Jerusalem is a strange city.  It's a tourist city.  It's a violent city.  It's a religious city. 
           
You can hear the ancient church bells chime on Sunday morning, watch the processional of orthodox Jews heading to prayer Friday evening, and there's no way of missing the Muslim call to prayer each night.  Nope.  I found there's literally no way to miss that (even with headphones). 
               
Jerusalem is the religious capital of the world and home to the roots of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity.  It's either a setup for a great "3 guys walk into a bar" joke or a recipe for tension and violence.  If you guessed the latter, you'd be right (although I'd like to hear any jokes you have on the subject). 
               
Jerusalem is once again making headlines.  The U.S. Embassy is moving from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, declaring it to be the capital of Israel.  Now, politically, this whole situation is much like that ball of Christmas lights you were so sure you'd put away carefully, but took you two hours to unravel.  This will take much more than two hours to unravel and I don't believe recent events have helped.  
               
Evangelical Christians overwhelmingly support the decision to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem.  Many believe it to be part of God's plan to restore the land to the Jewish people, rebuild the Temple where the Al-Aqsa Mosque currently sits, then physically return to rule the world.  If that's where you sit with things, then no brief blog will likely change your thinking. 
               
My question isn't whether or not you have proof texts to support your view.  My question is whether or not you've considered what this would mean for the people currently living in the region.  This conflict has been raging for 70 years now.  People on both sides have lost loved ones.  I've visited a few of their widows and walked past their memorials.  I've had stones whirl over my head and I've watched the bullying at checkpoints.  I've seen peaceful demonstrations turn violent.  I've heard the wisdom of the aged and seen the wild-eyed youth on both sides. 
               
Christians often appeal to the Psalmist's plea to "pray for the peace of Jerusalem".  Good idea.  Praying for its peace and standing by while one side is strategically marginalized, demoralized, destroyed, and removed are incompatible, in my opinion.  That's not a path to peace. 

Even if you appeal to the original invasion of Canaan, you can't tell me that the Israeli takeover brought peace in the region.  Uh, read Judges.  And the rest of the Old Testament.  You won't find it in the New Testament either.  Yes, the Israelites gained control of the land, but there was certainly no lasting peace.  The savvy response is "that's because they didn't utterly destroy every last man, woman, child, and beast as God had commanded!"  Indeed.  Care to apply that to the current situation?  I really, really hope not. 
               
Yet, I've heard from more than one Christian that God's plan is indeed to remove the Palestinian population from the region (that's both Muslim and Christian-BTW!).  The words "blow that mosque off the map" have even been shared with me by someone I'd otherwise respect.  Folks, this just can't be the mind of Christ!
               
Christ's mind, as I've heard it expressed, is to "do to others as you would have them do to you."  Now, place yourself in today's Jerusalem.  You're lived there your whole life.  Your family have lived there for generations.  This is where you work and worship.  One nation (quite secular, BTW), despite what International Law declares to be legal, have claimed ownership of this land in which you live.  Another nation (quite secular, BTW), on the other side of the planet, have declared your hometown to be the new capital of the occupying nation.  This move is a "step toward peace" and in the "best interest of both sides". 
                 
Is this what you would want to have done to you?  I'm going to guess "no", unless you're a glutton for punishment.  As an evangelical Christian, I don't believe it's right to support this decision politically, theologically, or morally.  It's a move backwards.  Away from the mind of Christ.  We should know better because Jesus has taught us better.  There is a new way to live.              
We now do to others as we would have them do to us.  What would you have done to you if you were a Palestinian in Jerusalem, the West Bank, or Gaza?  Would you want justice?  Would you want to be heard?  Would you want people in a far away land making decisions about the place where you live? 
               
I'm asking you to think and act compassionately.  If your theology or political beliefs won't allow you to think and act with compassion, then ditch 'em.  Seek the mind of Christ on the matter. 
 
 
 
 

                Baby, it's cold outside.  One of my least favorite Christmas tunes, for the record.  It doesn't matter which cute gal and old coot they get to sing it.  It's lame.  But that's not why I'm writing this blog.
                Here in the PNW, it's getting cold outside.  In fact, you'll find it's even cold inside unless you've got a heater or wood stove going.  Anything less than 64 degrees and I'm headed for the thermostat.
                It's a time of year when many of us have the same thought run through our heads.  "I wonder what I'll get for Christmas?"  No!  Not that thought.  The other one.  "I can't imagine being homeless in this weather." 
                How many times has that thought come across my mind over the years?  Too many to count.  In recent years, I've followed that thought with "I wonder what can be done about it?"
                Well, I've just recently found there's some really good news about that! 
                A small group of people from our community have been meeting together and planning a "Warming Center" for our town.  It's just what it sounds like.  A place to get warm.  I'll spare you the legal talk, but there are reasons why it's not considered a "shelter".  So, it does not offer beds to sleep in.  But...it will offer hot soup and coffee (provided by Sequim Food Bank).  It will offer a place to sit (people are welcome to sleep sitting in a chair though!).  It will offer a TV and computer access.  It will offer a place for families to gather and stay safe.  It will offer resources (Serenity House) for job hunting and homes.  It will offer an opportunity for people to find a warm shelter from the cold. 
                The Warming Center will be run mostly by volunteers.  Churches are already grabbing a week at a time to help out.  The hours will be 8pm-8am (divided into three 4-hour shifts) and the center will only be open nights when temperatures drop around freezing (someone knows how that will work exactly, but it's not me).   So, that means volunteers will know the week they're volunteering, but they will be "on call" depending on the weather.
                So, baby, it's cold outside.  But that doesn't mean people have to be subjected to the dangers and misery of cold weather.  There is now a place to get warm.  A place to be safe.  And an opportunity for us to show we care. 
                Interested?  Let me know. 

                 I am in need of correction.  There it is.  Finally, something you can all agree with me about!
 
                Okay, okay.  Let me explain that.  I'm not referring to any specific correction right now, whether it be in my teaching, parenting, relational skills, or morality.  I need correction, generally.  I need correction in all those things.  Specifically, I need God to bring correction in my life.
 
                Imagine the Christian life without God's correction.  Imagine coming to Him "as we are", then being left like that forever.  The failure you were before is the failure you'll always be.  Well, that's not very encouraging.  I want to be different than how He found me!  I want to be like Him.  I want to treat people well.  I want to have a good attitude.  I want to be patient and loving and merciful and...much more like Jesus than I am today.  I need help.  I need guidance.  I need correction.
 
                We have two dogs.  They're good-sized and spend much of their time outside.  We have an invisible fence that keeps them from leaving the yard.  It works quite well for them (and us).  Basically, that means they spend a lot of time patrolling the borders and barking at people, animals, and cars that they can't get to.  It's beyond annoying. 
 
                So, we bought them bark collars that are controlled by a remote.  When they bark, we have the option to send a warning "beep", a buzz, or a moderate shock.  Once they're trained, a beep is usually all they need.  The goal isn't to punish them for barking.  The goal is to train them to stop.  If it proves ineffective, we'll look for another solution.  But the goal isn't so that I feel better because I get to give them a "zap" when they annoy me.  That's punishment and it's not to benefit anyone but me.
 
                Now all discipline seems painful at the time, not joyful. But later it produces the fruit of peace and righteousness for those trained by it.  Hebrews 12:11
 
                The correction (discipline) God uses is meant to bring about change.  It produces something good.  That's the point of the correction.  Restorative.  This is something different than punishment. 
 
                I need correction in my life, not punishment.  So do you (btw).  Do we understand the difference?  One is meant to help us.  The other doesn't help us at all. 
 
                Peter denied Christ, stuck around, and received correction.  He became more like Jesus afterward.  I believe this is God's method.  Restorative correction. 
 
                In the Old Testament (Oh yes!  Most certainly also found in the OT), we find God working the same way.  Even in what seems like a torrent of violent judgments pronounced on various nations and groups, there is a plan to restore.  Look at what He says about a doomed Egypt in Isaiah 19:22.  And the Lord will strike Egypt, He will strike and heal it; they will return to the Lord, and He will be entreated by them and heal them.  Strike?  Yes.  Heal?  Yes!  Strike, then heal.  The goal is to bring correction to Egypt, not simply to destroy them.  This is the way God works.  
 
                Stop.  Take that in. 
               
                Did you take that in?  No?  Then go back and take that in my friend.  We're getting to know God here. 
 
                I discipline my children with hopes to bring about a change in their behavior and/or attitude (Pr. 22:15).   The Book of Hebrews tells us that God works the same way with us.  I suggest that the whole concept of loving correction has come to us by God.  They (earthly fathers) disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. (Heb. 12:10)  Disciplines us for our good.  Our good.  Not so that He feels better about it, but so that we are better for it.  God is good.  
               
                Stop.  Take that in too.        

Violence.  It's rampant.  Like a plague.

Another mass shooting.  Another van drives into pedestrians.  Another bomb.  Another case of domestic abuse.  Another knife attack.  Another war.

We rightly grieve for lost lives and damaged families due to violence.  Some grieve the mental health issues that often play a role in violence.  Some grieve the ease at which 27 people can be shot to death by one legally or illegally acquired weapon.  Some say fewer guns will reduce the violence.  Others say more guns are needed to reduce the violence.  We grieve that public gatherings like movies, concerts, and church services aren't safe from violence.  We grieve that nations are developing weapons (uh...to keep up with ours) with plans for violence.  We grieve terrorist acts of violence.  We grieve the violence out there.

            Out there.  That's where the violence is and that's where the problem is.  His violence.  Her violence.  Their violence.  We're waiting (and waiting) for people to stop their violence.  What if we were to instead begin to deal with our violence? 

            Oh, I know. 

• But I'm a good guy with a gun. 
• But I'm not the one boxing. 
• But the characters on the screen (that I kill) aren't real people.  It's just a game. 
• But I'm protecting our freedom
• But that's how you handle a bully.
• But I only watch Game of Thrones for the sex.

Even in writing a blog about grieving our own violence, I caught myself desiring to influence others to renounce their violence.  Let me start with my own violence.

I don't see myself as a violent man.  I've never had an interest in hunting or blowing things up.  I'm not bothered with shooting aliens for points.  I don't glory in imagining myself shooting an intruder.  I gave up watching gory movies years ago.  So, call me a wuss.  I'll gladly arm wrestle you for the title of biggest wuss, if you'd like. 

Speaking of wrestling, I've always entertained myself with the violence of professional wrestling.  Sure, I don't watch it anymore, but I did introduce the old stuff to my kids a few years back.  I figured, if they can't reference Hulk Hogan body slamming Andre the Giant at Wrestlemania 3, then I fear they may truly come across as weird home-schooled kids when they socialize with others.  Anyway, we've watched a few wrestling matches on YouTube and the boys have really enjoyed it.  We usually follow it up with some wrestling of our own out on the trampoline.  Seems innocent enough.

Well, it looks like I crossed the line.  No, it wasn't that I gave one of them a pile driver and hurt them.  I showed them a classic match that proved to be too much for them.  Mankind vs. Undertaker.  Yeah, for those in the know, it was that match.  Mankind is thrown off the top of a cage onto a table.  Kersplat!  Then, he crawls back up, only to be slammed through the top of the cage onto the mat below.  A mat, for some reason, covered in thumb tacks.  It's a classic.

A strange thing happened though.  My boys weren't impressed.  They were horrified.  They weren't entertained by the idea of someone being slammed down onto a mat o' tacks.  Mankind's bloodied shirt didn't inspire them.  It revolted them. 

Was the problem theirs or mine?

Looking back, I believe the problem was (and is) mine.  They saw the violence as it was.  Ugly and something to be rejected.  I had bought into wrestling for so long that thumbtacks in the back was just another stunt these guys were willing to go through to keep me entertained.  I'd seen my share of matches with chairs to the head and faces dragged across barbed-wire.  A few thumbtacks hardly registered on my violence radar.  It was off the charts for my boys. 

I regret having shown them that match.  I sometimes regret introducing them to wrestling at all.  That being said, I hope to learn from my mistake.  I don't need to increase my boys' tolerance for violence.  Their rejection was appropriate.  It's the mind that accepts this violence as suitable entertainment that needs sanctifying.  That's me, I'm afraid.

Does violence find a home in your heart?

No?  Look again.  Just in case. 

Sometimes it lurks behind the fact that it's not us personally who are acting violently.  We just approve of it.  After all, it's not you who fired a drone into a village of civilians in Pakistan.  You simply voted for those who did.  You didn't punch Mayweather.  You just watched the fight.  You didn't throw poor Mankind onto a bed of thumbtacks.  You just inspired him to be willing to do that for your entertainment.  You didn't kill anyone on Game of Thrones.  You just kept tuning in week after week, decapitation after decapitation.  And, after all, those are only pretend aliens splattering all over your screen.  You're just getting pretty good at making them splatter.

How long will we defend our violence?

Paul wrote to the Church in Rome:  "Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. 18 If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. 19 Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord."

Live peaceably with all men.  Yes, I know."As much as depends on you", right?  So, if the other person won't be peaceable, then you, most regrettably of course, "do whatcha gotta do".  Here's the deal, as I see it."  Live peaceably with all men" is the meat in a "whatever you do, don't do whatcha gotta do" sandwich.  Repay no one evil for evil, even if they won't live peaceably with you.  Do not avenge yourselves, even if they won't live peaceably with you.  It's Christ's way and, therefore, the way for Christians also.

I'm learning to grieve my violence and release it to God.  I don't pretend to have arrived.  You should see (and hear) me when the Rototiller gives me trouble!  I'm on the journey too.

But I don't think we're getting anywhere pointing fingers at the violence of others.  I believe it may be more productive to reduce the violence I practice and with which I keep myself entertained.  My violence is something worth fighting. 

                Close your eyes.  Picture your bedroom as it was when you were growing up.  Can you see it?  I can see mine pretty clearly.  It helps that I never changed the furniture around even once all those years.  The bed was always against the wall.  The stereo on the opposite wall.  The bookshelf never moved.  I liked it that way. 
                My mother-in-law handled her home quite differently.  She switched up the living room at least once a week.  It would be different every time I came over.  She liked the change. 
                Have you moved the furniture around in your living room lately?  If not, why not?  If you don't, that's fine.  I'm not actually here to talk about your living room.  I've got something else on my mind.  But before I get into that, I want to explore this furniture arranging concept a little further.  What if a friend came over and remarked that your couch would work much better on the opposite wall?  They noted that not only would it fit better in that space, but it would actually open up the room a bit.  A much better place for the couch.  Would you be open to changing it? 
                So let's leave your living room furniture alone for a minute and get down to business.  Have you ever changed your mind about an aspect of the Christian faith?  Have you ever, if you will, moved one of your theological beliefs from one side of the room to the other?  Have you ever switched from one "ism" to another or dropped an "ism" only to find yourself now "ism-less"? 
                I'll give you an example from my own life.  As a new Christian, I attended an adult Sunday School class.  The teacher of that class taught us the doctrines of Calvinism.  Basically, it was the idea that God chooses who He wants to save and also chooses those He wants to send to Hell.  It's up to Him and His mind is already made up (before the foundations of the world).  There's more to it than that, but that's enough to make my point.  This is what I was taught and I didn't question it.  Why not?  Because it made sense.  There were Scriptures that said so.  The guy teaching knew more than me about the Bible and he presented it well.  Without knowing it, I was a Calvinist (which is just a fine thing to be, for the record). 
                A few years later, my wife and I were talking about whether or not people choose God or God chooses people.  Do we have free will?  It was a great conversation.  There's was just one problem.  Her perspective was making sense to me and my beliefs were now in question for the first time.  There were questions she raised that I simply hadn't thought about before.  Seems funny now that I hadn't.  The discussion brought up some questions for me.

• Does a good God want people to go to Hell?
• If salvation is pre-arranged, then why did Jesus cry about the people in Jerusalem resisting Him?
• If we don't have free will, then how can God hold us accountable for our actions? 

                You see?  The conversation brought these questions to my mind for the first time.  My beliefs were challenged, I reasoned through my questions and Scripture, and eventually changed my mind.  I moved some couches and tables around in my theological living room. 
                For the first five years or so of my Christian walk, I was taught all kinds of stuff.  We call this stuff "doctrine".  I was taught to believe certain things about why Jesus died.  I was taught to believe certain things about the antichrist and the rapture.  I was taught certain things about Heaven and Hell.  I was taught all kinds of stuff.  Stuff that formed my belief system.  This is what I believe.  My theological furniture was set and I was pretty happy with it.  (After all, it looked an awful lot like the living room arrangements of many of my closest and dearest friends)
                Well, as I've journeyed with Jesus, some of those beliefs have been challenged.  I've changed my mind about some of the things I was first taught. 
                Have you changed your mind about things you were first taught as a Christian?  I'm convinced some of us are open to that and others refuse to change our minds.  Sometimes, people just refuse to listen.  When it comes to Christian doctrine, why is that?
                A few years ago, I shared with someone how one of my long-held beliefs was being challenged.  I noted that there were at least four differing views within orthodox Christianity about this belief.  He had never heard of any of them and was appalled that I was even entertaining them.  That's the kind of close-mindedness I'm challenging here.  I mean, he wouldn't even consider any other view than the belief he'd always held to.  And, I repeat, these were all orthodox views within Christianity!  Why is that?
                1) There's safety in the familiar.  Don't rearrange the living room.  I like it the way it is.  I can navigate it in the dark and it works for me.  Some people don't want things moved around in their theological living room. 
                2) If I change my view on this, won't that open me up to changing my mind about other things?  Quite possibly.  So, this is really connected to the last idea.  There's safety in the familiar and what if we not only move the couch, but find that requires moving the coffee table also?  But I only wanted to move the couch! 
                3) Fear.  Yes, the last two barriers to an open mind are about fear also, but this aspect of fear is particular to religion and especially Christianity.  We have a long history of separating the goats from the sheep.  The Presbyterians are "wrong" about Calvinism.  The Charismatics are "wrong" about spiritual gifts.  The Baptists are "wrong" about homosexuality.  The Episcopalians are "wrong" about everything.  These are the kinds of judgments Christians make about each other based on doctrine.  This is common practice among us and none of us want to be judged the same way.  We don't want to be judged as "wrong", so we play it safe.  Even if we are willing to flirt with a different view, we must keep it to ourselves, mustn't we? 
                4) I'm already right about everything.  This room could never be improved. 
               
                I see a refusal to have our minds open to change is a barrier to spiritual growth.  Don't read this the wrong way.  I'm not advocating people change their minds about anything just because.  But if you're confronted with a different perspective, why hide behind a mental blockade?  If you've got the truth, it should be able to withstand some questioning.  If you don't have the truth, then can you imagine holding on tightly to something that isn't true?  The couch should have been moved and you refused to move it. 
                What if it's Jesus who's telling you to change your mind?  What if we're like Saul of Tarsus who thought he had his theology all sorted and found himself "kicking against the goads"?  What if we're holding onto beliefs because of tradition and it's Jesus who wants us to let go?  Are we willing?   
                We all want the truth, but it simply doesn't come in a package with our baptism.  The truth isn't necessarily what you were first taught in church or childhood or seminary.  And if you have changed your mind about a doctrine, that doesn't mean you have the truth now either.  You may change your mind again!  I've decided to be open to having the furniture moved around, if need be. 
                Still, I'd better say this, some furniture needs to stay put.  The "Jesus is Lord chair" doesn't get moved in my spiritual living room.  It stays in the center of the room while couches, chairs, and tables shift around it from time to time.  Does that make sense?  What Christian beliefs have you changed your mind about while on this journey of faith?  If nothing, why do you think that is? 
 
                ***This is "Reformation Month".  Did you know that?  Yeah.  It's a time to celebrate when Martin Luther posted his 95Theses on the door of the Catholic Church.  He had thought of 95 ways they needed to move the furniture around.                 
                 What do we think now of those who refused to change their minds?  Also, do you think there was and will be only one reformation in Christianity?  Something else to ponder, my friends.

 
                Look around.  No, not at your house or workplace.  Look around at what's going on all around us on this planet.  Some of you might say, "But I don't want to!".  I hear ya.  This place is loco.  When someone says "hurricane", we say "which one?".  When someone says "mass shooting", we say "which one?".  When someone says "looks like we're going to war", we say "where now?". 
                Easy.  This isn't going to be a political rant.  I want to talk about our kids.  Some of us are raising kids.  Kids that will inherit this crazy place.  Kids that will have their own hurricanes and violence to deal with.  How are we preparing them for those things?  Whether we're aware of it or not, they are being prepared right now.  Prepared for responding to trouble and tragedy.  With open eyes and ears, they're building character that will determine how they will respond to the struggles around them.  Their own and their neighbor's. 
                While in Palestine, I remember sitting and listening to a middle-age man tell the horror stories he'd experienced under Israeli Occupation.  After sharing his tales, he made the point that he was raising his boys to be tough.  Tough enough to handle tough times. 
                I can't pretend to have shared his experience and I don't know what his boys will face in the future.  But I interpreted his perspective to be one that encouraged hard-heartedness.  Callousness.  The reason M&Ms won't melt in your hand.  It's that thick candy shell. 
                I don't think the answer for our kids is to raise them to harden their hearts to endure tough times.  I would encourage just the opposite.  I want to teach my kids to have greater compassion.  Deeper empathy.  Selfless love.  That's what people who have lost everything in a hurricane need.  They need people who are willing to put themselves in their position for a moment, then respond with more than a shake of their head and the shedding of a tear.  That moment of empathy needs to grow to fruition.  It needs to become something tangible. 
                Reflect on those who were heroes in the recent aftermath of the hurricanes.  You might even have some pictures come to mind from the media.  People neck-deep in water with their arms around people who are scared to death.  That's the kid I want to raise.  I want to see my kid on the news as the guy that did all he could to get people to safety while bullets sprayed down from the hotel window above.  I want my kid to be those who spend time with the families who have lost people to tragedy. 
                Here's the deal.  I'm going to have to raise them to be that way.  It's on me to raise my kids to have hearts that consider the plight of others and act accordingly.  Quick example.  Half of my kids currently spend a lot of time in Lego Land.  Oh, not the theme park in California.  I mean my garage.  How many times am I dealing with a kid who is unwilling to share Legos?  I'm not talking about going without any Legos so their brother can build something.  I'm talking about going with one less piece (leaving them 700 other pieces to work with).  Working through those kinds of moments are a small step in the direction of considering others.  The idea is to teach them compassion, not enforce communism.  They shouldn't share because someone makes them.  I want them to want to share.  That's not easy to teach!
                What are some daily activities where you could be encouraging empathy in your kids?  How much do they know about the greatest mass shooting in U.S. History that occurred just last weekend?  What are their thoughts about the families left behind in the wake?  If you have more mature kids, have they considered what might have been going on in the mind of the killer?  It's possible the shooter had a mental illness.  What will your child's attitude be toward those who struggle with a mental illness?  Are they to be helped or shunned?  Brought close or pushed away?  That depends on the character we, as parents, help develop right now in our kids.    
                For my part, I've been involving my kids the last few years in my study of the Israel/Palestine Conflict.  They sit and watch videos with me.  Some of those are "boring talkie-talkie" videos.  Those are for my older kids who can now engage in conversation about the issues.  But they've also seen some pretty raw footage of Palestinian civilians being bombed in Gaza.  That, admittedly, was a bit of a shocker, but it did wonders for the kids being able to empathize better with the struggle.  Words like "bomb" and "civilian casualties" have a deeper meaning for them now.  The people of Palestine are more like, well, people to my kids.  Not a statistic, problem, or issue.  They are real people my kids are learning to care about. 
                What touches your heart?  People in poverty?  People with disabilities?  People affected by a disaster?  People with cancer or Alzheimer's?  People suffering injustice?  Whatever it may be, can you begin to share your heart with your kids?  Start early.  Perhaps not with raw footage from bombings in Gaza (Lol), but with an age-appropriate exposure to caring for people.  People besides ourselves.  Caring about ourselves doesn't really need to be taught, does it?  I think it just kind of happens.  Raising a child who cares for people besides themselves requires intentionality on our part.   
                As far as I'm aware, there's no curriculum for this kind of thing.  It's not taught in schools, but expected in adulthood.  I confess, I feel a bit behind the curve myself and am trying to catch up.  I've been intentional about looking for opportunities where I can act.  Acting on that glimmer of empathy that occurs when I see the picture of a dead toddler washed up on the beach after fleeing war-torn Syria.  Acting to feed the hungry in my own community that I've driven past so many times.  My kids are watching.  Hopefully, they will develop a character that acts compassionately toward others.  Hopefully, they'll develop that much faster than I have.

                I can remember getting baptized as a kid.  It was a great evening.  My sister and two cousins all were baptized by our uncle, who is a Baptist minister.  We sang "If I Were A Butterfly", got dunked in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, then enjoyed a fish fry in the fellowship hall.  Good moment.        Within five years, I was avoiding church whenever possible, stoned out of my mind, and holding séances in the local graveyard.  "If I Were A Butterfly" no longer got any airplay on my Walkman.  Jesus didn't get any of my time.  No matter how hard I tried (while stoned out of my gourd) to convince my buddies that God was real, I wasn't living like He was real.  I wasn't following. 
                Twelve years later, I got a wake-up call from Jesus saying "You say you follow Me, but you don't."  That hurt.  It hurt because the message came directly from Him.  Not from a pastor or a friend or through a tract.  The message was suddenly just there in my head.  I repented and began to follow Jesus. 
                 Again. 
                You may know someone who no longer goes to church.  They sat with you for years making Arks of macaroni and laughing at Veggie Tales.  Perhaps they were baptized.  Perhaps there was a fish fry too.  Something happened down the road though and they're no longer following Jesus.  They no longer identify with Christ.  They've turned to some other way.  The money way.  The family way.  The Buddhist way.  The Atheist way.  The political way.  They are on a different path now and there is something or someone other than Jesus leading the way. 
                People do walk away from Jesus and it's the reason a church leader wrote a letter to a group of Christians way back when (we call it The Book of Hebrews).  People were leaving Jesus.  They had stopped going to church meetings.  They were at the potluck one week and weren't seen after that.  They'd been seen singing the first century equivalent of "If I Were A Butterfly", but they weren't singing it anymore and they wouldn't hang out with those who did.  It was over.  They had been called away by something else. 
                In the case of the letter to the Hebrews, these people wanted to return to a safer way of life. Hanging out in a group of persecuted people wasn't worth it to them.  People were going back to safe old Judaism.  They could live with relative safety under Roman rule as orthodox Jews.  They could return to the families who had cut them off when they started to follow "The Way".  They could once again buy and sell in the marketplace.  The grass seemed greener on the other side of the street, so they crossed over. 
                Currently, North American Christians don't live under these kinds of threats.  We are more likely to be drawn away for other reasons.  Those ways are myriad.  The purpose of Hebrews isn't to cover all those possibilities.  The purpose is to point us all back to Jesus and encourage us to stick with Him.  Stick with The Way.  Hebrews points out that there's no better option than Jesus.  No angel, prophet, or priest is better.  No guru, politician, or lover could be a better guide on life's journey.  No one could possibly understand you better than the One who chose to become like you.  We can forget these things when the lure of money or position or promise of ease tempts us.  Many have also walked away for the promise of love.  There are good things in this world for which people will leave Jesus.  That's why Hebrews is so deliberate to point out Christ's superiority even to good things like Moses, prophets, and priests. 
                The author of Hebrews likens our spiritual journey to a race and encourages us to keep running.  When you fall, stagger back up, wipe off your wounds, and keep running.  Don't look back, but keep your eyes forward on the Author and Finisher of our faith.  The One who is above all.  He leads us to the Heavenly Jerusalem.  Running the race requires the grace of God and the encouragement of the saints.  We need both Jesus and each other in order to keep running.  I hope this series in Hebrews will ground those who are drifting, strengthen those who are weakening, and encourage us all to keep running this race. 
                  To win this race is to finish. 
                 
                 
                                     
               

                Do you remember that old saying "putting the cart before the horse"?  It's a great image.  With your cart before your horse, your cart will go nowhere.  Not to mention that you may have a fairly frustrated horse to boot.
                It's often important that we do things in the correct order.  Pick up the potholders and then grab the pizza out of the oven.  Make sure the shower water is hot and then lather up.  Remove the gas cap and then start pumping gas. 
                Here's why I'm thinking about this.  With all the faces, facts, and falsities we're confronted with day after day through the news and social media, we are tempted to do things out of order.  We are tempted to make judgments about people and circumstances before 1) we've got all the information and 2) we've taken a serious look at our own garbage before making a judgment about someone else's.  We put the cart before the horse and judge someone else before judging ourselves. 
                Jesus famously made a point about this very thing. 
“Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. 3 And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. Matthew 7:1-5
                It's so easy to scroll down my news feed and make judgments about people and their circumstances.  I'm actually quite amazed at how quickly I am able to make such judgments considering how fast I often scroll through.  You'd think I hadn't even had the time to correctly make such a judgment.  And you'd be right. 
                Before I judge our president to be a hypocrite or liberals to be liars or protesters to be trouble-makers or gays to have an agenda, I need to pause.  Maybe a long pause.  Some days, that pause could take the rest of the day.  I need to pause and consider my own faults.  My own shortcomings.  My own hypocrisy.  My own lies.  My own anger and desire for revenge.  My own agendas.  My own self-serving motivations.  Yes, I need to take the time to look at myself and in doing so, make sober judgments about my own attitudes and actions. 
                So, there I sit.  Looking over my own sins.  Lamenting having such an evil streak running through me.  Asking God for forgiveness and the power to change.  Once that's done, I'm likely to approach someone else's attitudes and actions with a little more humility.  Only now am I ready to look at the speck in someone's eye because I've dealt with the plank sticking out of my own and wondered how I was ever able to get in and out of the car with that thing. 
                Before we judge the motivation behind that Facebook post or political action or even why someone's sitting in a different spot at church this week, let's put the horse before the cart and judge our own motivations and why we do what we do.  It could keep us busy for awhile and I think God's just fine with that. 

                This is the third blog in a series about "certainty".  What does it mean to be "certain"?  In the first blog, I referred to Matthew 25 and the parable of the sheep and goats as an example of Scripture that brought up a lot of questions for me.  Questions I can't find answers to that leave me "certain".  Maybe it's about a final judgment and maybe it's about a local judgment on Earth.  Maybe it's about the 12 disciples and maybe it's about all Jewish people and maybe it's about all people.  Maybe it's about salvation by works and maybe it's about...well, salvation by works. 
                Lots of questions and that was just one passage.  Perhaps you've never thought of that kind of stuff.  Or, perhaps you have, but you're willing to "let it go".  You may see letting go of those kinds of pesky questions as "faith".  I'm not here to make you feel bad if that's you.  Rather, I want to help those of us who can't let go of those pesky questions.  Oh, and there are plenty more than that too, believe me. 
                Quick quiz: Who wrote the first five book of the Bible?  Answer: Moses.  But inquisitive minds like mine ask "Well, did Moses write the part where he dies?"  (Deut. 34:5) Someone else had to write that part, if not the whole thing.  Ugh.  I thought I could be certain about who wrote those first five books (often referred to as the Pentateuch).  That makes me start to wonder if something similar happened to any of the other books.  Did Jeremiah write Jeremiah?  Did Matthew write Matthew?  We know someone else wrote the last chapter of Mark (the earliest manuscripts don't include it).  This, of course, raises further questions like "Did God forget to inspire Mark to write an ending to his Gospel?"  Or "Did God inspire an unknown scribe to finish it?"  Same with Deuteronomy.  How can I be certain about these kinds of things?  Authorship becomes an issue for those who ask questions and have inquisitive minds.  We can't rest that easy. 
                I've come to accept that I can't be certain.  Not 100%.  For some, that's really bad news.  In fact, some people call it a day for Christianity right there.  "It's all phony baloney!" they cry.  Well, I want to spare you of making that decision.  
                Christians are called to follow Jesus by faith.  "The just shall live by faith" said Habakkuk.  Or, at least, I'm fairly sure it was him.  His name is on the book title.  So, what's faith? 
                When you get in your car, how certain are you that the brakes will work?  100%?  If you actually stopped to think about it, you'd likely have to leave some room for the possibility that they could fail.  So then, do you stay home?  Well, if you have a reasonable confidence that they'll work, you'll get on the road.  That's an act of faith and it doesn't require 100% certainty.  You feel you have reason enough to act on the possibility that your brakes will work just fine. 
                Or how about banking?  According to a digital statement I look at online, I have money in the bank.  I don't see that money.  I transfer money and assume it works.  I pay my credit card bill online and assume it works.  I have reason enough to act based on what I know about banking.  Call me a "negative Nancy", but I can't be certain that my bank would never take my money.  There are laws that I hope would be enforced, but that's a hope and not a certainty.  I feel confident enough to continue banking though.  That's faith. 
                Faith isn't about having 100% certainty about something.  Faith is about acting despite your level of uncertainty.  You can live by faith without being 100% certain about all kinds of doctrines and questions you may have about Scripture.   
                I don't believe God is looking for us to be certain.  I do believe He's looking for us to act in faith regardless of whether or not we feel certain. 
 

                Do you have any nagging doubts about God?  If you do, I understand why you may not be quick to admit it.  There's a good chance you'll be wheeled in for emergency theological surgery by the elders.  Or you might even find yourself outside the fellowship where you'll be given some time to "get it right".  Perhaps these sound harsh, but surveys of those who have left the Church because they raised some questions and had some doubts show these responses to be pretty common. 
                This concerns what is often called a "faith crisis".  Someone is struggling to maintain faith.  They've asked some questions and not found answers that leave them "settled".  Or something has happened in life that they thought wouldn't if they just "followed the rules".  Perhaps they've found that Science and Scripture don't always agree and now they're struggling with their faith. 
                What does the Church do with people in faith crisis mode?  Well, if folks are brave enough to actually admit to having doubts, we usually try to answer their questions so they can be certain again.  They need to be sure.  We've got to get them back on track.  I mean, what's their problem anyway?  Can't they see that chapter such and such, verse so and so, clearly states the answer to any doubts they may have? 
                Our intentions are good.
               So, we set out to prove that the Earth is actually only 6,000 years old and not billions.  Genesis should settle the issue (yes, the Book with a talking serpent that becomes the world's first snake).  We'll show them how it clearly states that God created all things 6000 years ago.  We'll make sure they understand that Science is wrong about this one.  If they don't agree after that, then perhaps they can still attend, but they probably shouldn't be allowed to teach Sunday School. 
                Or perhaps someone is struggling with the violence of the Old Testament and the fact that God seemed to get angry quite often and would smote people for things like trying to keep precious cargo (like an Ark) from falling off the cart.  The God who handled the gay agenda by burning down the ancient equivalent of San Fransisco.  "Is this the same God as Jesus?", they ask.  "Well, of course it is", we respond.  "It's from the same Bible, don't you see?"  Another faith crisis subverted.  All in a day's work.  If they have follow-up questions such as "Well, does that mean God has a split-personality?  Is God given to His emotions like we are?  Could God's ancient rage flare up at any moment?", then this is a good time to warn them of the Marcion heresy (who taught that the God of the Old Testament was a different entity than Jesus).  The fear of being a heretic is sure to snap them out of their faith crisis and bury any nagging questions deep under their new skin-deep faith. 
                Or how about when a Christian is dealt one of life's brutal hands?  Their child goes off to college and never goes back to church.  Their spouse wants a divorce.  They never do get healthy or wealthy.  God hasn't kept them from the evils of this world.  The "protective hedge around them" must have been trimmed down to something demons were easily able to hop over.  They think God has abandoned them.  What then?  So often, this is when we do our best imitations of Job's friends and throw Scripture darts at their open wounds in order to "cure them" of their faith crisis.  "God works all things for the good...Train up a child in the way...For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous..."  That's it.  We'll make sure they're certain that their wayward child will return to God because they trained him/her in the way they should go.  We'll make sure that they know that if they are certain that they've been "called according to His purpose", that He'll be sure to work all things for the good (feel free to apply a little spiritual pressure here to free their minds of doubts).  Let them know that according to Psalm 5, they must simply not be righteous enough to receive God's blessing.  Crisis averted!  Great job team. 
                Forgive the sarcastic tone, but I think we need to do better than this.  It's not that we don't try.  It's not that our motives are impure.  I think we genuinely don't know how to handle doubt and uncertainty.  We don't know what to do if it creeps into our own lives and we often mishandle it when it creeps into the lives of other Christians.  So, many of us stay in the "crisis of faith closet" and keep it to ourselves.  What would people think?  I mean, just imagine what might happen to a pastor that admitted doubts, right?  Uh...            
                First of all, people with questions and doubts about God are often genuine seekers of God.  Don't assume they are hopeless atheist, heretics, or lesser Christians of some kind.  They are not to be pitied.  They are not to be shunned.  They aren't even to be fixed!  They are to be encouraged to keep going.  Just keep swimming, as Dory wisely shared with an anxious clown fish. 
                Keep going after God.  That's the key.  Go after God Himself.  It's not that we should stop asking the questions or seeking the answers.  By all means, engage!  But the goal is having God, not not having doubts (I felt a post like this deserved a double negative).  Doubt actually feeds faith.  If faith increases, it's in spite of doubt, not because there is none to begin with.  Faith acts without certainty.  That's what makes it faith.  Otherwise, we could call it "knowing".  Like what God does. 
                I think there's a place for doubts and questions in our journey with God.  And, for the record, I don't believe the Bible answers all our questions.  I don't think it's meant to.  It's the Bible that actually raises most of my questions.  It's often those who read their Bible in pursuit of God that have the most questions and nagging doubts.  Don't stone them (though there's a verse for that).  Don't hand them over to Satan (though there's a verse for that too).  Love them in their uncertainty.  Love them enough to honor the mind God has given them.  They're engaging God.  Encourage that.  Point them toward faith instead of certainty. 
                BTW, I have doubts about being right about all of this. 
                And so do you. 
                Just sayin'. 

***I snapped the above picture in Jerusalem during our President's visit.***
                 I recently gave a presentation to our church about what I experienced during my trip to the occupied West Bank.  I've written about those experiences on another post (www.thecrossingchurch.net/pastors-corner/israelpalestine-delegation-may-2017).  I highly recommend you read that blog first. 
                After sharing the many human rights violations I had witnessed (including home demolitions, detainment, and home raids), some people expressed sincere shock as they truly didn't know what has been happening there for the last 70 years.  That was the reason I gave the presentation.  Many people don't know and they need to.  Especially Americans.  Especially Christian Americans.  Especially Evangelical Christian Americans. 
                The issues involved in the Israel/Palestine conflict are well-documented, yet little known.  So few Evangelicals actually understand the reasons for the conflict or the effects of it, yet so many have a strong opinion.  We are to support Israel.  It's as though supporting Israel came with the standard Christian-American package.  Jesus, baseball, the pledge of allegiance, and standing with Israel.  How can we have such strong opinions about something many of us know so little about?  Or, for those who would say they are informed, why are so few engaged in seeking a solution?  Two words.  Theology and Politics. 
                For those who admittedly are uninformed, I hope you will take the time to catch up.  Here's a great link with many resources that may help. ifamericaknew.org/
                This particular blog is really to challenge those who would say they "stand with Israel".  Why do you stand with Israel?  Here are some of the reasons most often given:

• The Jews are God's chosen people.
  
• Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East.
• God gave Israel that land.
• God will bless those who bless Israel and curse those who curse Israel.
• The Muslims want to push Israel into the sea.
• The Palestinians are terrorists.
  

                Theology and politics.  Without debating the above statements, I put forth this question that I hope will challenge you.  If your theological or political views allow you to ignore human rights issues, are you open to reconsidering your views?  Consider the following:

• If you know that there are over 1 million Palestinian refugees due to the wars of 1948 and 1967, does it make any difference that God gave that land to Israel 4000 years ago? 
• If you know that Palestinians are regularly deprived of the water and electric supply most Israelis enjoy, does it make a difference Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East? 
• If the Palestinian people are being pushed into the sea, does it make any difference that some Muslims have said that they want to push Israel into the sea? 
• If you know that Palestinian Christians have suffered home demolitions, harassment, imprisonment, and the loss of freedom of movement, does it make any difference that Jews are God's "chosen people"?  (A follow-up question to this is "How do you think Palestinian Christians feel about the idea of Christians in the West declaring that the Jews are God's chosen people?")
• If blessing Israel means supporting a devastating and dehumanizing occupation, does it make any difference that God will bless those who bless Israel?

 
                Our theological and political views can actually serve as an excuse to dismiss human rights violations.  I'm talking about lives being ruined because of a single Bible verse.  Again, if your theological or political views allow you to ignore human rights issues, are you open to reconsidering your views?             
                This, of course, won't be so easy to do.  I'm wrestling with it myself.  I was asked a great question at my presentation.  It was concerning my disbelief that God could be the guiding force behind the occupation of Palestine.  Someone said, "God commanded the Israelites to kill every man, woman, child, and beast in Canaan.  How do feel about that?"  It's a great question and to be honest, I don't feel very good about that at all. Personally, I think a little YouTube footage of the slaughtering of women and children in Canaan might change how we view Joshua's glorious conquest.   
                My concern is that anyone could justify the actions of this occupation because they believe there's a biblical precedent or doctrine that allows it.  Keep thinking about that.  Do statements made in the Old Testament override Jesus' clear teaching in the New Testament?  Does the fact that Moses declared that God gave Israel the land mean that the people living there now should be removed?  Do we make decisions based on the teachings of Jesus or Joshua?  I'm hoping you'll take time to pray and think these kinds of things through.
                I've watched the response to people on social media who are rethinking things like this also.  It's been pretty ugly.  Now, if rethinking my theology and politics in order to love the oppressed removes me from membership in my current clubs, then I accept that.  I'm done risking being a monster, but a biblically-supported monster.  Christian history is scarred with biblically-supported monsters.  Witch hunters.  Crusaders.  Inquisitors.  Slave owners.  Conquerors.  Oppressors.  We must be willing to reconsider our theology and/or politics.  People's lives are at stake. 

***This is a paper I wrote to be used for future delegations with Christian Peacemaker Teams.***
            Our delegation began with a sober warning that our experience may prove to be difficult to process.  As I search for words to begin this paper, I find that to be quite true.  I spent 15 hours on a plane home from Tel Aviv and found myself not wanting to think about it.  There are faces and stories that loop vividly through my mind whether I want them to or not.  I will attempt here to briefly convey some of those experiences and how they affected our team.
            One of the clear benefits of our delegation was the structure.  Every day, regardless of the surprises or chaos we encountered, we knew it would begin with a time of spiritual reflection and would end with a chance to share the experiences that had affected us that day.  In a land of uncertainties, we were able to hold to these two certainties.  I commend our delegation leader, David, for his leadership in this area.  Each member of the team took turns leading a time of meditation and reflection to help us begin the day with a strong step forward.  There were words that spoke of peace.  Words of hope.  Words calling us to love our enemies.  Words to remind us of our commitment to non-violent peacemaking.  Looking back, I think we needed these words. 
            We also took turns cooking meals, which proved to be easier for some than for others.  Yes, it would have been quicker and easier to grab a falafel every night, but we would have missed out on a number of opportunities.  Those who knew they were cooking that night had to make time to both plan and shop for dinner, regardless of the intensity of our schedule.  We learned which shops opened early and which ones stayed open late.  We found out who can cook and who probably should have picked up falafels for dinner.  I had no idea what I was doing in the kitchen, but I had lots of fun adding unknown amounts of unknown spices to an unknown meal plan that ended up being a rather salty collection of chicken and veggies.   It was all part of the experience of serving my fellow team members. 
            These were the sure moments.  Morning reflection.  Evening meals.  A chance to reflect on the day.  They were built into the schedule and became part of the routine.  I recommend that future leaders of delegations strive to maintain these basic routines as they form the structure to a daily plan that otherwise shifts depending on the circumstance.
            Our days in Jerusalem began with Omar, the director of Sabeel, a Christian Liberation Theology Center.  His tour was structured by what he calls "The Way of the Cross".  It's an interactive tour that recalls the sufferings of Christ and reflects on the current suffering of the Palestinian people.  Each station brought to light a different aspect of their suffering.  The Nakba (catastrophe) of 1948.  The occupation.  The refugees.  The home demolitions.  Gaza.  The wall.  This was no subtle introduction to the conflict in this land.  Our team didn't get a chance to dip our toes in the pool before deciding whether or not to jump in.  We woke up on day one and dove into the deep end of the pool. 
            I think we'd all heard about things like checkpoints and refugee camps before committing ourselves to this delegation.  Within 12 hours of arrival, we were experiencing them.  Omar took our team through our very first checkpoint and into a refugee camp in the heart of Jerusalem, which according to Omar, was more overpopulated than anywhere in Gaza or even China.  It was in the camp that we first experienced the effects of living under occupation.  Omar pointed out the girls school, where just the day before, Israeli soldiers had pelted with rubber bullets.  It was their response to stones having been thrown at them recently.  The girls now sit in a classroom with broken windows and the threat of being under fire again by the soldiers.  Welcome to life in the only democracy in the Middle East.
            As we walked away from the scene of rubber bullets and shattered glass at the girls school, we got a whiff of tear gas.  Omar pointed out that it was often used by the soldiers as a way to control the crowds.  This was happening just blocks from where we were walking.  It was time to leave the refugee camp, but exiting the camp demands going through a checkpoint.  This was our team's first of many trips through the iron bars and turnstiles of an Israeli checkpoint.  Though we'd had easy access into the camp, we had to empty our pockets, remove our belts, and provide our passports in order to leave.  One of our team members had left her passport on the tour bus outside the camp.  She couldn't leave until we retrieved it for her.  Yes, each of us had our passport with us from that day on.  Lesson learned. 
            A moment that caused me to reflect on my own privilege was a time of worship and reflection at the checkpoint.  Omar said that whenever he brings groups through that checkpoint, he asks someone to lead them in a chorus of "We Shall Overcome".  I recognized the song, but quickly found out that I didn't actually know the tune or the words past the first line.  We don't sing that song in our church.  There's no sense that we need to.  Our congregation enjoy the benefits of the ruling power.  We can come and go as we please.  We can shop and dine where we like.  We have the freedom of movement.  There is no giant thumb pushing down on us.  There is no force or system we must overcome.  We don't feel the need to sing that song.  Omar and his fellow Palestinian Christians need that song and the hope it inspires.  Lessons learned at a checkpoint in Israel.
            Omar had one more thought for us that day.  We stopped in the middle of the road where Omar pointed out the refugee camp on the left and a Jewish settlement up the hill on the right.  The differences were stark (as we saw day after day), but Omar brought up the particular issue that the people in the refugee camps were required to pay taxes that Israeli citizens don't.  The taxes of the poorest people helped to provide the luxuries of the richest.  The oppressed with little water helped pay for the swimming pools and green lawns of the oppressors.  While the injustice was rather obvious, Omar framed it in light of Christ.  He said, "If Jesus stood between these two communities, what would He say?"  Indeed.  What would He say? 
            The following day took us to the remote villages of the Negev.  This is the home of the Bedouin communities.  This is also the home of home demolitions.  Here we sat sipping Arabic coffee under the shade of a tarp with Azeez.  His home had been demolished 112 times by the Israeli army and would again be the day after our visit with him.  It was the first of many stories we would hear of life under occupation while enjoying the generous hospitality of the Palestinian people.
            Our Jewish tour guide that day, Amos, pointed out many wrongs carried out by "The Occupation".  This one point stuck with me.  He said that the Israel/Palestine conflict is an ongoing one-sided war.  The State of Israel are constantly warring against the Palestinians.  Home demolitions are an act of war.  Water restrictions are an act of war.  Restricting movement is an act of war.  These acts of terror are legalized by the state of Israel, but are viewed as acts of war by the Palestinians.  That's quite a perspective.  The war doesn't begin with a rocket from Gaza or a bomb from an Israeli F-16.  This war is always happening.  It's a one-sided war that's being fought every day under the radar of most media outlets.  Our team now better understands how this war is being fought. 
            A picture I think our team would agree to stand out in our memories was that of the widow of a man recently killed by soldiers while evacuating his home before demolition.  She stood bravely between us and the grave of her husband as a translator conveyed her thoughts to us.  She has been left with 10 children and no home.  Where is her hope?  What will come of her children?  These are thoughts that haunted me throughout our delegation and continue to do so today.  My body may now be 7500 miles away from Palestine, but my thoughts are still there.
            Something that I found to be crucial to our delegation and daily tours was that many of our guides were Israeli Jews.  Since conveying some of our encounters on social media, I've already been accused of being brainwashed by a biased Palestinian view.  Well, much of that "biased Palestinian view" was shared with me by our Jewish tour guides.  Amos was one such guide as was Tamar, who with great skill and precision guided us through the Holocaust Museum in West Jerusalem.  Tamar was born in Germany, but came to study history in Israel and later converted to Judaism.  She relayed to us not only the horrific plight of the Jewish people in Europe in the 1930s and 40s, but also made sure we understood that similar aspects of this sad history was being repeated.  Has modern-day Israel chosen a different way than the oppressive and racially-motivated Nazi regime all those years ago?  The Nazis sought to remove the Jewish people from the land and resorted to tactics of terror and violence to achieve their goal.  We were impressed and saddened by the many parallels in the current situation with Israel and Palestine. 
            The second half of our journey was in Hebron and was quite different than our time in Jerusalem.  In many ways, Hebron was the part of the journey that had drawn many of us to be delegates.  These were the "hands on" activities that made us feel part of the solution.  In Hebron, we were given the opportunity to be active peacemakers.  We spent two mornings monitoring the checkpoints as children made their way to school past the soldiers and through the turnstiles.  These duties are carried out daily by the regular CPT team in order to document any harassment that occurs from either soldiers or settlers.  We witnessed a number of youth as well as teachers being held while their IDs were checked.  We encountered a Jewish settler who took our pictures, made rude sexual gestures, then threatened to put us on YouTube so that "our families could see what we were really doing here".  I have to say, this was a disturbing encounter. 
            As we stood each morning monitoring the checkpoints, I also noticed the speed at which the settlers drove through that area.  In America, we strict speed limits through "school zones".  Obviously, there was no such law in Hebron.  I found from a team member that Palestinian children are often hit by settler's cars on their way to school.  It happened to a four year-old just days after we left.  Children are not immune to the dangers of life under occupation.  In fact, they may be the greatest casualty in this conflict.
            I don't think any of us as delegates expected to be signing up to experience a home raid.  At some point in the afternoon, a group had posted a banner on the sign of the CPT building speaking out against apartheid.  Well, as we enjoyed a dinner of chicken and pasta, we were joined by 5 Israeli soldiers demanding we show them how to access the banner.  We didn't put the banner up and neither did we know how to get it down.  So, the soldiers attempted to enter the home of Palestinian Kindergarten teacher who shares the building with CPT.  She refused to give them access, so they resorted to trying to break into the schoolroom one floor above us.  They succeeded only in breaking the handle and were visibly getting frustrated with the situation.  They threatened to return and they did just after dark.  After breaking down the door, they came up the dark flight of stairs only to exchange photos and threaten to return every day, three times a day.  They never returned and the banner was still up when we left Hebron.  I found it's not easy to sleep when you're expecting soldiers to break down your door and invade your home at any given moment.  Could that ever become normative? 
            Recovering from the home raid, our team found itself in the streets of Hebron during a clash between stone throwing Palestinians and tear gas launching Israeli soldiers.  Before the clash, the bustling streets had been cleared by the IDF.  As we walked through them, it was a true ghost town.  We caught two taxis and made our way to our appointment with Hamad from the Hebron International Resource Network.  As our cab pulled up the hill to a crowded intersection, we looked to the right only to see young Palestinian men throwing stones at Israeli soldiers who were on the other side of a wall of thick black smoke.  As our driver attempted to navigate through the crowd, a hundred young Palestinian men scattered from the midst of the smoke headed in the same direction we were trying to go.  With the screech of tires, we made our way far from the tear gas and rubber bullets that had caused the young men to flee.  We had clearly entered a war zone.
            On our last evening in Hebron, we joined the CPT team for the very first "counter settler tour" on the streets of the Old City.  The Jewish settlers "tour" the old city of Hebron every Saturday evening, which has resulted in the closing of many Palestinian shops due to harassment from the settlers.  The settler tour is designed to share with the settlers the Jewish history in Hebron and cast a vision of renewed ownership of the city.  So, they tour the streets of Hebron as a clear sign to the Palestinians that this is really Jewish land. 
            Abdullah, a young Palestinian tour guide, walked us through the same path as the settler tour, while sharing with us the history of that area.  Many of us on the team later shared our discomfort with the tour.  Our team waited outside the gates for the settler tour to begin and the soldiers noticed us right away.  A number of young settlers also peered over the top of the gate to see who we were and what we were up to.  From their point of view, I can see how our presence might have increased tension.  Why were we waiting for them and why were we following them through the streets?  We shared our thoughts that night and hopefully the CPT team consider some of our suggestions to improve the tour and lessen the tension. 
            In breaking with both our patterns in Hebron and Jerusalem, we spent the night in a Bedouin village in the middle of the desert.  The village lies directly under a settlement and has been under threat of demolition for years.  We spent the night as a "protective presence" in their new community center, which has been demolished twice already.  Our team was once again awed by the hospitality of these people as they treated us to dinner.  These are people that have been offered an "open check" by the Israeli government to leave the area and have decided instead to stay on their land.  As we witnessed in so many places, these villages are strategic points for the state of Israel to gain full access to as they could join settlements.  The families in these villages live under constant threat and harsh conditions in order to keep not only their way of life, but to keep Israel from taking more land.  The Israeli government do not acknowledge these villages and refuse to give them access to electricity and water, which the nearby settlements enjoy in plenty.  Such is a day in the life for these brave people. 
            Our day in the desert included a visit to the village of Sarura, which had been demolished by Israeli soldiers just hours before we arrived.  There were volunteers from the Jewish Center For Non-Violence helping to rebuild.  What a beautiful sight.  I was sad this morning to read that the village was once again demolished and a group of international activists were assaulted by soldiers.  Such is a day in the life for these brave people.  And so is the next day. 
            After two very exhausting weeks, it was time to go home.  We had experienced a home raid and a violent clash in the streets of Hebron.  We had countered the settler tour successfully and without issue.  Some of us found a day and night in the desert to be more difficult than we'd thought, but we had provided a protective presence for the people and structures in that village.  We had spent two weeks observing and documenting life under occupation.  Our promise to these people was to come home and share their stories with the hope that, over time, public opinion might change and help overturn current policies that support the occupation.  The CPT delegation offers a unique glimpse into how this occupation affects real people and the more of us that have this experience and then communicate it to others, the better chance there will one day be peace and justice in the land. 
             

            About six years ago, we started a "satellite" service in Sequim in an effort to reach out to that community.  It didn't work out, as is the fate of many well-intentioned ideas, but out of that group formed a team determined still to minister to the Sequim community.  We continued to meet Friday nights for discussion and prayer.  During that time, we read a book called The Tangible Kingdom that changed how we viewed home groups, evangelism, and how to do "church". 
            The concept is rather simple: live the Kingdom life among other lives.  Yeah, that didn't really blow your mind, did it?  For too long though, the Church has relied on drawing people into our building.  We've tried providing music they just can't resist.  Sermons that make them feel like they were at home watching an infomercial.  Programs for every age.  Curriculum from the big names in Christianity.  Some, have even stooped so low as to meet in movie theaters.  
            Yet, we watch the evening (morning, mid-morning, afternoon, and late night) news and see the culture around us tanking.  What's their problem?  Schools?  Government programs?  Video games?  Fake news?  Eh, maybe.  God knows the problem is age-old (so you can stop blaming Obama or Bush).  People need the Gospel, but they don't need it shoved down their throats.  They don't need it on signs at political rallies.  They don't need it in an easy-to-read tract.  They don't need it preached in a church building where they aren't.  They need it lived out right in front of them.  The Tangible Kingdom.  More than words.  Something they can see and participate in. 
            What this amounts to is us purposing more of our time to be with people so they can witness what it looks like to follow Jesus.  They'll be there when God triumphs, heals, and brings hope.  They'll also be there when we blow it and have to ask for forgiveness.  They'll witness our highs and our humble lows.  They'll see that following Jesus isn't just about attending a good Baptist church (though it helps!) or saying a certain prayer.  It's a lifestyle.  It's not just something good for heaven, it's good for right now.  God is real and we know it and we live like it!  Our goal is to make sure our lives interact with theirs.  Form relationships.  Love people. 
            I believe God has made room for us to do this.  Our current ministry schedule is pretty open.  What are you doing Monday nights?  Nothing at TCC.  Tuesdays?  Nothing at TCC.  Awana?  Not here.  Youth group?  Nope.  Our church calendar is pretty empty.  Many would see that as a problem.  As each ministry shut down the last two years, I must confess I had my doubts that it was a good thing.  But, when will we ever have time and energy for people outside the church building, if we spend all our time and energy inside the church building? 
            Church conflicts won't conflict with us being the Church.  So, we can take that time and spend it living out Kingdom values in community.  So, feel free to spend time fishing with a co-worker (check with your wife first).  Invite a family over for a game night.  Open your home for sporting events or the latest episode of The Walking Dead (wait...what?).  Join a basketball team.  Let your light shine before men (and your 3-pointers, if you can make them).  Move the BBQ out front and engage your neighbors when they pass by.  Get to know people. 
            We're not talking about anything new here.  This is still about making disciples.  We're just changing the venue.  I think we need to transform our mindset from trying to get people to come to a church service and instead take the Church to them.  Disciple them along the way.  I was surprised the first time someone asked me to share the Gospel with them.  They asked me.  Why?  Because they were curious about what made me different.  So, I first explained that some of what made me different was due to a loss of brain cells in the 90s, then went on to tell them the Gospel.  That the positive differences were because I'd started to follow Christ.  He was real and I was convinced I should let Him govern my life. 
            The Holy Spirit simply used the time hanging out with me to draw their attention to the Kingdom.  The Kingdom of God must be witnessed, which means 1) we must follow the teachings of the King of that Kingdom and 2) we must do it in community.  Yes, we will continue to worship Christ together as believers, but we will focus our ministry making disciples outside our Sunday service. 
            Home groups are a natural place for us to start.  Firstly, start attending one.  Secondly, plan and pray with the group for people to invite and what kind of event to invite them to.  This isn't a game night where the prizes are Gospel tracts.  This isn't a dinner event where a member of your group will give a Gospel presentation.  This is a game night with no other agenda.  Let the Spirit lead the conversation.  Look for ways to love people extravagantly.  Listen to them.  Build genuine relationships.  Encourage them where you see them displaying Kingdom values.  Meet with them outside the home group for coffee.  You will be showing them that you're interested in more than getting them to say a prayer or attend a church service.  They will see you care about them as people.  The way God cares about them.  The Gospel and Kingdom of God will become tangible to them. 
            I'm looking forward to seeing how God works as we move forward with Him.  I believe He will give us grace for the exciting challenges ahead. 
           
           

"Obama Signs Executive Order Banning The Pledge Of Allegiance In Schools Nationwide!"
 
"Pope Francis Shocks World, Endorses Donald Trump for President, Releases Statement."
 
"Trump Offering Free One-Way Tickets to Africa & Mexico for Those Who Wanna Leave America."
 
                These were 3 headlines in 2016 that millions of people read, believed, then shared with friends on social media.  They were amazing stories that either shocked us, made us laugh, or made our blood boil.  Amazing headlines.  Amazing stories.  Amazingly all untrue.  Yes, those were fake headlines, part of what is now dubbed "fake news". 
                What is also amazing is that even the stories about "fake news" can be fake.  Lol.  "Russia admits to designing fake news to upset U.S. election."  True?  Fake?  It's hard to know anymore.  There are many websites that are becoming known for "fake news", which makes them easier to avoid.  But even the major news networks are now being labeled as "fake news", which means we're becoming cynical about what CNN, MSNBC, and FOX NEWS share.  Who is telling us the truth?  Is there a reliable source of truth out there?
                We live in a world of fake news.  We now are asked to accept "alternative facts" as truth.  I recently read an article about "how to respond  to news in a post-truth world".  A "post-truth world"?!!  It's hard not to let cynicism take over and just disbelieve all of it.  Distrust everyone.  Join those guys in their bunkers who've been preparing for the Apocalypse.  Eat all their Spam. 
                Though it seems that truth is being hidden and "alternative facts" are becoming a term we are asked to consider, the truth IS out there.  We may never know whether or not Russia was ever involved in hacking during our last election or whether or not Obama is a Muslim.  We may never feel we can really trust the news networks and what we read on social media.  That's too bad.  It's not the end of the world though, and it's not the end of truth. 
                Truth exists.  Truth is 100% reliable.  Truth has no spin or political allegiance.  Its source is unaffected by WikiLeaks or bribes.  Truth is reliably found in Jesus of Nazareth, the One who said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life".  As the Truth, Jesus also said that the truth would set us free.  What truth did He mean?  The truth about Russian hackers or Obama's vacation homes?  Nope.  He was referring to the truth that Jesus is God and that, at the end of the day, His words are all the truth we really need.                
                So, for those who follow Christ, I'm suggesting that we spend more time reading the words we know to be true than the ones we will always be unsure about (I recommend you start with the Book of John.)  I must admit I'm guilty of spending too much time reading news articles and watching  political interviews.  It can be addictive with all the resources available to us these days.  None of those reports will give us "the words of eternal life" as Peter once noted (John 6:68). 
                A "Kingdom perspective" is what Christ-followers need most, especially in this "post-truth world".  If we focus on the truth Christ presents through His Word, we will begin to see things closer to how God does.  God deals only in truth.  A truly spin-free zone.  The Truth is the lens I desire to see through more often, which means I must spend more time reading and hearing it.  God has given us the Way for living in a "post-truth world".  It always has been and always will be to follow His Son, the Truth. 

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”  Ah, let the words of the angel of the Lord wash over you today.  The time of peace and goodwill has come!  Yet, war, violence, and unrest are rampant all around us.  It often makes me wonder if peace is something God is reserving for later?  After recently reading over a familiar passage, I was struck with a renewed sense of hope that peace is God's plan for Christians now.  We don't have to wait!
           The Prince of Peace has arrived.  His name is Jesus of Nazareth.  He was born in Bethlehem and crucified in Jerusalem.  He rose from the grave and currently reigns as King over the Kingdom of God.  Jesus is the fulfillment of Isaiah's famous prophecy.  Let's review that familiar promise Isaiah declared 500 years before Jesus arrived in a stable.  This is found in Isaiah 9.  Some of you may even sing it to yourselves. 
 
6 For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of His government and peace
There will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
            Here's the deal.  Many of us know this passage back and forth.  I'll be the first to admit I don't know the verses surrounding it very well at all, but was struck by the promise as a whole.  There's much more included in this passage than the arrival of a child.  It's the promise of the Kingdom He would lead us into.    
            Check out the verse that come immediately before the famous part we all know. 
For every warrior’s sandal from the noisy battle,
And garments rolled in blood,
Will be used for burning and fuel of fire.
            Now, what's this business about warrior's sandals and bloody garments being used as fuel for fire?  It's what it sounds like.  An end to our participation in war.  Literal, bloody and violent war.  We burn our military garb and retire from war.  When will this happen?  "For unto us a child is born..."  Yes, the Prince of Peace that puts an end to our violent battles has come!  So, why are so many of us, as Christians, still involved in violent battles?
            It's not that Christianity, as a whole, has missed this teaching.  It's just that most of us have missed it for the last 1700 years or so.  The Christians of the first three centuries after the arrival of the Prince of Peace understood Jesus' teaching on peacemaking and non-violence quite well.  In fact, with all the diverse understanding of doctrine that was being sorted out by the early Christians, the doctrine of non-violence was understood and taught universally.  The Prince of Peace had arrived and brought a Kingdom of Peace with Him.  The early Christians overcame, not with the blood of their enemies, but by the blood of the Lamb.  They loved even those that burned them alive and fed them to wild beasts.  Yes, it was in that very time that Christians, as a whole, consistently practiced the peaceful ways of their Prince.  Those early followers of Christ burned their warrior's boots and garments rolled in blood.  They, along with Peter, put down their swords for "those who live by the sword, die by the sword."  They loved their enemies, which meant they prayed and blessed those who killed them.  Even the threats against their lives and the lives of their families didn't provoke them to violence.  Peace was their practice. 
           Now, obviously, the kingdoms of this world don't follow Christ's teaching, which is why there are wars today.  In fact, the kingdoms of this world wouldn't survive if they followed Jesus' teaching.  It's true.  But His teaching isn't for the kingdoms of this world, it's for His Kingdom.  A Kingdom that is not of this world.  “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.” (John 18:3). 
                Hence, Jesus told Peter "Put your sword in its place." and it took the Church roughly 300 years before they picked it up.  Under a newly converted Emperor of the Roman Empire, the Church dropped their crosses and picked up swords (You can't hold onto both).  The Church, once persecuted by the kingdoms of this world, married the kingdoms of this world.  The Church became powerful and the only way to keep that kind of power is by force.  The Cross quickly became the emblem on the soldier's shield.  The Cross became the ensign of armies and a symbol our enemies came to fear.  The Kingdom that "is not of this world" took a major step toward looking just like the kingdoms that surrounded it. 
                For all the Church has done to remain distinct from the world, we have yet to remove the violence that has stained our white robes and blemished our testimony.  Are Christians known as peacemakers in this violent world or fellow participants?  Are we known for loving our enemies or are we participants in their destruction?  While Christians currently try to stand separate from the kingdoms of this world when it comes to things like sexual purity, we are blended with them when it comes to national violence.     
            The fulfillment of Isaiah 9:6, which we celebrate at Christmas, includes the promise of Isaiah 9:5.  The end to Christian involvement in war.  So, let's be sure to include this as part of the Good News we've been commissioned to share.  We really can burn those boots and bloody garments.  We can put down the sword, beat our swords into plowshares, and learn war no more.  We can now be at peace with men.  The Prince of Peace has come so that even our enemies can be loved!  We can turn the other cheek.  We don't have to avenge ourselves ever again.  This is the new way of life that came with the Prince of Peace when He arrived in that stable.  Not to be set aside until there's no one left around to strike your cheek or go to war with anyway.  The teaching is meant to be practiced now. 
            Putting down our swords, burning our warrior's boots, and setting aside our means of violence comes with its difficulties.  Just as remaining sexually pure or refraining from gossip doesn't come easily.  But, the Holy Spirit offers peace as a slice of the fruit of love (Gal. 5:22).   The same Spirit that helps when we lack self control or gentleness will help when we, filled with the Spirit of the "Prince of Peace", choose to respond as peacemakers.  Our first step is to acknowledge our need to live in peace by peaceful means.  This is part of the Gospel package Isaiah announced all those years ago.  May this be what comes to mind when you see or hear the term "Prince of Peace" this Christmas. 
 
                If you'd like to see what the Early Church taught about peace and non-violence, check my earlier blog here: www.thecrossingchurch.net/pastors-corner/the-early-bird-gets-the-worm-and-the-early-church-gets-jesus

                 I highly recommend further reading on this subject:
Old Skool:
www.amazon.com/Against-War-Desiderius-Erasmus-ebook/dp/B00AQMEIHI/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1481062983&sr=1-2
New Skool:
www.amazon.com/Fight-Christian-Non-Violence-Preston-Sprinkle/dp/1434704920/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1481062607&sr=8-11&keywords=fight

           I have 6 kids.  That means I get a load of questions throughout any given day.  "Can I have a snack?  Where's mom?  Can we watch a movie?  When's dinner?  Can I look at your phone?  Where are my shoes?  Can you tell them to stay out of my room?  Where did you say mom was?"  Questions are a major way we communicate in our home. 
            When it comes to our faith, is it okay to ask questions?  Are questions a healthy way we can communicate with God?  Well, I believe not only that it is okay to ask questions, but that it's a necessary part of our growth in Christ. 
            Recently, I preached on Jesus' Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus.  In that sermon, I shared a few questions I had about the text.  I expected some of those questions to surprise people.  Perhaps I was raising issues people hadn't considered before.  I hope so.  I also noticed as I asked some of the questions that many heads were nodding in agreement.  Perhaps I also raised issues some had questioned before.  I may have been affirming their questions or concerns.  "Oh good.  Our pastor wonders about this stuff too!" 
            Perhaps my questions were unwelcomed by some.  I knew that going into it.  That's the risk of asking questions publicly.  You may appear ignorant or even worse, some kind of heretic.  But risk it, I will.  I will risk asking questions because discovery is an important aspect of our journey of faith and much of that comes from asking questions. 
            How often do we pray that people caught in cults would just ask a few questions?  Questions like "What's in the Kool-Aid?" or "Why are we in this bunker shooting at the police?" or "Could anyone explain to me again why we are planning to meet on Mars this Sunday?"  Asking those kinds questions could make all the difference in both your life and afterlife. 
            Don't we also pray that Muslims today would question the teachings ISIS are proclaiming as truth from their scriptures (Quran)?  "Is killing and world domination something Muhammad really taught and if so, is that something I want to participate in?"  Great question! 
            Faith in Christ doesn't come bundled with a download of all truth.  Truth comes in bits and pieces along the journey.  I have held to beliefs about God and His Word that I have since adjusted or dropped all together.  It's because I've been willing to engage God with questions along the way.  Does God predetermine who gets saved?  I'm glad I asked those questions because, as it turns out, He's a much better Guy than I thought He was.  As I've noted before, God is "gooder" than I think He is.  While I still don't have all the answers, I am learning to enjoy the journey with Him. 
           
             
           
 
 
 
             

               I didn't grow up watching musicals.  People dancing around and singing in each other's faces simply because it was the month of June.  How dumb! 
            Well, by the time I was finishing High School, I began to find musicals much more interesting, much to the delight of my mother, who had grown up with them.  The King And I is one such musical that I've since found worthy of my time.  The main character, Anna (the "I" of The King And I), sings the song "Getting To Know You" as she builds a relationship both with the king of Siam and his many children.  Why must she bellow and twirl about it instead of simply noting that she was getting to know people better?  How dumb!  Okay, okay.  Yes, it's a little silly.  I'm not writing to win you over to musicals.  I'm not that great a writer.
            I only brought up musicals in order to mention the song "Getting To Know You".  It's really the theme of the story.  Anna is a school teacher from England suddenly thrust into the culture of a Siamese palace.  In this culture, you maintain your head lower than the king's while in his presence and you don't speak freely to the king unless given express permission.  The king is a difficult man to get to know, but Anna finds him worth knowing.  The story is about that process.
            Resisting your urge to gaze out an open window and burst into song, how well would you say you know Jesus?  It's a different question than "What are you doing for Jesus?", "How much time do you spend with Jesus?", or "How long have you known Jesus?".  It's different than asking about your obedience to Jesus.  It's not the same as asking you Bible Trivia questions about Jesus.  I'm not asking about your consistency in maintaining a time of prayer and Bible reading.
            How well do you know Jesus?  I'm asking the question because I believe it's key.  It's the reason for life.  It's why I'm a Christian.  It's the reason for obedience.  It's the reason for reading the Bible and praying.  It's the reason behind caring for the poor and oppressed.  It's the purpose behind suffering and the trials of life.  The point is to know Jesus.  It's all about "getting to know Him, getting to know all about Him."  If it helps you to twirl an umbrella while splashing through puddles as you express this, so be it.  If it must be sung, fear not.  An entire chorus of passersby will soon join you in every word you sing.  Yeah, I can't really defend musicals, but I enjoy them all the same.
            For every sermon you hear or devotional you read, keep this in mind.  The purpose for whatever action you feel called to take is to get to know Jesus better.  Feeding the poor.  Living poor.  Living with wealth.  Remaining faithful to your spouse.  Giving to the church.  Receiving from the church.  Volunteering with the youth group.  Teaching Sunday School.  Opening your Bible.  Spending an hour in prayer.  Spending 3 seconds in prayer.  Enjoying a glass of wine at sunset.  Refraining from wine.  Praising God for your good health.  Praising God when there's a bucket full of sick next to your bed.  Loving your enemies.  Hating the sin within you.  All that stuff.  The reason for these things is to know Jesus better. 
            Keep that in mind as you get up early or stay up late to read the Bible.  Keep that in mind when you pray for yourself and others.  Consider it when you give to charity.  Remember it when you show up week after week to teach Sunday School.  Reflect on it when you sit down with that glass of wine or when you choose to refrain.  Why do we do these things?  To feel better about ourselves?  To look better in front of others?  Out of Christian duty?  Tradition?  In an attempt to gain God's favor?  Because Pastor Dave suggested it in his sermon?  (I wrote that so tongue-in-cheek it hurt my mouth.  Lol.)  Why do we do the things we do? 
            Do what you do with a mindset to know Jesus better.  Let your perspective change to keep Jesus as the goal of your successes and failures.  If you do well, do you know Jesus better for it?  If you totally sucked it up, did it increase your relationship with Him?  Success or failure isn't the goal.  Knowing Jesus is the goal of it all.  " The go-o-o-o-o-al of it all!  The goal of it a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-all!  "  Uh, I'd better finish up before a line of grown men show up doing the Charleston as an expression of their desire to know Jesus better.

                  "I saw the sign and it opened up my eyes.  I saw the sign..."  Yeah, just try not to finish that chorus.  Sorry to start that way, but I couldn't resist.  You see, we're going to be looking at "signs" in this fifth post about prophecies and the tools that help us to study them (but also the Scriptures, in general).  I highly recommend you read the preceding posts before tackling this one.  www.thecrossingchurch.net/pastors-corner   
                These tools will help you with a book like Revelation, but in this series we're focusing on Matthew 24.  The point isn't for me to simply tell you what Matthew 24 is all about, although I will do my best.  The point is to help you get a grasp of the tools that will help you sort through passages like Matthew 24 and Revelation without guys like me telling you what you have to believe.  Work it out yourself.  Yes, Bible teachers and theologians disagree about interpretations of Scripture, but they do agree on the tools necessary for interpretation.  We play by the same rules and come up with different interpretations.  That's okay.  This stuff is a bit mysterious, after all. 
                So, here's a list of the signs Jesus gave His disciples in answer to their question regarding the destruction of the Temple.  Jesus said, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” and they said, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”  Well, here's a list of the things they needed to be looking for.  I've divided the signs into two lists.  One is "simple signs" meaning they take very little interpretation on our part to sort out what Jesus was talking about.  The other list includes trickier stuff like the "abomination of desolation" (no, that's not a Norwegian heavy metal band, but good guess!).  Here we go:
 
Simple Signs

• many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many
• you will hear of wars and rumors of wars
• nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom
• there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places
• they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you
• you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake
• many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another
• many false prophets will rise up and deceive many
• lawlessness will abound
• the love of many will grow cold
• this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations
• For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect

 
Tricky Signs

• when you see the ‘abomination of desolation'
• For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be
• For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together
• the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken
• the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven
• then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory
• He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other

 
                So, what makes this so difficult?  Honestly, it's the fact that Jesus then said, "Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place." (Matt. 24:34)  Unless Jesus was wrong (as atheists often accuse), these signs happened nearly 2000 years ago.  Most will admit that many of these signs did occur within that generation Jesus spoke to.  The generation of John, Paul, and Ringo.  No, wait.  Not those 60s.  The AD60s.  John, Paul, and Barnabas.  That's the place to start.  If we find that era to lack the signs Jesus mentioned, then perhaps it is time to consider another time frame.  In which case, do we then admit that Jesus was wrong in His prediction?  Did He say "this generation" when He should have said "that"?  Did the Apostles all misinterpret Jesus' words here and believe and teach the Early Church that Jesus would fulfill these things "shortly"?  Tough questions to try to answer, but atheists ask them of Christians all the time and don't often get a great response.  We can do better!
                So, in order to check what was going on during the generation Jesus spoke to, we'll need to check what events occurred during that era.  AD35-AD75 would be a "generation" (about 40 years) from the time Jesus spoke these words.  What happened during those years?  Any famines?  Any earthquakes?  Any abominations that caused desolation?  Well, some of these will be much easier to find than others, won't they?  What we need is a historical reference.  Yes, some of these signs can be found in the Scriptures too (Acts 11:27-30; 1 John 2:18-19; Jude 17-19; 1 Peter 2:1-3) 
                The most trusted source of historical records from that time period comes from a guy called Flavius Josephus.  He was the son of a Jewish priest and helped lead the Jewish revolt against Rome in AD66 in Galilee.  He was captured in AD67 and became a negotiator for Titus, who led the Roman siege against Jerusalem in AD70.  Josephus was not a Christian.  He wrote from a distinctly Jewish perspective for a Roman audience.  He has been accused of writing in a way to make Rome look better than they really were (ex. Titus didn't want to burn down the Temple in Jerusalem), but he can't be accused of being a Christian making up stories to fulfill Jesus' prophecies.  He wasn't a follower of Jesus.  His writings are researched by Christians, Jews, and historians and considered a trustworthy reference.
                His preface to his famous work The Wars of the Jews begins with "Whereas the war which the Jews made with the Romans hath been the greatest of all those, not only that have been in our times, but, in a manner, of those that ever were heard of; both of those wherein cities have fought against cities, or nations against nations".  Yeah, this war between Israel and the Roman Empire isn't dismissible.  Josephus ranked it as the greatest war that had ever been.  That's a war we need to know about!  But, most of us don't, as I didn't until I began to study these prophecies and heard about Josephus.  It's not your fault (unless you heard me recommend you read Josephus two years ago and still haven't.  You know who you are.  Lol.)  You simply don't hear sermons about Josephus or attend bible studies about "12 ways to be a Josephus in your workplace".  His works are extra-curricular.  Let's take a survey of some of his writing. 
                 Josephus describes a number of earthquakes before and during the destruction of Jerusalem.  Here's just one example: "for there broke out a prodigious storm in the night, with the utmost violence, and very strong winds, with the largest showers of rain, with continued lightnings, terrible thunderings, and amazing concussions and bellowings of the earth, that was in an earthquake. These things were a manifest indication that some destruction was coming upon men, when the system of the world was put into this disorder; and any one would guess that these wonders foreshowed some grand calamities that were coming.” (Bk.4.4.5)
                As for the famine that killed so many in Jerusalem, Josephus says, “So those that were thus distressed by the famine were very desirous to die; and those already dead were esteemed happy, because they had not live long enough either to hear or see such miseries.” (Bk.6.3.4)  The people resorted to cannibalism and eating dung.  Would that level of famine be enough to be considered one of Jesus' signs? 
                The title of Josephus' work "The Wars of the Jews" ought to suggest that there were wars and rumors of wars during this time, eh?  You bet!
                He also describes false prophets in Jerusalem that gave people hope that God would rescue them from the siege.  “Now, there was then a great number of false prophets suborned by the tyrants to impose upon the people, who denounced this to them, that they should wait for deliverance from God: and this was in order to keep them from deserting…. Thus were the miserable people persuaded by these deceivers..” (Bk 6.5.2-3)
                As to lawlessness, Josephus said much, but summarized it here: "That neither did any other city ever suffer such miseries, nor did any age ever breed a generation more fruitful in wickedness than this was, from the beginning of the world." (Bk 5.10)  Even if hyperbole, that's quite a statement!
                Let's attempt a tricky sign.  Yep, that one.  “And now, when the multitude were gotten together to an assembly, and every one was in indignation at these men’s seizing upon the sanctuary, at their rapine and murders but had not yet begun their attacks upon them Agnus stood in the midst of them, and casting his eyes frequently at the temple, and having a flood of tears in his eyes he said, ‘Certainly, it had been good for me to die before I had seen the house of God full of so many abominations, or these sacred places that ought not to be trodden upon at random, filled with the feet of these bloodshedding villains.'” (Bk.4.3.10)  The corrupt bandits had taken over the Temple and made it "home".  Josephus also said, “..the sacrifice called ‘the Daily Sacrifice’ had failed, and had not been offered to God for want of men to offer it, and that the people were grievously troubled at it..” (Bk.6.2.1)  Not convinced?  How about this one? “And now the Romans, upon the flight of the seditious into the city, and upon the burning of the holy house itself, and of all the buildings round about it, brought their ensigns to the temple and set them over against its eastern gate; and there did they offer sacrifices to them, and there did they make Titus imperator with the greatest acclamations of joy.” (Bk.6.6.1)
                Some will chalk these up to "initial fulfillments" that will be truly fulfilled at a later date.  Perhaps when the Romans quit spending all their time playing soccer and clubbing and get back to invading Israel again?  Okay, that was just plain facetious of me, wasn't it?  At the same time...okay, it was still facetious.  Forgive me.
                So, now you ask, did Jesus ever show up visibly on "the clouds of heaven"?  Did Josephus record that one too, Dave?  Okay, so who's being facetious now?  Technically, still me.  But it's the kind of thing some might say and it's a legitimate question.  
                It appears we have more to cover, so be on the lookout for my next blog.  Beware!  There will be blogs and rumors of blogs and many false bloggers will rise up and deceive many.  Do not be troubled.  This blog will be shared in all the world as a witness to all futurists, and then my blog will come.  Behold, I blog soon! 
                Alright, alright.  I'm out. 
                Read Josephus.
                No, really, I'll be done now. 

               
                In case you missed it, America is in the middle of a highly publicized political season.  The candidates are holding rallies all over the place.  They're making promises to the people.  "As president, I will make sure your families are safe."  Or "as president, I promise to lower your taxes."  These are promises that will affect Americans now.  If a candidate offers to lower my taxes, I expect them to do just that.  My taxes ought to be less in the coming years.  If not, then they haven't kept their promise to me.  When they look at me and say "your taxes", I have no reason to believe they're actually speaking about someone else's taxes and not mine.  I don't then rejoice that the people of Paraguay will be receiving a tax cut in the year 2916.  Nope.  That tax cut was promised to me. 
                Jesus came to our planet and talked to people.  He didn't blog.  He didn't Tweet.  He looked people in the eye and told them things that pertained to them.  We have some of those conversations recorded in our Scriptures.  One of these eye-to-eye conversations is recorded in Matthew 24. 
                Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple.  And Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” 
                    Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”
                The disciples just asked Jesus a question and He will now respond to it.  This is a conversation between Jesus and His disciples.  I wasn't there and neither were you.  Keep that in mind as you read His response to them. 
                And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
                9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. 10 And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. 11 Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. 12 And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But he who endures to the end shall be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.
                15 “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), 16 “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. 18 And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. 19 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 20 And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22 And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.
                23 “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. 24 For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you beforehand.
                26 “Therefore if they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the desert!’ do not go out; or ‘Look, He is in the inner rooms!’ do not believe it. 27 For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 28 For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together.
                So, here we have Jesus telling His disciples things that would affect them.  He told them they would hear of wars and rumors of wars.  Did they?  He told them they would be delivered up to tribulation, killed, and hated.  Were they?  He told them they would see the abomination of desolation.  Did they?  This is the issue that comes up when we consider the context of a passage of Scripture.  Any passage.  Who is speaking and who are they speaking to?    
                The Apostle Paul was brought before Governor Felix due to accusations from some of the Jews of his day.  Paul had the chance to speak with Felix and he opened with this, "I know that for a number of years you have been a judge over this nation; so I gladly make my defense."  Now, when you read that verse from Acts, do any of you assume Paul is telling you that you're a judge over this nation?  Hopefully, not.  You understand that this conversation was between Paul and Felix and you weren't there.  Can you carry that understanding to the conversation in Matthew 24?  We weren't there.  When Jesus says "you", He was looking into the eyes of His disciples.  These were things that would pertain to them.  If these statements are to pertain to me, it will be as well as them, not instead of them. 
                The statements Jesus made, as wild and "end of the world" sounding as they may be, were directed to His disciples.  From this point on, they watched for the signs of His coming and the end of the age.  Paul commended the church in Thessalonica with this: "For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come."  They waited with expectation and they taught the Early Church to do the same. 
              Here's a difficult question some theologians dance around with the skill of Fred Astaire.  Were the disciples deluded?  Did they mistake Jesus' words meant for a distant generation as being for them?  When Jesus said "you" should they have understood "someone else"?  Much of the resistance to believing this occurred resides in understanding the signs Jesus said would accompany His coming.  We'll look at those in Part 5.

For those who did their homework (okay, and those who are just curious)...
                In the most recent post in this series (www.thecrossingchurch.net/pastors-corner/i-dont-have-all-the-answers-and-neither-do-you-part-3), we looked at Isaiah 13 and added two new tools for studying prophecies in Scripture.  Hyperbole and time statements.  Your homework was to take those tools I'd applied to Isaiah 13 and apply them to Matthew 24.  What did you find?  Hopefully, you noticed Jesus' statement  “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken." (Matt. 24:29)  Doesn't that sound really similar to Isaiah's statement "For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light; The sun will be darkened in its going forth, and the moon will not cause its light to shine."?  The similarity isn't coincidental.  Jesus was using well-known hyperbolic language to speak to people about a coming judgment.  They were going to be "knocked into next week", if you will.  An exaggerated statement to emphasize a point.  Prophets used hyperbolic statements to stress the damage that was coming unless the people repented.  Jesus did the same thing in Matthew 24 when speaking about the destruction of the Temple and the "end of the age". 
                Jesus also said in Matthew 24:34,  "Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place."  There's our time statement.  All those things were to happen before the generation of people He was speaking to passed away.  There's a time limit on this prophecy and "all these things" Jesus had just listed were to take place within that time period. 
                Now, some have defined "generation" in this passage to instead mean "race" or "the generation that sees the signs" (a future generation).  They will admit that Jesus never means it in that sense any other time He uses the word.  Here's a list of every time Jesus stated something about "generation".  Ask yourself, who is He talking to?  As He spoke to them was He talking about someone else? 

                “But to what shall I liken this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their companions, Matthew 11:16
                But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. Matthew 12:39
The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. Matthew 12:41
                The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here. Matthew 12:42
                Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.” Matthew 12:45
                A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” And He left them and departed. Matthew 16:4
                Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me.” Matthew 17:17
Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation. Matthew 23:36
                Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. Matthew 24:34
                But He sighed deeply in His spirit, and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Assuredly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation.” Mark 8:12
                For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.” Mark 8:38
                He answered him and said, “O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me.” Mark 9:19
                Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. Mark 13:30
                And the Lord said, “To what then shall I liken the men of this generation, and what are they like? Luke 7:31
                Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.” Luke 9:41
                And while the crowds were thickly gathered together, He began to say, “This is an evil generation. It seeks a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. Luke 11:29
                For as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation. Luke 11:30
                The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here. Luke 11:31
                The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. Luke 11:32
that the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation, Luke 11:50
                from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who perished between the altar and the temple. Yes, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation. Luke 11:51
 
 

                Imagine the United States has just been taken over by an invading nation.  The enemy came out of nowhere.  Of our current 321 million residents, only 12 million are left alive.  Those that survived are now slaves of the invaders.  The currency has changed.  The language has changed.  The Statue of Liberty and other national monuments were destroyed and replaced by statues celebrating the new conquerors.  We've lost our nation and have been integrated into a brand new world.  Our jobs are gone.  Our homes are gone.  Our children are gone.  Our cities were flattened.  There is little left to show the United States was ever the great nation that reigned in this land for over 200 years. 
                Okay.  Wipe your tears.  We're still okay.  Praise the Lord this hasn't been our fate.  This was actually the fate of the mighty kingdom of Babylon in 539BC.  They were the same mighty nation that had invaded and destroyed Jerusalem a few years earlier and had deported many of them to Babylon (that's why we find Daniel and Esther outside of Israel).  God had used Babylon as the agents of His wrath against disobedient Israel.  Now, it was Babylon's turn to endure the wrath of God.  This time, God would use the Media/Persian Empire as His agents of wrath. 
                That's history.  It's a wrap.  But before it all happened, God inspired Isaiah to write about what would happen.  You can read the entirety of Isaiah's prophecy in Chapter 13, but let me share a few highlights. 
              
The burden against Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw.
9 Behold, the day of the Lord comes,
Cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger,
To lay the land desolate;
And He will destroy its sinners from it.
10 For the stars of heaven and their constellations
Will not give their light;
The sun will be darkened in its going forth,
And the moon will not cause its light to shine.
11 “I will punish the world for its evil,
And the wicked for their iniquity;

13 Therefore I will shake the heavens,
And the earth will move out of her place,
In the wrath of the Lord of hosts
And in the day of His fierce anger.

17 “Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them,
Who will not regard silver;
And as for gold, they will not delight in it.

19 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms,
The beauty of the Chaldeans’ pride,
Will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
20 It will never be inhabited,
Nor will it be settled from generation to generation;

Her time is near to come,
And her days will not be prolonged.”

                Many respected Bible teachers believe that this is still future for fairly obvious reasons.  The stars have never stopped twinkling, though Isaiah said they would.  The Earth has never moved out of its orbit.  Babylon was immediately inhabited by the Medes/Persians that conquered them even though this passage said "it will never be inhabited".  So, even though Babylon was conquered by the Medes in 539BC, many people see this passage as unfulfilled.  Yes, that means the Medes must rise up again to conquer Babylon.  Two non-existing nations must reappear and re-enact ancient history.  This time, under a much darker sky. 
                Let me introduce some major players in the interpretation of prophecy.  Hyperbole and time statements.  MAJOR players.  In fact, there's no bigger player in history than hyperbole.  It can out-hit Babe Ruth, out-dunk Michael Jordan, and out-talk Rush Limbaugh.  It's huge.  Monstrous.  There's absolutely nothing as amazing as hyperbole. 
                Okay, see my point?  Hyperbole is often used in the Scriptures to emphasize a point.  Hyperbole is something Jesus was comfortable using.
                If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters--yes, even his own life--he cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:26)
 
                Does Jesus really want His followers to hate their family members?  I'd say not.  But, He used hyperbole to make His point that followers must be willing to put Him first.  That part is for sure.  Jesus wants our loyalty.  Hating family members?  Try teaching your 12 year-old that wants to get baptized that they'd better first make sure they hate you and their siblings.  Awkward!
                A boxer tells his opponent that he's "about to knock him into next week".  Anyone want to claim that to be a literal statement?  Of course, not.  We recognize hyperbole in everyday speech.  We also need to recognize it when we read it in Scripture. 
                Hyperbole helps to make a point.  In this case, the Babylonians would be so wiped out by the Medes that it would be as though the universe completely fell apart.  The Medes would "knock them into next week", if you will.  The decimation would be so intense it would be as though no one would or even could live in that stretch of land again.  This is prophetic language and the sooner we recognize its place in Scripture, the better understanding we can have of prophecies and the fewer sandwich boards reading "the end of the world is here!" will be worn on street corners. 
                Okay.  Let's say you think I'm wrong about the use of hyperbole.  God said the earth would be moved out of place when the Babylonians were destroyed by the Medes and He meant that.  He must be taken literally.  Alright.  Let's go with that.  So, since those things didn't happen literally, the passage must not be fulfilled.  Alrighty then.  If we want to keep things "literal", let's be sure to be consistent and be literal about the end of the passage also which reads:
                "Her time is near to come, and her days will not be prolonged.”
 
                I doubt anyone would want to say that waiting over 2500 years is a literal understanding of "her days will not be prolonged".   Let's say your bank made an error in your favor (yeah, just like in Monopoly) and they now owe you $100.  You get a letter from them noting their error which finishes by stating "your repayment will not be prolonged".  A year passes.  A decade passes.  You pass.  2500 years pass.  Are they anywhere close to keeping their word that your payment would not be prolonged?  I'd say more than a month would be prolonged in this case. 
                Time statements are one of the keys to prophecy.  For instance, the Book of Revelation is full of mysterious beasts and whores (I smell a new HBO series!).  Even with all its mysteries, we are from the beginning of the letter, given time statements which are the key to sorting out at least when the beasts and whores should show up, whoever they are. 
 
                The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants--things which must shortly take place. (Revelation 1:1)
                Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.  (Revelation 1:3)
 
                Let's say you've sorted out the mysteries of Revelation.  You may have deciphered the number of the beast and narrowed down the option to one of two current presidential candidates.  You may have determined that the "Whore of Babylon" refers to Great Britain and their unfaithfulness to the European Union.  The Great Whore of Brexit!  Okay.  But you've done all that work outside the given time limits of the prophecy.  Time statement s are huge and we don't want to miss them.  Prophecies are usually given some notion of time so that the reader has an idea of when to anticipate the coming disaster. 
                Saying that the United States will be invaded isn't really prophetic.  Anyone could say that.  Saying the United States will be invaded soon by Luxembourg starts to sound like a prophetic statement.  Or perhaps that it's time to up your meds. 
                In the case of Isaiah 13, we are told of Babylon that "Her time is near to come, and her days will not be prolonged.”  That rules out something happening 2500 years down the road.  To say "near to come" and "not be prolonged" could really mean over 2500 years, the words become pointless.  It would not only be pointless, but deceptive, to give such a description of something that wouldn't occur for over 2500 years.  So, regardless of the hyperbolic descriptions that never literally occurred in the heavens, something had to have happened in the near future of the ink drying on Isaiah's parchment paper. 
                So, I now encourage you to take these tools and apply them to Matthew 24.  Search for any time statements.  If there are any, what do they reveal?  Search for anything sounding hyperbolic.  Clue: I think you'll find similar language to what we just read in Isaiah 13.  Very similar.  You do your homework and I'll do the same and we'll meet up for Part 4 of this series.  Have fun!

            This particular blog is really a commercial in the ongoing series about "End Times".  Hence it's Part 2.5, not Part 3.  I'm well aware that discussions about Eschatology (the study of "End Times") tend to make some people in the Church very uncomfortable.  It has been known to be divisive, which it simply shouldn't be.  It's not a foundational doctrine.  We're dealing here with prophecy, which involves "seven-headed beasts" for crying out loud.  This can be strange writing indeed and shouldn't be made the foundational teaching of any church.  If you read this series, apply the tools I'm sharing for interpreting Scriptures, and come away with a different understanding of prophecy than what I believe, that's totally fine.  If you believe the Great Tribulation to be in our future, while I believe it to be in the past, that shouldn't keep us from worshipping and serving the risen Christ together. 
            So, because this can be divisive, some won't touch it with a ten-foot pole.  I've been told that I should leave this stuff alone (I have to wonder if people would still tell me that if my view agreed with theirs.).  Here's the deal.  I'm willing to bet that each of you reading this hold to some views about the End Times, even if you're not exactly sure where you got them.  Are you waiting for the Rapture?  Are the current events in the news signs of the coming tribulation?  Are you keeping an eye on political figures in case they might be the Antichrist (Well...we might currently find agreement on that one.  Lol.)?  Will Jesus have the Temple rebuilt in Jerusalem so He can preside as High Priest over the sacrifices? 
            Those are common beliefs about the End Times.  If you do believe those things, great, but I challenge you to ask yourself "why?".  Why do you believe those things?  Where did you get that information?  I believe it's not only important what we believe, but why we believe it.  We all wonder why people in cults don't do their homework.  If they would just dig a little, they'd discover the truth, right?  Similarly, (though I'm not at all making a comparison between differing end times beliefs and cults), we need to dig a little and do our homework in order to know why we believe what we believe.  Don't simply accept something because the pastor says so, it looks good on paper, or because it just "feels right".  I encourage you to do your homework. 
            For example, reading the Left Behind series, as entertaining as it may be, isn't the same as reading through Matthew 24, deciphering the context (see Part 2), understanding the parts of speech and time references, and making linguistic comparisons to the prophecies made in the Old Testament.  Having worked through those things, we can know why we believe something.  We can point to it, explain the context of the passage, and give sound Biblical reasons for believing what we believe.  If you still come out believing in a future tribulation and Rapture, that's totally cool with me.  You'll be stronger in your faith knowing you came to that belief through proper study rather than by Kirk Cameron's unforgettable and convincing performance in Left Behind. 
            By going through a series like this, we can learn skills that will help us better understand all Scripture.  You can grow by tackling prophetic passages in Scripture.  Ignoring them altogether in the name of "well, this stuff can be divisive" may not prove to be wise.  Somebody will be willing to tackle these for you and expect you to simply "take their word for it".  I don't believe that's how I'm supposed to teach.  My job is to equip the saints (Eph. 4:12), which I believe includes equipping them to read and interpret the Scriptures for themselves.  That's what this series is about. 

            This is the second part of a series of blogs I'm writing about the "end times".  You know the kind of stuff.  Tribulation.  Rapture.  Antichrist.  New Heaven and Earth.  Have you sorted all this stuff out?  Did you read the Left Behind series?  Have you been told we're living in the "last days"?  Did you read "88 Reasons Why The Rapture Will Be In 1988"?  Did you read its sequel, "89 Reasons Why The Rapture Will Be in 1989"?  No, really.  Did you?  Have you listened to preachers tell you that Barack Obama is the Antichrist?  Did you know the Antichrist used to be Ronald Reagan?  Note the number of letters in his name!  Ronald(6) Wilson(6) Reagan(6)=666.   Lol.  No, really.  LOL!
            End Times prophecy teachers have made quite a name for themselves over the last 40 years or so.  Lots of books.  Lots of predictions.  Lots of current events "proving" their theories.  Lots wrong.  Wrong enough to cause many people to question Christianity and some to walk away from the faith.  There are now websites for "ex-Christians" where many of them share a similar tale of buying into the latest prophecy pundit and finding themselves un-raptured and disillusioned.  End Times teachings have sadly been the cause of much hurt in the Church. 
            So, with references coming up in my series through the Gospel of Luke, I'm currently getting my head around some of this stuff again.  Not to frighten you about the coming Apocalypse or to share with you the current Antichrist.  I'm here simply to share the tools that have helped me make better sense of not only prophecy, but the Bible in general.  As I said in the last blog, I don't pretend to have all the answers.  There are still many points that puzzle me.  But I want you to know this: The Bible isn't a Book for mystics.  This is a Book meant for you to read and understand.  Even a Book like Revelation.  Ooh, now that is a bit tricky in spots, but realize that Revelation was not meant to be an incomprehensible riddle for its original audience.  For example, John meant for his audience to understand not only what "the Beast" referred to, but who.  "Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666."  Rev. 13:18.  BTW-I doubt anyone in John's day read his letter, and with wisdom, deciphered the name "Ronald Wilson Reagan" as "the Beast".  That would indeed be puzzling!
            So, where to begin?  Well, let's take on Matthew 24 shall we?  Not all today, but piece by piece, let's see if we can make sense of a prophecy that has been interpreted by some to be past, while others say it's continually being fulfilled, and others yet who say it is all still in the future.  Let's start with the context of Matthew 24.  What was going on?  Who was there?  Who was speaking and who were they speaking to?  What was the subject of the discussion?  Where did this happen?  When did this happen? 
            When the Biblical authors wrote, they didn't include chapters and verses.  Those were added in much later in order to make it easier to find and reference things.  But they just wrote really long letters.  Matthew 24 isn't its own piece of literature.  It's part of a much longer discourse shared by Jesus.  Open your Bible to Matthew and notice that from the beginning of Ch.23 until the end of Ch.25, we pretty much have nothing but red letters.  All Jesus stuff.  All one long speech. 
            So, let's back up to Ch. 23.  That's how we'll get the context of Ch. 24.  This is Jesus going off on the Pharisees.  He had a few issues with them and really let them have it.  "Woe to you!".  Now, notice the number of times Jesus says "you" in this short passage.  In hopes to gain clarity about the context of this conversation, we need to ask "who was Jesus speaking to?"  The answer may seem obvious, but it's important.  In the end of His list of woes, He said this, "Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?  Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city,  that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.  Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation." 
            Quick quiz: Who did Jesus say was going be condemned for their treatment of the prophets?  Answer: The Pharisees and teachers of the Law.  That's why He kept saying "you" when He gave this speech.  When Jesus said "you", these guys knew that He meant them.  None of them cried out how unfair it was of Jesus to condemn the 21st century inhabitants of Israel for crimes they didn't commit.  None of them pictured Jerry Seinfeld or Benjamin Netanyahu being burned in the fiery flames of judgment 2000 years later.  They certainly didn't try to get Jesus killed for His condemnation of someone else did they?  He was condemning the people He was speaking to.  They knew that when someone spoke to them and said "you", it meant the person he was speaking to, not someone else.  If I were to say to my wife, "Could you please get me a glass of milk?", she would know I was speaking to her, not someone in another place or another time.  Make sense?  We always have to remember that the Bible records interactions between real people about real situations.  In Matthew 23, this involves Jesus and the generation of people living in Judea in the AD30s.  No one else is in this picture.  No one. 
            He followed that up with His famous "lament over Jerusalem", which refers to the rejection of Jesus by that particular generation and the end result of that rejection.  Jesus said, "Look, your house is left to you desolate."  Which house?  Well, the house He was currently standing in when He said it.  The house of the Lord.  The Temple in Jerusalem.  See?  Nothing mystical in His statement.  Nothing metaphorical at this point either.  The "house" of the Jews was going to be left desolate.  When?  Good question.  You're thinking just like the disciples.  That was their next question for Jesus.  He walked out of the Temple and said, "Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down." 
            "Crud!  Seriously?  The Temple's going down?  Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?"   
            Quick quiz:  What's the subject Jesus is talking about?  Answer: The destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem.  Okay, so it makes sense that the disciples' question would be about that subject, right?  Remember, Jesus had just told the teachers of the Law to expect to be condemned and to watch their "house" be destroyed.  That's the context. 
             If you don't have a Strong's Concordance, I recommend you use one online.  That will allow you to see the Greek word translated as well as its definition.  You'll see in this case that the last word in the disciples' question is "aeon", which is defined as "age".  Unfortunately, the KJV translated "aeon" as "world" all those years ago and people have been thrown off by it ever since.  Jesus wasn't speaking about the end of the world.  Just the end of their world.  The Jewish world.  The Jewish Age, to be precise.  That's what the Greek word "aeon" used in the disciples' question means.  Age.  The Mosaic, 613 law-abiding, animal sacrificing, priestly garb-wearing, and dwelling in the promised land Age.  It was coming to a close and the destruction of the Temple would mark it.  The end of the Temple meant the end of the Mosaic Age and it would come about by Jesus "coming".  A coming in judgment, which we'll get to next time.
            Remember to ask context questions when you're reading Scripture, especially tricky stuff like prophecy.  Who, what, where, when, why, and how?  Answering questions about the context will help us unravel much of the mysteries in these texts and keep us from saying unkind things about Ronald Wilson Reagan, who turned out to be a fine President, but a rather weak Antichrist. 

            

           Ignorance is bliss.  Ahh...I remember bliss.  In particular, the bliss of knowing very little about "end times" prophecy.  Some of you may still enjoy this bliss.  God bless you.  It's lost forever to me and my intentions are to bring you down with me to the land of knowledge and a decided lack of bliss.  So sorry, but as a teacher I claim, "I'm just doing my job". 
            A few short years ago, though I had read a few books on Eschatology (the study of "end times"), I still had very little understanding of the subject.  Then, I preached through the Book of Second Thessalonians.  Why, oh why did I do that?  The bliss of ignorance was soon lost as I spent 5 months preparing for a 3 month sermon series though a Book with only 3 chapters.  I found that reading Second Thessalonians alone wasn't going to cut it.  I needed to read Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21 to try to understand what Jesus had to say about the "end times".  Obviously, that also took me through Revelation a number of times.  Studying Revelation meant I also needed to study Daniel (particularly Chapters 9-12), Isaiah, Jeremiah, Zechariah, Malachi, and so on.  Then, I read books about those books.  Books about literal blood moons as well as books about metaphorical blood moons.  Books that said all prophecy was yet in the future.  Books that said it was all in the past.  Other books that criticized those that said it was all in the past, but believed strongly that it was mostly in the past.  Books that criticized those that said it was all in the future, but believed strongly that it was partly in the future.  Commentators that couldn't agree with each other and many that couldn't agree with themselves.  Trust me, ignorance is bliss.
            Still, prophecy makes up about 1/3 of our Scriptures, so ignorance of them means ignorance to about 1/3 of what God has spoken to us through His Word.  I don't believe ignorance is an option you can maintain with integrity.  So, say goodbye to bliss (if you haven't already) and hello to the world I now live in.  The world where I must confess that I don't have all the answers.  But neither do you.  That's the difficulty.  I have areas that I think I've sorted out, but there are areas of prophecy of which I can't yet make sense.  I think if you're honest, you'll admit to being in the same boat.  That doesn't mean we simply throw up our hands and quit trying to understand the Word.  We just approach with a bit more humility.   
            This is the first in a series of blogs I'd like to do to address the issues that come up in studying the "end times".  As I'm preaching through the Book of Luke, this stuff just keeps coming up, so I can't dismiss it if I want to be true to what Jesus taught.  Though I do have my own views and interest in the topic, I'm not presenting this simply as a "hobby horse".  It will come up quite often as I continue preaching through Luke, so I thought I might throw out a few insights here that may help you better understand where I'm coming from as I preach. 
            One of my discoveries, after subscribing to a number of eschatological systems, is that no system is perfect.  They each have their weaknesses.  They each have those spots they hope you won't bring up.  Systems such as Dispensationalism, Preterism, Postmillennialism, Amillennialsm, etc. do their best to uncover the mysteries laid out in prophecy.  All the mysteries.  That's where the system usually fails.  They try to make every prophecy fit into their system, even to the point of sounding ridiculous.  In my opinion, the Dispensationalist that tries to tell me that "soon" means "not soon" and "this generation" really means "that generation" loses my respect.  Similarly, the Preterist that tries to tell me that "a thousand years" really meant just "forty years or so" also sounds ridiculous.  But they have to hold to such things in order to maintain their membership in the club they joined.  Acknowledging anything outside their particular system to be correct threatens the legitimacy of their own system.  I understand.  Completely.
            So, where do I now fit?  Which club did I join?  Which flawed system have I embraced?  I suppose you could throw me into the "Partial-Preterist" club, which, by definition, also makes me a "Partial-Futurist".  Lol.  Though I no longer subscribe to the Dispensational system (which is what the Left Behind Series is based on. A rapture of believers, followed by a world-wide tribulation,the rise of the Antichrist, then the return of Jesus to rule over the world from a new Temple in Jerusalem for 1000 years.), I did keep my membership card, which gets me into Kirk Cameron movies for half price.
            My journey began as I started to dig deeper into the prophetic statements in Scripture (while preparing to preach through 2 Thessalonians) and I couldn't reconcile my current system (Dispensationalism) with all the time statements made (this generation, soon, at hand, near, latter days, last days, last hour) and that the Apostles sincerely believed and taught that they were living in the time when these things would be fulfilled.  They all taught people to wait for His coming (1 Thess. 1:10; Heb. 10:37; James 5:8; 1 Peter 1:7; 1 John 2:28; Jude 18-19; Rev. 22:20).  That they would be avenged for their tribulation at His coming (Rev. 6:9-11).  That they would receive rest (2 Thess. 1:7).  That they could be found blameless at His coming (1 Thess. 5:23).  And that He was coming soon (James 5:8; Rev. 1:1).  It was near.  At hand.  Right at the door!  They were not only in the last days, but according to John, in the last hour (1 John 2:18).  Jesus was coming soon!
            Well, did it happen?  Did Jesus ever show up?  Was he near?  Were they avenged?  Were they found blameless?  Did they ever get that promised rest?  Well, I do have an answer for that.  I don't have all the answers though.  There still remains mystery and weaknesses in my own view.  I'll share more about them in the next few blogs.  You'll have to wait, but worry not.  My second blog is "at hand".
            I'll let you know that my goal isn't simply to win converts to my particular views of Eschatology.  I'm not going to tell you what you have to believe.  I don't intend to give you my view and ask you to simply take my word for it.  I want to give you the tools to study these things for yourselves (like the Bereans in Acts).  this series of blogs will give me opportunity to share those tools with you.  Yes, I'll share what my studies have led me to believe.  Yes, you may disagree.  But please disagree because you've used the tools and come to a different conclusion, not simply because that's not what your last pastor taught.  And if you do disagree, do agree to maintain love and fellowship.  This isn't the Gospel.  When it comes to Eschatology, I embrace the immortal words of the southern rock band .38 Special.  "Just Hold On Loosely".    

Here are a few other resources, which I've suggested before.  I believe they'll really help round out your understanding of both history and how to study prophecy. 
Josephus: The War of the Jews (describes the historical events I believe to be described in Revelation and The Olivet Discourse-Matt. 24, Mark 13, Luke 21)
en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_War_of_the_Jews
The Parousia.  Though I don't agree with every conclusion in Russel's book, his exegetical approach to the prophetic statements in the NT has been noted by R.C. Sproul in his book "The Last Days Of Jesus".  $4 for Kindle or free PDF.
www.amazon.com/Annotated-Parousia-Kindle-Testament-Regarding-ebook/dp/B00HGKTC74/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1468428312&sr=8-3&keywords=parousia
r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=A86.J7pxcIZXwRUADIsnnIlQ;_ylu=X3oDMTEydjhocmR0BGNvbG8DZ3ExBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDQjE4NjFfMQRzZWMDc3I-/RV=2/RE=1468457202/RO=10/RU=http%3a%2f%2fwww.preteristarchive.com%2fBooks%2fpdf%2f1878_russell_parousia_1st-ed.pdf/RK=0/RS=IKOtCOrtfOA14i_f3D.2pL4LbIQ-

            We just finished celebrating our nation's independence from The British Empire.  An independence we were willing to go to war to accomplish.  Since then, the U.S. has been at war 93% of its existence.  We've fought both the invaders and those they invaded.  We've fought both communists and terrorists.  In 240 years, America has enjoyed only 22 years free from war.  We the people are heavily invested in war.
            Now, before you lose your contact lens from that heavy eye-roll, just hear me out.  This isn't an "anti-war" piece.  I'm actually "pro-war".  It all depends on the war that's being waged and how it's being waged.   There are wars I can totally get behind.  I'll wage war against racism.  I'll wage war against poverty.  There is one particular war for which God recruited me to fight.
            I first heard about human trafficking at a men's conference back in 2006.  I couldn't believe what I was hearing.  Slavery.  Sex slavery.  Is this really happening right now on our planet?  Are women and children really being sold into slavery to be used to satisfy men's selfishness, greed, and lust?  Are children really enduring such evil tonight?  And are we really not waging war against this evil?  An estimated 20 million people are enslaved around the globe today.  Yes, you read that number correctly.  20 million.  It blows my mind.  My mind is blown that this evil exists, but history reminds me that we are indeed capable of this kind of evil. 
            Well, I won't begin to speak of our government's role in this kind of war.  I don't make decisions for Uncle Sam.  Whether or not our country should be sending troops into Indonesia, India, and Eastern Europe to wage war against slavery isn't something I pretend to know about.  But I do pretend to know about what the Scriptures say about these things (wait...did I say that right?).  James 1:27 states "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this:  to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."  Now, who is more an orphan than a child either stolen or tricked into leaving their family or even sold by their parents into slavery?  Who will fight for them?
            As a Jesus follower, I'm not suggesting we don our Indiana Jones garbs and free the slave children (or recover the lost Sankara stones, for that matter).  We can wage this war with different methods.  Our mightiest weapon is prayer (did I just sense another eye-roll from some of you?).  No, it's true.  God wiped out 185,000 Assyrian troops in one night in answer to King Hezekiah's prayer (2 Kings 19:35).  Jesus was also aware that He could call down a legion of angels if He wanted to.  This is the Kingdom of which we are now citizens.  Citizens petitioning a King who can handle any request we make of Him.  He has unlimited resources.  Time's no issue for Him.  Numbers don't faze Him either.  He's not overwhelmed by any situation.  So, let's ask Him to free these dear ones from their living nightmare.
             He also uses people in answer to our prayers.  World Concern are one of those groups God is currently using in this war.  They battle with plowshares, not swords (Is. 2:4).  They see education as a tool necessary to this battle.  That means educating potential victims about the methods used by these modern slave traders.  It also means giving job training so that children can help support their families through legitimate means instead of joining the slave market.  Many of them are literally using plowshares to provide for their families and overcome the enemy's strategies to harm them.  Supporting groups like World Concern engages the enemy with an offensive they aren't accustomed to defending. 
            There are wars I believe to be worth waging.  I'm looking for a few good recruits.  If you're interested in joining up, let me know.  Below are a couple of sites to help us get started.
http://worldconcern.org/myconcern/children/
https://www.hopeoutfitters.com/