Are We All Guilty of Thinking This Way?

I was reading in Acts tonight when I came upon a passage that I have read many times, but something in it never hit me until tonight. I always thought, "What caring friends Paul (the Apostle) had!

The Apostle Paul is concluding his third missionary journey and in Acts 20:22, Paul tells his companions (one of whom was Luke, the author) "And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there...." (NIV) When they had reached Caesarea, they went to the house of Philip the evangelist. While they are there, a prophet prophesies over Paul in Acts 21:10-11 After we had been there a number of days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. 11 Coming over to us, he took Paul's belt, tied his own hands and feet with it and said, "The Holy Spirit says, 'In this way the Jews of Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.'" (NIV)

This basically bums everybody out and here is where we pick up our key text in this discussion.
This is Luke, the author talking. (Acts 21:12-14) 12 When we heard this, we and the people there pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. 13 Then Paul answered, "Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus." Nobody wants their companion, their buddy, their mentor and their teacher to go and get in trouble. Here is the part that struck me as we finish up in verse 14 "When he would not be dissuaded, we gave up and said, "The Lord's will be done." (NIV)

They heard a well known prophet, give a prophecy from the Holy Spirit and what do they do? They try to talk Paul out of going! Then we have that kicker line, "When he would not be dissuaded, we gave up and said, "The Lord's will be done." (NIV) When they couldn't talk Paul out of going, they finally gave in and said "OK, fine go ahead and do what the Lord wants then!"

Are we all guilty of thinking this way sometime? Do we try to talk others out of doing what the Lord wants them to do? Do we try to talk ourselves out of doing what the Lord wants us to do? Do we finally give in only in frustration and say OK, fine?

Many have tried to dodge what it is that God has for them to do, but believe me, if God wants you to do it or go through it, you eventually will! (Jonah comes to mind as an example!) The Apostle Paul should be our example of a disciple of Christ. In Acts 20:23 Paul says, "I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me." (NIV) He knew that bad things would await him at every turn in his ministry, yet he never shirked his duty. Paul always knew that whatever the cost, serving his Lord and God was worth it all! Shouldn't we do the same? Remember, God never promised us following Him would be easy.

Pablo (the other one)

How Frustrating

I sit on this island with an almost constant 10-15mph breeze blowing and wonder why I am having so much trouble getting anyone in the "real world" interested in helping us get a wind generator system installed here. Everybody thinks it's a great idea, they just don't want any part of helping with it or financing it. What's $2 million between friends?

The benefits would be tremendous! Besides the savings that would be given back to the people who can barely afford the electricity anyway, there is the fact of saving the burning of some where around 200-250 thousand gallons of diesel fuel every year! Think how long that will run a Hummer! That in itself should be worth something! And the worst part is, it's not like any one is asking for a hand out, the company can pay the money back! They just don't have the money to lay out for it now. And don't even consider the banks down here. Their interest rates make credit card companies look like saints! So where are the people who need to step up to the plate?

I'm here, and waiting.

The Population of the Millenium

In follow-up to the post from yesterday that had to do with the rapture, there has come up an interesting question. I have always held to a Post-Trib belief. I have studied it a lot and I just can't get around 2 Thessalonians 2:1, "Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him....for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction." (NIV) To me, this verse speaks of two events, but only one day. Now, I have read and I know all the arguments that Pre-Trib has about this verse, but until we disappear or go through the Trib period, it's an educated guess on every ones part.

Anyway, the question that has come up that I never heard before is this (all you post-trib Th.D's out there can help), If the rapture happens at the end of the Tribulation at at the same time as the Return of Christ, who is going to populate the Millennial Kingdom here on earth? Non-believers? Instantaneous converts that missed the rapture? I don't know right now, but will be trying to figure it out. This question came up as I was reading Charles C. Ryrie's "Basic Theology" book.

ONE LAST THING: While the last days are good to study and to discuss, they are not worth getting our undies in a knot over. God has His plan and it will be fulfilled to perfection. We all need to be ready and need to be carrying out our commission until He returns, we leave or we pass away!

God Bless!

An Interesting Comment

So, I get an interesting comment today from an old friend who has visited my blog.
He tells me I should have a fifth choice in my rapture question. Which do you believe about the rapture? Pre-Trib, Mid-Trib, Post-Trib or Don't Know. His addition is Pre-Wrath! What is pre-wrath? Well, the short, short that doesn't do the position a bit of good, but gives an idea of when it is in the scheme of things is, after mid-trib, yet before post-trib.

The concept is that we would go through the first 3 1/2 years of the Tribulation, the relatively peaceful part and even after the mid-trib sufferings start, we would still be here. The church would remain until God gets ready to pour out His wrath on the earth. That comes between the breaking of the sixth and seventh seal. Anyway, I'm still getting in to studying this so I'll just stop here before I destroy any of it's credibility. You can pursue more info on this at http://www.prewrathministries.org . We should always be open to ideas that may be a little different than our own.

My final thoughts on the rapture/second coming of the Lord are these. No matter what you believe, you should be ready at anytime in case the Lord returns and at the same time, we should never get so complacent in our beliefs that we ignore that we may have to endure some or all of the Tribulation and therefore we should be aware of what is going on around us in the world. One thing I know beyond a shadow of a doubt is this: Every day we are closer to whatever event is going to take place! We are closer to the return of the Lord or to the Tribulation (actually no matter what, we are closer to both!). Our hearts and minds should be ready.

Happy Easter

He is risen.

He is risen indeed!

May you have a great Easter day as we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior!

Pablito