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Jesus said in Matthew 24:10-14, "At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come."
We are at a time when the world is on the verge of total meltdown. Many nations are on the edge of total financial colapse. Many more are facing rebellion and anarchy from tyranical goverenment officials who think they are above the law. People's minds are spinning with fear, confusion and anger at decisions made that constantly lessen their position and standing in the world. I saw a mention on the internet the other day that the writer of the article thought that President Barrak Obama of the United States was the only person in the world that could save the European Common Market. That kind of thinking is the beginning of a thought process that smacks of the anti-christ!
Yesterday we expereinced another brutality at the end of the Boston Marathon! Two bombs were detonated and two or three people were killed! A hundred more were injured! One eight year old boy was killed, his mother severely injured and his sister lost a leg. That is some major carnage within one family. What is the purpose of all of this kind of evil?
I am convinced that every school shooting, every bombing, every scare that is put into the hearts of the masses is just one more attempt to turn off the love that people have for each other. Jesus said, "because of the increase in wickedness, the love of most will grow cold." We are at a time in the United States when referandums are being passed in far too many states to increase wickedness-more and greater abortions, legalized marijuana, gay marriages and the list goes on! Everytime we, as a people, vote to increase wickedness, we take another swipe at the love that people have for each other. Every increase of wickedness is one more destructive blow against love across the world. Is there any wonder that these terrible, dastardly deeds are happening with more and more frequency?
This may sound harsh, and some may say "Unloving!" But what I am about to say is for the sake of some love and some faith prevailing in the end. Liberal Americans are going to keep pushing for every form of wickedness. Stupid Americans will not wise up and will not quit voting wickedness into being. Whiney Americans will continue to blame God every chance they get by asking, "Why would God let something like this happen?" Christian Americans need to get some solid sense of what is coming and begin to stand up for what God loves and His kingdom ways of living. God is right where we will allow Him to be, and He is in control of all that is happening. It is us, as Americans, who are shutting Him out, and it is us who have lost all control for what we want in our lives! Think about it....
Wednesday I began to get a sore throat and a cold was coming back. By Wednesday night I was down for the count. I had a fever and felt terrible. The problem is that this is now a problem that has gone on for over eight weeks! I don't like to have to go through a second round. I hate feeling sick!
But there is something else going on today, too! I don't have any idea why, but I feel like I could strangle the next person that walks in my office. Beside my head hurting with the cold, my heart hurts and I don't know why. What is strange about this is that I am preaching on temptation on Sunday and one of the things that I recognize about giving in on temptation is the feeling of "I just don't give a care about life!" This kind of feeling ususally comes after some kind of tragedy, or argument or disappointment comes along. I have had none of those to push me into this lousy feeling.
So I guess I will follow my own advice to others and just praise God through it. I don't know what is causing this in my spirit, but like David said in Psalm 42:11, "Soul, get over yourself! Put your hope in God and praise him, for he is my Savior and my God!" (Minor Gary paraphrase-but look it up. The paraphrase is pretty close to the original!) So here goes! "Soul, get over yourself and praise your God! He is awesome and worthy of my praise even when I don't feel like praising him!" I'll check back with you in a day or so, but I'm pretty sure it will work! It has before! Think about it...
I was talking with my three year old granddaughter today on the telephone. I asked her what she was doing, and her response was "I don't know!" I asked her if she was being good. She responded, "Yes!" I asked her is she was acting like a princess today, and she responded, "Yes!" So then I told her that she was being a good little girl and acting like a princess! That seemed to go right over her head.
About that time her daddy told her she had to go! I asked if she would give me a kiss! And that is where things got really strange. She said, "No! You can't kiss over the phone." Now that was news to me. I have twelve grandkids that range from 21 to 1! I think if I asked to get a kiss over the phone from anyone of them, they would gladly send one on its way. (The older ones would probably think Grandpa has lost his mind, but I think they would still do it!) Glenda and still send kisses over the phone when we are apart. I sent her a kiss all the way from Haiti last fall. This leaves me with several questions. "When did they change the phone system so that you can't kiss over the phone?" How does this three year old know the rules and Grandpa doesn't? Did I miss some recent change in social protocal? Why haven't my more "hip" children been keeping me informed about these things?
Times are changing! As I find myself getting older, the more I find things just aren't what they used to be. I know that I will probably never feel the thrill of running across the outfield and catching a fly ball. I know that I will probably never be able to read a book again without my glasses. I know that I will probably never be able to take two steps at a time when going up stairs, but this no kissing on the telephone has me completely bummed out!
Oh well! I'll get over it. They are all coming down for dinner tonight. I just bet I'll get a kiss from my little three year old before the night is over! But I really have to admit, I just can't get over the fact that the rules have changed about kissing on the telephone and no one has informed me untill this morning! That's just not right!
Uhhhhggggg! I am about to pull what little hair I have out by the handful! Everything I do anymore on the computer is prefaced with "Log In!" But when I do, I am repeatedly told that I have the wrong user name or the wrong password! I can't imagine! By now I probably only have fifteen or twenty log in names and passwords. How can I keep them all straight?
You might suggest, "Use the same one all the time!" Makes good sense, but doesn't work! So I try to do something different and they tell me that won't work either. My answer today is to write everything down on a yellow sticky note and post it next to my computer. It is right where I can see it, and the whole world who would like to get into my business can see it, too! Go ahead! I have nothing to hide!
Today I signed up for something new that I haven't been into before. It not only had to have a log in name and password, but then it repeatedly told me my password that I selected wasn't safe enough. It wouldn't let me use it. I changed to another one. Still not safe enough. Changed it again. Still not complex enough and needed to made more difficult for someone to guess. After four or five tries, it was finally accepted! Now no one has to guess! In order to remember it, I had to write it down and stick it on the wall. But it didn't stop there. I had to have a six number verification code! That is to make sure that when I log in with my user name and now extremely complex password, that it is really me logging in. I wrote it on the sticky note next to my computer, too! By the way, when I just went to log in again from earlier this morning, they told me I had the wrong verification code. I looked and I had typed it in just as I had written it down. When I went back to verify their verification code, they had sent me a second one already!
Now here is my point! It will be real easy for you all to get. Please follow the conversation that I am about to print!
Dear Father God,
(Please Log In)
Okay, God, here is my user name and password!
(Sorry, Gary, you have something wrong with one or the other!)
I'm sorry, Father, try this one!
(No, Gary! You must use the proper case for your password.)
Okay. I'll try it again!
(Sorry! Your password and the confirmation didn't match.)
Well, I really want to talk to you this morning!
(Get your user name and password right and you can come to me!)
Okay, Father, I'll try it again.
(Great! You have it exactly right! Now could you please type in these funny looking words to verify that you are really you!)
Okay. I'll try but I can barely read them.
(Sorry! It is apparent that this isn't really you at all because you can't read the squiggly words and numbers! You have just used up your log in time. Please contact our office and we will reconnect your account once we verify that you are you!)
Oh God! I just wanted to talk to you for a few minutes! I'll try later in the week!
Isn't it great that we don't have to "log in" to talk to God? Think about it...
The gas station near our home has a way of doing business that really rubs me wrong. Without any warning the price of gas can go up as much as 15 or 20 cents a gallon. Many times, when I am in Rockford, I could stop and get gasoline at any station for about the same price that I saw at Winnebago Corner earlier in the morning. The thought goes through my head, "I should get gas but I will give my business to the station in Winnebago." When I drive the fifteen miles from Rockford, I find out they decided to raise the price of their gasoline up to 20 cents a gallon and I find out that I got the business in a way I didn't like!
My question today is this. In our daily Christian walk, as we go through life, are we getting the business from people around us or are we giving them the business? Let me explain this in a little different way. As the pastor of the church, what would happen if I put out a plea for funds to help me with a mission trip that I am going on. Many different people would stop and think, pray about it and then say, "Let's help Pastor Gary with the expense of this trip." They would look at this as a business transaction, much like I did with the local gas station. Their attitude would be to help in an area of need. But what would happen if after I got your trust, and your money, I didn't go on the mission trip? What would you think after I was supposed to go and didn't, and I spent your money to buy myself a different car. Would you feel that you helped me in a time of need, or would you feel that you were taken advantage of- or given the business?
As followers of Jesus Christ, we need to make sure that we are not taking advantage of other people around us for our own sake. We should not go through life manipulating people for our own advantage in any situation. We are supposed to be helping people in our walk with Jesus and not hindering them. We are supposed to be making other people's lives easier, rather than making them more difficult. We cannot walk up to people with a great big hearty slap on the back and big laugh and overwhelm them with our deceit and our trickery! Jesus told his diciples that you will know a tree by it's fruit. If it produces good fruit, it is a good tree. If it produces bad fruit, it is a bad tree. You may claim to be a Christian, but if you are producing the fruit of deciet and frustration and hurt in everyone's life around them, you are really giving Jesus the business in the end! Think about it...!
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