Category: judgment

After serving us a wonderful dinner in Jerusalem, Dagmar, in her very direct manner, asked, “So, Dana, what do you think God is doing in the world in these days?” I asked to confirm, but I was confident she was alluding to the various world catastrophes that have taken place the past few months. Together we listed a few: earthquake in Haiti, earthquake in Chile, earthquake in China, volcano in Iceland, economic tsunami in Greece, and just a couple of days earlier an explosion had taken place in the Gulf of Mexico causing thousands of gallons of oil to pollute the water.

The unbeliever is incapable of asking a question regarding a Creator who holds all things in his hands. He must rely solely on scientists’ predictions and human explanation. “God’s shaking the earth,” I said. “He wants everyone to look up and tune their ears to what he’s been saying for generations.” The Scripture that popped to mind was this: “See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, ‘Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.’ The words ‘once more’ indicate the removing of what can be shaken – that is, created things – so that what cannot be shaken may remain.” Hebrews 12:25-27

Though man pretends to be in constant control, look how helpless we are in so many cases. Who can stop an earthquake? Who can silence a volcano? Who can keep the rain from falling? We can’t even seem to stop our oil leaks in the ocean. Just having been on a trip where it seemed Susan and I had absolutely no control over circumstances and schedules, I asked Dagmar, “So then how do we live?” Christians were in the earthquake zones; Christians were impacted by the volcano in Iceland; Christians are being affected by the ecological disaster in the Gulf… When our world shakes or when we suffer loss or when we hear frightening reports… do we react differently from the world? If Jesus reigns in our hearts, does he speak ‘peace’ in the storm? If the Holy Spirit is in charge of our lives, is his supernatural fruit evident? If God is our Father, need we fear?

How then should we live? Be thankful, worship with reverence, love one another, be hospitable, help the suffering, honor marriage, be pure, trust God, be content, do not fear, remember leaders, look to Jesus, reject false teaching, receive grace, praise God, do good, share with others, let God work in you… simple!

“Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our ‘God is a consuming fire.’ Keep on loving each other as brothers. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have entertained angels without knowing it. Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering. Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.’ So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?’ Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace… Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise – the fruit of lips that confess his name. And do not forget to do good and share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased… May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us that what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” Hebrews 12:28-13:21

In the hospital, I watched HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER, a Tom Clancy story about a Russian naval captain defecting to the US with a top secret submarine. Jack Ryan is the CIA analyst who argued that he knew what was happening, though all the US military thought war was about to break out. The analyst bases judgments and decisions on what he knows about his opponent and the present situation. Most facts are hidden from the common man and the good analyst often puts his ‘neck on the line’ to appeal for what may seem to be extreme, or even foolish action. (Of course, Jack Ryan is a great analyst…)

When they detected problems with my heart, I was taken to another floor to have an echo-cardiogram. The technician was a young Vietnamese lady who is a Christian with a great burden for the orphans of Asia. She and her husband have two children of their own, but had recently adopted a little girl from China. As she was sharing her story she put the cold petroleum jelly on my chest and started rolling the little instrument that showed my beating heart. I was in a position where I could not see the screen so I asked what she observed. She did not answer quickly so I prodded a little more. “Do you just record or can you analyze what you see?” “Oh, I can analyze what I see,” she replied. “Well, what’s your analysis?” I asked. “Your heart is damaged… it is very clear.” “Is it fixable?” I asked. “Oh, we’ve seen great progress with this type of heart damage. You listen to the doctors and do what they say.” We both know there is a Great Physician who not only holds our physical hearts but the spiritual ones that only He sees.

I don’t really know the reason, but a certain Old Testament chapter stayed on my mind through my first bout with cancer in 2000 and now again through this recent transplant. In Ezekiel 37 a story is told that required analysis. If a human friend had asked Ezekiel this certain question, the answer would have been a no-brainer. “Look in that valley, Ezekiel. Do you see all the dry bones? Do you think those  bones could ever live again?” “Impossible” would be the logical answer. But the One who asked the question was no mere human. He was God, our Creator. So the analyst gave a wise answer: “O Sovereign Lord, you alone know.” Read the chapter to see what happened, but I wonder what impossible questions God is asking today.

Can the ‘lukewarm’ western church be set on fire? Can people of other religions who want to destroy Christians meet and love the Christ that died for them? Can the Jews who deny their Messiah has come to the earth ever see the truth? Can Christians divided by opinions and traditions ever become one as Jesus prayed? Can a heart consumed by lesser things be consumed with the Spirit of the Living God?

“O Sovereign Lord, you alone know.” Ezekiel 37:3
“For nothing is impossible with God.” Luke 1:37

Yesterday, I got good news regarding the protein test that measures the cancer I’m fighting. I went into the transplant with a count of 4.6, which is pretty high. In the thirty days since transplant, the number has dropped to .7, which has excited all the doctors and nurses (and us). Also, the cardiologist feels like my heart is rebounding, so he has taken me off everything but one pill a day. I know you will want to praise God for these things and we humbly thank you for praying so much for us. Around the 100 day mark, another protein blood test will be taken and a bone marrow biopsy will reveal if any cancer is in the bone marrow.

Susan and I met a young couple last week who are about to go through the same thing we have. He was diagnosed with lymphoma a month before they were to get married. They delayed the wedding a few weeks, did a couple of rounds of chemo, then got married. She is a beautiful twenty-five year old Georgia native taking care of a strong twenty-six year old husband from South Carolina. He is athletic, a bit defiant, and determined to get through this stem cell transplant as quick as he can. I pray he does… with no setbacks.

Susan thought I was prepared for my second transplant. I was stronger than before, more experienced, and less beaten down by drugs. But from the first day in the hospital, everything seemed to go in unexpected directions: the catheter they put in my chest would not stop bleeding (they removed it a week later), I developed pneumonia (which lasted a couple of weeks), I started coughing up blood (which lasted about a month), and fluid built up in my body to the point that my heart could not handle the load (causing my blood pressure to run extremely high). I can’t count on one hand how many times I heard a doctor or nurse say, “I’ve never seen this happen before.” (Not exactly what a patient wants to hear:) So what do you do when you think you’re prepared, but reality proves otherwise.

Lying in the hospital, I sometimes wonder about preparations that are far more important than health. Jesus often said, “Be prepared; you don’t know when I am going to return.” He tells us to “watch and pray” and to be ready. I can say “I’m ready” based on my feelings or what other people might tell me. But Jesus is the one who knows and He eagerly invites the courageous, humble one to ask what He sees. In a parable, ten virgins waited for the Bridegroom, but only five were prepared with the oil required. The five who had to run to town to make a purchase were called ‘foolish’ because they could not enter the feast. Who is foolish today? Are there wise ones treasuring the things of the Spirit as they watch for their Master?

Humility requires that if we go to Jesus and He points out our errors we must quickly repent and ask Him to supply what we lack. “You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent.” (Revelation 3:17-19)

When teachers say, “Be prepared for your test tomorrow,” good students heed the warning. When coaches spend a week preparing for Friday’s game, the players know it is serious. When a doctor tells a person how to prepare for an upcoming surgery, the wise patient follows directions. But what do we do with Jesus’ words?

“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” Matthew 24:42-44

Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.” Genesis 11:4

What was wrong with their thinking, their planning, their building? They simply left God out. Humanism leaves God out of the picture. Perhaps these guys were deists, who admit there must be a God but refuse to involve him in daily life. The Babylonians defined ‘Babel’ as ‘the gate of God,’ but the Hebrew definition is ‘confusion.’ Man said, “We’ll build ourselves a tower high enough to visit God.” The Creator said, “You’re confused,” as language was confounded and plans were upended.

You don’t need to be a humanist or deist to fall into the same trap. James warned the believers of his day, “Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.’ As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil.”

Arrogant talk, boasting, bragging, prideful living… babel… confusion… “Come, let’s make a name for ourselves!” The disciple of Christ can’t embrace such thinking for it opposes the Master, who ‘made himself nothing,’ ‘humbled himself,’ and ‘took on the very nature of a servant.’ Jesus taught, “A student is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master,” so we must walk in his steps.

While ‘babel’ leads to confusion, selflessness leads to joy. Go to any nation on earth and find the people that have given up ‘self’ for the Savior. Their country may be in trouble, fear may grip the multitudes, all may live with difficulty… but joy abounds in the redeemed. Hope overcomes hopelessness when there is true faith in the One who overcomes. When the confused skeptic asks, “What is truth?” the wise one says, “I know the answer! His name is Jesus!”

May the children of God walk with confidence in a risen Savior, not with confidence in self. This leads to fellowship with the Father. The Son has accomplished the work; the Spirit empowers us to live; now we must simply trust and obey.

“Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed – not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence – continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life.” Philippians 2:12-16

Our tennis team won a big match Tuesday and this weekend we hope to compete for a state championship. The young coaches get on the courts with the players and work them hard. I’m an old coach. I gather the team at practice and say, “OK guys, listen up. Friday we play __________ in the semi-finals. I know our opponent because we’ve faced them in past years. This is what they are going to do: 1 – ____________, 2 – ___________, 3 – ______________ Understand?” I filled in the blanks and gave this speech because I know if we are caught off guard by the things our opponent usually does, we’ll be at a disadvantage.

It should not surprise us that a couple of thousand years ago, God had His apostles write similar encouragements to Christians, knowing full well we would need important warnings and wise council. You’ll want to read the entire passage below, but if you just examine the first four statements and think about the world of sports today, you’ll recognize the power of prophecy. The stakes are much higher than a tennis match…

“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud…” II Timothy 3:1-5

“Listen up, friends. The devil is going to hit you with all his might as his time draws to a close. Recognize his tactics! Selfishness, greed, pride… these are a few of his weapons. My Word and My ways defeat the enemy. Remember My teachings: Die to yourself. If you want to be first, choose to be last. Don’t save up treasure on earth… its not going to last. Lay up for yourselves treasure in Heaven! Give… be generous… think of the needs of others. Be humble… as I am humble. Don’t puff up and brag about things you do or what you know. Instead, take up the towel of a servant and be content to wash feet. If I, your Master, lived this way, shouldn’t you?”

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.” Ephesians 6:10-11