August 2017:
I'm writing to you personally in this post. You would have fit in well in the little house on the prairie. You would have been one of those boys in the either Pennsylvania or Virginia who picked up his rifle....kissed his young bride on the cheek.....and answered the call to defend their state. You wouldn't have nearly the education of someone your age today but you have been educated infinitely better.....your conversation would be slow and deliberate.....displaying not only wisdom but common sense....and your vocabulary much greater. Your faith in God would be strong....the strongest thing in your life. Your word would be your bond.
But here you are today.....whereas 150 years ago the toys and foolish baubles of this world existed only in the big city, today they come at you in every living room in every town in America. You can't find a genuine conversation. Few really use reasoning. Everyone seems to be involved in some giant game of sorts. You look around you and see Sodom and Gomorrah everywhere. When you mention.....the Bible....you are looked down upon, maybe ridiculed, and possibly avoided at all costs.
Here is my graybeard advice to you but I have to preface it with with some anecdotal analogies. We often find ourselves going through life while struggling to get some quality time with various experts whose knowledge and advice can be very helpful to us. You have an appointment to talk to your adviser in college, and he (she) will be pleasant and concerned but you might have fifteen minutes and the next student is already standing outside the door. You wait a few weeks for your doctor appointment and rehearse the questions that you will ask, for if you forget one or two it will be another six weeks before you can ask it.
Your pastor is busy all the time. Stop by for a chat and he'll be glad to see you but short of going into counseling you will inevitably fall short of putting your cares and needs before him. Your financial adviser will have even less time to give, and perish the thought of actually getting to have a conversation with your state or federal representative. Write a letter and you'll get a carefully prepared form letter in return. In summary....face to face time with someone that you need will always be hard to find.
We live in the very real, but very created spheres of time and space. We can only concentrate on one thing at a time. Jesus Christ created this time and space, and exists outside of it. You do not have to schedule an appointment with Him....and that appointment will not be time limited. You will have His perfect attention....anytime that you want it. He's not going to look at His watch and say that He has to be in the Middle East in fifteen minutes.
Take these concerns....North Korea....the stock market that is about to collapse....the shadow of the Tower of Babel cast over your home and your children....Sodom and Gomorrah in the news every evening.....your own country collapsing right before your eyes....take them through that always open door to Jesus Christ. He will direct you, ...through His Holy Spirit.... to His mighty and powerful Word.....and this without you even realizing what's going on.
Others will still scorn and smirk but herein is the second part of my advice. There is ultimately only one thing that matters in this area. It has nothing to do with what others think of you. Let them think whatever they want! It is what Jesus Christ thinks of you that matters! When you finally fully realize this it will free you! It will give you boldness to proclaim His Lordship over all the earth and all its kings....and it will give you the resolve to ignore the taunts of a perishing world. You will no longer be confused for you will know very well what is going on....and maybe you will watch what is going on all around the world...and as did the early Christians...face every new dawn with these words....Maranatha....Lord come!
I'm writing to you personally in this post. You would have fit in well in the little house on the prairie. You would have been one of those boys in the either Pennsylvania or Virginia who picked up his rifle....kissed his young bride on the cheek.....and answered the call to defend their state. You wouldn't have nearly the education of someone your age today but you have been educated infinitely better.....your conversation would be slow and deliberate.....displaying not only wisdom but common sense....and your vocabulary much greater. Your faith in God would be strong....the strongest thing in your life. Your word would be your bond.
But here you are today.....whereas 150 years ago the toys and foolish baubles of this world existed only in the big city, today they come at you in every living room in every town in America. You can't find a genuine conversation. Few really use reasoning. Everyone seems to be involved in some giant game of sorts. You look around you and see Sodom and Gomorrah everywhere. When you mention.....the Bible....you are looked down upon, maybe ridiculed, and possibly avoided at all costs.
Here is my graybeard advice to you but I have to preface it with with some anecdotal analogies. We often find ourselves going through life while struggling to get some quality time with various experts whose knowledge and advice can be very helpful to us. You have an appointment to talk to your adviser in college, and he (she) will be pleasant and concerned but you might have fifteen minutes and the next student is already standing outside the door. You wait a few weeks for your doctor appointment and rehearse the questions that you will ask, for if you forget one or two it will be another six weeks before you can ask it.
Your pastor is busy all the time. Stop by for a chat and he'll be glad to see you but short of going into counseling you will inevitably fall short of putting your cares and needs before him. Your financial adviser will have even less time to give, and perish the thought of actually getting to have a conversation with your state or federal representative. Write a letter and you'll get a carefully prepared form letter in return. In summary....face to face time with someone that you need will always be hard to find.
We live in the very real, but very created spheres of time and space. We can only concentrate on one thing at a time. Jesus Christ created this time and space, and exists outside of it. You do not have to schedule an appointment with Him....and that appointment will not be time limited. You will have His perfect attention....anytime that you want it. He's not going to look at His watch and say that He has to be in the Middle East in fifteen minutes.
Take these concerns....North Korea....the stock market that is about to collapse....the shadow of the Tower of Babel cast over your home and your children....Sodom and Gomorrah in the news every evening.....your own country collapsing right before your eyes....take them through that always open door to Jesus Christ. He will direct you, ...through His Holy Spirit.... to His mighty and powerful Word.....and this without you even realizing what's going on.
Others will still scorn and smirk but herein is the second part of my advice. There is ultimately only one thing that matters in this area. It has nothing to do with what others think of you. Let them think whatever they want! It is what Jesus Christ thinks of you that matters! When you finally fully realize this it will free you! It will give you boldness to proclaim His Lordship over all the earth and all its kings....and it will give you the resolve to ignore the taunts of a perishing world. You will no longer be confused for you will know very well what is going on....and maybe you will watch what is going on all around the world...and as did the early Christians...face every new dawn with these words....Maranatha....Lord come!
