Do You Want Electronic Life or Eternal Life?
I have a new cell phone–an Android Galaxy Note 3 which is an amazing machine. I’m about to upgrade my laptop to a Hewlett Packard Spectre that can do one thousand times what my original computer did for one third of the price.
I’m going to send this blog all over the world via the Internet which didn’t exist when I was in high school. It only takes a few keystrokes and VOILA! My writings circle the globe in less than ten seconds.
These new contraptions are incredible tools, but as Bill O’Reilly has pointed out recently, they can be extremely addicting, distracting, and destructive to our spiritual health.
We may want to ask ourselves the question: Do I want electronic life or eternal life? (Or both.)
Even the secular media is getting the idea that people are getting addicted to the machines, especially impacting kids and parents. Here’s an April 22, 2014 article by Kate Raddatz of CBS Minneapolis:
“It’s not just our kids getting too much screen time these days. Parents are also guilty of spending too much time on their electronic devices.”
“Researchers at the Boston Medical Center observed 55 different groups of parents and young children eating at fast food restaurants. The study found the majority pulled out their mobile devices right away, and, in turn, their kids tended to act up more.”
“’It’s just normal childhood behavior,’ said parenting coach Toni Schutta. ‘If I can’t get your attention in a positive way, I’m going seek it in a negative way.’”
“Suzanne Ferguson, of Minneapolis, said she and her husband used to be smartphone addicts, checking their emails around their kids.”
“‘We were the couple that would go out to eat at dinner and both be on our own phones before we had kids,’ she said. ‘We’re very much attached to our phones.’”
“Schutta says parents spend, on average, 11 hours a day using electronic devices. All that time takes away from face to face communication which helps kids learn behavior.”
“’Kids in preschool and kindergarten are no longer as able to read social cues from other human beings,’ Schutta said. ‘That’s in part because of their own media use and it’s in part because of their parents’ media use, they’re just not getting that training.’”
“Too much time on technology can also leave an emotional impact on your child, if you’re missing life moments for email.”
“’We get such a limited amount of time with our kids in the day, we need meaningful conversations,’ Schutta said.” Ferguson said once her daughter starting talking, it was the kick she needed to kick her phone habit.”
“’Dinner is a good time to have family time, so trying to keep the phone as much as possible away,’ she said.”
Of course, the machine craze goes way beyond family life. Driving while texting is probably the biggest new problem on the freeways, and electronic addiction to endless video games (let alone pornography) are driving down our productivity.
Interestingly, the Bible said this explosion of knowledge (via the machines) would come one day.
Daniel 12:4 sounds like 2014: “Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.” Doesn’t that remind you of our fast-paced society and the reams of information we must now process each day?
Yes, we are living in a day of abundant travel (running to and fro) and increased knowledge (the Information Age). But have we stopped to ponder what it might do to ourselves, our families, and our souls? What is the godly response to the dawn of an age aggressively molded by information and technology?
First of all, let’s look at the positive. The Bible says that “knowledge is power” (Proverbs 24:5). Thus the use of fiber optics, high speed airplanes, the Internet. etc. can all be used to empower the Christ’s Good News to spread throughout the earth. This is certainly God intention: To use this age to increase the knowledge of His Son in all the nations of the world.
And it is happening. I can e-mail or SKYPE missionary friends all over the world and plan evangelistic initiatives in a matter of minutes. That used to take two weeks of postal delivery–or three-to twelve months to deliver by boat–or it wasn’t possible at all.
Technology has changed all that.
What about travel? In the 1990s alone, Our King’s Kids missionaries flew over six million miles and preached Jesus to hundreds of thousands of people. Why? Technology.
When you look at the great missions advance of the past fifty years (hundreds of millions of people coming to Christ on every continent of the world), there is no question in anyone’s mind that technological advances have played a great part in the harvest.
And the best and greatest still lies ahead. I chronicle that in my book The Fourth Wave.
But there is a negative side also. Much of today’s media is in the hands of ungodly people or institutions that are discipling the planet with it, and only a small perecentage is being consciously used to advance God’s kingdom.
A recent article almost glowingly looks at the most unifying part of that techno advance–The Internet–with these sobering words:
“We’re at the beginning of a new way of working, shopping, playing and communicating. We’re calling this phenomenon e-life, and it’s just in time. Because the day is approaching when no one will describe the digital, Net-based, computer-connected gestalt with such a transitory term. We’ll just call it life.”
E-life. Interesting term. Of course they mean electronic life, but there’s another phrase that comes to my mind: eternal life. In the article’s paradigm, electronic life is the very future itself–life. Are we preparing the world to accept the Information Age as the true heaven–a worldly substitute for relationship with God (which Jesus said was eternal life)?
I fear so, and I don’t want a part of it. This planet, wired to the hilt without God, is already hell. Can you imagine what the evil use of technology could create on earth in the coming decades?
Technology is only a tool, but used improperly it can easily become a master (think atomic bombs). Or an idol. Or a substitute for God. I believe that one of Satan’s quiet strategies is to lull us into believing that technology can be a meaningful God replacement.
Ponder this E-life substitute for friendship with the Living God:
1. Movies can be a substitute for God’s omnipotence. Instead of marveling at God’s REAL voice speaking from heaven during Moses’ time, you go into a movie theater and see actors whose heads are fifteen feet high, whose voices boom in Dolby stereo, and appear to have the power to do anything (the story line allows).
2. Television and radio can be a substitute for God’s omnipresence. They’re everywhere–always babbling away. They’re on in many homes 18-24 hours a day. Every airport you travel trough has TV monitors at each gate and in most restaurants. When you need comfort, companionship, or stimulation, or just to pass the time–where do you turn? The TV knob. It even makes a great babysitter for the kids.
3. The Internet can be a substitute for God’s omniscience. It’s the place to go for all knowledge. Right now there are over 2 billion world-wide users. There are hundred of thousands of pornographic sites and they get more hits than Netflix–corrupting the human heart at the click of a button. 160 million Americans use e-mail. On our favorite machines–the cell phone–you can chat, buy food, pay bills, watch movies, or whatever you like, and spend hours a day looking at an impersonal screen. Hours of prayer have given way to hours of texting and surfing.
A wired, fast-as-a-bullet world has captured our hearts, time, attention, family life, and pocket books (ever count up the money you spent on technology in the past few years?). In some ways, it is becoming our god (what you give your time and supreme attention to).
While using technology for the noble purposes of advancing God’s Kingdom, how can we keep ourselves unstained by the god-substituting lust of the e-world? Which do you enjoy more: The wonders of e-life, or the hope of eternal life? Or can you have both?
Here are my encouragements during this Daniel 12:4 time period:
- Use all machines to learn, grow, and love those God has put in your life.
- Spend more time in prayer, Bible-reading, book reading, and worship than you do fingering keyboards and touchscreens.
- Keep the machines out of sight when you’re with family and friends–especially during meals.
- Never use the machines for evil. Stay away from all the bad stuff.
- Use your electronic life to advance God’s kingdom and fulfill the Great Commission.
- Shut off the machines more and listen to God. Take walks. Meditate in the silence. Long for His voice more than the chatter of a multitude of human voices.
And more than anything, never enjoy your e-life more than you long for eternal life.
You can have both–but one is a grain of sand and the other is an unending ocean of relational delights.
The Heavens are Speaking
Earth, Mars and the Sun all aligned last week–a rare combination of the planets that only happens once every two years.
However, this starry alignment also occurred exactly one week before all people on earth will see the first of four dark “blood moons” (over a one year period) which some Christian leaders believe may represent major spiritual events or even the Second Coming of Christ.
It was too cloudy to see the moon from my house last night.
The Bible states: “The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD comes,” [Joel 2:31].
I don’t know what that means in 2014, but I don’t want to be speculatively silly, dangerously cynical, or woefully apathetic.
The heavens might be speaking to us.
The New York Daily News was so impressed about the “blood moons” that it did a story on Pastor John Hagee who has authored a book on the subject:
“Bestselling author and televangelist Pastor John Hagee claims the four blood moons that will soon appear in the skies over America are evidence of a future world-shaking event. The blood moons are part of a tetrad, a set of complete and consecutive lunar eclipses that will begin on April 15 and continue in roughly six-month intervals until October 2015.”
“According to NASA, seeing four complete lunar eclipses in a row is very rare. The skies were tetrad-free from 1600 to 1900. But in the 21st century, there will be many. What’s even stranger is that Americans have a front row seat. ‘The most unique thing about the 2014-2015 tetrad is that all of them are visible for all or parts of the USA,’ NASA eclipse expert Fred Espenak told CNN.”
“Hagee, founder of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, thinks this is no coincidence. For him, it’s a sign of the end times. The 73-year-old preacher has been preparing for the tetrad for years. He released a book about the blood moons last October. “
“Hagee says that each of the blood moons happens on a religiously significant day.The April 15 event happens during Passover. On Oct. 8, the blood moon will occur during the Feast of Tabernacles. Another blood moon will occur during Passover on April 4, 2015. The last will happen on Sept. 28, 2015, another Feast of Tabernacles.”
End-times events has never been my forte. I’m committed to fulfilling the Great Commission so that Jesus will return to a worshipping world. My Fourth Wave book chronicles the incredible spiritual harvest now taking place in the 21st century.
But I’ve also been nudged by the Holy Spirit over the last two years to say from every podium, “The world is about to change.”
I sense it in my spirit though I don’t know the ramifications.
Does this new tetrad of blood moons coming in 2014-15 (tetrad = a set of fours) signal a major act in God’s providential plans for planet earth?
Read the following article by David Kubal, a friend of mine and president of Intercessors for America. Then draw your own conclusions.
Just make sure they include “watch and pray” (Matthew 26:41).
The Heavens Are Speaking
By David Kubal
While I have never ventured into prophetic waters…I offer a prophetic word for our day, believing we are about to see a great move of God.
How do I know? Let us read God’s Word.
“I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth…The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord” (Joel 2:30-31).
This prophecy, spoken by Joel centuries ago, had the same authority then as it did when Peter quoted it on the Day of Pentecost, and as it does today. Very rarely are there such obvious signs—or signals, as the Hebrew is often translated—pointing to a move of God. But Scripture is clear; at times the “heavens” tell us something is about to occur.
When Joel spoke of the sun turning dark, he no doubt referred to a solar eclipse. And if you have witnessed a lunar eclipse, you will remember that the moon turns red. So, the question is this: can we see, throughout history, certain times—remarkable historic sequences that only God could orchestrate—where this pattern of solar/lunar eclipses has occurred?
There have been many solar and lunar eclipses over the past 2,000 years, but there are only eight instances when lunar eclipses occurred exactly on Jewish holy days. All eight coincided with significant events for God’s people. The dates are noteworthy, as they occurred exactly on Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles.
Passover recalls God’s mercy of “passing over” homes with lamb’s blood applied to door-post for protection of the firstborn on the night before the Israelites left Egypt. The Feast of Tabernacles celebrates God’s provision for His people in the wilderness as they stayed in temporary tabernacles (or tents).
Let us trace what has happened in the past. When lunar eclipses occurred on Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles, significant events coincided with those eclipses each time.
1. Tetrad of 1967-1968. In 1967, tensions built between Israel and its neighbors with threats to drive the Jews “into the sea.” Israel was surrounded by almost 500,000 troops, including heavy artillery. Yet in six days, Israel claimed the victory, with only 779 casualties compared to 21,000 enemy casualties. Miraculous circumstances included bringing the Old City under Israeli control.
2. Tetrad of 1949-1950. With the conclusion of WWII, Israel was reborn in 1948. It was well into 1949 that the Israeli government moved into its offices and signed peace agreements with Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria, establishing Israel’s borders. After centuries, the Jews existed again as a restored nation.
3. Tetrad of 1493-1494. During the reign of Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain, concerns arose over the rising influence of the Jews in that country. Consequently, an inquisition process examined the scope of the issue. In 1492, Jews were ordered to leave Spain through the Edict of Expulsion. Given an August 1 deadline, they were not permitted to take their wealth with them.
Accounts record that over 200,000 Jews were expelled. Many suffered duress and abuse. As we recall the passage, “I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you” (Genesis 12:3), it is interesting to note that the prosperity Spain enjoyed before this time has not been seen since, even to the point where they have recently struggled with national bankruptcy.
The year 1492 is a very important year in Jewish history, just as it is in American history. In the first few days of August 1492, Spanish harbors were filled with Jews being evacuated. As Christopher Columbus left port on August 3, his ships passed the Jews’ boats as he set sail and would soon “discover” a land destined to become a safe haven for Jews for centuries to follow.
As if marking the pain of Jewish rejection with the later birth of a nation that would be used of God like none other (for many Gospel purposes in addition to being a great ally of Israel), a series of the lunar tetrads began on Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles in the following two years.
4. Tetrad of 860-861. This tetrad marked the halting of millions of Christians’ deaths at the hands of Arabs in Northern Africa and Spain with the Battle of Lalakaon.
5. Tetrad of 842-843. The Vatican’s treasuries were looted in an Islamic jihad attack just three years after this tetrad.
6. Tetrad of 795-796. This tetrad marked a significant shift in power as Charlemagne was able to create a buffer zone in modern day Spain and France that resulted in the halting of the Islamic invasion of the Moors.
7. Tetrad of 163-165. In 162 AD, before the first lunar eclipse, the Tiber River flooded its banks in the spring, wreaking havoc to the city of Rome and killing most animals resulting in severe famine. Two years later a plague broke out killing one-third of the Roman Empire. This was also a time of great persecution in the Roman Empire under the reign of Emperor Marcus Aurelius.
8. Tetrad of 32-33. Historical records are not totally conclusive, but it is very possible that Jesus was crucified between a series of two lunar eclipses occurring on Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles with a solar eclipse (“… there was darkness …” see Matt 27:45) on Passover in 33 AD.
These are the only instances when lunar eclipses occurred in the last 2,000 years, with significant happenings each time: the restoration of Israel as a nation, the birth of the most Christian nation the world has ever known, devastation, destruction of the second (Herod’s) Temple, and possibly the crucifixion of our Savior.
As you can see, God “shows us wonders in heaven,” and we know that God “does nothing without first telling His servants the prophets.” (Amos 3:7) There are many modern prophets worldwide that are recognizing the significance of these events.
The next occurrence is this month. Passover 2014, April 14, will mark the first in a series of four lunar eclipses over the next two years occurring on Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles. The last eight times, something of major significance occurred. This phenomenon will not occur again for nearly 500 years.
To add even more interest (or warning), lunar eclipses on April 14, 2014 (Passover) and October 9 (Feast of Tabernacles) will take place on the EXACT DATES as did the 70 AD lunar eclipses on Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles, when the Roman Army destroyed the second temple, ending more than 1,000 years of Jewish rule of Israel. (These occurrences were not tetrads—a series of four—but instead a series of two lunar eclipses with remarkable timing, almost acting as exclamation points to this prophetic message for today.)
What will the message be, and how should we prepare?
First, we should have hope. After Joel pronounced his prophetic word, he concluded the section by saying, “And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved…there will be deliverance….” (Joel 2:32) We need not fear the future, but let us trust in the Lord.
Second, if there were ever a time to pray, it is now! Those not aligned with the Word of God are especially vulnerable during the days ahead. Disobedient nations will expose themselves to times of great pain and anguish. We must pray 2 Chr 7:14 like never before. The Church must realize its own tenuous state and humbly seek the Lord with repentance.
What can we expect? As most of you know, God has been doing an amazing work around the globe in the form of transforming revivals. In these mighty moves of God, His divine presence comes into a community or region and changes everything. The Church sees exponential rates of salvation, righteousness is brought back to government, godly cultural norms are established or renewed, and in many cases even the land is rejuvenated.
As the pace of these transformations seems to be accelerating around the globe, it is my prayer that we would see more revivals. We have only seen a handful in the U.S. We must pray that God would find the condition of the Church in the U.S. worthy to host His transforming presence.
What the Church is All About: The Case of World Vision
For years I have admired the work of World Vision–– the globe’s largest and most effective Christian humanitarian organization. Last year, God blessed them with nearly 3 billion dollars in donations which they used, in Jesus’ Name, to serve people in sixty nations.
Bob Pierce, who founded the organization in 1950, was a compassionate man I had the privilege of meeting in the 1970s. A few years ago, one of his staff served on a team I led to Mongolia. WV’s global headquarters is only a thirty minute drive from my home, and in the past year, I visited its gigantic warehouse three times to pick up materials for a building project.
However, on March 24, World Vision made a big mistake.
Then they reversed it.
Through this dramatic sequence of events, we have learned what the church is all about.
I’m sure many of you have heard what happened. Reversing sixty-four years of precedent and faithfulness to God’s Word, the World Vision board, on March 24, 2014, adopted a new employment policy which essentially condoned homosexual acts and same sex marriage.
This decision brought a swift reaction from many Christian leaders.
What the Church is All About: Salt & Light
God created the Church to proclaim his redeeming message to all people. We have an important prophetic role to be salt and light in our cultures–without which the ravages of sinful behavior would hurt the lives of countless people and keep them from friendship with God.
Sin brings darkness, confusion, alienation from a holy and loving Creator. Followers of Jesus, in all of our diverse expressions (small groups, churches, and other organizations) were meant to shine the light of God’s principles into every area of life–for the good of all people.
It’s good to have a conscience. It keeps you from hurting yourself.
Regarding the prophetic role of His Church, Jesus announced, “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
When World Vision stepped away from the truth regarding human sexuality and marriage, a number of spiritual leaders brought swift and loving “light” to them.
Franklin Graham said: “I was shocked today to hear of World Vision’s decision to hire employees in same-sex marriages. The Bible is clear that marriage is between a man and a woman.”
“My dear friend, Bob Pierce, the founder of World Vision and Samaritan’s Purse, would be heartbroken. He was an evangelist who believed in the inspired Word of God. World Vision maintains that their decision is based on unifying the church – which I find offensive – as if supporting sin and sinful behavior can unite the church. From the Old Testament to the New Testament, the Scriptures consistently teach that marriage is between a man and woman and any other marriage relationship is sin.”
Dr. George Wood, General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God, also expressed his profound disapproval of World Vision’s policy change:
“Recognizing legally valid same-sex marriages is not a narrow policy change. It is a fundamental shift away from a normative biblical understanding of marriage as the lifelong union of a man and a woman. The policy change cannot be construed as anything but an endorsement of same-sex marriage.”
“World Vision requires its employees to practice sexual abstinence outside of marriage. If it now permits its employees to enter legally valid same-sex marriages, then it has explicitly taken a position opposite of Scripture.”
Pastor John Piper of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis wrote on March 25:
“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, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6:9–10).
“In other words, to treat regular homosexual intercourse as less dangerous than fornication, adultery, greed, theft, and drunkenness is to treat perdition as if it were a small thing, or not really coming. The same text that imperils active fornicators and adulterers and thieves and coveters, also imperils those who practice homosexuality.”
“Make no mistake, this so-called ‘neutral’ position of World Vision is a position to accept practicing homosexuals as following an acceptable Christian lifestyle…Over against this, the apostle Paul says they will not enter the kingdom of heaven. It is that serious. If it were not, God would not have given his Son to be crucified for our rescue. Therefore, World Vision has trivialized perdition and the cross.”
Russell Moore was quite candid when he said, “This is no surprise, on one level. The constellation of parachurch evangelical ministries founded after World War II have been running headlong, with some notable exceptions, toward the very mainline liberalism to which they were founded as alternatives.”
“But here’s what’s at stake. This isn’t, as the World Vision statement (incredibly!) puts it, the equivalent of a big tent on baptism, church polity, and so forth. At stake is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If sexual activity outside of a biblical definition of marriage is morally neutral, then, yes, we should avoid making an issue of it. If, though, what the Bible clearly teaches and what the church has held for 2000 years is true, then refusing to call for repentance is unspeakably cruel and, in fact, devilish.”
Finally, the president of the Southern Evangelical Seminary, Dr. Richard Land, summarized, “The Bible is crystal clear on the issue of marriage. As God declared in Genesis and Jesus reaffirmed in Matthew’s Gospel, marriage is between male and female (Gen. 2:18-25; Matt. 19: 4-6). Furthermore, God condemns all same-sex behavior as sinful and immoral” (Rom. 1:26-27; I Cor. 6:9).
“Evangelicals cannot declare ‘neutrality’ on this issue, and it cannot be fudged or finessed. If you tolerate same-sex marriage and/or same-sex behavior as acceptable morality for Christians, then you have rebelled against biblical authority and departed from the orthodox faith of biblical Christianity.”
World Vision made a mistake. It comprised God’s Word on a vital subject. Thus, numerous spiritual leaders turned on the “headlights” of reality and spoke to the issue.
Then an amazing thing happened.
What the Church is All About: Repentance
Within forty-eight hours of being exposed for its error, World Vision garnered the humility and courage to change course and make things right.
World Vision repented.
Here is the statement from president Richard Stearns:
“The last couple of days have been painful.” We feel pain and a broken heart for the confusion we caused for many friends who saw this policy change as a strong reversal of World Vision’s commitment to biblical authority, which it was not intended to be.”
“Rather than creating more unity [among Christians], we created more division, and that was not the intent. Our board acknowledged that the policy change we made was a mistake … and we believe that World Vision supporters helped us to see that with more clarity … and we’re asking you to forgive us for that mistake.”
“We listened to our friends, we listened to their counsel. They tried to point out in loving ways that the conduct policy change was simply not consistent … with the authority of Scripture and how we apply Scripture to our lives. We did inadequate consultation with our supporters. If I could have a do-over on one thing, I would have done much more consultation with Christian leaders.”
“What we are affirming today is there are certain beliefs that are so core to our Trinitarian faith that we must take a strong stand on those beliefs. We cannot defer to a small minority of churches and denominations that have taken a different position.”
“Yes, we will certainly defer on many issues that are not so central to our understanding of the Christian faith. But on the authority of Scripture in our organization’s work and on marriage as an institution ordained by God between a man and a woman—those are age-old and fundamental Christian beliefs. We cannot defer on things that are that central to the faith.”
Clear. Contrite. Honest.
A broken and repentant heart is a beautiful thing (Psalm 51:17).
After World Vision’s change of direction, Franklin Graham applauded, “World Vision has reversed their decision to employ individuals who are in same-sex marriages after an onslaught of negative reaction. In our country today, there is tremendous pressure on Christians, churches, and Christian organizations to lower our moral standards. God is clear in His Word, and His standards never change. I’m thankful that Christians across the country urged World Vision to reverse their decision, and prayed fervently that they would do so. Three cheers.”
George Wood likewise appreciated World Vision’s decision to change their decision and called on members of the Assemblies of God churches to accept the apology from World Vision and continue any support they had committed to the organization.
I wholeheartedly concur.
What the Church is All About: Compassion
Which brings us back to World Vision’s incredible strength where they are truly a light to all of us: serving the poor and needy around the world with joy in the Name of Jesus Christ.
Now they can continue to do so as salt and light in a fuzzy world with a clear, redemptive message of salvation from sin.
That’s what the Church is all about.