Honorary Shotgun Approach

A lot of random stuff tonight: Middle East Policy, Season Changes, and the End-Times.  So I'm taking a shotgun approach.  Also, my bud Jason Parks wrote a blog post at my suggesting (coercing?), so I'm giving him the honorary mention in this one.  Good job, Jason!  Now sit and reflect on how coffee has changed your life.

First, Middle East Policy (per Jason's post).  I also think it's pretty silly to try to fix a problem with policy.  Nations are made up of people, and policy (should) always reflect the will of the people.  That's Democracy, right?  Even if you said "OK, here's the line.  You on the left, you're Israelis.  You on the right, you're Palestinians.  Done." people would still fight each other because they aren't angry about policy.  There's no problem with a nation sitting in and being the referee, helping people along, but that's a lot different than meddling.  It's more like "Hey, remember our civil war a century and a half ago?  Learn from our mistakes." than "We are big and powerful, you should listen to us or we'll kill you."

The responsibility for this lies as much our shoulders as the President's.  Especially the church, remember, we're supposed to change the world?  You see, if your worldview requires the world to turn on Israel at Armaggedon, you believe that Middle East peace is a pipe dream and you just watch the news to see who else steps up to "hate the Jews."  However if your worldview doesn't require that, then you're more apt to say, "what can I do to help, and to bring what God wants here?"  Because the President can't do it.  Legislation and policy can't do it.  It's doing what Jesus did, getting down to the level of these people and being a peace maker (not a peace keeper).  I have a cousin who is (or was) working with Israeli and Palestinian kids in schools, teaching them why they shouldn't hate each other.  That's what changes things!

Second topic.  This is our last night in our apartment.  Funny how transitions always make you nostalgic.  I was rocking Zemi to sleep just thinking about all the memories here.  This is the only home she's known.  I've had so, so many good nights rocking her to sleep.  Nights where I've wrestled with God on different topics, had wonderful worship, all kinds of stuff.  Tomorrow night we'll continue at our first house, but it'll be in a different season.  New things.  But I've learned that the goal of life is never to become comfortable in a season.  It's to learn how to navigate through them, and the transition from them without leaving your life a train wreck.  Good times, even better to come!

Finally, a bit more on the end-times.  I still haven't had time to begin digging into a lot of it, but I thought I'd share a few things it's not:

1.) It's not an escapist theology, where I "spiritualize" verses I think are a little too harsh because I don't want to deal with them.

2.) It's not downplaying the holiness and justice of God, replacing it with a tolerant, backbone-less God.  I do believe in a final judgement day.  My definition of justice is "wrongs being made right."  Jesus was the ultimate work of justice.  Now justice is being worked on the earth as the kingdoms of this earth moving toward becoming the kingdoms of our God.  God does not tolerate sin, but Jesus was most furious at the ones who did everything right but missed the point.  He loves real people, not people pretending to be someone else, justified in their own eyes.

3.) It's not new.  The end times view with the antichrist and the tribulation period, etc. has only been prominent for the last 70 years or so.  It started during WWI in Europe, and in America during WWII.  Church Fathers from Origen to John Wesley leaned more on the Victorious view than the common 7-year Tribulation view that's popular now.

4.) It's not regurgitated.  At least it won't be.  That's why I haven't written a ton about it, because it can't be someone else's.  It has to be something that is truth deep in my heart, that's been formed after tons of study and prayer.  I could talk about how Daniel's 70th week took place immediately after the 69th, and how the only future portion of Matthew 24 is verse 30 and on, but right now that's me just reciting information I've learned.  It was also the same when I was reiterating information I had learned from Marv Rosenthal or Mike Bickle or Tim LaHaye.

5.) I'm really not interested in debating theology.  My long term worldview determines where I'm going to invest long term, and I need to figure that out.  I love good discussions, because it makes you seriously question your viewpoint to see if it's secure and biblically founded or just a regurgitated tidbit, but I'm not going to get caught up in a "who's right/wrong" discussion.  Even though I disagree on some points with Marv, Mike, Left Behind, David Wilkerson, pretty much everyone, I do agree on way more and I love these guys tremendously.  They are all incredibly valuable to the body, just like Paul, Peter, and Apollos were.  I'm not going to get caught up rallying around doctrine, because "the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith" (1 Tim 1:5).  Rather, I'm going to rally around family, and try to figure just what in the world God is up to...

...because He wants me to be a part of it.


Anyways, that's my thoughts for tonight!  Please let me know what you think, some great convos have come from it!  Love you all!

PB