Crosby, Stills, and Nash: "Wooden Ships"

This is a song about a post-nuclear-war world and what the survivors of it did. In few words and using dialogue, this group painted a picture of how people scrounged a living in that post-apocalyptic landscape. Listen to the song here.

The world isn't as fearful about a nuclear holocaust today but people are still worried. Even so, we Christians are blessed to know the future which God has in store for this planet.

We read the Lord's plan in 1 Corinthians 15:51 and 52 (Bible in Basic English). "See, I am giving you the revelation of a secret: we will not all come to the sleep of death, but we will all be changed. In a second, in the shutting of an eye, at the sound of the last horn: for at that sound the dead will come again, free for ever from the power of death, and we will be changed"

For us, it will be a wonderful time but not for sinners. Revelation 6:15-17 (BBE) shows us their panic on that day. "And the kings of the earth, and the rulers, and the chief captains, and the men of wealth, and the strong, and every servant and free man, took cover in the holes and the rocks of the mountains; And they say to the mountains and to the rocks, 'Come down on us, covering us from the face of him who is seated on the high seat, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of their wrath is come, and who may keep his place?'"

We also know that Christ will return from what Acts 1:10 and 11 (BBE) promises. "And while they were looking up to heaven with great attention, two men came to them, in white clothing, And said, 'O men of Galilee, why are you looking up into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken from you into heaven, will come again, in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.'"

Our Lord will also reward us for our faithfulness and punish the wicked, as 1 Peter 4:5 and 6 (BBE) says. "But they will have to give an account of themselves to him who is ready to be the judge of the living and the dead. For this was the reason why the good news of Jesus was given even to the dead, so that they might be judged as men in the flesh, but might be living before God in the spirit."

If Christ hasn't arrived by Thursday, I hope to post about a soldier who fights for all countries.

Saturday Song: David Bowie, "The Man Who Sold The World"

Imagine what it would be like to meet Adam, the first man, on the stairs at a party. That's what David Bowie envisioned in this song from 1971. Of course we know that Adam died "a long long time ago," but imagining scenarios won't hurt us like wrong doctrines will.

Listen to this song here:

Adam truly did sell the world. He listened to his wife who also sinned and plunged humanity into a perpetual state of sinful rebellion against God. We find the sentence the Lord gave him, and all men, in Genesis 3:17 (BBE). "And to Adam he said, 'Because you gave ear to the voice of your wife and took of the fruit of the tree which I said you were not to take, the earth is cursed on your account; in pain you will get your food from it all your life.'"

This curse of death which our federal head brought on the world is for all humanity. Claiming to have obeyed the law of God won't protect anybody from the curse. As the Apostle Paul pointed out in Romans 5:12 (BBE), "For this reason, as through one man sin came into the world, and death because of sin, and so death came to all men, because all have done evil:"

But fortunately for those of us who surrendered our lives to Christ, we have one who paid for our sins against God on the cross. As Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:22 (BBE), there is hope for us. "For as in Adam death comes to all, so in Christ will all come back to life."

This is the resurrection which will happen when our Lord and Master returns. As we read in 1 Corinthians 15:51 and 52 (BBE), we all will receive our eternal bodies so we may live with him forever. "See, I am giving you the revelation of a secret: we will not all come to the sleep of death, but we will all be changed. In a second, in the shutting of an eye, at the sound of the last horn: for at that sound the dead will come again, free for ever from the power of death, and we will be changed.

What a joy it is to know that death won't have the last word. The second death, being consigned to the lake of fire, won't be our fate but it will be for those who refuse Christ's magnanimous offer of salvation.

On Monday, provided the Lord doesn't return first, I hope to post about why Christ's resurrection matters.

Saturday Song: Klaatu, "We're Off You Know"

The new year always brings the promise of fresh adventures and opportunities. Though everything outside is more or less the same as last year, it's natural to feel an inward optimism.

A Canadian band named Klaatu recorded an optimistic song on their second album which was released in 1977. Hear it here.

When Christ lived in the flesh, a new era was ushered in. And for this new epoch of history, he changed the focus of The Ten Commandments. John 13:34 (BBE)quotes Christ as saying, "I give you a new law: Have love one for another; even as I have had love for you, so are you to have love one for another."

Jesus also sent out his disciples in order to train them in evangelism. Matthew 10:5-7 (BBE) reads, "These twelve Jesus sent out and gave them orders, saying, "Do not go among the Gentiles, or into any town of Samaria, But go to the wandering sheep of the house of Israel, And, on your way, say, The kingdom of heaven is near."

We also see this new era proclaimed in the words of Christ himself. Luke 16:16 (BBE) quotes him as saying, "The law and the prophets were till John: but then came the preaching of the kingdom of God, and everyone makes his way into it by force."

When Christ rose from the dead, he sent his disciples on the greatest earthly adventure of all. Matthew 28:19 and 20 (BBE), called The Great Commission, tells us about this. "Go then, and make disciples of all the nations, giving them baptism in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: Teaching them to keep all the rules which I have given you: and see, I am ever with you, even to the end of the world."

But the greatest adventure awaits all of us who have placed our trust in Christ. We see it explained in 1 Corinthians 15:51 and 52 (BBE). "See, I am giving you the revelation of a secret: we will not all come to the sleep of death, but we will all be changed. In a second, in the shutting of an eye, at the sound of the last horn: for at that sound the dead will come again, free for ever from the power of death, and we will be changed."

How exciting it will be for us who anticipate our Lord's return. The epoch of human government will be ended for good and a new eternal era of the Father's rule will begin.

On Monday, if Christ doesn't return before then, I'll post about whom hell is intended for.