Friday, December 12, 2008

Advent Day 13

First, two thoughts I'm toying with.

1- Moving the blog to WordPress. There are pros and cons. The biggest con being I don't know CSS and their templates are hideous.

2- Starting another blog on which to archive the mess of ideas and information in my head about the emerging generation/emerging church/digital natives/etc. I study these things at work and they're becoming more and more applicable, which means more and more people are talking about them. How technology has changed the next generation and what the Church needs to do about it. Not sure if I should do that stuff here, or start another forum for that.

I'm open for wisdom on both accounts. I'm also open for anyone who wants to help me with CSS.

Advent Day 13
Are you ready for this?

"What if ... just what if ... we aren't raptured before the tribulation?" Husband was asking a friend recently. "What if we're here for all of it?"

"I don't know," was the reply (or so I'm told). "I hadn't thought of that."

I don't want to argue about when exactly the rapture is going to happen. I've thrown myself into the issue for the past couple months and I'm secure in my understanding of scripture. The conversation tends to be divisive and I don't feel like arguing this evening.

What I do feel like doing is examining my heart toward the Lord.

So what if? What if the interpretation that says believers will be taken from the earth after (or sometime during) the tribulation is true? If we've believed all our lives that we'll be whisked away just in time, what happens if I'm suddenly in the midst of a natural disaster that wipes out a third of the global population? What if I suddenly start to realize that those horrible prophecies are happening and I'm still here? Do I still love Him?

What if loves ones make the wrong decision in that day and choose to stand against Him when He comes to establish His kingdom on the earth? He is just and His judgments are true. Do I still worship Him?

Read the first six verses of Isaiah 63. It's going to happen (whether I'm here or not). Do I still run to Him?

The western world knows Jesus - especially at this time of year - as "Wonderful, Counselor ... Prince of Peace." He is those things. But He's also a warrior. There will be peace, but not at the cost of justice.

When it happens, though - when He's true to Himself instead of true to my understanding of Him - will I love Him the same? Will I worship Him the same?

3 comments:

KnowYourGod said...

i think when you open a new account in wordpress you can import all your old blogspot blogs :) that would be easier and i would start a separate one for next gen tech church stuff :) oh and hi again :) sorry its been so long. i don't know how long i'll be back for but i felt inspired and wanted to blog (which i'm about to do) and thought i will check with lexi's blog. miss you guys

Anonymous said...

some very good questions.

if i were to try and answer them, i could not. i can only follow one day at a time. nothing more and nothing less.

Lex said...

Hi Jeffy. Thanks for the input. Maybe I'll start a separate blog in WordPress first and see how that goes before I move mine.

@Nancy - Thanks for the comment. Trying to stay on top of one day at a time is a full-time job for sure! At the same time, though, I think believers need to look ahead.

Jesus corrected the generation of His first coming (repeatedly I believe) for not understanding the signs of the times they were in; how much more will He expect us in the last days to understand the signs!