End of the world? Tomorrow? Really?

(Journal entry that I felt led to share)

Today I've been kind of emotional (angry, sad, frustrated, amused) b/c of this whole "Rapture/Judgement Day" nonsense. According to Harold Camping, the end of the world begins tomorrow with the Rapture happening at 6:00pm each timezone. Matthew 24:36 is pretty straight forward about no one knowing when Christ will return.

"But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in Heaven, but My Father only."

So it just makes me angry to see, hear, and read about the people claiming to be Christians and saying that tomorrow is THE DAY. Then there are the other people out there lumping all Christians together with this. How do I defend against this? Should I? I know what I believe. I know who Christ is to me and in me. I have just gotten overwhelmed with it all. I know that I need to just focus on Him and not get distracted by all those that lump us together. But what about those spreading this lie? What do I think about them? I truly feel that they are ones that love God, but are just misled and deceived. That is mainly what angers me.

Christians are definitely beginning to be taken less serious then ever before as well. This whole thing doesn't help. More and more we are being placed into a category that is one of holding onto a fairy tale or onto something that is not needed. But I know for sure that Christ is needed. I need Him!!! He Himself talks about His rejection in the Bible. People are rejecting Him all the time. I cannot take this personally. All I can do is.........

I must do my part to tell others of His message of hope and love. This leads to salvation. People need to have hope and experience love before they are willing or even able to receive salvation. Most people don't even think that they need to be saved from anything. When we say that we need to reach the lost, they don't even identify with that language. Because to them they "know" where they are and are perfectly fine with that. So how do you tell someone that is lost that they are? We can't. Jesus can. We need to stop beating people over the head with terms like judgement, salvation, and lost. We rather need to show love and acceptance. That is how Christ does it for us. Christ saves, not us!!!

So whether the Rapture happens tomorrow or not, I know who I owe my life to and I am going to live everyday as if my life depended on that person. Not out of fear, but out of confidence of who and what I am created for.

Thanks, but no thanks

Matthew 8:34-"And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus. And when they saw Him they begged Him to depart from their region."

Have you had things happen to you that were definitely of God but in the end you wish that He wouldn't have done them? You would rather of had Him just leave you where you were, because you were comfortable. Sometimes God removes things in our lives because He is trying to do something in us that is for our own good.

In Matthew 8:28-34 Jesus arrives from the sea and notices two men who are demon possessed coming out of a tomb. The scripture says that they were so fierce that no one could pass that way. Jesus casts out the demons into some nearby swine that then proceeded to run into the sea and kill themselves. This had to be quite a sight. Jesus restores these two men back to their families, back to their way of life. So you would think that the town they are from would be happy. But we see the opposite. They are enraged that Jesus would be so irresponsible and send the demons into their pigs. Now they have no livelihood. All they have now are two guys that they had become comfortable with not being a part of the town.

We are a lot like these townspeople. We would rather deal with the small irritations of life than have a life altering event take place. God did not take away their knowledge of how to raise pigs, He took away something that they held higher than these two men. Jesus gave back to these people two men who had been lost to them. Brothers, fathers, sons. But He had to take away something that they essentially cared more about. God will not take something away from you without giving you something in return. Even if that something in return is valued less by you.

God wants to do more in you before He can do more through you. We must be willing to accept whatever that may be. So instead of saying "thanks, but no thanks", maybe we should be earnestly waiting for that moment to come where He gives to us that which we need the most.

Recognizing God

I think for a lot of us its hard to recognize God in our lives. This can be for many reasons. It could be that we truly never had an experience with Him. It could be that it has been a while since we have spent time with Him, so essentially we have forgotten what He is like. Or we have just chosen not to recognize Him for one reason or another.

In Luke 1 we read where Elizabeth is pregnant with John the Baptist, and Mary becomes pregnant with Jesus. In verses 39-45 Mary visits her elderly cousin and upon announcing her arrival, "the babe (in Elizabeth's womb) leaped in her womb." It then goes onto say that it was because of Mary announcing herself that "the babe leaped in my womb for joy." John recognized the Jesus before he was even born. Then in John 1:29-34, which is approximately 30 years later. The scripture alludes to the fact that John and Jesus never met, but when Jesus comes near to John, John proclaims "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" John recognizes Jesus for who He is. He recognizes Jesus because he first encountered His presence over 30 years prior to their first meeting. Please get this; John was first in His presence and then he looked to Him.

I think that it is hard for us to recognize Jesus because for some of us, we aren't looking for Him. We find ourselves trying to figure out life on our own, rather than looking to Him. John knew God before he was born, and he then knew Him when he saw Him 30 years later. He was first in His presence (Luke 1:41) and then he was looking for Him (John 1:19-34).

We must begin by entering into a relationship with Him and then we need to continually look to Him. That is how we will be able to recognize Him in our lives. It will be as simple as a peace that will come over us when we pray to God or sing a worship song. It could be a breakthrough in our jobs, relationships, or struggles. It all starts with being in His presence and then looking towards Him expectantly.

So have forgotten what He looks like? Have you never truly known him? He knew you before you were even born, and He recognizes who you are now. Be with Him and look toward Him and you will have no problem recognizing Him.

To Invite or Not To Invite?

For some reason God has really been burdening my heart on creating a culture of inviting at the church that I am a pastor at. It just seems that this has been a concept that has been lost recently. Not just from the attendees, but from the leadership as well. I personally have been challenged in my attempts to invite people to church. Don't get me wrong I have been doing my fair share of inviting, but more out of to hit a quota then out of a heart thing.

We should feel burdened by the fact that there are people out in the world that will die and go to hell if they don't call upon Jesus as their Saviour. But for a lot of Christians this isn't the case. Statistically only 21% of active church goers invite people to church, and shockingly only 2% of church MEMBERS invite people to church. So where is the disconnect? Why are we not actively pursuing people to come and experience the thing that gives us hope? Are we afraid that we might get turned down? Are we too selfish to share the great news of life? Or are we at a point in our walks that if we were to come up to someone who might challenge our faith they might sway us? If that last one is the case then there is more serious matters at hand then you not inviting people to church.

The fact is that that 82% of unchurched people would "somewhat likely" go if they were invited (Rainer, The Unchurched Next Door). 7 out of 10 unchurched people have never been invited to church in their entire lives. That is HUGE!!! In John 1:43-50, it tells about how one man encountered Christ and had to tell his friend. Even in spite of the man mocking and doubting him he continued to invite him. And through that invite the man encountered Christ and it changed his life.

Be that man/woman who sees the urgency and invite your friend, coworker, neighbor, family member, stranger to church. Let Christ do the saving.

Here are three questions you can ask someone when inviting them to church:

1. Do you go to church?

2. What is a reason you don't go?

3. Would you consider coming to my church?

Not everyone is going to give you a good response, but if you are available for God, He will move upon those who are ready to take the next step. So in the spirit of the Great Commission;

Matthew 28:19:20 MSG

"Go out and train (invite) everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I'll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age."

Obedience. The Most Pleasant Discomfort

Lately I have been in a place where I have been uncomfortable. It hasn't been because of the sleepless nights, the anxiety of a looming decision, or even the most recent sickness I have had. It is totally related to the obedience that God has called me to. Now this discomfort is perceived discomfort. It is my mind telling me that if I choose obedience to the Father, I will let down people, I will not be successful, I will fail.

These are all bold faced lies. But they are ones that are associated with stepping out in faith and being obedient to what God has for you. God knows that when He calls us up to the next level, that we will have an adverse reaction. The reason being is that we get comfortable in our lives. We get so used to living, thinking, feeling a certain way that when He wants us to change our world gets rocked.

The act of obedience is the most uncomfortable thing, but the result of obedience is the most pleasant thing. To be obedient to God is to "die to our flesh" daily. That means to not continue on the destructive path that we naturally want to go on, but in a supernatural way. When we naturally want to talk bad about someone, we choose not to. When we naturally want to look at someone lustfully, we choose not to. When we naturally want to cheat on our taxes, we choose not to. When we naturally want to choose the easy choice but God is telling us differently, we choose His choice.

Now its not easy, but through God's grace, love, and mercy we can and will do it. We must be willing to be uncomfortable. Because in that discomfort we experience growth. We experience God. And that is the most pleasant discomfort one could ever have.

Conversation with a homeless man

Last Friday during my weekly trip to Norfolk to invite people to church I went to connect with David the homeless man that I have been reaching out to the past couple of weeks. We found him sitting at his usual spot outside the local indie theater. He seemed to be asleep. We approached him and called his name so that we wouldn’t startle him. He stirred for a bit and then finally came to. I asked him how he was and it seemed as if he had to think for a second who I was. He then remembered. I gave him a bag full of underwear that he had asked for and then asked him if I could take him to lunch. He was quite hesitant, and then I noticed a 40oz bottle of Steel Reserve. I immediately thought about the cash that I had given to him the week before. I began to beat myself up about it. But then I just thought, “I shouldn’t be upset about it. He is a grown man.” My heart still hurt, but I couldn’t hold onto whether it was my money that purchased the beverage. Then I got convicted. It wasn’t my money. I then proceeded to invite him to lunch. He declined. So I told him that I would return.

I went to the local grocery store and bought him some food and then took it to him about an hour later. His mood had changed and he received the food very willingly. I then talked to him for a few moments and told him that I would see him next week.

Nothing miraculous happened. He didn’t accept Christ into his heart. If anything, he distanced himself more. He made it more difficult to speak to him. I still fed him and prayed for him. I still reached out to him. That is all that I could do.

This week David was no where to be found. Not sure where he was at, hopefully he is okay. I will not give up trying to reach out to him. I just pray that God will continue to use me and grow me.

Conversation with a homeless man

Last week I felt prompted to stop and buy lunch for one of the homeless men that I see every week when I go to Norfolk. Not out of a self righteous duty, but rather out of a spiritual nudge that I had received. I scoured the streets looking for one man in particular. David was his name. It always seems that God sends me to people whom I have things in common with. Being that my name is Jonathan and in the Bible David and Jonathan were best friends. My brother and father's name is David. There are just a lot of David's that I know.

Anyway, So I approached David and asked him if I could buy him lunch. He quickly obliged my request. After I bought him his lunch for him, instead of high tailing it out of there after I had done my good deed I just sat there with him and began to talk. I asked him questions about his life. I found out that he was raised in Virgina. His father was military. He played sports, his favorite being football. He was a receiver but was told that he was too small to play. I asked him how he became homeless. He told me that he couldn't work anymore because of an injury. An injury that he never thought could happen to him. I just patiently sat there as he slowly picked at his food.

Then religion came into the discussion. After I revealed to him that I was a pastor, he emphatically stated how he was "down with the Lord", "most of the time". That last part stuck out to me. I asked him why he felt that way. He then proceeded to open up and tell me how he feels that the way humanity treats itself is a direct reflection of God. He began to almost yell as if speaking to someone else about why they couldn't spare more than a dollar to help. My heart began to hurt. How many times was I that person that walked by not willing to spare some change or even say hi? How if I being a Christ follower could I just simply be okay with not helping in anyway? Was my un-involvement a direct reflection of the loving and giving God I serve? I hope not.

Jesus talks about this and how we are to respond in the face of poverty in Matthew 25:35-40-

“When I was hungry, you gave me something to eat, and when I was thirsty, you gave me something to drink. When I was a stranger, you welcomed me, ³⁶and when I was naked, you gave me clothes to wear. When I was sick, you took care of me, and when I was in jail, you visited me." ³⁷Then the ones who pleased the Lord will ask, "When did we give you something to eat or drink? ³⁸When did we welcome you as a stranger or give you clothes to wear ³⁹or visit you while you were sick or in jail?" ⁴⁰The king will answer, "Whenever you did it for any of my people, no matter how unimportant they seemed, you did it for me.”

I told David that I wanted to meet him every week and buy him lunch and try to bless him anyway that I can. Of course he said yes. Probably with skepticism, but I really want to be there to be the hands and feet of Jesus. Through this I might be able to bring back one of Jesus' lost sheep. This isn't a project, but rather it is a prompting that I must obey.

I will continue to update you on my conversations with a homeless man. May it open your heart as it will mine.