I read an interesting article yesterday called "On Sheep, Wolves, and Sheepdogs". It was given to me by one of the policeman who is helping us to put together a security detail to provide protection for our congregation at all three (soon to be four) weekend services. I thought he has some valid points, and I'll copy a few excerpts below:
(For the full article, click on this link: On Sheep, Wolves and Sheepdogs )
"Most of the people in our society are sheep. They are kind, gentle, productive creatures who can only hurt one another by accident... I mean nothing by calling them sheep. To me it's like a pretty blue robin's egg. Inside it is soft and gooey but someday it will grow into something wonderful. But the egg cannot survive without the its hard blue shell. Police officers, soldiers and other warriors are like that shell, and someday the civilization they protect will grow into something wonderful. For now, though, they need the warriors to protect them from predators.
Then there are the wolves... and the wolves feed on the sheep without mercy... There are evil men in this world and they are capable of evil deeds. The moment you forget that or pretend it is not so, you become a sheep.
Then there are the sheepdogs... who live to protect the flock and confront the wolf. If you have no capacity for violence then you are a healthy, productive citizen - a sheep. If you have a capacity for violence and no empathy for your fellow citizens, then you have defined... a wolf. But what if you have a capacity for violence, and a deep love for your fellow citizens? What do you have then? A Sheepdog... someone who is walking the hero's path... The sheep generally do not like the sheepdog. He looks a lot like the wolf. He has fangs and the capacity for violence. The difference, though, is that the sheepdog must not, can not and will not ever harm the sheep. The sheep would much rather have the sheepdog cash in his fangs, spray himself white, and go, "Baa".
Until the wolf shows up. Then the entire flock tries desperately to hide behind one, lonely sheepdog.... Understand that there is nothing morally superior about being a sheepdog; it is just what you choose to be. Also understand that a sheepdog is a funny critter; He is always sniffing around the perimeter, checking the breeze, barking at things that go bump in the night, and yearning for a righteous battle.... Here is how the sheep and the sheepdog think differently. The sheep pretend the wolf will never come, but the sheepdog lives for that day."
As I read this article, I realized that I am a Sheepdog. In some ways I feel like I was born this way, but there's also a big part of me that chooses the Sheepdog role. Why? I guess it's because I know there are wolves out there, and most people would rather go about their day pretending that the wolves will never come. Me... I'm out sniffing around for the wolf scent. As we're putting together our security team for church I find myself hoping that some crazy dude will actually show up some Sunday - just so we can see if our emergency response system really works.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
One Year On
We just passed the one-year mark of being in our home - a fact which had actually escaped us until our Realtor wrote us a card to congratulate us on our first anniversary in Conifer. One line he wrote was particularly meaningful to us: "You have immersed yourselves in the community have made lots of new friends. Your presence here has been real positive for everyone you've come in contact with." His card really made our day!
____________________________
I've been watching coverage of the massive earthquake and tsunami in Japan, and my mind goes immediately back to the devastating tsunami in 2004. The estimated death toll of 10,000 is heart-breaking, but combined with the very real threat of a catastrophic nuclear power-plant meltdown, the consequences are truly mind-boggling. In all likelihood, the 20-30 square miles (maybe a lot more) around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant will become Japan's version of Chernobyl - a nuclear wasteland, uninhabitable for hundreds of years to come.
I'm still thinking and praying about the next three-part series for Wednesday evenings called "Faith in the Furnace". Daphne and I were reminiscing on the times we have seen God intervene in our lives in miraculous, supernatural ways when we've had the presence of mind to trust Him in the midst of a crisis and wait upon Him for His solution. But there have been many more occasions when we've panicked and tried to work things out on our own... and ended up paying a high price for our efforts emotionally, financially or otherwise. Waiting on God is a anything but a passive exercise; it usually takes far more inner strength to wait than it does to act on our own. Everything in us wants to "do" something - anything - other than to "be still and know" that He is God.
I remember well the time when we returned from our honeymoon, only to discover that our marriage certificate was lost somewhere in the black hole of South Africa's postal system. Without the certificate we could not obtain the official government document that was needed to finish Daphne's visa application for the U.S. - and we were facing multiple deadlines that all hinged upon that one document. There was one critical day when the whole visa process was either going to fall into place, or fall apart completely. We'd called every post office between the church and the local gov't office to no avail; the marriage certificate seemed to be well and truly lost. When I realized that there was nothing we could do and that we'd reached a crisis point in our faith, I pulled out a book and sat down to read. Daphne said, "What are you doing?" as if to say, "what AREN'T you doing?". I said, "it's in God's hands now", and I can honestly say that my heart was truly at rest at that moment. So she picked up her own book and sat down to read as well. What a funny image that was, now that I think about it 20 years later. After a couple of hours, when we'd reached the last possible window of opportunity, we drove to the government office in question to inquire about the certificate. We walked in and explained our predicament to the agent behind the counter. He was about to make some excuse when he suddenly turned around and picked up a letter on the counter behind him and said, "Oh, here it is. It just came in!". It was a God moment if there ever was one.
Then a few years later we were on furlough in Atlanta, Georgia. I was in the throws of the worst "restless legs" crisis that I'd faced to that point, and I literally went 8 or 9 days with no sleep. Unfortunately, during that same period of time I was making multiple important decisions and setting up travel plans . . . and I'm sure you can imagine where the story goes from here. One morning I was awoken by a phone call from my Mom: "Good morning! Are you on your way to the airport?" I was still half asleep, and replied groggily, "Why would we be on our way to the airport?" She said, "Because your girls are flying down to Orlando today to see us!". I was suddenly very wide awake. That moment was the critical faith crisis for me... and I panicked. I wonder now how differently that day could have gone if at that moment I'd stopped to pray and talk over the options with Daphne. But I didn't.
I leaped out of bed, shook Daphne awake, then ran into the girls' room and almost dragged them out of bed. They, of course, didn't know anything about the plans to fly to Orlando (because in my sleep-deprived state I'd forgotten all about it myself) and now I was yelling at them to throw their clothes into their suitcases. Within moments all three girls were in tears. I literally pushed Daphne and the girls out of the house and into the car, and drove significantly above the speed limit all the way to the airport. We ran into the terminal only to find the security line was a mile long. We got up to the x-ray machine and threw all the girls' bags onto the belt. Of course, one of their bags was pulled off for an extra security check (water bottle we forgot about) as the precious seconds ticked by. We were cleared by the security agent and we raced down the escalator to the train that runs between the terminals . . . and the train just sat there ... and sat there ... and sat there. I finally told Daphne to meet me at the gate as I jumped off the train and started running through the airport in a vain effort to delay the flight. I reached the gate dripping in sweat and panting like a racehorse, only to be told that the flight had left 10 minutes previously. About that time Daphne came running up, dragging the girls and their bags behind her. I said, "We missed the flight", and this time Daphne AND the girls burst into tears. The gate agent told us there was another flight leaving for Orlando in 20 minutes, so we rushed the girls to that gate, kissed them goodbye, and watched them get on the plane. Only then did we realize that the girls did not have any emergency phone numbers or contact information with them. Not only that, but this was their first time to fly alone. We stood there holding hands, watching as the plane pulled away from the gate - and cried. Of course, they did arrive safely and spent three wonderful days with their Ouma and Oupa.
Even as I write this I realize that at any point in the story I could have stopped, called my folks to say that the girls would arrive late, and relaxed. What was the issue that pushed me to stress my family to the breaking point? Money. My folks had bought non-refundable tickets for the Cirque du Soleil for that night, and I didn't want them to waste their money. Was it worth it? No way. God could have intervened in a hundred different ways if I'd given Him the opportunity, but I'll never know because I was determined to "fix" the problem.
____________________________
I've been watching coverage of the massive earthquake and tsunami in Japan, and my mind goes immediately back to the devastating tsunami in 2004. The estimated death toll of 10,000 is heart-breaking, but combined with the very real threat of a catastrophic nuclear power-plant meltdown, the consequences are truly mind-boggling. In all likelihood, the 20-30 square miles (maybe a lot more) around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant will become Japan's version of Chernobyl - a nuclear wasteland, uninhabitable for hundreds of years to come.
I'm still thinking and praying about the next three-part series for Wednesday evenings called "Faith in the Furnace". Daphne and I were reminiscing on the times we have seen God intervene in our lives in miraculous, supernatural ways when we've had the presence of mind to trust Him in the midst of a crisis and wait upon Him for His solution. But there have been many more occasions when we've panicked and tried to work things out on our own... and ended up paying a high price for our efforts emotionally, financially or otherwise. Waiting on God is a anything but a passive exercise; it usually takes far more inner strength to wait than it does to act on our own. Everything in us wants to "do" something - anything - other than to "be still and know" that He is God.
I remember well the time when we returned from our honeymoon, only to discover that our marriage certificate was lost somewhere in the black hole of South Africa's postal system. Without the certificate we could not obtain the official government document that was needed to finish Daphne's visa application for the U.S. - and we were facing multiple deadlines that all hinged upon that one document. There was one critical day when the whole visa process was either going to fall into place, or fall apart completely. We'd called every post office between the church and the local gov't office to no avail; the marriage certificate seemed to be well and truly lost. When I realized that there was nothing we could do and that we'd reached a crisis point in our faith, I pulled out a book and sat down to read. Daphne said, "What are you doing?" as if to say, "what AREN'T you doing?". I said, "it's in God's hands now", and I can honestly say that my heart was truly at rest at that moment. So she picked up her own book and sat down to read as well. What a funny image that was, now that I think about it 20 years later. After a couple of hours, when we'd reached the last possible window of opportunity, we drove to the government office in question to inquire about the certificate. We walked in and explained our predicament to the agent behind the counter. He was about to make some excuse when he suddenly turned around and picked up a letter on the counter behind him and said, "Oh, here it is. It just came in!". It was a God moment if there ever was one.
Then a few years later we were on furlough in Atlanta, Georgia. I was in the throws of the worst "restless legs" crisis that I'd faced to that point, and I literally went 8 or 9 days with no sleep. Unfortunately, during that same period of time I was making multiple important decisions and setting up travel plans . . . and I'm sure you can imagine where the story goes from here. One morning I was awoken by a phone call from my Mom: "Good morning! Are you on your way to the airport?" I was still half asleep, and replied groggily, "Why would we be on our way to the airport?" She said, "Because your girls are flying down to Orlando today to see us!". I was suddenly very wide awake. That moment was the critical faith crisis for me... and I panicked. I wonder now how differently that day could have gone if at that moment I'd stopped to pray and talk over the options with Daphne. But I didn't.
I leaped out of bed, shook Daphne awake, then ran into the girls' room and almost dragged them out of bed. They, of course, didn't know anything about the plans to fly to Orlando (because in my sleep-deprived state I'd forgotten all about it myself) and now I was yelling at them to throw their clothes into their suitcases. Within moments all three girls were in tears. I literally pushed Daphne and the girls out of the house and into the car, and drove significantly above the speed limit all the way to the airport. We ran into the terminal only to find the security line was a mile long. We got up to the x-ray machine and threw all the girls' bags onto the belt. Of course, one of their bags was pulled off for an extra security check (water bottle we forgot about) as the precious seconds ticked by. We were cleared by the security agent and we raced down the escalator to the train that runs between the terminals . . . and the train just sat there ... and sat there ... and sat there. I finally told Daphne to meet me at the gate as I jumped off the train and started running through the airport in a vain effort to delay the flight. I reached the gate dripping in sweat and panting like a racehorse, only to be told that the flight had left 10 minutes previously. About that time Daphne came running up, dragging the girls and their bags behind her. I said, "We missed the flight", and this time Daphne AND the girls burst into tears. The gate agent told us there was another flight leaving for Orlando in 20 minutes, so we rushed the girls to that gate, kissed them goodbye, and watched them get on the plane. Only then did we realize that the girls did not have any emergency phone numbers or contact information with them. Not only that, but this was their first time to fly alone. We stood there holding hands, watching as the plane pulled away from the gate - and cried. Of course, they did arrive safely and spent three wonderful days with their Ouma and Oupa.
Even as I write this I realize that at any point in the story I could have stopped, called my folks to say that the girls would arrive late, and relaxed. What was the issue that pushed me to stress my family to the breaking point? Money. My folks had bought non-refundable tickets for the Cirque du Soleil for that night, and I didn't want them to waste their money. Was it worth it? No way. God could have intervened in a hundred different ways if I'd given Him the opportunity, but I'll never know because I was determined to "fix" the problem.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
You Know You're From Colorado If . . .
A friend just sent me the following "truths" about Coloradans and I thought they are hilarious, and very true.
You know you’re from Colorado if…
You'll eat ice cream in the winter.
When the weather report says it's going to be 55 degrees, you shave your legs and wear a skirt.
It snows 10 inches and you don't expect school to be canceled.
You'll wear flip flops every day of the year, regardless of temperature.
You have no accent at all, but can hear other people's. And then you make fun of them.
“Humid” is any reading over 25%.
Your sense of direction is: Toward the mountains and Away from the mountains.
You say “the interstate” and everybody knows which one.
You say you have to go “down the hill” or “up the hill” today, and everyone knows what you mean.
You think that May is a totally normal month for a blizzard.
You buy your flowers to set out on Mother's day, but try and hold off planting them until just before Father's day.
You grew up planning your Halloween costumes around your coat and boots.
You know what the Continental Divide is.
You went to Casa Bonita as a kid, and as an adult ( Mexican restaurant in Denver that is famous for the decor, but not for the food).
You've gone off-roading in a vehicle that was never intended for such activities.
You always know the elevation of where you are.
You wake up to a beautiful, 80 degree day and you wonder if it's going to snow tomorrow.
You don't care that some company renamed it, the Broncos still play at Mile High Stadium
Everybody wears jeans to church (Amen to that!)
You know that South Park is actually a real place, not just a show on TV.
You know what a ”trust fund hippy” is, and you know its natural habitat is Boulder .
You know you're talking to a fellow Coloradoan when they call it Elitches, not Six Flags.
A bear on your front porch doesn't bother you.
A mountain lion on your front porch does.
When people out East tell you they have mountains in their state too, you just laugh.
You go anywhere else on the planet and the air feels 'sticky' and you notice the sky is no longer blue.
98% OF AMERICANS SCREAM BEFORE GOING IN THE DITCH ON AN ICY ROAD. THE OTHER 2% ARE FROM COLORADO AND THEY SAY, “HOLD MY COFFEE AND WATCH THIS.”
You know you’re from Colorado if…
You'll eat ice cream in the winter.
When the weather report says it's going to be 55 degrees, you shave your legs and wear a skirt.
It snows 10 inches and you don't expect school to be canceled.
You'll wear flip flops every day of the year, regardless of temperature.
You have no accent at all, but can hear other people's. And then you make fun of them.
“Humid” is any reading over 25%.
Your sense of direction is: Toward the mountains and Away from the mountains.
You say “the interstate” and everybody knows which one.
You say you have to go “down the hill” or “up the hill” today, and everyone knows what you mean.
You think that May is a totally normal month for a blizzard.
You buy your flowers to set out on Mother's day, but try and hold off planting them until just before Father's day.
You grew up planning your Halloween costumes around your coat and boots.
You know what the Continental Divide is.
You went to Casa Bonita as a kid, and as an adult ( Mexican restaurant in Denver that is famous for the decor, but not for the food).
You've gone off-roading in a vehicle that was never intended for such activities.
You always know the elevation of where you are.
You wake up to a beautiful, 80 degree day and you wonder if it's going to snow tomorrow.
You don't care that some company renamed it, the Broncos still play at Mile High Stadium
Everybody wears jeans to church (Amen to that!)
You know that South Park is actually a real place, not just a show on TV.
You know what a ”trust fund hippy” is, and you know its natural habitat is Boulder .
You know you're talking to a fellow Coloradoan when they call it Elitches, not Six Flags.
A bear on your front porch doesn't bother you.
A mountain lion on your front porch does.
When people out East tell you they have mountains in their state too, you just laugh.
You go anywhere else on the planet and the air feels 'sticky' and you notice the sky is no longer blue.
Nuclear Meltdown
One of the websites I monitor is STRATFOR (Strategic Forecast). Stratfor has proven over time to be a very reliable source of information on security-related events around the world. I was shocked this morning to read their evaluation of the potential nuclear catastrophe in the making in Japan - even worse than the Chernobyl disaster. It seems that the magnitude of this disaster continues to unfold.
Here is their report:
Here is their report:
Red Alert: Nuclear Meltdown at Quake-Damaged Japanese Plant
A March 12 explosion at the earthquake-damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Japan, appears to have caused a reactor meltdown.
The key piece of technology in a nuclear reactor is the control rods. Nuclear fuel generates neutrons; controlling the flow and production rate of these neutrons is what generates heat, and from the heat, electricity.
A meltdown occurs when the control rods fail to contain the neutron emission and the heat levels inside the reactor thus rise to a point that the fuel itself melts, generally temperatures in excess of 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit, causing uncontrolled radiation-generating reactions and making approaching the reactor incredibly hazardous. A meltdown does not necessarily mean a nuclear disaster. As long as the reactor core, which is specifically designed to contain high levels of heat, pressure and radiation, remains intact, the melted fuel can be dealt with. If the core breaches but the containment facility built around the core remains intact, the melted fuel can still be dealt with — typically entombed within specialized concrete — but the cost and difficulty of such containment increases exponentially.
A March 12 explosion at the earthquake-damaged nuclear power plant in Okuma, Japan, appears to have caused a reactor meltdown.
And so now the question is simple: Did the floor of the containment vessel crack? If not, the situation can still be salvaged by somehow re-containing the nuclear core. But if the floor has cracked, it is highly likely that the melting fuel will burn through the floor of the containment system and enter the ground. This has never happened before but has always been the nightmare scenario for a nuclear power event — in this scenario, containment goes from being merely dangerous, time consuming and expensive to nearly impossible.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Say what??
A few samples of the wooden signs I've burned:
 | ||||
| This is hanging above Emily's office (Mike's assistant). Mike's | office is to the right. |
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
The Whole Message of this New Life
"May the Lord bless you and protect you.
May the Lord smile upon you and be gracious to you.
May the Lord show you His favor and give you His peace.
Whenever Aaron and his sons bless the people of Israel in my name, I myself will bless them."
Numbers 6:24-27
I'm reading through the Bible again this year (first time in many years), and I read the passage above a couple of days ago. Comforting words for uncertain times. In our home group Sunday night, one of the women shared with the group how she feels worried all the time now - about the rising gas prices, about the growing violence and confusion in the Middle East, and about how all of this will potentially affect us. I know her feelings are shared by many Christians in America. We've been reading through the book of Acts together on Sunday evenings, and we'd just finished the story where the Apostles were arrested and put in jail to await questioning by the religious authorities the following day. During the night an angel came and released them from prison, and gave them the instructions to return to the temple and continue teaching "the whole message of this new life". Of course, the next morning when they sent for the Apostles, they found the jail cells locked with the guards in place - but no disciples. What can you do with men who get released from jail by angels? They ended up threatening them again, flogged them and sent them away - and the Apostles were rejoicing that they'd been counted worthy to suffer for the name of Christ.
We still serve the same God, who may still choose to send angels to deliver us at any time. So at the end of the day, what are we worried about? God is still God, and He can still do anything He wants on our behalf, at any time. I believe there is a time to exercise reasonable caution when faced with certain danger to myself, my family, or my community (case in point: we're in the process of creating a security team at church to respond to medical and security emergencies), but somewhere along the way we've come to the conclusion that God would never knowingly and willingly place His children in harm's way. Even a cursory reading of the Scriptures and of church history quickly puts this notion to rest. At this very moment, believers in the Lord Jesus around the world are experiencing rejection by their families and friends, persecution, and death for the sake of Christ. I believe God prepares His children to face extreme hardship when His pathway leads through the valley of suffering. I've seen this to be true in my brother John's life these past six years. In the midst of continuous and at times excruciating muscle spasms all over his body, I have seen God's Spirit penetrate deep into John's soul - bringing an almost palpable sense of His deep, deep love.
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free; freedom from fear, freedom from worry, freedom from sin, freedom from bondage of every kind. What would it be like if we could really live. . . free?
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Middle East Aflame
First it was Tunisia and a popular uprising that removed President Zine Ben Ali after 23 years of rule. Egypt quickly followed suit, although an Egyptian uprising has far further-reaching implications in the Middle East and around the world than a political overthrow in tiny Tunisia (pop. 10 million). Now Mubarak is gone (after 30 years) and Egypt is ruled by an interim military ruling council. What is staggering is how quickly power change can take place when fueled only by the will of the people. Once Egypt's grass-roots revolution was successful, I knew it was only a matter of time before similar protests broke out in virtually every Arab country in the region ... and beyond. Libya is now embroiled in a bloody near-civil war that has already claimed the lives of thousands of citizens, the reason being that Qaddafi has never even made a pretense of political moderation. He rules with an iron fist, and that fist is hammering (and bombing) the life out of thousands of his own citizens. And the instability and chaos are far from over. The leaders of Yemen, Oman, Bahrain, Djibouti, Jordan, Morocco, Iran and Iraq are all fighting to hold off their own "premature" departures from power, and I predict that many or even most of these will also fall to the will of the people and the strength of a united revolution. Now even Saudi Arabia is scrambling to launch economic reforms and incentives in what is perhaps a vain effort to plug the hole in the dam before riots and revolt break out in this largest and most influential Arab kingdom. Even non-Arab countries such as Zimbabwe are catching the wave of "power-change by popular demand". Trust me, this tidal wave of chaos and instability is far from over, and the leaders of the remaining countries in the region (Mauritania, Algeria, Syria, Qatar, UAE) are likely to find themselves fighting for their political (and literal) lives in a very short time. Now the U.S. has moved warships through the Suez Canal and into the Mediterranean, ostensibly to re-locate closer to Libyan waters. I find it interesting, however, that this move by the U.S. military follows the path of two Iranian warships that also passed through the Suez only days ago on their way to Syria. The military and strategic "cards" are being put on the table as each side waits for the other to make the first move.
So what does all of the above mean for us today, here in America? Certainly the eyes of many are on the tiny nation of Israel, who is now surrounded by Arab countries in various stages of instability. While the popular uprisings in the region are not - at least for the moment - directed at Israel, it would not take long for the anger to turn towards the Jewish nation should the power structure in any of these countries shift to a more hard-line Muslim context. President Ahmadinejad of Iran (arguably Israel's most vocal and dangerous enemy) has publicly proclaimed that the unrest in the region is being inspired by the appearance of the 12th Imam (Shiite version of the Messiah) who will usher in a New Age of power and influence for Muslims, and who will ensure the destruction of America and Israel. I can only imagine the high state of alert for the Israeli military right now, knowing that Iran's crazy leader may just try to use the chaos in the Middle East to attempt a strike against Israel.
I am working on a new sermon series for our Wednesday night service called "Faith in the Furnace: God's Sovereignty in the midst of crisis".
While we may not yet find ourselves in a state of crisis in America, the rising gas prices alone (predicted to hit $4.00 a gallon by this summer) will have a definitely negative impact on an already depressed economy. I personally believe that God is preparing His church to rise up in strength and faith to face what may be the most difficult crisis America has faced in years - and perhaps ever. I am not pretending to be a prophet here; I just see the signs of the times, and in the Global Village that we live in, we will not remain untouched by the most widespread unrest ever that is spreading like wildfire across North Africa and the Middle East. At the very least, the moment that Israel is attacked or launches its own preemptive strike upon Iran or any other country that threatens its survival - America will find itself engaged in its third or fourth simultaneous military conflict (along with Iraq, Afghanistan, and possibly Libya).
We have no reason to fear, however. We serve the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords who reigns supremely over the nations. And while times may get extremely hard for all of us in the coming days, His perfect love should cast all fear from our hearts. He who has promised to provide for all our needs is still faithful, and our only response should be to watch, pray and listen for His voice. Our finest hour as believers only comes when the night is darkest and hope seems to be lost. What an exciting time to be alive! Perhaps we are now watching the birth pains of the Last Days when all remaining Biblical prophecies will be fulfilled.
Stay Strong!
So what does all of the above mean for us today, here in America? Certainly the eyes of many are on the tiny nation of Israel, who is now surrounded by Arab countries in various stages of instability. While the popular uprisings in the region are not - at least for the moment - directed at Israel, it would not take long for the anger to turn towards the Jewish nation should the power structure in any of these countries shift to a more hard-line Muslim context. President Ahmadinejad of Iran (arguably Israel's most vocal and dangerous enemy) has publicly proclaimed that the unrest in the region is being inspired by the appearance of the 12th Imam (Shiite version of the Messiah) who will usher in a New Age of power and influence for Muslims, and who will ensure the destruction of America and Israel. I can only imagine the high state of alert for the Israeli military right now, knowing that Iran's crazy leader may just try to use the chaos in the Middle East to attempt a strike against Israel.
I am working on a new sermon series for our Wednesday night service called "Faith in the Furnace: God's Sovereignty in the midst of crisis".
We have no reason to fear, however. We serve the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords who reigns supremely over the nations. And while times may get extremely hard for all of us in the coming days, His perfect love should cast all fear from our hearts. He who has promised to provide for all our needs is still faithful, and our only response should be to watch, pray and listen for His voice. Our finest hour as believers only comes when the night is darkest and hope seems to be lost. What an exciting time to be alive! Perhaps we are now watching the birth pains of the Last Days when all remaining Biblical prophecies will be fulfilled.
Stay Strong!
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