1/3/2010
Sunday class: Mt 5:
Scripture reading: #24-25
Vespers @ 5
Wednesday Bible Study: Romans
Heaven and earth will pass away, but my
words will never pass away. Mt
24.35
Lots of sermons have been preached about the ‘end of the world’ and other such
apocalyptic titles. They generally have had the theme of Jesus Second Coming
and the destruction of the world as the means to purify the world of sin.
Perhaps there’s a bit of the ‘cart before the horse’ in some of that reasoning
and interpretation.
I definitely believe that Jesus
will come again. A also believe that he
will establish a “NEW” Jerusalem here. I also believe that there will be
calamitous seismic activity and absolute anarchy such as is described in the
Bible:
· Mount of Olives split in two
·
Mountains collapsing
·
Fire raining down from the sky
·
The moon appearing blood red
·
Rivers running red as if with blood
·
A loaf of bread or sack of flour costing a wheelbarrow load of
money
·
Total chaos with brother killing brother, nation upon nation
·
A third of humanity dying
·
A third of the trees and fields and other vegetation being
destroyed
·
A third of the seas being made uninhabitable for fish or any
other creature
·
Etc., it’s all in the prophecies
When there aren’t physical, rational reasons to
anticipate such things, we tend to look to them as a future spiritual
phenomenon. However, we are at a point in civilization where it quite
possibly won’t be spiritual phenomenon, but rather quite easily predicted
causal calamities that brings each and all of these things to pass.
Does that take away the spiritual impact of these
events? NO, they were prophesied just not explained as to how they would
happen. AND, I do believe that it will usher in a spiritual event at which
the world has scoffed for centuries – the Second Coming of Jesus. The Word
of God will be fulfilled…just probably not as we have predicted and expected.
So, where are we? Some sociologists describe us as
now being "...in the ‘bottleneck’ of civilization." They say, “In the 21st Century we will
experience the ‘bottleneck’ of civilization bringing rapid change and with that
comes the disintegration of social fabric…”
·
William Catton (sociologist, professor, Washington State
University)
·
James Martin (distinguished professor, Oxford University)
·
Martin Rees (Astronomer Royal in Britain)
·
James Speth (a dean at Yale
University)
·
George Mobus (professor of computer and software systems, U of
Washington – Tacoma)
It has been said that the 20th
Century had more history and technological birthing than the previous 19
centuries combined and that the 21st Century will probably be
nineteen 20th Centuries combined. (original
source unknown)
Dr.
Mobus said, “It is the rate of change that matters as much as the
degree or magnitude of change when it comes to shocking a population. If we
look at the rate of climate change due to anthropogenic forcing, or the
rate at which our fossil fuel energy sources are depleting, or the rate
of aquifer depletion, or the rate of population increase, or the
rate of consumption increase per capita in the developed and developing worlds,
or... You get the picture. We are changing the world in ways unfavorable to
human survivability more rapidly than we can either adapt or mitigate. And we have already passed the point of no return.”
Our view of wealth is
vastly different, polar opposites, of what Jesus taught. His teachings on the
man who built bigger and bigger barns; on the rich man and Lazarus…
Are we seeing,
· with the rapid changes of technology and society,
· and the depletion of our potable water sources,
· and the tipping point of population growth
coinciding with the rapidly escalating consumption of irreplaceable resources –
the predicted and
subsequent disintegration of global social fabric if not civilization?
The answer to a
global social fabric and civilization that will not disintegrate and kill
itself off is found in the New Testament, the establishment of the Kingdom of
God through Jesus Christ…the Body of Christ, the Church.
The Word of God is pertinent - if we
separate it from a cultural context and apply it to all humanity without regard
to race, gender, ethnicity, nationality, wealth or education.
I'm not a wild-eyed fanatic who 'sees'
the end-of-the-world in every turn of the newspaper page. I'm a pragmatist, a
follower of Jesus who believes that Jesus had a 'globalism' view of His
mission.
I firmly believe that His mandate for the disciples who had gathered there on the mountain at the time
His Ascension, was a 'charge' to 'globalism' for the purposes of His Kingdom.
· It is a charge with the intent that "none
should perish."
· It is a charge with the intent that the entire world
should hear that "God so loved the world..."
· It is a charge with the intent that we recognize
that "the earth is the Lord's and the fullness
thereof..."
· It is a 'charge' for all of His followers to be
good stewards of all that is His, understanding that "of
whom much is given, much is required."
Yes, I believe that
we are on a count-down to what sociologists, economists, ecologists, and a few
preachers believe to be a very rapidly approaching "bottleneck" in
civilization.
· Will
this 'bottleneck' result in "Armageddon?" Possibly.
· Will
this 'bottleneck' result in the Coming of the Messiah? Possibly.
· Will
this 'bottleneck' result in 'genocidal activity?' Undoubtedly, and far worse
than the world has yet seen.
· Will
Western Civilization Christians stand by and let it happen? We have up until
this point in history.
The answering
response to the mandate we have been given will be found in the soul-searching
that must be done now for we
"...must work the works of Him that sent (Jesus), while it is day: the
night cometh, when no man can work." John 9.4