Seeing The End From the Beginning
December 28, 2010
by John ImlerJohn is an RVchurchesUSA Ambassador and author of It’s Never Too Late
In Isaiah 46:9-10 seeing the end we find these words: “I am God, and there is none like me,
I make known the end from the beginning.”
For years the late Paul Harvey broadcast The Rest of the Story giving interesting details of events and peoples’ lives. The end of the stories was often more important than the beginning. That would seem to be true of our lives–of our own stories.
As human beings, we know our beginning: God created our inmost being in our mothers’ wombs (Psalm 139:13). We also know our end: “man is destined to die once and, after that to face judgment” (Heb. 9:27).
Foolishly, we may gamble with God, thinking that we will cross that bridge when we come to it. However, we must remember that that time, that hour, is one over which we have no control. So, to journey through this life without keeping an eye on the end—that time when we will leave this life and enter into eternity—seems unwise, no matter what we believe about that place or time.
God has been faithful in giving us an abundance of warning signs about that day throughout the Bible. Even if we ignore those in His Guidebook for our daily living, He reminds us through the deaths of our friends, family, and associates. He does not remind us as a harsh Judge who we all must some day face but as our loving Creator and Heavenly Father.
Jesus Christ told us this about his Father: “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (John 3:17).
So, as we journey through this life, let us live with our eyes on its ending, keeping in mind that God has not only posted reminders along the way but also has provided a way to live that will bring us peace when that time comes (1 Cor.15:45-55).
John welcomes your comments either below or email him directly at john@faithrescued.com
Intercessory Prayer
December 24, 2010
Originally published at Gospel.com.
Reprinted with permission
You cannot truly intercede through prayer if you do not believe in the reality of redemption. Instead, you will simply be turning intercession into useless sympathy for others, which will serve only to increase the contentment they have for remaining out of touch with God.
True intercession involves bringing the person, or the circumstance that seems to be crashing in on you, before God, until you are changed by His attitude toward that person or circumstance. Intercession means to “fill up . . . [with] what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ” (Colossians 1:24), and this is precisely why there are so few intercessors. People describe intercession by saying, “It is putting yourself in someone else’s place.” That is not true! Intercession is putting yourself in God’s place; it is having His mind and His perspective.
As an intercessor, be careful not to seek too much information from God regarding the situation you are praying about, because you may be overwhelmed. If you know too much, more than God has ordained for you to know, you can’t pray; the circumstances of the people become so overpowering that you are no longer able to get to the underlying truth.
Our work is to be in such close contact with God that we may have His mind about everything, but we shirk that responsibility by substituting doing for interceding. And yet intercession is the only thing that has no drawbacks, because it keeps our relationship completely open with God.
What we must avoid in intercession is praying for someone to be simply “patched up.” We must pray that person completely through into contact with the very life of God. Think of the number of people God has brought across our path, only to see us drop them! When we pray on the basis of redemption, God creates something He can create in no other way than through intercessory prayer.
John Piper Returns to Pulpit
December 21, 2010
By Lillian KwonChristian Post Reporter Well-known evangelical theologian and pastor John Piper is scheduled to return to the pulpit in January. Kenny Stokes, interim pastor for preaching at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, made the announcement this past weekend.
“His first weekend back, God willing, in the Bethlehem pulpit will be January 8 and 9,” Stokes said.
Piper has been on an eight-month leave of absence. Since May, he has stepped back from virtually all public commitments to deal with his “character flaws” and focus on his marriage.
It was his first-ever leave of absence in his 30-year ministry career.
With the exception of a few speaking engagements – including a conference in the Dominican Republic and the Third Lausanne Congress in South Africa – the respected pastor withdrew from all other preaching, writing and blogging.
When he announced to Bethlehem Baptist Church that he would be leaving for a period of time, he explained that he was seeing “several species of pride” within himself and that his soul needed a reality check from the Holy Spirit.
While he noted that the character flaws did not rise to the level of disqualifying him for ministry, he said they were grieving him and were affecting his relationship with his wife, Noel, and others.
“I’ll say it now, and no doubt will say it again, I’m sorry. Since I don’t have just one deed to point to, I simply ask for a spirit of forgiveness; and I give you as much assurance as I can that I am not making peace, but war, with my own sins,” he said in a letter to the congregation in March.
As planned, Piper will return to the church and his ministry, Desiring God, in January. He is scheduled to speak at Passion 2011 in Atlanta, which takes place Jan. 1-4, and to preach at Bethlehem that weekend.
It is not yet clear what his post-leave ministry will look like or whether he’ll keep up the same pace he did for the past three decades. He did, however, mention in March that he wanted to go five more years in the pulpit.
More details, including his schedule for the next year, are expected to be released in the coming weeks.
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