Are you ready? He's coming!

The Friday of the Japan earthquake and tsunami I had an overwhelming sense while driving to meet friends for lunch, "He's coming! He. Is. Coming!"

Excitement met with expectation met with, "Wow!" My spirit rejoiced while my mind search for all the reasons I should be afraid. I mean, have you read Revelation? Yeah, it gets ugly.

I'm not a pretrib rapture believer. There's no Bible to support it. There are 150 chapters in the Old and New Testament dealing with the second coming of Jesus. They point to the Church partnering with Him, praying for His kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven.

Yet I know as evil increases, so will the glory and light of the Lord. The book of Revelation is the book of Acts supersized.

Isaiah prophesies this:

"For behold, darkness will cover the earth

And deep darkness the peoples;
But the LORD will rise upon you
And His glory will appear upon you.

-- Isaiah 60:2

We have a job to do. It will be completed when Jesus returns. We are His partners on the earth, boots on the ground and our prayers and intercession will wage war against the evil rising on the earth

The Spirit and the Bride say come! Revelation 22:17. (We can't say come if we're not here.)

The buzz this week is Rob Bell's new book, Love Wins. I've not read it yet, but will when it releases. But I've read quotes and discussed the book with others. There's an idea that a loving God won't send anyone to hell.

We send ourselves to hell but not believing in Jesus. So says Bell.

While God the Father is loving eternally, Bell forgets about the Father-God who is also eternally just. Is Bell thinking deep about the Father's heart. Bell asks, "Would He send anyone He claims to love to hell?"

To which I gaze at the Cross. The Father loved and continues to love Jesus and look what He asked Him to do.

That's the point. Jesus and the Father loved each other and US so much, Jesus submitted to the Father's plan of redemption.

If you don't receive it, you receive the result. Wrath. Which includes a fiery hell.

Here's what Jesus says, "Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."

Here's what why I'm writing this blog. Do your own prayer and study on the second coming and on hell. Expand your resources and above all, read the Word. Ask the Holy Spirit to teach you. Hang around like minded men and women who are interested in the truth, not affirming theology. There's a lot of bad theology out there.

John 14: 26: "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.

1 John 2:27: "As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him.

Hard times are coming. Our faith, our hope will be tested. Unless we are rooted and ground in Him, we just may falter.

Know Him. Know Him.

And it's raining on Sunday

My dog hates storms, rolling thunder, cracks of lightning. Theses phenomenons are the unknown to her. She lifts her head, perks her ears and trembles. Then she sits as close to me as possible.

While natural storms don't frightening, political and economic ones put me in the frame of mind as my mini Schnauzer. I lift my head, perk my ears, tremble a bit inside. What's going on? Where's it coming from, where's it going? How bad will it get? Who can stop it?

And like my dog, I must move as close to my Master as I can. I'm sure He reaches down to stroke my head like I do hers, reassuring her everything is going to be all right. I'm sure He speaks peace to my heart and mind like I do to hers. I'm sure He's praying for me like I pray for her.

But unlike my dog, I know I will endure hard times. The Bible guarantees us of it. Our home church as been studying Revelation and End Times to prepare our hearts for both the good and the bad ahead.

Did you know there are over a hundred chapters in the Bible dealing with the End of the Age. That's more than the entire New Testament.

We can't ignore what God is doing in the earth. The days of "it'll all pan out" are fading away. The mind set of "Well, I don't know but I'm trusting God," is foolishness. We can know, we should know, we must know. (No, not the day and hour, but the times and seasons!)

Understanding what is to come changes the way I live my life now. Beyond the signs of tribulation, beyond the horrors of an anti-Christ government, it's amazing to understand how God will care for His people. He'll pour out His Glory. Even more, how we live NOW ushers us into our millennial kingdom "reign."

This life is an internship to the next. Let's live well. Humbly with forgiveness in our hearts, esteeming others higher than ourselves. Our reward, our beauty, our fame will come. Better in the next life when Jesus reigns on the earth than now.

Pray. Seek wisdom. Run with endurance.

Global Warming, Jesus Advises, and the Rapture

Welcome to the random thoughts of my brain. I hope they inspire you. Ha!

GLOBAL WARMING and TERRORISM
Admittedly, true scientist are undecided on Global Warming. The earth warms and cools over the years. In the 1970, the concern was global cooling. I even found a Newsweek article from 1975 about it. In the '80s, it was Acid Rain. I mean, some people just love drama, no?

Either way, IF Global Warming is real, it's years away. I'm so not convinced man is that significant on the Earth. What we need to be concerned about is eminent threats. Like terrorism. We don't have to debate that terrorism is alive and well. We can observe it. Our country has been a victim of it. Our soldiers are fighting it.

How is it that liberals are more concerned about Global Warming, a not so eminent threat, but bury their heads in the sand about terrorism? Terrorist could strike tomorrow. Global Warming won't. Can't.

Yet many leading our country or who want to lead our country care more about carbon emissions than terrorist sneaking into our country with the intent to cause harm.

JESUS ADVISES

This verse in Revelation 3 fascinates me. Jesus is speaking:

"I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see."

I hear Him, I get what He's saying in the big picture, but what does it really mean? How do I do it? I'm praying for understanding. One thing that really helps me understand scripture, no kidding here, is singing it. I get on the keyboard and just sing the verse over and over.

I want to buy from Jesus gold, white garments and eye salve. I want to be rich in Him, covered from my sin and shame, have eyes to see.

RAPTURE
I'm not a pre trib rapture believer. The idea of Jesus hauling us out of here before the gig goes down doesn't make sense. We are His intercessors on the earth. We are His partners. It's our prayers and intercession, our work on the earth that is actually going to usher in the tribulation and His Coming.

There are verses all through the Bible that confirm what I believe, but there are a few interesting ones in Revelation.

12:17 So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.

If the Saints are not here because we were raptured out, who is the dragon warring against? Is there some great revival in the midst of the great tribulation that brings so many millions to Jesus that the dragon has to war against them? Where's the verse on that? And if there are several billion people on the earth, what's a few million saved during the antichrist's reign?

Makes me go hmmmm?

Then there's this in 22:17

"The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life."

If the Saints, or the Bride, is not on the earth, who is crying with the Spirit? Wouldn't it be "the Spirit and the bride say "go?"

The Bride of Christ is on the earth calling for Jesus to come. The Spirit is groaning through us in intercession, calling for Jesus to return to take His rightful place, as King of the earth!

Jesus isn't returning to a earth completely devoid of believers. And even if you view is the two Witnesses are on the earth preaching Jesus, how is it fair those Saints are left to endure the tribulation? And how many come to Jesus during the time? Scripture doesn't talk about tribulation revival, but tribulation intercession.

"The Spirit and the bride say "Come!"

We need to mature as believers and stop waiting to Go and start crying out for HIm to Come.

The END of my random thoughts.

GO BUCKEYES!