The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 7,900 times in 2013. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 7 trips to carry that many people.
“Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14).
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“Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.” (Matthew 25:13)
This past weekend my wife and I had dinner with some good friends from church. A little sign above their kitchen clock caught my eye. It read: “Perhaps Today.” It reminded me that Henry M. Morris, founder of the Institute for Creation Research, kept a similar placard on his desk as a constant reminder that Jesus could return any day. Jesus Himself commanded that we should “watch” for His return. That word in the Greek is grēgoreuō, and it means to “keep awake,” to “be vigilant.”
Jesus issued that exhortation in the context of the Parable of the Ten Virgins (Matthew 25:1-13). Five of the virgins were characterized as “wise” and the other five were “foolish.” All ten virgins fell asleep. Perhaps the expected Bride Groom tarried longer than anticipated, and they all grew weary in waiting. The difference is that the wise virgins were prepared with extra oil for their lamps while the foolish virgins used all they had and made no provision for the unexpected. When the herald announced the coming of the Bride Groom, the wise virgins, prepared with extra oil for their lamps, went on in to be with the Bride Groom while the foolish virgins missed the wedding.
Oil is often used to symbolize the Holy Spirit. We who are “born again” have the advantage of the Holy Spirit residing within us, and, like the wise virgins, we have the provision of the Holy Spirit so that no matter when the Lord returns, we will be prepared. However, just like the wise virgins we can become weary of waiting for the Lord’s return, and we lose focus. We fall asleep often distracted by the cares and worries of this world, and we forget to watch. Sometimes we lament, “How long for His return!” While the foolish, distracted and unconcerned, say, “Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation” (2 Peter 3:4). And so, they have no “oil” for their lamps; they are unprepared.
Our dinner conversation quickly turned to the topic of eschatology, the study of end times. All of us at the table are on “watch” and anxiously await our Lord’s return. Someone brought up the fact that there are four “blood moons” (lunar eclipses) and a solar eclipse expected on significant Jewish feast days in 2014 and 2015. The first will occur on Passover (April 15) 2014 followed by the second on the Feast of Tabernacles (October 8) 2014. The third will occur on Passover (April 4) 2015 followed by the fourth on the Feast of Tabernacles (September 28) 2015. This infrequent sequence of lunar eclipses has historically held great significance for the Jewish people.
For example, when it happened in 1493 and 1494 Jews were expelled from Spain. The blood moons in 1949 and 1950 came right after the nation of Israel was assembled, giving the Jews a homeland for the first time in thousands of years. And in 1967 and 1968 it was linked to the Six-Day War.[1]
In addition to this, a solar eclipse is expected on March 20, 2015. This date equates to Nisan 1 on the Jewish calendar which is New Year’s Day on the Jewish religious calendar. When measured against Scripture, these phenomena should make us pay attention.
When God initiated these feasts (there are seven), He said, “these are My feasts.” “Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts” (Leviticus 23:2, emphasis added). Besides the seven, modern Jews celebrate Purim and Chanukah, but these are not “feasts of the LORD.” The Feasts of the Lord is a fascinating study, which I cannot cover in this brief article. They hold great significance as they reveal God in the Person of Jesus Christ and demonstrate His plan for the ages.
The fact that this sequence of blood moons, along with the solar eclipse, looms in our immediate future has many who study eschatology excited for the prospect of Christ’s imminent return. “The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come” (Joel 2:31, emphasis added).
How are you fixed for oil in your lamp? “Ye are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14). Are you prepared for the Lord’s return? Perhaps this year! Perhaps today!
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Filed under Christianity, Current Events, End Times, Evangelism, Gospel, New Year's Day, Religion, Salvation, Second Coming of Christ, Theology
When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. (Matthew 2:10)
Black was the sky of the oriental night Bejeweled as an empress displaying her might. Lost in the tedium of nocturnal watch, The wisest of wise appraised a new sight. High in the heavens and brighter than most A dazzling new object had joined the host. The astrologers pondered and ventured a guess: “A mighty new monarch this beacon does toast.” Consulting their sources and making their plans The seekers trekked westward across the hot sands. They followed the beacon that showed them the way To the City of David, and the Savior of man. By day and by night they followed the trail Of their guiding light with much travail, For a curious sight its beams had revealed — The form of a cross in full detail. For two years they followed their stellar guide Until it rested, and shown with pride O’er a humble house and the family there Who with the Mighty King did abide. So they offered their gifts, their praise to assign As the cross and the star continued to shine, And knowing not why, their burden was lifted; The child in the house did their sorrow consign. Some thirty years later, on a cross made of wood The child, now a young man, there hung in the nude, And the bright Star of Bethlehem continued to blaze, The King of all kings gave His life to conclude.
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What a great message!
This has been my favorite Christmas carol ever since hearing it as a small girl. Its message is powerful and beautiful because it takes our reality so seriously.
It is only when we see how badly we needed a Savior to rescue us that we feel the joy and wonder that He really did come for us.
Technically, this isn’t a Creation Hymn because the author doesn’t tell us why we were “pining” (that means slowly dying) in sin. It also doesn’t tell us why the soul hadn’t “felt its worth” before Jesus’ coming.
But we know where to find the answer to those questions! All our misery and emptiness started one day, at the beginning of time. It’s the first history recorded after God tells us how He made everything.
Naturalism sure can’t tell us we have any worth. They tell us we’re just cosmic accidents: really exciting stuff-…
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“And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.” (Luke 2:8)
One of the best arguments against the birth of Christ having taken place in late December is this fact recorded by Luke in his Gospel. There were shepherds out in the fields watching over their flocks. By late December, there is not sufficient grazing to sustain large flocks of sheep. Jerusalem is near the same latitude as Dallas, Texas where I live. By the middle to the end of November, there is not much left for cattle to graze on, so they need to be fed on hay or “cake.” So it seems very unlikely that shepherds would be out in the fields in the winter time.
The shepherds around Bethlehem generally kept the sheep and goats that were used for sacrifice in the Temple in nearby Jerusalem. Some have suggested that Jesus’ birth was around late September which coincides with the Jewish Fall Feasts: Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah), Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) and Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkoths). These were feasts that required all Jewish men to make a pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem. The fact that this requirement happened to coincide with the decree from Caesar Augustus for the census (Luke 2:1) may explain why “there was no room for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7) for the expectant couple. In fact, His birth may have occurred during the Feast of Tabernacles making John’s statement that “the Word was made flesh, and [tabernacled] among us” (John 1:14) even more significant. Interestingly, if one counts back nine months from the end of September, one arrives at a date sometime in late December. It could be that rather than celebrating Christ’s birth on December 25, we are actually celebrating His conception!
Regardless, it was to these simple shepherds that this paramount announcement was delivered. “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11). To these shepherds who were known for feeding and protecting their flocks; who sought out the lost sheep, and rescued those that were attacked. It seems appropriate that to these the news of the arrival of the “Shepherd of Israel” should be first delivered. He who would later say, “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep” (John 10:11) had come. So without hesitation they said, “Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us” (Luke 2:15). They came “with haste” Luke tells us, “and found Mary, and Joseph, and the [Lamb of God] lying in a manger” (Luke 2:16). His name was Jesus, “for he shall save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). This little Lamb of God, who was to be the Shepherd of shepherds, had finally come to them.
Filed under Apologetics, Christianity, Christmas, Evangelism, Gospel, Religion, Salvation, Theology
Ernie's Musings 