The End is Nigh

I have heard a lot of talk recently that our world is in crisis, and that “the end is nigh.” I have a sense that this is a lot of fear-mongering and marketing for a cause. But what if they are right?

On the one hand, haven’t people always felt that way? Isn’t this just God’s way of reminding us that our world could end today via a massive stroke or car accident? Shouldn’t we always be ready to face Jesus?

Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts. Hebrews 4:7

On the other hand, what if it is true? What if God is warning us that these are the end times? What if He is just warning our country that it is in its end times? How do I respond to that?

Does disaster befall, unless the Lord has done it? Surely the Lord God does nothing without revealing his secrets to his servants, the prophets. The lion has roared; who will not fear? The Lord God has spoken; who can but prophesy? Amos 3:6-8

A few years back, billboards appeared around my town that proclaimed that Jesus was returning on thus and such a date. I must admit that I scoffed. After all, we all know that only the Father knows the times He has set (Acts 1:7). So I rolled my eyes and called him a fool. Guilty; see Matthew 5:22. What if God had given him that specific word and directed him (or her) to proclaim it? Maybe, like Jonah, they were pronouncing a judgement that wouldn’t happen. Maybe whomever God intended this message to reach repented. Who am I to scoff?

So what if the doomsday predictions are correct? What if our society collapses? What if there is a civil war? What if God unleashes the angels of war, disease, famine and death upon the earth? What if our lives become really, really hard? What, as a Christian, is my response?

The end of all things is near, therefore be serious and discipline yourselves for the sake of your prayers. Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without complaining. I Peter 4:7-9

Hospitality does not seem to be the plan of most “preppers,” unless they plan to share all that they are now hoarding. I grapple with what I would do if evildoers came to take what I have saved for myself and my family. Certainly we are called to care for our families. Certainly we are called to keep enough oil in our lamps (Matt. 25) and prepare for famine (Gen. 41). But Jesus also tells us not to store up earthly treasures, which thieves can steal. Jesus calls us to store up heavenly treasures instead. (Matt. 8:19-21)

Maybe the answer is to not put our faith in what we have stored. Perhaps I should not have faith that my government, the CDC, big agriculture, the marketplace, my IRA, or private gun ownership will be able to stem the tide of disaster if God has ordained it. Perhaps such a disaster instead gives us, as Christians, the opportunity to witness to a better Way. A way of love; a way of putting other’s need above our own (Phil. 2:3-4), a way of laying down our lives for our friends (John 15:13).

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any want to be my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their crosses and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.” Matthew 16:23-25

So yes, repent. The end may be nigh, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Today is the day to draw near to Jesus. Come what may, Jesus has shown us the way.

Lo, I am with you until the end of the age. Matthew 28:20

Happy New Year!

Betsy

Unconditional Love

We hear a lot during Advent, and throughout Lent and Eastertide, about God’s unconditional love for us. That God would humble Himself to take human form, live as a child, face temptation, allow himself to be beaten and crucified, all because of His love for us.

Simeon took (the baby Jesus) in his arms and praised God saying, “Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presences of your peoples, a light for revelation to the gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.” Luke 2:28-32

As a new grandmother at Christmas time, the thought of God allowing himself to be so fragile, so helpless, so non-verbal, all poop and spit and cries, seems like an incredible gift. I love babies; most people do. They evoke love and care and gentleness in us. What an amazing thing: He put Himself in such a frustrating position to show His unconditional love for us; His desire to have a relationship with us.

As much as He loves us, He asks us to love Him, and other people, in return. He loves us, but do we love Him? In a recent interview, Scott Hamilton wondered aloud if our love for God was unconditional. Do we love God because, or do we simply love God?

When I was a child, I left my mother a note telling her, “I love you very, very, very, very, very, very much.” Angered by something soon after I left it for her, I added, “sometimes.”

I fear I haven’t really matured that much since those days! Faced with horrible circumstances, grief and pain and suffering, I sometimes find it difficult to love God “very, very, very much.”

I have taken comfort in the belief that God knows what He is doing; that He knows better than I what is the best for me, for His kingdom, for the world; that I will understand better when I’m on the other side, looking back. But sometimes, that feels inadequate and denies the pain.

I have posited that I follow God, not because He is “good” (an extremely vague word), but because He is God. To not follow Him would be foolishness. But that is not necessarily love and rarely generates joy.

Richard Wurmbrand, martyr and founder of Voice of the Martyrs, speaks beautifully about loving God while being beaten for that love. I have not yet been called to such a sacrifice. My situation seems easy in comparison, but the question remains. Can I love God and hate the circumstances in which He has placed me? Would I love God even if He consigned me to Hell? Could I love God and extend His love to the world if I were as helpless and dependent as a newborn? As battered and bleeding and abused as Jesus crucified? Is my love for God unconditional?

See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. I John 3:1

Children, just like He was. A baby, an infant, helpless and dependent. With our own personalities, our own peculiarities. And a baby loves his or her parents. Needs them, depends on them, gazes intently into their eyes, learning and growing in the parents’ likeness, learning their ways.

Jesus was willing to lay down His glory to become a helpless infant. Can I lay down a little of my comfort to be dependent on God? To gaze into His eyes and learn His ways, to allow Him to be “a light of revelation,” to grow in His likeness? Can I learn to love Him as unconditionally as He loves me? I pray He lets that kind of love grow in me.

Merry Christmas, brothers and sisters in Christ. May God’s love be born in you, and through you into the world.

Betsy

Teaching to the Test

When I was in High School, SAT scores were of vital importance. I went to “prep” schools, which began preparing me for these tests in 7th grade. I sent my kids to schools that prepared them for the SATs and the ACTs, and offered AP classes. Detractors from this model of schooling rightly argue that the teachers are not offering a full spectrum of education, but are teaching to the test; they are teaching the students how to take the test and teaching only those things which are on the test.

While a valid argument, those tests are used to evaluate students, teachers and schools. We, as a society, have accepted the value system of the tests, so I wanted my kids to ace them. Even if you and your kids choose non-academic routes, there are still tests, and students need to prepare for them.

I recently spoke with a young adult who felt that the questions on the driver’s tests were not really relevant to good driving. Why did she have to learn that? Because she wanted to pass the test.

His divine power has given us everything needed for life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us. 2 Peter 1:3

Knowing the standards to which we’ll be held; knowing what those with more experience say is necessary for us to know; knowing what is on the test and how to take it – isn’t that extremely helpful?

There are all kinds of things I don’t know. Most of them, I don’t really care about knowing. Those questions aren’t on any test I’m taking. This is probably offensive to those of you who value the information I am disdaining, but there are probably things I know which you don’t know, things that are important to me.

For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. I Corinthians 2:2

It all depends on what test you are taking. It depends on who has developed the test; what they want you to know; what it takes to pass the test.

Some people want to pass a test of social importance, or wealth, or business success. Some want to pass a test of cultural knowledge, or fandom, or social media success. Whatever test we are trying to pass, my guess is that we are preparing for it. We are looking for teachers who can tell us what is on the test and how to take it, who will teach to the test.

Both I and my kids took SAT practice tests in Middle School. Many of the NFL players were in Pop Warner leagues. Travel teams are test prep for many successful athletes. High School sororities and fraternities prepare kids for social success. These practice tests teach us what is important to know, what we still need to learn, and how to improve.

My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance, and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing. James 1:2-4

In this season of Advent, this period of preparation for the coming of the Lord, I pray that we all find teachers who will “teach to the test” of faith in God: the Father, Son and Spirit. I pray we are ready for the test when it arrives. I pray God is preparing me and I am preparing myself for what lies ahead, the test I really want to pass.

In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith – being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire – may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. I Peter 1:6-7

God knows my name; I know He wants me to ace the test of faith. I pray I can make Him proud.

Betsy

p.s. It appears I have failed the technology test! I have just realized that I have not been posting my responses to your comments. I apologize. I have truly appreciated your comments and hope you continue to comment in the future. Now that I know how to post my responses, I will try to improve in this area. Please forgive what must have looked like unresponsiveness in the past. Thank you!

Knowing Jesus

Several years ago, in a contemplative prayer group, an older gentleman asked, “What percentage of Christians do you think have a personal relationship with Jesus?” He guessed about 40%. He said that he had grown up in the Church, attended regularly, taught Sunday School and had been a deacon and elder for years. He had always led a good Christian life. Only recently had something happened that led him to having a relationship, a personal connection, to Jesus. That relationship. he said, made all the difference in the world and seemed far more “valuable” to him than his years of Christian living.

As someone who came to faith during the charismatic “Jesus movement” of the 1970s, I listened in amazement. When he originally asked, I answered in my head, “100%, that’s what being a Christian means – having a personal relationship with Jesus.”

That relationship, a relationship with Jesus, with God, absolutely makes all the difference. And “valuable?” The joy, the aliveness, that fills me when I attest to God’s presences here on earth in the person of Jesus, to His willingness to show us a path through this life, His gift of showing us a life after this one, His power over all these earthly limitations, that connection is beyond valuable; it is priceless.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it. Matthew 113:45-46

God blessed me with a personal relationship with Jesus long before I lived anything resembling a Christian life. Despite being raised in the church and having a “born again” experience, I struggled with demons in my twenties and often lost. It was through the Spirit’s urging that I started going to church again and found Christian friends. God gave me the strength to oust the demons. As the joy of living in relationship with Jesus grew, I “sold” more and more of my old life for the “great value” of life with Christ.

So I asked myself, “Do you have to have a personal relationship with Jesus to be a Christian?” I had always thought so, but my older friend apparently considered such a relationship a bonus not a requirement. I will duck this question. Because, fortunately, it is not up to me to say. I am not the judge; God is. But if you have yet to find this pearl, please keep looking. His Spirit within brings life.

And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. John 17:3

And not just eternal life, life in the world to come, but abundant life in the here and now. Joy, understanding, peace, forbearance, hope, love, connection. Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, is an empathetic therapist, a wise advisor, a gentle teacher, a source of encouragement, strength, and love for others. And I have this personal relationship with Jesus through His Spirit that lives within me.

By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent the Son as the Savior of the world. God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. So we have known and believe the love God has for us. I John 4:13-16

Jesus wants to have a personal relationship with you. He knows your name; He wants to call you friend. He is the Lord of Heaven’s army; don’t you want to be His friend as well?

I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from the father. You did not choose me, but I chose you. John 15:15-16

Betsy