August 27 - Non-Prophet Organizations

Non-Prophet Organizations

“No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” 

Listening to the radio the other day, I heard something that caught my attention.  Can’t tell you who said it or the station, but it was one of those “cud quotes” you just keep on chewing.  The speaker said, “Seems as if everyone wants to be a prophet these days…but no one wants to be a disciple.”  Ouch!  Like one of those paint balls pounding on the back of the leg, it had sort of a lingering  sting.  But, ain’t it the truth?

End-time prophecies are all the rage.  Some Christians might even consider “Prophets Anonymous.”  In many cases, it’s a borderline addiction.  (“Hello, my name is Steve…and I’m an end-times prophet.”)  Bible sleuths, both professional and amateur, past and present, and near and far, have been trying to understand our days like a 500 piece jigsaw puzzle.  About the same way golf has soared in popularity, most people feel they might as well take a “hack” at it.  And hack they do.  They reason, “If I study hard enough, then maybe I can crack the code of Christ’s return.”

Dwight L. Moody, the famous evangelist, once got onto C.I. Scofield, the Bible expositor, for his overzealous nature of Biblical intellectualism.  He mentioned that Scofield’s intense preoccupation with the academic side of the Christian faith brought the danger of losing his heart of discipleship.  The same could be said for the students of the second coming. (Especially dogmatic pre-ers, mid-ders, and post-ers.)

For decades, people have been trying to figure out when Jesus would return.  Dates from 1914 to 1968 to 1982 to 1988 to 1992 to the year 2012, these theological office pools have been wrong.  Some were so convinced that they sold their belongings and headed for the tops of mountains.  I guess mountains give them a head-start to heaven.

Grant Jeffreys, in his book, Countdown to Armageddon, gave factual and convincing evidence for the fact that the Tribulation would start in 1993 and be completed in the year 2000 based on chronological data and calendars connected to the book of Daniel.  Christ’s birth and Israel’s rebirth as a nation.  Either the Tribulation is not as bad as we thought or he missed it.  Hal Lindsay, foremost expert on prophecy, gives great insight into Revelation and prophetic verses but also has been wrong a time or two on the timing of future events.  And again, Tim LaHaye’s bestselling books and movies (starring Nicolas Cage) are sweeping across the nation with breakneck speed and creating newfound interest in these age-old questions of dates and details.

The reason that guesses on such topics as Christ’s return are so futile is because of a simple verse in Mark 13:32 which says, “No one knows about that day or hour,  l, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”  (I looked up “no one” in the original Greek language and the word actually is translated “no one.”) So as much as we try to guess, it is really nothing more than optimistic wishing.

Now, don’t misunderstand me.  I am not advocating ignoring prophetic research and refusing to keep our heads perched heavenward.  Christians should always keep one eye in the sky.  But, true effectiveness in the kingdom requires that we commit to love Jesus and let God handle the rest in His timing.  C.S. Lewis used to say, “Plan as if the Lord isn’t going to come for 50 years, but live as if He’s coming today.”  Sounds like good discipleship, if you ask me.”

Terry Risser

Reflections:

1)     How do you feel about Christ’s return?

2)     Do you find yourselves keeping an eye on heaven?

Copyright 2014- Terry Risser

 

Consider reading the Word today:

AUgust 26 - A God’s-Eye View

A God’s-Eye View

“Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.”

1 Corinthians 13:12

Whether we know it or not, God is constantly desiring to help us to see from a broader perspective than we presently see.  Inherent within the Scriptures is the idea that we have great limitations.   We read that in 1 Corinthians 13:12, when Paul says, “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.”

As a parent, you understand this truth in comparison to your children. Sometimes you have to make decisions on larger facts.  Kids may not understand.  As a leader, you understand this truth.  You make a decision based on 100% of the information.  Others may have 40% and question why you did that.  God has to do the same thing with us.  He has the full perspective of what is going on.  We have only a partial perspective. 

But part of the Christian life is learning to expand our perspective to see that God is working something far greater than we understand and trust Him.  Philippians 4:4, Paul writes, “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, “Rejoice.” In other words, Paul is telling us when you have a limited perspective, life is going to take control of you. But when you have a larger or broader perspective, you will find yourself in control of your circumstances.  Paul was facing hardship.  Yet he still is able to say, “Rejoice and rejoice again,” because he sees from God’s perspective.

In G.W. Target’s short story, “The Window,” we understand this better.  He tells about two men, both seriously ill, who occupied the same small hospital room.  One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs.  His bed was next to the room’s only window.  He would look out of it.  The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back.  The men talked for hours on end.  They spoke about everything.  Wives and families.  Homes.  Jobs. Involvement in the military.  Where they vacationed.  Every afternoon, when the man in the bed could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window.

The man in the other bed began to live for those one hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the outside world. He was always encouraged.  The window overlooked the park with a lovely lake, the man said. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats.  Lovers walked arm in arm amid flowers of every color of the rainbow.  Grand old trees graced the landscape.  A fine view of the city skylight could be seen in the distance.  As the man in the window described all this in exquisite detail, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene.

One warm afternoon the man by the window described a parade passing by.  Although the other man couldn’t hear the band, he could see it in his mind’s eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words.  Unexpectedly, an alien thought entered his head:  Why should he have all the pleasure of seeing everything while I never get to see anything?  It didn’t seem fair.  As the thought fermented, the man felt ashamed at first.  But as days passed and he missed more sights, his envy eroded into resentment and soon turned him sour.  He began to brood and he found himself unable to sleep.  He should be by the window.  Late one night as he lay staring at the ceiling, the man by the window began to cough.  He was choking on the fluid in his lungs.  The other man watched the dimly lit room as the struggling man by the window groped for the button to call for help.  Listening from across the room, he never moved, never pushed his own button, which would have brought the nurse running. In less than five minutes the coughing and choking stopped, along with the sound of breathing.  Now there was only silence.  

The following morning the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths.  When she found the lifeless body of the man by the window, she was saddened and called the hospital attendants to take it away.   As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the window.  The nurse was happy to make the switch.  After making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.  Slowly and painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look.  Finally, he would have the joy of seeing it all himself.  He strained to look out the window beside the bed.   It faced a blank wall.

The first man had the ability to imagine and picture in his mind greater things than actually existed.   He was describing in details what he had hoped for.  The first thing Paul tells us is that whatever the conditions that we have been in, are in, or will be in, we are able to choose to rejoice.  For the person who has a relationship with Christ, joy has nothing to do with our circumstances and everything to do with our position in Christ.   The problem we have is that we are often like the thermostat, rather than being a thermometer.

But Paul reminds us that the key is through perspective.  He writes, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” In other words, regardless of what is taking place on the outside, as believers in Christ Jesus, you always have a reason to rejoice.  And if that is how God sees it, that is how we need to see it.

Terry Risser

Reflections:

1)  Why do we lose sight of the good things God is doing?

2)  What can you thank Him for today that He might be working in the dark?

Consider reading the Word today:

 

Copyright 2014- Terry Risser

August 25 - Wanted: Strength For The Weary

Wanted:  Strength For The Weary

“Don’t grow weary in doing well for, in due season, you will reap a bountiful harvest.”  Galatians 6:5

Life is often exhausting.  Even with all the time-saving devices being produced, it seems to get more active all the time.  It requires a lot of strength, a lot of energy to live life, especially when you're trying to do the right thing rather than the easiest thing. 

                       

There are a lot of people in life that don't try to do the right thing; they                                just want to do whatever's the easiest thing.  Some people try to coast through life  and they always do the easiest thing. But when you're coasting, you're always going downhill.

On the other hand, when you try to do the right thing even though it's not                         the easiest thing, that requires energy.  That requires effort and strength.  Many of you are the only believer where you work.  It's tough.  Do you ever get tired of doing what's right? Sure.  Because it's tough moving against the flow, swimming  upstream.  One author said, “When all the culture is going one way and you're trying to do the right thing, it's tough. 

Young William Wilberforce, the godly English politician who brought the abolition of slavery in Great Britain before we achieved it in the United States,  was discouraged one night in the early 1790s after another defeat in his 10 year battle against the slave trade in England. Tired and frustrated, he opened his Bible and began to leaf through it. A small piece of paper fell out and fluttered to the floor. It was a letter written by John Wesley shortly before his death.  Wilberforce read it again:
                                

It said, “Unless the divine power has raised you up... I see not how you can go through your glorious enterprise in opposing that  (abominable practice of slavery), which is the scandal of religion, of England, and of human nature. Unless God has raised you up for this very thing, you will be worn out by the opposition of men and devils. But if God be for you, who can be against you? Are all of them together stronger than God? Oh, be not weary of well-doing. Go on in the name of God, and in the power of His might."
                                

When you know God has His hand upon you, you can find grace for every situation.   Wilberforce, whose story was featured in the film "Amazing Grace" with the song’s author, John Newton, helped overcome slavery in England almost 70 years before we abolished it in the United States

                                    

The more you try to do what's right, the more energy it's going to require. 

Yet God says, "Let us not grow weary in doing right for we will reap a harvest of blessing if we do not give up."  But where do you get the power to do the right thing, and you don't feel like doing it, and you're dead tired? 

There was probably no man who was the most persistent man ever to live than Moses.  He kept going in spite of the fact that he spent 40 years waiting in the wilderness and then forty years wandering in the wilderness with the complaining and murmuring of the Israelites.  Each step of the way he was led by the Cloud by Day and the Pillar of Fire by Night. 

A close second would be Noah, who spent 120 years building an ark while being pelted with questions from obstructionists who thought he needed a psychiatrist.  How did he not give up? How did he not get tired and quit?   While his protective covering would come in the big boat he would build, it would first come from a Big God

 who would protect him.  The Bible says he had God's  grace....and so do we. 

2 Corinthians 1 says, "It is God who gives us the ability to stand firm for Christ.  He has commissioned us and He has identified us as His own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts."  Feel like giving up today?  Don’t do it.  There is a harvest coming your way as God promises to sustain you and complete the work that He has begun in you.  Let His strength become yours today…all you have to do is ask.

Terry Risser

Reflections:

1)     When do you most feel like giving up?

2)     How do you find strength to continue on?

Consider reading the Word today:

 

Copyright 2014- Terry Risser

August 24 - Polka-Dotted Grace

Polka-Dotted Grace

 “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.”  1 Peter 1:6

“A rose is rose by any other name” and we’d probably all agree.  But having a penchant for the obvious, I would have to say, “A thorn is a thorn by any other name” as well.  Call them what you will, but they always have the same effect.

Peter saw them as “sufferings.” (1 Peter 5:9)  Asaph referred to them as “burdens.”  (Psalm 73:5)  James?  He likes to use  the word “trials.” (James 1:2)  John would transpose them as “afflictions.”  (Revelation 2:9)  And Paul…like a veteran umpire just called ‘em as he saw ‘em.  They was just plain ol’ “thorns” to him.  (2 Corinthians 12:7)

Those circumstances and challenges of life that steal the prize out of our proverbial cereal boxes and make our Top “Bad Hair Day” List. Everything from devastating hits to modest irritations, we’ve all been there at one time or another…wondering “What in the world would come out of this?”

Considering some of the sometimes awfully amusing evidence:

-In 1992, Franks Perkins of Los Angeles made an attempt on the world flagpole sitting record.  Suffering from the flu he came down eight hours short of the 400-day record.  His sponsor had gone bust, his girlfriend had left him and his phone and electricity had been cut off.

-The Iraqi terrorist, Khay Rahnajet, didn’t pay enough postage on a letter bomb.  It came back with “return to sender” stamped on it.  Forgetting it was the bomb, he opened it and was blown to bits.

-But the best came when a woman came home to find her husband in the kitchen, shaking frantically with what looked like a wire running from his waist toward the electric kettle.  Intending to jolt him away from the deadly current, she whacked him with a handy plank of wood by the back door, breaking his arm in two places.  Till that moment, he had been happily listening to his “music device.”

Whether they are self-inflicted, nature-inflicted, God-inflicted, others-inflicted, or enemy inflicted isn’t so much the point.  We can become so preoccupied through asking the “Why’s” and “Who’s” and “Where’s” and “When’s” and “How’s” that we completely lose track of the “What’s.”  While these ideas have merit when it comes to alleviating more gasoline being thrown on the fire, the secret of success of passing the test of life’s trials comes through seeing what God can do in using that experience to bring us closer to Him.

Maybe it’s the diagnosis of cancer, a closed vocational door, a runaway child, a failing marriage, a dwindling business, an obstinate co-worker or an asphyxiating financial circumstance.  God wants us to ask, “Lord, what are you working in me through this trial?”

In 1 Peter 1:6,7, the aging Apostle writes, “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.  These have come so that your faith- of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire-may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”  The word “all kinds” means “multi-faceted” or “various.”  Its original root meant “poiki-loi,” “polka-dotted” or “colorfully striped” as is used in  Joseph’s coat.

But we are reminded for every polka-dotted or colorfully striped trial, there is a polka-dotted and colorfully striped grace to carry us through.  (2 Corinthians 12:9)  No “if’s,” “and’s,” or “but’s” about it.  And spiritually speaking, it doesn’t hurt to keep your “music device” at a good volume just in case someone sneaks up behind you.

Terry Risser

Reflections:

1)    What is the biggest trial you have faced this year?

2)    How did you experience God’s grace in it?

Consider reading the Word today:

 

Copyright 2014- Terry Risser