This can be your liberation day — This could be the day that your war ends.
There is a great Shakespearean quote from one of my favorite war flicks, “To End All Wars.” Released 2001, starting Robert Carlyle and Kiefer Sutherland. Based on a real-life story of Allied soldiers in Burma who were held captive by the Japanese several years before the ending of World War II.
During a touching and dramatic scene prior to their rescue, when all hope had been beaten out of the POWs, American B-24 bombers flew over the prison camp. Suddenly, like large fluttering snowflakes, hundreds of leaflets from the Allied forces decended down onto the camp.
On each of the leaflets held a message of hope and liberation, announcing the end of the war and the impending arrival of Allied forces. The reaction of the Japanese soldiers was to immediately abandon the camp and retreat into the jungle.
The POWs bewildered, as their captors fled, being severely weakened from malnutrition and abuse, couldn’t believe what was happening. As the significance of the moment dawned on the terribly broken men, a fellow POW began quoting the following:
“For he today that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile, this day shall gentle his condition from this day to the ending of the world. But we in it shall be remembered; We few, we happy few, we band of brothers.” –Henry V Act 4, Scene 3, St. Crispin’s Day
I want you to know that while you may be suffering alone; confused, bewildered, dried up on the inside, and losing hope, your rescue is coming. You are not alone! While we’re not all held captive together in a prison camp, we are all together in spirit. Each tear we silently shed is our “bleeding.” It is what binds us together beyond space and time. It’s what makes us brothers and sisters. We all have our own stories as to how we’ve become broken, abused, and imprisoned. Your story does matter and is critically important!
It’s in the remembering and the telling of your story that could change everything — It did for me.
In the 2007 movie: “Reign Over Me,” starring, Adam Sandler as Charlie Finemen, a man who was completely lost because of the horrific and sudden death of his beloved wife, Doreen, and his three little daughters, Geena, Jenny, and Julie, in one of the doomed hijacked planes of 911.
Charlie runs into his old friend, Alan Johnson (Don Cheadle). The two had shared a dorm room while at a dental school, for two years, and now, nearly five years later, and having lost touch with one another, they bumped into each other by chance, on a street corner in New York.
Alan Johnson, surprised at Charlie’s state of grief and lost-ness, tries to help his old friend recover. He ends up getting Charlie to see his therapist friend, Angela Oakhurst (Liv Tyler).
Charlie finally consents to see the therapist. Charlie seems not to be listening to Angela’s recommendations and asks if his counseling secession could be over. Angela consents and says:
“If you want it to be, Charlie.”
So, Charlie gets up from the sofa and is nearly out of Angela’s office when he is stopped by her. She gives him one last piece of advice:
“Charlie, before you go, I’d like to say something. Look, the fact is you had a family and you suffered a great loss, and until you discuss that and we can really talk about that, this is all just an exercise. I can be patient, Charlie, but you need to tell someone your story. It doesn’t have to be me, but someone.”
Charlie did begin to tell his story to his friend, Alan Johnson. Although painful, it began the recovery of a long battle with grief and loss, whereby through this tragedy, he had developed PTSD.
I strongly encourage you to find someone to tell your story to a therapist, friend, pastor, priest, or rabbi. If not, reach for pen and paper and begin your own memoir. As you may eventually discover, your own story is worth telling, and suddenly, your desert may turn into an oasis.
It’s never too late to start. I started writing my story at age fifty-four. The writing and telling of my story have given me a greater understanding and clarity that I did not have before I began to write.
Author and speaker John Eldredge responded in an interviewer when asked the following question:
Interviewer:
“Why is it so important for us to view our lives as a story?”
John Eldredge:
“We’ve tried to sort and solve our confusion with tips and techniques, principles — a truth here — a proposition there, but it doesn’t really work. I’m suggesting that we’ll get a whole lot farther down the road to clarity and understanding if we look at things through the lens of story.”
I had, tried all the empty “tips and techniques, principles; a truth here or a proposition there,” and have found that these things may offer some relief, but do not take us as far as we need to go in our journey. It is the telling or writing of your story and, as Mr. Eldredge has suggested, looking at your life and, “all things through the lens of a story.”
I have written my story in many articles that I have posted and published. They are all my jewels and pearls of life. It is my sincere hope that I’ve spread them before the needy, the brokenhearted; those in dungeons of despair and those imprisoned with guilt, and not to those who would cheapen them — who would embellish themselves upon my misery and that of others. But even so, to such people, I bid you come, and take what you want, for the greatest of my treasures lay not in Wall Street, or on Main Street, but in heaven.
I encourage you to consider your life as a “story”. It contains all the chapters of your life, with good days and bad days. With chapters of pain and agony and pages of suffering, chapters of recovery and joy and pages of contentment. Your story is made up of all your events of life and when you are brave enough to take a peek, you may begin to see there has been an Author all along, doing something in you through each and every chapter of your life.
And even though, at least so far, this has been a short version of my story and journey from severe child abuse and the development of PTSD early in my life, there has been and remains an Author and Artist throughout all the years of my life.
God has intricately woven and written my story, using all the chaos and heartache, loss and pain, seasons of happiness and great joy, months of loneliness and despair, years of poverty and wealth — the list goes on and on.
For nearly sixty-six years now, nothing in life or in the dying has changed this one important truth:
Christ is our only answer and our only hope!
Turn to Him, who is well acquainted with grief and sorrow. He bore it all, not for title or position, but that He may become a Savior worth trusting and a Lamb to gentle your condition.
Begin your journey of hope and healing and call out to the Abba of Jesus. He is the end of your search for hope and healing and the cure for your hurting heart and soul.
Trusting Him may just begin a new and beautiful story.
This can be your liberation day — This could be the day that your war ends.
A life where there’s no believin’ is a life where there’s no livin’.
Have you noticed lately that the things worth believin in are quickly disappearing?
Sadly, many marriages and romances are vanishing. I’m not talking about Hollywood’s shallow relationships but marriages of our friends and family members. I think marriages fail because people, once in love, stopped believin in the important things.
It’s not about the type of groom we were during the wedding. That’s the easy part. That day was fanciful, romantic, and ceremonial. It’s the kind of man that we’ve become in the crucible of marriage, and while the ceremony has long since faded, romance and passion are still alive and well. That’s the sign of a good marriage and of a good man. We need more good men and healthy marriages these days.
A good man brings out the best in his woman. Likewise, a good woman does the same for her man. A marriage becomes ugly when we forget those things.
I love the movie “Secondhand Lions,” starring Robert Duvall. It’s a movie rich with quotable dialog.
“… True love never dies. Doesn’t matter if it’s true or not. A man should believe in those things, because those are the things worth believin in.”
True love never dies. It’s certainly true of our faith, isn’t it? Christ’s love for his Bride will never die, neither his love for you, if you believe in those things, and in Him, because, “those things are worth believin in.”
As a matter of fact, it’s Christ in us, which makes us into a good man and a good woman. And, the trinity of Jesus, a man, and a woman together as one creates an unbeatable marriage.
The reason why so many good marriages fail is when one or both walk away from Jesus as the center of their individual lives and the center of their marriage. The reason why the world hates marriage is because it is the physical manifestation of the Holy Trinity. It is a Living example of Christ loving the Church and giving up His life for her, His Bride.
“I’m Hub McCann. I’ve fought in two World Wars and countless smaller ones on three continents. I led thousands of men into battle with everything from horses and swords to artillery and tanks. I’ve seen the headwaters of the Nile, and tribes of natives no white man had ever seen before. I’ve won and lost a dozen fortunes, KILLED MANY MEN and loved only one woman with a passion a FLEA like you could never begin to understand. That’s who I am!” The movie, “Second Hand Lions”
Who are you?
What kind of Man are you?
What kind of woman are you?
When you have no firm identity, you have only weakness against the things out to destroy your love for your wife or husband. You have very little strength to fight the enemy of your relationship with God.
So goes your relationship with God, so goes everything else!
A good and lasting marriage vitally depends on your relationship to God through Jesus Christ. Remember? It’s the three-fold cord of Christ Jesus, a man, and a woman. That’s your superpower against the enemy of your marriage.
Don’t settle for the passion of a flea. Have the passion of a ferocious lover, willing to surrender and sacrifice your life for the one you love and for God, the Lover of your soul.
I know that so many of you, even my close friends, have given up on their marriages and God. You’ve walked away searching for meaning, significance, and identity. You’ll not find it in another lover if you never had it with the one you left.
You’ll only find meaning, significance, and identity in God. Not in sex, romance, and one-nighters. Turn back to Him, and turn back to your First Love.
“These are the things worth believin in.”
So, don’t be a flea brain! Believe in the things worth believin in.
“Above all else, guard your heart, for from it flows the wellspring of life.” – Proverbs 4:23
Your heart is so critical to your redemption that it is the first thing the enemy attacks! He attacks it when it’s very young, vulnerable, and imaginative, able to believe in the unbelievable.
“For one believes with his heart and is justified, and declares with his mouth and is saved.” – Romans 10:10
If The Evil One is successful in his assaults against our hearts, his work will cancel our justification and shut our mouth’s declaration of salvation.
This warfare is so profound that it’s the last thing mentioned in the Old Testament and the first thing in the New Testament! If our hearts are not restored, our land and lives will be cursed. And this is the plight of so many lives—lives, whereby the heart has been so treacherously wounded that everything is cursed.
But, there is hope! Please read on.
“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the LORD. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with a curse.” – Malachi 4: 5-6
Who was the great prophet spoken of by Malachi?
It was John the Baptist. His preaching, as it says, prepared people for the Messiah. – Luke 1:17…
“… And he will go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of fathers to their children, and the disobedient to the understanding of the righteous, to make ready for the Lord a prepared people.”
Our hearts do indeed matter, and unfortunately, it is the battleground that the Enemy first strikes.
I can think of no greater scene than from the movie Spider-Man (2002), which powerfully demonstrates the evil one’s scheme…
Green Goblin: Spider-Man is all but invincible; but Parker, we can destroy him.
Norman Osborn: I can’t.
Green Goblin: Betrayal must not be countenanced! Parker must be educated.
Norman Osborn: What do I do?
Green Goblin: Instruct him in the matters of loss and pain. Make him suffer, make him wish he were dead.
Norman Osborn: Yes?
Green Goblin: And then grant his wish.
Norman Osborn: But how?
Green Goblin: The cunning warrior attacks neither body nor mind.
Norman Osborn: TELL ME HOW!
Green Goblin: The HEART, Osborn. First, we attack his heart.
If you’re going to live from and believe with your heart, and I highly recommend that you do, you must armor up and ready yourself for the onslaught of your life. Why? Because the Enemy fears and hates nothing more than a man or woman living from their heart. The heart is where the God of the Angel Army dwells!
This is why before most of us had reached the age of eleven or twelve, that we encountered “heart attacks,” that is, a vicious assault on our heart— the very center of our being.
“The cunning warrior attacks neither body nor mind—first, he attacks the heart.”
If you, like me, have suffered attacks of the heart, while young and impressionable, there is hope and healing. As a matter of fact, there is nothing so vital as the healing of your heart. Your heart is so vital that Jesus of Nazareth read the following from the ancient scrolls at the very beginning of his earthly mission:
“The Spirit of the Almighty Lord is with me because the Lord has anointed me to deliver good news to humble people. He has sent me to heal those who are brokenhearted, to announce that captives will be set free and prisoners will be released.” – Isaiah 61:1
Your heart matters to God—you matter to God. The cunning warrior shall not win this battle against your heart. The battle belongs to the Lord. He’s defeated the enemy on the cross. All you must do is believe in your heart and confess with your mouth, and you shall be saved and healed. Don’t be afraid, be saved! Amen
Through the fog, I hear a distance roar, the sound of people, their voices raised, and the sound of footsteps in almost perfect rhythm. They’re marching toward something, perhaps a sporting event, concert, or political rally. Maybe it’s a parade or a military procession.
Their sound becomes louder and louder, closer and closer; the ground begins to vibrate as several people begin to emerge from the fog. Suddenly, only a few steps behind them emerge a cavalcade of glorious people, as far as the eye can see — Inestimable in number.
Without burdensome expression, the weak, the lame, the sick; the poor, and the forgotten ride upon each of their shoulders. And in their hands, carefully cupped were carried the Aborted, the Unwanted, the Discarded Ones. The passion and fervor of their quest was brazen upon their faces so that nothing could stop or detour them.
As they rushed past me, I became engulfed in a sea of people, young and old. A tremendously intense bright light, white in brilliance, diffused from above and behind this enormous movement of God’s People, lending them the appearance as that of a crystal sea.
My heart began to pound in my chest, with uneasiness and apprehension, as I realized I was swept up into this great sea; my legs began to move and my feet began touching earth with the same rhythm. Upon my shoulders, I felt a gentle burden unequal to its size, a leper, and a prostitute road counter to each of my shoulders.
Without fatigue, I kept in step with my new friends, while a certain joy began to well up from within. As soon as my countenance found my heart’s joyous expression, my hands came together cupped, and within them appeared an Aborted One! My joy turned into inexpressible compassion as I held the contents of my hands against my beating heart.
My face was now brazen, undaunted, and without turning to the left or the right, I quietly asked, “Where are we headed?” Suddenly, in solemn unison, the answer came:
“THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, OF GOD AND HIS CHRIST, WHERE NONE ARE REJECTED, DISCARDED, OR DESPISED”
In the distance, I saw a mountain, which touched heaven and earth at the same time. The brightness of the mountaintop matched the brightness above and behind us. Suddenly, from deep within my heart rose a whisper:
“Heaven is opened to those who sacrifice for the least, and my glory is your rear guard.”
At that very moment, all that was left behind; the sofas and pews, TVs, computers, the comforts of life were forgotten. I’m no longer just one man, I no longer live for myself, and it’s with this procession I’m now known; to live holy and godly, touching the heart of God by touching the very least of these. God dwells within moving temples and invests his glory and grace to those who spend it!
Let us lavishly spend it on those who are truly hungry for righteousness; the hurting and broken, for those who are truly seeking redemption and mercy, and those that are impoverished for the Kingdom of God. Heaven’s supply shall never run dry!
Jesus Christ died for all and has been raised to life that all may live.
“God will repay each person according to what they have done.” To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality, he will give eternal life.” Romans 2:6-7
We do not earn salvation. Rather, our actions prove it!
Become so heavenly-minded that you’ll do tremendous earthly good!
“A wound where there are no tears, wrote John Eldredge, is a wound that can’t be healed,”
A splinter under the skin, if left alone and ignored, will eventually fester to the point of infection. Your body rejects the foreign object no matter how small; the pain calls out for your attention. If you ignore it too long, you could end up in the emergency room.
How about your heart?
Why ignore the pain?
Your heart is more precious than a finger; you can live without a finger, but you can’t live without your heart.
Sometimes, we’re strong in the wrong things and at the wrong times, but to be weak in the right things brings true courage.
If you are hurting, in pain, and are crushed in spirit, heart, and soul, you may be at the most significant turning point of your life. You may be dwelling with God in a high and protected place, but you must share your tears with God, or you’ll be swallowed up in bitterness and left alone on earth.
Isaiah 57:15
“The high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, the Holy One, says this: I live in that high and holy place where those with contrite, humble spirits dwell; and I refresh the humble and give new courage to those with repentant hearts.”
Psalm 51:17
“The sacrifice pleasing to God is a broken spirit. God, You will not despise a broken and humbled heart.”
Let God encounter your tears; after all, he is the Everlasting Father. Please share it with him as your sacrifice of pride. Come to him crushed, broken, betrayed, rejected, and despised. He’s well acquainted with all of this and more. He allows it to touch your life, not to destroy you, but to draw you closer to himself so that you may be healed.
God wants to father you …
Trust and turn to God and surrender your rights to be offended, your anger for being abused, and your self-hatred for being molested, raped, and violated. God specializes in hurting and wounded people, and he’d rather be with you than with kings and queens.
The moment you offer up to God all your tears and pain, you are with him in spirit and truth.
Isaiah 42:3
“He will not break the bruised reed nor quench the dimly burning flame. He will encourage the fainthearted, those tempted to despair. He will see full justice given to all who have been wronged.”
God won’t exploit your bruises. He’ll not snuff out your heart, even if it’s barely lit and barely alive.
God desires to be your daddy …
Give it all over to God. If you do, he’ll see that justice is served, and you can give your anger and revenge a proper burial.
Then, you’ll knock down your walls of despair and make them into a dance floor, and you’ll dance with your Abba, just as He’s always wanted to.
Don’t live with the pain. Time is not the healer of all wounds; that’s a lie.
God is the healer of all wounds, and he’s waiting to hear your cries directed towards him so that He may act.
Isaiah 30:19
“O’ my people in Jerusalem, you shall weep no more, for he will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. He will answer you.”
Give it up to God. Let it drink in God’s presence and love, and so be healed and restored.
Become healed in the name of Jesus!
He came to seek out the lost and broken, and there is no one he cannot save or heal.
This may be one of your greatest moments and your most significant turning point.
Your heart and soul are God’s specialty. Don’t ignore this opportunity – don’t let your heart become hardened again. Act now while your heart has softened.
Don’t live with a wounded heart. Jesus is dying to heal you. Amen
With long days and even longer nights, I have written more and have done a great deal of thinking and searching. Each time I do, more memories and tears bubble up. But these are good tears because what was once tragic is now increasingly becoming a blessing.
So, I’ve added more stories and more insight. It’s been the hindsight, coupled with new understanding, which has been revealing the fingerprints and mastery of a loving Father-hearted God, who, by the way, took all my days of good and evil and is progressively showing his artistry through all of it.
His color palate contains far more colors than just “black and white,” which is what many cold and lifeless religions preach to us. He is an unlimited God, with shades of an eternal spectrum yet to be discovered, and a profoundly intimate God, motivated with an ever-expanding Father-heart. He is filled with grace and wisdom. His love utterly humbles me, and if you can believe it, speechless at His unconditional grace and mercy towards even a guy like me.
Thank you all for your prayers and kindness. I genuinely hope and pray that whatever you may be battling or struggling through, it too is woven into something beautiful, no matter how difficult or painful. God loves a “stacked deck,” the more complex your life may be, the more impossible for a solution or cure, the more grace will appear — for our God loves, absolutely loves to come through!
So then, in our weaknesses and fragility, we can boast about God’s grace and that we’re also co-siblings with The Great Overcomer, Jesus Christ. We are children of the Father-hearted God. We are vastly wealthy and greatly loved.
I was at a water damaged home in Walnut Creek several years ago. I was speaking with the mother of this cute little, “Shirley Temple” like 3-year old. A few minutes later, the front door opens, and the little girl lights up and runs to her father, excitedly yelling, Abba, Abba, my Abba is home! I gotta tell yah, that brief moment tugged at my heart. I think it’s because that’s how we’ll one day greet our Heavenly Father. That’s how he wants us to greet him each new day. I think God’s favorite name is Abba!
So, notify your soul and face too, and show the world how great our God is. From your sick beds to your busy offices and lives, from your living rooms to the dressing rooms of Macy’s and Kohl’s — in every shopping line, and especially at Walmart, For our God is a great God, 24/7!
He loves to reveal his Father-Heart to broken and lost people. Our God would rather hang out with the despised and rejected than dwell with kings and queens — that’s just how special you are!
There’s no need to be anyone else than you. No need to be with anyone else than with the Father-hearted God!
If you’re not living as though heaven is for real, then you’re not prepared to live there.
“Nobody gets too much heaven no more It’s much harder to come by I’m waiting in line Nobody gets too much love anymore It’s as high as a mountain And harder to climb…” “Too Much Heaven,” by (Songwriter(s): Barry, Robin & Maurice Gibb) Recorded: July 1978
We’ve got to stop playing into the hands of Unbelievers and Utopians by joining them in bringing heaven to earth. It’s our job as believers to bring people to heaven and living a lifestyle that points the way.
Heaven is our destination, which makes us sojourners and not settlers while here on earth.
The old saying:
“Don’t be too Heavenly minded, or you’ll be no earthly good.”
That is a lie!
Being Heavenly minded is how we avoid becoming too worldly, and so becoming ineffective on earth.
We lead people towards God because of the amazing hope of heaven within us.
Colossians 3:1-2
Living the New Life
“Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.”
Hmm, “… realities of heaven,” I like that! Heaven is a reality; it’s for real, or have you forgotten?
“Nobody gets too much heaven no more” is because our worldly goals and comforts have replaced our heavenly destination. Jesus spoke of a present Heavenly Kingdom, which is here, now, and already within us, who believe.
… We’ve just forgotten it!
Heaven is both our prize and reward, which is barely spoken about or herald from pulpits. Doesn’t truly loving God mean that we have a longing to be with Him; to be where our Lover and Redeemer dwells?
We’ve trivialized what it truly means to “love the Lord thy God,” and turned love into an impossible feat, making real love as unreachable, “as a high mountain” that has become “too hard to climb.”
No heaven and no love no more is making our world into a hellish place, whereby more and more people want off earth, but in the wrong way, and in the wrong direction!
Why are so many “broken people” willing to take as many people to hell with them as possible?
Why would John Lennon pen the famous lyrics…
“Imagine there’s no heaven It’s easy if you try No hell below us Above us only sky”
… which happens to be the atheist’s Anthem!
This song, as popular as it is, is not directing people to a place of world peace. It’s directing people straight to hell, all during a nice tune and a sweet melody.
According to Ecclesiastes 3:11, We were created with “eternity written on our hearts.” We can’t fathom “only sky.” We have souls fitted for eternity.
Where are the Holy People of God who are to lead the lost and hopeless to the love of God and the only pathway to heaven, which is Jesus Christ?
If you’re not living as though heaven is for real, then you’re not prepared to live there. If you’re not loving God for real, then you’re making love impossible.
God’s love is real, and so Heaven is real, too!
As a matter of fact, heaven is so real that God sent his only Son, in the form of a baby, to make a way for you and me to enter heaven.
Before Jesus gave up his last breath, he said to the thief, hanging on his own cross next to him:
“… This day, you will be with me in Paradise.”
Jesus came to earth so that you too may be with him in heaven. The thief on the cross recognized Jesus’s innocence, and in so doing, believed that Jesus is the Christ.
I hope you, too, will believe.
The world would be a better place with more heavenly minded people on it! Wouldn’t you think so?
Because the Great Commission was not the Great Recommendation!
First, let me say that “end-time” prophecy does indeed matter, and having a clear understanding, at least as clear as possible, of end-time events is essential to healthy Christian living. In other words, future and near-future prophetic events should not cause fear but rather hope.
Also, our eschatological views, no matter the variance, should not cripple our testimony and mission of preaching the gospel to all people and at all times. Just as Paul charged Timothy:
“I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.” – 2 Timothy 4:1-2 (ESV)
Our end-time, prophetic views should purify us, not scare us, or for that matter, scare people into believing the truth of Jesus Christ. Also, our hope is not only in heaven, but in Christ, and it’s when He is the center and focus of our hope that we become pure, as he is pure.
“We are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears, we shall be like him because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.” – 1 John 3:2-3 (ESV)
So, in light of this, let’s discuss the impact of today’s end-time, prophetic views on Christianity, and our mission and influence.
It is quite possible that the premillennial dispensational view was a design, a philosophical invention, to neuter the effectiveness of the Gospel. Was it designed by men or demons?
Pre-tribulation rapture and premillennialism are a few of Christianity’s great deceptions, and it became popular at the turn of the 19th century and spread like a virus into the 20th century.
It began with a Jesuit Priest named Manuel Diaz Lacunza (1731–1801), whose false eschatological teaching influenced John Nelson Darby, (1800–1882), and others. Later, C.I. Scofield (1843–1921) popularized the premillennial and dispensational views, and Dr. Scofield’s notes, sermons, and commentaries were actually published on the pages of the Bible. Scofield’s Reference Bible is still available and in print today! The Scofield Reference Bible had sold over two million copies by the end of World War II.
I really encourage you to check these things out for yourselves. Please check out the following link, as well as the links and references at the end of this article:
The Apostles and the early Church Fathers did not teach this end-time interpretation and theory. In modern times, men like Charles C. Ryrie, born March 2, 1925, along with Hal Lindsey and Tim LaHaye, are but a few of the modern-day prognosticators and purveyors of end-time prophecy. They are responsible for the unintended consequence of Christianity’s focus on millennialism, and away from the Great Commission of Christ, and the preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God in the here and now.
“And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” – Matthew 24:14 (ESV)
I have read a lot of these authors, teachers, and pastors, and I am not rejecting or denying their faith and belief in God. I am only pointing out how their focus of millennialism, whether it be pre, post or nonexistent, has distracted mainstream Christianity from the gospel mandate in reaching the lost world. If Christianity remains so focused on vacating earth and end-time theological theory, America will grow dark like Europe, as Christianity has left Europe’s shores years ago.
“Operation Rapture” has created a defeatist attitude, which has gripped mainstream Christianity and taken it off the task and messaging of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It abandons the present reality and proclamation of the Kingdom of God, pushing it off into the distant future, and rejects the here and now the presentation of the Kingdom of God, preached and taught by Jesus Christ himself, some two thousand years ago.
Furthermore, it repudiates and marginalizes the great tribulation and suffering, which most of our Christian brothers and sisters are, and have been undergoing presently, and for past decades. Please read the following letter excerpt, written by the late Corrie Ten Boom in 1974:
“In China, the Christians were told, “Don’t worry, before the tribulation comes, you will be translated – raptured.” Then came a terrible persecution. Millions of Christians were tortured to death. Later, I heard a bishop from China say, sadly, “we have failed. We should have made the people strong for persecution, rather than telling them Jesus would come first. Tell the people how to be strong in times of persecution, how to stand when the tribulation comes, – to stand and not faint.” I feel I have a divine mandate to go and tell the people of this world that it is possible to be strong in the Lord Jesus Christ. We are in training for the tribulation, but more than sixty percent of the Body of Christ across the world has already entered into the tribulation. There is no way to escape it. We are next.” – Corrie Ten Boom (written 1974)
“Beam me up, Scottie!”
It really bothers me when I hear my Christian friends bemoan the trials of this life and their worries of apocalyptic doom, yet the only good news out of their mouths is that of the rapture, “Operation Rescue.” This defeatist attitude and their longing for ‘the airlift’ into the heavens has neutralized Christianity’s spiritual and cultural impact on the earth.
We want to be “beamed up to heaven” rather than impact the earth for the glory of God and for the sake of the Gospel. The Church benefits the believers, while the Kingdom of God benefits the world. The Church equips believers to expand the Kingdom of God rather than to expand Church buildings.
Now, we’ve all learned that Islamic-jihadist terrorists are beheading Christians, as well as other non-Islamic believers, and doing terrible atrocities, even to their own people. And this horror has touched and is touching our own shores and heartland.
If this were not hideous enough, we’ve recently learned that Planned Parenthood, right here, in the “good ole US of A,” is heinously dismantling and harvesting partially aborted babies for their organs, tissue, and limbs! Do they do this while the baby is still alive? But, don’t you worry about a thing, it’s useless tissue anyway.
Had enough?
Do you want to be “raptured,” or do you want to make a difference?
Jesus Prays for His Disciples:
“I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is the truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sakes, I sanctify myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.” – John 17:15-19 (NKJV)
Make no mistake, I believe in a soon and coming appearing of Christ, the resurrection of the dead, the taking up of the saints; his judgment and reward for his children, and eternal judgment towards those who’ve rejected the Gospel and the Only Living Truth, Jesus Christ. However, this should stir us towards preaching the Gospel, not whining and crying for the return of Christ and Operation Rescue.
While mainstream Christianity is preoccupied with the rapture, its mission and influence are disappearing from the earth! It certainly has in Europe and is now fast becoming invisible here in America.
“Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.” – John 4:35 (ESV)
Are we lazy Christians? Shouldn’t we understand by now that we are “Operation Rescue” to a dying world, which needs to hear about the only hope and message hidden within your hearts and souls?
Jesus Christ came to earth, born as a man, to redeem those born under the law of sin and death that he, through your testimony and preaching, may save those who are perishing. The sowers have been sowing the seed of Truth for centuries, and now the easy work of harvesting is yours.
Yes, your redemption is drawing nigh, but so is the condemnation and eternal judgment of those whom you’ve failed by not preaching and living the Gospel!
“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.” – 2 Corinthians 5:10 (ESV)
Saints are being murdered, beheaded, and imprisoned throughout the world. Yet, your belief of a pre-tribulation rapture and premillennial eschatology seems to have forgotten them, and they feel left behind and forgotten by the Western Churches! And the world, well, they’ve not seen hide nor hair of the present Kingdom of God, and the glorious economy of the Risen and ruling King of Kings. You’ve kept kicking the can of God’s Kingdom down the road instead of announcing, its existence and the power of His Kingdom!
Mainstream Christianity has corrupted herself in the prosperity messages of Heaven now, Kingdom later, and that persecution and tribulation are for those poor souls “left behind.” You’ve been duped and led astray by false shepherds; gathering to themselves many disciples and lining their pockets with loads of your money and celebrity acclaim. Don’t you see? Their perversion and the false messages are designed to appeal and to attract you; corralling you into their tents and away from your true calling and mission!
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” – Matthew 5:10-12 (ESV)
“Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted…” – 2 Timothy 3:12 (ESV)
Are we foolish Christians? Have we become so weak in our understanding and faith that the suffering life of Christ is not good enough for us? Maybe our opposition and fear of tribulation and persecution are because we have refused to live the crucified life and preach the crucified and risen Savior. We have become addicted to the single attribute of love and have rejected the Wrath and Vengeance of God, His Justice, Holiness, and Righteousness.
The world needs to hear the truth of their condition before the arrival of The Righteous and Holy God. Salvation through repentance of sin and belief in the Son is their only access to the Father and everlasting life.
Our trivial handling of God’s grace and his love has produced a God, which requires no repentance or sorrowfulness of our sins. The only remedy against the wrath and anger of God is the belief in the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ. Only believing in Christ Jesus will God’s righteous and holy anger be averted. The world, and yes, even your neighbor remains under God’s wrath unless you venture out from your comfortable living and abandon your distraction with your ex-filtration. You are the rescue, and your “Ops” is to infiltrate the world with the message of salvation.
The Great Commission was not the Great Recommendation!
If God is all Love, then what did God pour out on Christ Jesus? And what is waiting for, and held in reserve for those whom you’ve failed to speak the only remedy against God’s wrath? Your “Love Card” only presents a tolerant God who winks and giggles at sin and compromise. Yes, God is love, but only to the believer, those who love God.
“The person who does not love does not know God because God is love.” – 1 John 4:8 (NET Bible)
“You are like unfaithful wives, flirting with the glamour of this world, and never realizing that to be the world’s lover means becoming the enemy of God! Anyone who deliberately chooses to love the world is thereby making himself God’s enemy. Do you think what the scriptures have to say about this is a mere formality? Or do you imagine that this spirit of passionate jealousy is the Spirit he has caused to live in us? No, he gives us grace potent enough to meet this and every other evil spirit if we are humble enough to receive it. That is why he says: ‘God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’” – James 4:4
Through belief and teaching of Pre-Trib Rapture, Premillennial Eschatology, Dispensationalism, Prosperity Preaching, and the Love Card, we have turned the only Gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ into a Golden Calf, and we call it Yahweh.
Pray for our Brothers and Sisters in Christ throughout the world, who’ve been in great tribulation for years, and have been “Left Behind” by Christianity, preoccupied with leaving the world, rather than occupying and transforming it.
“But cowards who turn back from following me, and those who are unfaithful to me, and the corrupt, and murderers, and the immoral, and those conversing with demons, and idol worshipers and all liars—their doom is in the Lake that burns with fire and sulphur. This is the Second Death.” – Revelation 21:8 (TLB)
“Surely we are not going to be men who cower back and are lost, but men who maintain their faith until the salvation of their souls is complete!” – Hebrews 10:39
Please listen to the video message from Corrie Ten Boom: (You will have to confirm your age, do to the content of the video)
Dispensationalism – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dispensationalism is an evangelical, futurist, Biblical interpretation that understands God to have related to human beings in different ways under different Biblical covenants in a series of “dispensations,” or periods in history. – WIKIPEDIA
“Today, if you hear God’s voice, do not harend your heart.”
Our Nation is suffering from terminal cancer, which has metastasized throughout its culture, society, and every sector of government, education, corporations, media, and institutions.
Do you think any president, left or right, or political party can heal her?
If you do, you’re part of the problem, and I think you need a second opinion.
Our Nation is at stage-4 cancer, and very few are on their knees in intercession to our only Healer and Redeemer.
“…So it will be when the LORD begins to heal his people and cure the wounds he gave them.” Isaiah 30:26.
But this promise to heal and restore only comes after the Nation confesses and morns their sins and turns from their wicked ways.
Our Nation and its people are in denial about its moral rot and spiritual decay.
We think that the right politician will solve America’s problems, when in fact our problems are not political, but profoundly spiritual.
However, the True and proven Man, Jesus Christ, the very Son of God, is rejected as our only King and Sovereign, and His Lordship abandoned in exchange for earthbound political might of lesser gods.
There is no man whereby his promises, no matter how lofty and spiritual, can bring about true peace and national redemption.
Only the contrite heart of a broken nation and acknowledgment of our corporate and individual sins as a people will real spiritual change come. Only the True God of Heaven, who’s no politician and whose power and authority are not dependent on the elections or political whims of any people or nation.
The prophets are pleading for repentance and a return to holiness, or all is lost, and our only hope for healing will come from a dark season of judgment.
Prepare yourselves and get your houses and churches in order. We’ve not much time. Those whose God is The Lord and are found on their knees before our Great King will survive.
Our finest hour is upon us, but you’ll only shine in the coming darkness if your heart is right with God and if he is your only God and Savior.
God bless and heal America, but only! if we as your people turn from our selfishness and rebellion.
Find your way back to God so that our national cancer can be healed!
Call To Courage 