The Raptor

Matthew 24

36"But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. 37 For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 40Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. 42Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. 44Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

If you are anything like me then you probably have the same reaction when someone that you enjoy talking to says those lovely words “what do you believe about end time events” or something of the like. For the most part everybody seems to feel the same way, which I have found that to be either that they are alone in their belief (or at least that there are few that totally agree with them). Or they think everyone is on the same page with them which seems to come from people who haven't looked into it very much. The age old argument of the timing (pre, mid, post), is relevant (in the proper times) because often times it is shaped by or from your view of other scriptures. However, it doesn't seem to be wise to use all your energy on these points missing the end result entirely.

I am no scholar in this area (or most areas). There is little for me to offer except the wonderful words that Christ will return. So many of us dive into end times hoping to find a great ending or more to the story than we knew was there, when yes, we do have the end of the story! Christ returns Triumphantly (1 Tim. 6:14-16). He comes to bring a glorious end for His glory (not for ours, which is a way better party to attend). He does not create earth, manage it for a bit and then leave it as it is. Christ returns, and when He does it will be a day of celebration when our blessed hope comes to redeem His people and we can worship Him in His presence.

Our belief on the end times might be irrelevant for this post (Since I'm not going to tell you my belief's), but I am in no way attempting to direct your attention away from the passages that speak on end times. In fact quite the opposite, if it is in the bible it needs to be studied. I will say that I find it beneficial while looking into the end times to keep the rest of the passage from Matthew 24 in mind which is where I personally was attempting to direct attention to.

45"Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? 46 Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. 47Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. 48But if that wicked servant says to himself, 'My master is delayed,' 49and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, 50the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know 51and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

This is the encouragement that I get... The Master will return. Glory will be given to Christ, Justice and Mercy have met at cross and will be reflected upon on that day when it is in the final state.

Lets work hard for Christ. I find time moves faster when I'm doing productive things.

The Power of the Cross

So after reading Steven's post yesterday I was thinking a bit about the power of the cross. So, this post is just a response to yesterday's thoughts with a hymn from keith and kristen getty.


Oh, to see the dawn
Of the darkest day:
Christ on the road to Calvary.
Tried by sinful men,
Torn and beaten, then
Nailed to a cross of wood.

This, the pow'r of the cross:
Christ became sin for us;
Took the blame, bore the wrath—
We stand forgiven at the cross.

Oh, to see the pain
Written on Your face,
Bearing the awesome weight of sin.
Ev'ry bitter thought,Ev'ry evil deed
Crowning Your bloodstained brow.

Now the daylight flees;
Now the ground beneath
Quakes as its Maker bows His head.
Curtain torn in two,
Dead are raised to life;
"Finished!" the vict'ry cry.

Oh, to see my name
Written in the wounds,
For through Your suffering I am free.
Death is crushed to death;
Life is mine to live,
Won through Your selfless love.

This, the pow'r of the cross:
Son of God—slain for us.
What a love! What a cost!
We stand forgiven at the cross.

Wisdom, Folly, and Truth

If you have ever attempted to give testimony of the gospel to a lost person you have probably heard something like the following response, “Well, that may be true for you but I have my own beliefs and they are true for me.” This kind of response comes from a post-modern worldview; which tells us that any non-testable truth claim is subjective and, therefore, cannot be applied to every person universally.

In some ways this way of thinking is a good thing. Every time we see or experience the rotten fruit of Islamic fundamentalism we should be glad that America allows the freedom to adhere to any truth as long as it doesn’t break certain moral laws. The belief in relative truth has its own way of encouraging some humility in the public square where ideas are shared.

On the other hand, this view of truth mostly comes straight out of secularism which says that God does not exist (or at least we cannot know that He exists) and man is the authority for judging truth and falsity. It is a view that comes straight out of Romans 1:21 by which man suppresses the truth about God by claiming ignorance on the most important matters.

What I want to do here is spend a little time looking at one example in Scripture of the interplay between subjective and objective truth. Perhaps I do have my own truth and you have yours but what I want us to see is the truth that really matters. I also want us to see how we might apply that truth to our evangelistic ministry.

“For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1 Cor. 1:18 ESV)

Notice how Paul addresses things throughout this chapter and especially in this particular verse. There are wise people and there are fools. The strange thing about these two types of people is that they are exactly the opposite of what one would expect to read. The bad guys with whom Paul completely disagrees are called wise. The good guys who have given up everything to follow Christ are called fools. Why is that?

The reason is because Paul is looking at these two kinds of people from the perspective of the lost. They are wise in their own eyes and have, according to Romans 1:22, become fools. So subjectively Paul is able to say that the message of the cross is folly in the eyes of the one group.

On the other side we have the fools. Why are they fools? From the standpoint of the lost it is because they have given up their lives in service to this mysterious God of the low and despised. From another perspective we can say that they are fools because that is what they are apart from Christ who chose them in order to shame the wise (see 1 Corinthians 1:27). To these foolish people the message of the cross is the power of God to save them.

So here we have two groups with opposing truth claims. They are completely at odds and there appears to be no way of reconciling their worldviews. However, we can consider that someone is writing this story. There is one who is telling us about these two groups and how they think. In the same breath by which Paul tells us what the wise man says and what the foolish man says he tells us what is really happening to them…objectively! The truth is that the wise man is in reality the perishing man and the fool is the one being saved.

Unfortunately in our day we will do almost anything to convince the wise man of the truth of the gospel by using his own “wisdom.” Some appeal to scientific evidence while others try philosophical arguments. Others just do whatever they can to get you in the doors of a church so they can show you how much better Jesus is for your emotional well-being. But verse 17 says “Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.”

The power of the cross is its ability to save. If we try to take the form of a fellow truth-suppressor we will only convert them to a slightly different form of rebellion against God. We might have more theistic heathens but in the end there won’t be anymore knees bowing to Jesus (unless God is so kind as to convert them despite an unbiblical presentation of the gospel).

My encouragement to you is to remember as you do apologetics and try to reach out to people that you don’t try to do it in a cunning persuasive way. Show people you care about them, show them that the Bible answers the questions they have (even the deep ones), but in the end let them accept or reject the truth of the cross. It isn’t up to you to convert souls, it is up to you to speak the truth of the gospel. The rest is up to God.

Grace and Peace,
Stephen

Go Hard or Go Home

As I looked at the areas of my life within my youth group, I saw something that concerned me; people (myself included) seemed to have lost their view of ministry. I mean every Wednesday we go to youth group, every Sunday we go to church, and occasionally we might visit a detention center. But it seems that for the most part we do not have the right definition of ministry.

When we hear the word ministry, we think of missionaries or of when we go on short-term mission trips; but that's only a part of what ministering is about. Ministering can be done anywhere.

I think most of us think that when we show up on Wednesdays and Sundays that we are there for ourselves; so that we can learn. That's not the case! Yes, God wants you to learn about Him and draw closer to Him, but that time is about ministering as well. Sometimes we fall into the thinking that everyone in our church is a Christian. This is a false thinking, and they need God just as much as the people in a detention center or someone in Africa who has never heard the name of Christ.

So what do we do? First you need to change your view. Sundays and Wednesdays are not just for yourself. Paul, when stuck in jail was sending letters, not to unbelievers, but to churches that needed to be reminded how to rightly think about God! Ephesians is a great example of that. In chapter 4, he talks to them about the unity in the body. He is ministering to other believers telling them to minister and serve their brothers(other believers)!

This is not to say that being a missionary or going on short-term missions are not important; they are, but so is serving your brothers and sisters in your church. Lastly I want to post two verses of Lecrae's "Go Hard". He gives examples of ministry over seas and how our view of ministry should be wherever we are.

Chorus

Go Hard or Go Home
Lord Use Me Up


Verse 1

Lord kill me If I don't preach the gospel
I'm still in my 20's- but I'll die if I got to
Already dead- so forget my flesh
I done been crossed over see the full court press
I'm a full court mess if the Lord don't use me

Running from my trials thinkin everythangs groovy
If the Cross don't move me then I don't wanna breath no mo

If I ain't seeing Christ potna I don't wanna see no mo
Rep every day withouth worrying about bruising
I been to china mayne I seen some real persecution
If U didn't know em would ya life look the same
Can they tell you value Jesus by the way you rep his name?
Man what's the point of living if I'm living for myself
Lord empty out my life before I put you on the shelf So for God I got Hard I don't' wanna die tonight
It's too many people living who ain't heard about my Christ


Verse 2

Went to Asia had to duck and hide-for Sharin my faith
They tell me water it downwhen I get back to states
They say tone the music down you might sell a lot a records
But it's people out here dying and none of em heard the message
Took my wifey on mission trip - central america
Shared her testimony 40 people stood and stared at her
When she said Jesus shoulda seen it was insane cause 40 out of 40 never heard of Jesus name
Aw mayne we ain't focused on the war we just kickin it
Worried bout our image and our space up on the internet

Take me out the game coach
I don't wanna play no mo
If can't give it all I got and leave it out there on the court
Thank you for the Grace for the will and the desire
Got me
Living for your glory stead of living to retire
But I pray I'll never tire of Going hard for Messiah
I don't need no motivation You the reason I'm inspired.

Love and Wrath

Exodus 34: 6."The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, 'The Lord, The Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfullness'". Isaiah 5:25. "Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against his people, and he stretched out his had against them and struck them, and the mountains quaked; and their corpses were as refuse in the midst of the streets. For all his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still." Before i start out i would like to mention that both of these texts were in the midst of events happening in the Old Testament. I am using them today not as a part of the stories that they are in, but more so as examples to point out, the love and wrath of God.


To put it simply, the love and wrath of God go together, you can't have one without the other. If you take away the wrath of God then you have watered down christianity, and if you take away the love of God i don't think may people would want to be christians. it is more common to have the idea that God is all love and He couldn't possibly have wrath as an attribute. If that were the case, it would look like this: God is ok with sin, and feels no need to rebuke sin, and ultimately that God is no God at all. Why? because God can't be ok with sin. If we think this, then we have a distorted view of God...righteousness can't have any dealings with unrighteousness. It isn't possible for a Holy and Righteous God to have any part with sin. So now heres a dilema...


We are by nature sinners and deserving of Gods wrath! oh my goodness what are we going to do? Nothing. There is nothing we can do to save ourselves. So the story gets a little depressing at this point because we can' t do anything to make God change His mind about our sinful state and we certainly can't will Him to take away His wrath. But He can do something. He can satisfy His Wrath, by giving us his Son as a sacrifice, thus by giving us this sacrifice we are introduced to God's Love. Romans 8:3 "By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit." So Christ, who knew no sin, became sin for us, so that we might be saved. Jesus satisfied the wrath of God by taking on man's sin. and Gods love is shown by giving us Christ as our covering.


and hence the love and wrath of God.

The Glue

This above image is not designed to poke fun at anyone (except maybe the occasional poorly crafted "as seen on tv ad")

Colossians 1:15-20
It’s amazing to sit and dwell on Colossians covering a multitude of subjects regarding the Christian Church. My most commonly visited section is typically Chapter 3 (Colossians 3:12-17) in study through putting off the old self and placing on the new and then continuing into an out pouring of worship (16-17) in everything you do.


While reading through John Pipers book Spectacular Sins I came upon something that really intrigued me and was not a new thought but simply something I’ve heard many times that just astounds me. Piper was going through Colossians 1:15-20 and began going through verses 16-17. “For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”


What a thought to dwell on during the day as the clock slowly ticks away (or speedily zooms as mine tends too), Christ created everything for Himself. Nothing was created as a stand alone. I was thinking back to when Sarah (my wife) and I went to the aquarium in Dallas we went to see the Jellyfish. Those creatures that are unseen in the wild most of the hours in a day are not stand alone creations to glory in themselves or to gain glory. These were made for Christ and for His Glory alone.

This was even further enhanced when I looked at the new Hubble space photo’s after they gave it some new technology (its like the difference you see when you get your first pair of glasses). The earth isn’t big enough to tell the story of God’s greatness.

The rulers and authorities are simply created beings... all created for one purpose, to glorify the King whether they acknowledge it or not.
And not only is it created through Him and for Him, but there is nothing to fear because He holds it all together. Nothing goes uncreated, unnoticed, unknown to the triune God of the universe.

In Christ

Comforts

In light of all the blessings that have been showered upon the children of God; how thankful should we be? We should be people who are overflowing with praises to the Father of Lights. We should be known for our gratitude! Here is a passage from the collection of Puritan prayers, "The Valley of Vision", that has helped in stirring up my heart to gratitude.

"Giver of all good,
Streams upon streams of love overflow my path.
Thou hast made me out of nothing,
hast recalled me from a far country,
has translated me from ignorance to knowledge,
from darkness to light,
from death to life,
from misery to peace,
from folly to wisdom,
from error to truth,
from sin to victory.

Thanks be to thee for my high and holy calling.
I bless thee for ministering angels,
for the comfort of thy Word,
for the ordinances of thy church,
for the teaching of thy Spirit,
for the holy sacraments,
for the communion of saints,
for Christian fellowship,
for the recorded annals of holy lives,
for examples sweet to allure,
for beacons sad to deter.

Thy will is in all thy provisions
to enable me to grow in grace, and to be meet for thy eternal presence.
My heaven-born faith gives promise of eternal sight,
my new birth a pledge of never-ending life.

I draw near to thee, knowing thou wilt draw near to me.
I ask of thee, believing thou hast already given.
I entrust myself to thee, for thou hast redeemed me.
I bless and adore thee, the eternal God,
for the comfort of these thoughts,
the joy of these hopes."
- "Comforts", pg. 166 from "The Valley of Vision"