Are the End Times near?

This past Sunday morning as I was eating my breakfast I did something I don’t normally do, I turned the channel to catch a few minutes of a well known TV preacher.  If SportsCenter hadn’t been talking about auto racing this never would have happened, but they were, and it did.  It turns out that the whole series that this message comes from is about the End Times and how it somehow, in his opinion, relates to the recent financial crisis that began in the US several years ago.  It only took a few minutes of watching for this preacher to proclaim that he sees the signs described by Jesus in the Gospels happening in our world today.  This “insight” culminated in his prediction that he feels confident that he will be alive long enough to see Christ return.  If there is one cardinal sin of interpretation of apocalyptic literature it is erroneously concluding that the events described are being fulfilled in one’s own lifetime.  This same error has been committed again and again throughout Church history, notably at the arrival of the first millennium, and again as the year 1,500 approached.

            There are several things wrong with anyone who claims to know when Christ is going to return, most obviously that Jesus himself declared that “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Matthew 24:36).  If Jesus doesn’t know when the Father will bring the Church Age to an end and begin the End Times, how can anyone living here on Earth think that he/she has somehow cracked the code and recognized the signs?

            This predictive folly is dangerous on several fronts: it discourages Christians from investing in the future and allows them to take a guilty pleasure in the misfortunes of our world as they seem like signs that Christ is coming soon.  For that reason alone, such pronouncements need to be countered by preachers everywhere who takes Jesus’ warning that it will indeed be a surprise seriously.  {I don’t have time to get into the Dispensational assumptions that this preacher is using as he interprets the Bible, these too are coloring the conclusion and have him looking for evidence of decline and ignoring evidence of revival.}

            On another level, this sort of thing bothers me personally because of the assumptions that underpin it.  Two primary assumptions that I believe are both false are part of this assessment  that the End Times are near: #1 The United States is in the midst of a moral decline.  #2 The Church in the US is the primary focus of God’s work in our world.  Is there evidence that the U.S. is in some unprecedented moral decline that will end in the ruination of the Church in America?  No, but there are plenty of negative statistics and anecdotes for those looking for such evidence.  This entire line of thinking about America isn’t based on factual analysis anyway, but rather upon a mistaken identification of the US as the new Israel in God’s plans (relates to #2).  People who takes this view are always talking about how good things used to be in some past near-utopia before the current group that is bothering them the most supposedly ruined the country.  That such a prior time of super-virtue never existed is hard to point out when memory is rose colored.  As a student of history, I know that nations as well as institutions like the Church have life cycles; that like a pendulum they swing back and forth from highs to lows.  Are we in a period of decline?  Maybe, maybe not, but I don’t see it; everywhere I turn I see Churches fighting in the trenches, working together as never before, with capable leadership and committed lay people.  Even if decline happens, why can’t God send a revival?  God blessed America with the First AND Second Great Awakenings, why can’t God do something like that in this generation?  The pessimism of those who insist that our days are numbered is certainly not helping the kingdom of God.  I have fought against those who are intent upon a pessimistic view of our nation’s future, but it seems like I’m talking to a wall; instead, I’ll simply keep working for that future by the grace of God.

            The second assumption has pride and racism mixed in with it.  If, and in my mind that’s a big if, America is in decline, doesn’t the rest of the world count in God’s evaluation of humanity too?  Even if America becomes a godless land (which it won’t, but follow me on this), does that necessarily mean the End must be near?  What if God’s work in the Church in South America, Africa, and Asia vastly overshadows the decline in the West?  Here’s some real truth that those hoping for the End Times won’t want to hear: it already does.  The growth of the Church in the Third World, among poor non-white peoples, has greatly overcome the losses in Europe and America that the Church as a whole has experienced in the past few decades.  The balance of “power” for the Church is shifting, much as the global political and economic balance of power has shifted somewhat away from the West toward the rest of the world.  According to God Word, God doesn’t value a white American believer more than a poor African.  How much of the pessimism of those who bemoan the future of the Church is really just misplaced American pride and a bit of latent racism?

            I shouldn’t have starting watching a TV preacher, I know better, 9/10 it just makes me angry; but maybe my insight here will help some of you realize that the future of America is not set, the work we here today do for the kingdom of God will help determine what the next generation of Christians have to work with.  If we screw it up, and leave them a Church that is weaker than the one left to us, it still doesn’t preclude God’s ability to send revival and restore his Church.  Likewise, the growth of the Church in the rest of the world is a cause of celebration in Heaven, as new souls come to accept the saving power of Jesus Christ, this is after all what the missionaries who set out from England and America had hoped and dreamed to see realized.  Is the End near?  I have absolutely no idea, and anyone who says otherwise is full of it.

Sermon Video: Do we need to look anywhere else? - Luke 7:11-23

If you or I were arranging the material that Luke had to work with when writing his Gospel, I don’t think we would have placed the episode of the doubt of John the Baptist while in prison immediately following the healing of the centurion’s servant and the raising from the dead of the widow’s son.  These two demonstrations of Jesus’ intimate connection with his Father should be proof for even those who were skeptical beforehand, let alone for the man whose mission in life was to prepare the way for his cousin to be the Messiah of Israel.  And yet, as John’s time in prison grows, doubt has crept into his mind.  After early success in the wilderness, with throngs of people proclaiming him a mighty prophet, maybe even the Messiah, John’s career has taken an abrupt about-face with the arrest by Herod for daring to publicly denounce Herod’s clearly sinful stealing of his brother’s wife.

            How will Jesus respond to John’s doubt?  Will he criticize him from not holding firm, or offer him solace in the same way that God comforted Elijah when his strength failed?  Rather than directly addressing John’s most pressing need, freedom from prison, Jesus tells John’s followers that the proof of who he is has been made clear in the healing of the sick, blind, lame, deaf, and the raising of the dead.  Why doesn’t Jesus offer his cousin a word of encouragement, John is after all in dire circumstances at this very moment?  The truth of the person of Jesus Christ, that he is indeed the Son of God and the Son of Man, that he has come to save the lost through self-sacrifice; this truth is greater than the circumstances that John is facing.  It may not be the easiest thing to hear when we ourselves are enduring suffering, but God’s plan to redeem humanity is far greater than anything we are, or will, ever endure.  The difficulties we experience in life are very real, the pain or sorrow equally so, but in the end, the love shown to us by God will have the victory.

            If you doubt, you are not alone, if you are afraid, you are not alone; God is greater, his love for you is greater, you don't have to look anywhere else.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

Sermon Video 

The History of the Bible

The Bible is the most influential book ever written.  The story of the preservation of that book, the most recent of portion of which is now nearly two thousand years old, along with the story of the translation of that book into English is a fascinating tale that every Christian should know about.  As part of that effort, I've put together a four hour class that utilizes PowerPoint and life-sized facsimiles of the actual acient texts in order to demonstrate the incredible accuracy of our modern Bible translations with respect to the original Hebrew and Greek texts.  At some point in the future, as I continue to teach this series and smooth out its rough edges, it will be videotaped and be made available; for now, the PowerPoint slides are here for anyone to utilize.

To look at the History of the Bible PowerPoint, click on the link below:
 History of the Bible, PowerPoint
Be sure to check out the hyperlinks, the contents of two useful webpages are contained in the Word document, click on the link below:
History of the Bible, useful websites content

Along with the PowerPoint, I've created a flow chart of Bible manuscript history to help people visualize the process.  The graphics for this chart were created by Pastor Scott Woodlee, one of my fellow pastors here in Franklin at the Alliance Church, and the guy who tried to teach me Hebrew.
History of Bible manuscripts chart

Sermon Video - Faith in Unexpected Places, Luke 7:1-10

There are a lot of things in life that are unexpected, some good, some bad.  When Jesus had finished teaching the people he went into Capernaum and ran into something unexpected.  A delegation of Jewish elders from a local synagogue had come seeking Jesus in order to ask for his help to heal a sick man.  On the surface, that sounds like rather ordinary, but the twist in Luke’s narrative is that the delegation was sent by a Roman centurion.  This is shocking on several levels including: Why a Roman centurion would trust in a traveling Jewish rabbi with a reputation for healings, and why a group of Jewish elders would want to help him.

            As the story unfolds, we learn that the delegation elders want to help this centurion because of his clearly demonstrated love for the Jewish people as evidenced by his assistance in the building of their synagogue.  Rather than clearing the shock up, this only adds to our wonder.  What happened in this soldier’s life to cause him to develop such a rare affection for the people who would normally look at him with a mutually felt hatred?  We don’t have any answers to those questions, but the faith that this man demonstrates is clearly remarkable.

            Jesus decides to help and heal the servant of the centurion, but before he can even get to the man’s house a second message comes asking Jesus to refrain from entering the home of an unworthy man as this centurion considers himself to be, but instead asking Jesus to heal the servant even at a distance if he will simply, “say the word”.  If the situation was interesting before, it has now become downright intriguing.  Where does this humility come from?  How does a respected man of authority realize that Jesus’ moral authority outweighs his own?

            The response of Jesus to all of this demonstrated faith, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel” reminds us all that God delights in unexpected faith, grace, and love.  God seeks out the lost in places we wouldn’t even think of going, God rescues people from sin that we would have thought hopeless.  This centurion’s great faith teaches us to look outward with open hearts expecting to be surprised by God’s ability to work in others, but it also should teach us to look inward with an open mind, realizing that God can do amazing things through each of us.  How can this be, you might ask, when my faith is so weak?  God can do great things through us, not because we are somehow different or special, we’re all sinners saved by grace, but because he is an awesome and mighty God.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

Sermon Video 

Sermon Video: Personal Responsibility - Acts 18:1-17

Personal responsibility is sorely lacking in the majority of society’s ills.  This should be no surprise to us as it is a consistent theme of God’s message to his people in Scripture.  When Paul arrived in Corinth he was faced with insufficient support to allow him to be a full-time missionary.  The need was far greater than he could ever hope to fulfill in his lifetime, but for a while at least, Paul was forced to return to the trade of tent making in order to survive.  While this situation continued Paul didn’t give up on his missionary efforts, he still reasoned with the local Jews in the synagogue each Sabbath.  When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia they brought support from the church in Philippi that enabled Paul to return to serving God full-time.

            At this point in his missionary career, Paul has now traveled throughout Asia Minor and Greece attempting to plant churches by beginning at the synagogue in each city.  He has been beaten for his efforts, scourged, thrown in jail, and left for dead after been pummeled with stones.  When the people of the synagogue, his fellow Jews for whom Paul cares deeply, responded to his efforts in Corinth with abuse, he made a difficult decision.  Paul shook his clothes off in their presence (a cultural sign of dismissal) and said, “Your blood be on your own heads!  I am clear of my responsibility.  From now on I will go the Gentiles.”  The first phrase, “Your blood be on your own heads”, is used throughout the Old Testament as an indicator of responsibility for serious matters.  In Leviticus 20 it is connected to capital offenses where the death of those who commit them is their own fault.  In Joshua it is used when the spies make their deal with Rahab, in 2 Samuel by David after the unjust death of Abner.  All of these situations show how very serious Paul’s invoking of this phrase was.  The rejection of the Gospel message by the people to whom the Messiah was sent is a matter of grave consequences (as it is for anyone to whom the message comes).

            When Paul declares that he has fulfilled his own mission, he hearkens back to the commission of Ezekiel as the “Watchman” over Israel where the phrase “blood on your own heads” is once more used.  By sharing the Gospel message, repeatedly and at much personal cost, Paul has fulfilled his obligation as a disciple of Christ to warn the unrepentant of their need of God’s forgiveness.  The obligation to warn belongs to us, the results belong to God.

            Lastly, Paul decides that his message is too important to continue to push against such opposition, he then resolves to take the message directly to the Gentiles who have made up the bulk of his converts thus far.  These decisions are in no way easy for Paul, and his failure to reach his own people with the Gospel will continue to haunt him, but the choice is clear to Paul, he has a responsibility to focus upon those willing to receive God’s offer of grace.  For us, this lesson is also a hard one.  We never want to give up on anyone or any church program just because we don’t see success.  Paul’s example doesn’t require us to give up on individuals, but simply reminds us that we must be open to new opportunities.  So continue to hold out hope for that stubborn relative or friend, perhaps God’s grace will reach him/her before the end, but do not close your eyes to the chances we all have in our lives to share God’s love with more or unexpected people.

To watch the video, click on the link below:
Sermon Video 

Sermon Video: "TO AN UNKNOWN GOD" - Acts 17:16-34

After having been chased out of Thessalonica by yet another angry mob of Jewish men who rejected his message in the synagogue, Paul moved to Berea only to have their inquisitiveness about the message undermined by troublemakers who followed him from Thessalonica.  Paul is once more forced to flee, and then finds himself alone in Athens waiting for the rest of his missions team to arrive.  What will he do under these unexpected and undesired circumstances?  Paul goes to the synagogue in Athens, as is his habit, but also decides to take his message to the streets of the market where he is noticed by Epicurean and Stoic philosophers and brought to the Areopagus to explain his novel idea to the learned men there.

            How should Paul begin to explain the Gospel’s message of sin, judgment, and forgiveness that centers around the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ to these men who care nothing of the Hebrew scriptures and who already consider themselves to be sufficiently religious?  Rather than denigrating the rampant idolatry that Athens is full of, Paul studies the beliefs of his audience in order to find common ground through which he can share the Gospel with them.  The common ground that Paul finds is a shared desire to seek and find God as expressed by the idol he found with the inscription, “TO AN UNKNOWN GOD”.

            By meeting his audience where they currently are, Paul is able to explain the Gospel’s message of God’s desire to be found by humanity using language that his audience would understand, even quoting their own philosophers to punctuate his point.  Paul thus demonstrates a willingness to present the Gospel in any way that will reach his intended audience, an attitude that requires both humility on the part of the speaker and compassion for the lost.

            Paul was willing to begin his message in an unorthodox manner to allow his audience to understand it, but he still knew that he had to end it with the truth of the resurrection.  This particular point was sure to cause his audience to think less of his message, but Paul knew that it was absolutely necessary.  In our day, we also need to be willing to adapt the presentation of the Gospel to allow those who would not understand it otherwise to hear God’s Word to them, but we too need to cling to the core message of the Gospel even if it is as unpopular for us as it was for Paul in Athens.  In the end, only a handful of Athenians believed Paul’s message and he wasn’t able to establish a church there, but he planted the seeds just the same.  God will make the seed grow, and even if only one or two plants sprout from our efforts, we know that angels will be rejoicing when those lost sinners come home.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

Sermon Video