The Gulf Leak and the End Times

We have been watching BP and others try to stop the terrible oil leak into the Gulf for over a month, and as one attempt after another has failed, there is mounting frustration, anger, fear, and anxiety. Each day this disaster continues, the impact on the ecosystem, the seafood industry, and local economies, including tourism, becomes more of an open question.

The oil leak in the Gulf is one of those events that has prompted me to think about the end time prophecies spoken of in the Bible. For instance, in the book of the Revelation, John saw a scene after the seventh seal was opened whereby a star fell from heaven. “And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter” (Revelation 8:11).

Let me be quick to point out that what’s happening in the Gulf is not what this verse is talking about. On the other hand, the Gulf leak is an indication of how large amounts of water can become quickly polluted. And that means that the end result of what John saw should not be considered as far- fetched or as not literally possible.

Another event that happened and similarly impressed me was the Persian Gulf War back in 1990. I had been a Christian about ten years at that time. And as I studied the Bible, and tried to get my arms around some of the mind-boggling prophecies in the book of the Revelation, this war helped me to better digest the war at Armageddon, which the Bible talks about. During the sixth of the seven last plagues, the Bible says, “For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty” (Revelation 16:14).

What I had a hard time conceiving was the idea of assembling the armies of the earth and of the whole world together. But when I saw how quickly armies from around the world converged together to join forces during the Persian Gulf War, I realized that this idea is not far-fetched or impossible. Again, let me be quick to point out that the Persian Gulf War has nothing to do with the verse quoted above. Rather, I am simply trying to drive home the point that for those who think the book of Revelation cannot be taken seriously because the prophecies spoken of are not realistic, we have only to look around us and see what’s happening.

Sometimes, we get so caught up in the media frenzy about current events that we only take away the perspective of our favorite journalist. But those of us who know the Lord and walk with Him, we must walk with more discernment. The tragic events that we see around us are increasing with abounding intensity. The toll on lives is not to be dismissed. But more importantly, many of these events point to the end of this age, and those such as the Gulf oil leak help us to see that what God says will happen is not far-fetched at all.

Copyright ©2010 by Frank King. All rights reserved.

What's Wrong With Us

The world seems to operate on the premise that people are intrinsically good, whereas the Bible teaches exactly the opposite. This irony becomes clearer to me each instance in which I look at the news, and the dominating story is the moral failure of some famous person in Hollywood or in the political arena, and the world seems shocked. I might also add that the occasion for this kind of news seems to be more frequent these days.

I don’t want to be sarcastic about this matter, but since when has it been a prerequisite for movie stars to live above reproach? And consider the fictitious, yet highly possible, scenario in which a 50-year-old politician is on the campaign trail, and his opponent digs up some evidence that 30 years ago, his then-20 year old opponent smoked marijuana when he was in college. And the media gets all over it.

Wow! Even God doesn’t go back that far looking for dirt, and He is the Creator, and the Judge of all the earth.

If the requirement is that politicians have to be born saints, we will have to fire everyone in Washington from the President on down, and no one else on earth will be qualified to fill the vacancies. On the other hand, I must admit that it boggles the human mind when a person works so hard and so long to make it to the top of his field, and then blows it all for an illicit affair or white collar crime. “What in the world were they thinking?” we ask ourselves.

The fuel that drives the craziness of our behavior is our depravity, brought on by Adam’s disobedience in the garden. Paul the apostle puts it this way: “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not” (Romans 7:18). Now tell me, how many people in the world do you think will admit that this verse applies to them? Nonetheless, it fits us to a tee.

The bottom line is that every one of us was born messed up, and unless we become born again through faith in Christ, we are prone to making a mess out of life. Because of this, I am not shocked when powerful men fall at the hands of their misdeeds. Giving a person a title of honor along with a charge to be good—with his hand on the Bible—does not make one do the right thing. On the other hand, no one works for decades to become successful just to play the part of a fool and lose it all. No, they don’t just wake up one day, and decide to do one deed that will literally destroy their life.

I believe the intent of those who pursue public office desire to do the right thing most of the time. I do not question their motives. So what’s the problem? I don’t think I can state it any better than what Paul the apostle was inspired to write, so let me paraphrase: the desire is present with us, but how to perform that which is good we find not. That’s what’s wrong with us. And that’s what Christ came on earth and died on the cross to fix—and He did!

Copyright © 2010 by Frank King. All rights reserved.

Getting Serious About Our Faith in God

Sometimes, simple experiences in life can trigger deep meditations. I had such an encounter a few days ago as I headed to the office. It got me thinking about the quality of my faith in God.

The weather that day was gloomy. It looked as if it would rain any minute. After I arrived at the parking garage, and as I proceeded to get out of my car and walk to the office, I pondered as to whether I needed to take my umbrella. But I remembered the weatherman saying the overcast would linger until about noon, and then things would clear. According to him, there was no chance of rain that day. But after I had been walking about five minutes toward the office, as I looked at the sky, the weather looked increasingly bad. I felt almost compelled to turn around and get my umbrella from the car. But I decided to trust in what I heard the weatherman say.

And then it happened. I got this analogy about our faith in God. I thought about the times when God says something in His Word that ministers powerfully to a situation in our life, and we embrace the promise. But as time goes on, and we look at the circumstances surrounding our test, though the promises of God forecast that the outcome will be bright, the interim “clouds” challenge our faith.

The truth is, it would be no big deal if I doubted the weatherman, and went back to my car for my umbrella just in case he turned out to be wrong. But it is a big deal when Christians doubt God and fail to trust what He says. The Bible puts it this way: “without faith it is impossible to please him” (Hebrews 11:6). Of course, at times we all fail to walk in faith, but a life characterized by unbelief displeases the Lord.

Faith is the catalyst that makes the Word of God powerful in our lives. And it’s time we get serious about our faith in God. The Word of God is everywhere. We go to church weekly and hear the gospel preached. We can download sermons from the Internet. We have Christian TV and radio, etc. But listening to the Word of God all day is no indication that we are serious about our faith in God.

Two things have to happen in order for us to grow in our faith. First, we must believe what God says. Secondly, we have to act on what we believe. Now it could be argued that these two are one in the same. That is, if we truly believe what God says, we will act on the same, and the fact that we do not act on the Word is evidence that we don’t really believe the Word. I understand that, but I have chosen to not address faith in such dogmatic terms because I believe that, oftentimes, Christians who have faith in God may also harbor some doubt somewhere deep down inside.

For instance, as I walked toward the building, I believed the weatherman’s forecast, but when I looked at the sky (that walking by sight will get you every time), I entertained the possibility that I might get caught in the rain. I had to decide to act based on what I believed about the weatherman’s forecast. If we can believe and act on what the weatherman says, how much more should we trust God who cannot lie? So went my walk to work that day.

Copyright © 2010 by Frank King. All rights reserved.

How to be Godly

As we approach summertime, I notice more people out on the local park doing their walking or jogging routines. I’m sure that many of them are trying to trim down and tone up to get ready for the beach and their bathing suits and summer clothing. Being a strong believer in physical conditioning, I applaud those who commit themselves to working out.

In Paul the apostle’s letter to Timothy, he penned these words: “train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things….” (1 Timothy 4:7b, 8a, NIV). Note that this passage refers to two types of exercise. One is bodily, and the other is pursuant to godliness. And since exercising toward godliness is far better than bodily exercise, we should be more diligent in our pursuit of godliness than we are in physical training.

A dictionary of mine defines godliness as “having great reverence for God.” But really the word, as used in the Bible, goes a step further to denote a lifestyle that pleases God. A more practical definition of godliness is “a piety that pleases God.” In other words, godliness means that we are devout, and we live out our devotion to God in a way that pleases Him. For instance, the Pharisees during Jesus’ day were extremely religious, and based on the definition in my dictionary they would be considered godly. But to say that their ways displeased God would be an understatement.

Now that we have defined what godliness is, let’s talk about how to be godly. The Bible says we must train ourselves to become godly. Clearly, godliness is not happenstance. We can become godly Christians only by serious spiritual workout. Just as we can do bodily exercise to build physical strength and cause our bodies to operate more efficiently, also we can do the spiritual disciplines to condition ourselves to become more godly. For instance, if we are not prayerful, we can discipline ourselves to be more prayerful by going through the spiritual exercise of praying until that discipline becomes second nature to us.

Jesus is our perfect model for godliness. In fact, when we talk about pursuing godliness, we are really talking about how to be like Christ. We know He lived out His public life in a way that pleased God because as He emerged from baptism God said, ‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17, KJV). And what is so fascinating about being a Christian is that because of our born again experience, we have everything we need to be like Christ! I know that for some Christians, that’s hard to believe when they consider the areas they struggle with in the flesh, but it’s true.

Sometimes, we try to justify staying as we are by saying, “That’s just how the Lord made me. I just get things off my chest. I say what’s on my mind.” The truth is, we cannot allow our flesh to reign out of control, and simply excuse it as being the way we were made. Rather, we must attack those problem areas. We do that by studying Christ, our perfect example, and training ourselves to become like Him in that area of our life, so that others can see Christ in us. The bottom line is that God has not called us simply to be religious; rather, He has called us to be godly.

Copyright © 2010 by Frank King. All rights reserved.

God's Forgiveness Sets Us Free

As Christians, our relationship with God should be the most important thing to us. And we can’t have a serious discussion about that relationship without addressing sin. Why? Simply because God is holy. The good news is that God forgives sins, and this forgiveness from sin sets us free.

I remember an event some twenty years ago involving a teenage girl who had gotten pregnant out of wedlock. Her pastor told her the Lord would never forgive her. Believing her pastor, she stopped attending church. Why would she continue coming, if she believed she was hopelessly lost?

I don’t know how, but a member of the local church that I was pastoring at that time convinced the young lady to visit our church. At the end of the worship service, this church member introduced the young and pregnant visitor to me. She shared with me what I just shared with you above. After hearing her story, I turned her to one verse in the Bible. It was 1 John 1:9, which says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (KJV).

I explained the verse to her. Hearing that she was not hopelessly lost, this young lady leaped for joy in my office, and began thanking God!

A main objective for my writing this blog is to proclaim the blessedness of God's forgiveness from sin in hopes of encouraging Christians who harbor unconfessed sins to experience the wonder of His forgiveness. This is not a call to perfection but a call to be real with God.

Since I have shared the above experience of mine as a pastor, you know that I am a preacher. Well, just in case there is anybody out there who thinks that in order to be a preacher you have to be perfect or you have to have been born a saint, let me tell you that is not true. I am not perfect, but I am committed to being real with God. And when I sin against God, I ask for His forgiveness.

When we harbor unconfessed sin in our life, it affects us physically, spiritually, and emotionally. That’s because at the time we become Christians, we become born again. That means we become new creations, and we take on the character of Christ. Sin after salvation has a totally different effect on us than it does before we meet Christ. Through the born again experience, we have become partakers of Christ’s divine nature. Sin grieves this new person that we have become on the inside. The bottom line is that once we have become born again, we can’t practice a life of sin and feel OK; we can’t live in sin and know true freedom; neither can we pray with confidence, when sin reigns in our life.

Notice, I am not doing a roll call on the types of sins we can struggle with. I don’t need to. That’s the work of the Holy Spirit. We know what we need to confess to God and repent of. But let me close by saying this; when we live disobediently to God, we can come to church and worship Him as if everything’s OK, but we are not OK, and we won’t be OK until we confess our sins and experience God’s forgiveness. As the psalmist says, “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered” (Psalm 32:1, NIV).

Copyright ©2010 by Frank King. All rights reserved.

Let's Pray for Our Leaders

I am sure that by now you know about the oil spill that recently occurred in the Gulf region. What an environmental and economic disaster this will become. Just a couple of weeks ago, the entire world was dealing with the volcanic eruption in Iceland that crippled the airline industry. To me that scene looked apocalyptic. I could go on and on listing the mega challenges we face as a nation.

If it’s one thing our political leaders and those who are in authority need, it is the prayers of the people of God. Many of these leaders may not be people of faith, but still they need us to pray for them. Paul said to Timothy we should pray “For kings, and for all that are in authority: that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life….” (1 Timothy 2:2). There are two important points I want to draw from this powerful verse. One is that we are to pray for all of those in authority. We should not pray only for Christian leaders but for all of our nation’s leaders. They need divine help in making the right decisions for our nation. Whether they know it or not, whether they will admit it or not, they are totally in over their head in dealing with the many challenges we face.

The second point has to do with the effect of our praying: “that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life.” Clearly, our prayers affect our quality of life. I learned a long time ago not to try to dissect what God says, nor try to figure out the mechanics of how He brings His Word to pass. I just believe that even if we have leaders in our government who don’t fear God, or who have low moral standards, or who claim to be atheists, when we pray for our leaders, the net effect is that our nation will experience more quietness and peace.

It’s easy to get disgusted with today’s politics. In my opinion, both the Democrats and the Republicans in Washington are more interested in advancing the cause of their political party or their careers than they are in trying to solve the great problems of our nation. How sad it is that a person from one political party is lambasted simply because he broke ranks with his party, and voted in favor of a bill that was championed by the other party. Is bipartisanship a crime? Or is it not a right for each person in Congress to think and vote as an individual? Or does ideology trump our using the brain that God has given us? I know that’s just American politics, and it won’t be changing anytime soon. Sad, but true.

Reflecting on the verse I quoted above, I believe that since the Bible says we should pray for all al those in authority so that we might live quiet and peaceable lives, it must be true that if we fail to pray thusly, we won’t experience this end. This is a testament to the power of prayer. So let’s get busy and pray for our leaders; the peace of our nation depends on it.

Copyright ©2010 by Frank King. All rights reserved.