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  • The Time Is Near for our Church – Prologue

    The Time Is Near for our Church – Prologue

    1 The revelation [apokalypsis] of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place.

    He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2 who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. 3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.

    To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood 6 and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

    7 Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.

    TIME’S UP!

    Has anyone ever announced that to you?

    Were you ready?  Was it a test? Did you know that the end of your time was coming?

    What would happen IF you got up one morning and God sent an Angel to you with an announcement:

    TIME’S UP! I’m taking you up from this earth today.

    What would you think? How would you react?

    You might think: HOW? Will it be an accident? A heart attack? Will someone murder me unexpectedly?

    You might wonder: How soon?  Do I have time to finally write a will? Can I call a loved one, first?

    You might remember that sin: the person you could NOT forgive, that action you never confessed. You might recall how little you had given to your church and how often you had found better things to do than worship God and thank Jesus Christ for His sacrifice on the Cross for you.

    You might even think to ask: Am I going to HEAVEN or HELL?

    You might even be in AWE that an angel would show up to bring a message to you.

    Admit it: you’re finally fearful of the end of your TIME. All of a sudden, DEATH and Eternal Life have a personal relevance.

    The Apostle John, or course, was a better witness of Christ than you or me. He had  actual first-hand witness of Jesus’ resurrection. Yet even John may not have expected the revelation Christ gave to him, which John wrote for us as the final book of the Bible.

    (You should read ALL of Revelation on your own.)

    8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

    I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. 19 Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this.

    Of course we know that the GOSPEL of Jesus Christ IS GOOD NEWS. Although Revelation sounds more and more like NOT so good news.

    IF the CHURCH will heed the warnings of Christ through the angel to John to the seven churches to OUR 21st c. church: there is still TIME remaining in the hourglass of these last days.

    The King James Version states: Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter.

    John saw what was, what was then, what was to come soon for the first century church, AND John saw what would happen well beyond the day of the death of his earthly flesh in the first century. John saw the hereafter: an AWESOME vision of Eternity.

    Are YOU ready? Is your church ready?

    Haven’t we had just about enough of this Kingdom of the evil one?

    The TIME of the hereafter is NEAR.

    +

    READ the cautions for our Church. NEXT: Ephesus

  • Pray also for me

    Pray also for me

    I have a prayer list. If you are reading this, you probably do too.

    Some of the names on mine: Lissette, Rachel, David, Ashley, Dad, Ed, Ken, Jenny, Tom, Robin, Marianna.

    Please pray for these loved ones of my family.

    I guess that all Christians pray for our families at times (as we ought). It’s in our own best interests, in addition to theirs. IF God blesses a family member and does not curse them, our prayer is answered (maybe not in our way, but in His).

    But the truth is that most people, probably even most christians, do NOT take any time to pray for others (except out of circumstances of desperation).

    Why not?

    Why don’t we at least take time to pray for our family (let alone our boss or workers or neighbors or friends or our President and Congress or the hungry or homeless or one in prison or any others…)?

    I suspect that most of us are too caught-up in our ‘selves.’

    So it is with some hesitation that I even ask you to pray also for me.

    Let’s talk about prayer briefly from the Bible. (For an in-depth study of prayer would take more time than we are willing.)

    In fact: PLEASE take just a moment right NOW to STOP reading, close out the world, close your eyes, bow your head & PRAY.

    amen. 

     

    What does it mean to pray?

    To begin, perhaps you would like to look at a few examples: first, from the Hebrew word for pray:

    God speaking to Abimelech in a dream here: Genesis 20:7 Now then, return the man’s wife,for he is a prophet, so that he will pray for you, and you shall live.

    Here is a reason to NOT complain about God: Numbers 11: And the people complained in the hearing of the Lord about their misfortunes, and when the Lord heard it, his anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some outlying parts of the camp. 2 Then the people cried out to Moses, and Moses prayed to the Lord, and the fire died down. 

    The story of 1 Samuel 1 shows the prayer of Hannah, the answer of the Lord and the sacrifice of thanksgiving from Hannah.

    Many of the Psalms of David speak not only directly to our hearts, but also provide examples of prayer to God:

    Psalm 5

    Give ear to my words, O Lord;
    consider my groaning.
    2 Give attention to the sound of my cry,
    my King and my God,
    for to you do I pray.
    3 O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice;
    in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.

    Do we do that?

    Do we pray to the Lord in the morning? (Did you this morning?)

    Do we even offer a small sacrifice of our mortal time?

    We also know that the Priests and Prophets prayed to God on behalf of their people. In fact, we probably recall at least one Prophet also praying to God for himself.

    Jonah 2: Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, 2 saying,

    “I called out to the Lord, out of my distress,
    and he answered me;
    out of the belly of Sheol I cried,
    and you heard my voice.

    In ALL prayer we should see something in common:

    Prayer implies conversation with God

    A faithful man or woman may assume an answer from God our Father.

    In the New Testament, Jesus and later the Apostles teach us to pray.

    A brief look at the Greek word for pray:

    Jesus sums it up perfectly in Matthew 6 (some of which we memorize & other of His instructions about prayer we sometime forget).

    5 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray… that they may be seen by others…

    6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

    7 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases… for they think that they will be heard for their many words.

    8 … for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 Pray then like this:

    “Our Father in heaven…

    (Though your memorized words are good, Jesus was showing us HOW to ask. Pay attention to the structure of His Prayer and you will learn truly how to pray.)

    Peter and the Apostles prayed before decisions [Acts 1:24], prayed before healings [Acts 6:6], prayed and fasted, prayed and sang hymns.

    One of our best instructions about prayer from Paul, Silas, and Timothy:

    1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

    Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances;

    for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

    Most encouraging to the churches of the first century – to all of the believers – the Letters from the Apostles and leaders of the Church are filled with references of personal prayers for individuals and prayers of thanksgiving for the church corporately as a body of believers for whom they prayed.

    Colossians 1: (from Paul and Timothy)

    3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 since we heard ofyour faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints…

    9 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding…

    (I pray that ALL of our church leaders pray for us like that and also encourage us by such public praise in prayer as did Paul and Timothy.)

    Do our church leaders call us to pray for each other and pray also for them?

    Colossians 4:3 Pray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunities to speak about his mysterious plan concerning Christ. That is why I am here in chains.

    1 Thessalonians 5:25 Dear brothers and sisters, pray for us.

    2 Thessalonians 3:1 Finally, dear brothers and sisters, we ask you to pray for us.Pray that the Lord’s message will spread rapidly and be honored wherever it goes, just as when it came to you.

    Hebrews 13:18 Pray for us, for our conscience is clear and we want to live honorably in everything we do.

    Since I do not address you as a church, but individually as my brother or sister in our Lord Christ Jesus, I do ask that you will pray also for me.

    I would ask that you pray for our Christian Social Witness and for the sharing of the Gospel through this place for your encouragement.

    I will pray for you, as will others with whom you Share your COMMENTS.

    Please ASK for prayer in our comments. May we add you to our prayers?

    May our Lord, Christ Jesus bless you and keep you for His own until we pray with each other once again. amen.

  • An Excellent Wife Who Can Find?

    An Excellent Wife Who Can Find?

    Proverbs 31:

    10 An excellent wife who can find?
    She is far more precious than jewels.
    11 The heart of her husband trusts in her,
    and he will have no lack of gain.
    12 She does him good, and not harm,
    all the days of her life.

    A rare jewel is a wife faithful to Christ Jesus.  A reward more precious than gold is a wife faithful to her husband.

    An excellent wife who can find?

    The vows of commitment of our Christian marriage speak of unbreakable relationship:

    • unbreakable relationship of a man to a woman (We sure need them in our lives.)
    • unbreakable relationship of a woman to a man
    • and life-long relationship to our God as perfect example of love to both.

     “In the name of God, I, ______, take you, ______, to be my wife/husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until we are parted by death. This is my solemn vow.”

    The vow and the word of a Christian is witness to our trust in Christ Jesus as our Lord.

    A Christian wife is trusted by her husband as he must also trust in Christ our Lord to keep His promise of eternal Life.

    When we are joined as one in the name of God, we are also one with the witness of our vows: our God and Lord, Christ Jesus. A Christian wife would no more betray her husband than an Apostle would betray his Lord. She is a woman of faith and integrity in the Lord.

    The Bible makes clear that Christian marriage is the best example of the intimacy of the Bride, Christ’s Church, being joined as One with the returning Bridegroom, Jesus Christ our Lord, who IS and will return for His faithful Bride.

    “She does Him good and not harm all the days of her life.”

    Is this not the witness every Christian (man or woman) ought to have for Christ our Lord?

    The Bible offers many examples of advice for men and about the counsel and company of other godly men; but the one place in the Bible offering some of the best advice for women is Proverbs 31.

    Proverbs 31 opens with a reference to King Lemuel.

    I never knew anything of this wise husband.  I can offer no better insight than that of John MacArthur, a faithful authority on scripture.

    I would offer my sisters in the Lord one additional resource to the scripture. (Some may be familiar with their radio broadcasts, which I too find encouraging.) Proverbs 31 Ministries.

    Like a faithful husband in the Lord, a good wife needs encouragement of other Christians, women to offer her encouragement in scripture and prayer.

    Please pray for my wife.  Pray also for me.

    Beloved sister in the Lord,

    Seek the Lord and you will find Him. He is faithful to His bride.

    07-07-07
    07-07-07

    I love my wife, my blessing.

    (“Love” includes many loves for me. {See 1 Corinthians 13 & Song of Songs})

    I love Jesus Christ as my Lord. Let no one doubt this First love of mine.

    I will pray also for your Christian marriage.

    (Just add a comment.)