Sunday, May 22, 2011

The Day After: Beware

I can't think I would need to remind ANYONE that a certain man/Bible teacher/prophet (or whatever he actually is) predicted specific end times events would occur yesterday. And, in the aftermath of none of them coming to pass, I want to offer a word of caution to those born again Christians who have been or are starting to scoff at this man and his prediction(s) . . . and end time events.

It's a fine line between mocking him and ending up mocking the rapture of the saints or the Lord's return, whichever you happen to have understood him to be predicting. As May 21, 2011 approached, I watched many Christians blog/tweet/comment to the effect that "the Bible teaches that we can't know, so this guy is a crackpot for saying so dogmatically that he knows the day . . . and this isn't the first time he's done this!" That's all well and good, but we need to be careful that we don't begin to mock the events themselves.

I found some of the bloggers and tweeters following the deadline as it moved through the various timezones easily crossing the line to essentially say, "See, I knew it wouldn't happen today. Today is just like yesterday, which was just like the day before." That kind of blogging/tweeting is very close to "Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation. (2 Peter 3:4 NASB)"

And we don't get a free pass to mock because a "crackpot" has predicted a certain day. Neither do we get a pass to believe that nothing can happen today because someone predicted this date. The Lord's hand isn't stopped because someone disobediently or incorrectly issued a time line.

In reverse order: the scriptures encourage us to look expectantly for the coming of the day of God (2 Peter 3:11-13), not be ignorant that the "slowness" of God's promise is actually a sign of God's patience toward us (3:8-9), and beware that scoffers will arise in the last day questioning the Lord's coming (3:3-4).

So, in these days after, let's please be careful that we don't follow the path of scoffers regarding God's promises just because someone did what they weren't supposed to do.

Friday, May 20, 2011

Zach's First Game

Last Friday, we took Zach to his first baseball game. He didn't have any clue where he was, but it was fun for us.

Midland Rockhounds 11
San Antonio Missions 0

Friday, May 13, 2011

We're Not Raising Grass!

Famed Minnesota Twins slugger Harmon Killebrew has decided to end his battle against esophageal cancer and enter Hospice care.

As a kid, I had the opportunity to see Killebrew and the Twins play against the Texas Rangers at (the old) Arlington Stadium more than once. And, while I don't remember a specific occasion of seeing him play, I do remember something that I heard said about him.

He is quoted as saying: "My father used to play with my brother and me in the yard. Mother would come out and say, 'You're tearing up the grass'; 'We're not raising grass,' dad would reply. 'We're raising boys.'"

I've always thought that was one of neatest things a father could say, and locked it in my memory bank in case I ever needed to use it. Now, that I have a boy, I just might get to use it.