Spring Blossoms

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2012, the Mayans, the Media and Collapse of the Planet

Well, it's here. 2012. The year the world ends. The year of the collapse of the planet. At least according to the Mayans. And dare I say the media as well? (Clue: If the media promotes it, it's probably not true. Remember Y2K?)

And so let's just say the Mayans ARE RIGHT for the sake of argument. (Drudge Report Headline on New Year's Eve: Hope the Mayans Were Wrong!) What if they are right?! (For more on the 2012 Mayan Doomsday Prophecy, click here.) So what are we gonna do? Are we just gonna go about our business as usual? Are we? (Luke 17:26-27)

Many of us will. (Matthew 7:13-14) Many of us have been so captured by the world, the flesh and the devil that our fate is already sealed. (Yeah, I said it.) No persuading. No pleading. No headline: "The End is Near" is gonna awaken many people to reality. I'm not concerned with those. Yeah, as a preacher I am not concerned with those who will refuse to receive Jesus Christ and His gift of eternal life before they die. (Matthew 7:6) I'm only concerned with those who will. (John 3:16) I trust that includes you. You still have time.

But back to the Mayans. They are right about the end of the world in 2012 AND wrong. Here's how the Mayans are right. Some of us breathe our last breath this year. And so our world (those of us who die) does end in 2012.

And have you ever thought about that? Will it come suddenly? Will we have a chance to say, "Goodbye"? (Selah~pause to reflect)

And then now here's how the Mayans are wrong. And quite frankly, they couldn't be right about the end of the world and collapse of the planet. They couldn't be!! (That's a double exclamation point.) Here's why. They don't agree with Jesus Christ. He's the final authority on the subject. Our Lord said, "But of that day or hour (of the end of the world) no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone." (Mark 13:32) And so no one knows. And that doesn't just mean Harold Camping. It means the Mayans and media as well. (Yeah, I think the latter two are on the level of Harold Camping.)

And you've been fooled into thinking that anybody else's word is valid compared to Christ's. Have you been? Yeah, I'm talking to you. If you think that there is any other truth (including what the Mayans and media says) apart from what the Lord has spoken and the Scriptures, you've been fooled. And your world has already ended. Your planet has already collapsed.

But as long as you're still breathing, God can rescue you.

Maranatha.

"Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour." (1 John 2:18)

(Palenque Ruins picture via the GNU Free Documentation License: click here.)

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• 7 Dynamics at the End of the World
• The "Big Three"

God's Plan for Me and You, Too

"'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.'" (Jeremiah 29:11)

It's important to have a plan. A plan is like a target. It gives you something to aim at, shoot for, strive after. It offers you direction.

A plan is measurable. You can sit down and look at your plan and say, "Yes, I have been doing that," or, "No, I haven't been doing that / following my plan." When you're able to say "Yes" about your plan, you feel a sense of growth and accomplishment.

A plan needs to be realistic ~ like you can't have a plan that says, "I'm going to stop the sun from coming up in the morning." But you can have a plan that says, "I'm going to meet the sun as it comes up in the morning." The early bird catches the worm, after all. :)

Did you know God has a plan? And did you know He has a plan for you? Of course, God's plan is specific (like where you're gonna live and who you're gonna marry, etc.), but God's plan is also general in the sense that a part of it is meant for everybody.

I've come up with a list of God's general plan below. It's meant for both me and you, too. I'm going to be following it in the new year and beyond. Join me?...

God's Plan for Me and You, Too:

1. Keep my eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 12:2)
2. Hide God's Word in my heart (Psalm 119:11)
3. Be filled with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18)
4. Serve the least of these (Matthew 25:40)
5. Bless the name of the Lord (Psalm 34:1)
6. Speak words of encouragement (Hebrews 10:25b)
7. Give myself fully to Christ's cause (Luke 10:27)
8. Don't abandon the Church (Hebrews 10:25a)
9. Listen for God's still, small voice (1 Kings 19:12)
10. Turn from the sin that so easily entangles (Hebrews 12:1)
11. Pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17)
12. Trust in the Lord with all my heart (Proverbs 3:5-6)

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• Of Pawns and Kings
• Unconditional Love