"What part of, 'about that day or hour no one knows', are you not getting?" - God

Speculation is endless, and perhaps inevitable, that the End Times are upon us.  This is nothing new, the history of the Church is full of "signs" and "portends" that were sure signs that the end was nigh.  Yet here we are, the world goes on and so does the Church.  American Evangelicals, in particular, seem to be infected with the notion that things happening in our world today, and in our country in particular, are signs of the decline that they are sure must happen if their interpretation of prophecy is about to be fulfilled (A Pre-Tribulation, Pre-Millenial, Rapture is typically viewed as happening AFTER a steep and momentous decline of the Church and society).  This pessimism is an easily self-fulfilling prophecy, as there will always be more bad news than good news in the news.
Many of those who are convinced that they see the signs are the same people obsessed with taking the Bible "literally", which of course nobody does because it is full of metaphors and hyperboles, along with figurative language like poetry and proverbs.  Not to be side-tracked by the issue of Biblical interpretation, but why won't they take God "literally" when Jesus said that ONLY the Father knows when the End will come.  Jesus doesn't know, the angels in heaven don't know, so why do you think that you've somehow cracked the code and now you see that the latest earthquake or terrorist attack was a "sign" from God?
A related issue is the American overvaluation of him/herself in the will of God.  When something bad happens here, in our society or our Church, it seems bigger, more important, than what is happening in Christ's Church in Africa, South America, or Asia.  If the American Church shriveled to nothing (not something I see happening, but let's look at the worst case), but the Third World Church doubled, would Christ's Church be growing or shrinking?  Would that be a sign that the End is near, or that the Spirit of God was moving in power among his people?  Western, affluent, white, souls aren't worth any more to God than Eastern, poor, dark skinned ones.  Many American Christians would never say that they think that, they probably don't even consciously think it, but it is reflected in their insistence that a setback in the Church here is so important that it must be a sign.
Are you aware that violent crime in America is now at its lowest rate since the 1970's?  This is a decades long trend, and is matched by an ever lower trending abortion rate.  The Supreme Court ruled that same sex marriage was a right.  Which of those three facts are being touted by the pessimist that insists that America is over, Facism is around the corner, and the Anti-Christ is waiting in the wings?  The search for signs is a waste of time, and shows a lack of trust in the will of God, but even if it wasn't, why are the negative signs important but the positive ones ignored?
It has been suggested that American Christians will soon be faced with a dilemma much like that of Dietrich Bonhoeffer in Nazi Germany in the late 1930's.  Unfortunately for those hoping for hysteria, the historical parallels between America in the 2010's and Germany in the 1930's are non-existent.  They had a state sponsored/run Church, our Church is independent.  They had a police/military that was willing to follow a Facist path and attack its own people, we do not.  They had an infant Republic that was easily replaced by a dictator who voted in his own "emergency" powers, we have a 200+ old Republic that has survived the Civil War, the Great Depression, and WWII.  There are Christians in many countries in the world today facing persecution on a level that Bonhoeffer would have recognized, Americans are not among them; for that we must continue to be thankful to our Father, when he's ready, he'll send his Son back, and like he said, it'll be a surprise.

The danger of the preacher as a party man

"He who preaches salvation to all should never make himself a party man; otherwise he loses the confidence, and consequently the opportunity of doing good to the party against whom he decides."  Those are the words of Adam Clark from the 18th Century commenting on Luke 12:14.  In that passage, Jesus declines to involves himself in a family dispute over an inheritance, instead he preaches a parable on the danger of greed and materialism.  It is always a potential minefield when a man of God chooses to interject his own opinion on a matter such as a family squabble, local issue, or politics.  What of those against whom you weigh in?  How will your opinion on the issue in question affect their willingness or ability to listen to and hear you on matters of faith?  Even if the particular opinion seems to be on solid ground, even if you end up being 100% right about it, what of the cost of to the losing side if they no longer consider the man of God to be approachable?
These are not matters to be taken lightly, I know that many preachers brush off such concerns and readily offer their opinion on anything and everything, but to do so is to put the lives of the Lost at risk.  Better to be thought of as timid and keep your door open to people who don't think like you than to make your every thought known and be applauded by those who already agree with you.  I will preach the Gospel, in season and out of season, with truth and with love.  Is this not task enough, is the weight of responsibility not great enough already?  Let us first be servants of the Word, let us shepherd the people of God, that is care enough for me.

Sermon Video: "whom you should fear" - Luke 12:1-9

Fear is a powerful emotion, it affects many of the decisions we make in life, for both good and ill.  After speaking to the crowd about the danger of hypocrisy, Jesus transitions to one of its causes, fear of persecution by telling them that they should not fear those who can ONLY kill you and then do no more.  On the surface of it, that statement is one of the boldest things Jesus ever said.  It is only natural to fear those who could kill you, and if they can do that, what more could there be?  Jesus explains his statement by going on to say that we should fear him who can actually send our immortal souls to hell.  The perspective Jesus is advocating, viewing the afterlife as more important than this life, and fearing God more than man, is necessary if we are to truly become his disciples.  We must begin our path to God with a healthy fear of his divine power and authority as both Creator and Judge of this world.  Our realization that we must account for ourselves before God need not lead to despair over our unworthiness, however, as Jesus goes on to say, God cares for the sparrows, surely he will not leave you in a state of depravity without a rescue plan?  The way out, the escape plan from our earned fear of the wrath of God, is to simply acknowledge the Son, claim Jesus as Lord and he will testify before his Father that you are part of the family, and we can have confidence that Jesus will be our advocate, which in the end will leave us with nothing to fear.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

Pope Francis is attacking Capitalism and defending Environmentalism; why aren't you cheering?

In his recent trip to South America, Pope Francis has given several speeches that have been have been critical of Capitalism, and supportive of Environmentalism.  In his speech, he called the "unfettered pursuit of money" the "dung of evil", he also called world leaders "cowards" for not working harder to protect the planet.  The response from many Americans, particularly conservatives and/or Republicans will be to call the Pope a Communist and dismiss his concern for the poor and God's creation.  Some of the reaction against the Pope will be good old fashioned anti-Catholic sentiment, some of it will be a holdover gut reaction to the anti-Communist rhetoric of the Cold War, and some of it will be a genuine lack of compassion for the plight of the poor, whether that be locally or in the Third World.  The backlash against Pope Francis is predictable, but it is misguided, because if you have a problem, as a Christian, with Pope Francis defending the poor by speaking out against greed, or defending the planet by speaking out against wasteful uses of resources (which hurt the poor the most, given that much of the worst environmental practices take place in resource rich but exceedingly poor countries), then your problem isn't with Francis at all, its with Jesus.
That ought to be a problem for American Christians who are blessed with both freedom and a high standard of living.  We ought to feel an obligation toward the less fortunate, a passion to help whenever and wherever we can, and outrage when the powerless are exploited by the powerful.  We ought to feel these things, and take action, because they were the themes that Jesus returned to again and again as he defended the lowest members of his society against the high and mighty.  Pope Francis didn't decide that the mission of the Church is to care for the "least of these", Jesus did.  Pope Francis didn't decide that Christians need to respect our planet, our Creator did.
If Jesus is the root of the fiery passion that the Pope has for these issues, why haven't you joined your voice in support of his?  If you don't really care about the poor, and are fine with cheap consumer products made through exploitation of Third World labor and resources, your heart is far where Jesus commanded us to be as his people.  To care about the poor, to do something about their plight, and to believe in conservation of the planet is not a political stance, it is a Biblical one; Capitalism is the best system we've found through a long history of trial and error, but it is far from perfect, as would be any system created by and run by fallen humanity.  We, the Church, need to stand with the least and the lowest, it is our place in this world, for it is the place to which our Savior knelt to be the servant of all.

The Wingfeather Saga and Christ typology: An enthusiastic book recommendation

Having just finished reading the fourth and final book in Andrew Peterson's Wingfeather Saga, The Warden and the Wolf King, I can now gladly say that the Christ typology represented in the book is both reminiscent of what Jesus did, and emotionally powerful in its own right.  I won't go into any details about which character in the book represents Christ, nor in what way, because I hope you'll read this series for yourself staring with Book One, On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness.  Peterson's Christian allegory has much in common with C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia in that it too presents a moving story of love, courage, the ravages of sin, and the self-sacrifice of the heroes needed to combat it.  Where Peterson differs from Lewis is in the nutty quality of his writing and characters, something more reminiscent of Monty Python than you might expect from literature, but also something that gives this series the charm that will make its morals feel natural and not preachy.  I know that my favorite author of all time, Tolkien, hated allegory despite having C.S. Lewis as his best friend, and normally I'm not much of a fan of the genre either, but Peterson's allegory is a very loose one, the reader won't realize that there is a Christ figure in the story at all until the very end for that character is but one of a half dozen who display the moral virtues of, as he is called in the Wingfeather Saga, The Maker.  I wholly recommend this series for Christian parents to read to and with their children, it does contain the violence of war as the villain of the series, Gnag the Nameless, seeks to enslave the world and must be stopped, but stories of the strong defending the weak are ones we all should celebrate, plus kids will absolutely love the zaniness that permeates the story from beginning to end.  I look forward to reading these books to my daughter Clara who was born this past April, I just need to wait a few years to start.