We live in troubling times. Rampant immorality, the rising power of evil, the increase of people killing people, growing rejection of God and His followers ... things look bleak. Add to that what looks like the decline of the church in modern times, and it all looks like a coming disaster. So, on this Sunday, I wanted to let you know. It's not.
John warned his readers "Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God." (1 John 4:1) If you're paying attention, that's rather ominous. We're not looking at angry individuals or even antagonistic governments. These are supernatural forces that oppose us. Paul said "We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places." (Eph 6:12)
"Now, wait, Stan. Didn't you just say we're not looking at a coming disaster?"
Yes, indeed, I did. Oh, it may look like it and it may feel like it, but I wanted to remind you of the truth.
Jesus said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me." (Matt 28:18) Paul said, "If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Rom 8:31) And in that passage above where John warns about testing spirits, he assures us, "Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world." (1 John 4:4)
There are those who say, "Don't be such a ninny. There is no looming disaster!" They're not paying attention. There are those who say, "The sky is falling! The sky is falling!" They're ignoring the "rest of the story". I wanted you to see the balance. Things may look bleak, but "in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Rom 8:37-39) We're in good hands.
4 comments:
"The sky is falling."
There is a long-term perspective some people have on earthly matters. Here is an 11-minute video of that ilk. "Our planet's climate has dealt with a lot and it will probably survive humans."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dC_2WXyORGA
"Balderdash." That would be blogger Glenn Chatfield's characterization of what the fellow says in that video. And Stan's too? I am just curious.
Okay, let me see if I understand you correctly. I write about moral problems and human problems and, at the core, the problem of "spirits". The problems of people and governments and spirits. Your takeaway is ... "global climate change and what does Stan think of it?" I don't understand.
By "the sky is falling", I refer to Christians who think that the world is almost literally going to hell in a hand basket, not every possible conspiracy theory one might come up with. Ultimately, written for a Sunday, my goal was to encourage Christians to take heart. "God is in control." Not "Make sure you ignore or pay close attention to global climate change issues." "Global climate change" is a subject, but since my primary aim is to deal with biblical truths and my primary audience is Christians and I have never broached the subject of "global climate change", I think I'll stay on topic, leave that question alone, and let you argue with Glenn about it ... hopefully somewhere besides here.
It sounds like my follow-up question is not suitable for your blog. I may send it to an "anything goes" blog such as Dan Trabue's some day. But I will give you first right of refusal, okay? :-)
SCENARIO 1
* The Universe exists for 5 days without any humans.
* The Universe exists for 6,152 more years with humans.
* The Universe mostly fades away, but two populated compartments in it, Heaven and Hell, continue on for an infinite number of years.
SCENARIO 2
* The Universe exists for 13.8 billion years without any humans.
* The Universe exists for 300,000 more years with "modern" humans.
* The Universe goes on another 93 billion years without humans, then ends in a "big crunch" or something.
I could see somebody supporting the first scenario with scripture. But is there any honest reading of scripture which is compatible with the second scenario?
If by "not suitable" you mean "Stan won't allow such things", you've misunderstood. This is a blog. That means I write about what I want. In this entry, I wrote to encourage believers not to "sweat the small stuff", so to speak. God is great. Your first comment was in regards to global climate change and now you'd like to discuss Evolution versus Creation. There is absolutely no correlation between the topic of this post and your comments. In that sense, they are "not suitable". If I posted something on global climate change (a topic about which I have nothing to say) or Creation versus Evolution, your comments would be appropriate. That is, your comments have not been offensive; they just don't correlate to the discussion at hand.
As for Dan Trabue's "anything goes" blog, he might talk with you about any subject, but I've seen him, too, tell commenters that they are off topic and to please keep on topic, so I can't say if you'd get better results there.
Oh, and since this post had NOTHING to do with Creation/Evolution, I won't be discussing it here and now.
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