Weather report from heaven: Sunny and bright with an abundance of light, and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible Verse of the Day: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.”- 1 Peter 1:3-5
Insight: We are living in interesting times, of that I am sure we can all agree. During such times, I find it very helpful to find perspective from as many past experiences as possible. Not just from my past experiences, but much more so from those who have lived in significant times in history and made a big impact. One of the ways I like to do this is to read quotes from people I admire. It is amazing how many times an old quote can provide great perspective for a current time in history. I really do believe that we are all interwoven into God’s Master Story and as such past experiences can be very helpful for navigating current difficult waters. I like to read quotes from World Leaders such as Winston Churchill, Ronald Reagan and Ghandi. I like to read quotes from sports and business leaders such as John Wooden, Vince Lombardi and Warren Buffet. But I also love to read quotes from past heroes of the Christians Faith. One of my current favorites is the English Writer C.S. Lewis who wrote some of the best Christian Literature of all time, including The Screwtape Letters and Mere Christianity. But his quotes are just exploding off the page in significance for today as I read them. This week I would like to look at a few of those and discuss them in context for what is happening today in the world.
The first is : “When the whole world is running towards a cliff, he who is running in the opposite direction appears to have lost his mind.” This quote seems so relevant to me today when we live in a media driven world where narratives start from a false premise, like for example, all cops are bad and therefore we need to defund the police, and are forced down your throat as being the correct way to think. There is an Orwellian nature to the media today where there is only one way to think about a given subject, and any thought that disagrees with that narrative is quickly labeled as “mis-information” or a “conspiracy theory” or “racist” or any other label that they deem appropriate. But the thing that makes this so frightening to me, is how when for the last 9 years I traveled to places like Australia and New Zealand for business, I would hear the media talking in the exact same way as when I left the United States. It was like the news was coordinated on a global level. This was truly shocking to me. I wondered who was behind this happening and how was it happening? Who was coordinating this global thought that was pushing the same narratives no matter what Country you were in? I still can’t answer that question, I only know that it’s a scary thing because it does seem so coordinated.
So, in context of C.S. Lewis’s quote above, it does seem like a person who disagrees with many of the false narratives being pushed on the world have lost their mind. In essence, it takes great faith, wisdom and discernment to be able to think clearly and independently on each subject matter that the media bombards us with. We need to use the truth found in the Bible as our ultimate cross-reference source. When we see a global media narrative that is lock step opposed to what the Bible teaches, or conversely aligns with it in foretelling impending doom, we must remember the signs that Paul, Jesus, John and others told us about. Paul in some of his writings such as 1 Thessalonians 4 and 5, and 2 Timothy 3, talked about the beginning of the end times taking shape and how the rapture ( the being caught up in the air to meet Jesus ) would unfold. Jesus in Matthew 24 talked about signs and the difficulties of the tribulation period when the anti-Christ sets himself up in power in Jerusalem. John in Revelations 6 and 13 talks about the wrath that comes upon the earth due to the sinfulness of man reaching a crescendo in the last days, and the one world government established by the enemy that requires the mark of the beast in order to buy or sell.
Certainly, with proper discernment and wisdom, we can see the times coming upon us that they predicted when it will be increasingly tough and dangerous to be a Christian on the earth. The Chrisitan beliefs will not be tolerated very well, and the Christians will be persecuted for rejecting the ungodly groupthink that is being hoisted upon the earth. Thus, to a watching and wondering world who are all being led over a cliff of destruction, it is quite possible that like C.S. Lewis wrote that “those who are running in a different direction, will appear to have lost their minds.”
This calls for great strength, endurance and proximity to Jesus on the part of God’s people in order to stand (Ephesians 6:13) their ground when everyone else is falling captive to many false narratives being wickedly pushed by the media who has been taking hostage by “the prince of the air,” as the enemy is called in Ephesians 2:2. Christians must be the light in the darkness during the inevitable difficult days ahead, and as the days get darker, our light will become brighter. But we must finish the race strongly for which we have been called. Hebrews 12:1 puts it well: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”
Prayer: Father God, these times are very tough and so we rely on your word and your truth to find our strength and comfort. We are grateful for writers like C.S. Lewis who give us such perspective to help navigate times like these. We pray for the love and protection of Christ to be around us each and every day. Amen!
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