| Whatsoever
Things Are True
by Dan Coburn Pastor, Emmanuel Baptist Church pastordan@mtida.net The Perfect Storm: Ladies think about it more than you think they do. Men are nearly consumed by it. It is on their minds and in their hearts. The Bible tells us: "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks", and when you gather with men at the water cooler at work, coffee shop, barber shop or even at work, this topic will inevitably come up. "What's wrong with our country? What's wrong with people? What's wrong with us? The common theme runs from despair to near terror and may manifest itself as benignly as mild disappointment or as severely as physical sickness. Our dads talked about it in passing or even jokingly, but for us it has mutated to something much larger; more looming. We differ on the recognition of severity, and even argue about the root cause, but to the man, we know something is terribly wrong. We certainly recognize it as a worldwide problem, but grieve over the toll it is taking on our beloved America. In a very short while, we won't even be able to describe to our grandchildren what the America we grew up in was like. It will be unrecognizable. There are things we did as kids w/out giving them a second thought, which are now either unsafe or illegal. Examples: My mom used to load us all up in a 61 dodge phoenix and take us to the drive-in movies. We spent most of our time at the playground in our footsie jammies unattended with never a second thought to danger. Can't do that now. I used to go out for hours as a youth with my .22 shooting whatever would stand still. There wasn't a fishing season in most places, you just fished. These are benign compared to what is common place today. As Advertised, "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 patents, unthankful, unholy. Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good. Traitors, heady highminded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God:" - 2nd Tim. 3:1-4 We do, in our legal system as well as morally, call evil good and good evil. Even those who are not particularly spiritual recognize and lament this. I hear talk of everything from relocation to civil war nearly every day. What shall we do?? Well I can only give the Christian Perspective, and to do that, we must turn the Spiritual Switch: If you are not a Christian, this is going to seem like paranoia to you. But for a Christian, there is an all out, I'm not ashamed anymore - frontal attack on everything Godly. This manifests itself as an attack on the Church, the Bible, and ultimately Christians as His ambassadors. May I encourage you my brothers and sisters? The Apostle Paul was under house arrest in Acts 28, awaiting certain martyrdom. He had spent all of his Christian life either fleeing or under the effects of persecutions. He had been beaten to within a breath of life several times, stoned to death (yes I said that), and was now in a country that hated his God, worshiped created things, thought of the government as a god, and had outlawed Christianity. Hmm? So whatever happened? Paul exposed their hypocrisy and revealed their additions to the Scriptures as well as their selfish hearts. But the reaction of the people from God's perspective (which is supposed to be ours - Phill 2:5) was telling. "But we desire to her of thee what thou thinkest: for as concerning this sect (Christianity), we know that every where it is spoken against." vs 22 The more it was suppressed, the more people longed to hear it. The more (historically) the Gospel is persecuted, the more it grows. It is growing now - no, it is exploding in places it is against the law such as Indonesia or Mongolia. I tell you Church, these are more than exciting times. We locally are seeing people saved regularly. There are baptisms, and folks committing to God in greater - more complete ways. No, we are "more than conquers in Christ". Bring on the storm. |
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