Gracing the Blood Moon with Truth

"It is not death a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live."

                                                                          ~ Marcus Aurelius 

Over the last several weeks or months as the case may be, the 'Blood Moon' and 'Super Blood Moon' caused havoc for many people on the edge of the Christian faith.

I cannot begin to state how many people asked me about this natural occurrence, while at the same time I tried to keep from blasting the television ministries who promoted this event as the end of the age.

One ministry in particular wrote a best-selling book and made literally millions of dollars.
Another ministry claimed that the world would come to an end between September 23rd and September 27th, 2015.

I guess I missed the end of the world....again.

Maybe it was the proclamations of the electronic preachers; maybe it was the phenomenon of the eclipses happening so close together (Four over a 1 1/2 year span and on Jewish Holidays,

which is why some easily exploited this as a 'sign from God'); maybe it was people wishing for an excuse to get their life in order.

I don't know why so many were fanatical about the shadow of the earth turning the moon red.
But I do know that if people were afraid, if people were dreading the end of the world, then those people need to get their lives right with God.

You see, people fear such phenomenons because they do not understand them; it is made worse when one in a supposedly religious seat of authority states that God is on the move.

People also fear such things because deep down, they are afraid of death.

Don't believe me that people are afraid of the death?
Just look to the modern gym or health club; today they stand as the modern pagan temple. Instead of going to a shrine to worship an idol, most people stand in front of a mirror each morning and adore themselves in such a way that they ought to just pull out a hymnal and sing a chorus of 'How Great Thou Art.'

And what's amazing is that people are working so hard to preserve the body, while the body is the least enduring part of the whole person.
The body will die and be put away, but the soul will go on living long after the sun and moon grow cold and every star burns out of existence. 

Yet, we cannot see our soul; only what is living within our soul.

The Blood Moon fiasco on the extreme fanatical side of religion reminds me greatly of the Y2K Scare years ago.
Nothing happened except a damage to the Christian witness because some Christians allowed themselves to get so wound up in something that wouldn't effect them even if it was true.

The only person who has ever lived that endured a true Apocalyptic natural disaster and lived to tell about it was Noah.
And from Scripture, we know that he didn't spend his time running around scared; he spent his time resting in the peace of God following God's instructions perfectly. 
As a result, Noah survived and remains one of the great heroes of the faith.

We would do well as Christians in the modern world, when the next person comes along trying to make money off of so-called 'prophecy' or off of Jesus' name or some type of healing power; that if we would just rest in the plan and provision of God we'd have His peace to move forward.

But I do understand how people get wound up in these proclamations of theological doom-day preachers.
They exploit our inner clock concerning death.

You see, human beings are the only creatures who know from our birth that we are going to die; this, in fact, is one way that we are distinguished from the animals.
Yet, we do all we can to place the thought of death out of our minds; many times when someone is dying, the questions that are most worth asking are the very questions the family beside them wish to ignore.

While every person bears the mark of their Creator, we also carry with us the mark of our sin and fallenness - we know we are winding down, we know we're not what we once were, we know we are going to one day die.

So, we do all that we can to disguise death; to hide death from our reality.

For example, people no longer die at home; sometimes, but not very often. Today, people are secluded into a hospital room or a nursing home.
Family use to watch people die; sometimes they do now, but many times it is only one or two of the closest members of the family. The days when extended family gathered with food and support are gone.
We don't see the pain of death any more, thanks to modern drugs. 
I remember my grandfather dying a horrible death due to lung cancer, gasping for every breath he could get. Today, he would not feel that pain nor would he have been at home when he passed; he would have been in hospice with so many drugs he would have not even known he was suffering.

And when a person dies, the men don't gather and dig graves on the hillside by hand any more on the family farm- not usually. Today, we take them to a cemetery as beautiful as a city park.

As more than 5,000 people die in America every day, I am reminded of what the church father Augustine said of death: We are 'deafened by the clanking chains of morality.'

For some, it is very difficult to live with such a blunt awareness of death as I do and as many other Cancer Survivors do; or even those who have lost a loved-one to the disease.
We realize how quickly life can disappear from our bodies and what it is to be in pain just because you are still breathing.

Yes, some have a hard time living with the approaching day of death's destiny; but more have a more difficult time living with an awareness of the Afterlife. 

Maybe that's why some were so frantic over Y2K or the Blood Moons; people are afraid of the unknown.
Let me speak to the briefly.

I often wonder why God doesn't destroy the world given the pain and sin and decadence that abounds; it must surely disgust Him.
Yet, He who has every right to destroy the world as He nearly did with Noah and his family, has chosen instead to love the world at any and every cost.

Knowing this, why would a natural phenomenon scare any Christian?

In my heart, I think to myself that it must be very hard at times for God not to act; for Him to know the wickedness in full of the people of the world that we only know in part.
Humanity was given a perfect and full world; yet, humanity has also destroyed creatures and some of the environment; all the while, God holds back His anger for another day, another time.

Even when the Jews were nearly annihilated, God restrained Himself.

Such events like the holocaust or the destruction of the planet's creatures/environment, makes us think of "why".
Why would God restrain Himself?
Why would God show mercy?
Why would God not intervene?

While I cannot fully answer these questions, I do know that God moved Heaven and Earth to save the humanity He dearly loves.
I do know that God gives mankind every chance to turn to Him in repentance and faith.
And while God may not always intervene with lightening bolts from the sky, I do know that God can, does and has used mankind's armies to defeat persistent evil wherever it exists.
He did so during the holocaust; when it is time, He will do so again. 

The truth is that we live between the memory of Paradise and the Foretaste of Eternity.
Biblically, we live between Genesis chapter 3 and Revelation 21. 
You see, the first two chapters of Genesis are devoted to the glories of Creation; Revelation 21 shows us a restored universe shouting the glory of God.
Every place between those two chapters in the Bible is simply the record of the agonizing curse which fell on mankind because of our disobedience.

Part of that curse is the aging process and our imminent death.

But my friend, unlike that doomsday preachers, I will tell you a wonderful truth.

Death, while imminent, is not the last word to our lives.
Death is not the final thing that happens to us; it is actually the 'next to last.'

Yes, our bodies will die but our souls will go on living.
That which is mortal and limited will be swallowed up by eternal, infinite life if you are a Christian.

It will be at that time, you will stand before Christ Himself, He will open the books which have recorded every action and word of your life and read them.
Do not be afraid of this for Scripture tells us that there are no tears in Heaven.
Therefore, I can only imagine that when my deeds or your deeds are read aloud, they will be followed by a thunderous voice from the throne room of God which declares, 'I forgive this...'

I believe it will be at that time, and for the first time, we as Believers will finally realize the enormous and infinite depths of God's grace.
The groaning of death will fall silent as the Redeemed from the ages shout His praises, knowing what it actually cost God to love His children to the fullest.

As those blinders are removed and the reality of eternity's God becomes our reality of eternal grace, we may wonder why we ever spent time even thinking about Blood Moons or Y2K or listening to fear mongers trying to make a dime off of our Lord.

Oh, one last thing about eternity and the end of time.
All that humanity has damaged, squandered, or maimed → All of it will be restored and redeemed in full.

How in the world could any believer fear a day such as that?

Until next time, win one for the good guys.

Kentucky Grace

"The Glory of God is a person fully alive."

                                                                                                       ~ Irenaeus

Three years ago, I was nearly dead.

In those three years, I have experienced grace and what I have learned to call un-grace, from believers and churches.
These things have given me an opportunity to view things that happen in the world and in the faith, a little differently from the perspective of eternity and the impact we are making on others.

As the events from Rowan County, Kentucky unfolded last week - I was pondering a few questions that just happen to fit in with Kim Davis, the County Clerk who refused to issue a marriage license to a homosexual couple.
One of those questions:

'If the Gospel is really 'good news', why do so few perceive it as such?'

And then I saw my first glimpses of the happenings from the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

Please don't get me wrong.
I fully believe that Ms. Davis truly believes she is adhering to her conscience; I have no doubt about that. 
She is a Christian, of the Apostolic denomination; I dare not doubt her strong conviction or claim to conscience.
Nor will I criticize her for taking the stand she has; however, I will examine this and put into words what I am thinking.

The reader should know that there are people around the globe who read this blog religiously (no pun intended). 

I have learned to love people who are far different that I am; it takes no grace or spiritual work within me to love people who are just like me. But it takes a work of God within me and through me to love those who are vastly different than myself
Some are Fundamentalist Christians, proclaiming a devotion only to the KJV of the Bible.
Others are on the opposite extreme, they're not really Christians at all; truthfully some of my biggest fans are heathens (wink). 
.
But in all seriousness, homosexuals, heterosexuals, Evangelicals, Catholics, Buddhists and those of no faith read; as do people of other races and nationalities.
And when I hear from them in a message or see the viewership map which tracks readers' location; it truly blesses my soul to know that so many feel welcome here.

That's what I always wanted this to be...a discussion of God's grace in a wicked world, regardless of what we bring to the table.

Nearly everybody I know in life, including myself, has a church horror story.
As a result, there are millions of people who are in recovery from the damage that was done to their spirits and their lives.
Truthfully, I am at the point where the churches and Christians who have intentionally hurt me, I just feel sympathy for them; especially when some cannot see their errors or how they've damaged the name of Christ.

This is what I return to when I think of Kim Davis; is she hurting or helping the cause of Christ?

One observation is that she never wanted to do either; she simply wanted to obey her conscience in this matter.
But the reality is that she's in the forefront now, with politicians hailing her greatness while others blast her, including well-known radio personalities from Kentucky on social media, under the phrase, 'Do Your Job.'

How I see things is that Kim Davis is being used; used by those who want to make her decision of conscience into a religious fight; but also being used by those on the left who wish to force her to violate her conscience or resign.

When I went for my marriage license to my bride of 20 years (16 September 1995), I was the Vice-President of the Student Government at West Virginia Tech.
I did not bring the school newspaper, or the radio station in the town, or the bi-weekly paper nor did I inform any one of the television stations that I was doing so, even though I've seen their news and this would have topped the list back then.
I simply walked in, applied, paid the fee and walked out with the license. 

When the two men went to apply for a marriage license, as allowed by the secular Supreme Court, they first left their much more sympathetic state of Ohio for Kentucky.
As they entered Kentucky, they passed through numerous counties to find Rowan County, which coincidentally happened to be the ONLY county in Kentucky which would not issue a marriage license to homosexuals because of Ms. Davis' conviction.
Then, when they arrived, they hopeful couple just happened to arrive with multiple media outlets photographing, filming and documenting the entire episode and exchange.

Therefore, I have concluded, she has been used.

On the other side, not all Christians are in agreement; nor have we ever been on any issue; especially when it comes to social or sexual issues. 

Some Christians think Ms. Davis is ignorant, backward and has no business being an elected official because she has violated her oath of office in the Commonwealth.

Well, regardless of what one may think of her duty to the office → ultimately, that is for the voters of Rowan County to decide.
Regardless of what one may think as to her actions, right or wrong, discriminatory or faithful; ultimately, we can say that she has convictions that she believes are greater than herself or her oath of office, that she will follow in the dictates of her conscience.

And that is what the right side of this episode has exploited.
Which is why I have concluded, she is being used.

As Christians, from time to time we need to be reminded that the United States Government is not a Christian government; it is not a theocracy but a democratic republic.
Yes, the founders of this nation were mostly Christians; but that is not a dictate that all are to be Christians. Many of the founders were also Freemasons but that does not compel all to join the Masonic Lodge.

Being committed to God and to His infinite grace does not always mean there is going to be perfect harmony with the government which rules over us.
From our beginning, Christianity has lived in tension with the government; regardless of what country or what government ruled the people - there has always, with few exceptions, been a tense relationship between the true Body of Christ and the government.

Don't believe it? 
May I remind you that Jesus Christ's life was ended via State Execution?

And this being true, why would any Christian expect open arms from any government, whether you work for it or not?
The Prophet Daniel worked for three different pagan governments; he served faithfully and honorably to the Kings. And in doing so, Daniel also honored God.
Our faith, if we are true to it in the public square as well as in private, has implications and effects for the good for all society.

Though we are imperfect, God's grace is not; and if we serve Him faithfully, He will dispense His grace through us.

Trying to cozy up to the government is probably the worst thing the Christian Church could ever do; it is always bad for the Church.
Throughout history, when the Church and State gets together on the same page, the Church always loses → her holiness, her integrity, her honoring of God.
The Church should never, and I mean never, be thought of as the 'morality police.' 
We cannot and will not win anybody to Jesus Christ by appearing as if we are looking for things they do wrong so that we can condemn them and tell them how bad they are.

Trust me, most people already know how bad they are; we don't need to be told again.
What people need...it's grace.

And grace is love in action towards those who are different than you.

The great theologian John Calvin understood Biblical principals as good or better than any person of his time.
Yet, even Calvin, when he ruled Geneva, succumbed to legalistic rules rather than the freedom of grace.
The Puritans did the same thing, as does any society where the Church and the Government are in a tight relationship; for, gradually it will destroy Christ's message of grace toward all people.

For example, in Germany, Christians initially welcomed Hitler as 'God-sent.'
He said all the right things, did all the right deeds and promised to help those whom the Church had been aiding for generations.

By the time it was too late to reverse themselves, their leaders had become seduced by the power of the State; and while there were a handful of strong men who took to the pulpits to condemn Nazi Germany, most simply approved the Nazi regime from the platform.

You see, the problem with marrying Church and State is that the Government must always make Jesus' commands law so that people will externally comply.
By making laws to force outward actions, this strikes at the very core of what grace is suppose to do, which is change us inwardly so that our outward actions aren't forced but an action we want to do in honor of God out of obedience.

One County Clerk in one county in Kentucky is not going to change the landscape of Christian thought on the issue of obedience to conscience as opposed to obeying the order of the Supreme Court.
But it does prick the mind and heart of every Christian as to where we will personally draw the line; the line we will not cross.

On a personal note, I believe as stated above that Kim Davis is being used by both sides of the debate; all the while, I do believe her conviction of conscience is true and honorable.
Having said that, also read this week where a Muslim stewardess is under fire because she refuses to sell alcohol on flights; to her, it violates her faith and is a matter of conscience.

These women have the same issue, and if we are truly honest, the answer for both is the same.
My thought - neither should be forced to do a job that violates their conscience with regards to their faith.
You see, one can buy alcohol from another stewardess just as easy as a homosexual couple can go to another county and purchase a marriage license - and that's what should have happened because America is a great nation, but in this nation, sometimes we all have to give a little to keep it all together.

But my friend, even if you don't agree with me, that's OK.
Yet, we have learned with all issues among brothers/sisters in the Lord, calmer voices in Biblical Theology will always prevail over shouting preachers.

Please remember that the next time you're confronted with someone who is different than you, thinks different and acts different.
The reason is because it takes no grace to love someone just like yourself; but God will extend grace through us all to others who need it IF we seek to be willing vessels.

And maybe, just maybe, God will use us to demonstrate that the Gospel is still 'Good news.'

Until next time, win one for the good guys.