What Time Is It?

It’s the best of times. It’s the worst of times.

The stock market is back up and the Iraq war is winding down. However the Afghanistan conflict seems like it’ll never end and terrorism is spreading around the globe.

But, in spite of economic uncertainty, people are still buying technology toys—flat-screen televisions, computers, and smartphones—like there’s no tomorrow.

Well, what if there was no tomorrow? Frankly, I think there will be a tomorrow. But what if tomorrow brings a very different world than today? That’s a more likely scenario.

Now hold on for just a minute. Could the world be all that different tomorrow? Absolutely.

We know from recent history that the world can change overnight. It happened several times in my lifetime. It’s just a matter of time before it happens again.

The day after President Kennedy was assassinated, our world was a different place. It changed forever the day after the Columbine School shootings. After 9-11-2001 people talked about a “New Normal.” And nine years later we’re still learning to adjust.

It seems like every day the media reports a catastrophe somewhere: Earthquakes, hurricanes and terrorist attacks planned, thwarted or perpetrated. Every night the news from the Middle East is more troubling than the day before.

Does anyone really understand the times we live in?

Someone does. More than 2,000 years ago, God told the prophets of Israel about what would happen in our times. They recorded this “future news” in the Bible for our benefit. Author Joel C. Rosenberg calls Bible prophecy “Intelligence intercepts from the mind of God.”

God revealed to the Biblical Prophet Ezekiel that in the last days Russia and Turkey would become allies with Iran against Israel. For thousands of years there hasn’t been a Russian-Turkish-Iranian alliance but it’s developing now. (Turkey was a friend of Israel until recently.)

God also said that Babylon (Iraq) would one day rise again to be a world power.

Jesus Christ spoke to his disciples about the end times. He said war and earthquakes would multiply. He talked about the rise of false religions and cults. He said evil would increase and then there would come a time of great distress, unmatched in human history.

The Prophet Joel talked about all the nations turning against Israel and seeking to divide it. In the Bible book of Revelation, one of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse causes a devastating worldwide food shortage, which leads to massive inflation.

These events sound as if they were ripped from today’s and tomorrow’s headlines!

One of the Bible’s purposes is to help us understand what is happening and why from God’s perspective. It also tells us that part of God’s plan is for Jesus Christ to return one day and fix the mess we’ve made on planet earth.

Students of Bible prophecy tell us that recent history and current events seem to line up with many of the Bible’s predictions. Our world could change overnight.

What should we do? How should we live in such a time as this?

The Bible tells us Peter, the disciple of Jesus, wrote that since “the day of the Lord will come like a thief,” that is suddenly and unexpectedly, “you ought to live holy and godly lives.”

What time is it? It depends on your relationship with God. If you are far away, now may be the right time to seek the Lord. If you are close to him, encourage others to trust in Christ.

Listen to the Bible; it’s great for your soul!

Calloused Heart Treatment

It’s a blessing to be raised in a God-fearing home. It can also be dangerous.

Now hold on just a minute. Before you jump to conclusions, let me explain.

When one is raised in Sunday School and church, the Bible can be like air. It's all around you.

Heroes of the faith--Noah, Abraham, Moses, Peter and Paul--are like friends of the family. They’re very familiar to you. Stories about Jesus are embedded in your memory.

So where's the danger? It’s in the familiarity. Because familiarity breeds contempt.

Jesus warned us about having a calloused heart—being spiritually blind and deaf. His exact words were, “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand…. This people’s heart has become calloused.”

The danger is that we can get to the place where we no longer see God at work, hear his voice or understand what he is doing. We can even attend church regularly and enjoy the rituals. But when God’s Word is read, it’s no more than familiar words.

How can we tell if we have a calloused heart? One sign is that we’re more interested in the rituals of religion than in a personal relationship with God.

If we’re not careful we begin to view religion as a contract. In other words, “I do my part and God does his. I go to church, believe in God, pray and even tithe. Then God will bless me and keep me and my family healthy and happy.”

But the Bible says that God wants us to be more than dutiful worshippers. He wants us to be his children. And that involves a relationship of trust, accountability, obedience and love.

Maybe you’d say, “I was raised in church but it’s dead ritual to me. I don’t enjoy it at all.”

Why is that? The Bible explains one possible reason. It says, “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

The only solution is what the Bible calls the “new birth.” To be “born again.”

To be born again is not reincarnation or a physical rebirth of some kind. Jesus made it clear that it involved a spiritual birth. It’s more than agreeing to a creed or changing your mind.

The new birth, according to the Bible, is an act of God bringing new life, eternal life--his life--into our soul. It happens when we stop trusting in our own good works to earn salvation and begin trusting in Jesus Christ. It is his life, his death and his resurrection that saves us from sin.

God promised he would do this through the Old Testament prophet Ezekiel when he said, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you.” And it is personal faith in Christ—believing in HIM--that brings this new life.

The Bible puts it like this: “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.”

Just as we receive human life from our parents, we receive eternal life from God. That life comes through the presence of God’s Holy Spirit whom the Bible says indwells all who put their faith and trust in Christ.

The good news is that, regardless of whether we were raised in a religious or non-religious home, everyone can receive new life and a new heart through faith in Jesus Christ.

Listen to the Bible; it’s great for your soul!

Umbrella Line

It was a line in the sand. An umbrella line, to be exact.

I’ve been to the beach many times yet I’d never heard of the "umbrella line” before. But there it was stretching down the beach. A line of beach umbrellas. Colorful sentinels of the sun marking its daily arc with soothing circles of shifting shade.

Ignoring this line in the sand, we picked a spot closer to the ocean.

No sooner did I have the umbrella and beach chairs set up than over walked a lifeguard. In a friendly Aussie accent he told us we had to move.

It seems this beach town had an ordinance. An umbrella ordinance.

The lifeguard set up the umbrella line in the morning. All other umbrellas had to be in line with those or behind them. Since we were in front of the line, we had to move.

What if I had said, “No way--I’m not moving! No lifeguard is telling me what to do”? I probably would have had a meeting with a police officer, received a ticket and been fined.

Since that’s not how I wanted to start our vacation, we moved behind the line.

God has also put his "line in the sand." Only it's not umbrellas and it carries more weight than a city ordinance.

People often think of the Bible as a list of do's and don'ts. But to me it's more helpful to think of it as an instruction manual on how God designed life to work. As such it's full of helpful illustrations about what works and what doesn't.

God also makes clear the consequences for bad choices. Why? Because God wants us to enjoy life abundantly. Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

Over and over Jesus spoke of how blessed we are when we seek God, obey him and live according to his plan for our lives. But not everyone follows God’s plan.

The Bible says the reason God recorded the lives of so many people was to serve as examples for us. Some made good choices and some bad. Sadly, many today ignore the good examples, repeat the mistakes and suffer the consequences.

Some people are bothered by restrictions on their behavior. They don’t want anyone telling them what’s right or wrong.

But what if it’s true? True that God made us and he made life work a certain way? True that much of human suffering is due to our own ignorance and avoidance of God’s laws?

Wouldn’t it make sense to seek God and his blessing in our lives?

Try this. Find the godliest Christian you know. Someone you trust completely and whose advice you take seriously. Ask if they regret serving God. Ask about God’s blessings in their life. About answered prayers. About their struggles and God’s provision.

Ask them to be honest and tell you what it cost them to serve Jesus with their life. And then ask them if they recommend it to you. My guess is that they will. I certainly would!

Then spend some time reading a Bible. Look up the lives of Noah, Abraham, Joseph and especially Jesus. Notice how the Bible is honest about its heroes. Consider the outcome of their lives and think about how you want your life to count.

While we were on the beach, we learned to respect the umbrella line in the sand. And in life I’ve learned to respect God’s boundary lines also. The umbrella line helps keep the beach beautiful and God’s lines help keep our lives safe and blessed.

Listen to the Bible; it’s great for your soul!

Second Look

One day I almost ran into Bob Hope. Really!

I was in Columbus, Ohio on business. As I walked from a restaurant to the parking lot, Bob Hope walked right by me.

“Hey, wasn’t that Bob Hope?” asked my boss. “No way!” I said. “Yes it was!” said my boss.

So I went back and took a second look. Sure enough, it was Bob Hope, star of stage and screen. He was much shorter than I expected and looked like someone’s grandfather.

But I never met him. Apparently he was in Columbus on business and had all his “people” around him. It was the closest I ever got to a Hollywood star.

So, if I told you Bob Hope and I were good friends, would you believe me? Of course not! I got close to him but never met him. We were almost friends.

Some people I know are almost friends of Jesus, too.

“Now hold on just a minute! How can you be almost a friend of Jesus?”

Some people get close to Jesus but never meet him. They almost run into him at church, Vacation Bible School, camp, weddings and funerals. Often they even attend church regularly. Maybe they sing in the choir. But they don’t know Jesus and he doesn’t know them.

Others are introduced to Jesus Christ but then forget him and go on with their lives.

Maybe a friend introduced them to Jesus and talked about how a relationship with him changed their life. But they didn't personally pursue a “God-connection.” Nothing changed.

If I had personally met Bob Hope and then forgot who he was, it wouldn’t make much difference in my life. But if you meet Jesus and forget who he is, it will matter for eternity.

Once I asked a young man if he’d met Jesus. He said, “Not personally.” Well, if you’ve never personally met Jesus, may I introduce you? He’s worth more than a second look.

The Bible’s most famous verse, John 3:16, says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Jesus himself claimed he was God’s son and that his death would provide forgiveness for sin. The Bible says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Faith in Christ solves your sin problem and gives you the gift of eternal life.

A Christian is a person who meets Jesus Christ in the Bible, puts his or her faith in him and finds Jesus to be all he claimed to be. Once a person takes that step of faith, they discover that God changes them for the better, from the inside out! And Jesus becomes a true friend forever.

You read a lot in newspapers about politics. People are very passionate about it. But politics can’t satisfy your soul or change your life forever. Only Jesus can do that.

If you are almost a friend of Jesus Christ, I encourage you to take a second look. Pick up a Bible and read one of the New Testament Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke or John. Or read all four. It’s worth your time because in the pages of the Bible you will meet Jesus Christ.

After you meet Jesus, you are faced with an important decision. Will you believe he is who he said he is—the Son of God and the Savior of the world?

Maybe you’re skeptical. I understand. But I encourage you to take a second look. An honest look. Don’t take my word for it. Read the Bible for yourself.

Once you meet Jesus, you can make peace with God and settle your eternal destination. When you follow him and serve others, your life can change the world. Isn’t that worth a second look?

Listen to the Bible; it’s great for your soul!