Archive for August 2012

If a huge meteor shower hits the Earth (verse 13), then we can only assume that other planets in our solar system will be hit by the same meteor shower, including the Sun.

This is why the Sun turns black. Let me explain.

Have you ever seen a bowl of melted steel. If it is pure then the contents of the bowl glow red hot. But if you drop impure metal into that white hot liquid steel, then the dross, the debris from the impure metal separates. The impurity then floats to the surface and forms a black crust over the molten steel until the dross burns away.

Imagine God throwing billions of tons of dirt into the hot liquid plasma of the Sun via a meteor shower. The dirt will separate, float to the surface and form a crust of debris until it burns off. This is why the sun will turn dark black like sackcloth.

When this happens to the sun the inhabitants of the Earth will understand that the end is upon them. They will understand that God has intervened to judge sinners. They will all know that Jesus is coming. They will all be asking, “Will I be able to stand?”

When Jesus told the disciples about the coming destruction of the Temple and the city of Jerusalem, they asked “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?” Matthew 24:3.

Jesus answers the what, not the when.

Jesus answered, But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only Matthew 24:36.

There is a soft rebuke for their carnal calendar curiosity. If we know the when, then we might procrastinate our repentance.

Like Paul Harvey, God tells us the Rest of the Story, to encourage us when we suffer for His name sake.

Are you pouring your life out on the altar of total sacrifice for Jesus? Why not?

Do you not know what happens to the souls of the martyrs?

These four horseman fan the flame of man’s depravity to cause human suffering. I believe the suffering is cyclical and increasing as we approach the end. It started with Cain killing Abel and will end with Armageddon.

God has determined to keep humanity from being at peace on Earth while they are at war with Heaven. Worldwide suffering is a foretaste of God’s displeasure that we might be brought to repentance.

And here is the real surprise, when Jesus walked this Earth, He also bore the suffering of these four Horseman.

Jesus suffered under the hands of men in government who were Hell bent on conquering the freedom and liberty found in His message. The blood of Jesus was shed. Jesus lived a life of poverty and He died.

The ARP has a slogan that “All of Life is Worship.” How is worship being defined to fit that slogan?

David Peterson defines worship in his wonderful book, Engaging with God, quote “Worship of the living and true God is essentially an engagement with him on the terms that he proposes and in the way that he alone makes possible.” I like this definition because it isn’t generic. It applies to Christian Worship specifically.

Revelation chapter 5 gives us a peek into Heavenly worship.

This chapter reveals the Key to Worship .

Worship happens when we rightly profess the identity of Jesus and then rightly respond to that profession.

Said even more succinctly: when we say, “Jesus is Lord!”, and we act accordingly, we are worshiping.