End of the World

Welcome to judgement day, apparently.

It was said that today the world would end right about now, that a massive earthquake would bring about the end of the world and with it usher in judgement day.

This got me thinking, especially as the predicted time (at least where I live in the world) came and went without incident, in as much as there was no earthquake in the UK.

As Christians, we believe that the rapture is coming, and the end of the world will come with the judgement of God.

But as Christians, should we be trying to predict when?

Matthew 24:36 is a passage of scripture that for me makes it really clear. NO ONE knows the time or the day.

This is the word of God, so shouldn't we be paying attention to that fact.

Now I don't wish to seem judging of those that feel lead to make these predictions, but my view point is, why waste that time when God has already told us that we can not know the time. This is Jesus telling us that while here on earth that only the Father will know when these events will happen.

What does this mean for us here on earth.

We have a ticking timer, that will run out. What are we to do. Surely there is no better time than right now to do what we were commanded to do.

What follows are my notes from a sermon by a good friend of mine, Pastor Josh Hannah from Friendship World Outreach in Tennessee. Taken at a recent service at Bethel Elim Church.

GO

The greatest challenge facing the church, the biggest obstacle - changing your mindset to make a difference.

We don't need to get the world into the church, we need to get the church into the world.

Jesus said Go.

Luke 10 - Go to Homes, that's what Jesus said, and if you find a man of peace you stay, meet the needs.

The challenge is not to pray 'Oh world come' its to pray 'Oh church Go'

Mark 16:15 

If its got breath and its kicking Preach to it

Revival is coming but its not like we have ever seen before. Its NOT going to be people coming in.
Its gonna be the few that are willing to Go - that's whats gonna bring in revival.

Pray that they will be sent to the harvest

Luke 14:23 - Go and compel them to come in

1 John 3:18 

Anybody can go, its not about your Words. Jesus didn't just love in words, Jesus loved people in His deeds too.

Matt 5:16 

What is your light? What do people see?

Its your good works that they see, and when they do they glorify your Father in heaven.

And its not about your money either, You can never ever out give God.
What you do for others, God will do for you.

John 2 -  Canaan wedding, and the first miracle.

Jesus had done nothing by this point, He had not walked on water, healed the sick or any of that stuff.

The servants didn't have to obey Him, they didn't have to do anything Jesus said, yet they chose to serve Him.

Verse 9 says that the master of the house did not know where the wine had come from.

The servants know what nobody else does.

Jesus didn't make them serve, and He will not make you serve either.

But its not about what happens to you if you don't serve that should motivate you, - its the things that God would do in your sight if you serve that should motive you.

You'll see God more if you serve.

When you do a good deed, you release endorphins in your body. Science proves that serving God by serving others put you into the joy of the Lord.

When you serve others, God will do for you.

Ephesians 2:10

Blessed means happy

We need to go out - Go into the world.

Go make a difference.

(I would like to point out once more that these constitute my notes of the preach, they are the things that stood out to me in the sermon, and are not Josh's notes - so as a disclaimer, the content is my interpretation of the message given only)

To finish I would like to share one other thing that Josh shared and that I already had knowledge of from the person involved testimony, but I feel its important to realise.

Another friend of mine committed his life to Christ just about a year ago now, and His journey to God began because one christian said five simple words to my friend. But those 5 words changed His life forever - all because one person was willing to Go, be obedient to the command of Jesus.

Those words

'Put Your Faith In God'

If that was enough to change one persons life, Why not another person.

Time is running out. Go

Current affairs dilemma

I recently saw this article posted up by a friend of mine on facebook. I fond it very interesting and since it was something very similar that I recently chatted with my wife about, I thought I would paste it on my blog in its entirity.



How Should Religious People Respond To Bin Laden's Death?
 
By Kevin Eckstrom



Religion News Service






This story was reported by Daniel Burke, Adelle M. Banks, Nicole Neroulias, Omar Sacirbey and Alessandro Speciale.






WASHINGTON (RNS) Jesus said "love your enemies." If only he had said how we should react when they die at our own hands.


After President Obama announced that al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden had been shot dead in Pakistan, ebullient crowds gathered outside the White House and at Ground Zero to cheer the demise of the world's most wanted terrorist, smoking cigars and breaking into chest-thumping chants of "USA! USA!"


Watching from her home in suburban Virginia, Christian ethicist Diana Butler Bass felt a growing sense of unease.


"What if we responded in reverent prayer and quiet introspection instead of patriotic frenzy?" she posted on Facebook. "That would be truly American exceptionalism."


At the Vatican, too, where church leaders had just wrapped up joyous celebrations elevating the late Pope John Paul II to one step below sainthood, officials urged caution.


"A Christian never rejoices" in the death of any man, no matter how evil, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said, but instead "reflects on the serious responsibility of each and every one of us has before God and before man."


For many Americans, bin Laden's death was quite literally an answer to prayer. Muslims who saw bin Laden as an apostate breathed a quiet sigh of relief. Ethicists and pastors searched for the appropriate space between vindication and vengeance.


U.S. special forces did what they had to do. How everyone else is supposed to feel about it is a little less clear.


"As Christians, we believe that there can be no celebrating, no dancing in the streets, no joy, in relation to the death of Osama bin Laden," Christian ethicist David Gushee said. "In obedience to Scripture, there can be no rejoicing when our enemies fall."


Indeed, the Hebrew prophet Ezekiel warned that our enemies are not necessarily God's, who takes "no pleasure in the death of wicked people," preferring only that they "turn from their wicked ways so they can live."


The questions around bin Laden's demise tended to break into two different camps: Were we right to kill him? And is his death something to cheer?


For many, what set bin Laden apart was his defiance, unrepentant violence and coldly calculating designs to rain destruction upon Americans, innocent civilians and even fellow Muslims.


"While vengeance is not a responsibility of us mortals, the pursuit of justice is," said a statement from Agudath Israel, an Orthodox umbrella group. "As believing Jews, we see in bin Laden's demise the clear hand of God."


In a larger sense, removing the singular threat of bin Laden can also lessen the violent threat of radical extremism and terrorism. Put another way, taking one life can save countless others.


"It is a sad truth that one man's death can represent a step forward in the progress of human relations," said Zainab Al-Suwaij, president of the Washington-based American Islamic Congress.


For many people, bin Laden's guilt or innocence never needed to be adjudicated in a court of law, and an American bullet to his head was judgment enough. Scholars cautioned, however, that there's a difference between judging a man's actions and judging his soul.


The Rev. John Langan, a Jesuit professor of Christian ethics at Georgetown University, said killing bin Laden to prevent future attacks is morally valid, but cautioned that vengeance is ultimately a divine, not human, right.


"I knew people who died in 9/11," Langan said. "I feel deeply the evil of that action. But I am part of a religious tradition that says that we don't make final, independent judgments about the souls of other men. That rests with God."


Which all leads back to Americans' response to the death of a madman.


"You have to have compassion, even for your enemies," said A. Rashied Omar, a research scholar at the University of Notre Dame's Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies.


"The Quran teaches that you never should allow enmity to swerve you away from compassion, because without compassion, the pursuit of justice risks becoming a cycle of revenge."


Others said there is a difference between rejoicing in bin Laden's death and finding a certain degree of satisfaction -- a "subtle but important difference," said the Rev. Jay Emerson Johnson, an Episcopal priest who teaches at the Pacific School of Religion.


"I'm not sorry Bin Laden is dead," Johnson posted on Twitter. "That's not the same thing as celebrating his death."


And that, perhaps, is where Americans will live in the coming days and weeks, caught in the gray space between satisfaction and celebration, glad that bin Laden is finally gone but not wanting to dance on anyone's grave.


"Without apology, we all sleep better in our beds knowing that Osama bin Laden is no longer a threat," said R. Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky. "But celebration in the streets is something that falls short of the sobriety


that I think Christians should have on our hearts in reflecting on this event."
 
What would happen if you were to get to heaven and find that OBL had in fact repented of his life at the moment the bullet hit. Or found you place in heaven next to the likes of Pol Pot or Adolf Hitler???
 
Think about that in view of the teachings of Jesus.
 
Then you will get an idea of the workings of my mind this month

(I do not own the content of this report - it is simply copied from a public website - original article here)