I don’t know about you, but I’m looking at our world in chaos.

• At our world of politics in America,
• of terror on a global scale,
• of a growing racial divide,
• of increasing violence,
• of dire illnesses
• of weather extremes
• of the disappearance of the rule of law,
• of the chaos ensuing and enveloping every institution
• in which the Truth of God has been subordinated beneath legalese
• and in which God’s righteous command and rightful authority are being smothered beneath manmade convenience, mob rule, and arrogant control.

It’s easy to find yourself asking,

What in the name of Sam Hill is going on?

God has an answer to this chaos and many Americans won’t like it a bit.  God’s answer is Himself.

Just as it was in the beginning when God’s answer to the formless chaos of the waters was His Spirit hovering over it…and His Word declaring order into it…. “Let there be light!”…a time is coming when He will return into this world and the present chaos being sown by mankind.  We will…(yes, all of us: black, white, every race and ethnicity, male and female, all religions and mutations of unbelief)…we will all be answerable…finally… to Justice that we will not truly know this side of heaven.  A justice some claim to want now that they have no idea what they’re asking.  It’s not a slogan or some sign to carry around.  It’s nothing that superficial.

For some, being answerable will be a sigh of relief, a final rest, and an eternal Hallelujah.

For others,  it will be both a terrible and … a terrifying … Day of Judgment upon the evil they are and the evil they do.  

That’s what the Bible teaches.  The One and True Judge will enter into our world one more time…Who came first as the Word, then as the Son of God, Son of Man, and our One True Savior, again as His Holy Spirit.  Yes, He will enter a final time as another move of His Ultimate Authority.  The last days are upon us and have been since the time of Christ.  His return is closer now than yesterday.  The fig tree is in full leaf (Matthew 24) and all we have to do is look for His coming.

2 Peter 3:3 First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4 They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” 5 But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. 8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. 11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. 14 So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 15 Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16 He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction. 17 Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.

I know plenty of people who have bought lock, stock, and barrel into the error of lawless men and women.   I see them on the news and read about them in the papers.  They’re quick to share opinions and slow to see what God says about it all.  I don’t want to be one of them.  I don’t want you to be either.

God’s Answer to Chaos is Himself.  And He will not be mocked.

Reflecting on what is good instead of what is so awful.  Imagine a world along with me…

While I’ve been doing my charity garden walk preparation all the way to its conclusion, I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting about how the end can be a comfort…knowing it is finished and there’s nothing more one can do.  Oh, I reflect on lots of things, especially sermons I’ve heard recently.  It’s part of the curse of seminary in that you can’t just passively listen anymore, you think about everything that’s said.  You think about it while it’s being said, but also days, weeks, even months later.

One of the things that I’ve been pondering is the great benefit of knowing how it all turns out in the end.  Jesus’ victory is a comfort to those of us who know Him as Lord.

The pastor I was listening to gave an example of a championship game which he couldn’t watch while it was happening so he recorded it to watch later.  He said he usually tries to avoid having a spoiler of the final score and to watch the game as if it is happening now.  But sometimes, he ends up knowing the score before he watches it.  Knowing the final score helps to relieve the white knuckle time of 3-2 counts, one’s team being down by runs in the top of the 9th or 6 points in the final minutes of the 2nd half.  Knowing that your team wins lets you simply enjoy the ride and marvel how your team gets there.

With the Christian life, it ought to be the same way. 

We ought to be able to enjoy the ride and trust God to see us through because we know the end.  It’s a comfort since we have confidence that God wins.

I was continuing to think about this idea in light of a brief trip my husband and I took to fish in Canada.  I went from fishing for men to fishing for fish.  Or as my son joked, “Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day.  Teach a man to fish and he’ll eat for a lifetime.  Let a man fish for men and his work results will be eternal.”

The Northern pike I caught didn’t know when it took the minnow that it would be hooked, that it would fight it with everything it had but fail, that I would enjoy hauling it into the boat, that our guide would teach this woman how to hold it for a photo, but that it would be released back into the water to live another day.  At the time of being hooked, it probably thought its world was coming to an end.

So, when every system in the US seems to be falling apart and good Christians are fighting the corruption with everything we’ve got; when ISIS seems to be scattershot all over the world bringing terror to every nation of planet Earth; when we hear of earthquakes and floods, hurricanes and tornadoes, mudslides and forest fires; when wars and despots are on the increase and in their wake, they leave behind only the dead, the persecuted, and the refugee, and when we see the life of this Earth pass before our eyes, we look to Jesus.  Knowing that He’s already victorious and the end of time ushers an eternity worth living for is a comfort.  He told us ahead of time (Matthew 24).

He told us not to worry and He gave us a vision of the end of the story.

Revelation 21:1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” 5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. 7 He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.”

Knowing the End is a Comfort to all whom Jesus knows as His followers!

I’ve been absent from writing posts for a while.  It’s not that my heart hasn’t wanted to write more, but rather my season of service has been elsewhere.  I’ve been dealing with the sewer systems in my hometown and caring for my neighbors.  Christian service is not like a horse race in which there is win, place, and show.  We all win when we cross the finish line having given our all to the race God has set before us.

It made me think about our walk of faith.  And seasons of service.  Moses didn’t always lead the Israelites.  For a while, it was sheep.  For a while, he was leading no one at all…he was trying to do it alone and was pretty bad at it.  And in his final days on earth, he only got to see the Promised Land.  He couldn’t enter it.

Why?  Because of the waters at Meribah, where Moses and Aaron broke faith with God.

Deuteronomy 32:44 Moses came with Joshua son of Nun and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people. 45 When Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel, 46 he said to them, “Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. 47 They are not just idle words for you– they are your life. By them you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.” 48 On that same day the LORD told Moses, 49 “Go up into the Abarim Range to Mount Nebo in Moab, across from Jericho, and view Canaan, the land I am giving the Israelites as their own possession. 50 There on the mountain that you have climbed you will die and be gathered to your people, just as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people. 51 This is because both of you broke faith with me in the presence of the Israelites at the waters of Meribah Kadesh in the Desert of Zin and because you did not uphold my holiness among the Israelites. 52 Therefore, you will see the land only from a distance; you will not enter the land I am giving to the people of Israel.”

Not just idle words…they are your life!  Wow.  Seasons of service are all about obedience and faith.  They are about honoring God, obeying Him, and by doing so, upholding His holiness and experiencing true life.

So while I would have preferred to write posts and think deep theological thoughts instead of about aquifers and hydrological cycles, I’d like to be able to enter the Land having kept the faith.  To say at the end of each season of service, what Paul said at the end of his life,

2 Timothy 4:7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

Psalm 4:1 For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A psalm of David. Answer me when I call to you, O my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress; be merciful to me and hear my prayer. 2 How long, O men, will you turn my glory into shame? How long will you love delusions and seek false gods? Selah 3 Know that the LORD has set apart the godly for himself; the LORD will hear when I call to him. 4 In your anger do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent. Selah 5 Offer right sacrifices and trust in the LORD. 6 Many are asking, “Who can show us any good?” Let the light of your face shine upon us, O LORD. 7 You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound. 8 I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.

Psalm 3:1 A psalm of David. When he fled from his son Absalom. O LORD, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me! 2 Many are saying of me, “God will not deliver him.” Selah 3 But you are a shield around me, O LORD; you bestow glory on me and lift up my head. 4 To the LORD I cry aloud, and he answers me from his holy hill. Selah 5 I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the LORD sustains me. 6 I will not fear the tens of thousands drawn up against me on every side. 7 Arise, O LORD! Deliver me, O my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked. 8 From the LORD comes deliverance. May your blessing be on your people. Selah

Psalm 2:1 Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? 2 The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the LORD and against his Anointed One. 3 “Let us break their chains,” they say, “and throw off their fetters.” 4 The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. 5 Then he rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying, 6 “I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill.” 7 I will proclaim the decree of the LORD: He said to me, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father. 8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. 9 You will rule them with an iron scepter; you will dash them to pieces like pottery.” 10 Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. 11 Serve the LORD with fear and rejoice with trembling. 12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

Psalm 1

Psalm 1:1 Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. 4 Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. 5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. 6 For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

On this Easter 2016, make every effort to rekindle your faith in the One who was victorious over death.  Jesus is Risen.  He is Risen, indeed! 

Luke 24:1 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5 In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them,

“Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; he has risen!

Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7 ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.'” 8 Then they remembered his words. 9 When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. 10 It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. 11 But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. 12 Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.