting our minds. We know that Jesus accomplished His work of salvation for us by His death and resurrection. Whether we die before He returns, or whether we live to see that incredible day, we know our destiny. For God sent His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal, never-ending life.

In these days of uncertainty, as we face wars and rumors of wars, famine in various places of the world, disease, poverty, and all these problems that at times seem insurmountable, we can be confident that our hope is in Jesus. We will continue to work for solutions to these important issues, but we do not look for solutions out of fear. We know that our Savior is coming back for us, and the knowledge of our coming life with him relieves our fears.

The Trumpet of Jesus

I think the year was 1983, and I was on the way to my job at Dayton's in Edina, Minnesota. My brother handed me a cassette tape to play on my way to work, with a short comment that was something like, "This is really cool."

If my memory serves me, the first song on that tape by the Christian group The Imperials filled my baby blue Dodge Magnum with these words:

I listen to the Trumpet of Jesus
While the world hears a different sound
I march to the drumbeat of God Almighty
While the others just wander around
I'm a member of the Holy Ghost traveling band
We're moving on up to a better land
I hear the voice of a Supernatural Singer
Like only those who know Him can

Not only had I never heard contemporary Christian music in my life, but as freshman in college, I can honestly say I had never given much thought to the return of Christ. So here was this cool, new music with Russ Taff's throaty voice singing about listening to and for the trumpet call of God and "moving on up" to be with the Savior.

WOW. For this teenager, raised in the church, this was revolutionary stuff. (Not to mention the wild notion of the Holy Ghost traveling band!) My heart and mind went to places it had never been, but it is the same familiar place I return to when I read 1 Thessalonians 4:

For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the Christians who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.

Fast forward to the early 1990's. I was a young professional woman on a business trip to Chicago. Sitting in a fancy restaurant on Michigan Avenue, a co-worker asked me how I knew that David Koresh, who was at that point leading a group of cult followers in Texas, was not actually Jesus reincarnate, as some were claiming. I remembering smiling to myself, now KNOWING about the trumpet call and believers rising in the air to meet the Savior, and simply saying to her, "Oh, believe me, no one is going to miss it when Jesus comes again."

I look up sometimes. Do you? Do you see cloud patterns that make you wonder if they are actually the prelude to the trumpet call? I think about my dad, who I miss every single day, physically rising up out of his grave to meet with the Savior. And I pray for those I love that they will not be left standing on the ground while the atmospheric reunion is taking place before their very eyes.

Just like 1983, the thought of it is still overwhelming. Joy. Anticipation. Awe. And a renewed desire to "march to the drumbeat of God Almighty."

How Do You Feel About Other Believers?

Just read the lesson first, and then deal with some of the high points.  Do you feel that way about fellow believers?  V. 12 – Urge folk to live the way God would want them to live.  Parents, do that for your kids.  Christians, do that for one another.  Everyone needs encouragement.  V. 13 – How do you understand Paul’s claim that his is the Word of God?  V. 14 – Suffering for the faith.  Most of us know little of that personally, or do we?  What forms are there for suffering beside physical?  V. 17 – Consider Paul’s great love for the people whom he has helped to find Jesus.  Maybe you need to personally thank someone who helped you find Jesus and faith.  V. 20 – You are our pride and joy.  That is Paul’s hallelujah phrase!  How do I actively encourage other Christians?  V. 8 – You are standing firm in the Lord.  Am I?  Are you?  V. 12 – Of all people, Christians ought to be loving.  But are we?  V. 13 – Jesus is coming again?  How do I react to that right now?

 

Donald E. Pardun

 

What's In Your Closet?

Colossians 3:1-17

What’s in your closet?  Sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, greed, anger, rage, malice, slander, filthy, unwholesome & deceitful language?

So what’s in your closet?

Today I think I’ll put on a bit of pride to cover my deep insecurities and anger.  Yah, I know the Lord had forgiven me, but the water cooler talk lately has been juicy and I don’t want tot be left out.  Besides, no one really knows I’m a Christian.

Christian…I’m a Christian…chosen by God to be holy compassionate, kind, humble, gentle, patience and full of peace.  Maybe I shouldn’t hang around the water cooler so much. At least, until I get my closet restocked.

What’s in your closet?

 

Steve Louden