Things I find to be true:
1.Time is short. It is fairly obvious to those who are watching
that we are in
the generation
that will see
Christ’s return.
Even though we
do not hold to
an exact date,
we are, as
followers of
Christ to expect
His imminent
return.
2.Prophecy seems to be unfolding daily, whether we are looking at
extreme weather,
escalation of
war rhetoric
(around the
world generally,
but in the
Middle East, and
concerning
Israel/Jerusalem
specifically), a
European
coalition, the
world financial
markets as solid
as a soap bubble
or any of the
myriad of other
“plain as day”
signs.
3.The signs of point number 2 are not only unfolding rapidly but
with increasing
rapidity. Even
now, one can
barely get
through a week
without some
major event
triggering.
4.Given the points in numbers 1, 2 and 3, I believe, we as
followers of
Christ need to
stop and take
some time to
seriously
examine what our
role is going to
be from right
now until the
time we hear
“COME UP HERE!”
Are we in
extraordinary
times? Yes. Will
we be
face-to-face
with Jesus our
King VERY soon?
Yes. Should we
not, then, be
making EVERY
effort to be
about our King’s
business, that
He may find us
doing His work
as He commanded
when He arrives?
So what then?
Now is not the time to be lax concerning our work for the Kingdom.
“Maybe later,”
“next week,”
“this weekend,”
or “soon.” Any
of these other
put-off
qualifiers
should NOT be
anywhere near
our description
of what we need
to be doing
right now.
Our intents
and actions
should be spoken
of in terms of
the here and now
– that is the
only time frame
we have, our
next breath,
heartbeat or
second of life
is in no way
guaranteed.
So what then am I suggesting here? I will get to that, but first
let me state
what I am NOT
saying:
I live in the same world as you do. I work, have bills to pay, have
groceries to
buy, have
constraints on
my time, just
like you. I am
NOT saying you
should quit your
job and start
spending your
days, downtown
admonishing
passers-by. I am
NOT saying you
should put aside
the quality time
you spend with
your spouse,
your children or
your parents and
devote every
last waking
second to
shouting to
pedestrians to
start heeding
the warnings of
Revelation.
I am saying this though: we need to be thinking “outside the
box” right now.
We should be
looking for all
the ways we can
get our message
out. With that
being said, let
me list a few
more things I
find to be true.
More things I find to be true:
5.Those who call themselves “atheists” (and some of the “agnostic”
crowd) are all
working out of
the same tired
worn-out
playbook. How
many times have
you been
confronted with
“If God created
the universe,
then who created
God?” or “I
prefer to
believe in
proven science
rather than
religion.” Or
the classic,
“There have
ALWAYS been
natural
disasters and
you Christians
have been saying
Jesus is coming
back for how
long now? I
haven’t seen Him
show up yet,
have you?”
Atheists (and I use the term loosely for reasons I won’t go into
here – I don’t
believe there is
any such thing
as a real
“atheist”, but
rather a whole
slew of
agnostics with
thinly-veiled
hatred for their
Creator, but I
digress…) have
been spewing the
same old garbage
so long, even I
have heard them
all enough to be
able to put
their book into
print for them: The Top 25
Things to Say to
Christians When
They Talk about
Jesus –Third
Edition with
Updated Terms
and Phrases..
6.Given the point in number 5 and our familiarity with the
“opposition’s”
floppy modus
operandi, we
need to start
doing an end-run
around them and
start flooding
the message into
our localities
in ways they do
not expect.
Brand new,
unheard of or
inescapable
means of getting
our message out.
We already know
which way they
are going to
run, after all.
7.The society we are trying to reach has a very short attention
span, especially
for those of us
herein America.
8.All the “normal” entrances to the faith: (invitations to church,
Way of the
Master debates,
debates in
general, etc.)
are all very
well guarded by
our enemy. Not
to say these are
not useful - but
rather that they
are b>
expected
- by society
and our
enemy. Society
has a preformed
and hardened
callous toward
these things,
and the enemy
uses this
familiarity to
provoke a, “Here
we go again”
mentality in the
average, Joe
unbeliever.
Thus, again,
refer to point
number 6.
9.Each and every one of us has the opportunity to affect someone’s
life.
10.There are many varied-talented people
reading this. I
know this as
fact – I have
spoken to many
of them in just
the last six
months!
So what’s the point?
My point is simply this: Those of us in God’s family who are
watching for the
return of our
Lord Jesus are
at a i>distinct
advantage──right
now─so let’s
take advantage
of that
advantage in
grabbing up
souls for the
Kingdom─now! We
have
foreknowledge of
a, (literally)
earth-shaking
event just
around the
corner. This
foreknowledge
comes from your
God directly,
from a narrative
that has been
correct 100% of
the time through
the ages! This,
if nothing else,
should be a HUGE
motivator for
you. The Creator
of the universe
has let you in
on a big secret
of His, and His
perfect track
record should
calm any fears
you have of
being “wrong.”
And be as
creative as you
can. Grab some
of your other
Christian
friends and make
it a project. I
want to be able
to open a varied
selection of
independent
online news
sites in the
near future and
see a headline
like
“Evangelizing
Billboards Now
in 36 States and
Climbing!” or
“Creative Gospel
Videos Continue
to Go Viral” or
even “’Where Are
They All Coming
From?” or “Ask
Residents about
Novel Christian
Message
Distribution.”
You get the
point?
There is absolutely no reason this cannot happen. Take some
initiative while
we still have
the time.
Consider some
possible
starting points:
Think about whom you come in contact with on a regular basis. What
have they been
saying about
what has been
catching their
eye lately?
Next time you drive to get
your groceries,
take a very
deliberate look
at your
surroundings. Is
there something
there – some
sort of object,
place of
interest, custom
that would make
a great
springboard for
the message of
Christ’s
redemption plan
– something that
you may have
overlooked every
time you’ve
driven past it?
Do you have some particular talent or skill you could turn to this
use? God gifted
you with
something,
so would this
not be the best
time to put that
to use for His
Kingdom?
Do you see someone else that is doing something that is making an
impact for their
message (i.e. an
effective
business
strategy) that
you could, let’s
say “borrow,”
some ideas from?
·
Perhaps you may
want to use to
your advantage
of sure
(end-time)
prophecy to your
advantage (i.e.
perhaps you
could point out
the image of
events coming
like birth
pangs). Have a
side-by-side
comparison of a
woman’s medical
labor-contraction
readout, and a
timeline of the
major weather
events in the
last 25-50 years
to show the
relevance (with
Scripture to go
with (i.e.
Romans 8:22,
Matthew 24:7b-8,
Luke 21:11,
25-26). Would
this grab some
attention on a
nearby highway
billboard?
Consider my ten
points above.
Know that you
know that you
KNOW and take
that assurance
and get the
gospel, the Good
News, out there!
And do it in
such a novel way
that these
“atheists” and
agnostics will
be flipping
frantically
through their
crumbling,
dog-eared
playbook for
some way to
stop this
message that is
loudly and
powerfully
piercing their
very conscience!
C’mon – I want
to see some
“atheists” just
foaming at the
mouth out of
sheer
frustration
because YOUR
idea is
spreading the
news of Jesus
like an
Australian
wildfire. Don’t
you?
One last thing to mull over: Consider Esther’s choice (chapter 4)
to speak or be
silent at a
critical time
for the lives of
her people. This
is what she was
told by
Mordecai:
“For
if you keep
silent at this
time, relief and
deliverance will
rise for the
Jews from
another place,
but you and your
father's house
will perish. And
who knows
whether you have
not come to the
kingdom for such
a time as this?”
(Esther 4:14,
emphasis added,
ESV)
With time as short as it is, do you truly think “relief and
deliverance”
should be left
to “someone
else” to present
to those on a
fast track to
hell? You may
already know the
Lord as your
Savior and not
be the least bit
worried that
“your…house will
perish” but what
about your
neighbor and
that guy that
jogs past your
place every
morning? Or, how
about that woman
with the young
children,
comparing prices
in the cereal
aisle? What
about them? Is
their
house about to
perish?
Who knows whether or not you have come to your neighborhood…your
town…your
city…your
state─for such a
time as this?
Let’s get to it.
Ryan Vanderstelt
vanderr12@yahoo.com