I love young people.  They’re so full of enthusiasm and vitality.  And this week at our church’s youth conference there was plenty of that. When some shared their experiences during Sunday service I was struck by the tone. It wasn’t all about goose-bumps and spiritual highs.  It was more serious.  It was about connecting with Jesus; about getting ready for what’s coming next in these end times; about concentrating on the Kingdom of God, and sharing it with others while there’s still opportunity.

We can learn from the young.  I think the conference is proof of that.  Too many of us who have gone by the name, “Christian”, for years need a wake-up call. No matter what our theology is about the end times and the tribulation, one thing we should all be able to agree on is that we are living in unusual times. Something is happening and it can be described in one word: change.  Everything is changing: the weather, governments, world stability, finances, families, and long held concepts of morality. And in order to survive these changes we’re going to need to visit the mountaintop, to spend time with Jesus and get our priorities straight, and to get our hearts and minds prepared for whatever comes.

These young people weren’t afraid. They were excited about the opportunities God was about to give them. Opportunities for God to show Himself strong in their lives.  Opportunities to touch a hurting world with His love.

Now that’s an example I’d like to follow.  

Until next week,

Sylvia

Lately, I’ve been struck how the world is changing at an alarming rate.  What was in yesterday is out today.  Up is the new down, and down the new up. The unthinkable has become the thinkable.  Not that many years ago who would have thought that our public schools would want to teach sex ed to first graders?  Or that our government would be bent on spending us into bankruptcy in spite of our objections? Or that a Libyan mass murderer would be released from prison as part of any oil deal? Or that the teachers we entrusted our children to would molest them?  And the list goes on.  It’s enough to make your head spin. 

There are some who’d like us to believe that we are in the enlightened age, that all this change is just part of progress, that the world has become smaller and we just need to get in step and go along for the greater good.  And that if we do, we’ll be marching into a better world. 

Odd how the Bible differs in this.  It says that Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  He never changes, and that means neither does His precepts. What He valued yesterday He values today.  What He said was right yesterday, whether concerning finances or morals, is still right today. So why are so many Christians buying into the changes we see? Two words: double mindedness.  Believe me, it’s not an enviable position because the Bible says that a double minded man is unstable in all his ways, that he will be tossed to and fro like a wave by the wind, and that he should not expect to receive anything from God. (James 1: 6-8)

Still, the temptation is great to cleave our minds in two, one half conforming to the world, the other half to the things of God. Even if we don’t want to, we are pressured on every side. And I believe this pressure will only intensify as the world worsens.  And the world is sure to get worse before it gets better.  That means more than ever Christians must remain single minded, and be “not conformed to this world but transformed” if we hope to live lives blessed by God and firmly under His care.

Oh, LORD, that we may be single minded!

Until next week,

Sylvia