revelation

How evil will we become before Jesus returns?

A look at ourselves, Is this really Christianity?

How evil will we become before Jesus returns? The Bible says our thoughts are only evil all the time. And it sounds bad. And yet, it’s generic. But when we get right down to the kinds of evil we perpetrate and even pass laws to allow them to continue, I can’t help but wonder. Just how evil do we have to get before Jesus returns to earth. Not as our means of salvation. Instead, quite the opposite. As our final judge and conqueror.

How evil will we become before Jesus returns? More

But I was certain that evil existed

Evil in God's creation

Evil Exists: “Only minutes ago I doubted anything that might be called supernatural; now I knew that I had been naive. I knew neither the extent of it nor the means by which to deal with it, but I was certain that evil existed. I had come face-to-face with it and survived long enough to know at least that much.” from “Immanuel’s Veins” by Ted Dekker

But I was certain that evil existed More

Does God really protect us? If yes, from what?

Artisanal Bible Study

Does God really protect us? Of course he does. Then another thought: Does he always protect us in the way we want, when we want it?

Does God really protect us? If yes, from what? More

Does anybody really care? About what?

A look at ourselves

Does anybody really care? Did you ask, “Care about what”? Or did you just answer? If you answered “Yes”, what do you care about? Maybe the top five things? If you answered, “No!”, why don’t you care? On the other hand, if you answered, “I don’t know”, are you still alive?

Take those cute Koalas in the picture. Do you know, they probably don’t care about much of anything? They’re so spaced out on Eucalyptus leaves, that’s about all they care about.

Are we the same way? So spaced out on whatever our favorite escape thing is that we don’t care about anything? Not about ourselves? Not about each other?

Does anybody really care? About what? More

Will the beast in Revelation be able to deceive Christians?

A look at ourselves

There’s no reason to think the actual beast in Revelation exists today. There are prerequisites, events that must take place before the antichrist makes his or her appearance.

So why go through all this if the beast doesn’t exist yet? Well, because it matters. If we can be deceived today, what hope do we have when the events in Revelation start to unfold?

Given that we’re so easily deceived today, it’s critically important that we learn to listen to the Holy Spirit. In church-speak, to be able to discern the difference between truth and lies. Not on our own, but with the power of the Holy Spirit.

Let’s look at a few examples of things that deceive Christians, even today
As I said, these examples are important. The things that deceive Christians today are from “ordinary” people. In other words, they aren’t from the antichrist. Not from the beast in Revelation.

Will the beast in Revelation be able to deceive Christians? More

Who’s supposed to do the Great Commission? Christians or the government?

Is this really Christianity?

Every Christian should know what the Great Commission is. And pretty much everyone in the U.S. probably at least heard of separation of church and state. So when someone receives an award for “Selfless and Steadfast Service in the Lord’s Vineyard” I expect them to understand the relationship between the Great Commission and the idea of separation of church and state.

Instead, we read a headline like the one of foxnews.com:

Barr says ‘notion’ of separation of church and state misunderstood because of ‘militant secularists’.

Who’s supposed to do the Great Commission? Christians or the government? More

Do we know what the Apocalypse will be like? (It’s not COVID-19)

A look at ourselves, Book of Revelation

Do we know what the apocalypse will be like? According to something I just read, apparently we don’t have a clue. For all the disaster, end-of-the-world, apocalyptic movies that are out there, we just don’t know. Not even close. And there’s a reason for that. Hang in there – I’ll tell you shortly.

But for now, here’s what brought up the question today. There was this article on msn.com titled These States May Face ‘Apocalyptic’ COVID-19, Says Virologist. Sure, they put Apocalyptic in quotes. It’s not really the end of the world. Yet. As far as we know. Or as far as what we can gather from the Bible. The preconditions for it just haven’t been met.

Do we know what the Apocalypse will be like? (It’s not COVID-19) More

Is Covid-19 a modern-day Exile?

A look at ourselves

Is Covid-19 a modern-day exile scenario?

We look at the virus as a bad thing, maybe from God. However, those who have read the Bible know that sometimes God allows bad things in order to bring about better things. Or to wake up His people.

So, what if this is God’s way of showing us that we need to wake up? We’re supposed to be living in this world as if we’re in exile – right here, wherever we are. In exile from our Heavenly home. But we’re too busy turning this into a false “heaven on earth” kind of thing.

And we’re falling in love with it. And by doing that, we’re at risk of losing our real Heavenly home that God created for us.

Is Covid-19 a modern-day Exile? More

Why does Christmas matter?

A look at ourselves

Honestly, those are the reasons we celebrate. Not just because a cute cuddly baby was born. But because that cute cuddly baby was God in human form, who came here to suffer and die for us.

And look what we’ve done with that day. That season. We commit even more sins in our attempt to celebrate His birth. We force people to say things. We have need to have bigger and better displays than our neighbors, because of our pride. We give good gifts, because we want people to like us, even if we don’t think twice about them the rest of the year. And on – and on.

Why does Christmas matter? More

Count the cost

A deeper look at familiar Bible passages

I do know now, after these past 7 years. Some of it was for others, based on feedback I’ve received. Some of it was certainly for me. The cost has been high. And yet, looking at the image at the top, I realize that when we’re talking about this particular cost, it’s really not necessary to blow up the budget – because the budget is way bigger than we can even begin to realize.

Count the cost More