We could be in the last days - the end of all things. Or, we might not be. I am sure the Bible does teach that there will come a “last day”. There have been and will continue to be many warnings and signs that will tell everyone on the face of this planet to be ready for the return of Jesus Christ. I also believe that there will be a day when an event called “the rapture” will happen. This will result in possibly a billion people vanishing form earth. After this event takes place, there will be only 7 years left until Jesus physically returns to the earth and begins to be the greatest world leader there ever was or will be. I know that there will be people reading this blog who have a different perspective than I do regarding these end time events. That’s fine with me. I could be wrong about my position and you might be right. It will all pan out at the end.

            The point of this blog entry is not to discuss end time theology, but to begin asking this question: In these turbulent times, what should Christians be like? Whether you believe in the so-called pre-tribulation rapture camp or not, this is an important question to ask and answer. I think the Bible gives us the answer.

            In two places in the gospel of Matthew (9:13 & 12:7), Jesus makes this statement in response to the Pharisees, the religious leaders of the day. Jesus says, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” I think this is a powerful statement. In addressing this to the Pharisees, I believe the message they heard and the one we need to hear is that receiving and giving mercy is more important than the formalism that can be religion.

            Don’t just take my word on it. When Jesus makes this statement, He is quoting from the Old Testament prophet Hosea. It is recorded in Hosea 6:6. The full quote is this, “For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.” The acknowledgment of God here refers to an “intimate knowing” of God. Wow, doesn’t this shine a different light on how we should think about our Christianity. We should be more focused on knowing Jesus more intimately than in focusing on performing our religion better.

            During the turbulent times that are probably ahead of us, do you want to trust in your formalized religion that you are learning to live with or do you want to trust in the knowledge that you know Jesus and, more importantly perhaps, are known by Jesus.

Keep the faith

Today’s blog is going to be short and sweet. I have a wish. My wish is that those who profess to follow Christ (including myself) would live as He lived. His life was a demonstration of loving God and loving people. If we got a hold of this and applied it to our lives, imagine the impact we would have on the world.

            Let me encourage you to spend some time this week thinking and praying about how loving God and loving people can be fleshed out in your own life.

            May God continue to bless you with more of Himself.

            Who do you trust? This question has been running through my mind for most of the last two weeks ever since we got word that the economy was in crisis. I can only imagine the stress and the rioting that would take place if the economy tanked.

            Why would this happen? Why would people get so stressed out if the economy tanked? Well, in my humble opinion, I would say it would be because they put their full trust in the economy and the leaders of our economy. People tend to get stressed over things that are, or are perceived to be, out of their control. The economy collapsing and the resulting necessary change of lifestyle would fall into this category as being outside the control of all of us.

            What about us Christ-followers? We are supposed to trust not in the economy or our leaders (or in any thing else in this world), we are only to trust the Lord Jesus. This doesn’t mean that if the economy collapses that all non-followers-of-Christ will suffer while us followers-of-Christ will have it easy. No, I believe that all will suffer from the possible economic collapse. The difference is that Christ followers trust that God will take care of us and provide for our needs; whereas, non-Christ-followers don’t know that any of their future needs will be met or not (although I believe that God loves them enough that He will meet their needs as well).

            The Bible says, “Some trust in chariots and some trust in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.” (Psalm 20:7).

            Who do you trust? When trouble comes your way, if the economy collapses, if you get sick, who will you trust? Think and pray about it.

            Here are some other scripture verses for you to read and consider as you think about this issue: Psalm 27; 1 Samuel 17:45-47; Psalm 46:1-3; John 14:1-4.

Keep the faith.

            This blog entry has been a few weeks in the making. Part of the reason is that I find myself so busy with my job, with leading and developing Hands of Hope, with the four classes I am taking and, most importantly, trying to be a good husband and father. The other part of the reason has been that I haven’t really felt like I had anything to say of any significance. I have had a few fleeting ideas but nothing has stuck out and said “write about me!” My goal with the blog entry is not just too fill up space but to write something that is meaningful. I hope today’s blog entry falls into the category of having some meaning to it. Here it goes.

            As most of you know, Hurricane Ike came on shore about 2 weeks ago today. As it moved inland, it created strong winds to much of the mid-west that is not normally used that those strong winds. As the winds came through the Cincinnati area, it knocked down some large trees and it knocked out power to most of the people in this region. There were some people who didn’t lose power at all, some for several hours. At our house, we lost power for a total of 84 hours. During this time we lost some food but were able to save much of our food thanks to my parents allowing us to store food in their freezer. We were also able to buy some ice to store some of our items. Overall, losing power for 84 hours was more of a nuisance than anything else. It was a disaster, it wasn’t a struggle, it was a nuisance.

            What I was concerned about was the amount of anger that people displayed. There were reports of fights at gas stations as some for the stations were closed due to lack of power and the open gas stations running out of gas. There were reports that people pulled guns on people at gas stations and even shooting guns at the people who were trying to restore power to their houses. I heard so many complaints that were way out of proportion to the level of discomfort that was created by the wind storm.

            My thought is this: if people got so stressed out over what was really no more than a nuisance, what would happen if a real disaster took place. What would happen if a whole power grid went out. What would people do then? With the very real possibility of a financial crisis coming to our country in the very near future, what will be people’s reactions if we enter into a depression that approached the depression of the 1930’s. I have a feeling that we would see people react very strongly, possibly killing others, killing themselves, looting and stealing; that people would tremble out of fear of the circumstances they find themelves in.

            Why would they do this? I think very simply it will be because people put their trust in the “system”, and when the “system” fails they have no where else to turn.

            As a follower of Christ my trust is not in the “system” but in God. He is able to see me through any and every circumstance that I find myself in (see Isaiah 49:15-16; see also Matthew 6:25-36). This doesn’t mean that there won’t be collateral damage that I experience if the economy fails or if a power grid goes out. It just means that I won’t fear or be especially anxious about the outcome because I know God will take care of me and my family. That is a great thought and an incredible promise.

            Who or what do you trust?

            “Lord, help us trust you more!”

            Last month, I wrote a tribute to my cousin Joe Stuhlreyer who died unexpectantly. If you read that blog you will remember that he had collapsed at his girlfriends apartment and was not able to be revived. He was eventually placed in a medically induced coma from which he never recovered. He was 44.

            Over this past weekend, a family friend named Julie went to see her doctor because of a pretty severe migraine headache. He doctor ordered that a CAT scan be performed. When the results came back it was discovered that Julie had a brain aneurism and she would have to have surgery the next day to repair it. She came through the surgery just fine but overnight she had some complications that resulted in the doctors placing her in a medically induced coma just like my cousin Joe. On Tuesday, the doctors took her off the medicine that placed in a coma but she has not awakened. The doctors have called in the family, to seemingly say goodbye. Although, Julie is still alive as I write this (as far as I know), things do not look good for her. Julie is 51 years old. (footnote – Julie died this morning, September 5).

            Why do I write this? As I get older (I am 41), and the longer I spend trying to follow Christ, the less this world appeals to me. The emotional and physical struggle’s that we experience when we ourselves are sick and the weight of worrying about someone we know who is on death’s door is great.

            Our world is a mess. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. The rich politicians make claims how they will help the poor if we elect them, but since they are rich, they never make any real effective effort. The rich keep getting richer and the poor keep getting poorer. Our politicians (from all political parties) only tell enough shaded truth to be elected, then once elected, blame others for their inept attempt at resolving issues.

            Our world lives on the blame game. Meaning that people make themselves look better by blaming everyone else for the deficiencies of this world. It would be nice to hear occasionally “It was my fault. I did it. I am the one who screwed up.” No, it’s easier just to blame others.

            While the world is going down hill (and I don’t believe it will get better), I know that Jesus is perfectly great. He is perfectly loving, gracious and merciful, and I can’t wait to see Him. He is full of truth! Heaven will be an absolutely incredible place and I cannot wait to get there. Can you?

            Let me end with a scripture quotation, “Come quickly Lord Jesus. Amen!”

            This blog is one day late. I usually give myself a deadline of posting a blog by Thursday evening at 10:00pm. I didn’t post last night due to sickness and being in bed much earlier in the evening than usual. That’s my story and I am sticking to it!

            When I woke up this morning, I felt much better. I had slept for almost 10 hours (about 3 more than I usually get) and I had some good energy. So, this morning, my two oldest kids and I took a trip to an urban area of the city and delivered about 120 pounds of bread to a ministry that feeds and cares for the poor and the mentally ill. My kids were a little “standoffish” at first, but it was a good experience for them to see that there are people who need our help and it is our responsibility as followers of Christ to help this people.

            When we walked into this ministry, there were about 35-40 people crammed into a moderately sized room eating food. The workers were happy to see us and their eyes grew large when they saw how much bread and bagels we had brought. They were very thankful and told me that they hoped that we could do this on a regular basis. I did commit to them that we would do this as much as we are able and that probably meant on a weekly basis.

            The people they were serving were all sitting around tables not having much conversation with anyone. I did see one gentleman that I knew and when he saw me he got a big smile on his face, stuck out his hand and shook mine. He joked that he just can’t get away from me and I made joked that he needed me to follow him around to make sure he didn’t get into any trouble. He laughed heartily and I moved onto delivering bread.

            What was the difference between my friend and his smile and the other 35 or so folks who were their who looked so forlorn, who hung their heads and had no expressions on their faces whatsoever. My guess is that there are a lot of differences, but the one I have been thinking about since this morning is that my friend saw a friendly face that genuinely smiled at him when he saw him. He had someone he could connect to and who had treated him with respect in the past. The others did not have this same experience when they saw me. None of them knew me and so there was no connection to me in the past. The sad, distant, blankless looks had nobody to help brighten their day.

            I wonder if it is our responsibility as followers of Christ to bring some brightness into someone’s day. I hope that all of us would like to lead every person we meet into a saving relationship with Jesus; but I think we also all know that each person must make their own personal choice to follow Christ. Maybe it is our responsibility to love people, no matter what their lot in life. In order to love people, the way Christ loved people, we must spend time with them and build relationships with them. That is the key. Perhaps after building a relationship with people, they will be willing to hear us talk about their need to fall in love with Jesus and to allow themselves to be loved by Jesus.

            My family and the organization we lead commits to this: to build relationships with the people we serve and to hopefully be able to talk to them about opening themselves up to living in the love of God. After all, loving God and loving people is all that matters.

            Have you ever thought what it might be like to be God? I don’t want to be God. I know that He is the One and Only, the Almighty, the all-knowing, all-present, all-powerful Creator and Sustainer of the universe and I am just little ol’ me.

            What I am asking you is have you ever thought about what it must be like to be God? I would imagine that there are times when God is frustrated and angry about the things that are happening in the world - things that destroy His creation: both human and non-human. I would think that it is agonizing to Him to watch people hurt other people and basically show plain old disregard for others. Especially frustrating might be observing professed followers more interested in building their own little kingdoms than in building the Kingdom of God. Now, I am not God so I don’t really know how He feels about these issues. I can only guess.

            I also wonder if God isn’t sometimes sitting on the front edge of His throne in great anticipation of what His followers are about to do. I wonder if He is excitedly waiting to drown each individual in His grace. Again, I am not God and I can only guess at what He thinks and feels.

            Recently, a friend of mine made a decision to surrender his life to Christ. I was so excited that I had great difficulty telling my wife about it because of the swell of emotion in my heart. As he and I talked on the phone, he told me that He cried out to God as an act of desperation due to a particular life circumstance. He asked me if God would still accept him because this was an emotional plea for help and not a rational decision to follow Christ. As best as I could, I explained to my friend that God has been waiting desperately for him to make this decision and that I didn’t believe that God cared about the desperation issue involved here; all He cared about was that my friend made a decision to follow Him.

            Can you just picture God watching my friend surrender his life to Him? I can almost see the tears of joy running down His face as another prodigal son came home to his Father.

            Is this a strange picture for you - that God the Father loves you perfectly? That He is not a big bad entity in the sky waiting for you to screw up so He can zap you. God does care for you and love you more than you can imagine and more than I can describe.

            Rest in that. Rejoice in that. Share that.

For this weeks blog, I want to introduce to you the most important person in my life. She is the love of my life, my best friend, my closest confidant and my greatest encourager. I know that this may sound corny to say these things about my wife. Some of you guys are thinking that I wrote that to score some brownie points with my wife. If I do that is great. But I really wrote this because it is true. I know that you will be blessed and challenged by her message. So, let me introduce to you. my wife Jennifer.

My Family has always been one of sarcasm and the giving of hard times.  I’ve struggled over the last couple years with just how “Christian” it is to do this.  Here are some of the things I have come across in my search, if you will.  Please feel free to take them or leave them and find your own nuggets.

The Bible says we are to be imitators of Christ.  (Eph. 5:1-2  Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children.  Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us.)  So we should love those around us and sacrifice for them. 

Ephesians 4:29 (New Living Translation) says “Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.” (emphasis added)  Please note that our words are to be encouraging not only to those we are speaking to but also those we are speaking about.  Our words should ALWAYS build up and not tear down. 

Wow!!!  In today’s society what a hard thing to do.  Our very core is centered around tearing people down, getting ahead, climbing the ladder and making yourself look good at all costs.  We have television that “votes off” the team member who is not the smartest, prettiest, skinniest or most talented.  We bash people instead of taking them by the hand and offering them grace, hope, love and a safe haven.

Proverbs 26:18-19 says “Like a madman shooting firebrands or deadly arrows is a man who deceives his neighbor and says, ‘I was only joking!’”

If this is the case then should we not only speak words that encourage people - period?  Does this mean we really shouldn’t say something “in jest” because let’s be honest, how many of us have said something and meant it as a joke but it’s taken differently by the person the comment is directed toward?  And, who even knows how many times we’ve said something that hurt someone and we didn’t even know it.  How much heartache could we save if we only spoke positively about people?  How many misunderstandings could be avoided if we just spoke things to encourage people?

I leave you with one last verse to pursue and consider…

James 3:9-10      (NIV)

With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.

            My cousin Joe died on Wednesday. He was 46 years old. I received a call from my dad on Friday early in evening asking me to pray for Joe. He told me that he had just talked to Joe’s father, my Uncle, who told him that Joe had collapsed while at his girlfriend’s apartment. His girlfriend had performed CPR on him until the paramedics arrived. The paramedics worked on him and got him to the hospital. Apparently, Joe had stopped breathing long enough to affect the quality of his brain activity. Once at the hospital the doctors put Joe into a medically induced coma to perhaps give Joe some time to pull through. He never did. Joe was taken off the medicine that put him into a coma on Tuesday afternoon and at 1:30am on Wednesday July 23^rd, my cousin Joe died.

            I have to tell you that I didn’t know Joe all that well. His family moved to Spring, Texas when I was five (that was 36 years ago). My family moved back into Cincinnati in 1972 one weekend and Joe’s family moved to Texas the next weekend. Throughout the years I would hear tidbits of information about Joe; I knew he got married and then divorced, I knew that he and his father traveled to Alaska annually to fish and I believe that they were pretty close. I hadn’t seen Joe for 35 years until last August when my siblings and I threw a pretty big party celebrating my dad’s 70^th birthday. Joe came with his mother and father. He looked significantly older that his 46 years. I don’t remember having a lengthy conversation with him that day. I am sure that I said hello to him and told him who I was. I did watch him occasionally and he seemed like a pretty nice guy. At the end of the party Joe, with his mom and dad in his truck with him, drove off to go back to the hotel and leave for Texas the next day. That was the last time I saw Joe.

            In tribute to Joe Stuhlreyer, I want to make the following points. These come from what I have thought of since I heard of Joe’s death from my father on Wednesday afternoon.

            Point #1 – You never know when this life on earth will end. I think we think that we will all live until we are 85 or so, but the truth is we do not have the foggiest idea when that time will come. So, live life to the full, get to know God and other people and love them.

            Point #2 – Get to know people. When you meet a person be fully present. This means that you give them your full attention and spend more time asking questions that help you know them better than talking about yourself. This means to love them more than you love yourself (sounds kind of biblical doesn’t it.). One more thing on this point, don’t interrupt others while they are talking either to you or to others. If you think about it, that is a pretty selfish thing to do.

            Point #3 – Tell the people around you that you love them and appreciate them. Tell this to your wife, to your husband, to your kids, to your parents, to your in-laws, even tell this to your cousin whom you have not seen for 35 years. Tell it loud and clear and make sure they understand it.

            Point #4 – Establish your faith and trust in God today, right here right now. You never know when you won’t have any more chances. If you have already done that, get to know God better and share your faith with others. Is there anything else more important than this?

            In order to practice what I preach (or write in this case), let me tell you something – I love you and I appreciate you. If it weren’t for you this ministry would not exist. You are important to me and to God. I hope to get to know you better as time goes on.

Steve

            This blog may be one of the more transparent ones that I have written up to this point. Because of its transparency, it is also one that makes me uncomfortable to write. I don’t like transparency because it makes me vulnerable. One of the reasons why people don’t like to be vulnerable to others is that this vulnerability opens themselves up to be hurt by what others say and do. Instead, for self-protective reasons, we all tend to keep conversations and interactions with others on a pretty superficial level. That way, I can’t be so easily hurt. So, in the spirit of “practicing what I preach” I am going to open myself up a little bit this evening. I know that this will give you an opportunity to say something that is hurtful to me (even if you can justify it as telling me a “hard truth”), but I believe it is important for me to do this and I would like to have more relationships that get beneath the surface of superficiality. Here it goes.

            I am in a spiritually dry place. And right now it doesn’t bother me one bit. Well, I guess that isn’t totally true. It does bother me to the point that I think about it and I know I should be (and want to be) in a more spiritually alive place.

            Over my almost 15 years as a follower of Christ, I have had several cycles in which I felt so close to the Lord that I felt I could tangibly feel His presence. I would be in this place for weeks, or maybe months, at a time. I would them cycle to a somewhat spiritually dry place but it wouldn’t be long until my spiritual pendulum would swing somewhere back in the middle. The problem with this current pendulum swing to the dry side is that it has gone the farthest it has ever gone and it has stayed there for probably about a month. Although I am reading my Bible most every day, I find that my mind wanders very quickly and I lose interest in what I am reading. I have to help you understand the significance of this. I LOVE reading the Bible and thinking about what it is teaching me. So, this loss of interest in reading the Bible and my inability to stay focused on it bothers me a great deal. My prayer life has waned some as well. I have often enjoyed communicated with the King of the universe throughout the day. I have never been one to consistently spend long times in prayer, I usually spend a lot of the day thinking about the Lord, and asking questions and listening to what He says. I have always felt that this is what it is meant by a “prayer life”. At this point, I intercede for people and things but feel like it is to no avail. I find myself only being able to say “Jesus” over and over again. Lately, I have been saying the name of “Jesus” and following that with an adjective that describes some aspect of who He is.

            For the sake of space let me leave it at that. The good news is that our ministry is still going strong, we have a proposal on the table to develop another aspect of the ministry and we are still excited about the future of the ministry. I also still firmly trust in the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross for my sins. He is my savior and the lover of my soul.

            What is also the good news is this, the intensity with which God loves me and holds onto me has never and will never wane. I know that He is always there for me even when I don’t feel it. When my Bible reading is in the state that it is right now or when my prayer life is less than what I want it to be, my Father in heaven has still engraved me in the palm of His right hand (Isaiah 49:15)! We all need to hold onto this truth and never let it go – that God is not like us. He doesn’t change, He is always the same! Thank God!