The Return of The King of Kings

I once heard a Christian say they couldn't wait until the rapture so they could basically gloat and say, "I told you so!" At the time I sort of agreed with them, but it was only a half-hearted agreement.

In that moment when the trumpet sounds and the eastern skies are split wide open to reveal the triumphant return of my savior and King, I don't think I'll have anything on my mind other than rejoicing in His presence and utter, complete and overwhelming joy. I seriously doubt that I will have time to think about those in my life who have ridiculed my belief in the return of Christ Jesus. But, if I do have time to think of it, there will be no sense of "I told you so," but rather, I think there would be a sense of sadness and disappointment that those people will be seeing the truth revealed only to realize that they have missed out. The utter horror they will experience in that moment that will be faster than the blinking of an eye will be so all-consuming and devastating. I cannot feel anything but sadness for them that they will witness the truth before them only to realize that they have missed their chance.

When I think of what I would feel toward those who will not rise to meet Jesus in the clouds, I stop to think of God's heart and how He will feel knowing that so many of those He has loved and called have rejected Him. Each and every one of us knows the hurt, pain and ache of rejection; now just imagine the depths of those feelings in the very heart of God who took on flesh and came to earth to live and died an excruciating and ghastly beating followed by one of the most horrific deaths known to man: hanging on a cross. He did all of that so that each and every person might enjoy the eternal life and love that we will experience in Glory. The best part of that everlasting life will be living in the presence of the living God for eternity without end.

I have loved ones who have passed away that I have no doubt are waiting for me in Heaven, and I have loved ones who have passed away whom I am completely unsure whether they are spending eternity in Heaven or hell; according to what I know, unless they made a decision for Christ in the last hours or days of their life, they are not basking in the light of His love, but I don't know what decisions they made in those last hours and minutes of life. I know that if they did, in fact, call on Him, even with their last breath, then they are forever by His side in Glory. If not, then they are experiencing the most horrible of all torment: the complete lack of the presence of God.

Much has been made over the years and centuries about the horrors of hell: fire and brimstone; the fire that is never quenched, the gnashing of teeth and the other torments that are mentioned not only by the apostles and prophets, but by Christ, Himself. Yet, those will not be the worst torment for those who are cast into utter darkness. That very term refers to the complete lack of God's presence, and that would be the most horrendous fate that I could ever imagine.

As the remaining signs prophesied in the Bible come to pass, as the day draws nearer and nearer to the splitting of the eastern skies, I hope and pray people will respond to the call that God is extending to them. And I admonish all of us to remember that we are not called to be smug or gloat to think about those who will get a wake-up call on that day; we are called to work diligently so that they will be able to fly away in the sweet by and by.

On Being Weird and Strange

Not too long ago, I learned from a former in-law that a member of my immediate family had talked about me with this former in-law and had used the words "weird and strange" to describe me, explaining why my family member limited contact with me. Now, I know I'm unusual, but then again, every single person on this planet has some unusual qualities or traits. I, myself, have even used the terms "weird and strange" when describing myself. But, the way my family member used these descriptors was in a negative sense.

Learning this information some 15 years later was both revelatory and hurtful. It explained so much the erratic nature of my relationship with this family member, but it was quite painful to hear that she felt that way about me, and because of that she limited her involvement with me, and even tempered her love and affection.

I realize I can be abrasive, and even at times I can seem almost alien. I have my opinions and views, just like anyone else, and just because they don't mesh with those of another person, especially a loved one, that shouldn't preclude having a good relationship with them. Just like every other human being on the planet, I'm not perfect. I make mistakes, I inadvertently hurt those I love the most and I'm even callous and insensitive at times. Yet, I never intentionally set out to hurt or alienate anyone, especially my family. The one thing that is most important to me on this planet is family. Maybe because I've never felt truly a part of one.

Unfortunately, I'm not able to speak with this family member about her opinion of me, but if I could, I would tell her that I sometimes think of her as strange and weird, as well, though I never cut her out of my life, and heart, because of it. I simply counted it as part of who she was; part of what made her her.

I've changed quite a bit over the past 25 years. I am not the man I was when I began the journey to become a better man. Have I completely succeeded in being all that I can be? No. But I continue to strive for that goal even though I know I may never reach it. I will continue to be "strange and weird" in the eyes of many, but that's just part of being me, just as it is with everyone else.

Sudden Loss of Relationships

Like other people on the planet, I have a history. In my personal history I have come to realize that I have lost contact with others suddenly and inextricably. These people simply stopped speaking to me; they refuse to answer or return my phone calls, eMails or text messages. Recently a relative blocked me from her facebook page. In a few of those instances, I am aware that I said or did something that could explain the sudden cessation of conversation and interaction, but in others, I have no idea why the other person suddenly stopped speaking to me.

I have also cut off communication with other people during my lifetime. However, I've never just suddenly stopped speaking to those people, I've always let them know, in some form, why it was that I was severing contact with them. I find it to be better if I am courteous and responsible by letting them know what it is they've done or said that caused me to no longer want to have interaction with them, while I desire the same respect and consideration from others.

In almost every instance of someone suddenly ceasing to communicate with me, I have left voicemails, eMails or sent letters asking them to please let me know what it was that I did to cause them to suddenly cease communications, yet in nearly every instance, my request for information was ignored. I simply cannot understand why someone would cease communication without letting the other person know why. Especially when the offender asks to know so they can avoid that situation in the future.

I've also asked, no I've begged, forgiveness from those people even though I've no idea what it is I'm asking to be forgiven for. To say I feel extremely offended by their refusal to tell me what I did would be understatement, but the idea of forgiveness being sought and rejected is even further outside my realm of understanding.

Maybe one day I'll learn what it is about me that causes people to just walk out of my life with no explanation. After all, it's been happening to me since I was a mere four years old, so I really should be close to knowing what it is.

Let He Who Is Without Sin Cast The First Stone

"Let he who is without sin cast the first stone." Those were the words of Jesus recorded in John's gospel, 8th chapter. We all know the story, the scribes and pharisees brought a woman they had caught in the very act of adultery, they demanded Jesus answer to the command of the law which said she should be stoned to death. Ironically, even though they caught this woman in the very act of adultery, which means they found her and a man who was not her husband in the act of sex, they brought only the woman to be condemned to death when the scripture is plain and clear that BOTH the man and woman should be put to death. The scripture they cite to justify her death is Leviticus 20:10, and is repeated in Deuteronomy 22:22. Yet, the scribes and Pharisees, just like the people of today, were selective about the punishment and chose to only condemn the woman in this case. There are many instances in Leviticus (the Law of Moses) where death is proscribed for sin. Many actions which today we consider to be of no consequence were given the death penalty or being completely cut off from the people. Anyone who cursed his father or mother was to be put to death. If that sanction were applied today, more than ¾ of the population would have to be killed. If a couple engaged in intimacy during a woman's monthly flow, they were both to be cut off from the people, another way of saying put to death. It didn't matter if the couple were married or not, if they engaged in relations during her cycle, they were to be killed. The beauty of Christ's life, death and resurrection is that we are no longer under the law, but under grace. As the Bible states in New Testament scripture, the law did not pass away, it was merely fulfilled in the death and resurrection of the Messiah. Each and every person on this planet who is a Christian revels in that grace and the mercy that God has shown to them for their sin. Yet so many of us refuse to extend that grace and mercy to anyone else. Just as the scribes and Pharisees of John chapter 8, we want to impose the harshest penalty available against every other person for the most minor of infractions, while we want to be pardoned for the most major infractions that we commit. Each and every one of us have our own point of view, opinion and belief about everything. We all believe that our point of view/opinion/belief is the right one and every person who doesn't agree with us is wrong. Sadly, both sides of every issue can also use Scripture to justify their stand. How is this possible? I do not have all the answers. I don't even have a few of the answers. What I do have is the belief/opinion/point of view that the Bible tells me that A: my battle is not against flesh and blood but against principalities of the air and the powers of darkness. Some use that to justify their attacks against those who disagree with them politically or religiously, however. B: that my home is not this physical, earthly kingdom. My home is the eternal heaven in which God reigns. And C: that I am not the judge for anyone or anything that occurs in this life with or by other people. Jesus is the only One who can judge others. Jesus told us that we cannot see into the heart of another person therefore we cannot stand in judgment of them. Is what someone else does a sin? There are some cases where we can say that something is a sin. But, there are some things that may be a sin for me but not for you. It's a very complicated thing to be a human being born into the kingdom of Christ. We see through a veil, darkly, as Paul stated. In other words, we do not see everything, we don't have all the information needed to make judgments. Some people say the old adage, "live and let live" is heresy. Is it? Considering there are numerous instances in the Scripture that tell us to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, to stop trying to remove a speck from our brother's eye while we have a plank in our own and that we are admonished to not be "busybodies" (Paul's word, not mine), I think the adage is appropriate. Many of the ones who scream about this or that or the other issue, whichever side they're on, would do well to think about the things in their own life they wouldn't want anyone to judge them on. Just saying!

Falling From Grace

There's a common saying in American language that says people "fall from grace". The most recent example was in a new article regarding media moguls, comparing the rise and fall of Rupert Murdoch to William Randolph Hearst, and the fact that many media moguls suffer this "fall from grace". Grace is defined as "favor, goodwill, mercy, clemency, pardon; a manifestation of favor, especially by a superior." Humanity has a history of building people up into larger than life symbols of their hopes and dreams, only to gleefully rip them off the pedestals they were placed on, most of the time without their desire to be placed there in the first place. Many times the ambition of the person in question turns into hubris which precedes their "fall". God tells us in His Word that His grace is "sufficient" unto us, to cover a multitude of sins and mistakes. We cannot fall from His grace because there is more than enough to cover any and all of the mistakes, sins and times that we miss the mark. But we still continue to talk about people who have fallen from His grace. We give human attributes to the Creator of the universe and apply our own failure to offer sufficient grace to one another to the Almighty. We think that He cannot possibly have enough grace to cover those things that we refuse to cover with our own grace toward one another. The irony is we refuse to offer the grace to others, or expect that God will refuse that grace to them because we won't while at the same expecting that God has enough grace to cover all of our missteps, misdeeds and sin. How human of us. The next time you begin to fault someone for "falling from grace" take a moment to ask yourself if you expect God's grace to cover you in the same situation. If you do, then you must give that same grace to the person you want to condemn.

Wearing Our Feelings On Our Sleeves

I've heard people say, "(S)He wears her/his feelings on her/his sleeve" all my life. It's meant to be a disparaging comment about someone the speaker feels gets their feelings hurt too easily, more often than not after the speaker has said or done something that hurt the other person’s feelings. Truth be told, we all wear our feelings on our sleeves, some are just more easily able to let the hurt pass or internalize it and not let it be seen by anyone, especially the one who did the hurting.

As a Christian, I try to be mindful of what I say or do in order to minimize any chance of hurting someone’s feelings or offending them; some would call that being politically correct, but the truth of the matter is, Paul taught in his writings that we are to be mindful of other’s feelings at all times. Jesus told us to be mindful to not offend, as well. So why is it that some folks tend to take great joy in deliberately doing/saying things that will offend or hurt the feelings of those around them? Even those they claim to love most deeply. We’ve even come up with a term to justify our doing these types of things, “tough love”. I would challenge anyone who practices this brutality to justify their actions with scripture. There’s not a single scripture that gives us license to hurt anyone’s feelings or offend anyone and justify it by claiming “tough love”.

It’s time we all started remembering to treat others the way we want to be treated and to respect the feelings of those around us, whether they are our family and friends or someone we don’t know. Just as human beings we should be mindful of the fact that we don’t like having our feelings hurt or being offended, therefore we should be careful to not do so to others.

That’s not to say each and every person doesn’t have the right to their opinion and the right to express their opinion, but there are ways to do so without offending others, intentionally.

Targeting The Least Of These

The headline reads "GOP To Cut Food Stamps In Deficit-Reduction Drive". While the majority of Americans in general are gung ho about these cuts, and Republicans in particular are quite proud of their efforts to reduce the amount spent on Medicaid and food stamps, most don't know anyone who are on these programs. Yes, I hear many stories from people who complain about seeing someone in the checkout line buying food using food stamps that they can't afford, or seeing people using food stamps to purchase things they consider inappropriate, the fact remains the majority of people on these programs are people who have no other means to put groceries in the cupboard or visit the doctor.

Most people think the amount I get on food stamps is exorbitant, but I would challenge them to feed themselves for a month on a mere $140. Especially with the price of groceries going up the way it has, recently. I purchased a package of hamburger last week that cost me what I used to pay for a 4 - 6 pack of steak. And it wasn't ground chuck, it was the worst grade of ground beef you can buy. Most of it cooked away into water. My disability checks are not enough to pay bills and buy groceries. If my food stamps get cut further, I'll have to cut out even more meals and I'm already down to eating just once a day.

Why is it that when budget cuts are considered it is those who can least afford to lose that are targeted first? The GOP resists any effort to tax those who earn millions of dollars per year while gleefully proclaiming how they're cutting benefits to those of us who are barely making it as it is.

Something is definitely wrong with this picture!