Quarantine

Quarantine. With most of the nation being put on quarantine for the next month or so (North Carolina is until the end of April), it made me wonder if there were any Biblical incidents of quarantine. In the very book of Genesis, we have our first story of a quarantine. “Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence. And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. And God said to Noah, ‘I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth.’”- Genesis 6:11-13.

But there was one man and his family that found favor in the sight of God because he was a good man. God gave Noah instructions to build an ark for the protection of the upcoming destruction of the earth. Anyone who heeded the warning of Noah over the next 100 years, while he built the ark, would be allowed to get on the ark and be saved.

But after 100 years of explaining why he was building the ark, no one listened but his own family, “Then the LORD said to Noah, ‘Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation.’” - Genesis 7:1. Imagine preaching for 100 years that the world was coming to an end and the only one that believed him was his own family. “Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came upon the earth. And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him went into the ark to escape the waters of the flood.” - Genesis 7:6-7.

Most of us are now in forced quarantine for the next month or so with only our families. Christ is returning soon and then destruction will consume this earth. Are your family members going with you to heaven?  Are you prepared for heaven?  Have you accepted Christ as your own personal Savior?  Noah preached that punishment was coming for 100 years. Christ has been preached for almost 2000 years now. He is coming soon!

Have a great day and God bless.

Social Distancing

Social distancing. It has become the buzzword of 2020 due to the spread of this worldwide Corona virus. People are being asked to self quarantine and practice social distancing in an effort to slow down and ultimately stop the spread of this virus. People are taking precautions not to interact with the elderly, as they seem to be the most prone to not be able to recover from the effects of the virus. I’ve seen stories of people talking to their elderly parents and grandparents through windows of nursing homes and I’ve seen the picture of the little boy and his grandpa playing tic-tac-toe on opposite sides of a glass door.

However, social distancing can have other positive effects outside of just protecting the elderly and those with a higher risk of being unable to recover. It can force families to slow down and spend time with one another. It can force people to either deepen their relationship with God, or maybe even search for God during this difficult time. It can force neighbors to rely on one another for help and even put their needs above our own. Social distancing is not a new fad, ask introverts!

Jesus, Himself, practiced social distancing at times. There were times when He was tired from the constant push of the crowds looking for physical healing. After feeding the 5000, He sent His disciples on ahead to the other side of the lake and took some time to distance Himself from society, “Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone” - Matthew 14:22-23.

He sought time for just Himself and His Father. He needed time to reconnect with God. He needed to realign Himself with the will of His Heavenly Father. What an example that is for us. When the events of life have physically, emotionally and spiritually drained us, do we seek time to reconnect with our Father?  Do we disconnect and search for His will instead of our own will or the will of the world and news media?

Not only did Jesus socially distance Himself when He was worn down, He socially distancedHimself when He was in spiritual distress. The night before He was crucified, He distanced Himself once again to plead with His Father, “And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. And when he came to the place, he said to them, ‘Pray that you may not enter into temptation.’ And he withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, ‘Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.’” - Luke 22:39-42.

We are living in troubling times with a contagious virus to deal with. We have been asked to distant ourselves socially from others to help contain the virus. During this time, who are you turning to for relief of your physical, emotional and spiritual concerns?  There’s a God that would love to reconnect and re-energize His children.

Have a great day and God bless.

New World Order

New World Order. Pandemic, panic, chaos, hoarding, school closings, stock market crashing, government restrictions and curfews. You would think this is all from an upcoming movie, tv show or book release, but it’s not, it’s what is going on in our world today. A lot has changed since just the beginning of this month; fear has set in and people are acting like the end of the world is at hand. I’ve even read some posts that want to correlate the events of today with the end times events of the Bible.

I can understand where they want to make the two relate to one another, but the next prophetic event on God’s calendar hasn’t occurred yet. Both the Apostle Paul in his letters to the Thessalonians and the Apostle John in his letter to the seven churches in the book of Revelation elude to an event to start the events of the end times: the Rapture of the church. When a large amount of the world’s population suddenly disappears, then the end times begin.

The events that are occurring today are setting up those events we find starting in chapter 4 of the book of Revelation and going forward. We have a mass pandemic that no one seems to know how to keep it from spreading. We have people all over the world that are hoarding things like toilet paper, milk, bread and other basic items out of fear. We have world stock markets crashing with no bottom in sight at this point. We have world governments putting restrictions on their people to try and help contain the spread of the virus.

All of these things sets the world up for a person to step out onto the stage with a solution to all the world’s problems. That person will have answers, will be well spoken and will steal the hearts of people all over the world. All he will want in return is all authority over government, finances and religion. He is the Anti-Christ and he is waiting for those holding him back to be removed: the church. Once the church is Raptured from here, he will be unbridled to unleash his terror on the world. At first he will look like the answer to all the world’s problems, but he will turn and people will be too far along to reverse his course.

The only answer to ending the rule of the Anti-Christ will be the return of the true Christ. Jesus will return and defeat the Anti-Christ, the false prophet and Satan and will establish His kingdom here on earth for a thousand years. The question is will you be gone with the Rapture of the church or will you be left behind to deal with the punishment of God?  That’s a question only you can answer. If you want to know more on how you can be saved from the tribulation to come, let me know, I’d love to share Christ with you.

Have a great day and God bless.

Y’all Need Jesus

Y’all Need Jesus. My wife asked me to run out to the local grocery store today to get two containers of icing for a desert she was making for tomorrow. I got to the store and grabbed the two containers and headed to the check out line to pay for them. Once I was done, I made my way to the door just as two employees were coming in with loads of grocery carts. I waited for them to come in before going through the door.

One of the two ladies mentioned the t-shirt I had on that read “Y’all Ned Jesus” and said “amen”.  She also mentioned she would be front and center at church tomorrow praying for everyone’s health. I agreed with her and wished her a good rest of her day and finally headed out the door.

As I walked out the door and started through the parking lot, a young lady was coming into the store dressed in a long robe-like dress and a hijab. I knew right away what her religious beliefs might be and how they were very different from mine. As I walked towards her it was obvious that she easily read my t-shirt and the message on it.

As we approached each other, I smiled at her and said “good afternoon, how are you?”  She smiled back at me and said “good afternoon, I’m fine, thanks for asking.”  We both smiled at each other once again and continued past each other in our opposite directions. No confrontation, no dirty looks, no avoidance of one another. Just two people, with two different religious belief systems, who were able to be civilized and pleasant to one another because there was no other reason not to be.

“Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.” - 1 Peter 2:12.

Have a great day and God bless.