Our Ultimate Hope

I'm sure all of us had times in our lives when we awaited some great event. Whether it was graduation from high school or college, or a visit from a long-lost friend, there's that anticipation that kept us on our toes. We didn't get involved in activities which took up our whole attention but kept in mind the approaching event.

Christ's return as the King of Kings is one event all born-again believers long for. As Paul wrote in Titus 2:13 (BBE), we must be "Looking for the glad hope, the revelation of the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ;"

The Apostle Paul also admonished his readers, and us too, to be watchful and not distracted by pleasures like our worldly neighbours. We read in 1 Thessalonians 5:8 (BBE), "But let us, who are of the day, be serious, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and on our heads, the hope of salvation."

We also read about staying alert for the Lord's return in 1 Peter 1:13 (BBE)which says,  "So make your minds ready, and keep on the watch, hoping with all your power for the grace which is to come to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;"

Though we don't like to admit it, we're in a war with Satan and his demons. That's why Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 2:3-5 (BBE), "Be ready to do without the comforts of life, as one of the army of Christ Jesus. A fighting man, when he is with the army, keeps himself free from the business of this life so that he may be pleasing to him who has taken him into his army. And if a man takes part in a competition he does not get the crown if he has not kept the rules."

We also have those wonderful promises in the last book in the Bible. Revelation 21:4 (BBE) promises us, "And he will put an end to all their weeping; and there will be no more death, or sorrow, or crying, or pain; for the first things have come to an end."

On Saturday, if Christ doesn't return first, I hope to post about a beautiful song and a pleasureable activity I remember from childhood.

When Will Christ Return?

Following along with this month's topic, I want to explain about the great hope of Jesus returning, a precious hope held by many believers. Sadly, some false teachers mislead naive students into believing in their pseudo-prophetic dates which they set as the day of his return.

Jesus said that no man knows the day when he'll return but the Father only. Yet there are always those self-proclaimed prophets who claim to know the whereabouts of his coming and when it will be. As Jesus said in Matthew 24:23 (KJV), "Then if any man shall say unto you, 'Lo, here is Christ,' or 'there;' believe it not."

Neither will Christ's return be a secret snatching away of believers. As Luke recorded in Acts 1:11 (KJV) regarding what the two angels spoke,, "Which also said, 'Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.'"

The Apostle Paul made it quite clear that the Lord's return won't go unnoticed by the world. He penned in 1 Thesalonians 4:16-18, (KJV), "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words."

Some folks think that meeting the Lord in the air means we'll stay there for seven years. That's stretching the verse far past its meaning. We know that returning kings were met in ancient times on their way home by crowds of adoring subjects. So it will be when Jesus returns.

My new book will deal in part with the subject of Christ's return. This is a serious matter and believers need to have their hearts ready for that glorious event. Watch this space for updates on the book which I'm calling You Think You're Going to Heaven?

BEHOLD HOW THEY HATE ONE ANOTHER

Is it possible for the followers of Christ to debate vigorously but in a loving way? It doesn't always seem so to me. In my dealings with End Times proponents, I've encountered the most hateful attacks. I can expect that from militant atheists but friendly fire from those who claim the name of Christ wounds me deeply.

When I attended a spiritually incestuous house church, the leader taught the doctrine of the post-tribulation return of Christ.  We all believed that we would have to go through the great tribulation mentioned in Revelation. Anybody who taught that the rapture would come first was considered a heretic.

There was also a time when I believed that the rapture would happen, then there'd be seven years of Tribulation. Christ would come after that and set up a semi-golden age. Then there would be a worldwide rebellion which Christ would put down. Only after that would all the wicked people be consigned to hell forever.

There was also a time in my life where I gave up on Christianity in favour of science. I enjoyed the thought that my poor vision was merely a result of faulty genes and not some sort of punishment from an angry God. What I didn't consider is that survival of the fittest is a cruel and pitiless process. It gave the Nazis and Eugenics movement the justification to sterilize or eliminate the less fit individuals of society, even folks like myself.

Having gone through all these stages, I find the partial preterist position to be the most logical one, plus it corresponds with the historical view of the Bible. Scripture was written to those people to whom it was written, not to us as if we were any sort of special people. Therefore the prophecies of Daniel and other Old Testament prophets came to pass long before we arrived on the scene. Only The return of Christ has yet to happen.

Though I hold this position, I don't condemn those who believe differently. After all, we all believe that Christ will return as the angels at his ascension proclaimed. Sadly, such condescension hasn't always been shown to me. In my e-mail box have come some of the worst vitriolic attacks I've ever experienced. Can't we Christians agree to disagree agreeably?

Because I believe in understanding the scriptures, I've written a book about how I was first misled and then guided to the truth. How I Was Razed: A Journey from Cultism to Christianity. Visit Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Powell's Books.

WAITING IS THE HARDEST PART OF LIFE

One of the most maddening sights on a person's PC or smart device is the buffering image. Round and round it goes and when it stops, no one knows. We end up doing a lot of waiting in life too. Sometimes it's worth it and sometimes it isn't.

As a child, I hated shopping with Mom. She'd be looking at all sorts of adult stuff as my siblings and I fidgeted. All we wanted was to get out of the store and go home but Mom was too preoccupied with dishes and vases to care.

Dad made me wait a lot as well. Being an alcoholic, he left me in the Volkswagen behind the hotel while he sat in the bar with his friends. Time hung heavily since I had nothing to play with. It seemed like hours to me as Dad enjoyed himself while I felt so bored. I also knew what would happen if I left the car. I did that once when it was after curfew and the police drove me and my siblings home. My parents had to go to court as a result.

Then I had to wait three agonizing months before I could leave the school for the blind for the Christmas holidays. There was no mainstreaming of students back then so I had to go to that horrid institution. Worse yet, I was making progress in the first grade of public school before some bureaucrat coerced my parents into exiling me five-hundred miles from home.

When I was mainstreamed into the public school for grade eight, I had to board at various homes in Edmonton, about twenty miles from where my parents lived. I could go home on weekends but it still meant I had to wait to go home.

Once I became an adult, I found that I had to wait for all sorts of things. Waiting for a bus when the temperature was minus thirty was no fun at all, especially when that route was on hourly service only. Waiting to get my first pay cheque was equally painful as I was practically out of money. Then there were those dental and doctor appointments which I had to endure. I'd come on time or early, yet I'd have to wait.

I remember how long it used to take for radios and TVs with vacuum tubes to warm up. When transistor radios became popular, the big boast was that they would turn on instantly. Manufacturers also used to brag about their "instant on" TVs but they really just kept the tube filaments lit.

Now we have computers that take a few minutes to get their acts together. Though I've removed many programs from the start menu with the MSCONFIG tool, my PC still takes time to set everything up for my use.

I'm also doing my best to wait for a special event. All my life, people told me about how Christ would return. Some said he'd whisk us off to heaven while the world went to hell. When that kept not happening, I became frustrated with the delay. Now I know that the Bible teaches that Christ will appear again in the same way he left our world. He wants as many people as will repent to surrender to him. I now content myself with that knowledge. I no longer watch for signs and events as I once did.

I wrote about my struggle with what errant elders taught me in How I Was Razed: A Journey from Cultism to Christianity. Check out my story of God's wondrous providence at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Powell's Books.