Future on the Mind
There is an obsession within the community of believers to know what the future holds, especially pertaining to the return of Jesus.
There is a hunger to find out what the Bible says about "end times".
When will the rapture take place? Will the Christians have to go through the tribulation? What are the signs of His coming? Books, like the LEFT BEHIND series, climb to the top of the best sellers list.
Prophesy seminars spread across the land like a brush fire.
Out of the shadows of obscurity come prophets with their predictions of when and in what order things will happen.
The rhetoric flows so freely from the self anointed who span the horizon with everything from doom and gloom to the optimistic assurance that the believers will be snatched away.
The responses to these theories generate actions that would stagger even the most seasoned believer.
Some misguided individuals are giving away everything they have.
Others are purchasing houses and cars, knowing that they will not have to make future payments since they will be "raptured.
" Ultra conservatives are preaching a doctrine of fear that if people do not accept Jesus soon, they will miss the "upper taker" and go to Hell.
During these times of aggressive zeal, the world looks at the Church as people who have lost touch with reality.
Believers become the butt of jokes.
Instead of the Christians gaining credibility with the unsaved, their chance of reaching these people with the Gospel diminishes drastically.
You don't scare people into Heaven, you show them the love God has for them and how He is offering them an abundant and full life that's eternal.
The Church is so preoccupied with end times that it is failing to realize its present purpose.
Believers are so Heavenly minded that they are of little earthly good.
For a number of years I was caught up in "End Time Evangelism.
" I would travel on Sunday nights to different churches to bring a teaching called WORLD WAR III.
The Churches would be packed as the people hungered to know when the Church would be caught away.
I knew all the Scriptures and with selective verses I would make a strong case for the populist doctrines of tribulation and rapture of the church.
What I failed to grasp was that I was preaching a people pleasing message and not a God directed teaching.
The reality of this struck home when God revealed to me that I could pack a building out with a people directed message, but if I were to preach holiness or the Divine Commission, I would be fortunate to fill two pews.
How important is knowing what is going to happen in the end times? Is it urgent enough to overshadow the mission of the church? Many believers are sitting on the rapture runway waiting for the trumpet of the Lord to sound.
Our pews are warmed with resting saints singing, "I'll Fly Away" while the non believers wander aimlessly down the worlds "travel at your own risk" road.
Our work is not done yet.
Instead of looking up, let us look out to the harvest.
(John 4:35).
Jesus is coming again and whenever God decides to send Him, may we be ready.
Hopefully, as each day passes, more will enter into His Kingdom.
There is a hunger to find out what the Bible says about "end times".
When will the rapture take place? Will the Christians have to go through the tribulation? What are the signs of His coming? Books, like the LEFT BEHIND series, climb to the top of the best sellers list.
Prophesy seminars spread across the land like a brush fire.
Out of the shadows of obscurity come prophets with their predictions of when and in what order things will happen.
The rhetoric flows so freely from the self anointed who span the horizon with everything from doom and gloom to the optimistic assurance that the believers will be snatched away.
The responses to these theories generate actions that would stagger even the most seasoned believer.
Some misguided individuals are giving away everything they have.
Others are purchasing houses and cars, knowing that they will not have to make future payments since they will be "raptured.
" Ultra conservatives are preaching a doctrine of fear that if people do not accept Jesus soon, they will miss the "upper taker" and go to Hell.
During these times of aggressive zeal, the world looks at the Church as people who have lost touch with reality.
Believers become the butt of jokes.
Instead of the Christians gaining credibility with the unsaved, their chance of reaching these people with the Gospel diminishes drastically.
You don't scare people into Heaven, you show them the love God has for them and how He is offering them an abundant and full life that's eternal.
The Church is so preoccupied with end times that it is failing to realize its present purpose.
Believers are so Heavenly minded that they are of little earthly good.
For a number of years I was caught up in "End Time Evangelism.
" I would travel on Sunday nights to different churches to bring a teaching called WORLD WAR III.
The Churches would be packed as the people hungered to know when the Church would be caught away.
I knew all the Scriptures and with selective verses I would make a strong case for the populist doctrines of tribulation and rapture of the church.
What I failed to grasp was that I was preaching a people pleasing message and not a God directed teaching.
The reality of this struck home when God revealed to me that I could pack a building out with a people directed message, but if I were to preach holiness or the Divine Commission, I would be fortunate to fill two pews.
How important is knowing what is going to happen in the end times? Is it urgent enough to overshadow the mission of the church? Many believers are sitting on the rapture runway waiting for the trumpet of the Lord to sound.
Our pews are warmed with resting saints singing, "I'll Fly Away" while the non believers wander aimlessly down the worlds "travel at your own risk" road.
Our work is not done yet.
Instead of looking up, let us look out to the harvest.
(John 4:35).
Jesus is coming again and whenever God decides to send Him, may we be ready.
Hopefully, as each day passes, more will enter into His Kingdom.
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