Anyway, I was tagged by Kalani. Here are the rules of it:

1. Link to the person(s) who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself
4. Tag sixish people at the end of your post.
5. Let each person know he or she has been tagged
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up

So here are my six random things:

1. I’m a sucker for Christian romance novels

2. I’ve been to a movie theater only twice in my life

3. I like fluffy toys

4. My favorite books of the Bible are Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Daniel and Revelation

5. I don’t like to be bugged when I sleep

6. I like to knit

I now tag:

Penn

Michelle

CJ

The Life Savior Boys

Kirsten Erin

Margaret

I heard this Bible verse recently and I wanted to share it with all of you. It’s 1 Chronicles 12:32

of the sons of Issachar who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, their chiefs were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their command;

It stood out to me that it’s important to know what time it is, what time we’re living in, so that we know how we should live and what we should do.

Jesus really could come any moment now. I urge you (and me) to live with that in the front of your mind and “be zealous for the fear of the Lord all the day” (Proverbs 23:17).

After reading Romans 7 and part of 8 last week, I started thinking about that. You know, it is absolutely wonderful! What Jesus, the Son of God, did is amazing!

Verse 4 carried on with “that the righteous requirement of the law” (punishment for sin) “might be fulfilled…”

Before, sin, taking advantage through the law, made me sin (have you ever been happy and content, and then your mom said “I put a cake in the fridge. Don’t eat it until dessert.”? How did you feel all of a sudden? Like you wanted the cake? It’s like that. Because of the fallen human nature, we tend to want what we can’t have, and sin takes advantage of that to make us want to do what we ought not do). It was like a law of nature: “all I do is sin and I can do nothing else.”

I thought of it another way too: sin was like a horrible task master with a slicing whip, forcing me to obey it. I had no choice; all I did would be abominable in the eyes of the Lord.

But then came Jesus, who took sin upon Himself, and made it possible for me not to sin. By Him and through His Spirit, I can live a sinless life. But even if I do sin, I have Him as an advocate with the Father (1John 2:1) and can be clean again! God defeated sin and set me free to live for Him. Sin has nothin’ on me anymore!

I must now set my mind on spiritual things and walk according to the Spirit. I’m free to! So I don’t have to sin. And this merciful God grants both the desire and the ability to do His will, to follow the law of the Spirit of life in Christ! (Phil 2:13) Yay!

The law couldn’t do that. But Christ could. And He did! As He purposed long ago, just as it was prophesied (Isaiah 53:4-5,6,10-12) He actually did. Praise to the King! I don’t have to sin.

And you know, neither do you.

*You can read a post on the same topic here.

It’s been more than a week! But here I am again

I saw this article from a weekly newsletter which my mom receives from K-House, and I thought it was really challenging and exciting!

Here it is. Get it’s message out to as many people as possible. God really doesn’t want us to be here when He visits this earth with His wrath.

The Day of Man and The Day of the Lord

Lambert Dolphin

The Day of Man

New Scientist magazine, published in Great Britain, usually has one or two articles of interest in every issue, in spite of the blatant, arrogant atheism of their editorial staff. Their July 23 issue featured an article entitled The End is Not Nigh, reporting on a conference held this summer at Oxford University. The presenters at that conference made it clear that man was (as of now) in full control of his own destiny! The conferees assure us that modern man, (finely tuned and highly refined by eons of evolutionary improvements), now has all the resources he needs to cope with any future threats to his prosperity, comfort and well being! Our destiny and our future are apparently now entirely in our own hands.

Anyone who backs off a bit from such rhetoric, taking a more objective look at the real world, will surely see that our planet is a long way from being under “man’s control.” On the contrary, quite a few well-informed people today see world events as increasing out of control with each passing day.

No recourse to religious arguments is necessary in looking soberly at the human condition as it really is. Lasting progress towards peace on earth, good will toward men, is still pure fantasy, judging by simple extrapolation from past known history.

Our human mortality rate remains at a dismal100%. More people live on earth just about now than we can hope to feed for very much longer. Man’s ability to annihilate our fellow man (often for arbitrary reasons) is greater now than ever. Bad guys who start wars are often not even rational or predictable – many should have been locked up a years ago.

Seemingly minor social issues leading to horrific wars, the deaths of many innocents and purposeless destruction, bubble up again and again, defying permanent solutions. Even the well-intentioned actions of enlightened individuals and groups often backfire, doing more long-term harm than good.

Surely “mother” nature “herself” is not yet under our perfect control either. The energy in a single hurricane is of the order of 200 times greater than the total electrical generating capacity of our entire earth. “Average” earthquakes (a million tons of TNT equivalent, or so) are not puny in their energy releases. Our planet is already overdue for some above average quakes any day now.

But no matter. Information from a reliable outside Source, (that is, from authoritative data given to us in the Bible), lets us know that we have been living for a good many centuries on borrowed time, for a probationary season of history we can think of as “man’s day” or “the day of man.”

But the status quo of God’s management of human affairs is about to change big time. The change will be sudden, violent and irrevocable. We have been forewarned

C.S. Lewis wrote,

God is going to invade this earth in force. But what is the good of saying you are on His side then, when you see the whole natural universe melting away like a dream, and something else — something it never entered your head to conceive — comes crashing in; something so beautiful to some of us, and so terrible to others, that none of us will have any choice left? For this time it will be God without disguise; something so overwhelming that it will strike either irresistible love or irresistible horror into every creature.
It will be too late then to choose your side. There is no use saying you choose to lie down when it has become impossible to stand up. That will not be the time for choosing; it will be the time when we discover which side we have really chosen, whether we realized it before or not. Now, today, this moment, is our chance to choose the right side. God is holding back, to give us that chance. It will not last forever. We must take it or leave it.

Although God has always existed as a mighty Spirit Being, consisting of three Persons working together in perfect harmony, the created universe was brought into existence a finite number of years ago by this eternal God acting according to His own free will and for His own good purposes. Many clear statements to this effect are found in the Bible.

“I am the LORD, and there is no other; There is no God besides Me. I will gird you, though you have not known Me, That they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting That there is none besides Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other; I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the LORD, do all these things.’ “Rain down, you heavens, from above, And let the skies pour down righteousness; Let the earth open, let them bring forth salvation, And let righteousness spring up together. I, the LORD, have created it.” (Isaiah 45:5-8)

Concerning Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Godhead, the New Testament declares that the created universe was brought into existence through the Son of God. That is, Jesus was the active agent in our original creation from nothing. Jesus is, at this very minute, the active sustainer and “upholder” of the cosmos, micromanaging every detail. The entire cosmos, (the seen and the unseen realms), were all created for Jesus. The cosmos was not made for us, but for Jesus and His associates. If He is the designated heir, Jesus has the right to do as He pleases with His universe. In fact Jesus has been, and is now, directing the ages of history moving world events rapidly now towards the day He will rule all the nations from Jerusalem.

“He [the Son of God] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things [preeminent], and in Him all things consist [are held together].” (Colossians 1:15-17)

The Day of the Lord

As noted, based on the Biblical revelation, human history from the first man Adam till now can be considered “the day of man,” or “man’s day.” A fast approaching new epoch of history will be known as “the Day of God,” or “the Day of the Lord.”

The transition from the current state of affairs of “man’s day” on earth to “God’s Day” will involve many traumatic and violent changes for us all. We have already been warned about all this in Scripture for centuries in advance. Probably many just hope it will never happen in our lifetimes. Even many followers of Jesus are none to eager to see this new age dawn on our world. We don’t all welcome change of any kind when we are already reasonably comfortable. But, the Apostle Peter warned “If the righteous man is scarcely saved, where will the sinner and ungodly appear” (1 Peter 4:18).

Both the Old and New Testaments are full of information on the approaching Day of the Lord. Some of the strongest language in all the Bible is reserved for descriptors about “the great and terrible day of the Lord.” We are warned again and again to be ready for this radical change as if it were to burst in upon us at any moment now.

“I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?’” (Revelation 6:12-17)

During the present period of history—which we have been calling “man’s day” God’s interference in the affairs of men has been minimal. This does not mean that human beings have had total freedom to do as we please down through history, with no outside interference from God. Ever since creation, God has ruled as Sovereign over the entire creation and over all peoples, tribes and nations. We are far, far more dependent upon God, even for our “daily bread” than we can possibly imagine. But, so far the Lord has been less intrusive than He might have been.

Volumes have been written about God’s day to day involvement in the universe during this long, extended period of grace called “day of man.” Much of what God has been doing for us has been “below the radar.” We can not usually tell if a certain natural disaster is a judgment on a city of a nation or simply a “natural event” resulting from our living in a fallen universe. When disasters are judgments from God, (as in the case of the confusion of languages at Babel, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah or the destructions of Jerusalem in 586 BC and AD 70) we are usually told that these were specific judgments. When asked about disasters in a fallen world Jesus gave an enigmatic answer, “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3,5) We ought not to take circumstances in life for granted and we should always be ready to meet our God at any time.

Based on what we do know about human evil, (as God has explained the human condition to us in detail in the Bible) our Creator’s present-day involvement with our race has mostly been devoted to restraining human evil so that life stays livable for us most of the time. And we have been mercifully kept from utterly destroying ourselves on any number of occasions. God has invariably acted with great mercy, compassion and utmost restraint, greatly preferring kindness to judgment.

“…Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who “will render to each one according to his deeds”: eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness–indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek; but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God.” (Romans 2:4-11)

Suffice it to say that we earth-dwellers are like house guests living in Someone else’s universe. Jesus described his relationship with Israel using a parable on this very subject of an absent landlord and less than trustworthy renters in Matthew 21)

The Bible assures us that we have actually been living in God’s universe under a long series of probationary tests and trials. So far we have failed every test rather badly. Therefore there is coming a Day when the Owner-Landlord must intervene to set things right.

Just what can be expected when a God of love intervenes abruptly in our chaotic, thoroughly mixed-up world of human affairs. He will clearly be coming to act in our own best interests but will that intervention be smooth and peaceful? Will Jesus not be openly welcomed everywhere as earth’s long-expected Prince of Peace?

Come, thou long-expected Jesus,
born to set thy people free;
from our fears and sins release us,
let us find our rest in thee.

Israel’s strength and consolation,
hope of all the earth thou art:
dear desire of every nation,
joy of every longing heart.

Born thy people to deliver,
born a child, and yet a king,
born to reign in us for ever,
now thy gracious kingdom bring.

By thine own eternal Spirit
rule in all our hearts alone;
by thine all-sufficient merit
raise us to thy glorious throne. (Charles Wesley, 1744)

The sad answer is that Jesus is the most hated man who has even lived! His rule on earth over the nations will be resisted to the death by the vast armies of the world when they gather on the plains of Esdraelon in Israel to oppose His return to rule the earth from Israel. (See for example Revelation 19, Zephaniah 1, Zechariah 14, and don’t miss Psalm 2).

Over long centuries, human governments, educational systems, religious organizations, economic and financial entities have became more and more man-serving and less and less God-serving. How can God bring in a whole new (righteous) world order without first tearing down the old?

Many people tolerate change when they benefit, but become threatened and angry when change affects them adversely. Human violence resulting from the initial phases of the return of the Lord Jesus to claim His throne can be expected to be mighty violent indeed.

Our Creator is a God of love but He is also just—and He much prefers mercy to justice. How much longer will man be permitted to have “his day” in the course of human government and man-made institutions on the planet?

Actually God has already told us that He will tolerate (and allow) much more evil on earth before the final return of Jesus Christ in full power with the armies of heaven to back him up.

There is much more bad stuff coming down–evidently God will soon allow human evil to run its full course openly and unfettered (for a short season). A counterfeit prince of peace, a fake peace program, a counterfeit world church, a European union of nations are already being crafted in our day. As history moves from the day of man to the day of God, full blown evil will express itself with horrific consequences on earth.

Every year “the time of the end” as described in the Bible draws nearer. The Apostles of the First Century felt the coming of their Lord was even then on their horizon.

In spite of many obvious indicators in Middle Eastern events, the indicators from the economic markets of the world, the rumblings of nuclear war and more terrorist attacks, should we not be up to speed and ready for the time of God’s intervention in our world?’
“But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. “For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. “Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.” (Luke 21:3436

Ray Stedman has written,

“All through the Bible we see God’s love is manifest to men and women everywhere in urging them to escape this judgment. God in love pleads with people, ‘Do not go on to this end!’ But ultimately he must judge those who refuse his offer of grace. He says, in effect, ‘I love you and I can provide all you need. Therefore love me, and you will find the fulfillment your heart is looking for. ‘ But many men and women say, ‘No, I do not want that. I will take your gifts, I will take all the good things you provide, but I do not want you! Let me run my own life. Let me serve my own ends. Let me have my own kingdom. ‘ To such, God ultimately says, ‘All right, have it your way!’ “God has three choices: first, he can let rebellion go on forever and never judge it. In that case the terrible things that are happening on earth, all these distressing injustices, the cruelty, the anger, the hate, the malice, the sorrow, the hurt, the pain, the death that now prevails, must go on forever. God does not want that, and neither does man. Second, God can force men to obey him and control them as robots. But he will never do that because that means they cannot truly love him. Love cannot be forced. Therefore, third, the only choice God really has is that he must withdraw ultimately from those who refuse his love. He must let them have their own way forever. That results in the terrible torment of godlessness. If God is necessary to us, then to take him out of our lives is to plunge us into the most terrible sense of loneliness and abandonment that mankind can know. We have all experienced it to some small degree when we get what we want and then discover we do not want what we got! For that sense of bored emptiness to go on forever, is unspeakable torment.” (Ray C. of Stedman)

————————

Lambert Dolphin, lambert@ldolphin.org.
Your email is welcome.
August 15, 2008
Past Newsletters: http://ldolphin.org/news/
Web site: http://ldolphin.org/asstbib.shtml

I went to my friend Michelle’s blog and she posted something about The Shack, a book by William P. Young. It’s supposedly a Christian book but . . . well, read the article for yourself.

It’s a reminder of what time we are living in.

“For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.” 2 Timothy 4:3

That time is now. So be careful, little eyes, what you see, and be careful, little ears, what you hear.

Jesus is coming soon! Praise God!

Let’s take an experience from Abraham’s life, for example. In his old age, he finally had the son of his dreams, which had looked impossible enough. But then one day, God asked Abraham to give the son back. How ripped apart Abraham must have felt. His most precious earthly possession would die. But his love for God prevailed and his trust in God’s promise to make a nation out of him held firm. He took his son, and as he was about to deal the death blow, God stopped him and, in a figurative sense, Abraham “received his son from the dead” (Heb 11:19).

Now that example is one that models real faith in God. And like Hebrews 11:19 says, Abraham concluded that God could bring his son back to life. Do you think Abraham could ever have guessed that his experience would be written down, thousands of years later, as an encouragement for people who would cleave to the same God he did?

What about Jonah? He spent three dark days and nights inside a gigantic fish, and that was a result of disobedience! Might the thought have crossed his mind that the Son of God would use that as a simile for what He would go through (Matt 12:40)?

Did Elijah assume that he’d be a figure of people to come (like John the Baptist. See Matthew 11:13-14)? Maybe Melchizedeck reckoned his life would be paralled with that of the Messiah (Heb 7:1-3).

Do you suppose God will use your life as an example or figure for someone, somewhere, sometime?

I’m fascinated by what God has used my hand to write. From it, I take an incentive to live my life, in absolutely every way, for His glory. In triumph and in pain, in gladness or in punishment, in writing, singing, relaxing, or any other situation, I choose to honor God in His own strength which He gives me.

I never know what He may choose to do with my life later on, or even right now!

Will you join me?

I am: loved, wanted and owned by God

I think: too much

I know: less than I’d like to

I have: a maroon-colored guitar

I wish: I were in Heaven

I hate: lies and being so self-conscious

I miss: being 5

I fear: angering God

I feel: kinda foolish about the above thing I just wrote

I hear: Israeli-style music

I smell: air

I crave: for time to be still for a bit

I search: for answers to many questions I come up with

I wonder: why I can’t play instruments as well as some people

I regret: ways I’ve treated people in the past

I love: Jesus

I ache: to enjoy Jesus much more

I am not: 13

I believe: everything God said/says

I dance: to Christian music

I sing: at random times

I cry: when I extremely frustrated or angry or upset or worried or moody or when it’s goodbye (but not always)

I don’t always: behave the way I want to

I fight: with myself a lot

I write: to God quite often

I win: monopoly 65% of the time (when it’s against my brother)

I lose: my will to continue what I’ve started

I never: walk up to some random person and start up a conversation (I’m still too shy)

I always: breathe

I confuse: the letters “w” and “y”

I listen: to Christian music (only) and I especially enjoy rock, Israeli, pop rock, pop and worship genres

I can usually be found: on the computer (as of late)

I am scared: of negative opinions of me

I need: to get over myself

I am happy about: the month of August

I imagine: what it’ll be like when the Rapture happens

Hey, that was fun! I want to do more! But I’ll probably only put them on my other blog next time.

• Fulfilled prophecy gives us proof to show to non-Christians that God is for real and is still active in this world.

• It helps us know what’s coming so that we aren’t confused by false statements or doctrines.

• It helps us understand what’s happening in the world today.

• It boosts our faith. When a person sees the fulfillment of something God foretold, (hopefully) it causes that person to be even more sure of the Lord.

• It can keep us safe. The Christians that listened to Jesus’ prophecy in Matthew 24 fled Jerusalem, and so none of them were killed in 70AD by General Titus when he destroyed the temple.

• It shows people (both Christians and non-Christians, if they care to check it out) God’s control over time, the world, everything. For example, when it seemed impossible that Israel could become a nation again, they did, on the exact day that God said they would.

• It brings us closer to the Lord. We can’t help but worship Him for His mighty acts and appreciate His wisdom. Then we come for more, studying it alongside the rest of His word, seeing where what fits…and thus we also gain a better knowledge of God and His word!

Prophecy, all of it, is God’s word, and just like every other part (grace, gospel, justice, judgment, lovingkindness, mercy and truth etc.) it should be known and taught, don’t you think?

Refrain

He’s coming soon, He’s coming soon;
With joy we welcome His returning;
It may be morn, it may be night or noon—
We know He’s coming soon.

The signs around—in earth and air,
Or painted on the starlit sky,
God’s faithful witnesses—declare
That the coming of the Savior draweth nigh.

Refrain

The dead in Christ who ’neath us lie,
In countless numbers, all shall rise
When through the portals of the sky
He shall come to prepare our paradise.

Refrain

And we, who living, yet remain,
Caught up, shall meet our faithful Lord;
This hope we cherish not in vain,
But we comfort one another by this word.

Find more hymns at CyberHymnal.org