Scott's Blog - 10/31/06
Prophecy Update
As you know if you are a regular part of our SRL family of listeners, our daily get together is devoted to your questions about puzzling passages in the Bible, practical application of biblical principles in the challenges of life, penetrating answers to tough questions regarding our faith, and perspective on the events of today, and even tomorrow through Biblical prophecy.
There are few subjects that grab our attention more than that last aspect of our program, are we nearing the return of our Lord and Savior Jesus.
Two weekends ago I was getting in a treadmill workout. Fortunately there was a television mounted on the wall in front of me to help keep my mind off the fact that I was running hard, but getting nowhere in a hurry! Looking desperately for a ball game, I glanced at the channel set on C-Span. Imagine my shock when I saw Joel Rosenberg, giving a prophecy update, recorded live at Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa!
Suffice it to say, my work out went by in a flash. Joel not only is a NY Times Best Selling Author, but brings a perspective from international politics that is invaluable in the study of end times events.
Last weekend, Joel gave a presentation at Calvary Chapel of Albuquerque, where SRL is produced each day. We wanted you to benefit not only from his presentation, but also a fascinating Q and A session that follows. Enjoy!
WEBCAST/PODCAST FROM ALBUQUERQUE: "ARE WE LIVING IN THE LAST DAYS?"
This weekend, I had the wonderful privilege of being in Albuquerque, New Mexico, speaking at Calvary Chapel of Rio Rancho and Calvary Chapel of Albuquerque. My topic in both churches was, "Are We Living In The Last Days?" We examined current events in Russia, North Korea and the Middle East in the light of Bible prophecy. My talk at Calvary Albuquerque was followed by 30 minutes of Q&A. The event was simulcast over the radio, and webcast to viewers in Jerusalem and at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. To watch the webcast, or download the podcast, please click here.
- Name:Joel Rosenberg
- Location:Washington, D.C., United States
Joel C. Rosenberg is the New York Times best-selling author of THE LAST JIHAD (2002), THE LAST DAYS (2003), THE EZEKIEL OPTION (2005), and THE COPPER SCROLL (2006) with more than one million copies in print. THE EZEKIEL OPTION was named by the ECPA as the Gold Medallion winner of the "Best Novel of 2006." Joel previously served as a senior advisor to several U.S. and Israeli leaders, including Steve Forbes, Rush Limbaugh, former Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Natan Sharansky, and former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He has been interviewed on more than 300 radio and TV shows, including ABC's "Nightline," CNN, CNN Headline News, C-SPAN, Fox News Channel, MSNBC, The History Channel, the Michael Reagan Show, the Rush Limbaugh Show and the Sean Hannity Show. Joel's first non-fiction book, EPICENTER: Why The Current Rumblings In The Middle East Will Change Your Future, was released September 18, 2006.
Scott's Blog - 10/30/06
The Credibility Gap
No. I'm not referring to a band from the groovy '60's. I'm referring to that awkward moment when the distance between the confidence and the content of our beliefs gets exposed.
If you are a regular to Scott's Blog, you are already up to speed on the firestorm of controversy generated when actor Michael J. Fox injected himself into the senate race in Missouri. Because Fox suffers from Parkinson's Disease he has become a leading proponent of embryonic stem cell research. (see Scott's Blog 10/23 "The Center of the Storm" for more details)
Fox's involvement in Missouri politics has since gotten deeper as he has endorsed a controversial proposition that would make even cloning of human embryos for research legal in the state.
Certainly every person is entitled to their opinion. But when a person uses their celebrity status to influence a ballot decision they will find themselves subject to a heightened level of scrutiny. Hence the following headline story in the news today.
ABC News Michael J. Fox Fires Back at Critics
Michael J. Fox Tells ABC News He Has Not Read Missouri's Cloning/Stem Cell Amendment
(From an interview on ABC's This Week With George Stephanopoulos)
Stephanopoulos: In the ad now running in Missouri, Jim Caviezel speaks in Aramaic. It means, "You betray me with a kiss." And his position, his point, is that actually even though down in Missouri they say the initiative is against cloning, it's actually going to allow human cloning.
Fox: Well, I don't think that's true. You know, I campaigned for Claire McCaskill. And so I have to qualify it by saying I'm not qualified to speak on the page-to-page content of the initiative. Although, I am quite sure that I'll agree with it in spirit, I don't know, I— On full disclosure, I haven't read it, and that's why I didn't put myself up for it distinctly.
Whatever the merits of Michael J. Fox's point of view on this issue, one point resonates above all else. In Missouri, he is standing for something he hasn't taken the time to read.
Funny thing, but I have encountered the same public relations problem in spiritual circles.
One evening, I was asked to speak at an outreach meeting at the University of Arizona. We had spent most of the evening in a Q and A format, with great results. I was starting to wrap things up with a presentation of what it meant to enter in to a personal relationship with Jesus. Right in the midst of one of my most Billy Graham-like gestures, a young woman in the back yelled out -
"HEY! I THINK JESUS WAS A LIAR!"
The focus of the entire room full of students immediately was jolted to this woman - held there for about three seconds - and then shifted back to me.
One question was on the mind of the crowd - "What is this guy going to say to this?"
I know this, because I was thinking the same thing!
The Lord was very gracious to me that evening. I responded in a way that even surprised me.
"That's an interesting point of view. Why do you believe that?"
She looked angry and shot back - "I believe Jesus was a liar and you can't prove to me that He wasn't!"
I replied, "I understand your position. I just want to know why you believe it. What is it about Jesus' life and teaching that has convinced you He is a liar?"
She said, "You mean, something specific?"
"Yes. That would be helpful. Have you ever read the eyewitness biographies of Jesus in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John?"
"Well....No."
Here was a woman who took a passionate, public position on the most important issue any person will ever consider, without even reading the primary documents.
The Bible gives us an equally challenging piece of
instruction.
Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. (II Timothy 2:15)
Knowing what we believe and why we believe it about our relationship with God is essential not only for our own faith, but to be a credible representative of the life, love and truth of Jesus.
Scott's Blog - 10/27/06
War of the World Views
Hosting a daily Bible question and answer program certainly opens the doors for some interesting opportunities to share the love and truth of Jesus. If you are a regular part of our Scott Richards Live listening family you know that we had just such an eye opening encounter last week on the campus of the University of New Mexico. I was invited to take part in an on campus debate with Scott MacLamont (also known as MacLamont the Fireheart), the High Priest of the Circle of the Winter Moon, a Wiccan Coven.
Many have asked if the debate was recorded. The good news is that it was. We wanted to make available to you the audio edition of the discussion here on the web site as quickly as we could. We are even more excited to let you know that the debate was DVD'ed , and will be available in a video format within the next couple of weeks. Be watching www.Scottrichardslive.com for more details.
I think you will discover that the reliability and historicity of the Good News of Jesus really shines in this discussion! Enjoy this "War of the World Views"!
Scott's Blog - 10/26/06
The Revolving Door
Have you ever found yourself sitting in a church service when a strange thought crosses your mind - "I hardly recognizes most of the people here! Where did all these new faces come from? And what happened to so many of the old familiar people I used to see?"
If you can relate to the previous paragraph you are certainly not alone. What has come to be called The Revolving Door Syndrome is a common phenomenon in Christian circles these days.
Some have attributed it to the fact that we live in both a consumer driven and mobile culture. Some have come to see church involvement in the same light as patronizing a favorite restaurant. If we like the fare on the menu and the customer service is good we will come by on a regular basis. But if the service is slow, and what is offered is not really according to our taste, or perhaps we get tired of the "same old, same old" we will find a place where we can get a little variety in our diet. After all, another outlet is right down the road.
There is no doubt that God will have us in a particular fellowship for a time and a purpose. It is entirely possible that he moves us on from time to time for our benefit, or even the benefit of a fellowship that would be blessed by the spiritual gifts and experience we have to contribute.
There have been times when people have sheepishly told me as a pastor that they feel lead of the Lord to move on from our fellowship. I always try to encourage them that as long as they are going to a church that teaches salvation by grace through faith, the authority and inerrancy of God's Word, and the doctrine of the Trinity this can be a blessing and a healthy thing.
But what about the people who leave and never darken the door of a church again?
A fascinating study was done recently by an organization called LifeWay Research.
Labeled as the "formerly churched," 59 percent of those who left the church did so because of "changes in life situation." This was the dominant reason found in the survey conducted to better understand why people leave the church.
More specifically, LifeWay Research Director Brad Waggoner pointed out two life-situation reasons why adults stop attending church. According to the study, 19 percent of the formerly churched "simply got too busy to attend church," and 17 percent said "family/home responsibilities prevented church attendance."
Other reasons explained were moving too far from the church, work situation and divorce or separation.
Another common reason adults leave the church is "disenchantment with pastor/church." The study reported 37 percent of adults cited this as a reason for no longer attending. Some of the factors contributing to disenchantment included the behavior of church members. LifeWay reported that 17 percent said church members "seemed hypocritical" and "were judgmental of others," and 12 percent said "the church was run by a clique that discouraged involvement."
"While some may use disenchantment issues as a smokescreen to hide behind, the large percent of the formerly churched who struggle with disenchantment deserve some honest attention," Waggoner commented, according to LifeWay.
Still, 80 percent of the formerly churched do not have a strong belief in God, which the study indicated may account for their higher priorities of work and family over church. Also, among the top 10 reasons adults leave the church, only two were related to spiritual causes, the report highlighted, with 14 percent saying the church was not helping them develop spiritually and another 14 percent saying they stopped believing in organized religion.
The church, however, may have prevented some losses if it showed more care, stated the study.
"The responsibility and influence of the church varies across the different reasons for withdrawal," said Waggoner. "One clear influence is the expectations that churches have of attendees as they come into the life of the church."
He went further to explain that many churches are afraid of asking too much of the churchgoers, fearing they would leave.
Yet the study suggested for more discipleship and commitment from church attendants along with a greater show of care. The study found that 16 percent of those who left the church said nobody contacted them after they left and another 16 percent said nobody seemed to care that they left.
"In the end, it’s important for church leaders to not only assume responsibility for those who seek to join their churches, but also for those who attempt to leave," said Waggoner. "Be vigilant at both the front door and the back door of the church."
The Word confirms the two main points of this study. There are those who will leave a local body of believers, simply because they never connected with Christ Himself.
They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us. (I John 2:19)
But the Word also verifies that we need to have the same compassion as Jesus for those who go astray.
“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ 7 I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance. (Luke 15:4-7)
If each of us in the body of Christ commit ourselves to have that kind of concern and love for others we might not stop the "Revolving Door". People will still come and go for right and wrong reasons. But perhaps we can slow it down a bit, at least enough to let every person know that God really loves them, even on their way out.
Scott's Blog - 10/25/06
Excellent Servants/Poor Masters
What role do our emotions play in our walk with the Lord? Let's open the SRL Mailbag and deal with this issue before it deals with us!
Hi Pastor Scott,
"Seek ye first the kingdom of God....."
To get right to the point, how do you do this? My desire more
than
anything in this world is to know God intimately. I want to feel
His
presence and have my life driven by the Holy Spirit. I've heard
you say
on your broadcast that if we ask God to reveal Himself to us He
will. I
heard you say that the words of the Bible seem to leap off the
page at
you. I feel like a second-class Christian. I don't hear from God
or feel
led by the Spirit. I have enough sense to know and believe that
the
problem does not lie with God but with me. So what am I doing
wrong?
Here's what I think I'm doing right. I read God's Word every
night as
Joshua 1:8 and the first Psalm says to do. I try to the best of
my
ability to live according to His Word. I pray that the Lord will
be more
alive to me. I ask Him to reveal Himself to me and open the eyes
of my
understanding with respect to His Word and truth. I long to know
His
good, acceptable, and perfect will for my life. I know I'm not
perfect
but I'm looking for His perfection to perfect me. So is there a
"12 step
program" to this? There are times I tell myself that He
loves me and
everything will work out and I feel charged up. Then after a
while I get
exasperated and wonder what's going on. I know I'm the soil that
hears
and then is glad momentarily but how do I obtain and maintain
that peace
that surpasses understanding? The last thing I want to do is
murmur
against God but I'm left with questions and (I can't believe I'm
saying
this) He doesn't seem to want to answer. Again I know it has to
be me so
if you could shed some light or if any of your listeners has
experienced
this I would love to hear from them.
Thanks so much.....Roger
Thank you so much Roger for raising an issue that can make or break our walk with the Lord!
I can't tell you how many believers I have met who live their Christian lives on a proverbial roller coaster. In a "Mountain Top" moment of praise and inspired worship they claim to have felt so close to God they thought they could touch Him. But the next day, after coming down with a case of stomach flu, God seems 10,000 light years away, if He exists at all.
The issue comes down to this - how do we determine if God is really in our lives? Is it by faith or by feelings?
Contrary to popular opinion, faith is not an emotion. It is a decision. When we exercise faith in another person, we make decisions based on something we cannot see. It is called character. We can't see character itself, but we can certainly see what it does. And when we see the consistent signs of character demonstrated over time, we invest our faith in this person, confident that this pattern will continue. This is called trust.
Trust is the highest and most sincere form of praise possible. Show me what you are willing to trust someone with, and I will show you just how highly you really think of them. This investment of trust, what we call faith, is what a genuine relationship with the Lord is all about.
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)
Notice what sets off this cascade of blessings. It is not a feeling, but a decision to trust God. That decision is something we commit to because we have looked at the life, death and resurrection of Jesus and have concluded He is worthy of our trust. We believe that Jesus lives in us, not because of a feeling, or an experience, but because we trust that He will do as He says.
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. (Revelation 3:20)
Notice that Jesus didn't say, "If anyone hears My voice, has an overwhelming emotional experience, and opens the door I will come into him." We respond to His invitation by faith, believing He will do exactly as He says.
When we walk by faith in His promises, as Romans 5: 1-5 reveals, wonderful emotional experiences of His nearness will follow us. Our problem is we want to follow wonderful emotional experiences and call that a relationship with the Lord.
It has been said our emotions are excellent servants. They can tell us a lot about what is going on in our hearts. They can show us areas where we are on thin ice spiritually. They can refresh and encourage us to carry on in the Christian life.
But it has also been said that our emotions are poor masters. Our feelings aren't necessarily good or bad. They are just our feelings. It's what we do with our feelings that ultimately counts. And I have become convinced that it is precisely those times that we remain faithful in spite of our feelings that will end up being of greatest glory and eternal reward when we see our Savior.
For more on this crucial subject, follow the link to a talk I recently gave at Calvary Chapel of Albuquerque. I think you will find it a blessing.
Scott's Blog - 10/24/06
Revelation or Speculation?
There is an old saying that the best prophets make sure of the events they predict first.
These days we hear an awful lot of debate about the future of our planet. The main culprit that is widely touted as a threat to generations yet to come is man made global warming.
We are told that the release of temperature raising gases from sources as diverse as that lumbering SUV in the lane next to you, all the way to cows doing what they do best, is going to raise temperatures to the point where the ice caps will melt, the climate will shift, and untold catastrophes will be a regular part of day to day life.
Or so the speculation goes.
But would it surprise you to learn that 30 years ago the best results of science predicted disaster for the planet from the exact opposite source?
Remember Global Cooling?
Why scientists find climate change so hard to predict.
Imaginechina (left); detail from 4/28/1975 Newsweek articleHot and Cold: Signs of global warming at a dried-up pond in China in August 2006 (left) and a 1975 NEWSWEEK report on the threat of global cooling.Oct. 23, 2006 - In April, 1975, in an issue mostly taken up with stories about the collapse of the American-backed government of South Vietnam, NEWSWEEK published a small back-page article about a very different kind of disaster. Citing "ominous signs that the earth's weather patterns have begun to change dramatically," the magazine warned of an impending "drastic decline in food production." Political disruptions stemming from food shortages could affect "just about every nation on earth." Scientists urged governments to consider emergency action to head off the terrible threat of . . . well, if you had been following the climate-change debates at the time, you'd have known that the threat was: global cooling.
So who do we believe about our future?
The single greatest problem we as people face in dealing with the future is that we are stuck in the present. Because it takes milliseconds for our senses and our brain to process what is happening around us, in reality we all live in the past. We look at life through a rear view mirror, unable to see what lies ahead until it has passed us by.
We can speculate about tomorrow. But we can't anticipate it.
Unless we can get our take on what lies ahead from Someone unbound by time and the process of perception.
Remember the former things of old,
For I am God, and there
is no other;
I am God, and there
is none like Me,
Declaring the end from the
beginning,
And from ancient times things
that are not yet done,
Saying, ‘My counsel shall
stand,
And I will do all My
pleasure,' (Isaiah 46:9-10)
The Bible tells us that God Who is not limited by time has revealed to us key information about our future. God hasn't just told us what will happen on a global scale, but He has also revealed what tomorrow holds for each of us as individuals.
And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment. (Hebrews 9:27)
Being given a heads-up about tomorrow is valuable if it changes the way we live today. How about this heavenly heads-up? Have you prepared for the day when you will leave this life and stand before your Creator? If He were to ask you, "Why should I let you into My Heaven?", what would you say?
He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: (John 1:11-12)
God is so concerned about your future He delivered His message of life personally through His Son Jesus. Have you settled where you will spend all your tomorrows?
Scott's Blog - 10/23/06
The Center of the Storm
Your "Final Jeopardy" question - identify these pictures!
And--
The first picture is an embryonic stem cell, injected into the shoulder blade of a mouse.
The second picture is of a celebrity who believes that embryonic stem cells will cure his tragic case of Parkinson's Disease.
And therein lies a huge debate that this election season is bringing to the forefront.
Michael J. Fox appears in ads touting Democratic candidate for U.S. SenateWASHINGTON (AP) - His body visibly racked by tremors, actor Michael J. Fox speaks out for Missouri Democratic Senate candidate Claire McCaskill in a television ad that promotes her support for embryonic stem cell research.
"As you might know I care deeply about stem cell research," says Fox, 45, who has struggled with Parkinson's disease for more than a decade. "In Missouri you can elect Claire McCaskill, who shares my hope for cures."
McCaskill has made support for the research a key part of her campaign to unseat Senator Jim Talent. The Republican incumbent opposes the research as unethical, saying it destroys human embryos.
The new ad debuted prominently Saturday night during Game 1 of the World Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Detroit Tigers and will continue airing statewide this week, a campaign spokeswoman said.
Debate over stem cell research looms large in the state, where voters are considering a ballot measure that would amend the state constitution to protect all federally allowed forms of the research, including embryonic stem cell research.
"Unfortunately, Senator Jim Talent opposes expanding stem cell research," Fox says in the 30-second spot. "Senator Talent even wanted to criminalize the science that gives us a chance for hope."
Talent's campaign called the ad a false attack.
"Senator Talent supports medical research including stem cell research that doesn't involve cloning or destroying a human embryo," said Talent spokesman Rich Chrismer.
Election time is famous for generating discussions that create more heat than light. This couldn't be more true than in the case of embryonic stem cell research. Two question that must be asked if we are to have a biblically solid view of this debate.
First - When does life begin?
As we have shared in this space before Scripture, science and common sense lead inescapably to the conclusion that life begins at the moment of conception. As King David expressed it:
For You formed my inward parts;
You
covered me in my mother’s womb.
I will praise You, for I am fearfully and
wonderfully made;
Marvelous
are Your works,
And that
my soul knows very well.
My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was
made in secret,
And
skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in
Your book they all were written,
The days
fashioned for me,
When as
yet there were none of them. (Psalm 139:13-16)
Science tells us that from the moment of conception, a fertilized egg has the same genetic endowment as you or me. Common sense tells us that the only difference between you, me and a fertilized egg is time and nurture. Your life and my life began at conception.
Second - Does the mere stage of development give us the right to declare someone "less than human" and open to experimentation for the potential benefit of those with more time and nurture under their belts? Certainly the condition of a Michael J. Fox, or the late Christopher Reeve, or all the others who suffer from currently untreatable maladies should generate compassion. But compassion alone should not cause us to run over the rights of arguably the most defenseless people in our society - the unborn.
Learn to do good;
Seek justice,
Rebuke the oppressor;
Defend the fatherless,
Plead for the widow. (Isaiah
1:17)
There is yet a third consideration to this debate - a very practical one. Although there have been over eighty documented cures and therapies obtained from adult stem cells (harvested from fat cells, among other things!), so far embryonic stem cell research is long on promises, and short on results.
Stem cells might cause brain tumors, study finds
Mon Oct 23, 5:58 PM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Injecting human embryonic stem cells into the brains of Parkinson's disease patients may cause tumors to form, U.S. researchers reported on Sunday.
Steven Goldman and colleagues at the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York said human stem cells injected into rat brains turned into cells that looked like early tumors.
Writing in the journal Nature Medicine, the researchers said the transplants clearly helped the rats, but some of the cells started growing in a way that could eventually lead to a tumor.
Various types of cell transplants are being tried to treat Parkinson's disease, caused when dopamine-releasing cells die in the brain.
This key neurotransmitter, or message-carrying chemical, is involved in movement and Parkinson's patients suffer muscle dysfunction that can often lead to paralysis. Drugs can slow the process for a while but there is no cure.
The idea behind brain cell transplants is to replace the dead cells. Stem cells are considered particularly promising as they can be directed to form the precise desired tissue and do not trigger an immune response.
Goldman's team used human embryonic stem cells. Taken from days-old embryos, these cells can form any kind of cell in the body. This batch had been cultured in substances aimed at making them become brain cells.
Previous groups have tried to coax stem cells into becoming dopamine-releasing cells.
Goldman's team apparently succeeded and transplanted them into the rats with an equivalent of Parkinson's damage. The animals did get better.
But the grafted cells started to show areas that no longer consisted of dopamine-releasing neurons, but of dividing cells that had the potential to give rise to tumors.
The researchers killed the animals before they could know for sure, and said any experiments in humans would have to be done very cautiously.
Scientists have long feared that human embryonic stem cells could turn into tumors, because of their pliability.
Opponents of embryonic stem cell research cite such threats. Many opponents, including
President George W. Bush and some members of Congress, believe it is immoral to destroy human embryos to obtain their stem cells.
Again, understand I am not saying we should not have
compassion for those who like Michael J. Fox suffer from
diseases like Parkinson's. My own uncle struggles daily,
heroically and with incredible spirit and humor in that same
battle. But let's invest our resources in avenues that help
other human beings, without hurting the helpless and harming our
own humanity.
Scott's Blog - 10/18/06
Not a Thing of the Past
Every now and then I will hear someone intoning about our advanced society, and how problems like persecution are no longer a problem.
I usually ask them if they get out very much.
It surprises most people to learn that persecution of Christians has done land office business in our "modern" world. So much so that more people died for faith in Christ in the last century, than all who were martyred in the previous 1900 years.
And the beat goes on.
Consider the following items that have hit the news this week.
EGYPT: Kidnappers' Attempt to Force Teenage Girl to Convert to Islam Botched
October 10, 2006
On October 2nd at 2:30 p.m., Lorans Wageah Emeel, a 15-year-old Christian girl, was kidnapped by Muslims in the Egyptian city of El Mahala Al Kobra, about 60 miles north of Cairo. The incident was publicized by El Tareek, the only Arabic Christian newspaper in the Middle East. It is reported that the abductors are trying to force Lorans, a student of Saida Nafesa High School in El Mahalla Al Kobra, to deny Christ and accept Islam.
At approximately 10:30 a.m. Cairo time, on October 3rd, the Emeel family gathered around the El Mahala Al Kobra police station, pleading with the officers to return Lorans to them. Her parents accused a Muslim man of kidnapping their daughter at 2:30 in the afternoon and filed a police report at the station.
Under the cover of night at 10:00 on October 3rd, kidnapped Christian teenager, Lorans, managed to escape from her Muslim captors, who drugged and threatened to rape her if she refused Islam, before abducting her from a public bus, according to Compass Direct. While the terrorists were taking a break from a Ramadan fast, Lorans broke out of her detention room located in Helwan, a suburb just south of Cairo. It is also reported that Lorans’ father received the following text messages during the abduction: “The girl is not accepting easily, but she will embrace Islam for sure,” and “Take the rest of your daughters and leave the city, or you will lose them one by one.” Prior to reuniting with her family, State Security Investigation officials told Lorans that if she did not deny the kidnapping, she would never see her parents again.
The kidnapping of Christian teenage girls in Muslim nations has reached into the thousands. Many are forced through physical violence to convert to Islam. Other girls are often lured into becoming Muslims with promises of material wealth. The Voice of the Martyrs sponsors safe houses in Islamic countries to protect Christian teenage girls who have been threatened with or have escaped from abduction. These Christian refuges are also places where young women learn job skills and receive spiritual training.
But sometimes the darker the night, the more His light shines.
Thousands of people have been attending mass ceremonies in India at which hundreds of low-caste Hindus (Dalits) converted to Buddhism and Christianity.
Thousands attended the conversion ceremonies in NagpurThe events in the central city of Nagpur are part of a protest against the injustices of India's caste system.
By converting, Dalits - once known as Untouchables - can escape the prejudice and discrimination they normally face.
The Dalits arrived by the truckload at a public park in Nagpur for ceremonies, which began with religious leaders giving fiery speeches against the treatment of lower castes.
Reuters reported that dozens of riot policemen had turned out at the sprawling park.
Udit Raj, a Dalit leader, told the BBC that around 2,500 people converted to Christianity and Buddhism
- 167m people, 16.2% of India's population
- Nearly 60% live in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu states
- The lowest rank in Hindu society, beneath the traditional caste system
- Expected to perform the most menial jobs, particularly handling cadavers and human and animal waste
- Physical contact with a Dalit was traditionally considered ritually polluting for other castes
- Even converts to Christianity and Islam have encountered discrimination from higher-caste converts.
Joseph D'Souza, the president of the Dalit Freedom Network and a Christian convert, described the conversions as a "celebratory occasion".
"I think it's important to understand that this is a cry for human dignity, it's a cry for human worth," he told the BBC.
To find out how to become a vital part of supporting those who are making a stand for Christ in the face of persecution check out The Voice of the Martyrs
and
And remember the Word of our Lord:
34 Then
the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you
blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from
the foundation of the world: 35
for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you
gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36
I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you
visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’
37 “Then the
righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You
hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You
drink? 38 When did
we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and
clothe You? 39
Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40
And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to
you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these
My brethren, you did it to Me.' (Matthew 25:34-40)
Scott's Blog - 10/13/06
Heavenly Minded/Earthly Good
One of the criticisms leveled at Christians down through time is that we are so heavenly minded, we are of no earthly good. If you believe in the imminent return of Jesus, you probably have found yourself caught in the crosshairs of such a skeptical salvo.
There is no doubt that there have been groups down through time who donned white robes, ran up their credit cards and sat on the roof, sure they had figured out the day and hour.
But a true Biblical belief in the promise of Jesus to return isn't a call to check out of this life, but to check in to the opportunities we have to make a practical difference as live in light of eternal life. As Jesus Himself put it:
“Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his
master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due
season? Blessed is that servant whom his master,
when he comes, will find so doing. Assuredly, I say to you that
he will make him ruler over all his goods. (Matthew 24:45-47)
When we take that truth seriously, the world has a tendency to take notice. Consider this story of believers who have made their belief in Biblical prophecy so practical it impacted their pocketbooks.
Evangelicals invest $40m. in aliya
A Jerusalem-based Evangelical Christian organization announced Tuesday that it has helped 100,000 Jews move to Israel during the past decade and a half.
The International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem said it had invested $40 million in the immigration project, which has focused on Jews from the former Soviet Union, since its inception in 1989.
The pro-Israel group, which is best known for its sponsorship of the annual Feast of the Tabernacles celebrations taking place this week in Jerusalem, said the immigration assistance was provided in coordination with the Jewish Agency, the quasi-governmental agency that works to promote immigration.
"It is quite remarkable that over the last 16 years the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem, with much hard work and commitment throughout the vast former Soviet Union and many other regions in the world, has been able to assist 100,000 Jewish people to return to the land of their forefathers and to the glory of Zion," said Rev. Malcolm Hedding, executive director of the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem.
Among other things, the group's "aliya network" sponsored 54 aircraft to bring Jews to Israel from the former Soviet Union, with the majority of these immigrants brought to Israel from St. Petersburg via Finland, Hedding said.
The group said it was also involved in assisting Jewish immigration from Kaliningrad, Ukraine and Uzbekistan, and has most recently been asked by the Jewish Agency to reach out to Russian-speaking Jews who moved to Germany after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Over one million Russian Jews have immigrated to Israel since 1989.
The major channel of Christian support for Jewish immigration comes from the Chicago-based International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, which provides the Jewish Agency with about $10 million a year for Jewish immigration, while various other Christian Evangelical groups, such as the International Christian Embassy, are also involved in promoting Jewish immigration, Jewish Agency spokesman Michael Jankelowitz said.
The Christian support represents 2.5 percent of the Jewish Agency's total budget.
Decades of Christian Evangelical support for Jewish immigration has hit all-time highs over the past 16 years since the fall of the Iron Curtain, he added.
A wonderful humanitarian gesture? To be sure. But pay special attention into the motivation behind these acts of mercy.
The support stems from their hard-core biblical beliefs that the return of the Jews to the Holy Land is foretold in the Scriptures and heralds the return of the messiah.
Belief in the return of Jesus an impractical dodge of reality that helps no one? Run that one by the 100,000 Jewish people who now live in the land God gave to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
CS Lewis once remarked that it was precisely those people who thought most about the next life that made the most positive impact in this one.
A true belief in the imminent return of Jesus is a call to activate our faith.
Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless (II Peter 3:14)
Scott's Blog - 10/12/06
What's Wrong With This Picture?
It certainly has been one of those weeks, hasn't it?
The left and right seemingly trying to out scandalize each other as an election approaches.
The entire country goes into duck and cover mode as a tragic airplane crash claims two lives in New York City.
But there was one event that certainly belongs in the "Biblical Birth Pains File" (Matthew 24:8). It took place on the site of one of the slow burning fuses of international conflict - the Korean Peninsula.
A promised test firing of unstable dictator Kim Jung Il's vaunted nuclear arsenal went off, not with a bang, but a whimper. Most experts are saying this was one big, world shaking dud - the military equivalent of the "Smokey Joe" fire work on the Fourth of July.
There is no doubt the attention of the world was startlingly, and perhaps strategically, moved from Tehran to Pyongyang by this "test". Perhaps that is all these two charter members of the Axis of Evil Club intended.
But there was a key spiritual lesson to be learned here as well. It was captured by a startling picture run today in the London Daily Mail.
Blackout: While South Korea is a blaze of light, there's barely a glimmer in North Korea
North Korea might now have The Bomb, but it doesn't have much electricity - the Daily Mail
What this picture portrays physically is easy to carry over politically. Same people. Same place. But look at the contrast between a land dominated by communist tyranny and the free people to the South.
But I believe we may even see a crucial spiritual lesson here. I wonder if this picture taken from space is a whole lot different than how the Lord sees a different kind of "have/have not" situation in this world. There are nations where the light of God's truth shines brightly. If you want to hear about Jesus, turn on the radio, watch television, choose which of the 10 churches you wish to attend within a couple of miles from your home.
And then there are those where the darkness dominates. Where church attendance is a crime. Where having even a snippet of the Scriptures is a precious treasure.
Then Jesus said to them, “A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. 36 While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light." (John 12:35-36)
The events in North Korea remind us "wars and rumors of wars" will increase as Jesus' return draws near. In that light, sharing the light seems an enlightened thing to do.
Scott's Blog - 10/11/06
How Long is a Day?
You've probably had the experience before. Seeing a non-Christian staring at you with a dumbfounded look on their face. Then come the words you never wanted to have applied to you.
"You aren't one of those kind of people, are you?"
Usually we hear it when it slips out that we are actually "Born Again".
Or that we believe there is only one way to heaven.
But the one that brings down the scorn and shock of the unbeliever of our day more than any other goes something like this:
"You don't mean to tell me you believe the Earth is only a few thousand years old, do you?"
Funny thing. You don't even have to go outside the church to get a similar reaction. Consider this telling entry from the SRL Mailbag.
Hello Scott,
A Christian friend of mine has challenged my
belief in a younger earth.
I gave him my reason for believing in it (which, in a nutshell,
is that the
age of the earth is incalculable because we don't have another
earth to
compare it to; the calculations we have right now are CHOSEN
based on an old
earth view, and reconciling the theory of macro-evolution with
the bible
means one has to read a lot stuff into the scriptures that isn't
there). In
speaking with him I realized that I'm not entirely sure why an
older earth
cannot coincide with scripture; that is, if it really can't. Can
the bible
really support an old earth? Can millions or even billions of
years be read
into the genesis account (like the word "day" meaning
an age)? Your answer
would be greatly appreciated; My schedule makes it difficult to
catch the
live show but I do listen to the archives and read the blogs
when I can.
Thanks so much for such a crucial question! As we will see where we stand on this issue can have far reaching consequences for our confidence in the entire foundation for faith that is the Word of God.
A quick disclaimer - No, I am not a scientist by training. Yes, I am one of those people who has come to the conclusion that the Bible unavoidably teaches that our world is remarkably young. Why do I believe this?
An Insight From Language
In my seminary education, I was forced to endure an entire year of intensive class work in Hebrew. I not only lived to tell the story, but also was exposed to some especially helpful insights into the language God chose for the vast majority of what we know as the Old Testament. One of the key discoveries I made had to do with the issue of the "age-day" controversy. Couldn't the days we see in Genesis 1 really have been long periods of time? After all doesn't II Peter 3:8 tell us:
But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.?
Yes, Peter does tell us that God views time differently than we do. But is that principle applicable to Genesis 1? Consider a famous refrain we find in this chapter.
God called the light day, and the darkness He called night And there was evening and there was morning, one day. (Genesis 1:5)
This form is followed through the entire description of the six days of creation we see recorded in the chapter. The bone of contention is the meaning of the Hebrew word "yom". In some contexts it can mean an extended period of time. But there is a significant limiter in its use in Genesis 1.
When Moses, under the inspiration of God, compiled the account of creation in Genesis 1, he used the Hebrew word yôm for 'day'. He combined yôm with numbers ('first day', 'second day', 'third day', etc.) and with the words 'evening and morning', and the first time he employed it he carefully defined the meaning of yôm (used in this way) as being one night/day cycle (Genesis 1:5). Thereafter, throughout the Bible, yôm used in this way always refers to a normal 24–hour day.2,3 There is thus a prima facie case that, when God used the word yôm in this way, He intended to convey that the days of creation were 24 hours long.
An Insight From History
So if the days of creation were literal solar days, how to we account for the consensus of science that declares the earth is billions of years old?
Some will say that belief in a young earth is at odds with the facts. But both young earth and old earth believers have two things in common. First, neither camp was there to actually witness whether the earth is young or old. Second, both must make a conjecture about the past based upon an interpretation of present conditions. The old earth believer looks at the world and sees a reality formed by gradual process over long periods of time. A young earth believer looks at the world and sees both natural process and the remnants of an almost unimaginable catastrophe - the global flood of Noah. How interesting that the lead up passage to the often quoted "Thousand years as a day" passage in II Peter 3 contains this reminder.
3 knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” 5 For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, 6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. 7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. (II Peter 3:3-7)
It is crucial to remember that the old earth and young earth positions are both looking at the same facts. It is how the facts are interpreted that makes the difference.
An Insight From Jesus
The clincher in the argument for me goes back to the authentication of Genesis as actual history, not metaphor, by no less an authority than Jesus. In answering a question regarding divorce Jesus also gives us two key insights.
6 But from the beginning of the creation, God ‘made them male and female.’ 7 ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, 8 and the two shall become one flesh’; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate." (Mark 10:6-8)
Notice that Jesus identifies when man came on the scene - "from the beginning of creation". If the earth is billions of years old, Jesus should have said that this happened towards the end of the time line. He also quotes from both Genesis chapters one and two as historic in their intent. This is crucial because Jesus is the only One in our debate Who can be summoned as an eye witness of the events! (John 1:1) He also speaks of Noah's flood, not as a legend or myth, but as a factual event (Matthew 24:36-44). If we write off Noah as a myth, we must also write off Jesus' promise to return as a myth as well.
For a more in depth discussion of the young earth/old earth debate visit AnswersInGenesis.Com.
Scott's Blog - 10/10/06
Camping With Christ?
I must admit, I am not much of a camper.
For me, "roughing it" is staying at a hotel with a noisy air conditioner. But would it surprise you to learn that a mandatory, once a year camping experience was once part of God's plan for His people? In fact it continues, beginning today in Israel.
Tens of thousands converge on Hebron for Jewish festival
by Michael Blum Mon Oct 9, 3:35 PM ET
HEBRON, West Bank (AFP) - Tens of thousands of Jews converged on Hebron to celebrate the festival of Sukkot and stake their claim to the flashpoint Biblical city that lies deep in the occupied
West Bank.Around 600 Jewish settlers occupy a tiny enclave in the heart of Hebron, living in the midst of the surrounding Palestinian population of up to 140,000, in one of the most tense and heavily guarded trouble spots in the West Bank.
Yet tens of thousands of supporters from
Israel and tourists from abroad flooded to Hebron, causing snarl ups on the main road from Jerusalem to the southern West Bank city, to join the settlers in celebration of Sukkot.Hundreds of young people danced to Hasidic music on a platform erected by organizers, below the Cave of the Patriarchs, a sacred site for both Jews and Muslims, for festivities akin to the atmosphere of a village fair.
The seven-day Feast of Tabernacles is a joyful, family oriented holiday that follows the somber introspection of Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, which fell earlier this month.
During Sukkot, Jews build and eat, even sleep, in huts topped with thatch or palm branches to commemorate the temporary homes of their ancestors during their 40 years in the wilderness after being liberated from slavery in Egypt.
The large Jewish crowd -- which organizers claimed numbered 50,000 throughout the day -- was on hand to watch the popular Jewish American singer, Mordechai Ben David, who got caught up in the middle of the Orthodox masses.
"We demand the right to live in these houses which belong to the Jewish people," said one of the faithful, Rivka Zerbib, a settler from France who has lived in the Jewish district of Hebron for the past 20 years.
Zerbib was referring to closed shops in an old Arab market where a group of radical Jewish settlers had been squatting up until they were evicted by the Israeli military a few months ago.
At the entrance to the market, the settlers put up a giant billboard reading: "This district is stolen Jewish property, we demand it back".
The market was built on the ruins of the old Jewish district -- destroyed after riots in 1929 -- when 67 Jews were massacred by their Arab neighbors in the city.
In the modern-day streets, salesmen offer memorabilia from Hebron or from Jewish settlements dismantled in the
Gaza Strip during Israel's unilateral withdrawal from the territory in August last year after 38 years of occupation.Among them are key rings and printed T-shirts bearing inscriptions such as "Hebron for eternity" or "Gaza: We will never forget".
As the revelry continued, heavily armed security forces kept watch on the surroundings, particularly the roofs and balconies of Palestinian houses overhanging the lanes of the old town invaded by the Jews.
In 2002, during what is an annual pilgrimage to Hebron during Sukkot, an Israeli was shot dead from a house close to the Jewish enclave.
Although Israel withdrew troops from four-fifths of Hebron in January 1997 and handed control to the
Palestinian Authority, the Jewish state continues to control the center of the city, home to the settlers and the sacred site.
The Feast of Tabernacles is not just a way to commemorate and experience what life during the Exodus was like. It is also loaded with new testament and even prophetic significance. Popular Bible teacher Chuck Missler provides a fascinating summary.
Succoth (The Feast of Tabernacles)
Five days later, on the 15th of Tishri, is the final feast of the year: Succoth, the Feast of Tabernacles, or the Feast of Booths. This lasts for eight days and is one of the three feasts that were compulsory for all Jewish males.9
It is fascinating to visit Israel at this time and observe them build their temporary "booths" in the traditional way, leaving deliberate gaps in the branches to view the stars at night, and for the wind to blow through during the day. This is intended to remind them of the wilderness wanderings.
At the end of the eight days, they leave their temporary dwellings to return to their permanent homes. (This is one of the reasons some suspect that this feast, rather than the Feast of Trumpets, is suggestive of the Rapture of the Church. Also, there appears to be a hint by Peter, desiring to build "succoths" at the transfiguration.10 ) This day, traditionally, is the day that Solomon dedicated the first Temple.
This feast also involved a daily processional to the Pool of Siloam to fetch water for the Temple. This ceremonial procession is the setting for the events of John 7, where Jesus offers them "living water."11
This procession involved four types of branches: the willow, the myrtle, the palm, and a citrus.12 The willow has no smell and no fruit. The myrtle has smell, but no fruit. The palm has no smell, but bears fruit. The citrus has both smell and bears fruit. This sounds reminiscent of the four soils of the first "kingdom parable" of Matthew 13, doesn't it?13
The prophetic implications of this climactic feast are many. Most scholars associate it with the establishment of the Millennial Kingdom in Israel.14
- 9. Feast of Unleavened Bread, Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) and the Feast of Tabernacles were mandatory: Deuteronomy 16:16.
- 10. Matthew 17:4.
- 11. John 7:2, 10, 37-39.
- 12. Thanks to Doug Wetmore for his insights.
- 13. Matthew 13:3-9; 18-23.
- 14. Hosea 5:15-6:3; Zechariah 14:4, 9, 16.
Since Zechariah 14 tells us that this feast will be celebrated during the Thousand Year Reign of Christ here on Earth, I guess those of us who don't enjoy a good camping trip better get used to the idea!
I don't think I will mind that a bit. It is an exciting thing to realize that during that time we will not just be celebrating God's deliverance of His people from physical slavery, but also our deliverance from spiritual slavery.
The time in a make shift tent that won't even have a noisy air conditioner will also remind us of our deliverance from this fallen, corruptible body we have today, into the perfect incorruptible eternal bodies God will give to us when we see Him face to face!
This "Feast of Tents" sheds some significant light on the words of Paul in II Corinthians 5!
1
For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is
destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with
hands, eternal in the heavens. 2
For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our
habitation which is from heaven, 3
if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. 4
For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not
because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that
mortality may be swallowed up by life. 5
Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God,
who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
6 So we are
always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body
we are absent from the Lord. 7
For we walk by faith, not by sight. 8
We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the
body and to be present with the Lord. (II Corinthians 5:1-8)
Right now our physical life is like living in a tent that is fraying around the edges and falling apart. But the Feast of Tabernacles reminds us God has a better living situation He is preparing for us. And as the Feast of Tabernacles is a temporary arrangement that lasts only for a short period of time, so life in this tent will be replaced by a quality of life that is beautiful and permanent! We have Jesus' Word on it.
1 “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. (John 14:1-3)
Scott's Blog - 10/09/06
Can't or Won't Believe?
I wanted to take an opportunity to do a follow up to an e-mail we received at our SRL Mail Bag. (studio@scottrichardslive.com) We originally tackled the issue of how to minister in a death bed situation (See Scott's Blog 10/05/06). The "sticking point" in the situation reveals an issue that every believer needs to be equipped to deal with, because it is incredibly common and keeps many people from seriously considering a relationship with Christ.
Here's the e-mail:
Hi Pastor Scott,
I have tried witnessing to my mother-in-law during my 23 years
of
marriage. She professes to be an atheist. She has a
rare heart
condition that always end up in ER visits. During her last
visit to the
hospital last week, she mentioned she was really scared. That's
when I
told her she needed to know where she was going; her eternal
address. I
asked her if she really could believe that the earth was formed
by an
explosion and through evolution we came to be. She stated
"YES"! Then
she said I just can't believe is a spirit. I did not know
how to reply
and said OK. I know I should continue to pray for her
salvation; but I
get really frustrated doing so. I know that God says His
word is
foolish to those who do not believe. I feel I should just
stop speaking
God's word to her.
How would you answer someone who says "I can't believe in a
spirit"?
Thank you,
Elise
Did you catch the key word in this interaction? It is the statement that "I can't believe in a spirit".
The key issue here is two fold. First of all, many people will assert that they will only believe in things they can perceive through the five senses. This is a huge problem because the Bible tells us that no one will ever enter in to a relationship with God on that basis.
6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6)
Our culture tends to proudly hold up the scientific method as the ultimate pathway to truth. The idea of believing in things we can't see, feel, hear with our ears, smell or weigh on a balance is portrayed as a superstitious hang over from primitive times.
Or is it?
There is no doubt that the scientific method of determining physical truth by making it pass the test of being observable, testable and repeatable has done everything from prolonging life to putting a man on the moon. But it has it's limits.
You can't weigh a pound of love on the scales. You can't discover the wave length of a sense of purpose. You can't look up hope on a periodic table of the elements.
And we can't live five minutes without any of these things that defy the scientific method.
Faith fits into that same category. The Bible defines faith as the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)
God is not in the habit of showing up for a scientific examination. What finite human tools could measure the infinite nature of God, anyway?
Some object, "Oh, OK. We've heard all this before. Take the good old leap into the dark and just believe! Isn't that what your faith is all about?"
In a word, no.
The writer of Hebrews tells us that faith is the evidence of things not seen. In other words we don't believe in something that is contrary to all evidence, but in the One that all evidence eventually brings us to. We don't see God physically, but we see what He has done.
In creation we see order and purpose, not randomness and chaos. The scientific method itself was developed because of a Biblical world view that declared that the Creator had done His work in observable, consistent ways. (Psalm 19)
In our hearts we see an insatiable need for purpose and meaning in life that is completely contrary to the idea that we are just a nice roll of some random cosmic dice. (Ecclesiastes 3:11)
But most importantly, in history we see the record of a remarkable truth. God has walked among us in the Person of Jesus Christ. He provided overwhelming evidence of this by living a sinless life, teaching as no one has before or since, and by rising from the dead.
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life— 2 the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us— 3 that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. 4 And these things we write to you that your joy may be full. (I John 1:1-4)
As the great Christian writer CS Lewis put it, "I believe in Christianity as I believe the sun has risen. Not just because I see it, but because by it, I also see everything else."
This is not a leap into the dark, but a step into the light.
And this gets us to the heart of the matter. I will often encounter people who will point to some aspect of Biblical faith and say, "I can't believe in that."
I have learned to respond in a simple way. "If I were to answer your question, to your satisfaction, would you consider giving your heart to Jesus Christ?"
If they say, "Sure!" I either share away, or tell them I will look into the issue and get back to them.
If they say, "No!" I point out that the problem here is not that they can't believe, but that they won't believe. And if they fit into the "won't believe" category, it's usually a good idea to find out why.
Usually the answer is quite personal. And often quite painful. But the real objection usually has more to do with either a bad experience with people who claimed to be Christians, or their own sense of personal shame.
More often than not it has nothing to do with Jesus at all.
God calls us to "speak the truth in love" (Ephesians 4:15). In no other circumstance than an "I can't believe" situation are truth and love more essential!
Scott's Blog - 10/06/06
Are Your Days Numbered?
Another day, another provocative question from the SRL mailbag!
Dear Pastor Richards,
I have a question for your program.
I have a friend that died five years ago from a drug overdose
and she left
behind a four month old baby.
The way I see it, I believe it's in the bible, is that it was
her appointed
time to die. But I have friends to say that the cause of her
death was the
sin in her life. (The drug use)
Some people have been brought back to life (rescued) from
overdoses and I
believe that God wanted her in Heaven. I believe God could have
changed the
outcome. Do you think her life was over prematurely, or was it
her appointed
time to die?
Thank you for your answer.
Lina
Thank you, Lina, for raising such a relevant and thought provoking question. To have a truly Biblical understanding of God's role in determining the length of our lives, and even the day of our deaths (!), there are two lines of truth we have to hold in tension.
"Booking" Our Departure
There is no doubt about the fact that God knows everything about our lives. King David beautifully expressed this truth in Psalm 139!
13 For You
formed my inward parts;
You
covered me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will
praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous
are Your works,
And that
my soul knows very well.
15 My frame
was not hidden from You,
When I was
made in secret,
And
skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
16 Your eyes
saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in
Your book they all were written,
The days
fashioned for me,
When as
yet there were none of them.
The Bible tells us that God has both written and read the entire book of our lives. This is incredible source of comfort and security for us. There are all kinds of things that come my way that seem shocking, surprising, even overwhelming to me. But never once has there been a circumstance that would cause God to say, "Wow! I never thought something like that would happen!" Our lives are to the Lord an open book. Just as he knows the day of our birth, so also He knows the day we will depart and be with Him. We can rest in knowing that God knows and cares about us so much that Jesus expressed it this way,
29 Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. 30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. (Matthew 10:29-31)
Going In to Over Time?
There is no doubt God knows all about the length and individual events of our lives. But the Bible also tells us that in a remarkable way, we as people do have a say in the length and quality of our lives. consider a mind blowing section of Scripture recorded in the book of Isaiah.
1 In
those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the
prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, “Thus
says the LORD: ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die and
not live.’”
2 Then Hezekiah
turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the LORD, 3
and said, “Remember now, O LORD, I pray, how I have walked
before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what
is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
4 And the word of
the LORD came to Isaiah, saying, 5
“Go and tell Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of David
your father: “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your
tears; surely I will add to your days fifteen years. 6
I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of
Assyria, and I will defend this city.”' (Isaiah 38:1-7)
Here we see God prolonging Hezekiah's life in response to prayer. The Bible also indicates that following God's principles in life can extend the time and quality of our experience here.
1 My son, do not forget my law, But let your heart keep my commands;
2
For length of days and long life
And peace they will add to
you. (Proverbs 3:1-2)
If we turn our back on God's good and beneficial ways, the law of cause and effect can quickly and sadly catch up with us.
God clearly knows the end of our lives from the beginning. But the Bible tells us that in His plan, He allows our decisions to determine the path our lives will take. If we decide to walk with the Lord and enjoy His goodness daily, we will receive every good and perfect gift He has planned for us, including every day we could possibly enjoy here in this life.
Even to your old age, I am He,
And even to gray
hairs I will carry you!
I have made, and I will
bear;
Even I will carry, and will
deliver you. (Isaiah 46:4)
Scott's Blog - 10/05/06
Matters of Life and Death
Let's go to the SRL mail bag and take on a quite literal matter of life and death!
Hi Pastor Scott,
I have tried witnessing to my mother-in-law during my 23 years
of
marriage. She professes to be an atheist. She has a
rare heart
condition that always end up in ER visits. During her last
visit to the
hospital last week, she mentioned she was really scared. That's
when I
told her she needed to know where she was going; her eternal
address. I
asked her if she really could believe that the earth was formed
by an
explosion and through evolution we came to be. She stated
"YES"! Then
she said I just can't believe is a spirit. I did not know
how to reply
and said OK. I know I should continue to pray for her
salvation; but I
get really frustrated doing so. I know that God says His
word is
foolish to those who do not believe. I feel I should just
stop speaking
God's word to her.
How would you answer someone who says "I can't believe in a
spirit"?
Thank you,
Elise
Believe it or not, that sense that we have no skills, experience or wisdom to offer in the face of such circumstances can be a tremendous blessing in disguise.
First it reminds us of our place in the process of sharing the Good News. It is crucial to realize that we don't "convert" anyone. Any person who responds to an invitation to receive Christ is a walking miracle! As Jesus Himself put it,
44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. (John 6:44)
This takes considerable pressure off of us as we relate God's truth to others, no matter what the circumstances. We can't "talk people into the kingdom" and neither should we want to. If we can talk someone into faith in Jesus, someone else can talk them out of faith in Jesus. But when the Lord Himself speaks to the heart, a lasting eternal miraculous change takes place!
So if we can't convert anyone, what is our role in the process of evangelism? Quite simply, to be conduits of God's truth.
22 Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, 23 having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever 24 because“ All flesh is as grass,
And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass.
The grass withers,
And its flower falls away,
25 But the word of the LORD endures forever.”
Now this is the word which by the gospel which was preached to you. (I Peter 1:22-25)
It is God's Word that the Lord uses to bring about the miracle of the new birth. It would only make sense then, that our job is to simply and clearly share what the Lord has to say. I am not suggesting beating someone over the head with a string of Bible verses, but making sure that we stick to presenting the message of Christ and what it means to know Him. When people bring up "But what about evolution?" or "What about bad things and good people?" kind of questions, a helpful response is , "If I were to answer that question to your satisfaction, would you consider giving your life to Jesus?" This keeps the focus on what the Lord is saying to the heart of that person, at that moment. In a death bed situation, staying on track is crucial.
Some might respond, "That's it? Just trust God and share His Word? That seems too simple in such a situation!" But there is nothing simplistic about the power to change lives we find in God's Word!
12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)
The most important thing to remember when we find ourselves sharing in a high pressure situation is not just to pray, and to share the Word, but to realize that no one is more concerned about that person's eternal destiny than Jesus. If He was willing to die to make their salvation possible, He will do everything else to make their salvation personal!
Scott's Blog - 10/04/06
Temple Update
One of the key signs of the imminent return of Jesus is the status of the Jewish Temple. Destroyed by the Romans under Titus in 70 AD, the Bible insists that this centerpiece of Jewish worship will be rebuilt on its historic site.
1 Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod. And the angel stood, saying, “Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there. 2 But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles. And they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months. (Revelation 11:1-2)
This prophecy of a divided Temple Mount strongly indicates that a compromise will be achieved that will allow the Jews and the Moslems joint access to their respective holy sites. Many students of prophecy have identified this with "the strong covenant with many nations" the Anti-Christ will make as he comes to power in the time of the Tribulation. (See Daniel 9:27)
But more will have to be accomplished than building the Temple in order for the predictions we find concerning the last days are to be fulfilled. The Temple will not only have to be fabricated, but also furnished with authentic implements the Bible prescribes for worship.
A fascinating development that may facilitate the fulfillment of prophecy was detailed in the Times of London.
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Considering the intense interest in the rebuilding of the Temple among groups in Israel, the desperate desire for peace in the region, and the prophecies that demand the rebuilding of the Temple, this development, if confirmed could be tremendously significant. Stay tuned!
28 Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near." (Luke 21:28)
Scott's Blog - 10/03/06
You Bet Your Life
Character has been defined as who we are when no one is looking. These days the opportunities to come face to face with our true character seem to be growing by leaps and bounds. Thanks to the internet, compromising our character can be done in the privacy of our own homes. Without the restraint of the possibility of being found out, destructive addictive behavior is running rampant in our culture.
Even politicians are beginning to pay attention.
Bush to sign bill to prevent Internet gambling
US President George W. Bush this week is expected to sign a bill making it harder to place bets on the Internet, a practice which already is illegal in the United States.Bush was expected to act quickly after Congress approved the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act making it illegal for financial institutions and credit card companies to process payments to settle Internet bets. It also created stiff penalties for online wagers.
Billions of dollars are wagered online each year and the United States is considered the biggest market.
"It is extraordinary how many American families have been touched by large losses from Internet gambling," said US Representative Jim Leach, the bill's main sponsor in the House, in a statement after its passage early Saturday.
The bill's chief Senate sponsor was conservative Republican Jon Kyl, who, like Leach, has said he believed Internet gambling was a moral threat. He has called online betting as the Internet version of crack cocaine.
"Gambling can be highly addictive, especially when its done over an unregulated environment such as the Internet" he said this year.
"If Congress had not acted, gamblers would soon be able to place bets not just from home computers, but from their cell phones while they drive home from work or their Blackberries as they wait in line at the movies," Leach said.
Between the internet and the proliferation of reservation based casinos, gambling has become more accessible than ever, with more far reaching effects than ever.
We see this trend reveal itself on a regular basis on Scott Richards Live. A very common question on the broadcast is posed in one of two ways.
"I'm a Christian, and I don't see anywhere in the Bible where gambling is prohibited. Why can't I enjoy a good time and make some money while I'm at it?"
-or-
"I have a loved one who has blown a huge amount of money at the casinos. I've told them they need to stop, but they don't think it is a problem. What does the Bible say about gambling?"
No Thou Shalt Nots..
If we are looking for a specific command that says "Stay thou away from ye one armed bandit", we will be looking a long time. But there are some key principles that certainly do shed light on this practice.
What is the Real Pay Off?
If there were no pay outs, no jack pots, no instant millionaires that came out of the casinos, people wouldn't find the games all that interesting. It is the lure of getting rich quick that fuels the fire of gambling. Certainly there is an adrenalin rush that accompanies a big win, but how long does it last? How much is ever enough? A wise man named Solomon who knew something about hitting it big once observed,
He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver;
Nor he who loves abundance,
with increase.
This also is vanity.
11
When goods increase,
They increase who eat them;
So what profit have the
owners
Except to see them
with their eyes? (Ecclesiastes 5:9-11)
What is the Real Provision?
The great millionaire financier J.P Morgan was once asked, "How much is enough?" He replied, "Apparently more than I have." Many people believe that the emptiness they feel inside can be filled with just one more big day at the track. But by seeking to fill a spiritual need with a physical commodity like money, they are passing on a far greater blessing.
6 Now godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain] we can carry nothing out. 8 And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. 9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. (I Timothy 6:6-10)
It as been said that in God's economy, if you need it, you've got it. If you don't have it, you don't need it. Gambling short circuits that simple dependency on God, and substitutes the promise of material gain for true spiritual riches.
What is the Real Practice?
God does desire to meet our needs, but not our "greeds". He has even provided a way for us to participate with Him in this process - it is called "work"!
6 But
we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and
not according to the tradition which he received from us. 7
For you yourselves know how you ought to follow us, for we were
not disorderly among you; 8
nor did we eat anyone’s bread free of charge, but worked with
labor and toil night and day, that we might not be a burden to
any of you, 9 not
because we do not have authority, but to make ourselves an
example of how you should follow us.
10 For even when we
were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work,
neither shall he eat. 11
For we hear that there are some who walk among you in a
disorderly manner, not working at all, but are busybodies. 12
Now those who are such we command and exhort through our Lord
Jesus Christ that they work in quietness and eat their own
bread. (II Thessalonians 3:6-12)
Gambling promises much, and delivers less than little. For every person that goes home a "winner" there are thousands who walk out broke, disgusted with themselves, and in bondage. Christians would be well advised to stay far away from the wreck and ruin that accompany gambling.
13 But as for
you, brethren, do not grow weary in doing good. (II
Thessalonians 3:13)
Scott's Blog - 10/02/06
As the Days of Noah..
There are few subjects that generate more attention in Christian circles than Biblical prophecy. And there are few questions that are asked about the predictions of the imminent return of Jesus that focus our attention more than, "How close do you think we are?"
Believe it or not, the Lord hasn't left that question to guess work. True, no man will know the day or hour of Jesus' return at the Rapture, but the Bible does give us a vivid picture of the general conditions that will prevail at that time.
36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. 37 But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 38 For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. (Matthew 24:36-39)
Jesus' main point here is to draw a vivid picture of God's judgment when it is poured out in a global way. There is always a prophetic warning, a provision made for God's people, and then judgment is poured out. We are currently in the "prophetic warning" phase of this pattern. God's Word is going forth and touching lives in unprecedented ways. But there will come a time when this outreach will come to an end, and God will take His people home. Then the seven year period called the Tribulation will be unleashed upon this world.
I have also come to believe there is more to Jesus' reference to the days of Noah than this prophetic pattern. I believe we also need to be aware of the rise of distinctly Days-of-Noah like conditions that will accompany this pattern. One verse that is becoming almost uncomfortably relatable is found in Genesis 6.
Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. (Genesis 6:5-6)
I couldn't help but think of that passage over the last few days. In a troubling trend, we are seeing acts of unspeakable violence perpetrated on the most defenseless members of society. After hearing about the horrific events that took place at an Amish school earlier today, I was shocked to read this follow up piece published by the Associated Press.
A list of some fatal shootings at U.S. schools in recent years:
• Oct. 2, 2006: A gunman took about a dozen girls hostage, killing at least three of them, at a one-room Amish schoolhouse in Pennsylvania's Lancaster County, police said. The shooter was among the dead, and a number of people were injured.
• Sept. 29, 2006: 15-year-old Eric Hainstock brought two guns to a school in rural Cazenovia, Wis., and fatally shot the principal, a day after the principal gave him a disciplinary warning for having tobacco on school grounds, police said.
• Sept. 27, 2006: Duane Morrison, 53, took six girls hostage at Platte Canyon High School in Bailey, Colo. Morrison, sexually assaulting them and using them as human shields for hours before fatally shooting one girl and killing himself.
• Aug. 24, 2006: Christopher Williams, 27, went to an elementary school in Essex, Vermont, looking for his ex-girlfriend, a teacher. He couldn't find her and fatally shot one teacher and wounded another, police said. Williams also killed his ex-girlfriend's mother, according to authorities. He shot himself twice in the head after the rampage and was arrested.
• March 21, 2005: Sixteen-year-old Jeff Weise shot and killed five schoolmates, a teacher and an unarmed guard at a high school on the Red Lake Indian Reservation in Minnesota before taking his own life. Weise had earlier killed his grandfather and his grandfather's companion.
• Nov. 22, 2004: Sixteen-year-old Desmond Keels is accused of fatally shooting one student and wounding three others outside Strawberry Mansion High in Philadelphia. The attack apparently was over a $50 debt in a rap contest. Keels is set to stand trial on murder charges later this month.
• April 24, 2003: 14-year-old James Sheets shot and killed the principal in the crowded cafeteria of a junior high school in south-central Pennsylvania, before killing himself.
• May 26, 2000: 13-year-old Nathaniel Brazill killed his English teacher on the last day of classes in Lake Worth, Fla., after the teacher refused to let him talk with two girls in his classroom. He was convicted of second-degree murder and is serving a 28-year sentence.
• April 20, 1999: Students Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, killed 12 students and a teacher and wounded 23 before killing themselves at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo.
• May 21, 1998: Two teenagers were killed and more than 20 people hurt when a teenage boy opened fire at a high school in Springfield, Ore., after killing his parents. Kip Kinkel, 17, was sentenced to nearly 112 years in prison.
• May 19, 1998: Three days before his graduation, an honor student opened fire at a high school in Fayetteville, Tenn., killing a classmate who was dating his ex-girlfriend. Jacob Davis, 18, was sentenced to life in prison.
• March 24, 1998: Two boys, ages 11 and 13, fired on their Jonesboro, Ark., middle school from nearby woods, killing four girls and a teacher and wounding 10 others. Both boys were later convicted of murder and can be held until age 21.
• Dec. 1, 1997: Three students were killed and five wounded at a high school in West Paducah, Ky. Michael Carneal, then 14, later pleaded guilty but mentally ill to murder and is serving life in prison.
• Oct. 1, 1997: Sixteen-year-old Luke Woodham of Pearl, Miss., fatally shot two students and wounded seven others after stabbing his mother to death. He was sentenced the following year to three life sentences.
There is an old saying, "Sow a thought, reap an action." We are living in times when acts of unspeakable violence are becoming more and more common. As we watch the so-called experts scramble for explanations, we can change the channel and see an impassioned "civil libertarian" inveigh against the evil people who would want to restrict access to increasingly realistic and graphic movies and video games. "C'mon! Everyone knows its just harmless fantasy. Who are you to make judgment calls about what is right and wrong for others?"
Such civil libertarian arguments sound persuasive, until we take a look at the kind of material that is being defended. Consider a popular video game called "Super Columbine Massacre RPG" that allows the player to act as one of the perpetrators of the senseless evil and brutality in that tragic circumstance.
Columbine Video Game Offends Victims' Relatives
DENVER — An online game based on the Columbine High School massacre is drawing criticism from relatives of those who died in the 1999 attack, including a father who says it trivializes the actions of the two teen killers.
The game, Super Columbine Massacre RPG, was posted on a Web site last year but is becoming more popular. It draws on investigative material, including images of Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, who killed 12 classmates and a teacher before committing suicide.
Players are told it is "ultimately up to you" how many people Harris and Klebold kill that day. Each time Harris and Klebold kill someone in the game, a dialogue box pops up that says: "Another victory for the Trench Coat Mafia."
The game also includes crime scene photos of the killers and images of students running and crying, though it does not have photos of any victims.
"We live in a culture of death, so it doesn't surprise me that this stuff has become so commonplace," said Brian Rohrbough, whose son, Daniel, was among those slain that day. "It disgusts me. You trivialize the actions of two murderers and the lives of the innocent."
Space doesn't allow a description of the horrors of mainstream games like "Halo", "Doom" or the latest versions of "Grand Theft Auto", all available in the video section of popular department stores.
Is there a direct connection between the proliferation of desensitizing, first person video games, glorifying the massacre of innocent people and the headlines we see far too often in our day?
Even more importantly, how do you suppose our Creator, Who gave us the intelligence to make computers in the first place, feels when He sees that ability used in such soul destroying ways?
The "Days of Noah" where " the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. "may be closer to our days than we think.
Scott's Blog - 10/17/06
A Wonder Beyond Wonders
Do you remember reading in school about the Seven Wonders of the World? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Wonders_of_the_World
With one exception, they fit in the file under "Take my word for it", because apart from the Great Pyramid at Giza, not a single one of them remains to this day.
But in a tribute to bringing things up to date, there is now an effort underway to modernize this venerable list.
Stonehenge makes list in new seven wonders vote
Tue Oct 17, 8:34 AM ET
LONDON (Reuters) - Only one of the ancient wonders of the world still survives -- now history lovers are being invited to choose a new list of seven.
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Among 21 locations shortlisted for the worldwide vote is Stonehenge, the only British landmark selected.
The 5,000-year-old stones on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, will be up against sites including the Acropolis in Athens; the Statue of Liberty in New York; and the last remaining original wonder, the Pyramids of Giza in Cairo.
An original list of nearly 200 sites nominated by the public was narrowed to 21 by the organizers and experts, including the former director general of Unesco Professor Federico Mayor.
The vote is organized by a non-profit Swiss foundation called New7Wonders which specializes in the preservation, restoration and promotion of monuments, and the results will be announced on July 7, 2007, in Lisbon.
About 20 million votes have already been lodged, including many from India, for the Taj Mahal; China, for the Great Wall and from Peru for Machu Picchu, the fortress city of the Incas.
The other original seven wonders of the ancient world were the Hanging Gardens of Babylon; the Statue of Zeus at Olympia; the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus; the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus; the Colossus of Rhodes and the Lighthouse of Alexandria.
Tia Viering, spokeswoman for New7Wonders, said: "Apart from the Pyramids, the seven ancient wonders of the world no longer exist."
The only criteria for the new list is that the landmarks were built or discovered before 2000.
"People of England, it is now your turn to be heard," added Viering. Support Stonehenge to become one of the New Seven Wonders of the World."
Votes can be made online, at www.new7wonders.com.
The 21 finalists for the New Seven Wonders of the World, alphabetically:
1 Acropolis, Athens, Greece
2 Alhambra, Granada, Spain
3 Angkor Wat temple, Cambodia
4 Chichen Itza Aztec site, Yucatan, Mexico
5 Christ the Redeemer, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
6 Colosseum, Rome
7 Easter Island Statues, Chile
8 Eiffel Tower, Paris
9 Great Wall, China
10 Hagia Sophia church, Istanbul, Turkey
11 Kyomizu Temple, Kyoto, Japan
12 Kremlin/St.Basil's, Moscow
13 Machu Picchu, Peru
14 Neuschwanstein Castle, Fussen, Germany
15 Petra ancient city, Jordan
16 Pyramids of Giza, Egypt
17 Statue of Liberty, New York
18 Stonehenge, Amesbury, United Kingdom
19 Sydney Opera House, Australia
20 Taj Mahal, Agra, India
21 Timbuktu city, Mali
Stonehenge makes list in new seven wonders vote - Yahoo! News
How many of these wonders have you had the chance to see first hand? Each one of them has a tendency to cause the jaw to drop. But as I read the list of these potential finalists for the new and improved Seven Wonders of the World, I was reminded of a wonder that will cause even the greatest of these man made monuments to seem like a corner convenience store in comparison.
It is the place that we as believers in Christ will some day call home - The New Jerusalem.
10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy[ Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. 12 Also she had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: 13 three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west.14 Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 15 And he who talked with me had a gold reed to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. 16 The city is laid out as a square; its length is as great as its breadth. And he measured the city with the reed: twelve thousand furlongs. Its length, breadth, and height are equal. 17 Then he measured its wall: one hundred and forty-four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel. 18 The construction of its wall was of jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. 19 The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones: the first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. 21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls: each individual gate was of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
22 But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. 24 And the nations of those who are saved] shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it.25 Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there). 26 And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. 27 But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. (Revelation 21:10-27)
The physical attributes of the New Jerusalem are staggering. One side of this city would stretch from Los Angeles to Seattle. Dr. Henry Morris calculated that at a population of 5 billion inhabitants, there would be enough room in the New Jerusalem to give each person 75 acres of living space. This amazing city would be able to accommodate over 20 billion people if only 20% of its area was used for housing.
But the greatest wonder of all will be the fact that God will be there.
Some have wondered down through time if eternal life will end up being boring after awhile. This brief description tells us that heaven will be far more interesting than drifting along forever on a cloud, or being in a church service that never gets out.
We will see God in the New Jerusalem. And even more wonderful, we will experience what it means to know and love Him personally there.
Oh, the wonder of it all, just to think that God loves me!
Scott's Blog - 10/13/06
Heavenly Minded/Earthly Good
One of the criticisms leveled at Christians down through time is that we are so heavenly minded, we are of no earthly good. If you believe in the imminent return of Jesus, you probably have found yourself caught in the crosshairs of such a skeptical salvo.
There is no doubt that there have been groups down through time who donned white robes, ran up their credit cards and sat on the roof, sure they had figured out the day and hour.
But a true Biblical belief in the promise of Jesus to return isn't a call to check out of this life, but to check in to the opportunities we have to make a practical difference as live in light of eternal life. As Jesus Himself put it:
“Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his
master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due
season? Blessed is that servant whom his master,
when he comes, will find so doing. Assuredly, I say to you that
he will make him ruler over all his goods. (Matthew 24:45-47)
When we take that truth seriously, the world has a tendency to take notice. Consider this story of believers who have made their belief in Biblical prophecy so practical it impacted their pocketbooks.
Evangelicals invest $40m. in aliya
A Jerusalem-based Evangelical Christian organization announced Tuesday that it has helped 100,000 Jews move to Israel during the past decade and a half.
The International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem said it had invested $40 million in the immigration project, which has focused on Jews from the former Soviet Union, since its inception in 1989.
The pro-Israel group, which is best known for its sponsorship of the annual Feast of the Tabernacles celebrations taking place this week in Jerusalem, said the immigration assistance was provided in coordination with the Jewish Agency, the quasi-governmental agency that works to promote immigration.
"It is quite remarkable that over the last 16 years the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem, with much hard work and commitment throughout the vast former Soviet Union and many other regions in the world, has been able to assist 100,000 Jewish people to return to the land of their forefathers and to the glory of Zion," said Rev. Malcolm Hedding, executive director of the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem.
Among other things, the group's "aliya network" sponsored 54 aircraft to bring Jews to Israel from the former Soviet Union, with the majority of these immigrants brought to Israel from St. Petersburg via Finland, Hedding said.
The group said it was also involved in assisting Jewish immigration from Kaliningrad, Ukraine and Uzbekistan, and has most recently been asked by the Jewish Agency to reach out to Russian-speaking Jews who moved to Germany after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Over one million Russian Jews have immigrated to Israel since 1989.
The major channel of Christian support for Jewish immigration comes from the Chicago-based International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, which provides the Jewish Agency with about $10 million a year for Jewish immigration, while various other Christian Evangelical groups, such as the International Christian Embassy, are also involved in promoting Jewish immigration, Jewish Agency spokesman Michael Jankelowitz said.
The Christian support represents 2.5 percent of the Jewish Agency's total budget.
Decades of Christian Evangelical support for Jewish immigration has hit all-time highs over the past 16 years since the fall of the Iron Curtain, he added.
A wonderful humanitarian gesture? To be sure. But pay special attention into the motivation behind these acts of mercy.
The support stems from their hard-core biblical beliefs that the return of the Jews to the Holy Land is foretold in the Scriptures and heralds the return of the messiah.
Belief in the return of Jesus an impractical dodge of reality that helps no one? Run that one by the 100,000 Jewish people who now live in the land God gave to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
CS Lewis once remarked that it was precisely those people who thought most about the next life that made the most positive impact in this one.
A true belief in the imminent return of Jesus is a call to activate our faith.
Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless (II Peter 3:14)
Scott's Blog - 10/12/06
What's Wrong With This Picture?
It certainly has been one of those weeks, hasn't it?
The left and right seemingly trying to out scandalize each other as an election approaches.
The entire country goes into duck and cover mode as a tragic airplane crash claims two lives in New York City.
But there was one event that certainly belongs in the "Biblical Birth Pains File" (Matthew 24:8). It took place on the site of one of the slow burning fuses of international conflict - the Korean Peninsula.
A promised test firing of unstable dictator Kim Jung Il's vaunted nuclear arsenal went off, not with a bang, but a whimper. Most experts are saying this was one big, world shaking dud - the military equivalent of the "Smokey Joe" fire work on the Fourth of July.
There is no doubt the attention of the world was startlingly, and perhaps strategically, moved from Tehran to Pyongyang by this "test". Perhaps that is all these two charter members of the Axis of Evil Club intended.
But there was a key spiritual lesson to be learned here as well. It was captured by a startling picture run today in the London Daily Mail.
Blackout: While South Korea is a blaze of light, there's barely a glimmer in North Korea
North Korea might now have The Bomb, but it doesn't have much electricity - the Daily Mail
What this picture portrays physically is easy to carry over politically. Same people. Same place. But look at the contrast between a land dominated by communist tyranny and the free people to the South.
But I believe we may even see a crucial spiritual lesson here. I wonder if this picture taken from space is a whole lot different than how the Lord sees a different kind of "have/have not" situation in this world. There are nations where the light of God's truth shines brightly. If you want to hear about Jesus, turn on the radio, watch television, choose which of the 10 churches you wish to attend within a couple of miles from your home.
And then there are those where the darkness dominates. Where church attendance is a crime. Where having even a snippet of the Scriptures is a precious treasure.
Then Jesus said to them, “A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. 36 While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light." (John 12:35-36)
The events in North Korea remind us "wars and rumors of wars" will increase as Jesus' return draws near. In that light, sharing the light seems an enlightened thing to do.
Scott's Blog - 10/11/06
How Long is a Day?
You've probably had the experience before. Seeing a non-Christian staring at you with a dumbfounded look on their face. Then come the words you never wanted to have applied to you.
"You aren't one of those kind of people, are you?"
Usually we hear it when it slips out that we are actually "Born Again".
Or that we believe there is only one way to heaven.
But the one that brings down the scorn and shock of the unbeliever of our day more than any other goes something like this:
"You don't mean to tell me you believe the Earth is only a few thousand years old, do you?"
Funny thing. You don't even have to go outside the church to get a similar reaction. Consider this telling entry from the SRL Mailbag.
Hello Scott,
A Christian friend of mine has challenged my
belief in a younger earth.
I gave him my reason for believing in it (which, in a nutshell,
is that the
age of the earth is incalculable because we don't have another
earth to
compare it to; the calculations we have right now are CHOSEN
based on an old
earth view, and reconciling the theory of macro-evolution with
the bible
means one has to read a lot stuff into the scriptures that isn't
there). In
speaking with him I realized that I'm not entirely sure why an
older earth
cannot coincide with scripture; that is, if it really can't. Can
the bible
really support an old earth? Can millions or even billions of
years be read
into the genesis account (like the word "day" meaning
an age)? Your answer
would be greatly appreciated; My schedule makes it difficult to
catch the
live show but I do listen to the archives and read the blogs
when I can.
Thanks so much for such a crucial question! As we will see where we stand on this issue can have far reaching consequences for our confidence in the entire foundation for faith that is the Word of God.
A quick disclaimer - No, I am not a scientist by training. Yes, I am one of those people who has come to the conclusion that the Bible unavoidably teaches that our world is remarkably young. Why do I believe this?
An Insight From Language
In my seminary education, I was forced to endure an entire year of intensive class work in Hebrew. I not only lived to tell the story, but also was exposed to some especially helpful insights into the language God chose for the vast majority of what we know as the Old Testament. One of the key discoveries I made had to do with the issue of the "age-day" controversy. Couldn't the days we see in Genesis 1 really have been long periods of time? After all doesn't II Peter 3:8 tell us:
But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.?
Yes, Peter does tell us that God views time differently than we do. But is that principle applicable to Genesis 1? Consider a famous refrain we find in this chapter.
God called the light day, and the darkness He called night And there was evening and there was morning, one day. (Genesis 1:5)
This form is followed through the entire description of the six days of creation we see recorded in the chapter. The bone of contention is the meaning of the Hebrew word "yom". In some contexts it can mean an extended period of time. But there is a significant limiter in its use in Genesis 1.
When Moses, under the inspiration of God, compiled the account of creation in Genesis 1, he used the Hebrew word yôm for 'day'. He combined yôm with numbers ('first day', 'second day', 'third day', etc.) and with the words 'evening and morning', and the first time he employed it he carefully defined the meaning of yôm (used in this way) as being one night/day cycle (Genesis 1:5). Thereafter, throughout the Bible, yôm used in this way always refers to a normal 24–hour day.2,3 There is thus a prima facie case that, when God used the word yôm in this way, He intended to convey that the days of creation were 24 hours long.
An Insight From History
So if the days of creation were literal solar days, how to we account for the consensus of science that declares the earth is billions of years old?
Some will say that belief in a young earth is at odds with the facts. But both young earth and old earth believers have two things in common. First, neither camp was there to actually witness whether the earth is young or old. Second, both must make a conjecture about the past based upon an interpretation of present conditions. The old earth believer looks at the world and sees a reality formed by gradual process over long periods of time. A young earth believer looks at the world and sees both natural process and the remnants of an almost unimaginable catastrophe - the global flood of Noah. How interesting that the lead up passage to the often quoted "Thousand years as a day" passage in II Peter 3 contains this reminder.
3 knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” 5 For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, 6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. 7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. (II Peter 3:3-7)
It is crucial to remember that the old earth and young earth positions are both looking at the same facts. It is how the facts are interpreted that makes the difference.
An Insight From Jesus
The clincher in the argument for me goes back to the authentication of Genesis as actual history, not metaphor, by no less an authority than Jesus. In answering a question regarding divorce Jesus also gives us two key insights.
6 But from the beginning of the creation, God ‘made them male and female.’ 7 ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, 8 and the two shall become one flesh’; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate." (Mark 10:6-8)
Notice that Jesus identifies when man came on the scene - "from the beginning of creation". If the earth is billions of years old, Jesus should have said that this happened towards the end of the time line. He also quotes from both Genesis chapters one and two as historic in their intent. This is crucial because Jesus is the only One in our debate Who can be summoned as an eye witness of the events! (John 1:1) He also speaks of Noah's flood, not as a legend or myth, but as a factual event (Matthew 24:36-44). If we write off Noah as a myth, we must also write off Jesus' promise to return as a myth as well.
For a more in depth discussion of the young earth/old earth debate visit AnswersInGenesis.Com.
Scott's Blog - 10/10/06
Camping With Christ?
I must admit, I am not much of a camper.
For me, "roughing it" is staying at a hotel with a noisy air conditioner. But would it surprise you to learn that a mandatory, once a year camping experience was once part of God's plan for His people? In fact it continues, beginning today in Israel.
Tens of thousands converge on Hebron for Jewish festival
by Michael Blum Mon Oct 9, 3:35 PM ET
HEBRON, West Bank (AFP) - Tens of thousands of Jews converged on Hebron to celebrate the festival of Sukkot and stake their claim to the flashpoint Biblical city that lies deep in the occupied
West Bank.Around 600 Jewish settlers occupy a tiny enclave in the heart of Hebron, living in the midst of the surrounding Palestinian population of up to 140,000, in one of the most tense and heavily guarded trouble spots in the West Bank.
Yet tens of thousands of supporters from
Israel and tourists from abroad flooded to Hebron, causing snarl ups on the main road from Jerusalem to the southern West Bank city, to join the settlers in celebration of Sukkot.Hundreds of young people danced to Hasidic music on a platform erected by organizers, below the Cave of the Patriarchs, a sacred site for both Jews and Muslims, for festivities akin to the atmosphere of a village fair.
The seven-day Feast of Tabernacles is a joyful, family oriented holiday that follows the somber introspection of Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, which fell earlier this month.
During Sukkot, Jews build and eat, even sleep, in huts topped with thatch or palm branches to commemorate the temporary homes of their ancestors during their 40 years in the wilderness after being liberated from slavery in Egypt.
The large Jewish crowd -- which organizers claimed numbered 50,000 throughout the day -- was on hand to watch the popular Jewish American singer, Mordechai Ben David, who got caught up in the middle of the Orthodox masses.
"We demand the right to live in these houses which belong to the Jewish people," said one of the faithful, Rivka Zerbib, a settler from France who has lived in the Jewish district of Hebron for the past 20 years.
Zerbib was referring to closed shops in an old Arab market where a group of radical Jewish settlers had been squatting up until they were evicted by the Israeli military a few months ago.
At the entrance to the market, the settlers put up a giant billboard reading: "This district is stolen Jewish property, we demand it back".
The market was built on the ruins of the old Jewish district -- destroyed after riots in 1929 -- when 67 Jews were massacred by their Arab neighbors in the city.
In the modern-day streets, salesmen offer memorabilia from Hebron or from Jewish settlements dismantled in the
Gaza Strip during Israel's unilateral withdrawal from the territory in August last year after 38 years of occupation.Among them are key rings and printed T-shirts bearing inscriptions such as "Hebron for eternity" or "Gaza: We will never forget".
As the revelry continued, heavily armed security forces kept watch on the surroundings, particularly the roofs and balconies of Palestinian houses overhanging the lanes of the old town invaded by the Jews.
In 2002, during what is an annual pilgrimage to Hebron during Sukkot, an Israeli was shot dead from a house close to the Jewish enclave.
Although Israel withdrew troops from four-fifths of Hebron in January 1997 and handed control to the
Palestinian Authority, the Jewish state continues to control the center of the city, home to the settlers and the sacred site.
The Feast of Tabernacles is not just a way to commemorate and experience what life during the Exodus was like. It is also loaded with new testament and even prophetic significance. Popular Bible teacher Chuck Missler provides a fascinating summary.
Succoth (The Feast of Tabernacles)
Five days later, on the 15th of Tishri, is the final feast of the year: Succoth, the Feast of Tabernacles, or the Feast of Booths. This lasts for eight days and is one of the three feasts that were compulsory for all Jewish males.9
It is fascinating to visit Israel at this time and observe them build their temporary "booths" in the traditional way, leaving deliberate gaps in the branches to view the stars at night, and for the wind to blow through during the day. This is intended to remind them of the wilderness wanderings.
At the end of the eight days, they leave their temporary dwellings to return to their permanent homes. (This is one of the reasons some suspect that this feast, rather than the Feast of Trumpets, is suggestive of the Rapture of the Church. Also, there appears to be a hint by Peter, desiring to build "succoths" at the transfiguration.10 ) This day, traditionally, is the day that Solomon dedicated the first Temple.
This feast also involved a daily processional to the Pool of Siloam to fetch water for the Temple. This ceremonial procession is the setting for the events of John 7, where Jesus offers them "living water."11
This procession involved four types of branches: the willow, the myrtle, the palm, and a citrus.12 The willow has no smell and no fruit. The myrtle has smell, but no fruit. The palm has no smell, but bears fruit. The citrus has both smell and bears fruit. This sounds reminiscent of the four soils of the first "kingdom parable" of Matthew 13, doesn't it?13
The prophetic implications of this climactic feast are many. Most scholars associate it with the establishment of the Millennial Kingdom in Israel.14
- 9. Feast of Unleavened Bread, Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) and the Feast of Tabernacles were mandatory: Deuteronomy 16:16.
- 10. Matthew 17:4.
- 11. John 7:2, 10, 37-39.
- 12. Thanks to Doug Wetmore for his insights.
- 13. Matthew 13:3-9; 18-23.
- 14. Hosea 5:15-6:3; Zechariah 14:4, 9, 16.
Since Zechariah 14 tells us that this feast will be celebrated during the Thousand Year Reign of Christ here on Earth, I guess those of us who don't enjoy a good camping trip better get used to the idea!
I don't think I will mind that a bit. It is an exciting thing to realize that during that time we will not just be celebrating God's deliverance of His people from physical slavery, but also our deliverance from spiritual slavery.
The time in a make shift tent that won't even have a noisy air conditioner will also remind us of our deliverance from this fallen, corruptible body we have today, into the perfect incorruptible eternal bodies God will give to us when we see Him face to face!
This "Feast of Tents" sheds some significant light on the words of Paul in II Corinthians 5!
1
For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is
destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with
hands, eternal in the heavens. 2
For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our
habitation which is from heaven, 3
if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. 4
For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not
because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that
mortality may be swallowed up by life. 5
Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God,
who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
6 So we are
always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body
we are absent from the Lord. 7
For we walk by faith, not by sight. 8
We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the
body and to be present with the Lord. (II Corinthians 5:1-8)
Right now our physical life is like living in a tent that is fraying around the edges and falling apart. But the Feast of Tabernacles reminds us God has a better living situation He is preparing for us. And as the Feast of Tabernacles is a temporary arrangement that lasts only for a short period of time, so life in this tent will be replaced by a quality of life that is beautiful and permanent! We have Jesus' Word on it.
1 “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. (John 14:1-3)
Scott's Blog - 10/09/06
Can't or Won't Believe?
I wanted to take an opportunity to do a follow up to an e-mail we received at our SRL Mail Bag. (studio@scottrichardslive.com) We originally tackled the issue of how to minister in a death bed situation (See Scott's Blog 10/05/06). The "sticking point" in the situation reveals an issue that every believer needs to be equipped to deal with, because it is incredibly common and keeps many people from seriously considering a relationship with Christ.
Here's the e-mail:
Hi Pastor Scott,
I have tried witnessing to my mother-in-law during my 23 years
of
marriage. She professes to be an atheist. She has a
rare heart
condition that always end up in ER visits. During her last
visit to the
hospital last week, she mentioned she was really scared. That's
when I
told her she needed to know where she was going; her eternal
address. I
asked her if she really could believe that the earth was formed
by an
explosion and through evolution we came to be. She stated
"YES"! Then
she said I just can't believe is a spirit. I did not know
how to reply
and said OK. I know I should continue to pray for her
salvation; but I
get really frustrated doing so. I know that God says His
word is
foolish to those who do not believe. I feel I should just
stop speaking
God's word to her.
How would you answer someone who says "I can't believe in a
spirit"?
Thank you,
Elise
Did you catch the key word in this interaction? It is the statement that "I can't believe in a spirit".
The key issue here is two fold. First of all, many people will assert that they will only believe in things they can perceive through the five senses. This is a huge problem because the Bible tells us that no one will ever enter in to a relationship with God on that basis.
6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6)
Our culture tends to proudly hold up the scientific method as the ultimate pathway to truth. The idea of believing in things we can't see, feel, hear with our ears, smell or weigh on a balance is portrayed as a superstitious hang over from primitive times.
Or is it?
There is no doubt that the scientific method of determining physical truth by making it pass the test of being observable, testable and repeatable has done everything from prolonging life to putting a man on the moon. But it has it's limits.
You can't weigh a pound of love on the scales. You can't discover the wave length of a sense of purpose. You can't look up hope on a periodic table of the elements.
And we can't live five minutes without any of these things that defy the scientific method.
Faith fits into that same category. The Bible defines faith as the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)
God is not in the habit of showing up for a scientific examination. What finite human tools could measure the infinite nature of God, anyway?
Some object, "Oh, OK. We've heard all this before. Take the good old leap into the dark and just believe! Isn't that what your faith is all about?"
In a word, no.
The writer of Hebrews tells us that faith is the evidence of things not seen. In other words we don't believe in something that is contrary to all evidence, but in the One that all evidence eventually brings us to. We don't see God physically, but we see what He has done.
In creation we see order and purpose, not randomness and chaos. The scientific method itself was developed because of a Biblical world view that declared that the Creator had done His work in observable, consistent ways. (Psalm 19)
In our hearts we see an insatiable need for purpose and meaning in life that is completely contrary to the idea that we are just a nice roll of some random cosmic dice. (Ecclesiastes 3:11)
But most importantly, in history we see the record of a remarkable truth. God has walked among us in the Person of Jesus Christ. He provided overwhelming evidence of this by living a sinless life, teaching as no one has before or since, and by rising from the dead.
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life— 2 the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us— 3 that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. 4 And these things we write to you that your joy may be full. (I John 1:1-4)
As the great Christian writer CS Lewis put it, "I believe in Christianity as I believe the sun has risen. Not just because I see it, but because by it, I also see everything else."
This is not a leap into the dark, but a step into the light.
And this gets us to the heart of the matter. I will often encounter people who will point to some aspect of Biblical faith and say, "I can't believe in that."
I have learned to respond in a simple way. "If I were to answer your question, to your satisfaction, would you consider giving your heart to Jesus Christ?"
If they say, "Sure!" I either share away, or tell them I will look into the issue and get back to them.
If they say, "No!" I point out that the problem here is not that they can't believe, but that they won't believe. And if they fit into the "won't believe" category, it's usually a good idea to find out why.
Usually the answer is quite personal. And often quite painful. But the real objection usually has more to do with either a bad experience with people who claimed to be Christians, or their own sense of personal shame.
More often than not it has nothing to do with Jesus at all.
God calls us to "speak the truth in love" (Ephesians 4:15). In no other circumstance than an "I can't believe" situation are truth and love more essential!
Scott's Blog - 10/06/06
Are Your Days Numbered?
Another day, another provocative question from the SRL mailbag!
Dear Pastor Richards,
I have a question for your program.
I have a friend that died five years ago from a drug overdose
and she left
behind a four month old baby.
The way I see it, I believe it's in the bible, is that it was
her appointed
time to die. But I have friends to say that the cause of her
death was the
sin in her life. (The drug use)
Some people have been brought back to life (rescued) from
overdoses and I
believe that God wanted her in Heaven. I believe God could have
changed the
outcome. Do you think her life was over prematurely, or was it
her appointed
time to die?
Thank you for your answer.
Lina
Thank you, Lina, for raising such a relevant and thought provoking question. To have a truly Biblical understanding of God's role in determining the length of our lives, and even the day of our deaths (!), there are two lines of truth we have to hold in tension.
"Booking" Our Departure
There is no doubt about the fact that God knows everything about our lives. King David beautifully expressed this truth in Psalm 139!
13 For You
formed my inward parts;
You
covered me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will
praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous
are Your works,
And that
my soul knows very well.
15 My frame
was not hidden from You,
When I was
made in secret,
And
skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
16 Your eyes
saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in
Your book they all were written,
The days
fashioned for me,
When as
yet there were none of them.
The Bible tells us that God has both written and read the entire book of our lives. This is incredible source of comfort and security for us. There are all kinds of things that come my way that seem shocking, surprising, even overwhelming to me. But never once has there been a circumstance that would cause God to say, "Wow! I never thought something like that would happen!" Our lives are to the Lord an open book. Just as he knows the day of our birth, so also He knows the day we will depart and be with Him. We can rest in knowing that God knows and cares about us so much that Jesus expressed it this way,
29 Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. 30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. (Matthew 10:29-31)
Going In to Over Time?
There is no doubt God knows all about the length and individual events of our lives. But the Bible also tells us that in a remarkable way, we as people do have a say in the length and quality of our lives. consider a mind blowing section of Scripture recorded in the book of Isaiah.
1 In
those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the
prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, “Thus
says the LORD: ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die and
not live.’”
2 Then Hezekiah
turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the LORD, 3
and said, “Remember now, O LORD, I pray, how I have walked
before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what
is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
4 And the word of
the LORD came to Isaiah, saying, 5
“Go and tell Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of David
your father: “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your
tears; surely I will add to your days fifteen years. 6
I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of
Assyria, and I will defend this city.”' (Isaiah 38:1-7)
Here we see God prolonging Hezekiah's life in response to prayer. The Bible also indicates that following God's principles in life can extend the time and quality of our experience here.
1 My son, do not forget my law, But let your heart keep my commands;
2
For length of days and long life
And peace they will add to
you. (Proverbs 3:1-2)
If we turn our back on God's good and beneficial ways, the law of cause and effect can quickly and sadly catch up with us.
God clearly knows the end of our lives from the beginning. But the Bible tells us that in His plan, He allows our decisions to determine the path our lives will take. If we decide to walk with the Lord and enjoy His goodness daily, we will receive every good and perfect gift He has planned for us, including every day we could possibly enjoy here in this life.
Even to your old age, I am He,
And even to gray
hairs I will carry you!
I have made, and I will
bear;
Even I will carry, and will
deliver you. (Isaiah 46:4)
Scott's Blog - 10/05/06
Matters of Life and Death
Let's go to the SRL mail bag and take on a quite literal matter of life and death!
Hi Pastor Scott,
I have tried witnessing to my mother-in-law during my 23 years
of
marriage. She professes to be an atheist. She has a
rare heart
condition that always end up in ER visits. During her last
visit to the
hospital last week, she mentioned she was really scared. That's
when I
told her she needed to know where she was going; her eternal
address. I
asked her if she really could believe that the earth was formed
by an
explosion and through evolution we came to be. She stated
"YES"! Then
she said I just can't believe is a spirit. I did not know
how to reply
and said OK. I know I should continue to pray for her
salvation; but I
get really frustrated doing so. I know that God says His
word is
foolish to those who do not believe. I feel I should just
stop speaking
God's word to her.
How would you answer someone who says "I can't believe in a
spirit"?
Thank you,
Elise
Believe it or not, that sense that we have no skills, experience or wisdom to offer in the face of such circumstances can be a tremendous blessing in disguise.
First it reminds us of our place in the process of sharing the Good News. It is crucial to realize that we don't "convert" anyone. Any person who responds to an invitation to receive Christ is a walking miracle! As Jesus Himself put it,
44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. (John 6:44)
This takes considerable pressure off of us as we relate God's truth to others, no matter what the circumstances. We can't "talk people into the kingdom" and neither should we want to. If we can talk someone into faith in Jesus, someone else can talk them out of faith in Jesus. But when the Lord Himself speaks to the heart, a lasting eternal miraculous change takes place!
So if we can't convert anyone, what is our role in the process of evangelism? Quite simply, to be conduits of God's truth.
22 Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, 23 having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever 24 because“ All flesh is as grass,
And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass.
The grass withers,
And its flower falls away,
25 But the word of the LORD endures forever.”
Now this is the word which by the gospel which was preached to you. (I Peter 1:22-25)
It is God's Word that the Lord uses to bring about the miracle of the new birth. It would only make sense then, that our job is to simply and clearly share what the Lord has to say. I am not suggesting beating someone over the head with a string of Bible verses, but making sure that we stick to presenting the message of Christ and what it means to know Him. When people bring up "But what about evolution?" or "What about bad things and good people?" kind of questions, a helpful response is , "If I were to answer that question to your satisfaction, would you consider giving your life to Jesus?" This keeps the focus on what the Lord is saying to the heart of that person, at that moment. In a death bed situation, staying on track is crucial.
Some might respond, "That's it? Just trust God and share His Word? That seems too simple in such a situation!" But there is nothing simplistic about the power to change lives we find in God's Word!
12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)
The most important thing to remember when we find ourselves sharing in a high pressure situation is not just to pray, and to share the Word, but to realize that no one is more concerned about that person's eternal destiny than Jesus. If He was willing to die to make their salvation possible, He will do everything else to make their salvation personal!
Scott's Blog - 10/04/06
Temple Update
One of the key signs of the imminent return of Jesus is the status of the Jewish Temple. Destroyed by the Romans under Titus in 70 AD, the Bible insists that this centerpiece of Jewish worship will be rebuilt on its historic site.
1 Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod. And the angel stood, saying, “Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there. 2 But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles. And they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months. (Revelation 11:1-2)
This prophecy of a divided Temple Mount strongly indicates that a compromise will be achieved that will allow the Jews and the Moslems joint access to their respective holy sites. Many students of prophecy have identified this with "the strong covenant with many nations" the Anti-Christ will make as he comes to power in the time of the Tribulation. (See Daniel 9:27)
But more will have to be accomplished than building the Temple in order for the predictions we find concerning the last days are to be fulfilled. The Temple will not only have to be fabricated, but also furnished with authentic implements the Bible prescribes for worship.
A fascinating development that may facilitate the fulfillment of prophecy was detailed in the Times of London.
|
||
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Considering the intense interest in the rebuilding of the Temple among groups in Israel, the desperate desire for peace in the region, and the prophecies that demand the rebuilding of the Temple, this development, if confirmed could be tremendously significant. Stay tuned!
28 Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near." (Luke 21:28)
Scott's Blog - 10/03/06
You Bet Your Life
Character has been defined as who we are when no one is looking. These days the opportunities to come face to face with our true character seem to be growing by leaps and bounds. Thanks to the internet, compromising our character can be done in the privacy of our own homes. Without the restraint of the possibility of being found out, destructive addictive behavior is running rampant in our culture.
Even politicians are beginning to pay attention.
Bush to sign bill to prevent Internet gambling
US President George W. Bush this week is expected to sign a bill making it harder to place bets on the Internet, a practice which already is illegal in the United States.Bush was expected to act quickly after Congress approved the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act making it illegal for financial institutions and credit card companies to process payments to settle Internet bets. It also created stiff penalties for online wagers.
Billions of dollars are wagered online each year and the United States is considered the biggest market.
"It is extraordinary how many American families have been touched by large losses from Internet gambling," said US Representative Jim Leach, the bill's main sponsor in the House, in a statement after its passage early Saturday.
The bill's chief Senate sponsor was conservative Republican Jon Kyl, who, like Leach, has said he believed Internet gambling was a moral threat. He has called online betting as the Internet version of crack cocaine.
"Gambling can be highly addictive, especially when its done over an unregulated environment such as the Internet" he said this year.
"If Congress had not acted, gamblers would soon be able to place bets not just from home computers, but from their cell phones while they drive home from work or their Blackberries as they wait in line at the movies," Leach said.
Between the internet and the proliferation of reservation based casinos, gambling has become more accessible than ever, with more far reaching effects than ever.
We see this trend reveal itself on a regular basis on Scott Richards Live. A very common question on the broadcast is posed in one of two ways.
"I'm a Christian, and I don't see anywhere in the Bible where gambling is prohibited. Why can't I enjoy a good time and make some money while I'm at it?"
-or-
"I have a loved one who has blown a huge amount of money at the casinos. I've told them they need to stop, but they don't think it is a problem. What does the Bible say about gambling?"
No Thou Shalt Nots..
If we are looking for a specific command that says "Stay thou away from ye one armed bandit", we will be looking a long time. But there are some key principles that certainly do shed light on this practice.
What is the Real Pay Off?
If there were no pay outs, no jack pots, no instant millionaires that came out of the casinos, people wouldn't find the games all that interesting. It is the lure of getting rich quick that fuels the fire of gambling. Certainly there is an adrenalin rush that accompanies a big win, but how long does it last? How much is ever enough? A wise man named Solomon who knew something about hitting it big once observed,
He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver;
Nor he who loves abundance,
with increase.
This also is vanity.
11
When goods increase,
They increase who eat them;
So what profit have the
owners
Except to see them
with their eyes? (Ecclesiastes 5:9-11)
What is the Real Provision?
The great millionaire financier J.P Morgan was once asked, "How much is enough?" He replied, "Apparently more than I have." Many people believe that the emptiness they feel inside can be filled with just one more big day at the track. But by seeking to fill a spiritual need with a physical commodity like money, they are passing on a far greater blessing.
6 Now godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain] we can carry nothing out. 8 And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. 9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. (I Timothy 6:6-10)
It as been said that in God's economy, if you need it, you've got it. If you don't have it, you don't need it. Gambling short circuits that simple dependency on God, and substitutes the promise of material gain for true spiritual riches.
What is the Real Practice?
God does desire to meet our needs, but not our "greeds". He has even provided a way for us to participate with Him in this process - it is called "work"!
6 But
we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and
not according to the tradition which he received from us. 7
For you yourselves know how you ought to follow us, for we were
not disorderly among you; 8
nor did we eat anyone’s bread free of charge, but worked with
labor and toil night and day, that we might not be a burden to
any of you, 9 not
because we do not have authority, but to make ourselves an
example of how you should follow us.
10 For even when we
were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work,
neither shall he eat. 11
For we hear that there are some who walk among you in a
disorderly manner, not working at all, but are busybodies. 12
Now those who are such we command and exhort through our Lord
Jesus Christ that they work in quietness and eat their own
bread. (II Thessalonians 3:6-12)
Gambling promises much, and delivers less than little. For every person that goes home a "winner" there are thousands who walk out broke, disgusted with themselves, and in bondage. Christians would be well advised to stay far away from the wreck and ruin that accompany gambling.
13 But as for
you, brethren, do not grow weary in doing good. (II
Thessalonians 3:13)
Scott's Blog - 10/02/06
As the Days of Noah..
There are few subjects that generate more attention in Christian circles than Biblical prophecy. And there are few questions that are asked about the predictions of the imminent return of Jesus that focus our attention more than, "How close do you think we are?"
Believe it or not, the Lord hasn't left that question to guess work. True, no man will know the day or hour of Jesus' return at the Rapture, but the Bible does give us a vivid picture of the general conditions that will prevail at that time.
36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. 37 But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 38 For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. (Matthew 24:36-39)
Jesus' main point here is to draw a vivid picture of God's judgment when it is poured out in a global way. There is always a prophetic warning, a provision made for God's people, and then judgment is poured out. We are currently in the "prophetic warning" phase of this pattern. God's Word is going forth and touching lives in unprecedented ways. But there will come a time when this outreach will come to an end, and God will take His people home. Then the seven year period called the Tribulation will be unleashed upon this world.
I have also come to believe there is more to Jesus' reference to the days of Noah than this prophetic pattern. I believe we also need to be aware of the rise of distinctly Days-of-Noah like conditions that will accompany this pattern. One verse that is becoming almost uncomfortably relatable is found in Genesis 6.
Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. (Genesis 6:5-6)
I couldn't help but think of that passage over the last few days. In a troubling trend, we are seeing acts of unspeakable violence perpetrated on the most defenseless members of society. After hearing about the horrific events that took place at an Amish school earlier today, I was shocked to read this follow up piece published by the Associated Press.
A list of some fatal shootings at U.S. schools in recent years:
• Oct. 2, 2006: A gunman took about a dozen girls hostage, killing at least three of them, at a one-room Amish schoolhouse in Pennsylvania's Lancaster County, police said. The shooter was among the dead, and a number of people were injured.
• Sept. 29, 2006: 15-year-old Eric Hainstock brought two guns to a school in rural Cazenovia, Wis., and fatally shot the principal, a day after the principal gave him a disciplinary warning for having tobacco on school grounds, police said.
• Sept. 27, 2006: Duane Morrison, 53, took six girls hostage at Platte Canyon High School in Bailey, Colo. Morrison, sexually assaulting them and using them as human shields for hours before fatally shooting one girl and killing himself.
• Aug. 24, 2006: Christopher Williams, 27, went to an elementary school in Essex, Vermont, looking for his ex-girlfriend, a teacher. He couldn't find her and fatally shot one teacher and wounded another, police said. Williams also killed his ex-girlfriend's mother, according to authorities. He shot himself twice in the head after the rampage and was arrested.
• March 21, 2005: Sixteen-year-old Jeff Weise shot and killed five schoolmates, a teacher and an unarmed guard at a high school on the Red Lake Indian Reservation in Minnesota before taking his own life. Weise had earlier killed his grandfather and his grandfather's companion.
• Nov. 22, 2004: Sixteen-year-old Desmond Keels is accused of fatally shooting one student and wounding three others outside Strawberry Mansion High in Philadelphia. The attack apparently was over a $50 debt in a rap contest. Keels is set to stand trial on murder charges later this month.
• April 24, 2003: 14-year-old James Sheets shot and killed the principal in the crowded cafeteria of a junior high school in south-central Pennsylvania, before killing himself.
• May 26, 2000: 13-year-old Nathaniel Brazill killed his English teacher on the last day of classes in Lake Worth, Fla., after the teacher refused to let him talk with two girls in his classroom. He was convicted of second-degree murder and is serving a 28-year sentence.
• April 20, 1999: Students Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, killed 12 students and a teacher and wounded 23 before killing themselves at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo.
• May 21, 1998: Two teenagers were killed and more than 20 people hurt when a teenage boy opened fire at a high school in Springfield, Ore., after killing his parents. Kip Kinkel, 17, was sentenced to nearly 112 years in prison.
• May 19, 1998: Three days before his graduation, an honor student opened fire at a high school in Fayetteville, Tenn., killing a classmate who was dating his ex-girlfriend. Jacob Davis, 18, was sentenced to life in prison.
• March 24, 1998: Two boys, ages 11 and 13, fired on their Jonesboro, Ark., middle school from nearby woods, killing four girls and a teacher and wounding 10 others. Both boys were later convicted of murder and can be held until age 21.
• Dec. 1, 1997: Three students were killed and five wounded at a high school in West Paducah, Ky. Michael Carneal, then 14, later pleaded guilty but mentally ill to murder and is serving life in prison.
• Oct. 1, 1997: Sixteen-year-old Luke Woodham of Pearl, Miss., fatally shot two students and wounded seven others after stabbing his mother to death. He was sentenced the following year to three life sentences.
There is an old saying, "Sow a thought, reap an action." We are living in times when acts of unspeakable violence are becoming more and more common. As we watch the so-called experts scramble for explanations, we can change the channel and see an impassioned "civil libertarian" inveigh against the evil people who would want to restrict access to increasingly realistic and graphic movies and video games. "C'mon! Everyone knows its just harmless fantasy. Who are you to make judgment calls about what is right and wrong for others?"
Such civil libertarian arguments sound persuasive, until we take a look at the kind of material that is being defended. Consider a popular video game called "Super Columbine Massacre RPG" that allows the player to act as one of the perpetrators of the senseless evil and brutality in that tragic circumstance.
Columbine Video Game Offends Victims' Relatives
DENVER — An online game based on the Columbine High School massacre is drawing criticism from relatives of those who died in the 1999 attack, including a father who says it trivializes the actions of the two teen killers.
The game, Super Columbine Massacre RPG, was posted on a Web site last year but is becoming more popular. It draws on investigative material, including images of Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, who killed 12 classmates and a teacher before committing suicide.
Players are told it is "ultimately up to you" how many people Harris and Klebold kill that day. Each time Harris and Klebold kill someone in the game, a dialogue box pops up that says: "Another victory for the Trench Coat Mafia."
The game also includes crime scene photos of the killers and images of students running and crying, though it does not have photos of any victims.
"We live in a culture of death, so it doesn't surprise me that this stuff has become so commonplace," said Brian Rohrbough, whose son, Daniel, was among those slain that day. "It disgusts me. You trivialize the actions of two murderers and the lives of the innocent."
Space doesn't allow a description of the horrors of mainstream games like "Halo", "Doom" or the latest versions of "Grand Theft Auto", all available in the video section of popular department stores.
Is there a direct connection between the proliferation of desensitizing, first person video games, glorifying the massacre of innocent people and the headlines we see far too often in our day?
Even more importantly, how do you suppose our Creator, Who gave us the intelligence to make computers in the first place, feels when He sees that ability used in such soul destroying ways?
The "Days of Noah" where " the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. "may be closer to our days than we think.
Scott's Blog - 10/16/06
The Lull-a-bye Principle
I have to admit spiritually enlightening moments can happen in the most unlikely places. Last weekend I was getting in a treadmill work out. Now days these things are never far from a television. Let's face it, when you are expending a lot of effort to get nowhere in a hurry you need all the distractions you can get.
As I flipped through the channels looking for a game I happened across the C-Span network. Now unless you are a political junkie, running to nowhere on a treadmill may sound more entertaining than C-Span. But this time something caught my eye.
There, on the screen was a familiar face - Joel Rosenberg.
- Name:Joel Rosenberg
- Location:Washington, D.C., United States
Joel C. Rosenberg is the New York Times best-selling author of THE LAST JIHAD (2002), THE LAST DAYS (2003), THE EZEKIEL OPTION (2005), and THE COPPER SCROLL (2006) with more than one million copies in print. THE EZEKIEL OPTION was named by the ECPA as the Gold Medallion winner of the "Best Novel of 2006." Joel previously served as a senior advisor to several U.S. and Israeli leaders, including Steve Forbes, Rush Limbaugh, former Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Natan Sharansky, and former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He has been interviewed on more than 300 radio and TV shows, including ABC's "Nightline," CNN, CNN Headline News, C-SPAN, Fox News Channel, MSNBC, The History Channel, the Michael Reagan Show, the Rush Limbaugh Show and the Sean Hannity Show. Joel's first non-fiction book, EPICENTER: Why The Current Rumblings In The Middle East Will Change Your Future, was released September 18, 2006.
If you are a regular reader of Scott's Blog, you know we highly recommend the political insider's eye view that Joel brings to the subject of Biblical prophecy. As a New York Times best selling author, as well as an advisor to former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Joel definitely draws attention when he speaks.
I was also taken aback that this particular talk by Joel was recorded at Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa, a church that I had served as an associate pastor back in the 90's. Needless to say, this edition of C-Span had me hooked.
One of the most compelling points that Joel made was concerning the incredible amount of Biblical prophecy we are seeing fulfilled in our day. A simple study of Ezekiel 36-39 is enough to send chills down the spine as we see Israel returning to the land, being restored both physically and spiritually to God, and finally being invaded by a coalition of nations lead by the people who make up modern Russia.
As I watched it dawned on me that for many Christians this is "old news". After all, I was first introduced to these prophecies back in 1973 when I read Hal Lindsay's book "The Late Great Planet Earth".
When many believers hear a message that the pieces of the prophetic puzzle are rapidly falling into place, more and more respond with a yawn.
This is spiritually dangerous territory.
Consider the advice the Apostle Paul gave to a group of first century believers intensely interested in the predictions of Jesus' return.
1 But
concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need
that I should write to you. 2
For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so
comes as a thief in the night. 3
For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden
destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant
woman. And they shall not escape. 4
But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should
overtake you as a thief. 5
You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the
night nor of darkness. 6
Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us
watch and be sober. 7
For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are
drunk at night. 8
But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the
breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope
of salvation. 9 For
God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through
our Lord Jesus Christ, 10
who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live
together with Him.
11 Therefore comfort
each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing. (I
Thessalonians 5:1-11)
Here we see a crucial Biblical truth known as the doctrine of imminency. Jesus can return for us as His people at any time. The event called the Rapture where Jesus snatches up His people before the seven years of God's wrath called the Tribulation can happen at any moment.
But the danger lies in that tendency to say, "Yeah, yeah. Jesus is coming back? I was excited about that 10 years ago, but nothing happened. Why get excited about that now?"
The Bible gives us a great answer to that question. To put the idea of Jesus' return on the back burner is the spiritual equivalent of falling asleep at the switch. We don't know the day or the hour of the Rapture. But we are seeing more and more compelling signs that tell us we are in the ball park.
The problem we face is that these signs, like birth pains (Matthew 24:8) increase in intensity, build to a dramatic pitch, and then subside for a time. It is when we find ourselves in one of these "lulls" between birth pains that we can be "lull"-a byed into spiritual sleep.
The cure for this tendency is beautifully expressed in another insight from the Apostle Paul.
11 And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. 12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. 13 Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts. (Romans 13:11-14)
Scott's Blog - 10/13/06
Heavenly Minded/Earthly Good
One of the criticisms leveled at Christians down through time is that we are so heavenly minded, we are of no earthly good. If you believe in the imminent return of Jesus, you probably have found yourself caught in the crosshairs of such a skeptical salvo.
There is no doubt that there have been groups down through time who donned white robes, ran up their credit cards and sat on the roof, sure they had figured out the day and hour.
But a true Biblical belief in the promise of Jesus to return isn't a call to check out of this life, but to check in to the opportunities we have to make a practical difference as live in light of eternal life. As Jesus Himself put it:
“Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his
master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due
season? Blessed is that servant whom his master,
when he comes, will find so doing. Assuredly, I say to you that
he will make him ruler over all his goods. (Matthew 24:45-47)
When we take that truth seriously, the world has a tendency to take notice. Consider this story of believers who have made their belief in Biblical prophecy so practical it impacted their pocketbooks.
Evangelicals invest $40m. in aliya
A Jerusalem-based Evangelical Christian organization announced Tuesday that it has helped 100,000 Jews move to Israel during the past decade and a half.
The International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem said it had invested $40 million in the immigration project, which has focused on Jews from the former Soviet Union, since its inception in 1989.
The pro-Israel group, which is best known for its sponsorship of the annual Feast of the Tabernacles celebrations taking place this week in Jerusalem, said the immigration assistance was provided in coordination with the Jewish Agency, the quasi-governmental agency that works to promote immigration.
"It is quite remarkable that over the last 16 years the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem, with much hard work and commitment throughout the vast former Soviet Union and many other regions in the world, has been able to assist 100,000 Jewish people to return to the land of their forefathers and to the glory of Zion," said Rev. Malcolm Hedding, executive director of the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem.
Among other things, the group's "aliya network" sponsored 54 aircraft to bring Jews to Israel from the former Soviet Union, with the majority of these immigrants brought to Israel from St. Petersburg via Finland, Hedding said.
The group said it was also involved in assisting Jewish immigration from Kaliningrad, Ukraine and Uzbekistan, and has most recently been asked by the Jewish Agency to reach out to Russian-speaking Jews who moved to Germany after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Over one million Russian Jews have immigrated to Israel since 1989.
The major channel of Christian support for Jewish immigration comes from the Chicago-based International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, which provides the Jewish Agency with about $10 million a year for Jewish immigration, while various other Christian Evangelical groups, such as the International Christian Embassy, are also involved in promoting Jewish immigration, Jewish Agency spokesman Michael Jankelowitz said.
The Christian support represents 2.5 percent of the Jewish Agency's total budget.
Decades of Christian Evangelical support for Jewish immigration has hit all-time highs over the past 16 years since the fall of the Iron Curtain, he added.
A wonderful humanitarian gesture? To be sure. But pay special attention into the motivation behind these acts of mercy.
The support stems from their hard-core biblical beliefs that the return of the Jews to the Holy Land is foretold in the Scriptures and heralds the return of the messiah.
Belief in the return of Jesus an impractical dodge of reality that helps no one? Run that one by the 100,000 Jewish people who now live in the land God gave to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
CS Lewis once remarked that it was precisely those people who thought most about the next life that made the most positive impact in this one.
A true belief in the imminent return of Jesus is a call to activate our faith.
Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless (II Peter 3:14)
Scott's Blog - 10/12/06
What's Wrong With This Picture?
It certainly has been one of those weeks, hasn't it?
The left and right seemingly trying to out scandalize each other as an election approaches.
The entire country goes into duck and cover mode as a tragic airplane crash claims two lives in New York City.
But there was one event that certainly belongs in the "Biblical Birth Pains File" (Matthew 24:8). It took place on the site of one of the slow burning fuses of international conflict - the Korean Peninsula.
A promised test firing of unstable dictator Kim Jung Il's vaunted nuclear arsenal went off, not with a bang, but a whimper. Most experts are saying this was one big, world shaking dud - the military equivalent of the "Smokey Joe" fire work on the Fourth of July.
There is no doubt the attention of the world was startlingly, and perhaps strategically, moved from Tehran to Pyongyang by this "test". Perhaps that is all these two charter members of the Axis of Evil Club intended.
But there was a key spiritual lesson to be learned here as well. It was captured by a startling picture run today in the London Daily Mail.
Blackout: While South Korea is a blaze of light, there's barely a glimmer in North Korea
North Korea might now have The Bomb, but it doesn't have much electricity - the Daily Mail
What this picture portrays physically is easy to carry over politically. Same people. Same place. But look at the contrast between a land dominated by communist tyranny and the free people to the South.
But I believe we may even see a crucial spiritual lesson here. I wonder if this picture taken from space is a whole lot different than how the Lord sees a different kind of "have/have not" situation in this world. There are nations where the light of God's truth shines brightly. If you want to hear about Jesus, turn on the radio, watch television, choose which of the 10 churches you wish to attend within a couple of miles from your home.
And then there are those where the darkness dominates. Where church attendance is a crime. Where having even a snippet of the Scriptures is a precious treasure.
Then Jesus said to them, “A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. 36 While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light." (John 12:35-36)
The events in North Korea remind us "wars and rumors of wars" will increase as Jesus' return draws near. In that light, sharing the light seems an enlightened thing to do.
Scott's Blog - 10/11/06
How Long is a Day?
You've probably had the experience before. Seeing a non-Christian staring at you with a dumbfounded look on their face. Then come the words you never wanted to have applied to you.
"You aren't one of those kind of people, are you?"
Usually we hear it when it slips out that we are actually "Born Again".
Or that we believe there is only one way to heaven.
But the one that brings down the scorn and shock of the unbeliever of our day more than any other goes something like this:
"You don't mean to tell me you believe the Earth is only a few thousand years old, do you?"
Funny thing. You don't even have to go outside the church to get a similar reaction. Consider this telling entry from the SRL Mailbag.
Hello Scott,
A Christian friend of mine has challenged my
belief in a younger earth.
I gave him my reason for believing in it (which, in a nutshell,
is that the
age of the earth is incalculable because we don't have another
earth to
compare it to; the calculations we have right now are CHOSEN
based on an old
earth view, and reconciling the theory of macro-evolution with
the bible
means one has to read a lot stuff into the scriptures that isn't
there). In
speaking with him I realized that I'm not entirely sure why an
older earth
cannot coincide with scripture; that is, if it really can't. Can
the bible
really support an old earth? Can millions or even billions of
years be read
into the genesis account (like the word "day" meaning
an age)? Your answer
would be greatly appreciated; My schedule makes it difficult to
catch the
live show but I do listen to the archives and read the blogs
when I can.
Thanks so much for such a crucial question! As we will see where we stand on this issue can have far reaching consequences for our confidence in the entire foundation for faith that is the Word of God.
A quick disclaimer - No, I am not a scientist by training. Yes, I am one of those people who has come to the conclusion that the Bible unavoidably teaches that our world is remarkably young. Why do I believe this?
An Insight From Language
In my seminary education, I was forced to endure an entire year of intensive class work in Hebrew. I not only lived to tell the story, but also was exposed to some especially helpful insights into the language God chose for the vast majority of what we know as the Old Testament. One of the key discoveries I made had to do with the issue of the "age-day" controversy. Couldn't the days we see in Genesis 1 really have been long periods of time? After all doesn't II Peter 3:8 tell us:
But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.?
Yes, Peter does tell us that God views time differently than we do. But is that principle applicable to Genesis 1? Consider a famous refrain we find in this chapter.
God called the light day, and the darkness He called night And there was evening and there was morning, one day. (Genesis 1:5)
This form is followed through the entire description of the six days of creation we see recorded in the chapter. The bone of contention is the meaning of the Hebrew word "yom". In some contexts it can mean an extended period of time. But there is a significant limiter in its use in Genesis 1.
When Moses, under the inspiration of God, compiled the account of creation in Genesis 1, he used the Hebrew word yôm for 'day'. He combined yôm with numbers ('first day', 'second day', 'third day', etc.) and with the words 'evening and morning', and the first time he employed it he carefully defined the meaning of yôm (used in this way) as being one night/day cycle (Genesis 1:5). Thereafter, throughout the Bible, yôm used in this way always refers to a normal 24–hour day.2,3 There is thus a prima facie case that, when God used the word yôm in this way, He intended to convey that the days of creation were 24 hours long.
An Insight From History
So if the days of creation were literal solar days, how to we account for the consensus of science that declares the earth is billions of years old?
Some will say that belief in a young earth is at odds with the facts. But both young earth and old earth believers have two things in common. First, neither camp was there to actually witness whether the earth is young or old. Second, both must make a conjecture about the past based upon an interpretation of present conditions. The old earth believer looks at the world and sees a reality formed by gradual process over long periods of time. A young earth believer looks at the world and sees both natural process and the remnants of an almost unimaginable catastrophe - the global flood of Noah. How interesting that the lead up passage to the often quoted "Thousand years as a day" passage in II Peter 3 contains this reminder.
3 knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” 5 For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, 6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. 7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. (II Peter 3:3-7)
It is crucial to remember that the old earth and young earth positions are both looking at the same facts. It is how the facts are interpreted that makes the difference.
An Insight From Jesus
The clincher in the argument for me goes back to the authentication of Genesis as actual history, not metaphor, by no less an authority than Jesus. In answering a question regarding divorce Jesus also gives us two key insights.
6 But from the beginning of the creation, God ‘made them male and female.’ 7 ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, 8 and the two shall become one flesh’; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate." (Mark 10:6-8)
Notice that Jesus identifies when man came on the scene - "from the beginning of creation". If the earth is billions of years old, Jesus should have said that this happened towards the end of the time line. He also quotes from both Genesis chapters one and two as historic in their intent. This is crucial because Jesus is the only One in our debate Who can be summoned as an eye witness of the events! (John 1:1) He also speaks of Noah's flood, not as a legend or myth, but as a factual event (Matthew 24:36-44). If we write off Noah as a myth, we must also write off Jesus' promise to return as a myth as well.
For a more in depth discussion of the young earth/old earth debate visit AnswersInGenesis.Com.
Scott's Blog - 10/10/06
Camping With Christ?
I must admit, I am not much of a camper.
For me, "roughing it" is staying at a hotel with a noisy air conditioner. But would it surprise you to learn that a mandatory, once a year camping experience was once part of God's plan for His people? In fact it continues, beginning today in Israel.
Tens of thousands converge on Hebron for Jewish festival
by Michael Blum Mon Oct 9, 3:35 PM ET
HEBRON, West Bank (AFP) - Tens of thousands of Jews converged on Hebron to celebrate the festival of Sukkot and stake their claim to the flashpoint Biblical city that lies deep in the occupied
West Bank.Around 600 Jewish settlers occupy a tiny enclave in the heart of Hebron, living in the midst of the surrounding Palestinian population of up to 140,000, in one of the most tense and heavily guarded trouble spots in the West Bank.
Yet tens of thousands of supporters from
Israel and tourists from abroad flooded to Hebron, causing snarl ups on the main road from Jerusalem to the southern West Bank city, to join the settlers in celebration of Sukkot.Hundreds of young people danced to Hasidic music on a platform erected by organizers, below the Cave of the Patriarchs, a sacred site for both Jews and Muslims, for festivities akin to the atmosphere of a village fair.
The seven-day Feast of Tabernacles is a joyful, family oriented holiday that follows the somber introspection of Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, which fell earlier this month.
During Sukkot, Jews build and eat, even sleep, in huts topped with thatch or palm branches to commemorate the temporary homes of their ancestors during their 40 years in the wilderness after being liberated from slavery in Egypt.
The large Jewish crowd -- which organizers claimed numbered 50,000 throughout the day -- was on hand to watch the popular Jewish American singer, Mordechai Ben David, who got caught up in the middle of the Orthodox masses.
"We demand the right to live in these houses which belong to the Jewish people," said one of the faithful, Rivka Zerbib, a settler from France who has lived in the Jewish district of Hebron for the past 20 years.
Zerbib was referring to closed shops in an old Arab market where a group of radical Jewish settlers had been squatting up until they were evicted by the Israeli military a few months ago.
At the entrance to the market, the settlers put up a giant billboard reading: "This district is stolen Jewish property, we demand it back".
The market was built on the ruins of the old Jewish district -- destroyed after riots in 1929 -- when 67 Jews were massacred by their Arab neighbors in the city.
In the modern-day streets, salesmen offer memorabilia from Hebron or from Jewish settlements dismantled in the
Gaza Strip during Israel's unilateral withdrawal from the territory in August last year after 38 years of occupation.Among them are key rings and printed T-shirts bearing inscriptions such as "Hebron for eternity" or "Gaza: We will never forget".
As the revelry continued, heavily armed security forces kept watch on the surroundings, particularly the roofs and balconies of Palestinian houses overhanging the lanes of the old town invaded by the Jews.
In 2002, during what is an annual pilgrimage to Hebron during Sukkot, an Israeli was shot dead from a house close to the Jewish enclave.
Although Israel withdrew troops from four-fifths of Hebron in January 1997 and handed control to the
Palestinian Authority, the Jewish state continues to control the center of the city, home to the settlers and the sacred site.
The Feast of Tabernacles is not just a way to commemorate and experience what life during the Exodus was like. It is also loaded with new testament and even prophetic significance. Popular Bible teacher Chuck Missler provides a fascinating summary.
Succoth (The Feast of Tabernacles)
Five days later, on the 15th of Tishri, is the final feast of the year: Succoth, the Feast of Tabernacles, or the Feast of Booths. This lasts for eight days and is one of the three feasts that were compulsory for all Jewish males.9
It is fascinating to visit Israel at this time and observe them build their temporary "booths" in the traditional way, leaving deliberate gaps in the branches to view the stars at night, and for the wind to blow through during the day. This is intended to remind them of the wilderness wanderings.
At the end of the eight days, they leave their temporary dwellings to return to their permanent homes. (This is one of the reasons some suspect that this feast, rather than the Feast of Trumpets, is suggestive of the Rapture of the Church. Also, there appears to be a hint by Peter, desiring to build "succoths" at the transfiguration.10 ) This day, traditionally, is the day that Solomon dedicated the first Temple.
This feast also involved a daily processional to the Pool of Siloam to fetch water for the Temple. This ceremonial procession is the setting for the events of John 7, where Jesus offers them "living water."11
This procession involved four types of branches: the willow, the myrtle, the palm, and a citrus.12 The willow has no smell and no fruit. The myrtle has smell, but no fruit. The palm has no smell, but bears fruit. The citrus has both smell and bears fruit. This sounds reminiscent of the four soils of the first "kingdom parable" of Matthew 13, doesn't it?13
The prophetic implications of this climactic feast are many. Most scholars associate it with the establishment of the Millennial Kingdom in Israel.14
- 9. Feast of Unleavened Bread, Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) and the Feast of Tabernacles were mandatory: Deuteronomy 16:16.
- 10. Matthew 17:4.
- 11. John 7:2, 10, 37-39.
- 12. Thanks to Doug Wetmore for his insights.
- 13. Matthew 13:3-9; 18-23.
- 14. Hosea 5:15-6:3; Zechariah 14:4, 9, 16.
Since Zechariah 14 tells us that this feast will be celebrated during the Thousand Year Reign of Christ here on Earth, I guess those of us who don't enjoy a good camping trip better get used to the idea!
I don't think I will mind that a bit. It is an exciting thing to realize that during that time we will not just be celebrating God's deliverance of His people from physical slavery, but also our deliverance from spiritual slavery.
The time in a make shift tent that won't even have a noisy air conditioner will also remind us of our deliverance from this fallen, corruptible body we have today, into the perfect incorruptible eternal bodies God will give to us when we see Him face to face!
This "Feast of Tents" sheds some significant light on the words of Paul in II Corinthians 5!
1
For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is
destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with
hands, eternal in the heavens. 2
For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our
habitation which is from heaven, 3
if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. 4
For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not
because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that
mortality may be swallowed up by life. 5
Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God,
who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
6 So we are
always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body
we are absent from the Lord. 7
For we walk by faith, not by sight. 8
We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the
body and to be present with the Lord. (II Corinthians 5:1-8)
Right now our physical life is like living in a tent that is fraying around the edges and falling apart. But the Feast of Tabernacles reminds us God has a better living situation He is preparing for us. And as the Feast of Tabernacles is a temporary arrangement that lasts only for a short period of time, so life in this tent will be replaced by a quality of life that is beautiful and permanent! We have Jesus' Word on it.
1 “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. (John 14:1-3)
Scott's Blog - 10/09/06
Can't or Won't Believe?
I wanted to take an opportunity to do a follow up to an e-mail we received at our SRL Mail Bag. (studio@scottrichardslive.com) We originally tackled the issue of how to minister in a death bed situation (See Scott's Blog 10/05/06). The "sticking point" in the situation reveals an issue that every believer needs to be equipped to deal with, because it is incredibly common and keeps many people from seriously considering a relationship with Christ.
Here's the e-mail:
Hi Pastor Scott,
I have tried witnessing to my mother-in-law during my 23 years
of
marriage. She professes to be an atheist. She has a
rare heart
condition that always end up in ER visits. During her last
visit to the
hospital last week, she mentioned she was really scared. That's
when I
told her she needed to know where she was going; her eternal
address. I
asked her if she really could believe that the earth was formed
by an
explosion and through evolution we came to be. She stated
"YES"! Then
she said I just can't believe is a spirit. I did not know
how to reply
and said OK. I know I should continue to pray for her
salvation; but I
get really frustrated doing so. I know that God says His
word is
foolish to those who do not believe. I feel I should just
stop speaking
God's word to her.
How would you answer someone who says "I can't believe in a
spirit"?
Thank you,
Elise
Did you catch the key word in this interaction? It is the statement that "I can't believe in a spirit".
The key issue here is two fold. First of all, many people will assert that they will only believe in things they can perceive through the five senses. This is a huge problem because the Bible tells us that no one will ever enter in to a relationship with God on that basis.
6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6)
Our culture tends to proudly hold up the scientific method as the ultimate pathway to truth. The idea of believing in things we can't see, feel, hear with our ears, smell or weigh on a balance is portrayed as a superstitious hang over from primitive times.
Or is it?
There is no doubt that the scientific method of determining physical truth by making it pass the test of being observable, testable and repeatable has done everything from prolonging life to putting a man on the moon. But it has it's limits.
You can't weigh a pound of love on the scales. You can't discover the wave length of a sense of purpose. You can't look up hope on a periodic table of the elements.
And we can't live five minutes without any of these things that defy the scientific method.
Faith fits into that same category. The Bible defines faith as the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)
God is not in the habit of showing up for a scientific examination. What finite human tools could measure the infinite nature of God, anyway?
Some object, "Oh, OK. We've heard all this before. Take the good old leap into the dark and just believe! Isn't that what your faith is all about?"
In a word, no.
The writer of Hebrews tells us that faith is the evidence of things not seen. In other words we don't believe in something that is contrary to all evidence, but in the One that all evidence eventually brings us to. We don't see God physically, but we see what He has done.
In creation we see order and purpose, not randomness and chaos. The scientific method itself was developed because of a Biblical world view that declared that the Creator had done His work in observable, consistent ways. (Psalm 19)
In our hearts we see an insatiable need for purpose and meaning in life that is completely contrary to the idea that we are just a nice roll of some random cosmic dice. (Ecclesiastes 3:11)
But most importantly, in history we see the record of a remarkable truth. God has walked among us in the Person of Jesus Christ. He provided overwhelming evidence of this by living a sinless life, teaching as no one has before or since, and by rising from the dead.
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life— 2 the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us— 3 that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. 4 And these things we write to you that your joy may be full. (I John 1:1-4)
As the great Christian writer CS Lewis put it, "I believe in Christianity as I believe the sun has risen. Not just because I see it, but because by it, I also see everything else."
This is not a leap into the dark, but a step into the light.
And this gets us to the heart of the matter. I will often encounter people who will point to some aspect of Biblical faith and say, "I can't believe in that."
I have learned to respond in a simple way. "If I were to answer your question, to your satisfaction, would you consider giving your heart to Jesus Christ?"
If they say, "Sure!" I either share away, or tell them I will look into the issue and get back to them.
If they say, "No!" I point out that the problem here is not that they can't believe, but that they won't believe. And if they fit into the "won't believe" category, it's usually a good idea to find out why.
Usually the answer is quite personal. And often quite painful. But the real objection usually has more to do with either a bad experience with people who claimed to be Christians, or their own sense of personal shame.
More often than not it has nothing to do with Jesus at all.
God calls us to "speak the truth in love" (Ephesians 4:15). In no other circumstance than an "I can't believe" situation are truth and love more essential!
Scott's Blog - 10/06/06
Are Your Days Numbered?
Another day, another provocative question from the SRL mailbag!
Dear Pastor Richards,
I have a question for your program.
I have a friend that died five years ago from a drug overdose
and she left
behind a four month old baby.
The way I see it, I believe it's in the bible, is that it was
her appointed
time to die. But I have friends to say that the cause of her
death was the
sin in her life. (The drug use)
Some people have been brought back to life (rescued) from
overdoses and I
believe that God wanted her in Heaven. I believe God could have
changed the
outcome. Do you think her life was over prematurely, or was it
her appointed
time to die?
Thank you for your answer.
Lina
Thank you, Lina, for raising such a relevant and thought provoking question. To have a truly Biblical understanding of God's role in determining the length of our lives, and even the day of our deaths (!), there are two lines of truth we have to hold in tension.
"Booking" Our Departure
There is no doubt about the fact that God knows everything about our lives. King David beautifully expressed this truth in Psalm 139!
13 For You
formed my inward parts;
You
covered me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will
praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous
are Your works,
And that
my soul knows very well.
15 My frame
was not hidden from You,
When I was
made in secret,
And
skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
16 Your eyes
saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in
Your book they all were written,
The days
fashioned for me,
When as
yet there were none of them.
The Bible tells us that God has both written and read the entire book of our lives. This is incredible source of comfort and security for us. There are all kinds of things that come my way that seem shocking, surprising, even overwhelming to me. But never once has there been a circumstance that would cause God to say, "Wow! I never thought something like that would happen!" Our lives are to the Lord an open book. Just as he knows the day of our birth, so also He knows the day we will depart and be with Him. We can rest in knowing that God knows and cares about us so much that Jesus expressed it this way,
29 Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. 30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. (Matthew 10:29-31)
Going In to Over Time?
There is no doubt God knows all about the length and individual events of our lives. But the Bible also tells us that in a remarkable way, we as people do have a say in the length and quality of our lives. consider a mind blowing section of Scripture recorded in the book of Isaiah.
1 In
those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the
prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, “Thus
says the LORD: ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die and
not live.’”
2 Then Hezekiah
turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the LORD, 3
and said, “Remember now, O LORD, I pray, how I have walked
before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what
is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
4 And the word of
the LORD came to Isaiah, saying, 5
“Go and tell Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of David
your father: “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your
tears; surely I will add to your days fifteen years. 6
I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of
Assyria, and I will defend this city.”' (Isaiah 38:1-7)
Here we see God prolonging Hezekiah's life in response to prayer. The Bible also indicates that following God's principles in life can extend the time and quality of our experience here.
1 My son, do not forget my law, But let your heart keep my commands;
2
For length of days and long life
And peace they will add to
you. (Proverbs 3:1-2)
If we turn our back on God's good and beneficial ways, the law of cause and effect can quickly and sadly catch up with us.
God clearly knows the end of our lives from the beginning. But the Bible tells us that in His plan, He allows our decisions to determine the path our lives will take. If we decide to walk with the Lord and enjoy His goodness daily, we will receive every good and perfect gift He has planned for us, including every day we could possibly enjoy here in this life.
Even to your old age, I am He,
And even to gray
hairs I will carry you!
I have made, and I will
bear;
Even I will carry, and will
deliver you. (Isaiah 46:4)
Scott's Blog - 10/05/06
Matters of Life and Death
Let's go to the SRL mail bag and take on a quite literal matter of life and death!
Hi Pastor Scott,
I have tried witnessing to my mother-in-law during my 23 years
of
marriage. She professes to be an atheist. She has a
rare heart
condition that always end up in ER visits. During her last
visit to the
hospital last week, she mentioned she was really scared. That's
when I
told her she needed to know where she was going; her eternal
address. I
asked her if she really could believe that the earth was formed
by an
explosion and through evolution we came to be. She stated
"YES"! Then
she said I just can't believe is a spirit. I did not know
how to reply
and said OK. I know I should continue to pray for her
salvation; but I
get really frustrated doing so. I know that God says His
word is
foolish to those who do not believe. I feel I should just
stop speaking
God's word to her.
How would you answer someone who says "I can't believe in a
spirit"?
Thank you,
Elise
Believe it or not, that sense that we have no skills, experience or wisdom to offer in the face of such circumstances can be a tremendous blessing in disguise.
First it reminds us of our place in the process of sharing the Good News. It is crucial to realize that we don't "convert" anyone. Any person who responds to an invitation to receive Christ is a walking miracle! As Jesus Himself put it,
44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. (John 6:44)
This takes considerable pressure off of us as we relate God's truth to others, no matter what the circumstances. We can't "talk people into the kingdom" and neither should we want to. If we can talk someone into faith in Jesus, someone else can talk them out of faith in Jesus. But when the Lord Himself speaks to the heart, a lasting eternal miraculous change takes place!
So if we can't convert anyone, what is our role in the process of evangelism? Quite simply, to be conduits of God's truth.
22 Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, 23 having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever 24 because“ All flesh is as grass,
And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass.
The grass withers,
And its flower falls away,
25 But the word of the LORD endures forever.”
Now this is the word which by the gospel which was preached to you. (I Peter 1:22-25)
It is God's Word that the Lord uses to bring about the miracle of the new birth. It would only make sense then, that our job is to simply and clearly share what the Lord has to say. I am not suggesting beating someone over the head with a string of Bible verses, but making sure that we stick to presenting the message of Christ and what it means to know Him. When people bring up "But what about evolution?" or "What about bad things and good people?" kind of questions, a helpful response is , "If I were to answer that question to your satisfaction, would you consider giving your life to Jesus?" This keeps the focus on what the Lord is saying to the heart of that person, at that moment. In a death bed situation, staying on track is crucial.
Some might respond, "That's it? Just trust God and share His Word? That seems too simple in such a situation!" But there is nothing simplistic about the power to change lives we find in God's Word!
12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)
The most important thing to remember when we find ourselves sharing in a high pressure situation is not just to pray, and to share the Word, but to realize that no one is more concerned about that person's eternal destiny than Jesus. If He was willing to die to make their salvation possible, He will do everything else to make their salvation personal!
Scott's Blog - 10/04/06
Temple Update
One of the key signs of the imminent return of Jesus is the status of the Jewish Temple. Destroyed by the Romans under Titus in 70 AD, the Bible insists that this centerpiece of Jewish worship will be rebuilt on its historic site.
1 Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod. And the angel stood, saying, “Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there. 2 But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles. And they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months. (Revelation 11:1-2)
This prophecy of a divided Temple Mount strongly indicates that a compromise will be achieved that will allow the Jews and the Moslems joint access to their respective holy sites. Many students of prophecy have identified this with "the strong covenant with many nations" the Anti-Christ will make as he comes to power in the time of the Tribulation. (See Daniel 9:27)
But more will have to be accomplished than building the Temple in order for the predictions we find concerning the last days are to be fulfilled. The Temple will not only have to be fabricated, but also furnished with authentic implements the Bible prescribes for worship.
A fascinating development that may facilitate the fulfillment of prophecy was detailed in the Times of London.
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||
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Considering the intense interest in the rebuilding of the Temple among groups in Israel, the desperate desire for peace in the region, and the prophecies that demand the rebuilding of the Temple, this development, if confirmed could be tremendously significant. Stay tuned!
28 Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near." (Luke 21:28)
Scott's Blog - 10/03/06
You Bet Your Life
Character has been defined as who we are when no one is looking. These days the opportunities to come face to face with our true character seem to be growing by leaps and bounds. Thanks to the internet, compromising our character can be done in the privacy of our own homes. Without the restraint of the possibility of being found out, destructive addictive behavior is running rampant in our culture.
Even politicians are beginning to pay attention.
Bush to sign bill to prevent Internet gambling
US President George W. Bush this week is expected to sign a bill making it harder to place bets on the Internet, a practice which already is illegal in the United States.Bush was expected to act quickly after Congress approved the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act making it illegal for financial institutions and credit card companies to process payments to settle Internet bets. It also created stiff penalties for online wagers.
Billions of dollars are wagered online each year and the United States is considered the biggest market.
"It is extraordinary how many American families have been touched by large losses from Internet gambling," said US Representative Jim Leach, the bill's main sponsor in the House, in a statement after its passage early Saturday.
The bill's chief Senate sponsor was conservative Republican Jon Kyl, who, like Leach, has said he believed Internet gambling was a moral threat. He has called online betting as the Internet version of crack cocaine.
"Gambling can be highly addictive, especially when its done over an unregulated environment such as the Internet" he said this year.
"If Congress had not acted, gamblers would soon be able to place bets not just from home computers, but from their cell phones while they drive home from work or their Blackberries as they wait in line at the movies," Leach said.
Between the internet and the proliferation of reservation based casinos, gambling has become more accessible than ever, with more far reaching effects than ever.
We see this trend reveal itself on a regular basis on Scott Richards Live. A very common question on the broadcast is posed in one of two ways.
"I'm a Christian, and I don't see anywhere in the Bible where gambling is prohibited. Why can't I enjoy a good time and make some money while I'm at it?"
-or-
"I have a loved one who has blown a huge amount of money at the casinos. I've told them they need to stop, but they don't think it is a problem. What does the Bible say about gambling?"
No Thou Shalt Nots..
If we are looking for a specific command that says "Stay thou away from ye one armed bandit", we will be looking a long time. But there are some key principles that certainly do shed light on this practice.
What is the Real Pay Off?
If there were no pay outs, no jack pots, no instant millionaires that came out of the casinos, people wouldn't find the games all that interesting. It is the lure of getting rich quick that fuels the fire of gambling. Certainly there is an adrenalin rush that accompanies a big win, but how long does it last? How much is ever enough? A wise man named Solomon who knew something about hitting it big once observed,
He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver;
Nor he who loves abundance,
with increase.
This also is vanity.
11
When goods increase,
They increase who eat them;
So what profit have the
owners
Except to see them
with their eyes? (Ecclesiastes 5:9-11)
What is the Real Provision?
The great millionaire financier J.P Morgan was once asked, "How much is enough?" He replied, "Apparently more than I have." Many people believe that the emptiness they feel inside can be filled with just one more big day at the track. But by seeking to fill a spiritual need with a physical commodity like money, they are passing on a far greater blessing.
6 Now godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain] we can carry nothing out. 8 And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. 9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. (I Timothy 6:6-10)
It as been said that in God's economy, if you need it, you've got it. If you don't have it, you don't need it. Gambling short circuits that simple dependency on God, and substitutes the promise of material gain for true spiritual riches.
What is the Real Practice?
God does desire to meet our needs, but not our "greeds". He has even provided a way for us to participate with Him in this process - it is called "work"!
6 But
we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and
not according to the tradition which he received from us. 7
For you yourselves know how you ought to follow us, for we were
not disorderly among you; 8
nor did we eat anyone’s bread free of charge, but worked with
labor and toil night and day, that we might not be a burden to
any of you, 9 not
because we do not have authority, but to make ourselves an
example of how you should follow us.
10 For even when we
were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work,
neither shall he eat. 11
For we hear that there are some who walk among you in a
disorderly manner, not working at all, but are busybodies. 12
Now those who are such we command and exhort through our Lord
Jesus Christ that they work in quietness and eat their own
bread. (II Thessalonians 3:6-12)
Gambling promises much, and delivers less than little. For every person that goes home a "winner" there are thousands who walk out broke, disgusted with themselves, and in bondage. Christians would be well advised to stay far away from the wreck and ruin that accompany gambling.
13 But as for
you, brethren, do not grow weary in doing good. (II
Thessalonians 3:13)
Scott's Blog - 10/02/06
As the Days of Noah..
There are few subjects that generate more attention in Christian circles than Biblical prophecy. And there are few questions that are asked about the predictions of the imminent return of Jesus that focus our attention more than, "How close do you think we are?"
Believe it or not, the Lord hasn't left that question to guess work. True, no man will know the day or hour of Jesus' return at the Rapture, but the Bible does give us a vivid picture of the general conditions that will prevail at that time.
36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. 37 But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 38 For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. (Matthew 24:36-39)
Jesus' main point here is to draw a vivid picture of God's judgment when it is poured out in a global way. There is always a prophetic warning, a provision made for God's people, and then judgment is poured out. We are currently in the "prophetic warning" phase of this pattern. God's Word is going forth and touching lives in unprecedented ways. But there will come a time when this outreach will come to an end, and God will take His people home. Then the seven year period called the Tribulation will be unleashed upon this world.
I have also come to believe there is more to Jesus' reference to the days of Noah than this prophetic pattern. I believe we also need to be aware of the rise of distinctly Days-of-Noah like conditions that will accompany this pattern. One verse that is becoming almost uncomfortably relatable is found in Genesis 6.
Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. (Genesis 6:5-6)
I couldn't help but think of that passage over the last few days. In a troubling trend, we are seeing acts of unspeakable violence perpetrated on the most defenseless members of society. After hearing about the horrific events that took place at an Amish school earlier today, I was shocked to read this follow up piece published by the Associated Press.
A list of some fatal shootings at U.S. schools in recent years:
• Oct. 2, 2006: A gunman took about a dozen girls hostage, killing at least three of them, at a one-room Amish schoolhouse in Pennsylvania's Lancaster County, police said. The shooter was among the dead, and a number of people were injured.
• Sept. 29, 2006: 15-year-old Eric Hainstock brought two guns to a school in rural Cazenovia, Wis., and fatally shot the principal, a day after the principal gave him a disciplinary warning for having tobacco on school grounds, police said.
• Sept. 27, 2006: Duane Morrison, 53, took six girls hostage at Platte Canyon High School in Bailey, Colo. Morrison, sexually assaulting them and using them as human shields for hours before fatally shooting one girl and killing himself.
• Aug. 24, 2006: Christopher Williams, 27, went to an elementary school in Essex, Vermont, looking for his ex-girlfriend, a teacher. He couldn't find her and fatally shot one teacher and wounded another, police said. Williams also killed his ex-girlfriend's mother, according to authorities. He shot himself twice in the head after the rampage and was arrested.
• March 21, 2005: Sixteen-year-old Jeff Weise shot and killed five schoolmates, a teacher and an unarmed guard at a high school on the Red Lake Indian Reservation in Minnesota before taking his own life. Weise had earlier killed his grandfather and his grandfather's companion.
• Nov. 22, 2004: Sixteen-year-old Desmond Keels is accused of fatally shooting one student and wounding three others outside Strawberry Mansion High in Philadelphia. The attack apparently was over a $50 debt in a rap contest. Keels is set to stand trial on murder charges later this month.
• April 24, 2003: 14-year-old James Sheets shot and killed the principal in the crowded cafeteria of a junior high school in south-central Pennsylvania, before killing himself.
• May 26, 2000: 13-year-old Nathaniel Brazill killed his English teacher on the last day of classes in Lake Worth, Fla., after the teacher refused to let him talk with two girls in his classroom. He was convicted of second-degree murder and is serving a 28-year sentence.
• April 20, 1999: Students Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, killed 12 students and a teacher and wounded 23 before killing themselves at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo.
• May 21, 1998: Two teenagers were killed and more than 20 people hurt when a teenage boy opened fire at a high school in Springfield, Ore., after killing his parents. Kip Kinkel, 17, was sentenced to nearly 112 years in prison.
• May 19, 1998: Three days before his graduation, an honor student opened fire at a high school in Fayetteville, Tenn., killing a classmate who was dating his ex-girlfriend. Jacob Davis, 18, was sentenced to life in prison.
• March 24, 1998: Two boys, ages 11 and 13, fired on their Jonesboro, Ark., middle school from nearby woods, killing four girls and a teacher and wounding 10 others. Both boys were later convicted of murder and can be held until age 21.
• Dec. 1, 1997: Three students were killed and five wounded at a high school in West Paducah, Ky. Michael Carneal, then 14, later pleaded guilty but mentally ill to murder and is serving life in prison.
• Oct. 1, 1997: Sixteen-year-old Luke Woodham of Pearl, Miss., fatally shot two students and wounded seven others after stabbing his mother to death. He was sentenced the following year to three life sentences.
There is an old saying, "Sow a thought, reap an action." We are living in times when acts of unspeakable violence are becoming more and more common. As we watch the so-called experts scramble for explanations, we can change the channel and see an impassioned "civil libertarian" inveigh against the evil people who would want to restrict access to increasingly realistic and graphic movies and video games. "C'mon! Everyone knows its just harmless fantasy. Who are you to make judgment calls about what is right and wrong for others?"
Such civil libertarian arguments sound persuasive, until we take a look at the kind of material that is being defended. Consider a popular video game called "Super Columbine Massacre RPG" that allows the player to act as one of the perpetrators of the senseless evil and brutality in that tragic circumstance.
Columbine Video Game Offends Victims' Relatives
DENVER — An online game based on the Columbine High School massacre is drawing criticism from relatives of those who died in the 1999 attack, including a father who says it trivializes the actions of the two teen killers.
The game, Super Columbine Massacre RPG, was posted on a Web site last year but is becoming more popular. It draws on investigative material, including images of Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, who killed 12 classmates and a teacher before committing suicide.
Players are told it is "ultimately up to you" how many people Harris and Klebold kill that day. Each time Harris and Klebold kill someone in the game, a dialogue box pops up that says: "Another victory for the Trench Coat Mafia."
The game also includes crime scene photos of the killers and images of students running and crying, though it does not have photos of any victims.
"We live in a culture of death, so it doesn't surprise me that this stuff has become so commonplace," said Brian Rohrbough, whose son, Daniel, was among those slain that day. "It disgusts me. You trivialize the actions of two murderers and the lives of the innocent."
Space doesn't allow a description of the horrors of mainstream games like "Halo", "Doom" or the latest versions of "Grand Theft Auto", all available in the video section of popular department stores.
Is there a direct connection between the proliferation of desensitizing, first person video games, glorifying the massacre of innocent people and the headlines we see far too often in our day?
Even more importantly, how do you suppose our Creator, Who gave us the intelligence to make computers in the first place, feels when He sees that ability used in such soul destroying ways?
The "Days of Noah" where " the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. "may be closer to our days than we think.