We Will Not Keep Silent

"No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you." Joshua 1:5

The task before Joshua was daunting - enter a land that had been inhabited for hundreds of years by idol-worshipping pagans and empty it - either drive them out or kill them, but get rid of them all. At first glance, this call seems unreasonable. Why couldn't they just slip in over the border, set up a few cities and cohabit for a while, until they meld back into their land?

But the call deserves a second glance. Here's the truth of the matter:

• This land was theirs - God had given it to Abraham and since God is the Creator of all things, it was His to give - it was their inheritance and their future
• They had left their land as a large family and were returning as a nation - they needed more space than a few cities could manage
• For the past forty years, this people had watched their elders and parents die off, they had watched God provide, they had lived as slaves and then nomads, and the anticipation of receiving their land and establishing their homes again was at the verge of becoming reality
• To allow pagans to stay in the land would be to allow the enemies of God to dwell among them - a cancer that would spread, a leprosy that would kill if not completely separated and destroyed

So Joshua stood at the edge of the land and God spoke those words. Could God have possibly said anything more comforting? What more would Joshua ever need?

I understand that today we are aliens in this land and that our home is with the Lord. But I think that we misuse this concept and rather live by the idiom, "When in Rome, do as the Romans."

Here's my issue: we are aliens because we have been chosen out of the world to be the people of God. Men love darkness rather than light, so because they hated Jesus, they are going to hate us as well. We live like strangers in this world because we are not of the world. But ultimately, this world will return into the hands of the Righteous One, and He shall reign forever and ever.

So, instead of deciding to step over the border and set up cities within this world, I believe we are to go into all the world and preach the gospel. Not that we are to drive out or kill in the literal sense, but we are to conquer - we are not called to meld into our society and cohabit - we are to be imitators of Christ, knowing that the same promises given to Joshua are ours to claim.

"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Matthew 28:19

Sounds to me like we have the same call, from the same God, with the same promise attached.

Passionate or Just Plain Crazy?

Yesterday I saw this van parked on the street, and I snapped a picture. Then I came home and googled the May 21, 2011 date. Apparently there is a dating system for Christ's return based on the seven day warning that God gave Noah. The month and day of the start of the flood is given, and taking the verse in 2 Peter 3:8 about a day is like a thousand years, this group applies that verse, adds seven thousand years to the date and gets the day of judgment, which apparently is May 21, 2011.

Wow.

The misuse of scripture and the numbers games people play never cease to entertain me.

The driver of this van honestly believes he is doing the community a favor by publicizing his warning. He is wearing his passion on his sleeve. Unfortunately, when he drives by, people don't recognize his passion but attribute his warning as the rantings of a crazy man.

Now, take the top line off his warning label and his message is no longer that crazy. For those of you who know me, you know my passion for the return of Christ, and there have been times that I have worn the "crazy" label with pride.

Though I firmly hold to the literal interpretation of the scriptures, which include that no one knows the day or the hour of Christ's return, I also believe that there are signs to look for - clear events that will happen prior to His return. Even though they indicate great difficulty is coming, they also produce great hope, knowing that the day is drawing near.

As I disagree with this van owner's specific message, I agree with his general message. So, where's my passion? If I honestly believed that the day was drawing near for the return of Christ, wouldn't I live differently?

It's obviously closer than it was a thousand years ago, and it's closer than it was yesterday. Could He return in my lifetime? Absolutely. Do I live like it could happen in my lifetime? I don't know.

There are two reasons that I believe we need to step it up in our communication about the return of Jesus Christ. First, His return is the great hope of the church (Titus 2:13) - it's something we long for and look for, because when it happens, we will be completely united and restored to our original created purpose. Sin will no longer plague us - we will be with our Savior for eternity. Like the anticipation of a great vacation or a wedding date, the fact that this day is coming should occupy our minds, our plans and our conversations.

Secondly, His return ushers in judgment. When He comes, He brings the wrath of His Father with Him. When the seventh seal is broken (Revelation 8:1), there is silence in heaven for half an hour. Silence! The angels stop saying, "Holy, Holy, Holy" before the throne. Why? Because the wrath of God is ready to be poured out on the earth - a sobering, awesome event that demands attention. If we truly believed that this day is coming, where is our passion to warn our community?

I'll leave you with these thoughts: Whether labeled as passionate or crazy, do you believe in the great hope of the church enough to warn the lost that the day of reckoning is approaching?

And what happens to this man on May 12th?

So far, so bad...

Just an update on the whole "unsubscribe" venture that began nearly a week ago...

Bad news...it doesn't work. I think that for every email I "unsubscribed" to, I've received 10 from them plus 20 from their closest friends! Ugh! Why offer something if you don't really mean it?

I'm sure there is great spiritual application to this, but I'm too ticked to try to figure it out right now...

Sorry if I talked any of you into following in my footsteps on this one...

Which Character are You?

Today in ladies Bible study we walked through three stories, enlarging our view of Jesus Christ as we soaked up the narrative. They were all revealing stories, but this afternoon, the one that has stuck with me was the five short verses about Jesus healing the leper.

Picture the scene: Jesus had made quite a name for Himself in a rather short period of time. Not only were His miracles drawing the crowds, but His authoritative teaching was nothing like what they were used to. Luke 5:15 says that "...large crowds were gathering to hear Him and to be healed..." Both were equally amazing.

So Jesus enters a town, and He never does it quietly. The crowds not only gathered when He showed up, but many arrived with Him. In verse 12 we read that Jesus was in one of the cities and a man with leprosy approached Him. Based on Jewish law, he would have been required to cover his mouth and cry out, "Unclean! Unclean!" wherever he went. Thus, as he approached Jesus, he made his presence known.

After scattering the crowd, he reached Jesus, fell at His feet and cried, "If you are willing, you can make me clean." This leper understood his leprosy was a death sentence. Even more interesting - he didn't ask for healing, but for cleansing - he wanted to be clean before Lord.

Then Jesus did something that no one else would ever do - yes, He healed him, but that's not what I am talking about. He reached down...and touched the leper. This was unheard of - to touch a leper would be to take his disease upon yourself. But Jesus didn't hesitate or pause - He responded to the need out of compassion for this walking dead man. He touched him, then healed him.

Imagine the response of the crowd who had been repelled the leper, the gasps as they saw their renowned teacher touch the contagious man, and their faces as they watched life flow back into this man's body - his fingers reappeared, his feet broke through the bandages, his skin softened and refreshed, as his hair covered his head. In an instant he went from dead to alive.

Too often we join the crowd and watch in amazement as Jesus performs miracles on the walking dead. Today, we stepped into the shoes of the leper and found ourselves within the healing grip of Jesus. We looked at scripture that told us "...He made Him sin who knew no sin on our behalf, so that we could become the righteousness of God in Him..." (2 Cor. 5:21) When Jesus touched me, my sin became His and His righteousness became mine. We pictured the leper transferring his disease onto Jesus and walking away "clean."

We are starting to recognize a repeated response when people discover Jesus - falling face down, repenting and declaring He is Lord. Until we step into the bandages of the leper and fully understand our death sentence, we will not fully comprehend the life given to us by our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Then, an only then, will our response will match what we are seeing in Luke.