The World is Gathered

July 29, 2024

7 When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” 8 I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.
-Revelation 6:7-8  (NIV)

Good grief!  The last two weeks have been quite chaotic!  There was an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump (and by the way, Google and WhatsApp are supressing or distorting that info. – You can ask me in person and I can show you what I mean) and Kimberly Cheatle (Secret Service Director) resigned.  Personally, I’m amazed people think this horrific event was staged and that Trump didn’t get shot in the ear, nearly missing his skull.  If it was staged, it wouldn’t explain Cheatle being forced to resign or be fired and with the court being full of both Democrat and Republican representatives.  By the way, I’m not supporting any party and I really wish there was a strong Christian candidate.

Further to the whirlwind of unsettling news and just the other day, the 2024 Paris Olympic Games had their opening ceremony.  I didn’t watch it, but since then and all over the news I’m seeing appalling imagery of the ceremony mocking Christianity.  In one scene I see it mocking Christianity and Leonardo da Vinci’s “Last Supper” painting of Jesus and his twelve disciples.  Since then, the Paris Olympic Committee issued an apology for being offensive, but then again and according to the Catholic Herald, “Drag queen confirms it was a parody of the Last Supper despite the Olympic committee’s claim.”  In addition, the lesbian actress portraying a skewed Jesus Christ also posted the Olympics opening ceremony on her social media page and entitled, “The New Gay Testament”.  By the way and in classical art, a radiant circle or disk surrounding the head of a person is always supposed to represent light and divinity.  Obviously, this is a mockery and not a true apology!

Others are trying to justify and confuse Christians by saying things like, “It was a scene depicting the feast of Dionysus.”  Dionysus was the Greek god of wine-making, orchards and fruits.  It’s true that there seemed to be a depiction of Dionysus (if indeed that’s what Dionysus looked like), but it was also clearly in front of the Last Supper scene.  Both can be true at the same time and don’t let the media fool you by making you focus on just Dionysus – it INDEED was a mockery of Christianity!  Believe it or not, some Muslims are even offended too, because they falsely see Jesus as a mere prophet and this Olympics display does not do any depiction of Jesus and his followers any good. There was also the image of a golden bull mount (bull head) that should detract many Christian believers as well - think about the golden calf statue in Exo. 32 and the symbolism of idolatrous Ba’al worship in ancient times.

I also found out that Brazilian surfer João Chianca was banned from using his surfboard that had an image of Christ the Redeemer statue on it and was told, “the painting is not authorized at the Olympic Games because Christ is a religious figure, and the Games have strict rules on total neutrality.”  Merriam Webster defines religion as, “A personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices.” In my humble opinion, the LGBTQ+ agenda is a belief system and practice thereby making it a type of religion or altering existing religions. I’m just thankful that Brazilian skater Rayssa Leal was filmed using sign language to say, “Jesus is the way, the truth and the life” following her bronze medal performance.

In another scene, I see the image from Rev. 6:7-8, with a cloaked figure riding a pale horse and leading the nations with their flag bearers behind him.  Once again, this is a direct mockery of Christianity!  The Greek word for pale is χλωρός (chlōros) where we get the word for chlorophyll in plants that describes the pale-green colour.  John is saying there is a sickly colour for this horse that is characteristic of a decomposition of a corpse.  Hades was the Greek place of the underworld (where the righteous and unrighteous go) equivalent to Hebrew worded Sheol in the Old Testament.  The Septuagint LXX  (Greek translation of the Bible) translates Sheol as Hades in the Old Testament, but the New Testament always describes Hades as a place for the wicked and prior to their final judgment in hell.  This was the fifth of seven seals or judgments that fall upon the earth in the final days and definitely it’s a reminder to turn to Jesus Christ….NOW!

I’m not sure if the Olympic Committee is falsely acting like God by rallying all the nations together with the pale horse and Death and Hades, but it’s definitely a mockery of Christianity if you ask me.  2 Cor. 11:14 describes Satan clothed as an angel of light and Satan definitely wants to distract you from Jesus Christ.  Satan wants you to place your gaze upon him and follow him, just like the general world will in the last days and the Antichrist will champion this falsehood leadership during this time, so be warned!  The world is gathered and they will be deceived - Let us NOT be deceived!

I had the privilege of having lunch in Nova Scotia last week with a former church member of mine that has a cottage there, and she asked me, “David, do you believe we’re living in the last days?”  To her I said, “Yes and definitely in my lifetime!....but I think we all should have that mentality and whether you’re 101 or 5 years old, because if we don’t, then we’re not living with urgency!”  And if we’re not living with urgency, then we’re going to be lazy in our faith and not act upon our faith.  The time to act is now!  Be faithful, be truthful, spread the gospel, make disciples and, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:15)

Closing Remarks: All are welcomed to experience the gospel because the gospel is for everyone, and everyone falls under Mark 1:15 as well as all of scripture in its entirety as it was originally written as the inerrant, infallible and inspired Word of God. All are welcomed to worship Jesus together, and I completely do not “demonize” any one sin over another. Moreover I close with this passage from 1 Cor. 6:9-11 (ESV) and state, “9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” - This is 2000+ year old evidence that people can change!

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Anyone Who is Thirsty

July 17, 2024

37 On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.
-John 7:37-39 (NIV)

I’m back just for a week.  Where have I been? I’ve been doing an online preaching course.  I’ve been enjoying it, but it’s a lot of work in a shortened amount of time!  One of my personal goals through this course is thirsting for more of Jesus Christ.  What do I mean by that?

Let me tell you a little analogy here:

Well, in my spare time I’ve been working a storage shed of mine and lined-up the interior with plywood and hooks to hang lawn tools, and it’s BOILING hot in there.  Because I really hate hot weather, I don’t know how I did it, but I’m done the upgrades so it’s now safe, usable and organized.  There were sharp nails that stuck through the interior everywhere (from the outside vinyl siding), and so I wanted to make it safe for anyone going in, but all this work built a MASSIVE THIRST.  Every time I worked on it, I sweated like a pig and I consumed what felt like gallons of water.  My only other comparable feeling was my last trip to Indonesia last fall when I drank about seven bottles of water within one hour time and then rushed to the hospital where I was diagnosed with a heat induced vertigo.  Has anyone else ever felt that thirsty before or is it just me?

This is the kind of thirst I’m talking about when it comes to my faith journey.  No, not a physical thirst, but a spiritual one.  I’m praying that Jesus would give me a greater thirst for him and only him.  I’m convinced that the more I hunger and thirst for Jesus, I will get more sick of the ways of the world.  I’m convinced that the more I thirst for Jesus, the more I’ll get disgusted with the world.  And I think the more time I spend with Jesus, thirsting for him is a natural byproduct.

When Jesus makes his proclamation for thirsty people to draw to him (John 7:37-39), he’s referring to a very well-known tradition to people of that time and era but unfamiliar to us.  John MacArthur once said,

A tradition grew up in the few centuries before Jesus that on the seven days of the Feast of the Tabernacles, a golden container filled with water from the pool of Siloam was carried by procession by the high priest back to the temple.  As the procession came to the Water Gate on the south side of the inner temple courts, three trumpet blasts were made to mark the joy of the occasion and the people recited Isaiah 12:3, ‘With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.’  At the temple, while onlookers watched, the priests would march around the altar with the water container while the temple choir sang the Hallel (Pss. 113-118).  The water was offered in sacrifice to God at the time of the morning sacrifice.  The use of the water symbolized the blessing of adequate rainfall for crops, Jesus used this event as an object lesson and opportunity to make a very public invitation on the last day of the feast for His people to accept Him as the living water: His words recall Isaiah 55:1 – thirsts….come….drink.

…So I want the pages of scripture to leap up at me, and I want to dive in.  I want to thirst for Jesus and I don’t ever want that to stop!  The world is not enough to satisfy me, it never was and it never will be!

May we all thirst for Jesus and never stop that thirst!