The End of the World! False Alarm. Sorry, My Bad.

I saw this picture the day after the supposed "end of the world" that was predicted and thought it was hilarious. Seeing "Sorry, my bad" written on the sign... that's just funny stuff. Like Jesus really missed it and didn't come like He was supposed to. Not!

But what if that preacher guy in California (Harold Camping) did hear from God and the end of the world was really the 21st of May? Now I know that no one except the Father knows the exact time of Christ's return, but just for argument's sake, let's just say he was right. What if that was the day? Did we do everything we could to get the good news of the Gospel out? Why don't we have more of a sense of urgency for people who are dying and going to hell? Is it because we don't believe in hell (this seems to be a trend)? Is it because we don't think Jesus is coming back any time soon? Is it because we're so busy with our own lives that we don't have time to reach out to anyone around us? I think the answer is different for all of us.

If anyone is guilty of this it's me. I think it's easy as people in ministry to think that we can "clock-out" when we're not at church where we're in the "ministry zone" and that we can take a break when we get home. I've missed so many opportunities because of this line of thinking. Now it's not like I'm ashamed of the Gospel and my neighbors don't know that I'm a Christ Follower, because they do know that about us. But as far as me making a conscientious effort to rescue them all from the coming judgement... I've failed.

This needs to change. I pray that God will give me an urgency in reaching my neighbors for Jesus. It's critical because the new end of the world date is coming October 21st (according to Harold Camping, that is)! So get busy. LOL! It's funny but what if we all acted like it was? And what if we operated with a sense of urgency to get this Gospel to the world because the end was rapidly approaching? Just something to think about. It's the only thing holding back the second coming of Christ anyway, right? So let's do our part and get the Gospel to the nations.

I saw this video clip on Facebook. Now, the cheese-factor is high (that means it's kind of corny for those who don't know what cheese-factor means, haha) but the message is powerful. It's a reenactment of a dream that William Booth (the founder of the Salvation Army) had that someone made into a video. You can watch it by clicking on the link below. It's definitely worth the 5 minutes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aTqk5YGiRo

Love Ya,

Jim

We Would Go Anyway!

Ok. Today I want to be totally transparent and honest with you guys. This thing that we're doing right now is definitely unchartered waters for us and our family. It's something we've never had to do before and it could have the potential to be very stressful and last night was one of those times. We're in the process of raising support for Brazil and getting all of our paperwork and affairs in order to go overseas. We're diligently doing everything we know to do. MJ and I went to pick-up a couple of our kids from a friends house and as we were sitting in the driveway waiting for them we began talking. The conversation went kind of like this:

MJ- Jim, can I ask you a question?

Me- What's that?

MJ- What is the minimum amount of support that you would feel comfortable going to

Brazil on?

Me- What do you mean?

MJ- How much support do you feel comfortable, having people commit to us, do you feel

comfortable moving our family to Brazil on?

Me- We're going no matter what support we have committed to us.

MJ- What? seriously?

Me- God called us and we're going... period.

MJ- That's OK as long as we have enough money for a return ticket for me because I'm not gonna be stuck there. You can, but not me.

We both stared at each other for a good 30 seconds (in uncomfortable silence) then we both laughed!

That's the actual conversation we had but it was a good question. And there is reason for concern. The reason I share that with you is because you may be in the same position. You may be facing something and if God doesn't show up you're toast! You will fail, no doubt. But that's a good place to be in. The place where there is no possible way you can make it without a miracle from God. But that's where trust comes in. Think about some of the people in the Bible and what God did for them:

- Noah floated away safely in "his ark" as everyone else drowned.

- Abraham became the father of many nations even though he was old and had no kids

at the time of the promise.

- Joseph became 2nd in command in Egypt after being sold as a slave and was

wrongly imprisoned.

- Moses was God's mouth-peice and the deliverer of Israel even though he was a

stuttering murderer.

Those are just a few examples and I didn't even go past the first two books of the Bible! I could have went through every book and given person after person with similar stories. And they all could say the same thing.

1) God asked them to do something that was crazy and beyond their own ability.

2)People made fun of them or doubted that what they were saying was going to happen.

3) They believed God anyway.

4) God did what He said He would do.

And this is the thing I think we forget... they were normal people just like you and me! They weren't superhuman or holier than the average follower of Yahweh. They were actually average or below average when it came to worldly standards. None of them had the capability to make happen what only God could make happen. And that was a good thing. That's a good position to be in.

So back to us. I am resolved to the fact that God has asked us to do something and we're doing it. There is no plan B, there's no back-up plan, no fall-back option. We're going forward 100% no matter what it looks like in the natural. If nobody was behind us (which there are) we would go anyway because God asked us to. I believe that is the kind of faith that honors God. The kind that says, "if you ask me to do something I'll do it." Now I know that some people may look at this as foolishness or fanaticism. But I look at it as knowing the voice of God and believing that if He's called me to do something, He will provide.

But what about you? Has God asked you to do something and your head is screaming at you "not to do it?" Is everyone around you saying "don't do it" but deep inside you know that God has asked you to do it? Then what are you waiting for? Do it! The choice is all yours.

Hab. 2:4 says, "Look at the proud! They trust in themselves, and their lives are crooked. But the righteous will live by their faithfulness to God." (NLT)

I don't know about you but I definitely don't ever want to be guilty of trusting in myself so the answer again is "yes, we would go anyway." Hopefully you will too.

Love Ya,

Jim