We Are Living In Some Terrible Times!

I took Glenda out for breakfast this morning to a restaurant that we have been to a couple of times over the last few years.  I had some business to take care of in a certain part of Rockford and when asked where she wanted to eat, she came up with the same restaurant that I was thinking about.  We sat there and visited, watched people and talked about our day before our food finally came out of the kitchen.

The meal was tasty and knowing we had some business to take care of, we didn't spend a lot of time eating.  The waitress brought us our bill and I paid for the meal.  As we were about to go out the door, she brought up a story of something that had happened to her.  She had "taken a little road trip" a few weeks ago and stopped at a gas station to buy some drinks and snacks to eat and drink as they traveled.  She paid for them with her credit card.  When they got the bill a few weeks later, it was charged an additional $160.00+ from this same gas station.  She told us they were able to get it fixed, but the gist of her story was that you can't trust anyone anymore.  And then she added, "We are living in some terrible times!"

As I drove away from the restaurant, I thought about what she had said.  My question is this:  Why can people see these terrible times in the physical realm, yet have no clue what is going on in the spiritual realm?  Jesus said in Luke 15:54-56,  "When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, 'It's going to rain,' and it does. And when the south wind blows, you say, 'It's going to be hot,' and it is.  Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don't know how to interpret this present time?

Paul writes in II Timothy 3:1-5, "But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. ² People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³ without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, ⁴ treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— ⁵ having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people."

Paul is digging into the spiritual realm around us when he prophesies about these things.  Why in this day and age would someone charge an extra $160+ on this lady's credit card?  Because they love themselves more than they do her!  Because they love money!  Because they need money to buy more pleasures!  There are all sorts of reasons for it.  But it is not just an issue of extra money on a credit cared, but the violence and heart ache all around us, too! 

If you recognize that things are changing, and in a big way, but don't understand why?  Get into the Word of God and begin to read about some of the last days prophecies before the return of Christ!  Satan is going to take the return of Jesus in a passive way!  He has some tough times coming for us all!  Are you ready for Jesus to come again?  Think about it!

All About Beans!

The other day, I stood in the window and watched Glenda pick green beans out of her garden.  She doesn't have a real big garden.  It is just enough to get her fingers dirty and for her to say she worked in the garden.  But this year something has changed in her garden.  She has one tiny, little row of green beans.  The difference is that this year they are producing like crazy.  We have had fresh green beans now for a couple of weeks.  Almost to the point that she came close to complaining about how many green beans there were the other day!

In years past, she would plant the same amount of green beans and the rabbits would eat them off--or the heat would stunt their growth--or the drought would kill them before they could produce.  This year, the rabbits are around but not getting into her garden.  We have had plenty of rain and the heat hasn't been too bad until the last week!  The results are a great crop of green beans.

What I am writing about isn't really about green beans at all!  It is the persistence that she has kept in her heart to plant green beans!  Year after year, she has planted green beans, never knowing if she is going to reap a good harvest or a lousy harvest.  She has been persistent in what she is doing and she is reaping the benefits this year.

But I am not really writing about persistence in planting green beans either! What I see is the heart ache that is experienced year after year in planting the seeds of the Word of God in the lives of people around us.  I have now just completed my 25th year of ministry and if there is one theme that has rung true in every year of ministry, it is "Someone who is dear and close to you will turn their back on you and walk away at sometime!"  Often times it is the ones who are closest to you.  Now I am not talking about those who are feeling called by God to go work in another ministry some where.  I am talking about those who not only turn their backs on me, but they turn their backs on God and on the body of Christ!  It may seem like a bit of downer, but I have gone through each year of ministry wondering who it will be this year!

The effort that goes into these people sometimes is much and sometimes is little.  Either way, it still hurts when they turn away and quit the body of Christ all together.    This summer, I am watching several families who have been faithful and true to the church but all of a sudden something has happened and they are gone.  For many of them there is no answer.  When I call them they say, "Oh Pastor, you don't have to worry about us.  We will be back!"  But they never come back.  I don't know if the heat got them, the lack of rain got them or a rabbit bit them off at the ground.  They are just gone!

But the focus can't be on the ones who say one thing and do something totally different.  The focus should be on the years when the vines are producing to the max.  The Word of God is planted each year at New Life Bible Church.  There is a harvest each year, be it little or be it much.  There are lives being changed for the good because of the persistence of people like Glenda who keep on planting and weeding and watering and picking to receive whatever the good Lord provides for us.

Satan is turning up the heat and in these last days before the return of Jesus Christ, the Bible says many will turn away from the faith and hate and betray each other.  Are you finding all sorts of little things about the body of Christ, your pastors, even God that is starting to offend you?  Don't let it happen!  Take control and stay true to the salvation that Jesus provided for you at the cross!  Think about it!

It's Time To Retire!

One of the most confusing times in life for me was when I graduated from High School.  I suddenly found myself looking at going out into the world as an adult.  I welcomed that challenge, but it wasn't going to be without some struggles!  What bothered me was the social restrictions that came with going into a time in life when I should have been absolutely free as a bird.  The Viet Nam war was going on hot and heavy and a high school graduate had two choices in life.  Go to college or go to war!  I had been offered a full time job and either one of those choices got into my way.  I made myself go on to college.

I hated college for a number of reasons!  I won't go into all the details but it just didn't work out for me!  Part of the problem was with the college and the other part of the problem was with me!  I eventually ended up dropping out of college.  I then lived with the pressure of the inevitable draft notice that would eventually come in the mail.  It did come, and I ended up spending three years of my life in the Army.  That was really the beginning of things settling into what I expected out of life on the day I graduated from High School.  But it took eight years out of my life to get here!

Forty years have gone by since then and I find myself in another unsettled time in life.  I am facing retirement!  Before, I was being squeezed into adulthood on society's terms.  Now, I find myself being squeezed into something else, still on society's terms. 

At eighteen, the world around me was in chaos!  War was going on in Viet Nam and people were coming home dead or changed in a big way!  Rebellion and crazy living was every where.  There are people my age whose lives are still being affected daily by that war and that time of life that is forty years back in history!

When I was younger I had a picture in my mind of what retirement would be like.  It is strange but now that I am ready to retire, I don't see any of the imagined things anywhere near!  Where did they go?  Why is society dictating to me again what I can do and what I can't do?  This isn't fair, but what is truly fair in life?

In my sixty-six years of life, I have been told repeatedly one thing about life!  According to the world around me, there is nothing fair!  Life is full of injustices!  Life is full of heartache!  Life is full of bitterness!  Life is full of "poor me attitudes!"  But I don't buy that lifestyle and I have found that I don't have to be a part of them.

I have found that I can do something about all the injustices, the heartache, the bitterness and the poor me attitudes!  I can ignore them when they come to my being and help others around me who are in bondage to them!  According to John 10:10, Jesus came into the world so that I can have life and have it abundantly.  I have great things in life including my wife and family.  I have a great home and beautiful flower beds that are truly my castle.  I have great people around me all the time who work with me to get things done that are important to my ministry.

The office is full of these people right now!  They are chattering and laughing and visiting as I am trying to think of what to write here.  Other people's lives are being changed and helped because of their positive vision of life!  I have been blessed to be able to help them form their positive thinking! And what is even neater is that they are building up others around them who are working toward that same understanding and vision to help ever more people around them.  Life has been great, and once I figure this retirement things out, I bet it will just get better!