I Found Love

I'm sitting here incapacitated after slipping on some ice yesterday. However, I am doing quite a bit better today. I hurt my chest by landing on my arm in some weird way. At first it felt like I was going to die. I hit the sidewalk and the piercing pain felt like a heart attack. I came inside and checked myself out. I knew I hit hard but found no broken bones or bruises. I might be banged up a bit but Jesus was still watching over me. I knew He was right there when I felt that pain.
After I came in and got settled, I prayed. I knew He was listening and I knew He was going to answer. I am not as close to Him as I want to be. I let my devotion to Him become devotion to me. I learned in that pain, prayer, and then agape love from my wife that God loved me. He loves me for me and not what I do or not do.
Kim, my wife, came into the room and did something for me and I said, "You love me." She responded by saying, "How do you know?" She was just being silly but God used that moment to show me He loves me the same way. I knew she loved me for me and not because she felt sorry for me or didn't love me because of anything I did wrong. His love doesn't change. I may not be living 100% like I should be, praying as much as I should be, or serving like I should be but His love remains the same. He died before He got any love from me.
I don't know what my exact role is for my life on this planet. I don't know how far away I am from that plan. Sometimes I wonder if I am doing anything right.
However, this past year taught me a few things. I'm not as bad as I thought. Yes, I had attitude problems, selfish issues, and an agenda that wasn't from God. Also, my marriage needed fixed. I am not perfect but the Bible I read says to love others. I started this blog to love others and I've learned to error on the side of love. I choose to love rather than hold a grudge, argue because I'm right, or shun family because they have prejudices or wrong ideas.
I visited my brother over Christmas break. It's been a long time. I hadn't even seen my two nieces before and they're four and two! My family pretty much had me believing they were hermits, never leaving the house and not coming over to visit. We have many family issues that led me to avoid family as much as possible. I had a wonderful time and stayed over five hours! I learned all the stuff my family doesn't talk about and found out what my brother's family was really like. I plan on visiting this year and becoming part of their life. They are raising a family the way I wanted to. Life is too short to not love, especially family.

Why McCain Lost

I recently came across an article from the evangelist Perry Stone. He gives his opinion on why John McCain did not get elected. I find it interesting and very possible. I will give a little bit of what he said. If you would like to read the whole article, click on the title.
Perry states: "Shortly after McCain became the choice of the Republicans, John Hagee stepped forward to endorse McCain. It was then the media found a clip of Hagee preaching a prophetic word which linked the woman on the beast in Revelation 18 to Rome and the Roman church system. Many Bible believing Catholics even believe that an apostate pope will take charge of the church in the future and if confronted with the teaching would actually agree with Hagee’s futuristic interpretation. The media, however, misrepresented the teaching of Hagee and made it appear that he was a Catholic hater. Once the clip from Hagee became public, McCain rejected Hagee’s endorsement due to pressure from some Catholic groups.

Another early endorsement for McCain came from Pastor Rod Parsley. In 2004 it was pastor Parsley’s ministry that began to reveal the importance of selecting leaders who would reject the shedding of innocent blood and same sex relations. His rallies across Ohio actually exposed the hypocrisy of anti-biblical thinking and revealed a conflict of cultures in America. Rod’s messages amazingly translated to a great Ohio victory for President Bush in 2004. The contrast between Bush’s more conservative thought and John Kerry’s liberal stance was evident and Bush won Ohio.

Shortly after Parsley’s endorsement of McCain, the media again went after this great man of God and began to say he had been spewing hate toward Muslims when in fact he had actually exposed fanatical and dangerous forms of Islam. The media painted Rod as a right winged fanatic. Once again, out of fear McCain rejected Rod’s endorsement and Rod stepped aside from the picture.

When McCain was running against Bush for the Republican nomination in 2000, the McCain campaign was in Virginia. There the senator made a very huge blunder, comparing Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell to Louis Farrakkhan and Al Sharpton and called them “agents of intolerance.” He continued, “They are corrupting influences on religion and politics, and those who practice them in the name of religion or in the name of the Republican Party or in the name of America shame our faith, our party and our country…”

The fact is the strongest base of the Republican Party is considerably Christian, which includes millions of conservatives, and when they are expelled from the process, it will be impossible for any Republican candidate to ever win the White House, or a congressional seat.

The public rejection of the endorsement of two great ministers was a mistake. Any conservative leader who desires to obtain the highest offices of the land in the future must understand the importance of the conservative Christian base. We are not going anywhere and instead of dying out, these millions of Christians will continue to fight for the causes that are right and just in the eyes of God, including life, marriage, fiscal responsibility and freedom to worship."
I think this is a very viable point he makes. I know a lot of Christians that just couldn't jump on board the 'McCain bandwagon', even when Palin joined the ticket. Very interesting indeed.

The End is Near II

The chart in my Bible- 'The Last Days of Preparation' has 8 categories of things that need to happen before the rapture occurs:

1. Increase of false prophets and religious compromise within the church.
2. Increase of crime and disregard of God's law.
3. Increase of wars , famines and earthquakes.
4. Decrease in love and family affection.
5. More severe persecution of God's people.
6. Those who stand firm will be saved.
7. Gospel will be preached to the whole world.
8. The Spirit will be poured out on God's people.

How many of these have been occurring or have happened?
2Timothy 3:1-5 'But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them'
I will give a longer list of Scriptures in another post. I just have had this one on my heart for a while now.

The End is Near

We are living in the end times. Jesus is coming back to collect His own to Heaven. Then comes the seven years before the final judgment. I'm not a theologian nor an eschatologist. I go to an Assembly of God church and believe in their 16 Fundamental Truths. I also have a really neat Bible with a chart in it explaining 'the last days of history'.
What peaked my interest enough to write about end times has been recent events and verses that keep speaking about it. Also, I hear fellow Christians and churches speaking more on the subject. It is no wonder everybody isn't talking about it with all of the recent financial troubles worldwide, the elections, natural disasters, and immorality becoming more prevalent.
My chart is boxed into chronological categories: Last Days of Preparation, The Rapture, The Tribulation, The Great Tribulation (the last 3.5 years), The Antichrist, Christ's appearance to judge and to wage war, The Millennium, The Final Judgment, and The New Heavens and New Earth. Before finding this chart, I just wanted to write down a few verses to focus on what to look for in our own lives and in the world. I will focus only on the last days of preparation and might reference to the others. This will be the first of a few posts on this subject.
As I wrote several times this year, it has been a year of change for me. God showed me my issues with pride, self-centeredness, problems in my marriage, and other things. So I had ears to hear what God was saying to me. What I've been hearing is we have better get it together or we might not have any oil left in our lamp when Jesus shows up (Matthew 25:1-13). You think you always have time to get 'serious' with God. Time is running out. I can see the Rapture coming within the next few years. A lot of things are in place and have happened according to scripture that need to before Jesus comes for us. Many are occuring now and at a rapid pace.
Romans 2:7-9 'To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile;' (NIV) These verses point to the end times and how each heart will increase in good or evil. Matthew 24:12-13 'Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.' (NIV) The love of MOST will grow cold. Are you in the most crowd? I did not think so either. I thought I loved God and heard His voice. I thought I was selfless, giving, and had a good marriage. I got a very important wake up call. I was in the most crowd. I only loved God part time. I was deceived so bad I thought I was good. I loved me more than my wife, others, and God. I was comparing my life with others in the world. Yes, compared to the world I do look good. However, we are not to compare ourselves to each other but to Jesus.
How do you compare to Him? Do you think of others when needs arise? Do you give to your church, missions, and to those in need? Do you avoid people just so you don't have to talk to them? A lot of people need help of some kind. Maybe Jesus is calling you to help one of them. Do you want to know God more? What are you doing about that? Are you letting your love grow cold towards God by avoiding Him? He's there with you right now. Ask Him to forgive you from a lazy cold heart. He wants you to be ready when He comes back. The end may be near, but it can be just the beginning for you. Romans 10:9-10 says 'If you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.' You are one prayer away from making sure you go to heaven. God will tell you what to do if you only ask Him. Don't stay cold. Time is short.