I am reposting this blog from last spring because I have a bunch of new readers and somethings are just worth saying over.
I came up in the 60's; there was a war going on and the church was strong. The White house was a mess, the people were unhappy and the future looked bleak. Sounds like today. Doesn't it?
I started going to church at about the age of 4 years old. It's very common place where I come from to instill the teachings of the Bible into a person at a very young age.
I recall the prayer that I said before I went to bed at night. It was meant to make me feel good when I had go to sleep.
It went just like this:
Now I lay me down to sleep
I pray the lord my soul to keep
If I die before I awake
I pray the lord my soul to take
That prayer used to scare the shit out of me. (I'd rather ask God to keep me alive). I know it was said that way by more then just my family because I was in an orphanage for a while when my mom had T.B. and they said it.
I tried to tell the women there that I was scared, but old blue hair ladies back then didn't seem to like kids.
It's been changed since the days I said it. I guess the adults caught on.
Going to church in those days especially if you went to the night services as I did could scare the shit out of you. But I felt if I didn't go then God would get mad at me. Besides I was 10 and wanted to be a preacher some day.
Now-a-days everyone is talking about being at the door steps of the end of days. This has been increased due to scientists foresee the potential destruction of our world from a number of causes-including nuclear warfare, environmental disaster, planetary pollution, overpopulation, killer diseases and collision with a comet or asteroid.
Most of this isn't new to me; or most reading this. I have heard that we are in the end of days every since I can remember. From the fire and brimstone preachers I over heard while in Sunday school to my mothers church friends.
In my family we would watch the news every night; I had two brothers in the army and another coming of age. We would see the tapes of our soldiers; the news men talking about body counts, the war protestors and the race riots.
It seems that every generation thinks the time is upon them. My mother had lived through the great depression and had heard this time and time again. I think she grew weary of hearing it as I have. But she kept her faith. She thought she had it figured out. She said that when the end was near you wouldn't be able to tell the season, but for the leaf on the trees. We're kind of seeing that now. But then again we have always been able to point to some event/s and claim the end was near
Jesus of Nazareth asked Him a question that has intrigued people ever since: "What shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?" (Matthew 24:3, King James Version).
Every Sunday; Tuesdays night or Wednesday night you can go to a church and be told that the end is near and you won't need your money, so why not give it to them, and they will see that it will be well spent.
Yep! God Almighty needs your money to keep the pearly gates open.
Heck it's getting to where you don't even have to go to church to hear this. I was buying some $4.00 gas and heard people talking about it; my annoying neighbors gather by their fences and talk about it.
I want my children to have faith in God because it's the right thing to do. Not because the world may end and they could burn in hell forever. He is not the Godfather who may whack you if you don't submit to him.
Instead, our main focus should be to seek God to be spiritually prepared for the times that are coming. "But keep on the alert at all times," said Jesus, "praying in order that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man" (Luke 21:36, New American Standard Bible).
I don't want my children to live in fear. My kids have had 7 years of fear. I worry my kids may grow up with some sort of mental complex from all this fear.
The bible says that no man will know what day or hour it will come. It also says that Jesus would return when we least expect him.
(Sounds like some of my in-laws).
Christ's followers well knew the many prophecies of the Old Testament that foretell the coming age of the Messiah. Our present time, the time of human rule on earth under the deceptive sway of Satan (1John 5:19), is described by the apostle Paul as "this present evil age" (Galatians 1:4).
It always baffled me a bit to hear that God was going to allow us all to suffer and then be rescued by his son Jesus. Of course I'm referring to Armageddon and the second coming of Christ.
The only wise action for anyone who understands what is coming is to turn to God with repentance and obedience (Acts 3:19). Indeed, "now (God) commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed (i.e., Jesus Christ)" (Acts 17:30-31, NIV).
So take heed for NO MAN OR WOMAN will know when the end is near. Don't scare the shit out of yer yougins.
It's hard enough being a kid now-a-days. They must feel as though you have ALL things under control. Allow them to sleep well at night.
Watch what you say around them or when they are in hearing range of you. Don't allow them to watch the news. Sit down with them and explain the dangers abound in your own words.
They are young with very active minds that conjure up their own images. They don't need to see the blood or the raging storms on the moving picture box.
We are about to face some very hard times. You must be their rock and know that God is with you always.
And when you feel the need to see the face of God look no further then into their eyes.
Hug them everyday even when they don't think they want one.
They need it, and so do you..
Thank you for reading. May God bless you and yours.
No comments:
Post a Comment