Signs of Christ's Return

Signs of Christ's Return
How Then Should We Live?
Christians have been looking for Jesus’ Second Coming ever since He left the first time. We have always longed for the time when our Savior will come from heaven and make everything right once again on the earth. I hope you’re looking for it because Paul says at the end of 2 Timothy that there is a crown awaiting all of those who are longing for His appearing. Are you longing for it? Do you get up in the morning thinking, This could be the day?

by Skip Heitzig

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Christians live with hindsight and foresight. We look back to our redemption: the once-for-all finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross on our behalf. And we look forward to restoration, where there is a total do-over, a make-over on Planet Earth, and Jesus Christ rules and reigns.

As we look forward, how should we live? The Apostle Paul wrote in Titus 2:12-13: “Live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.”

As we anticipate, what should we know? What should we be aware of? Consider the parable of the fig tree that Jesus tells in Matthew 24:32: “Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near.”

Notice that Jesus did not say, “Interpret what the fig tree means.” He simply said, “Learn a lesson from it.” He didn’t say, “Now you go to your theological libraries and try to figure out every little meaning of every detail.” He just said, “Look at the fig tree. Take a lesson from it.”

I believe there is a simple, straightforward meaning to the parable of the fig tree: You can tell what’s coming ahead by what you see right now. Jesus gave a series of signs earlier in this chapter—massive worldwide persecution (Matthew 24:2-13); worldwide evangelization (Matthew 24:14); the abomination of desolation and the mass exodus of the Jews from Jerusalem (Matthew 24:15-20); and the cataclysmic catastrophes that occur on the earth and in the heavens (Matthew 24:21-31).

Jesus said these signs would be “the beginning of sorrows.” The word that is used to mean sorrows is the same word that means birth pains. Birth pains are different from abdominal pains. Birth pains are more frequent and more intense. And when the birth pains come, you know the birth is about to take place.

If you ever travel to South Dakota, there’s a little town there known as Wall, and there is a drug store called Wall Drug. When Ted Hustead started the store back in the 1930s, he knew it would not get much traffic from his small town, so he put up signs—everywhere. He decided that everyone should know about his store. So he put a sign in all 50 states that tells the distance from that state to Wall Drug, S.D.

In Memphis, the sign reads: “Wall Drug: 1,192 miles.” In Paris, France, it says: “Wall Drug: 5,961 miles.” At the South Pole: “Wall Drug: 9,333 miles.” There’s a sign in Moscow and Kenya. There’s one outside the Taj Mahal in Agra, India. But if you’re driving on Interstate 90 and you’re 45 miles outside of Wall, you can count 53 signs in that 45-mile stretch leading into the little town. The signs get bigger and brighter. So, just seeing a sign for Wall Drug isn’t necessarily an indication that you’re close, but when those signs become more frequent and more intense, you know you’re almost there. Jesus gave a whole list of signs, or time indicators, so that already we can say, “I’m noticing the world shaping up toward His coming.”

Matthew 24:35 gives us a promise: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.” There are two parts to this promise: The world of men will end, and the Word of God will endure. If you’re a materialist, I feel sorry for you. If your only hope is that new home or that wonderful garden or the new car, enjoy it now, because it’s all going to burn. The Lord has been faithful to remind me of this throughout the years. It seems that every time I buy something new, even though I try really hard to take care of it, it gets dinged or scratched. It still works, but it’s as if the Lord is saying, “It’s all going to burn.”

Matthew 24 closes with a parable about a wealthy master who leaves for a period of time and places all that he has with a servant. He comes back and catches his servant “in the act.” But what does he catch his servant doing? If the servant is wise, he is working; if the servant is foolish, he is wasting time.

The foolish servant says, “The lord is delaying his coming,” inferring that his master wouldn’t come for a long time, if at all. And in this section of Scripture Jesus goes on to tell two other parables. One speaks of 10 virgins going to meet the bridegroom, and the bridegroom is delayed in his coming. The other is the parable of the talents, in which a man gives his servants money and immediately goes on a journey. In that parable Jesus said, “After a long time, the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.”

It seems to me that, in telling these parables, the Lord was preparing His disciples for what would turn out to be a long absence. He was using imagery to say, “I’m going, and I’m coming back—but it’s going to be a long time.”

And the question for us is this: What are we to be doing in the meantime?

The answer is found in this story in Matthew 24. There are two kinds of servants: wise and wicked. The wise servant is caught in the act of faithful service. The wicked servant is caught in the act of fickle selfishness.

We who follow God are His servants. He is the Master. I want to remind you that if you are a Christian, Christ owns you. When you gave your life to Christ, you gave your life to Christ. He is the Boss. He calls the shots. You can never see your life as independent from God. In fact, that’s the very essence of sin.

Jesus says, “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?” (Matthew 24:45). This indicates a task done in God’s household, the church. How are you helping to build up other believers in God’s household? How are you sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with those who don’t know Him?

Notice that the first servant is given two adjectives, faithful and wise. Let me ask you: What if your car started one out of three times? Would you say the car is faithful? What if you didn’t show up for work two or three days a month—just because you didn’t want to? Would your employer say you are faithful? What if you decided to make your mortgage payments most of the time, but a couple times a year you didn’t, because you wanted to buy something else? Would the bank say you’re faithful? In the same way, if you just come to church sporadically, but not enough to get involved, are you faithful?

Wise is the second adjective. Wise means you have enough insight that would prompt your obedience. Do you know that the wisest way for you to live is in absolute surrender to Christ? Romans 12:1 says “I beseech you, therefore, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” It’s the smartest way to live. It’s faithful and it’s wise.

And it’s how we are to live in light of the return of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Skip Heitzig
Skip Heitzig is senior pastor at Ocean Hills Church, in San Juan Capistrano,
Calif.

©2009 Skip Heitzig

from the February 2009 issue of "Decision" magazine

Proclaiming Christ's Return

Proclaiming Christ's Return

I have felt for a long time that the church has long neglected prophetic truth and, as a result, has failed to carry out God’s revealed program not only for the church itself but has failed to tell the world of God’s plan for the future.
by Billy Graham

The church has failed to keep divine objectives in view because she has neglected the prophetic message of the Word of God. This neglect has caused Christians bewilderment, confusion and ignorance in a world that seems to be disintegrating around them. Many Christians needlessly wring their hands and ask, “What is going to happen to us? What does the future hold?” Many of them are filled with fear, even though our Lord said, “Fear not.”

I believe there is a worldwide tragedy as a result of a neglect of the prophetic Scriptures. Through the centuries men and women have been experimenting with their own social, national and international programs. They have been trying to bring about a righteousness that is not of God and, therefore, it is not obtainable. Instead, it results in a recurring national collapse and sometimes in worldwide calamity. We are heading for one of those collapses at the present hour.

Today, when the church should be leading the way out of the darkness that covers the Earth, it is all too obvious that we are unable to do so because of our spiritual impotence and lack of knowledge. The church today stands sadly in the midst of the ever-increasing ruins of a civilization the church itself helped to create but seemingly has little power or even desire to save.

Acts 15:14-18 is the record of the first all-church conference. It was held in Jerusalem and concerned the work of the church in the first century. The chairman of the conference was the Apostle James. He said: Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name. And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written: “After this I will return and will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will set it up; so that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who are called by My name, says the Lord who does all these things.” Known to God from eternity are all His works.

Thus the program of the church is outlined. It begins with the death of Jesus Christ on the cross, His resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. It continues with the Great Commission to go into all the world and proclaim the message of the Gospel.

The church is not a political organization or a social reform society. Individual Christians may work for political reforms and for social betterment, and in many cases we should do so. As the salt of the earth, we have a responsibility for being the preservative of society. As the light of the world, we must let our light so shine that people seeing our good works may glorify our Father in heaven.

But the church must keep on the main highway outlined in the Word of God and witness to the nations not only concerning the truth of salvation but also the truth of the program of God for the whole world, especially witnessing to the glorious consummation of the age when Jesus Christ is going to return.

This is what the Apostle Paul did when he preached to the Athenians as recorded in Acts 17. Taking his text from the altar of the unknown god, which he discovered while walking around Athens, he declared, “In Him we live and move and have our being” and “we are also His offspring” (Acts 17:28).

Warning against the worship of gods of gold and silver and graven stone, Paul continued, “These times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead” (Acts 17:30, 31).

The church should be boldly proclaiming the deity and authority of Jesus as the powerful antidote to the present trend toward world chaos. The whole human race is going after false messiahs and false prophets, false religions and other gods. They will continue this way unless they are continuously taught that God has been manifested authoritatively in the flesh and the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.

While there has been a great evangelical revival in the church throughout the world, there are many evangelicals who neglect the prophetic program as laid out in Scripture. Therefore, millions of people and millions of professing Christians have little hope in the future. They have not been told that our hope is in the return of Jesus Christ.

Many have turned from regeneration to the philosophy of humanism. This supposedly universal solvent in the last analysis is truly the opium of the people. It blinds them to truth so that while they ignore the reality and nature of evil, they are also deluded into believing that even the present evil is some sort of process of change for the better. They declare that even this latest reversion to savagery is but the birth pangs of a better day. The progressive humanistic interpretation of the message of the Bible is the basis of many of the programs of so-called Christian conferences today, and the gospel of social change has taken the place of the Gospel of regeneration.

Don’t get me wrong. I am for social change. In many countries of the world it is desperately needed. Even in our own country some of the structures of society need to be changed, even though most people do not know how they need to be changed or by what methods they should be changed. I have yet to find a person to tell me where the ideal government exists in the world. There can be no ideal government based upon human nature as it is. That is why it is so important that human nature be changed. That is why Jesus said, “You must be born again” (John 3:7).

There is one clear mandate to the church, and that is to proclaim the Gospel and make disciples of all nations. The results of the church’s neglect of the prophecies of the Bible are pathetic and tragic. Had we kept the message and program true to the prophetic Word, it would have been kept in its proper spiritual orbit. There would never have been the deadly ecclesiasticism of the Middle Ages—which caused the church to glory in her form, ceremonies and temporal power. There might never have been the divisions that followed the Protestant Reformation, which brought a section of the church to the truth and yet created confusion in the world by sectarianism. The expectancy of Christ coming again would have kept the church unified, holy, otherworldly and energetic, balanced with a passion for social reform and social justice.

I have found that where churches are preaching the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, the churches are evangelistic and concerned with the social needs of the people round about them. These churches also recognize the Bible as the authoritative Word of God instead of denying it.

Only God knows the future and can foretell it with accuracy. In this connection, Peter says, “we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:16). But he did say that in the message of prophecy there shines a light in a dark place, until the darkness of this day is over and the day of the Kingdom of God dawns.

The Bible teaches that the future Great Ruler of the world will be Jesus Christ. He shall rule in righteousness and equity, and shall make the knowledge of God to cover the earth as the waters cover the seas. He shall destroy wars and its miseries. Upon His shoulder, world government shall rest. His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father and the Prince of Peace.

If you don’t know Christ, you can come to know Him personally today by confessing and turning from your sin, and receiving Christ into your heart right now, and you can be prepared for the future. ©BGEA

from the February 2009 issue of "Decision" magazine

The Life I Planned by Beth Moore

Has someone seen the life I planned?
It seems it's been misplaced
I've looked in every corner
It's lost without a trace
I've found one I don't recognize
Things missing that were dear
Promises I'd hope to keep
And dreams I'd dreamed aren't here
Faces I had planned to see
Hands I planned to hold
Now absent in the pictures
Not the way I told
Has someone seen the life I planned?
Did it get thrown away?
God took my hand from searching
Then I heard him say,

"Child, your ears have never heard
Your eyes have never seen
Eternal plans I have for you
Are more than you could dream.
"You long to walk by sight
But I'm teaching eyes to see.
I know what I am doing
'Til then, you must believe."
He's done so much, I felt ashamed
To know He heard my moans
To think I'd trade in all He's done
For plans made on my own.
I wept over His faithfulness
And how He'd proved Himself
How He'd gone beyond my dreams
And said to Him myself,

"No, my ears have never heard
My eyes have never seen
Eternal plans you have for me
Are more than I could dream.
"Yes, I long to walk by sight
But You're teaching eyes to see
You know what You are doing
'Til then, I must believe."
I felt His great compassion
Mercy unrestrained
He let me mourn my losses
And showed me to my gains.
I offered Him my future
And released to Him my past
I traded in my dreams
For a plan He said would last.
I get no glimpse ahead
No certainties at all
Except the presence of the One
Who will not let me fall.
Are you also searching
For a life you planned yourself?
Have you looked in every corner?
Have you checked on every shelf?

Child, your ears have never heard
Your eyes have never seen
Eternal plans He has for you
Are more than you could dream.
Perhaps you long to walk by faith
But He's teaching eyes to see
He knows what He is doing
Child, step out and believe.

"No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind
has conceived what God has prepared
for those that love Him." 1 Corinthians 2:9

Go Tell!

There is a world out there in desperate need to hear that "LOVE has come". Are we telling them?

Great video message by Travis Cottrell on Vimeo! Check it out.


Travis Cottrell Go Tell from Rick Morgan on Vimeo.

My Beloved

You’re My beloved you’re My Bride.

To sing over you is My delight.

Come away with Me my love.

Under My mercy come and wait.

Till we are standing face to face.

I see no stain on you My child.

You are beautiful to Me, so beautiful to Me.

I sing over you My song of peace.

Cast all your cares down at My feet.

Come and find your rest in Me.

I’ll breathe My life inside of you

I’ll bear you up on eagle’s wings.

And hide you in the shadow of My strength.

I’ll take you to My quiet waters

I’ll restore your soul.

Come rest in Me and be made whole.

You’re My beloved you’re My bride.

To sing over you is My delight.

Come away with Me my love.

By Kari Jobe

Lead Me to the ROCK

Psalm 61:1-2
Lead Me to the Rock
A Psalm of David.

1Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; 2from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

Psalm 61 was a similar prayer my father had been offering up to God for about five months. At the news of his cancer, he began calling on the only one who could rescue him. All of us were crying out to God for deliverance from that evil disease. However, God didn’t answer quite how we expected. As I type this letter, a year ago today, this very minute my father left us and was delivered home to be with the LORD.

In his last few days, the cancer had taken its toll on my dad’s body and left him bed ridden and very incoherent. While watching him slowly slip away from us, my mom and I received a precious gift from the LORD the day before my father’s death. We witnessed miraculous things and experienced incomparable joys!

Dad had woken up from a deep sleep and began carrying on coherent conversations with us. His personality came to life as he began his joking and playing pranks on my mom which brought us sweet laughter. We got to huddle and love on one another and talk for long periods of time. We were able to express fears as well as provide assurance of provisions for mom once dad was no longer with us. We spoke of the difficult situation at hand and of how much he would be dearly missed. Precious conversations!

Later, to our surprise, dad sat up in bed and requested his glasses and the news paper, not hesitating for a second to go straight to the sports page. We even enjoyed a playoff football game together where he was happy to share his thoughts and opinions on players and teams as he always did. To our delight, dad didn’t waste a minute to ask to enjoy the sheer pleasure of swigging down 2 chocolate (milk chocolate Bluebell of course) milk shakes. Don’t think for a minute that he didn’t exclaim, “Mmmm, that’s so good!” one more time.

We laughed, we cried, we reminisced, we prayed together, confessed, forgave, loved deeply and reconciled all things. All of life’s earthly pleasures were enjoyed to the fullest one last time. As well, all eternal questions and decisions were completely squared away as we thoroughly discussed salvation in Christ alone, by faith alone. Dad reaffirmed his trust and hope in the LORD as he uttered the sweetest words, “who else do I have?” God demonstrated great mercy and grace to us. Never had we experienced such loving presence from the Father.

But, one thing left mom and I stunned that day. Dad spoke of a dream he just had that morning. As he described the dream, he told us he found himself walking down a long path. At the end of the path he sat on a rock and there he began talking to God. At the time it didn’t make any sense to either mom or I. We pondered it, then accepted it and moved on.

Today we fully know what was happening in what seemed to dad as a dream. It was the answer to the prayer he had been praying all along. “Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I”. It was not an answer of temporary deliverance. Jesus led dad down the path to The ROCK of his salvation, where he would find himself just the next morning, talking with God face to face, permanently. I praise you FATHER for letting us enjoy him one more day before you delivered him home.

Dad, I love you and miss you dearly.
With love always,
Your daughter, BB

Here I am to worship

What a beautiful song of worship to YHWH that is being sung to Him all over the world! This brought such joy to my heart and caused me to call out Praise to our God!

Then I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. (Revelation 7:9)



Brittnie

Do you hear it too?

Together for Adoption

Russell Moore: Adoption Awareness

At the Feet of Jesus

At the Feet of Jesus
December 18, 2008

As 2008 comes to a close, I find myself in awe over Jesus. Each year I get to know Him in a different way. It absolutely blows my mind that I can personally know the Creator of Heaven and earth. As I look back over different seasons of my life I always find that Jesus not only shapes me and conforms me to His image, He also reveals new characters of Himself to me. I usually can name a new one each time. If I could use one word to describe God’s character revealed to me this year it would be, “Mercy”.

While preparing this letter, I reflected on the past 3 Christmas letters that I have written and I found that each one had particular difficult situations. In 2005 we were waiting on a job. Just around the corner in 2006 we picked up our family and moved to another state for ministry. Last year we lost my grandmother and watched my father battle a nasty cancer. But, none of our family was prepared for what would happen this year. None of us knew that dad would leave our world so soon and enter our Saviors. No one was ready for this! The pain, confusion and grief were indescribable. But during this unbelievable time we witnessed the hand of God and felt His presence like never before. What Mercy!

After spending nearly all of January in Texas with my mom, I whirled home in order to prepare for a brand new women’s ministry the LORD had called me to. Already sure that I was totally incapable of the calling before me, taking on a new ministry while dealing with terrible grief seemed an impossible task. Buried in studies and overcome with speaking anxieties each month, the LORD became my confidence. I was met with intense spiritual battles head on all along the way while serving in this new capacity. But God in His great mercy clothed me with strength to endure every bit of it.

The love and gratitude I have for Jesus overflows with in me. I’m drawn to the text in the gospel of John where I find Mary of Bethany at the feet of Jesus. The account reads, “Mary took a bottle of very expensive perfume made from pure nard and poured it on Jesus' feet. Then she dried his feet with her hair.”(John 12:3) I love this picture. Mary, out of love and gratitude for Jesus is found anointing Jesus’ feet with a very costly perfume. Spending time at someone’s feet was the work of a servant and a woman with her hair unbound was not a common sight in public. The incredible picture that we find in this biblical text is Mary pouring out her life in an intense personal devotion to Christ.

In the verses following we find out that the perfume was worth 3 hundred denarii. (The equivalence of about a year’s wage) Matthew and Marks gospels give testimony that some thought this was a total waste. (Mk 14:4; Matt 26:8) I have a feeling many today would scorn the behavior of one who would pour out a years worth of wages on Jesus’ feet. Think about that for a minute. What do people these days do when they have saved a year’s salary? If it is all spent in devotion to Jesus how do people react? Sadly, I believe that most would exclaim as those already mentioned, “what a waste”. Yet, Jesus describes it as a beautiful thing! (Mark 14:6)

When we get a glimpse of who He really is and what He has done for us, one can’t help but fall at His feet and give it all away! As the great hymn by Isaac Watts says, “Were the whole realm of nature mine- That were an offering far too small- Love so amazing, so divine- Demands my soul, my life, my all.” I can not think of myself in any other place than my life poured out at the feet of Jesus in total devotion, giving everything to Him for all He has done in my life. Saving me from the pit of hell was alone more than I deserve. But the fact that he goes way beyond that and gets personally involved in individuals lives and gives hope, comfort, strength and great mercy when we need it is something I’ll never understand.

At Christmas, in the midst of all the buying, decorating and celebrating some may give Jesus a glance. Others may perhaps meditate on what the birth of Jesus meant. But I hope you do more. I hope you’ll find that there is no greater place to be in this life than to be poured out at the feet of Jesus. Not just at Christmas time but at all times. There you’ll find that there is really no cost and no loss. Nothing wasted. There you’ll find all you need.

Soli Deo Gloria,
Brittnie

All the way my Savior leads me

All the way my Savior leads me
Who have I to ask beside
How could I doubt His tender mercy
Who through life has been my guide

All the way my Savior leads me
Cheers each winding path I tread
Gives me grace for every trial
Feeds me with the living Bread

You lead me and keep me from falling
You carry me close to Your heart
And surely Your goodness and mercy will follow me

All the way my Savior leads me
O, the fullness of His love
O, the sureness of His promise
In the triumph of His blood

And when my spirit clothed immortal
Wings its flight to realms of day
This my song through endless ages
Jesus led me all the way
Jesus led me all the way

All the way my Savior leads me

Lyrics by Chris Tomlin (Hello Love Album)

Last REVIVE for 2008

Ladies,
Our last REVIVE for 2008 is this Thursday night the 20th at 7:00pm in the Student building.I'll finish up our study on Jeremiah chapter 2 and focus on verses 12-13.

Hope to see you there!

Brittnie

It's here! It's here!

It's finally here! My new ESV study bible has been on back order and it FINALLY came today! I am currently just observing it, taking in it's brand "new" smell and just dreaming of the places that God will take me with Him in this new in depth study of the WORD!

I can not wait to dig into it!

If you have not heard about this new study bible you'll want to check it out here. ESV STUDY BIBLE

It is probably by far the best study bible around.

Anyone see this?

Anyone see the article called "Why Believe in a god? Just be good for goodness sake?


click here for full article

Thoughts?

Understanding the Times

I felt like posting this again. I wrote it this time last year.

Understanding the Times
Daniel 9:1-3 In the first year of Darius son of Ahasuerus, who was made ruler over the Babylonian kingdom- in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the LORD given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years. So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.

This passage so stuck out to me that I couldn’t help but write about it. Let’s look at this together. For a little background, All Israel had transgressed God’s law and turned away, refusing to obey the LORD their God. (Dan 9:11) and because of their unfaithfulness to the LORD, He scattered them both near and far in all the countries. (vs.7) In particular God had exiled Judah to Babylon and the people were in captivity. Daniel was one of those from the tribe of Judah who had been exiled to Babylon. But Daniel, even as a young teenage boy resolved not to let the pagan culture in which he now lived to be an influence on his life as a child of God. He lived in faithfulness to his God all the days of His life.

And here we are at this passage when Daniel was old in age and we see him searching the scriptures. He is reading the prophecies of Jeremiah which tell of a 70 year captivity and he understands that the LORD will deliver His people out of captivity just as He delivered them from slavery in Egypt. Daniel understands the times. He realizes that through the Prophecies of Jeremiah and the length the people have been exiled that the time of captivity is drawing to a close and the LORD will be faithful to restore His people.

Now Daniel, understanding the prophecies and believing in God’s soon coming restoration does something so interesting. He turns to the LORD God and pleads to him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes. Amazing! Why did He do this? Why wasn’t he sitting back and carrying on with his life while waiting for Gods restoration? We see very clearly through his incredibly passionate prayer that he offers up to the LORD in verses 4-19 that he is praying for his sins and the sins of God’s people will be forgiven and he is mourning over them. The people that bore the very name of GOD had been living life their way and were not turning to the LORD and God punished them. Daniel prayed for his people to turn from their sins and return to God.

This raises the hair on the back of my neck. Daniel KNEW the times and he prayed and fasted for his people!
Do we know the times that we are in? As believers are we searching scripture to understand where we are at in our day and age? In Matthew chapter 24 Jesus gives us signs of the close of the age. Jesus tells us in vs.12 that in the last days we will see an increase in wickedness and the love of many will grow cold. 2 Timothy 3:1-5 tells that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power.

I’d say that describes our day pretty accurately, wouldn’t you? And by reading these God breathed texts what are we doing about it? Jesus says in Matthew 24:32-33 that we can learn a good lesson from the fig tree: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see all these things, you know that he (Jesus) is near, at the very gates. Check your own spiritual pulse and the pulse of professing believers today. Do we understand the times? Or are we still going about our daily lives unconcerned about the sin in our lives or the spreading of the Gospel and totally disconnected from the Kingdom work that is to be done before Jesus’ return.

I am quickly reminded of Matthew 24:37-40 which says for as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 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, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Let this not be us! Let us be like Daniel who searched the scriptures and understood the times and cried out to God with prayers and petitions and with fasting on behalf of their sin and let us turn to the LORD with all our hearts to be ready on the day that the Son of Man returns. The time is drawing near.

Brittnie

Another one we need to hear

From Beth's Blog.

To my beloved Sisters who I esteem so highly and consistently find to be part of the solution to our problems in the Church rather than the cause,

Please join me in praying for our President-elect Barack Obama, his wife Michelle, and his precious daughters, Sasha and Malia. Go with me before the Throne of our sovereign God and ask Him to grant wisdom from above to President-elect Obama and the indwelling presence and power of Jesus Christ. In the words of the Apostle Paul, "I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone - for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior..."

Please also join me in the active and deliberate pursuit of unity and purity in the Body of Christ at this historical time in our country. I implore you in Jesus Name to have zero tolerance for prejudice whether it is regarding party-affiliation, color (whether you are Black, White, or Brown), economics or the like. Disagreement is not sin. Prejudice is. Satan has plotted events and planted attitudes that, should he be successful, will result in havoc. We must not stand for his schemes or cooperate in a single way. We would severely displease God and invite untold chastisement upon Christ's Church in our nation. Speak clearly to your children and graciously but emphatically draw a line in your work places and social circles regarding your stand against prejudice of any kind.

"Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, 'Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.'" (Matthew 12:25) A united house stands. A divided house falls. The devil has much to gain. But he also has much to lose.

We are the Body of Jesus Christ and we have an opportunity to show His character. This is our watch. We stand for what is right not from our feet but from our knees.

I humble myself before you and make these pleas under such bold direction of God that I could not resist it nor disobey it. He made it a fire in my bones.

I love and esteem you so much. Shoulder to shoulder, Dear Siestas. Let's leave not one inch for the enemy to come between us.

Beth Moore

Beth's Blog

Great words from Beth Moore's blog today!

The LPM Blog

Psalm 118:24

A few things I'm so thankful for on this election day, regardless of the outcome:

*We live in a democracy where we have the right to a vote and a voice. We have the God-given responsibility to use both wisely and in the way that best reflects what God conveys through Scripture.

*God "works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will" and "according to the plan." Ephesians 1:11

*Not only does God work out everything in conformity with His will, He has promised to work out everything for the GOOD of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

*God sets up kings and deposes them and gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. Daniel 2:21

*We, the beautifully diverse family of God, are never - not at any time - powerless. Nor are we ever victims of a system. Believing prayer takes us through doors we'll never be invited to enter and into judges chambers we'll never grace. Take a look back at Genesis 18 once again with astonishment over the dialogue between God and His servant and friend, Abraham. Rejoice that God is ever mindful of a faithful remnant. The Judge of the Earth will always do right.

*Even if persecution should await believers in Christ or harrowing circumstances hound us, God will use hardship to bring unity and purity to a people who need it desperately. The best of circumstances do not always produce the best in the Bride of Christ.

*The living God is firmly established upon His Throne and there at His holy feet we can always find grace and mercy in our time of need.

*No matter what happens today, we are GOD'S elect. He has elected us to show His heart and to walk in His ways in the culture that surrounds us. We are called to walk in the challenging balance of grace and truth.

May we be filled with Christ's Spirit today and our mouths given to praise and to believing, receiving prayer. God IS faithful and He has us firmly in His hand. We will not fear. We will not doubt. We will not hate.

"Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in Him, for He shields him all day long, and the one the Lord loves rests between His shoulders." Deuteronomy 33:12

I remain your servant,
Beth

The next five minutes

The New Testament Church

Good stuff from A.W. Tozer’s "Paths To Power" .

The (Early) Church was not an organization merely, not a movement, but a walking incarnation of spiritual energy. The Church began in power, moved in power and moved just as long as she had power. When she no longer had power she dug in for safety and sought to conserve her gains. But her blessings were like the manna: when they tried to keep it overnight it bred worms and stank. So we have had monasticism, scholasticism, institutionalism; and they have all been indicative of the same thing: absence of spiritual power. In Church history every return to New Testament power has marked a new advance somewhere, and every diminution of power has seen the rise of some new mechanism for conservation and defense. If this analysis is reasonably correct, then we are today in a state of very low spiritual energy.

The only power God recognizes in His Church is the power of His Spirit; whereas the only power actually recognized today by the majority of evangelicals is the power of man. God does His work by the operation of the Spirit, while Christian leaders attempt to do theirs by the power of trained and devoted intellect. Bright personality has taken the place of the divine afflatus.

Only what is done through the Eternal Spirit will abide eternally.

The essence of true religion is spontaneity, the sovereign movings of the Holy Spirit upon and in the free spirit of redeemed men. When religion loses its sovereign character and becomes mere form this spontaneity is lost also, and in its place come precedent, propriety, system–and the file-card mentality. Back of the file-card mentality is the belief that spirituality can be organized.

For centuries the Church stood solidly against every form of worldly entertainment, recognizing it for what it was — a device for wasting time, a refuge from the disturbing voice of conscience, a scheme to divert attention from moral accountability. But of late she appears to have decided that if she cannot conquer the great god Entertainment she may as well join forces with him and make what use she can of his power.

Christianity is so entangled with the world that millions never guess how radically they have missed the New Testament pattern. Compromise is everywhere. The world is whitewashed just enough to pass inspection by blind men posing as believers.

Evangelical Christianity is now tragically below the New Testament standard. Worldliness is an accepted part of our way of life. Our religious mood is social instead of spiritual. We have lost the art of worship. We are not producing saints. Our models are successful business men, celebrated athletes and theatrical personalities. We carry on our religious activities after the methods of the modern advertiser. Our homes have been turned into theaters. Our literature is shallow and our hymnody borders on sacrilege. And scarcely anyone appears to care.

Much that passes for New Testament Christianity is little more than objective truth sweetened with song and made palatable by religious entertainment. Christ calls men to carry a cross; we call them to have fun in His name. He calls them to forsake the world; we assure them that if they but accept Jesus the world is their oyster. He calls them to suffer; we call them to enjoy all the bourgeois comforts modern civilization affords. He calls them to self-abnegation and death; we call them to spread themselves like green bay trees or perchance even to become stars in a pitiful fifth-rate religious zodiac. He calls them to holiness; we call them to a cheap and tawdry happiness that would have been rejected with scorn by the least of the Stoic philosophers.

A new Decalogue has been adopted by the neo-Christians of our day, the first word of which reads “Thou shalt not disagree;” and a new set of Beatitudes too, which begins “Blessed are they that tolerate everything, for they shall not be made accountable for anything.” It is now the accepted thing to talk over religious differences in public with the understanding that no one will try to convert another or point out errors in his belief. Imagine Moses agreeing to take part in a panel discussion with Israel over the golden calf; or Elijah engaging in a gentlemanly dialogue with the prophets of Baal. Or try to picture our Lord Jesus Christ seeking a meeting of minds with the Pharisees to iron out differences.

The blessing of God is promised to the peacemaker, but the religious negotiator has better watch his step. Darkness and light can never be brought together by talk. Some things are not negotiable.

One hundred religious persons knit into a unity by careful organization do not constitute a church any more than eleven dead men make a football team. The first requisite is [Zoe] Life, always.

The modern vogue of bringing science to the support of Christianity proves not the truth of the Christian faith but the gnawing uncertainty in the hearts of those who must look to science to give respectability to their faith.

Science, the sweet talking goddess which but a short time ago smilingly disposed of the Bible as a trustworthy guide and took the world by the hand to lead it into a man-made millennium, has turned out to be a dragon capable of destroying that same world with a flick of her fiery tail.

The Bible tells of another world too fine for the instruments of scientific research to discover. By faith we engage that world and make it ours. It is accessible to us through the blood of the everlasting covenant.

-A.W. Tozer, Paths To Power

Next Revive

Our next Revive is this Thursday Oct 23, 2008 @ 7:00pm

Worship led by Amy Tosney
I will be teaching from Jeremiah 2.
Come join us!