Living in the Last Hour

There are many issues that creep into our lives that we did not ask for, that we fail to address, or do not know how to address, refuse to address, or do not address to the satisfaction of others.

Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, and saw My works forty years. Therefore I was angry with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart, and they have not known My ways.’ So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’ ”

Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, while it is said: “Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” NKJV Hebrews 3: 7-15

The deceitfulness of sin

Eve and the Jews, the chosen people of God (who chose Barabbas over Jesus) presented but a glimpse of God’s big picture and the deceitfulness of sin. Consider the subsequent generations of Jews that did not choose Barabbas. False teaching works the same way.

Rich Mullins (1955-1997), the Christian singer from back in the days, was for me, the last great theologian, even if he wasn’t, and didn’t consider himself as one. He had a way of speaking truth that made me evaluate my faith. 

“Christianity is not about building an absolutely secure little niche in the world where you can live with your perfect little wife and your perfect little children in your beautiful little house where you have no gays or minority groups anywhere near you. Christianity is about learning to love like Jesus loved and Jesus loved the poor and Jesus loved the broken.” ― Rich Mullins

“Never forget what Jesus did for you. Never take lightly what it cost Him. And never assume that if it cost Him His very life, that it won’t also cost you yours.” ― “We were given the Scriptures to humble us into realizing that God is right, and the rest of us are just guessing.” ― Rich Mullins

Finding myself in unexpected waters

A former sister-in-law, long since gone home, once share with me a decision she was compelled to make. Thinking on her experience, later, it occurred to me that maybe that’s why fellow Christians leave ministries behind. Let’s be truthful, so few people in the church have a heart, much less time for volunteer ministry. Martha is very demanding. She even complained about Mary to Jesus. Pastors will indirectly call out congregants for this failure. They are thankful for the folks who give of their time, folks who sacrifice their time, but they are only a few folks and there is so much work to be done. “We really need more folks to step up.” Scripture says the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. I don’t use this example lightly, operating a church takes a lot of people as it has many needs.

Anyway, my sister-in-law felt constantly pulled by her church to volunteer for this and that. She confessed that she found it hard to say no. She was a young mom with three children who needed her attention. She was also homeschooling them. It was not easy for her to say no. Her first priority had to be the needs of her children.  She felt “this is the lot that the Lord has given me and I cannot do a good job if I am constantly putting others before my children.” She chose obedience to the lot she felt the Lord had given her. She did not stop serving the Lord. She admitted to me it was not the lot she would have chosen. Growing up she knew she wanted to be a professional. I was like, wow. That took a lot of discernment.

There are many circumstances I would not have chosen for myself or my children, but it was the lot I had been given. For my sister-in-law it was not about saying no to God, but learning to say no to Martha and not feeling guilty about choosing God’s will. Learning to accept the lot one has been given is not easy, especially as Americans. The apostle Paul learned to be content in all things.

Learning from the parent-child relationship

After my divorce in 1997, I had to learn how to navigate a very cold world. As a single mother, I found very little compassion and an abundance of judgment. Adversity was on every corner. It took me a while to realize I was unprepared to adequately provide for my children. So I went to college. That in itself was a challenge. But it lead me down a path that the Lord would later use to teach me. I chose to study child development. I learned many valuable lessons working in the field of early childhood and the many facets of the parent-child relationship. The Lord was gracious in revealing to me how the earthly relationships parallel the heavenly relationship.

Early childhood encompasses the array of development all children experience. A healthy emotional development is critical as children learn to express themselves. Abuse and neglect have been shown to alter a child’s brain architecture. The effects are long-lasting and make it difficult for children to make secure attachments with caregivers. It is heartbreaking that the people designed to nurture them can also inflict pain and suffering.

The effects of neglectful and abusive parenting is not always as obvious as one would believe. Too often, the children love their abuser. They love their mommy and daddy. The signs of neglect manifest differently than signs of physical abuse. Christian parents like to quote the scripture spare the rod and spoil the child as rational for spanking their children. That is what I was taught. So Christians, in general, more often than not, consider the lack of physical punishment bad parenting. So all the disobedient, and disrespectful children are a result of bad parenting. Parents who spare the rod raise children that spoil everything. Very few individuals will step in to help a child getting yelled at, or getting a whooping for crying in the grocery store. Have you ever witnessed a parent yelling at an infant? A child up to a year old is considered an infant. Their only form of communication is still crying. I believe most people have seen a toddler getting berated in public. Very few people even react to such a sight. It’s heartbreaking.

It is nobody’s business, right? Well, consider the neglectful and abusive parent/child relationship. Believers are the children of God. God is our Heavenly Father. I will not lay it out for you. When God’s children are disobedient He must discipline them. The church is tasked with feeding the sheep, with tending His sheep. When the church is neglectful, the signs too can manifest differently than when the church is abusive. Jim Jones (He was a preacher, ordained, influenced by Pentecostalism.) I would consider abusive. He lead 900+ people to death. The Templars were just as bad.

The church, Christians, evangelicals, the people of God have a history of neglecting God’s Law. Jesus left us with a new narrative. A narrative that saves. The gospel is God’s authority. The signs of a neglectful church are evident to those few with eyes to see. The Bible is clear on that subject. They have chosen the way of Balaam. Feed my sheep, said the Lord. Where are God’s sheep?

The Scriptures tell us that the Lord disciplines because He loves us. His discipline is not abstract. Everything the Lord of creation does is purposeful. Even for those who do not believe. Following the lead of Israel, Christian and evangelicals cried for a king to lead them, to protect them from secularists, to save Christianity, clearly they were to busy lusting after the things of the world that there was no time to give to the lost. That is a very cynical attitude to take, isn’t it? But those “secularists”, the unsaved, the unbelievers, the sinner, the degenerates, all those people, Jesus came to save. They had to be sacrificed for their king. Just like the Pharisees dragged the adulterous woman to where Jesus was, front and center, calling out her sin, so the evangelicals have done. The Pharisees did not expect Jesus to do what He did, so Christians and evangelicals did not expect what their king is doing, or maybe they did and like Judas have gone astray. Their king is not done claiming his rights. The Pharisees thought they were safe and in control, but we know how that ended.

In the 21st century, Israel repeated history by willingly and willfully rejecting God, the King of Kings, and Lord of lords, for a human king. The most popular and influential Christians and evangelicals today, big names, signed off on the king’s appointment. God chose Saul, but Israel would suffer the consequences for their sin. The elephant in the room was asked to come in…

v. 9 – Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will claim as his rights.”

v. 19-20 – But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.” 1 Samuel 8 – NIV

To everything there is a purpose…

More to come… I am beginning to see the end of this narrative. Come back to see where Part 5 goes.