The End

28 09 2015

theendAnd this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
Matthew 24:14 ESV

Last night, many of you went out to see the lunar eclipse take place. In our area, it was a beautiful night to do so. My family had to pick me up late at the airport, and on the way home we stopped in a big, dark parking lot to enjoy the view. It is always funny how events like this get Christians stirred up about end time prophecy. Many church-goers love to talk and debate about when the end will come and what it will be like. I saw multiple shares on Facebook this last week concerning these topics. Pastors love to preach through the book of Revelation, because it gets people to come to church. The problem with most talking and preaching on this subject is that it is pure speculation. I remember when I was in high school that we had a guest preacher come and talk about how Jesus was going to return in 1996. He had all kinds of Biblical “proof.”

I am all for reading the book of Revelation! John, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wrote that we are blessed if we read it (Revelation 1:3), but we have to be careful when interpreting the meaning of John’s apocalyptic language. I believe that Jesus gave us this book to give us hope, not information about how things are going to exactly play out.

The funny thing is that when talking about end time prophecy, most people do not talk about the most definitive statement on Jesus’ return ever. Plus, this statement came from Jesus himself. In Matthew 24, Jesus’ disciples have come to him and have asked him the same question that we want to know: When will the end take place? Jesus proceeds to tell them about things to watch out for, including wars, famines, earthquakes, and false teachers. Jesus then says that at some point the gospel will be preached all over the world as a witness to every ethnic group. When enough people from every ethnic group on earth receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior, Jesus says very plainly, “…and then the end will come.” The end of the age is not contingent upon a lunar eclipse or a certain country invading another or the increase of evil. These are signs that the end is coming, but the end itself will only take place when the Great Commission is completed. This is further confirmed in Revelation 7:9 when John looks and sees a multitude from every ethnic group worshipping the Lamb.

The exciting part about all of this is that we have never been so close. With a concerted effort the Church could possibly get missionaries to every ethnic group within a short time span. That effort is underway but needs more help and finances. As Christians, if we truly long for the return of Jesus, we would be doing all we can to fulfill the Great Commission. How awesome would it be to be apart of the generation that got to usher in the return of Jesus!

I believe that God has given our generation the ability and the potential to finish His task of getting the gospel to every ethnic group, but it will take each of us as individuals to come under His Lordship and follow Him with utter abandon to the uttermost parts of the world. Let events like last night’s lunar eclipse or the world news spur us on to get the gospel to unreached people groups, because it is only then that the end will come.


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The Persecuted Church

22 08 2013

persecuted

 

The world’s eyes have been glued to what is currently happening in Egypt. I have been surprised that the media has actually covered many of the church burnings that have taken place. The reason that I am surprised is because in most of the uprisings and protests that have taken place throughout the Middle East, church burning and persecution of Christians has taken place without the media reporting on it. In Egypt’s case, the Muslim Brotherhood has used the crackdown on the protests as an opportunity to loot and burn churches and Christian businesses. The Daily Star, Lebanon’s English language newspaper said attacks on churches coincided with assaults on police stations, leaving most police “pinned down to defend their stations or reinforcing others rather than rushing to the rescue of Christians under attack.”

The reality is that the persecution in Egypt is just the most popular of a long list of these things happening currently all over the world.  Statistics show that this year alone 163,000 people will die because of their faith. It is estimated that by 2025 that number could rise to 210,000 per year. There is any number of reasons for persecution, and it is not just because of religious differences, although that usually plays a major role. Other reasons include politics, finances, anti-Western bias, and racism. Many times all of these issues are rolled up into one that supports the persecution taking place. There is also a disturbing myth among Western Christians that persecution causes the church to grow. In fact, since persecution in the country of Turkey began the percentage of Christians has dropped from 32% to 0.2%. Syria has seen a drop from 40% to 10%. Iran saw a drop of 15% to 2%. Persecution is something that will always be with the church and will even ramp up as the Great Commission comes to completion, but it is not good. Persecution is the result of a fallen world and a real enemy that must be fought against. This enemy is not flesh and blood, though, so our fight must take place in the heavenly realm through prayer.

The atrocities that we are seeing on television should prompt us to fight the spiritual battle. We must first pray that God would be glorified. God is not surprised by what is taking place in Egypt. We need to pray that the believers and Christian workers there would have faith and use this as an opportunity to share the love of Christ with others. We also need to use this as motivation for ourselves individually to get better informed and learn about the persecuted church so that we would know how to pray. Lastly, I would challenge you to consider going to these places. There is nothing quite like a real, physical hug to encourage our brothers and sisters in Christ. It could be your visit and encouraging words that gives strength to the church to continue fighting the good fight.


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Earth Day and Missions

22 04 2012

Today is Earth Day. When I first opened my computer screen this morning to check the news, the Google logo was growing – reminding me.

When we lived in Tanzania, we were surrounded by some of the most beautiful wildlife on the face of the planet. I was constantly amazed to see the sheer size of elephants and giraffes and to see the power of the big cats. Living there, it did not take us too long to come into contact with conservation groups. As a matter of fact, our closest “white” neighbors were a British family living about an hour from us on a game park. They lived and worked in Mkomazi National Park and ran the George Adamson Wildlife Preservation Trust. They are Tony and Lucy Fitzjohn. You might remember the name of George Adamson as the man associated with the YouTube sensation of “Christian the Lion.” Tony was the young man with George. George was later killed by poachers in Kenya, and the Fitzjohn’s moved to Tanzania to continue the conservation work. They now have a black rhino breeding facility and an African wild dog reintroduction program. We were blessed to get to visit with them and see their amazing work.

During our time in Tanzania, I was able to take a lot of photographs of the beautiful wildlife including the Fitzjohn’s rhinos and wild dogs. I wrote a couple of posts for a big conservation blog, and one of my photographs of a lion was auctioned off at huge events throughout Europe to raise funds for Lion Aid. I love the idea of conservation, and I believe that God has called us to be better stewards of what He has entrusted us.

The question I am still working through is how conservation or stewardship of our planet’s resources fit in with missions. I believe there is a balance. I cannot believe that God would have me, as a Christian, sit in a jungle for years on end studying chimpanzees while the tribes near the jungle are lost and have no Gospel presence. On the other hand, I believe that the extensive study of chimpanzees has tremendously helped conservation efforts. Does that leave room for a Christian with the Great Commission to go and study chimps for years on end? I would love to hear your thoughts on this if you want to leave a comment.


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The Future of the Global Church

15 03 2012


I just received a book in the mail that I would HIGHLY recommend. It is called The Future of the Global Church by Patrick Johnstone. You might know the author as the one who worked many long years on the first three versions of the fantastic book, Operation World. This new book, published last year, is large with a lot of maps, graphs, and pictures. It contains information that I believe every Christian should know and understand. The first part of the book highlights Nine Global Challenges…

  • Population – The population is literally exploding in some of the most unreached areas of the world. As Christians, how are we going to respond: going or staying?
  • Migration – God is literally bringing the world to our doorstep. Refugees are pouring into the US, but the rest of the world is experiencing this as well. The amazing part is that some people groups that were in completely closed countries are now our next door neighbors.
  • Urbanization – The trend of people moving into cities is accelerating. As Christians, we must be prepared to reach cities and to find the unreached people groups living among them.
  • Health & Disease – As populations in the poorest of countries explode, disease increases. AIDS in Africa, where it is as high as 1/4 the population, is decimating entire villages. Johnstone says, “The Church is the only network with the human resources, moral imperative and spiritual motivation to deal with the root causes of the spread of HIV and help its victims by providing local, self-sustaining mechanisms for survival, a loving community for the present and real hope for the future.”
  • Climate Change – Whether you are on the side that thinks climate change is due to human abuses or it is simply a cyclical effect, most will agree that something is going on. The weather seems to be strange. There has been a dramatic increase in catastrophic earthquakes. For Christians, this could signal the end times. The Bible talks about an increase in these types of things during the last days.
  • Economy – As we have already experienced, the economy is a fragile thing. There is a growing disparity between the rich and the poor.  Corruption is on the rise globally.
  • Energy Resources – The price of oil and gasoline at the pumps continue to rise, not to mention that oil is a limited resource and not renewable. At the same time, renewable alternative energy resources are too expensive.
  • Politics & Freedom – We live in a day and age of increased hostility. At any given time, the US seems to be on the brink of war with any number of countries. The problem of slavery and human trafficking is not a past problem but a present reality.
  • Water Resources – Fresh water resources are dwindling. The US is, by statistics, considered under stress in this area. Countries in North Africa and the Middle East are at critical deficiencies.

As believers, we must be prepared to face these realities and not just look at them through our stained-glass windows. This cannot be about us just building our own little church. It must be much bigger than that.  It is imperative that we start thinking in terms of the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom is like yeast. It does not work right if it is just clumped up together. It must be spread through the entire dough (Luke 13:20-21). I take this to mean that we need believers in every people group actively sharing their faith in order to see an indigenous church-planting movement started, but also to see believers in every area of life making real Godly change within healthcare systems, government structures, corporations, etc.


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