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The End is Near. Maybe.

I’m not one of those doomsday prophets who predict worldwide collapse whenever a terrorist fires a homemade rocket at Israel.  Some church-goers think that way; perhaps it’s from their interpretation of prophecy, or from over-exposure to The Left Behind Series, or whatever.

Could the current (and ongoing, for, let’s see, my whole lifetime, at least) conflict between Israel and the people surrounding her escalate into a larger war? Sure. Could that all be tied to end times Bible prophecy?  Sure.

One Term You Ought to Know

Have you ever been in conversation with an “industry expert” who utters words, abbreviations, and phrases you’ve never heard?  I remember when I first began to research investments: P/E ratio?  Beta?  Volatility?  Selling short?   ROE?  It was almost enough to make me hang it up.

But I stuck with it, and while I’m no financial expert, I'm basically up to speed on the smart-sounding lingo.

Sometimes I think churches create a similar barrier; a language barrier between the religious and the not-so-religious.  

Serious Wake Up Call

Has God ever gotten a message to you, specifically?

It doesn’t happen often; typically God speaks to us via the Bible, as we open and study it.  His Word gets specific to us when we apply what we learn to our daily lives.

But imagine this: you’re reading the Bible, perhaps not quite as focused as you ought to be, when your name appears in the text.  Not just someone else who has your name.  Your name. Like God is, in front of all the millions of other Bible readers, giving you a message.

Would you pay attention?

They Put THAT in the Bible?

I like the book of Ecclesiastes.  It’s a book of the Bible that makes people uncomfortable, and I suppose that’s why I like it.  After all, where else in the Good Book are you going to find statements like, “Eat, drink and be merry, because tomorrow you’ll die”?  Or even better, “Live happily with the woman you love through all the meaningless days of life that God has given you in this world!”

What?

Missing the Point

The most widely studied sermon in history is, without doubt, Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.  In it, he sets forth what we could call his “kingdom constitution,” the new world order (that should have been the order all along, until mankind messed it up).  It serves as a blueprint for what life under Christ’s rule should look like, and gives Christians a great place to begin building character and determining priorities.

You have heard from the Sermon on the Mount before; many “old sayings” in our culture are lifted directly from Matthew 5-7.

Why Bother with Christmas?

Running up the credit balance, standing in line, rushing to get the cards out, overeating just a little, putting the decorations up before its time to take them down – for many, that’s what Christmas is all about.  For others, the holiday season is painful, a time of mourning lost loved ones and old memories.

So, why bother with Christmas?

Of course it goes beyond tinsel and tree lights, wrapping paper and sugar cookies.  It even goes beyond family togetherness and holiday cheer.  Christmas is a time to reflect on something so bright with wonder that only the blindest of eyes can miss its brilliance and beauty.  And it is this light – this magnificent, history-splitting display -- that makes Christmas worth celebrating.

The event?  

Bringing Christmas to Life

Are the holidays alive to you?  Or is the Christmas spirit reserved for fictitious characters in warm-hearted movies?  We all know what Christmas is supposed to feel like, complete with sugary snacks and deep feelings of family togetherness.

But the realists among us only feel our spirits lifted by a ballooning credit card bill, a spouse that remembers a long lost relative who “needs” a gift (there goes another $45), and an ever expanding Christmas card list.  We feel pressure to buy, pressure to impress in-laws, pressure to do something Christmasy with the kids, and even pressure to create happy memories.

Not that all of that is bad.  Some of us need a little push to keep us from scrooging our way through the end of the year.  But is there a secret to really “feeling” Christmas, instead of just singing about it?

Practice Your Multiplication

O.K., math whiz, see if you can crunch these integers: let’s imagine that you helped one person get to know God personally this year.  That is, you shared your faith in Jesus and the person responded by saying, “Yes, I want that too, I’ll become a Christian.” 

That person, excited about his new faith, shares it with someone else the following year, who then passes it on, and on, and on.  This scenario repeats itself for fifteen years.  That means that you had an effect on fourteen people (and their families).  That’s a fairly significant impact, when you think about eternity.  Those fourteen didn’t just have their lives changed, they had their eternal destiny changed; they found joy, hope, purpose, and love! 

Now, sharpen your pencils. What if...

Forbidden Fruit = Death?

Most of us are familiar with the story of “original sin.”  Adam and Eve in the perfect Garden of Eden…the serpent-tempter shows up…Eve caves to the temptation and eats a piece of fruit…then, bammo!  Condemnation to eternal death!

Sounds a little harsh, doesn’t it? 

What would make Adam and Eve’s rule-breaking so egregious that it warranted capital punishment, not only for them, but for all their descendents? 

Living a Heavenly Life?

“O believe the record true; God to you His Son hath given!  Ye may now be happy too, Find on earth the life of heaven.”

The great hymn-writer Charles Wesley penned these words ages ago, and I fear that over those ages, we’ve lowered our expectations of what life can be like.  Wesley wasn’t content with just getting along in life.  He wasn’t waiting until the glories of heaven delivered him from the surly bonds of earthen sadness.  He was as excited as ever to face each day, knowing that because of Christ, he didn’t need to wait for heaven to experience it.

Today, we still believe heaven will be an exciting place, but this world?  We just have to take what we can get, right?